#and eventually cas comes back and everything worked out

[arlathavellan]

Phantom Pains | III

Fandom: ACOTAR

Pairing: Azriel x Reader

Reader: she/her, (3/4-High Fae, 1/4-Tartera), Y/N used

Genre: Fluff, Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Word Count: 2.7k

Something is... wrong. Time missing, memories missing, thoughts missing. Wondering where things both big and small disappeared to, like the dress you were working on or even the past seventeen hours of your day. Something is very wrong, and the thought seems to slip your mind as soon as it comes. || Azriel has been a part of your life for years now, and has been courting you since the fall of Hybern. Only, things don't seem to be as simple as you'd both assumed they'd be. It seems someone thought you were the weak link-- the easy ticket to infiltrating the inner circle through its spymaster. And maybe you are.

|| Previous Part | Next Part (wip) | Masterlist ||

All Azriel ever wanted was to keep you safe. From the moment he first saw you, he knew you were something precious, something to be protected. Convinced he knew best how, he kept you away from the inner court, away from the side of himself he was afraid you would turn from in fear. His hubris and shame kept you away from the people who could protect you while he was gone.

Cas and Mor had wanted to be introduced to you years ago, before things were even official between the two of you. Afraid it would only put a target on your back, he let himself pretend it was better for you to never cross paths with that part of his life.

After the war, he started to let his guard down. Mor would commission gowns from you, both supporting you and building a professional relationship as a compromise to respect Azriel's boundaries. When he eventually decided it was time to officially introduce you to everyone, he went to Feyre first, thinking it would be easiest for you to connect artist-to-artist rather than let one of the others completely overwhelm you. She was happy to agree, and excited at the prospect of helping ease you into their family. When she finally got her dress, it brought your little shop more attention than you'd had since coming to own it. The way your face lit up when you told him about having to hire someone to help you out helped reassure him that he'd made the right choice. He wanted nothing more than to introduce you to the rest of his loved ones, knowing they'd love you almost as much as he did.

It was obvious to them all how much you meant to Azriel.

It was obvious to everyone who knew who he was that you were the Spymaster's weakness.

That was his mistake; growing too comfortable with the bubble of peace that had existed undisturbed around the two of you. When he was with you, he let himself imagine he was someone else, someone with less blood on his hands.

He never should have forgotten, never should have let his guard down. It didn't matter how many times he'd been able to walk you home with no issue— every moment you were seen with him was a public admittance that you were important to him. Azriel could never be a normal illyrian, never act like it was possible to separate the parts of himself. Every waking moment he was the Shadowsinger, the Spymaster. His love for you didn't keep you safe, it only made you a target. Everything he did to put a smile on your face made it that much easier for others to hurt you.

——

Azriel is on his way back from his mission when Rhysand gets in contact with him.

Come home, he says. Now.

He tries to ask questions. Anxiety swirls in the pit of his stomach as he flies, any response met with a resounding silence.

The mission had been underwhelming, the intel he'd gotten no more than cold tracks leading straight to a dead end. Whispers of rebellion, more faeries foolish enough to act out against Rhysand moreso because of what he is than what he's done. There was nothing when he'd gotten there, just a long-abandoned camp that left no clues behind. His shadows couldn't find anything either, returning just to whisper confusion in his ear. While he was ready to call it and go home, he didn't feel right dropping the thread without seeing where it might really end. After a week of searching, he felt like he'd been run in circles, and told Rhysand he was coming back to Velaris empty-handed. It seemed to be a routine the past year, a lot of low-effort surveillance that seemed to result in nothing.

Not even a souvenir? He'd joked.

He wasn't joking now.

"What's going on?" He asks in response, scanning the room. The atmosphere of the house is low, and it has all of his senses on high alert. "Is everyone okay?"

Azriel lands on the balcony of the Town House. If it were official Court business, Rhysand would be in the House of Wind. But the Town House? This was family business. He opened the doors swiftly, some of his shadows immediately fanning out to sweep the residence.

"Az," Cassian calls, voice tight and shoulders tensed as he practically marches towards him.

Shadows curl at his neck, overloading him with information. He winces, unable to sift through it all at once. They're panicked, some moving around the room so fast they're knocking chairs into the table and toppling over vases. The noise draws another person into the room as Cassian steadies him by his shoulders.

Room, he can barely make out in their desperate jumble of cries. Your room, your room. Five in house. Three in room. High Lord, doctor, sw—

"Azriel!" Mor cries, ducking around Cassian's wings to help hold him straight as his shadows continue their barrage of information, nearly knocking him off his feet in their haste.

Five in house. Three in room.

"Mor, grab a chair before they knock him down—" High lord.

"We don't have time—" Doctor.

"—just get Rhys—" Sweetheart.

Silence falls over the room as his shadows still in a single breath. His wide eyes meet Cassian's, flicker over to Mor's distressed, tear-streaked face, and the pieces fall into place.

"Y/N?" he breathes, terror gripping his chest.

Hands reach for him once more, mouths opening in explanation, but as his knees buckle, the light is sucked out of the room in an instant, and he's gone.

——

"Now," you say, making a few final adjustments to the garment in front of you. "There's still some work to be done, mostly alterations, but it will absolutely be done in time for the party."

The woman behind you is absolutely giddy, facing away until you give the word.

"Before we get started on all that, I know you mentioned you wanted a draping that was loose and flowy, but I was worried the fabric might snag on your jewelry." You explain. "So It's still a loose drape, but a little less than what I first showed you when we were picking out fabrics."

She lets out an impressed 'ooo' as you explain. "That's so smart; I can't wear my chunky bracelets with half my dresses. My lady, I defer to your judgment."

Letting out a laugh, you fluff out the skirt in preparation for its presentation. "Okay! Now, three, two—"

"—one!" Mor cuts off, spinning around to see the dress. Her hands fly up to her mouth as she bounces on her feet. "Yes, yes! Oh, Y/N, it's even better than I imagined."

Pride wells up in your chest as she moves closer to see the gown, but a wave of confusion washes over you as you sway slightly on your feet. She… liked the dress? No. No, she didn't like the dress. This isn’t what happened. Your head spins as you watch Mor fuss over the skirt, playing with the fabric to have the gemstones on the inner layers catch on the light like stars.

You ran out of that fabric. There wasn't enough left for a full skirt, so you had to go without it. You stumble backwards towards the wall, but nothing catches you. Panic grips your throat as you float weightlessly, and everything is drowned in black.

It's okay, a voice whispers in your mind. You're alright. I need to see what memories they locked away so I can figure out what they were looking for.

Memories… that was a memory? But that didn't happen. You try to close your eyes tightly against the darkness, but you feel nothing. Light floods your vision, and suddenly you're sitting on your couch alone.

"Hello?" You call, voice shaking. "Who's there?"

"I suppose an explanation is in order, now that you're here." The voice comes from everywhere and nowhere at once, until an unfamiliar faerie steps out of the shadows with his hands raised.

You stand unsteadily as he moves closer.

"My name is Rhysand, though you can just call me Rhys," he says.

"While I wish the circumstances were better, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Y/N."

"Rhysand…" you mutter, feeling feint. "Azriel's brother?"

A fond expression crosses his face. "Not typically the first title that comes to mind for people, but I must admit it's refreshing."

The couch behind you seems to beckon you once more, and he has no objections when you sit back down. "What's going on?"

"I thought this might be easier to digest." A chair you certainly don't own appears on the other side of the coffee table for him to take a seat. "We're in your head right now. I can't say I've ever tried something like this, but I quite like it. Although I believe your mind may be doing most of the heavy lifting, so we don't have much time."

Holding your hands out, your flip them over as you curl your fingers. Everything has a bit of a smoky quality to it, like it would all disappear with a gust of wind, and feels the same sluggish consistency as your shadows.

"What… happened?" Quiet as your voice is, he seems to hear you perfectly well.

His gaze is pained when you look back up at him, eyebrows pinched as he tries to explain. "From what I can tell, someone has gotten access to your mind, and had been taking and altering your memories. I don't know for what purpose, so I've been trying to see what they've hidden to try and figure it out. Do you know when this may have started?"

The answer comes to you immediately, the incident having weighed on your mind since it happened. "I lost a few hours a little over a month ago. Azriel found me standing in the street."

Something passes over his face, and the moment of silence that follows has dread building in your gut.

"Az spoke to me about that night," he says softly, almost slowly. It reminds you of that moment with Mor, before everything in your head exploded. He opens his mouth to speak once more, but his attention is snapped elsewhere. Looking to the side, his expression twists with confusion and anger. "Someone's trying to break through my wards. I'll be back soon; let your mind rest, and we'll continue once you've regained your strength."

"Wait—" you lurch forward, reaching for him, but you continue falling forward as everything you see dissipates.

Your existence feels lighter and lighter, until you feel nothing at all.

——

Azriel feels the wards fighting him, digging under his skin as his shadows slip through cracks that aren’t there. He’s never tried to travel within the house like this, never had need to, but with his shadows guiding him to you he had no complaints.

His room explodes with darkness as he finally lands on his feet, the sound of an older woman screaming in shock filling his ears before they all congregated around his bed. Looking around frantically, he took stock of the occupants of the room.

Madja stood by his dresser, hastily straightening bottles of medicines and salves that had been knocked askew by his arrival. By his bed, stepping back from the writhing mass of darkness, was Rhys, with a displeased expression.

“What happened?” he asks before the High Lord can speak.

Rhys sighs, rubbing between his brows as they pinch together. “Was that you, bursting through my wards?”

“Rhys,” Azriel hisses.

“You were right,” Rhys says, leveling him with a look that urged him to try and stay calm. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you then, Az. But we can fix it, now.”

The ground seems to fall out from beneath his feet. Stumbling forward, the Spymaster catches himself on the foot of his bed, shadows curling up his arms.

“She’s had multiple memories locked away, and when Mor caught on…”

Azriel looks up at him, wanting him to finish but not wanting to hear the words.

“It was a Daemati.”

The breath leaves his lungs, and the illyrian curls in on himself at the jolt of pain that shoots through his chest. A steady hand grasps his shoulder, grounding him.

“She’s alright, now. I’ve shut them out of her head so they can’t do any further damage, but…” he trails off, as if it might ease the blow.

Azriel understands the implication loud and clear. “But they’ve already caused damage.” He digs the heels of his palms into his eyes, taking deep breaths as Rhys sighs. The only sounds in the room are his breaths, the rustling of his sheets, and the near-silent clacking of Madja’s equipment. “How bad is it?”

Rhys’ hand twists on his shoulder as he moves to sit beside him on the bed. “She may have some residual issues with memory loss in the future. I didn’t get very far, but they’ve locked numerous memories away, most pertaining to interactions with you or Mor.”

The silence that follows is somehow more tense than the last, and when Azriel finally straightens back up to look at Rhys, the expression that greets him is pained.

“When I asked her when she began to have issues relating to her memory… she claimed that you found her standing in the street a little over a month ago.”

A month ago. Had you really been suffering for so long unnoticed that you’d lost so much time? Everything he’d just chalked up to stress about the customer influx, and you were missing three months worth of memories. What had they even left for you?

He turns to look over his shoulder at you, his shadows parting just enough for him to see you sleeping peacefully in his bed.

“I’m keeping her unconscious for now,” Rhys tells him. “It will give her mind time to rest and heal itself, so I don’t do more harm than good.” His hand squeezes his shoulder, turning his attention back to him. “With the depth and frequency of attack… they have to be somewhere in the city, Az. Somewhere close to her.”

His fists clench tightly in his sheets, a low-bubbling rage festering in his gut. “Someone in Velaris did this?”

“We opened our gates to Hewn city,” Mor calls from the doorway. The two turn to look at her, a heavy weight settling upon the room at her words. “We should start with any frequent visitors, see who spends a lot of time in her part of the Palace of Thread and Jewels.”

“The intel we’ve been getting,” Azriel says, voice raspy. “Almost a year of nothing.”

Rhys answers with a dawning dread. “Someone wanted you out of the city. Away from her.”

He shares a look with Mor as Azriel stands from his bed and storms out of his room, half of his shadows rushing after him.

——

Cassian is downstairs to meet him at the door. “Don—“

“Move, Cas,” he snarls, stopping in front of him.

“Think, Az. If you go tearing through the streets of Velaris—“ an attempt to shoulder past him is stopped with a hard shove, “—they’ll be in the wind before you can find them.”

The two have their stand-off, Azriel’s siphons beginning to burn as Mor makes it back downstairs, Rhys close behind.

“You’re needed here, Az.” She’s met with a glare, hazel eyes dark. “Don’t give me that. You know we need to narrow our search down so they don’t see us coming.”

Rhys steps forward with a subtle tilt of his head. Azriel’s gaze snaps towards him, brow cocking as he waits for a third iteration of the same argument. “Y/N needs you here, with her.”

Silence falls between them, a battle of wills crackling the air around them. Darkness creeps up his legs, his torso, curling around his neck to voice their deliberation.

Sweetheart, they say. Alone, hurt, with us, safe, sweetheart, safe.

He closes his eyes with a heavy, weary sigh, shoulders dropping and siphons fading. A heavy hand lands on his shoulder from behind.

“We’ll find the son of a bitch who did this,” Cassian promises. “And then they’re all yours.”

He opens his eyes for a moment, searching for deep blue. Rhys’ gaze meets his, darkening as he nods his confirmation.

“You’d do the same for me, brother,” he says. In a moment unshared with the others, the rest goes unspoken.

If it were Feyre lying there. If it were my mate instead.

----------

Here I am falling into my old dialogue-heavy traps! I was going to queue this for tomorrow but I got too excited lmao

TAGLIST (comment or message to be added/removed)

@pellucid-constellations @horneybeach1 @hyemishii @brujitafantomatico @batlokiuniverse

[jeonginsleftcheek]

Dating Bang Chan

pairing: bang chan x afab!reader

genre: fluff, suggestive

warning/s: mdni, mentions of insecurities

a/n: i had a stressful week and this was just sitting in my drafts. this is just a collection of random thoughts i had bcs i'm soft for chan♡ 

(i'll probably do this for every member eventually)

Chan is such a sweetheart. Expect to be hugged and pulled into his lap all the freaking time. He needs to have his hands on you somehow no matter where you are or what you're doing. Chan will give you a back hug and then pull you into him, burying his face in your hair. He loves skinship like that especially with people who bring him comfort like you do.

Chan is the type of boyfriend who will always ask if you're hungry, thirsty or cold and if you need anything at all he will stop what he was doing and get it for you. He always wants you to feel comfortable.

He is also very playful and will tease you all the time. I also feel like he is that type of boyfriend that will swoop you up and put you over his shoulders all the damn time especially while you're doing something just to get a rise out of you. He will laugh cutely as you trash around and yell at him to 'put you down or else' but you both know you're laughing too.

You become so close to his mother and sister, and you and Hannah team up to tease him together. Berry also adores you and always runs to you whenever you visit. Chan will playfully pout and sulk, saying that 'his family replaced him' but he is actually so thrilled that you get along.

He daydreams a lot about your future together, imagines you two getting married and starting a family and it makes him all giddy and giggly. Some things he's too shy to say to you directly so he puts them in songs that he writes for you.

Chan will watch every movie and listen to every song you recommend him. He wants to know what you like and why you like it so send him cute songs and tell him that they made you think of him.

Late night adventures. Driving around aimlessly as you listen to music, getting something to eat from a convenience store or a gas station. He pulls up somewhere secluded where you have the perfect view of the city. You eat, talk and look at the stars together. Kisses are shared, hands are roaming and pretty soon you end up in the backseat of the car.

Chan will take you out to dinner, bring you flowers, take you out to the arcade, to an ice cream date, to the beach, everywhere and anywhere, he just wants you to have fun together. But he will also enjoy a quiet night at home, while he works on his laptop and you're cuddled up to him reading a book.

He always puts you first, your needs above his so you have to scold him when he tells you he forgot to eat dinner. You bring him food to the studio and he's happy to see you but sad that he made you upset. You tell him you'll forgive him if he eats everything you brought him and he happily will.

Arguments with Chan would probably mostly happen when he's sleep deprived because he gets snappy then. His voice raises a little (not on purpose) but as soon as he sees tears forming in your eyes he will start apologizing. You tell him you need a few moments and obviously he does too, so he leaves to another room to cool off a little. When he comes back out, you two sit down and talk it out. You never want to go to bed angry or without resolving a fight.

No matter if you live together or you're sleeping over at each other's places you can forget about personal space. When you go to bed at night, Chan will cling onto you, he will pull you into him and hold you tight. Good luck on trying to move until the morning. Showers together because why wouldn't you wanna save water?

Absolute gentleman. Will open doors for you, move your chair, help you put your jacket on, you'll never have to carry anything heavy. He knows you can do it but he just wants to treat you like the queen you are and you better indulge him or he will sulk.

Sometimes, Chan feels insecure and nothing can make him feel better than your arms around him, his head on your chest as you gently tell him about everything you love and admire about him. He's used to always being alert and taking care of others so he'd love for you to take care of him sometimes like that, baby him a little, it lights his heart up.

Little moments when he's concentrated on something or lost in his own little world always make you gush at him and your camera is full of his cute moments, when he realizes you're filming him, he gets shy and you capture his sweet smile and cute giggles.

This man will also never give you room to doubt yourself. He will remind you every single day how much he loves you and respects you. How beautiful you are to him, every single part of you, every scar, stretchmark, anything you're insecure about he'll give extra kisses and caresses to that part of you just so you start loving yourself more.

Back hugs. Back hugs. BACK HUGS. FOREHEAD KISSES. HAND HOLDING. THIGH SQUEEZING.

Make him sleep please! He needs to rest and often pulls all-nighters but if you offer him cuddles he can't say no, he has to join you in bed.

You wear matching bracelets!🥺 And they're ones that you make by yourselves with cute colorful beads and maybe your initials and it's just so adorable!

Random cuteness agression moments where Chan can't contain all the love he has for you so he attacks you with kisses all over your face. You squeal and you both end up giggling and play-fighting. Will also tickle you every chance he gets. You're never safe from Chan the tickle monster. (He just loves touching you and loves seeing you laugh, deal with it.)

Okay but your mom will love him so much. He's the type of boyfriend that will treat your mom like his own. Anything she needs help with, he will help no questions asked. She's already calling him her son-in-law.

You need help fixing something around the house? Chan is your man. Just imagine those arms of his as he's working on something, wearing just a tanktop. (😩)

You can talk to him about anything really, he loves to listen to you ramble about your friends or work, sometimes he starts teasing you in the middle of your rambling, repeating what you're saying or reacting dramatically. You smack his thigh or arm and whine that he's not taking it seriously. He just laughs at you and promises to listen seriously with a goofy face.

But when it comes to actual serious issues, you can really rely on Chan. He will hold your hand and caress you as you tell him your worries. He'll listen without interrupting, letting you vent to him. When you're done he will do everything he can to comfort you, motivate you, make you feel better, help you get through whatever you're struggling with.

Talks about you all the time, he's so proud to be yours and he's just infatuated with you. Giggles to himself when he thinks about you. He just adores you so much.

[geometricalien]

I'm so fine <- the words of a liar after finding out one of her favorite fanfics has been deleted

[daycourtofficial]

Solstice Celebrations

Pairing: Azriel x reader

Summary: Azriel realizes you’re pregnant before you do and tries to figure out what he’s going to do.

-

Azriel has been off for days now. He can’t explain it, but something is off. Not necessarily bad, but off and he needs to find the source.

It all came to a head tonight when he could hear a very subtle additional heartbeat in the room. He spent ages searching the room, trying to locate the source of the heartbeat, but it’s so subtle he can barely hear it when he’s not in bed.

He scours the room, the adjoining hallway, he even takes a short flight around the perimeter, but he is coming up completely empty. Even his shadows are telling him everything appears fine. Azriel eventually admits defeat and climbs back into bed, holding you tight to him. Even though he’s accepted he can’t find a threat, he’s still suspicious.

This becomes his nightly routine for the next three nights. He’s just been telling you he hasn’t been sleeping well, and you’ve been preparing him some teas to help him relax before bed. On the third night you draw him a nice soothing bath that you hope will help him relax enough to sleep.

“Mmm” he moans, getting into the tub, “you are too kind to me, my love.”

“Not kind enough if I’m not able to soothe your worries enough for sleep.”

You leave, too tired to help him bathe. Azriel spends a long time in the bath, trying to relax and eventually unwinding enough to feel the bed beginning to draw him in.

He steps out of the bath, drying off, and he comes to meet you in bed, finding you fast asleep. He laughs, because he’s never met anyone who falls asleep as quickly as you do. He climbs into bed, holding you close to him, pressing his head to your chest, hoping your heartbeat will help lull him to sleep.

The soft rhythm of your heart slowly drifts him away, until its rhythm is disturbed by that softer heartbeat. He pulls his head away, listening intently, but the beat becomes imperceptible. He puts his ear next to your chest again, listens to the slow brag of your heart, and listens to the soft beat of a much smaller heart.

He realizes immediately what the soft symphonies of heartbeats mean, and he is almost brought to tears. He never once considered he’d fall in love, let alone have a mate, so children were never something he thought the Mother would allow him to have, but he was wrong.

The Mother has made you a mother. He has made you a mother.

You worked under Azriel, taking on random missions whenever you’re needed. And the thought of you going on a mission while with babe scared the cauldron out of him.

He slowly untangles from you, puts on some pants, and shuts the door behind him. He has a certain high lord to see immediately.

-

“Azriel.”

The shadowsinger continues his pacing, holding a hand up to Rhys, “I’ll explain once Cassian arrives.”

Rhys sighs dramatically, “Azriel it’s the middle of the night, no one is dying or dead, please explain to me why I’m here with you and not in bed with Feyre.”

Azriel gives Rhys a look “brother, I’ve never once brought you out of bed before, this is… very important to me. But I need both of you here.”

Rhys sighs and while not happy, he knows Azriel is serious. The male won’t stand still, silently pacing, which is very unusual for him.

“Fine”, Rhys replies.

After a few more moments of silence, Cassian’s wings announce his presence. Before Cassian can start his round of complaints, Azriel begins immediately.

“She’s pregnant.”

Cassian and Rhys still, smiles slowly stretching across their faces.

“Wow, wow, I’m so happy for the both of you. Oh, Nyx is going to have a built in best friend.”

Cassian goes to hug Azriel, and the shadowsinger grips him in a tight hold. “I’m so excited for you, brother.”

“I just figured it out when I called you two to meet with me.”

Rhys and Cassian exchange glances.

“What do you mean you figured it out? She didn’t tell you about it?” Rhys asked.

“I don’t think she actually knows.”

Rhys and Cassian still as Azriel continues.

“I heard the heartbeat, and then I could smell it in her scent. It was very subtle and hard to detect, but it was there. She’s very early into it.”

“And you told us and not the mother of your child because..?” Cassian asks.

“I just need the week to figure out how to tell her and to figure out what we’ll do from there.”

“Well, as exciting as all this is, now I have to go back to Nesta and pretend I don’t know this massive secret and that this meeting was for something bad.”

The males hug Azriel again, excited to see his future with a babe.

“Good night, brothers.”

-

Rhys and Cassian didn’t even try to keep it a secret, those bastards. The way Feyre is looking at him this morning, he knows that she knows. Mor came into town later in the afternoon, and she obviously knows. During lunch she kept looking at you with stars in her eyes and the biggest smile on her face. Azriel’s death glares at her did nothing to curb her happiness for the shadowsinger.

-

Azriel takes you to walk around Velaris during the afternoon, and unfortunately for him you’ve noticed all of the special attention coming your way.

“Mor was only gone for a week, but maybe she shouldn’t be gone for more than 3-4 days. I think she ends up missing me too much. She was so happy to see me during lunch.”

“Well she’s spent the week in the Huen City, anyone would be happy to see your lovely face after that week.” Azriel smoothly replies.

You’re walking around Velaris, searching for last minute Solstice gift ideas. You were having a hard time finding a gift for Feyre, and it was eating you alive.

“Everyone always gets Feyre some kind of paints - maybe she’d like something different for once.”

“I’ve already received her specialty paints, so it’s too late for me to change her gift,” he replies.

You were walking in and out of shops, bundled up in your winter coat and scarf, holding Azriel’s hand “to keep warm”, when Azriel sees it. He sees a shop that specializes in baby clothes, baby furniture, maybe even baby knives if he’s lucky. Seeing the shop, he looks at you, and the idea pops directly into his head.

You both go into a clothing shop, Azriel tells you he’s going to get some drinks at the shop next door, and he bolts down the street to the baby store, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Or as inconspicuous as a massive male with wings can be.

“Hello” he says, startling the clerk, who looks over this tall, muscular man with massive wings, wearing a very cozy sweater. “I need something for a solstice gift.”

-

Azriel paid the shopkeeper, even paying extra for her to be discreet, and ran into the coffee shop to order the two of you some hot chocolate to keep you warm in this chill.

Walking back to the store you’re in, he’s consumed by thoughts of “can she have hot chocolate while pregnant? Feyre did, and Nyx seems fine. Besides anything wrong with Nyx would just come from him being Rhys’s son.”

His inner turmoil is interrupted by you grabbing your hot chocolate from him. “Thanks, sweetheart” you say.

He notices a shopping bag, and you reply “I found a gorgeous sweater that had stars knitted into it with beautiful shiny yarn. It reminds me of Starfall, and I think Feyre would love it.”

-

Azriel has been dying. It’s now been 4 days since he figured out about your pregnancy and it’s been a monumental task not to tell you. Every moment of every day all he can think when he sees you is “you’re pregnant! With MY babe!” He wants to shout it from the rooftops. But that would ruin his carefully crafted plan.

It also doesn’t help that he has been watching you even more carefully than before, constantly asking Madja “are carrots safe? What about meats? Is milk safe?” Madja has officially banned him from asking her these ridiculous questions until he tells you that you’re pregnant.

He manages to keep it in until Solstice, despite the constant asking from every other member of the Inner Circle. Cassian is convinced he’ll never tell you - that Azriel will let it go until you’re going into labor.

By some luck though, the inner circle haven’t told you. He told them it would be known to you by Solstice and they are keeping him to that promise.

-

He wakes you up the morning of Solstice preparing to leave for his annual snowball fight.

“My hero, off to vanquish evildoers with his compacted balls of snow,” you croon at him while he’s getting dressed.

He kisses your cheek. “I have a title to defend, if I lose it’ll be bring shame to us for decades to come.” You giggle at the absurdity of it.

The brothers wouldn’t let any of you watch their snowball fight, but you and the other ladies love imagining how ridiculous they look.

He starts to head out the door when you say, “If you win I’ll have to provide you with a hero’s welcome, we’ll have to celebrate.”

“Oh yeah?” He kisses you.

“You better hope you win or the hero’s welcome goes to the victor. Would hate to have to celebrate with Rhys or Cassian.” He growls at that, rolling his eyes.

“Good thing I’ve crafted the perfect strategy this year.”

And he did. He won, beating them in the shortest time they’ve ever seen.

-

After his hero’s welcome, Azriel started getting nervous. The two of you exchange solstice gifts in private before seeing everyone else. You’ve talked about kids before, but what if you’ve changed your mind? What if you decided he wouldn’t be a good father?

His insecurities start eating at him, when you present him with a present.

“Open it,” you say, buzzing with excitement and nerves. He unwraps the small bundle to open a box containing a small, thin chain with your first initial on it.

“I got us matching ones, see” you say, pulling an identical chain with the letter A on it, “so even when we’re apart the world knows you’re mine and that I’m yours.”

Azriel envelops you in a bone-crushing hug. “I love it,” he mumbles into your hair, kissing your forehead a million times as you giggle.

“Sorry that my gift was so small compared to yours,” you say, peaking over at the package behind him.

Azriel pulls back, completely forgetting about his gift to you, getting nervous again to tell you.

“Please, open it.”

You open the package to find a beautiful mobile for a baby crib. It is made of twinkling stars that shine ever so softly, and as you look at it, some of Azriel’s shadows push the mobile so it spins. The shadows mix with stars, creating an absolutely stunning recreation of the night sky.

“Wow it’s gorgeous, but aren’t these usually for babies-“ the look on Azriel’s face stops you immediately.

“Am I-“

“Yes.”

“Pregnant?”

“Yes.”

He wants to give you a minute to digest it, soak it in, however you take him by surprise and tackle him to the ground in a hug so full of love it takes his breath away.

“We’re having a baby!” You say, a little louder than intended. Cassian bursts through the door, yelling “we’re having a baby!” as he comes over to you, picking you up off of Azriel and spinning you around.

“You nosey old fool!” You yell in delight at him “were you listening behind the door?”

Cassian puts you down as he says “well I had to make sure he told you otherwise none of us would have been able to keep the secret any longer.”

“Who knew?” You say, seeing the guilty look all over Azriel’s face. And with that question, everyone else pours in to congratulate the two of you. You turn to Azriel “so am I the last to know?”

Azriel reddens a bit as he says, “to be fair, I only told my brothers, they are the ones that couldn’t keep a secret.”

He turns and gives Cassian a death glare, which Cassian responds to by tackling Azriel in a hug. By this point the other members of the inner circle have come by, offering their congratulations and happiness with you. Mor envelops you in a hug while she cries that is so tight Feyre has to pry her off of you.

Looking around at your family, you think if your babe is loved even a tenth of how much you are, they will be so so so happy.

It was the best Solstice gift - spending time with your family and being excited for your new addition.

[kaleldobrev]

Come Back Home

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Fem!Reader

Summary: After a relationship ending argument that caused you to leave the Bunker, you and Dean haven’t heard from/seen each other in over a year. Are there still sparks between you two? The better question is: Did they ever truly leave in the first place?

Word Count: 4.5k

Warnings: Cursing (1x), Mutual Pining, Fluff, A bit of angst

Authors Note: Flashbacks are in italics | I had such a hard time coming up with a summary for this | If you liked this, don’t forget to like & reblog. I really appreciate it! Feedback is always welcome ♡

It’s been over a year since you’ve last heard from or have seen Dean Winchester. The two of you were together for several years before eventually an argument erupted between the two of you, which ended in the two of you breaking up, and you leaving the Bunker; the only permanent home you had since yours burned down when you were a teenager.

“Y/N, why are you moving out?” Jack asked, as you were in yours and Dean’s shared – now former – bedroom. You were currently packing up a single duffel bag; a bag that had your entire life in it, a bag that you had been lugging around with you for as long as you could remember since the house fire.

Taking one of your shirts, you folded it up and placed it into the bag. You turned to look at Jack, a slightly sorrowful look on your face. “You know why Jack.” You didn’t want to move out, but you had thought that it would be for the best; especially since one of the reasons you had moved into the Bunker in the first place is because you and Dean had started dating. Before you had made the decision, Sam had told you that you didn’t have to move out, because him, Cas, and Jack had liked having you here. Even Dean – although the two of you were no longer together. But you had told Sam that seeing Dean every day – at least for now – was a little bit too painful for you.

“But everything is so much better with you here.” The last thing that Jack had wanted was for you to go. Ever since you moved into the Bunker, Jack said that it seemed more like a home. You had added so many personal touches that the Winchester’s never would have thought of otherwise if it wasn’t for you. Making an actual effort to celebrate every holiday – even the minor ones, implementing family dinners every Sunday, decorating for the holidays, hanging up pictures, and even having various house plants throughout.

You reached out for Jack’s hand and took it in yours, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I know Jack but…” You sighed. “Dean and I aren’t together anymore and I thought that it would be best for me to leave.”

“Just because you aren’t together doesn’t mean you have to leave. Sam said –” Jack started to say but you cut them off, knowing exactly what they were going to say.

“I know what Sam said. But, just because I’m leaving the Bunker doesn’t mean you and me still can’t talk.” You gave him a small smile and placed your hand on their cheek. Jack smiled back in return; their smile trying to convey understanding but hurt at the same time.

“Okay.” Jack said. “Can I hug you?” They asked.

“Of course. You don’t have to ask.” You said.

Jack and you hugged for what seemed like a long time; neither of you wanting to let go.

“Thanks Sam. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” You smiled, sitting crossed legged on the bed with your laptop in front of you. You had just received some photos of a book that you knew that had been in the Bunker for a case that you were currently working on and had asked Sam to send you some pictures. Although the Bunker was about an hours drive from where you were working the case and Sam had even offered to drop off the books, you had told him that it was best for him to just send you the pictures. You had felt that seeing him in person would make you start crying, even though you knew he had wanted to see you.

“I already know what you’re going to say but, I just wanted to ask. After you’re done there, did you…did you want to come over?” Sam already knew that you were going to say no, but he had wanted you to say yes. Even though he talked to you pretty regularly and the two of you sent photos back and forth, he still missed you. Seeing you physically was a lot different compared to FaceTiming you.

“I can’t Sam.” You sighed softly, closing the laptop in front of you and pushing it to the side. “I mean…I want to. But…I don’t want things to be awkward between me and Dean.” Although you had regularly kept in contact with Sam, Jack, and Cas, Dean on the other hand you didn’t. It wasn’t entirely his fault though, as communication went both ways. There were countless times over the year where you had wanted to call him, text him, something. But each and every time the thought had entered your mind you turned to the comfort of alcohol or a warm body instead.

Sam sighed, knowing that you were going to say no. But there was a small part of him that had hoped you would say yes, especially because of how close you were. “I had to give it a shot right?” Sam held the phone in his hands as he sat in the War Room, open to one of the pages he had sent you pictures of.

“I know.” You sighed too. You had wanted to go back to the Bunker, it was something that you had been thinking about a lot lately. As much as you loved when Jack sent you pictures of everything that was going on, it also made you sad. “How’s…How is he?” You didn’t have to specify, full well knowing that Sam would know who you meant.

Sam had wanted to lie to you, tell you that Dean was doing okay, but he knew that you would see right through the lie. At the same time, he didn’t want to tell you the truth either. Ever since you and Dean had broken up and you had moved out, he noticed such a huge change in him. When he wasn’t being a recluse hauled up in his room, drowning his pain in his alcohol of choice, he had wanted to work case after case to stay busy.

“You know, Y/N is only a few hours away. Maybe she would –” Sam began to say, but Dean quickly down him down.

“We’re not asking her.” Dean’s voice was hard and cold. “She wouldn’t come anyway.”

“Yeah…I guess you’re right.” Sam sighed, knowing that Dean was right. It had been a few months since you and Dean had broken up. The two of you had made it perfectly clear that you didn’t want to see each other. Well, the two of you had wanted to, but the two of you were too stubborn to admit it. Sam knew, that if you were in trouble or if Dean was in trouble, either of you would drop everything to go and help, despite how things had ended between you two. “I’m gonna call her. Ask if she knows anything about what we’re hunting.” He got up from his chair in the motel room and dialed your number, walking outside of the room.

Dean looked at the pages before him and eyed his phone, sighing quietly to himself. Picking it up he unlocked it with his passcode – your birthday – and stared at the homescreen wallpaper. It was a photo that you had taken of the two of you. You were lying in bed together; both of your hair messy and all over the place. He was kissing you on the cheek and you had the biggest smile on your face. He had no idea why he loved this picture so much but he did. He wished that he could go back to that moment more than anything.

Sam walked back into the room, Dean quickly closing his phone. “What’d she say?”

“She thinks we’re hunting a nuckelavee.” Sam sat down across from his older brother.

“A what?” That was something that Dean had never heard of, and he was pretty sure that Sam had never heard of it either.

“It’s a horse-like demon from Orcadian folklore. Apparently, its breath wilts crops, sickens livestock, is responsible for droughts. Three things that we have seen. But get this, it’s mainly a sea-dwelling creature.” Sam explained.

“So what’s a knocklevee –” Dean began, but Sam quickly interrupted.

“It’s nuckelavee. And, Y/N has a theory about that. A lot of Celtic people settled here in North Carolina. So, she’s thinking that since they brought their culture here –” Dean was the one to interrupt now.

“They brought the creature here with them.” Dean said, and Sam nodded. “Who knew her Celtic Folklore degree would come in handy.”

Sam gave Dean a puzzled look. “I didn’t know she had a Celtic Folklore degree.”

“He’s…He’s Dean.” Was the best thing that Sam could come up with to tell you. It was vague enough, but he also wasn’t lying to you.

“I uh…I gotta go Sam. I have an interview with a professor in about 30 minutes.” You got up from the bed and started making your way toward the motel bathroom. “I’ll call you later once the case is over.” You paused. “Thanks.”

“Bye Y/N. Be careful.” Sam responded, his voice sounding a bit too sad for your liking.

“Always am.” You reassured him before hanging up the phone. You looked at your phones wallpaper, a photo that you had wanted to change, but didn’t have the heart to do it, even though it’s been more than a year since you and Dean had ended things. It was a picture that you had taken while you were lying in bed with him; both of your hair messy from the night before. He was kissing your cheek, and you had the biggest smile on your face. You wished that you could go back to this moment because you remembered how happy you were here.

You woke up to the sounds of beeping and blinding lights; finding yourself squinting. Your mouth was dry, unable to recall the last time you had actually drank something. How long have you been here? Your eyes finally able to adjust to the brightness of the lights, you looked around and noticed that you were in the hospital; unsure of how you had ended up here in first place. The last thing you remembered happening was going to talk to the professor concerning the case that you were working on.

“Hi Professor Keating. I’m Agent Larkin. We talked on the phone.” You had knocked on the professors door, she was sitting at her desk and looked up at you with a soft smile on her face.

“Oh yes!” She quickly closed the book that was currently on her desk and got up from her chair. Walking over to you she held out her hand and you shook it. “You’re earlier than I was expecting.”

You looked down at your watch and noticed that you were about five minutes earlier than you’re scheduled interview time with her. “I can wait outside for a few minutes if need me to. But, I’d prefer not to. You understand that this incident is something that my office isn’t taking lightly.”

“Yes, of course.” The professor walked back over to her desk. “What do you need to know?”

When you turned to face the door to get more of a feel for your surroundings you noticed Dean slumped in the chair with his eyes closed and his arms crossed. You wondered how long he had been here. As if he knew you were looking in his direction he opened his eyes; the two of you making eye contact. He adjusted himself so he was now sitting upright in the chair. “Hey.” Dean said.

“Hey.” You said, unsure of what else to say to the man in front of you. There were in fact, a million different things that you had wanted to say to Dean, and there were a million things you had wanted to do. You had wanted to hug him, kiss him, tell him that you missed him. You felt tears start to well up in your eyes, no longer able to hold the composure that you were trying so hard to have. The last thing you had wanted was to cry in front of Dean. Not that you hadn’t cried in front of him before, but after not seeing each other in over a year, you didn’t want the first interaction between the two of you to be of you crying.

Dean got up from his chair without any kind of hesitation and walked over to the hospital bed. He took your hand – the one that didn’t have an IV stuck in it – and held it. For some reason, you weren’t expecting him to take your hand. Although you haven’t held his hand in over a year, the feeling of it felt like no time had passed, like you had just held it the same day or the day before. “How did you know I was here?” You asked.

“You still had John Bonham as your emergency contact.” You had forgotten that you had put Dean as your number one contact if something were to ever happen to you. You had meant to change it to someone else, but never got the chance to. With everything that had happened over the course of the last year, changing your emergency contact list was honestly the last thing that was on your mind.

“I’m surprised Sam didn’t come instead.” You replied, Dean went back to sitting in the chair that he had just been napping in.

“I told him not to.” Dean’s words caught you by surprise. A slightly confused expression must have formed on your face because of the next words Dean had said. “He offered to come in my place. But when I told him no,” he chuckled softly, “I swear he…” He looked at you, almost as if he was in some kind of disbelief. “He had the biggest smile on his face. Haven’t really seen him smile since…” Ever since you had left, the Bunker didn’t feel as warm. Sam, Jack, Cas, and even Dean himself, who despite everything that have gone through always had some kind of smile on their faces whenever you were around. But when you decided to leave, it was as if all the happiness had left the place. Dean hadn’t seen the three of them smile it seemed in almost a year; himself included.

“How long have you been here? Last thing I remember I was interviewing the professor. I don’t know if Sam told you or not.” As much as you had wanted to sit up, because of how awkward it was to be lying down in the position you were in to be talking to Dean, the slight pain that you were currently in was making it a little difficult to actually want to sit up.

“Haven’t been here that long. They called me about four hours ago. Arrived 30 minutes after that.”

Dean was lying in his bed, staring at the empty space next to him. It has been a year since you had slept in that spot next to him, and each and every day he had hoped that he would somehow wake up and you would be there lying next to him. That was one of the things that he had taken for granted while the two of you were together; waking up next to you. Each and every morning he would wake up to the scent of your body wash, that still lingered on your skin from your shower that night. He loved waking up to the smell of warm vanilla and honey; a scent that he thought used to be generic smelling – until he met you.

“I shouldn’t still be missing you.” He said to the empty space. The two of you ending things was one of the worst regrets of his life; and throughout his life, he had his fair share of regrets. So many times he had wanted to take back the things he said to you that night. So many times he had wanted to call you and tell you that he was sorry, that he was the one that was the jerk; not you. Over the course of the year he had forgotten what the argument even was about; but knew that it was probably something ridiculous, something that either of you could have easily gotten over.

His phone started to ring just then, unsure of who could possibly be calling him. Everyone that he had talked to was currently in the Bunker; besides you of course, but he knew for a fact that you wouldn’t be calling him. The number that came up was unknown, but he decided to answer it anyway just in case. He had somehow hoped that maybe you had changed your number and this was you calling. “Hello?” He asked.

“Hi. Is this...John Bonham?” An unfamiliar female voice asked. Definitely not you.

“Yeah, that’s me.” He was hesitant to say anything else.

“This is Nurse Julia from Republic County Hospital in Belleville, Kansas. I was calling in regard to a Joan Larkin.” Nurse Julia had said. For a moment, slight confusion washed over Dean as he didn’t know a Joan Larkin, well he did, that was the real name of Joan Jett; that’s when it clicked – Joan Larkin was you. Only you would have picked that name. “I’m calling because you’re her emergency contact.”

“Yes, she’s my…Is she okay?” He almost called you his girlfriend, something that you hadn’t been for such a long time. He almost slipped.

“Can you come in Mister Bonham? I would prefer not to talk about this over the phone.” Her voice was calm, and it was something that he needed, even though his heart was racing and his brain was coming up with worst case scenarios.

“Yeah. Yeah. I can be there.” He confirmed, before hanging up the phone. He had never put on his boots and grabbed his keys so fast in his life.

You smiled, not surprised that Dean had floored it to get here. You knew that the drive was supposed to be an hour, maybe a little bit more, but Dean had managed to make it a 30-minute drive. “Can’t believe you drove 30 minutes for me.” That’s not why you were impressed, you were impressed that he had driven here at all, given the fact that you two didn’t leave things on the best terms.

“I’d drive 30 hours straight for you.” The words that escaped Dean’s lips not only surprised you, but surprised him. The two of you hadn’t ended things on the best terms, and this was the first interaction that the two of you have had in over a year; only getting bits and pieces of each other’s lives through other people. Some of the information was reliable, some not; but in a weird way, it still felt like you were still in each other’s lives even if you didn’t talk to each other or see each other. He still cared for you, even if at times he couldn’t admit it to himself or other people. Deep down, he had hoped that you still cared about him too, but he wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t.

“The doctor said they would release you tonight. Your injuries weren’t that serious.” Dean said, not really giving you any time to respond to his previous comment. He wasn’t sure if he was protecting himself or you. There was a small part of him, that had wanted to know how you would have responded, but the part of him that won was the part that didn’t want to be rejected by you.

“What did the doctor say?” You asked. You wanted to respond to what he said previously, but he had quickly changed the subject too fast for you to.

“You had slight head trauma, but not a concussion. Not sure how you managed to pull that one off.” When Dean had talked to the doctor, they said that you had suffered a minor brain injury, but it wasn’t bad enough for you to get a concussion, which he was thankful for. Between you and him, you two have suffered plenty of concussions to last a lifetime.

“Brain injuries don’t always involve concussions.” You commented; remembering an article that you had read somewhat recently.

“Thank you Doctor Larkin.” He smirked. “Nice name by the way.”

You couldn’t help but smile. “I learned from the best.” Before you had met the Winchester’s, using a rockstar alias is something that you would have never dreamed of using. Before you had met them, you always used some kind of generic name or a last name related to your childhood, almost as if you were filling out one of those security questions before you were able to log into your bank account. You had used your street name growing up, your favorite teacher’s last name, and even your mothers maiden name. You thought that using those names wouldn’t be as suspicious as using a famous one – like the Winchester’s had been doing for over 15 years.

“Shit.” You looked at Dean, a slight panic stricken look in your eyes. “My…my motel room. I have my case documents in there.”

“Don’t worry about it. I uh, while you were sleeping, I went and grabbed them for you. They’re in Baby along with the rest of your things.” After Dean made sure that you were safe and okay, he had left the hospital and went to your motel after calling Sam to see where you were staying.

Dean went up to the front desk, a slightly balding man was leaning up against the counter reading some kind of magazine that he’s never heard of. “Hey there. I was wondering if you could help me out.” Dean flashed the man a smile. The man looked up from the magazine he was reading; his expression bored. 

“Yeah?” His bored expression matched his bored sounding voice.

“My girlfriend is staying at this motel, and I wanted to surprise her. Can you tell me what room she’s staying in? I think she’s here under the name Larkin.” Calling you his girlfriend felt so good sounding coming out of his mouth, it was something that he had missed saying.

“Why don’t you text your girlfriend buddy.” The man placed air quotes around girlfriend.

“Listen, buddy.” Dean reached into his back pocket and pulled out a 20 dollar bill, sliding it in front of the man. “Can you tell me what room she’s in?” The man looked at the 20 in front of him and grabbed it desperately.

“113.” The man replied, placing the 20 in the front pocket of his shirt.

“Thanks. How did you –” You stopped yourself from finishing the sentence. “Never mind. I think I already know.” You were about to ask how Dean had gotten into your room, but you knew how good he was when it came to breaking into rooms that he had no good reason being in. “You said, you said you have the rest of my things?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Everything that I could find that I knew was yours. Still have that same duffel bag uh?” When he saw that you were still carrying that duffel bag around, it had made him smile, because he had missed seeing that bag of yours. He had told you countless times that you had needed a new bag, but you had refused, because the bag had too much sentimental value for you to give up. Seeing this bag of yours, in all of its slightly tattered and stained glory, it had become sentimental for him too.

“You have your baby, I have mine.” You knew that you needed a new one, but you couldn’t part of it. That duffel bad, although tattered and stained, held a lot of sentimental value for you. “When I leave tonight, I’ll take it out of your hands. I have a case to finish.”

“No you don’t Sunshine.” The nickname that he had given you when you first met easily rolled off his tongue. “Sam got it handled. The professor you talked to? She was the big bad. She was the one that knocked you out too.”

You practically threw your head back onto the pillow. “Of course she was.” You didn’t know how you didn’t see it, but thinking back, it was rather obvious. All of the students that had been murdered were hers, she was the last one that had seen them all alive: she was the common denominator. “I feel so stupid.”

“I’ll cut you some slack. You did suffer a brain injury.” He grinned, causing you to roll your eyes.

“Well, I’ll still take my things back from you.” You saw his face drop slightly at your comment. You cocked your head, furrowing your brow. “What?”

“Would you…would you want to come back?” He was hesitant to ask.

“Come back where? The Bunker?” You asked, almost in disbelief that he would even ask. “Dean I don’t think –”

“Y/N, I want you to come back.” Yet another sentence that had surprised you. “The Bunker hasn’t been the same without you. I…I haven’t been the same without you.” His words started to crush you; you were speechless. You didn’t realize what kind of impact that you had had when you left. You knew that Jack, Cas, and Sam were going to miss you, they always told you how much they missed you and you did the same. They were like family to you, and you hated to leave your family. But you did what you thought was best, and clearly, that was a mistake. “I’m not blaming you. I’m, I’m blaming myself.”

“Dean, please don’t blame yourself.” There truly was no reason for him to blame himself, because you too were at fault. “We both said things that we probably shouldn’t have said to each other.” You sighed. “To be honest, I can’t even remember what the argument was even about. But I know it was something that we both should have gotten over.”

“To be honest, I can’t remember what the argument was about either. I just know it was about something stupid.” He got up from his chair, reaching into his front pocket and pulling out his phone, handing it to you.

“Why are you giving me your phone?” You were confused.

“Unlock it.” His response simple.

“Dean I don’t know your –”

“I never changed it.” With that, you typed in your birthday and his phone unlocked to reveal his wallpaper: it was the same photo of the two of you that was the wallpaper on yours.

“Dean…” You felt your eyes well up with tears again; Dean leaned down and kissed you on the top of your head. You didn’t realize how much you had missed the top of his head kisses. While you were with him, it was something that you had taken for granted because it was something he did all the time.

“Come back home.” Dean said; three words that he had wanted to tell you the second you walked out the doors of the Bunker over a year ago.

“Permanently?” You asked.

“Permanently.” He confirmed.

[hanggarae]

MONSTER - I’M CREEPING IN YOUR HEART BABE

↺ content your new ceo getting on your nerves the first day you meet him, part of my ‘promotion’ series, ceo!jeonghan, f!office worker!reader, jeonghan’s an asshole, suggestive, doyoung is ur coworker, jealous jeonghan for like a second, this is honestly hardly a tear jerker so idk if it’s technically angst but ig ?? idk 😞

↺ a/n : 2.5k words (yikes!), npr, another enemies to lovers jeonghan everyone act surprised this is my first time writing anything suggestive do NAWT perceive me rn 😭☝🏼 this is also loosely based on the lyrics of monster by exo saurrrr it might be fun listening to that while reading idk

“That soon?” your group manager sighed a few feet ahead of your desk. He'd been frustrated at whatever conversation he was having over the phone for the last ten minutes now. You tried not to pay it any mind but it was getting harder now that it got him so worked up his voice could be heard through the entire office.

Your coworker Doyoung looked at you and looked like he wanted to cry. You tilted your head a little confused at what happened to him.

“If he’s this mad about something you just know the rest of us are going to get dragged in too?” he groaned before you could ask him what’s up.

“Who is he even talking to?” you asked him while rolling your chair away from your computer.

“The boss” Doyoung sighed. “The boss as in the ceo you idiot” he continued when you still looked confused.

You mouthed a silent ‘oh’ quickly understanding why your boss was so frustrated. You didn't know much about the ceo except for the fact that he only recently took over. His father retired less than a year ago and you all got the announcement that the current ceo took over only three months ago.

The Yoon company was huge and had establishments all over the country, even some internationally. You figured he would eventually visit each office to oversee what everyone was doing (read: stress everyone out for a twenty minute visit).

Before you could groan at the thought of it your manager got off the phone and clapped to get everyone’s attention. “So that was the ceo’s assistant” he said tiredly, “he’s coming this Friday”

It was almost comedic how instantly everybody complained. You couldn’t blame them. That was three days away, was he insane?

“The problem with Mr Yoon is that if you’re not ahead of the work, you’re behind. So even if we’re for the most part caught up with everything, he’ll likely find a way to complain about our branch.” You watched your manager scan through his personal spreadsheet that kept track of everyone’s work and current projects before he turned to you. “y/n I hate to throw this on you but you and Mingyu are the only ones not currently working on any specific project. Do you think the two of you could get started on that project for the Yang family?”

You knew what he was talking about. It was a project that you were supposed to work on in a month. “If we get it started early maybe he’ll cut us some slack on taking our sweet time with that project for Miss Park”

You nodded, agreeing to get started with the presentation for it. You’d essentially be doing this alone because Mingyu was still on a leave for visiting his family and he’d get back after the ceo was done visiting.

The next two days you spent getting less than three hours of sleep. At first Doyoung encouraged you to just half-ass the presentation but you knew that there was still the off chance that the ceo still went through the work thoroughly, if he did you don’t know how you’d be able to explain why the work was done at such a low level.

You managed to scrape together getting most of it done. The entire project was nowhere near done but considering the actual meeting for it was two months away, getting the presentation done already would surely put you and the office in the ceo’s good books.

Sipping your coffee, you trudged to your desk and stifled a yawn as you settled your things down. Looking at the calendar on your computer you confirmed it was Friday, meaning the ceo that made your last few days hell would be coming today.

You arrived here earlier than usual so you could make sure everything was set up correctly and quickly get one of the supervisors to double check the presentation.

“Look alive, his car just pulled up” Doyoung muttered, walking around your desk to get to his own and get his own belongings settled.

You sighed, mentally preparing yourself for the day. You just knew it’d be a long one.

The double doors pushed open, revealing who you assumed was the ceo. You knew he was young but you didn’t think he’d be that handsome, and oddly.. familiar? You didn’t even realize you were staring until Doyoung tapped you and beckoned you to get back to work.

“Everyone, this is Mr Yoon, the new ceo” your manager stepped aside to allow the ceo to take the center.

“It’s nice to meet you all, my name is Jeonghan. I look forward to seeing what everyone in this branch is capable of” he smiled.

‘Jeonghan’ talked to your manager before sauntering over to your desk, a polite business smile on his face. “I understand you are the one working on the Yang family project Miss..” he looked for your name tag. When he saw it you swear something in his face changed when he sneered speaking your name.

He looked back to your face, observing you before the corner of his lip quirked up. “It would seem like you are this branch’s most capable employee, Miss y/n”

“Oh I wouldn’t say that-” you tried to object.

“Come with me. Bring the presentation materials with you” he turned, not willing to hear any objection from your manager.

You hadn’t practiced presenting it, barely rereading any of the actual information on the slides. For the most part, you’d have to wing it.

As expected, the presentation was somewhat of a mess. The lack of sleep got to you so you weren’t as engaging with the presentation as you’d usually be, on top of that whenever you looked over at Jeonghan it felt like you were tripping over your words even more. It almost felt like he was staring and smirking at you on purpose.

By the time you were done with the presentation it was time for your break. You needed to unwind after the morning you had, scrolling through your phone and checking for any food places nearby that were open. You’d forgotten to pack a lunch and usually you’d deal with it, drinking an extra coffee instead but you desperately needed to just eat anything good to get your mind off of your annoying ceo.

Before you called and ordered, you figured you’d ask if anybody else wanted something too. You first asked your manager and were about to ask Doyoung except the ceo decided to strike up a conversation with him. Too hungry to wait you decided to just walk up and ask, it was your break anyway who cared?

“Hey Doyoung, I’m headed out for lunch. You want me to grab you anything to eat?” you asked him, not paying your ceo any mind while you felt him staring at you.

“Sure. I’ll text you, thanks” he smiled.

Before you headed off you decided to ask the ceo too since he seemed like the type to hold a grudge if you didn’t. “I’m alright, thank you for the offer”

“Here’s your food Doyoung” you smiled tiredly while you handed your coworker the bag.

You sat at the table with your own lunch, getting your food out and scrolling through your phone. You got a notification from that dating app you’d been using for a couple months now, answering the texts from the guy you’d been texting back and forth for a while now. His name was Minseok, you were originally supposed to go out with him a few days ago but had to take a raincheck to work on the project.

Just as you were about to text back that you too were excited for the date tonight, you felt your ceo looming over your shoulder.

“y/n. After you’re done with your break, come see me in my office” Jeonghan said plainly before stalking off.

You gulped, trying to shake off the nerves before focusing on your meal.

You weren’t sure if you wanted the break to end quickly or drag on. On one hand you wanted to get whatever Jeonghan was going to say over and done with, but on the other hand you didn’t want to have to actually deal with whatever he was going to say.

When your break did end, you were hesitant to see him, contemplating outside of his door for a few moments before sighing and biting the bullet. You straightened out your attire before walking into his office and walking toward his desk.

“You asked me to see you, Sir?” you smiled curtly.

“Take a seat” he pointed in front of the desk, opposite from him. “I’ve been thinking, I eventually need to stay in one branch and I want that branch to be this one” he tapped his desk while he spoke uninterested in his own words.

“The reason I’m telling all of this to you,” he circled his desk to stand directly at you. Eyes looking up at his, you gulped taking in his appearance. You really did not like him but you couldn’t deny he was good looking, bangs falling neatly over his eyes and looming over you like you were his prey.

“I’m telling you this because I want you to be my assistant” he smiled, despite that you felt like it was a trap.

Your mouth went dry and you forced out your next words, “assistant?”

“Don’t make that confused face, it makes you look stupid,” he laughed, causing your blood to boil. “You have excellent organizational skills, I could really use that in an assistant”

As much as you hated his guts, it was a good opportunity. If you worked up from his assistant you could eventually be a branch manager yourself one day. But the thought of working with him seemed like hell. Still, you bit back the bitter taste in your mouth, “I’d be delighted to, Sir. Thank you for the opportunity”

“Excellent” Jeonghan clapped, “your first task will be planning out my schedule for the new year. Make yourself comfortable and work at that spare desk over there” he dropped his planner and notes from his former assistant onto your lap before heading out of the office.

You stared at the mess for a few seconds, feeling yourself get more annoyed by the second. “Oh and y/n” he popped his head back in the door, “you’re not allowed to clock out until all of that is organized, understand?”

And he left again before you could confirm or oppose his decision. You decided it was useless trying to argue and settled with texting Minseok that you’d have to take another raincheck. Judging by the way he read the message but didn’t reply, it was safe to assume that it might not ever be rescheduled.

Hours passed and you were still only about halfway through planning the ceo’s schedule. You knew everyone was clocking out when you saw Doyoung wave pitifully at you through the glass door.

“You haven’t changed one bit, you know that?” Jeonghan piped up when the entire floor left for the night. In all honesty you’d forgotten he was still here considering he napped at his desk the first chance he got.

“What are you talking about?” you frowned. What did he mean? When did he ever know you prior to this?

“You never speak up, do you? Even back in high school you never did” he laughed mockingly.

High school? Okay, what was wrong with- oh. Now you remember. Yoon Jeonghan, you don’t know how it took so long to put two and two together. You were both in the same honors class in high school and constantly competed for the top spot. You didn’t necessarily resent him much at first but given how he was constantly pushed by his family to be the best, he loathed you for coming in his way of it. Because of this, he eventually made your life a living hell too, so you graduated hoping you’d never see him again.

“Remember now, huh? God I hated you, always being such a nuisance” he sneered down at you. You didn’t process him closer to you until he leaned over your desk and now face to face with you. “How does it feel to know you ended up below me anyway?”

You didn’t want to start an argument with your new boss, especially considering you’d be working with him at all times now. But you remembered his comment from earlier and it annoyed you how he spoke to you like you were inferior to him.

“It doesn’t feel like anything. Because I know that I at least earned my spot here, all you did was happen to be born in a good family” you watched as his smirk turned sour, anger crossing his face before he laughed lowly.

“You’ve got some nerve for talking to your boss like that. I could fire you right now, you want that y/n?”

The taller man laughed at the fear that flashed in your eyes. “Oh you poor thing, ran out of arguments?” he pouted condescendingly. “You were so confident a second ago, is one little threat all it takes to mess you up?”

You didn’t respond to his taunts, biting back your tongue so you couldn’t respond. It was pointless, he wasn’t the type to let you go easily if you argued back and he wasn’t worth losing your job over.

“You’re really boring me now y/n” he chuckled, “come on fight back a little, yeah?”

You turned to look at his face but gasped when you realized he’d gotten even closer, his face mere centimeters away from your own. “Jeonghan” you sighed, eyes fluttering shut to avoid his hard stare.

“Who gave you permission to call me by my name? You’re just my employee y/n. You worked so hard when we were younger just for you to be my lowly employee” he laughed in your face.

His words caused small tears to swell in your eyes and you tried to blink them away before he noticed them.

“Isn’t that just so cute?” Your boss cooed, wiping at your tears, “don’t cry baby”

You let out a small gasp at the pet name, desperately hoping he wouldn’t notice.

“You like that, huh?” Jeonghan observed your face, drinking in your appearance, looking a mess as a result of his harsh words and treatment. “Wonder what else you like” he mumbled, slim fingers moving from your cheeks to slide over your neck, eventually settling on your shoulder.

“Get back to work, yeah?” he left before you could say anything else. You watched as he walked away, taking this as your chance to leave. He could ridicule for it tomorrow but you couldn’t stay here any longer, not when you felt the need to kiss him right there.

Get a grip! You hated him! And he hated you, albeit that realisation did sting a little.

Ugh and you couldn’t even avoid him anymore, you were literally his assistant now there was no avoiding him. Whatever, he’d get bored of trying to get a rise out of you in a month or less so all you had to do was put up with him until then.

[dotieeee]

The Gamemaker's Apprentice

Level 16

Pairing: Dark!Young!Coriolanus Snow x You, named!Reader

Overall Warnings:

NON-CON, DUB-CON, Dark!Young!Coriolanus Snow, Snow himself should be a warning, lots of blackmailing, gaslighting, manipulation, obsession, possesiveness, eventual forced marriage, eventual loss of virginity, breeding kink, canon-compliant major character death, reader is named but has no physical descriptions in the fic so one might also consider her an OC but in 2nd POV, will have canon inconsistencies, drugging, somnophilia, and other stuff that may be added

Masterlist

Level 16 Warnings:

Non-consensual dom-sub dynamic (belt-flogging), alcoholic consumption, bullying

Replay Level 15

Ready? Level 16 Start:

You didn’t really want to be here. Not at all, no sir.

You were a big fan of routine. Every day from Monday to Friday, Ms Rosenthal would come by at your home to supervise your studies. You’ve heard her compliment you many times to Uncle Cas about how you’re quite a few levels too advanced for children your age; you’ve been getting perfect scores in all your arithmetic tests; your reading and writing skills are superb.

Two months ago, however, Uncle had decided to take a pause on the routine and mentioned it was perhaps time to try something new: going to school for a day to see how you’d like it. This, you didn't understand. You’ve been doing exceptionally well with your studies, kept your nose clean and everything – so how come Uncle had to disrupt the way things were just because your psychologist told him to?

“Nellie is just eight and she needs to spend time with people her age, Mr Innis. She may be intellectually gifted, but besides her tutoring sessions, you may want to see her enrolled in any of our elementary schools and be around with other kids to prevent emotionally stunted growth.”

According to your research, the psychologist just called you aloof and immature.

But Uncle Cas pleaded that you give this day a chance. Just this first day of school, and he said if you didn’t like it, he wouldn’t pressure you to stay.

So far, except for odd stares from the other kids on the playground, you’d been left alone on a stone bench reading a book you had brought for comfort.

Algebra I For Beginners.

You wanted to be like your uncle working with computers one day, and he said if you wanted a leg-up, Algebra was the way to start. You took out a notebook and a pencil, intending to begin with an equation on page thirty-one, when you spotted several kids convening around the base of one of the slides, whispering among themselves. One of them, the blonde girl with pigtails in the middle, pointed to someone on the swing – a boy with thick brown curls and downcast brown eyes – followed by everyone else’s laughter. Anyone from a distance like yours could easily see that they were making fun of him for whatever reason – all of them except the tall boy with blond wavy locks and bright blue eyes, who ignored both the laughter and the boy on the swing, merely hanging back to observe. There was something a tad snobbish in his facial expression, but you couldn’t really tell. Maybe that’s just how he usually looked. You’d later discover how correct your initial assumption would be.

One of the kids, you didn’t see who, pelted the boy with brown curls with a pebble, but it hit the sand near him, loud enough to attract his attention.

From across the short distance you heard one of them say, “Hey, is it true they eat babies in the districts?”

Everyone, save the blond boy, burst into raucous laughter and went on to call him names you’ve only heard on television before, which made you frown a bit.

The boy was clearly minding his own business. Why would they bother him at all by calling him needlessly cruel names?

You abandoned your book and your bag and approached them.

“Excuse me,” you politely interjected. “What did he do?”

The girl with pigtails in the middle said, “Who are you?”

“That doesn’t matter,” you said.

They whispered among themselves, which you only caught glimpses of.

“You think she’s District too?”

“She doesn’t sound like it…”

“I haven’t seen her before…”

One of them quipped, “He’s District. Are you?”

“That shouldn’t matter, either. Everyone should be treated fairly.”

“You know what my father calls your type? A rebel s-sin..synthesiser,” a brown-haired girl said with contempt.

“I think the correct word would be ‘sympathiser,’” you replied with a tilt of your head, which earned an eye roll from the girl.

“Whatever, freak,” she said snootily. “Ugh, I’m leaving, this isn’t fun anymore.”

Everyone in the group groaned but they dispersed. The blond boy, however, stared at you with mild interest, which he tried to hide using a blank expression. You ignored him in favour of talking to the brown-haired boy – he could’ve stopped his ‘friends’ from calling him terrible names, but instead, he just stood back and did nothing.

“Don’t mind them,” you gave him what you thought was a friendly smile. “They’re all just huge shitbags.”

Both the boys seemed taken aback by your language. Your uncle always had to tell you not to say things like that, but you hear him use that kind of language all the time, especially in the kitchen. “My name is Prunella Innis. You can call me Nellie.”

You held out your hand to the brown-eyed boy, which he shook tentatively.

The blond boy confidently strode over to you and took out his palm. “Coriolanus. Coriolanus Snow.”

“Hi,” you flashed him the same smile and shook his hand lightly. You then turned to the other boy, who got out of his perch on the swing and introduced himself, sniffling.

“My name’s Sejanus Plinth.”

“I know,” Coriolanus said matter-of-factly. “I heard your family just moved to the Capitol.”

The boy named Sejanus nodded, but there was something sad behind his eyes. To try and make him feel better, you said, “Sejanus, huh? Mine did about two years ago.”

Both the boys gave you surprised looks; you shrugged it off and said, “So what? It certainly didn’t do my parents any favours.”

Sejanus actually cracked a smile, but Coriolanus’s real expression remained masked behind what you could tell was a fake smile.

A word you recently learned, ‘elitist,’ crossed your mind. You’d discover much later that assumption too, would be correct.

“You’ve been here since the middle of the war? I haven’t seen you in school before,” the curious blond asked.

“I’m homeschooled.” And if you had anything to say about it, you liked it better that way.

Sejanus bashfully showed a tiny brown bag. You peered inside and saw gumdrops. Your uncle didn’t hoard gumdrops as much as he did with chocolates, so you suspected that he didn’t like them very much. You took one, saying ‘thank you’, and Coriolanus took some after you.

“Am I going to see you around?” Sejanus asked you, looking somewhat hopeful.

Your smile faltered a little. “Probably not.”

Sejanus’s brows drew together. “Why not?”

“My uncle says I don’t have to stay if I don’t like it. And I’ve decided that I don’t.”

“So you’re going to keep studying…at home?” Coriolanus wondered with a tone that sounded like it was a foreign concept to him.

“Yes.”

You smiled at them both and went back to your bench to pick up where you left off in the book. Your uncle emerged not much later from the building with an expectant look on his face. That look immediately morphed into exasperation once he saw you begin packing your bag.

“Let me guess: the place didn’t even stand a chance.”

Nodding, you added, “The kids here are hostile; therefore I think the environment may be cutthroat.”

Your Uncle Cas sighed to himself and commented under his breath, “You know, sometimes I think your vocabulary is a punishment for my past actions…”

Ignoring this, you glanced up at your uncle with an innocent grin and asked, “So, do we get ice cream after?”

“A big, whopping ‘no.’ Not a damn chance.”

Uncle Cas only laughed at the pout on your face, but you glanced back at the boys named Sejanus and Coriolanus, nodding farewell to them both. The corner of Coriolanus’s mouth twitched upwards and Sejanus gave you a small wave. Your gaze lingered just a little on Sejanus’s warm brown eyes.

You would see both of them again in a few years’ time, but that little girl walking away from the schoolyard didn’t yet know that the boys would remain a permanent fixture in her life: one of them, taking her heart with him to his grave, and the other, forcibly twining with and shaping her entire future for the worse.

Nine fifty-eight on a Friday night is quite a busy time for Club She Said. The girls-only membership club is already packed with well-dressed rich Capitol women with pretty drinks in their hands, chattering about and giggling among themselves. The company whom you invited seems to have arrived surprisingly earlier than you have and is sitting at the bar seemingly engaged in a lively conversation with the lady bartender.

“You’re early,” you comment as you take the seat beside her.

“It’s called ‘growth. You should try it sometime, it wouldn’t hurt,” Livia Cardew jabs at you as she sips her drink.

Your maid of honour, casually dissing you. You roll your eyes in mild amusement as she orders a drink called The Dark Lady on your behalf – a blackberry-lemon smash – and say, “This is a nice place. It feels cosy and...safe.”

Your eyes dart around the club, spotting nothing but female staff – waitresses, DJs, bouncers – plus the numerous cliques who seem to be having a blast catching up with their girlfriends over drinks without the presence of their male partners. You’re thankful Livia chose this place on your behalf – even with your fiancé’s money and influence, this is a place he’ll never be allowed to enter.

Livia grinned smugly at your compliment. “Well, with your ridiculous time limit, I figured we both deserve to spend it wisely and without your boyfriend breathing down your neck.” She gives you a dead-eyed look and adds, “Honestly, he’s the only man I know who gives his girl just a measly one hour and thirty minutes to be out and about on a Friday night. So, unless he’s horny and he wants to fuck all the time, he’s just being an ass.”

This, you can’t agree more.

The lady bartender arrives with your drink, elegantly presented in a tall, slender glass, garnished with fresh blackberries and a lemon wedge. You thank her and turn to Livia to reply, “What can I say, I hit the jackpot. Oh my, this is amazing.” You had just taken a sip of the drink, which is by far the best you’ve ever had, to which the bartender beams in thanks.

Livia lets out screech of excitement. “Wait till you try Better Than Sex...”

She then proceeds to explain the drink’s etymology in great detail – a drink made of coffee liqueur, chocolate liqueur, full-cream milk and cherry grenadine, garnished with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. She goes on from She Said’s cocktails to showing you photos of bridesmaids’ gowns which she fishes out of her purse.

“I think this one fits your theme best,” she says as she points to a photo. “Besides, I look fucking fabulous in that colour and cut.”

Then she starts pointing out to you who’s sleeping with whom in the club, right before she jumps into the topic of arranging your bachelorette party.

“What? Absolutely not,” you say. Images of you passed out, drunk, and being hauled home by a displeased Coriolanus cross your mind. You shiver inwardly in horror at the idea.

“And why not?” she retorts, clearly outraged. “How could you fucking pass on your own hen party? That’s like, the hen’s only chance to have a bit of fun before the cock locks her in a cage and throws away the key. Pun totally intended.”

She takes a long swig of her drink and holds out a pointer finger for emphasis. “Read: by ‘fun,’ I meant strippers.”

With your eyebrows raised, you shake your head and respond, “Try mentioning that when he’s around and see if you get more than the icy stare.”

“Oh, boo-hoo. He used to hire escorts all the time. Honestly, he’s such a hypocrite.”

It takes you quite a bit of convincing for her to finally drop it and relent.

“Ugh, fine. Forgive me for trying to take my role seriously,” she sighs as she rolls her eyes dramatically and curls her lips in mock disapproval. “Don’t blame me down the line if you start feeling unfulfilled for not trying out other dicks for size.”

The lady bartender brings another round of cocktails for two, and you both clink your glasses together before sipping. This is the most alcohol you’ve consumed not just in one night, but also your entire life. You haven’t even gone through your second glass halfway and you’re already feeling the proverbial buzz.

“Okay, Innis. Spill. I know you didn’t invite me out for drinks just to shut down my hen party-hosting skills. Plus, we’ll get to meet at that cake-tasting thing tomorrow anyway. What is this about, for real?” Livia, ever the sharp one, rests her chin on the back of her hand and stares at you inquisitively.

You meet her gaze nonchalantly and reply, “Nothing. I was just bored. Can’t wait to try the cakes out.”

There is truth to that, somehow, because aside from the wedding preparations, college classes, and Coriolanus dragging you along to these events he’s always invited to, he still hasn’t allowed you to freely roam the city, perhaps fearing you’d attempt to contact your uncle and make a run for it again.

Livia squints her eyes at you while inching closer and not breaking eye contact. “You’re a good liar,” she concludes, leaning back into her seat and nodding in approval. “I like it.”

She gestures to the bartender for another round of drinks – your eyes widen when you realise she just ordered shots – and says with a mischievous grin as they arrive, “Luckily for me, I have methods of extracting valuable information – methods, mind you, that have, so far, yielded me with satisfactory results.”

You shake your head in mirth, accepting the drink from her. She raises her glass as if taking you on a challenge.

“Mark my word: you are going to fold, Innis.”

“Bite me, Cardew.”

Both of you burst into fits of laughter and throw your heads back in unison as you empty the shot glass. Two more of those and eventually you tap out of the drinking spree, earning the scathing comment ‘lightweight’ from your drinking buddy, who isn’t too far from your level of tipsiness despite what she brags about. You decide to order a basket of bacon-jalapeño poppers to nibble on, and you manage to get through half the basket before Livia takes it away and places it behind her, well beyond your reach.

“Easy on the grease, will you please?”

You pout. “Hey, I wasn’t done with that.”

She just replies with a frown, “Watch your figure. Tigris won’t like it if she makes adjustments to your dress at the last minute.”

You finish off the piece you’re holding with a single bite and lean on the bar with a slumped posture.

“Or not. You know, maybe if you let yourself go, your boyfriend might just – ”

“It’s Sejanus’s second death anniversary tomorrow.”

A pause passes between you two, with Livia staring at you as if she doesn’t know how to react or what to say to what you just blurted without warning.

“‘District boy?’” When you shoot her a half-hearted glare, she corrects herself, her tone a little more mellow, “Sorry, force of habit. And not to be a bitch, but why do you care?”

Why, indeed? The first year, you had no trouble going through, but the second somehow seems like another empty hole in your heart, slowly growing and gnawing away at the rest of it. Like all the aches you experienced just a few months after his death has come back in full force.

“Shit.”

Livia’s curse is followed by a slump in her posture as she leans on the bar and processes the information. “So, you really love him.”

“I do. Or did. I don’t know anymore.”

She motions for two glasses of water which arrives instantly. You’re only too happy for something without any trace of booze in it and drink the entire glass in one go.

“So, you called me here,” your drinking buddy says carefully, “Because you don’t know what to do and you can’t really talk to your boyfriend about it because he’d get jealous.”

Once again, she’s spot-on. Except she missed the part where you suspect that your boyfriend might’ve also killed him. You give her just a single look and she instantly confirms her hypothesis.

“He won’t get jealous; he’ll just shut me down.”

“That’s the same thing.” She sighs audibly and stares at you sombrely.

“You’re a sucker for self-punishment, you know that?”

You merely shrug in response.

“I’m not invalidating your feelings and shit, but this isn’t helping you at all in this Snow-situation.” Livia empties the last remaining shot glass. “I know you miss him, okay? It’s pretty clear. But that’s not going to bring him back. Just because your first love is gone and you’re stuck with your sociopathic fiancé doesn’t mean you have to be miserable.”

Livia gives you a look that can only mean ‘get your shit together’ and orders one more set of cocktails. When they arrive, she takes one for herself and hands you the other.

“But that also doesn’t mean we can’t toast to his memory.”

You take the glass and raise it. “To Sejanus Plinth.”

She copies your movement, muttering, “To your District Lover Boy, Sejanus Plinth.”

You both empty your glasses at the same time and you almost slam the glass back on the table. Never in a lifetime did you ever think toasting to your dead friend over a fruity-boozy drink could feel so cathartic, but here you are.

“There. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, get your shit together, Innis. You’re smarter than that.”

Despite her harsh reprimand, you find yourself chuckling, to which she just rolls her eyes, smirking exasperatedly.

“You know, he gives me so much grief for asking you to be my maid of honour.”

Livia lets out a shriek of glee. “I’d pay a fortune to have seen his reaction when you told him.”

“Oh, he was beyond m-miffed.” Your words are beginning to slur, indicating you probably had way too much of your capacity. “I was jus’ wondering why you accepted. Curious, ‘is’all.”

“If you’re asking if I’m over’im – ” her own garbled words are interrupted by her loud burp, which startles the waitress passing by – “Yes, I am. I’m over him, swear. But if I can get laid while I’m at it, why the fuck not, right?”

Guffawing, she adds, “Jus’ wanna see him suffer. ‘Magine the guy losing you? He’d spiral the fuck down. Honessly, I tried, m’kay? All this wedding prep – I already bumped into him sooo many times, made a loooot of passes, but no-ooo, he only has eyes for you.”

Side-eying you in jest, she adds, “No accounting for taste.”

You giggle. You actually giggle along with her as she shoves your arm playfully. Then, both of you share a look and dart like lightning to the washroom, throwing up in separate cubicles in unison. Having let some of that out, you begin feeling just a tad better even if the buzz still lingers.

You’re on the sink washing your hands when you notice the time on your watch.

Shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

“I have to go.” According to the time, you’ve gone thirty minutes over your fiancé’s time limit.

Livia lets out a groan as she emerges from her stall. “Yeah, me too. I’m so hammered. I already paid, you get the next one. And you better not pull a District and go cheap on me, Innis.”

“Trust me, Cardew. When I pay, you can go drown in it for all I care.”

She snorts in laughter on the way outside the She Said Club, where she says her driver is waiting in the parking lot.

“Look sharp, Innis. Your executioner has arrived,” she mutters so only you can hear.

True enough, you look into the icy blue glare of Coriolanus Snow, leaning against the service car door, the stone-cold smile on his face concealing his ire.

“Did you have fun, sugarplum?” he says as he approaches.

From behind you, Livia fakes a retching noise.

You, however, are rooted to your spot as you try your best to appear sober.

“Livia, pardon me, but I have to take my fiancée home.” Coriolanus’s falsely cheery tone is disarming, as usual.

“You heard him. To the gallows, you go.” Livia pats you on the back and mumbles a ‘good luck’ under her breath before addressing the male. “See you both tomorrow. Try not to tire her out too much tonight, will you, Coriolanus? She can’t miss this; you know how she lo-oooves cakes. Loves them.”

Inwardly, you groan the way she just tries to rile him up, but he seems to keep a level head as always. In fact, he goes on to give her a wider grin.

“You shouldn’t concern yourself too much with what my fiancée and I do behind closed doors, Livia, and I am well aware how important this is for her.”

Livia just blows a loud raspberry in his direction before getting inside her car and driving off. A firm, large hand immediately grips your arm and the now stern voice of your fiancé chills your blood.

“Come, Nellie. We will talk when we get home.”

And you all but get shoved into the car before it drives you both home, where you suspect he might just pop off.

To the gallows, you go, alright.

Coriolanus Snow had never thought he’d see you again, but here you were, in the same year as him and in his class, sitting just a few seats before him to his right, listening aptly to Professor Cecil drone on about a linear equation on the board that he was well aware you’d be able to solve blindfolded and with hands tied behind your back.

You had left an impression on him when he met you in that playground all those years ago. Even if he remembered you using such colourful language unbecoming of a girl, there had already been something behind your eyes and in the way you spoke that he couldn’t pinpoint then.

He'd later discover the correct adjective: erudite.

Everything about you perplexed him to no end: your perfectly natural Capitol accent, your exemplary manners, your sharp wit, your gifted mind…

Your District origins.

Coriolanus had never thought someone of your calibre could emerge from such a place, yet here you were: an enigma he didn’t know what to feel about.

Festus elbowed him discreetly, distracting him from his thoughts and passing a crudely written note.

u crushing on district-homeschool freak?

Festus sniggered behind a closed fist to avoid drawing attention to himself. Coriolanus grinned imperceptibly and wrote down below the scribble a tasteful reply before handing it back to him:

Fuck off, kindly

The note comes back with more of Festus Creed’s infamous chicken-scratch handwriting:

really pretty though. too bad she’s district.

Coriolanus crumpled the note and tossed it in his bag and went back to staring at the back of your head.

Now, Festus’s former observation he could firmly attest to. You were undeniably easy on the eyes and considered one of the prettiest in his class. Over the next few weeks, he would find out that even the boys in the upper class agreed, with the way they would throw stares at you when you walk by them in the hallways. Unfortunately, he can’t confirm the part about you being District; you weren’t really forthcoming about your personal life to anyone yet. He’s heard of rumours circulating about you being born to a former Capitol actress, though, so the thought that maybe you’re not even District. Maybe someone else spread the idea of your District roots out of jealousy, and maybe you hinting at them when he first met you was just a way to make the real District rat feel good about himself.

Because if you were indeed not of Capitol origins, then that meant the Districts had the capacity to produce more children like you, which they could one day weaponise to try and overthrow the government once more. An army of district kids like you, putting the ones like Arachne, for instance, from the Capitol to shame…

Coriolanus shuddered at the thought.

He’d later discover another aspect of you: that underneath your well-mannered demeanour, you hid what he can only describe as intellectual savagery.

It was lunch break sometime in the first semester. You were alone at a table as usual, declining the nicer girls’ offer of sitting with them at their table.

Coriolanus sat with Festus Creed, Sejanus Plinth, and some of his other male classmates were sitting just a few tables away when Arachne Crane, for whatever reason, had just decided to cause a scene in her usual fashion, backed up by Juno and her other lackeys. The group seemed to have come from the Talent Show rehearsal and approached your table looking just about as menacing as a pack of squirrels ganging up on a rattlesnake.

“Hey, district-homeschool freak,” he heard Arachne call out, as she leaned on your table.

Coriolanus saw a hint of danger flash in your eyes before you stood with grace and an uncannily calm air.

“Oh, so she thinks she’s so tough, huh?” one of the girls quipped behind their leader, but he didn’t see who it was.

“Not at all. I’m just supposed to stand when somebody’s addressing me,” even your tone came off as non-confrontational. “It’s called courtesy, you might’ve heard of it.”

Arachne sneered. “Is that what they teach you at home? What else did they teach you, how to fold your laundry? How to be more submissive to your future husband?” The group laughed with her in a jeering manner.

Plastering a cold smile, you responded, “On the contrary, Arachne, they teach me Algebra II. We’re currently on the radian measure which you wouldn’t know because you’re not on that level yet. I could ask you what they teach you here, but judging by the way you talk, I’d say not that much. In fact, I fear for the state of the Capitol Academe.”

Arachne’s eyes narrowed at the insult. “Just because you have money for tutors doesn’t mean you’re smart.”

“True,” you said. “Money can’t buy intellect.”

“Well, it can’t buy class, either,” Arachne countered a little more loudly.

“I know. I can tell,” you said, clearly unfazed by her increasingly hostile behaviour. “Because you clearly have neither of the two. Are we finished?” You took a quiet, demure sip from your juice pack, before continuing, “Because this is boring me. That’s great Talent Show material, by the way: boring people to death.”

Arachne hid her hurt by scoffing, muttering, “Come on, this is pathetic.”

As they left you alone, you sat back down with the grace of a princess and continued your lunch like nothing happened. Festus kicked him under the table, grinning obnoxiously, and said, “What’s the matter, Snow? Scared that she’ll bite?”

Coriolanus curled his lips in a challenge and kicked him back, while the rest of the table chuckled, still in disbelief at what they just witnessed. He could’ve sworn it was this very moment that made you earn his classmates’ respect, even if you eventually revealed your underlying intolerance for blood and gore during a Hunger Games rerun in History class.

With his eyes glued on you across the mess hall, he couldn’t deny that the way you maintained your cool while hurling witty insults was a form of art you seemed to have mastered.

Later on, he would have his first proper conversation with you in an empty classroom when he arrived earlier than he had planned for a math period. You had been there earlier than he was, your razor-sharp focus on a fourth-year pre-calculus problem written on the board, your arms crossed in full-concentration mode. He watched you take a piece of chalk and attempt to correct what seemed like a solution written by a student.

It took him ten seconds. Ten seconds before he could stop himself and break the silence.

“What made you change your mind about attending school?” Coriolanus asked.

“Hello to you, too,” you turned to face him with a smile momentarily before shifting back your attention to the problem on the board. “Psychologist’s orders. She said I needed to spend time with people my age.”

As if he wasn’t already curious about you – or at least, matters concerning you – you had to add this to the mix.

“Why are you in freshman year?”

“As opposed to what, being locked up in an insane asylum? They have pretty rigorous qualifications that I haven’t met yet.”

It was this moment that he decided he liked your humour immensely. Coriolanus let out a genuine laugh, and you turned to grin at him before you writing a few more lines and returned the piece of chalk to the side of the board.

“No, I meant, why aren’t you in a higher year?” He clarified. “That’s clearly senior-level material.”

“It’s just math,” you shrugged. “Outside that, I’m just like everyone else.”

“I highly doubt that,” a voice said.

You both turned to the voice at the same time to find Sejanus Plinth standing at the classroom doorway.

Ah yes. The District rat.

Now, Coriolanus could confirm that he was, beyond a reasonable doubt, full-blooded, cloddish-accented, one hundred-percent District. The blond quickly masked the sneer of disdain forming on his face with his usual grin as a greeting. He spared you a glance and you both catch each other’s eye. He had thought for a moment that he’d seen a flash of recognition behind them – had you caught that scornful look he had for the District rat? But before he could even confirm, you were already smiling warmly at the other boy – that other boy who was leagues below who you deserved (even if you were part District). That boy with a bag of gumdrops you both briefly interacted with about six years ago who needed you to come to rescue him from almost being ganged up by a bunch of other children.

Sejanus Plinth, who would later grow closer to you and thus would divulge to his best friend the tragic events that would explain your need for a psychologist. Sejanus, who’d later reveal to him that he’s developed a crush on you. Private Plinth, who’d be too chickenshit to tell you until before he left for District 12 and ultimately stayed there.

The teenage Coriolanus might not have been aware then, but the two would have profound, lasting influences in his life: the girl, he’d fall madly in love with and force into marriage, and the boy, very much dead yet he’d still be competing with for her love.

Behind you, you hear the apartment door slamming close and you almost jump at the noise.

You sit on the loveseat in the living room, where Oscar the cat greets you with a head bump on your leg. Before you can pet him, however, Coriolanus picks him up gently and exits, presumably to put him back inside his playroom. He soon returns, pausing on the other side of the coffee table and staring down at you with an utmost displeased expression. Nowhere near comparable as when he found you crouching inside a wooden crate in the middle of a botched escape attempt, but it’s still significant.

“Explain why you went over thirty minutes beyond what you were allowed to spend outside.”

With his hands inside his pockets, he draws to his full height and glares at you icily while he waits for you to speak up and defend yourself. You rub your face with your palms to appear more sober than you really are, but so far, the buzz is still there like an annoying fly you can’t swat off.

“How much did she make you drink?” He asks, crossing his arms in his growing impatience.

“Wha-no, she din’ make me do anything.”

Great. Because slurring your words when you’re being interrogated by a former peacekeeper leads to excellent results. Still, you can’t help but frown at the way he makes it sound like Livia forced you into it.

“Fine. How much did you drink?”

“Much.” Dammit. “I mean, plenty.”

Coriolanus pinches his nose bridge and exhales audibly. “You know you’re not a heavy drinker. You shouldn’t have allowed her to goad you into this. How could you be so irresponsible?”

“Stop talking to me like ’mma child,” you bite back and cross your arms. Inebriated or not, you will not be reduced to an invalid without an agency of your own. “I can think for myself.”

Letting out an aggravated sigh, he gives you a condescending glower. “This is exactly why I told you not to pick her. She is not a good influence on you, Nellie.”

You blink once or twice to process what he just said. You get to your feet, finally realising why he’s so upset with such a simple thing as you drinking out like a normal young adult on a Friday night.

“No, you don’t like her because I’m actually having fun with her. There’s a difference,” you conclude softly. The idea is so absurd, it sobers you up a little. “Remember when you said, I needed to reconnect with old friends or some shit? This is me doing that.”

“This is not about you making friends,” he admonishes in the same patronizing manner. “This is about who you chose as your maid of honour.”

You choose to stand your ground and glare at him. “I made it clear I’m not changing.”

“And I made it clear that I do not approve of your choice,” he says roughly. “Get her off the list and call Clemmie or Lys.”

“Or just call off this fucking wedding, how about that?”

As you harden your expression, he, in turn, gives you a look that you are aware does not bode well for you.

“I don’t like your language, Nellie.”

At this moment, you find yourself agreeing with Livia.

Who cares what he thinks?

“It’s my wedding too, okay?” you snap. You exit the living room quickly, intending to just get the argument over with and lock yourself in your room where he can leave you alone. Unfortunately, he follows you at once. “I can choose whoever I want in my own damn entourage. It’s the only thing in this...this charade that I get choice in and you’re not going to take that from me.”

Coriolanus catches up on you and grabs your arm, which you yank back without much force. “Do not talk to me that way – ”

“She’s the first real friend I’ve ever made since Seja – ”

But there’s something within you that catches you mid-speech. the temperature in the living room seems to drop several degrees, which matches the tone he uses.

“Carefully choose what you say next.”

So, you’re really not even allowed to talk about him as a friend, now. It almost physically pains you that even the man he once considered to be his best friend now refuses to even speak of him.

“Coryo, it’s his second death an – ”

“I know what fucking day it is,” he draws close and hisses in your face. “And you don’t get to use that tone on me. You don’t get to endanger yourself this way and step out of line.”

After his menacing tirade, Coriolanus pulls away. In a second, his fury instantly dissipates, replaced by a blank, even serene expression.

The calm before the storm.

“I can’t have my future wife misbehaving like this,” he says with a tone enough to chill your blood. He then closes the space between you two in a calculated manner, stopping merely inches away from you to stare down at you. “I should be nipping this in the bud.”

Your vision spins next, and you wonder for a second if the alcohol you consumed finally has gotten the better of you – until you notice an almost painful grip around your thighs: your fiancé had just hauled you off the floor and placed you over his shoulders. Before you can protest, you’re dumped unceremoniously into a soft surface. Disoriented, you make a feeble attempt to get off the surface, but you’re harshly flipped over on your stomach, unable to lift yourself off owing to being pinned down by something you can’t shake off.

You’re filled with dread the instant your mind processes what just happened: Coriolanus had just carried you to his room and is keeping you in place on his bed with his entire body draped on your back.

It's the alcohol you’d have to thank for your delayed response time.

Desperately, you claw at the pillow, as if it’ll help you out from underneath him, but you freeze when you feel his breath fan your ear with a whisper that sends shivers down your spine:

“I want you to count to from ten when I say so, sugarplum.”

You feel him pull back, the bed shifting slightly. It takes the rustling of a belt behind you to send you into hysterics; the feel of the cold, night air on your ass as your dress is lifted, revealing you in just your underwear, is enough to make you beg.

“Coryo, please, no – ”

Your words die in your throat as a sharp, white-hot pain lands on the swell of your ass, almost at the same time you hear a loud crack.

He's just hit your almost bare backside with the softer side of his leather belt, and it fucking burns to high hell.

You’re still reeling at the shock of it, but your hair is bunched and pulled, not enough to hurt but to gain your attention.

“Start counting,” he commands from behind you.

Ten. That means ten lashes of his belt. Nine more of this and you can barely handle one.

You sob out of fear, but you don’t know if it’s out of fear of pain or of him.

“Please, I won’t do it again – ”

A pained yelp escapes you the moment the belt lands on your ass again. Another hair pull, followed by his stern voice from behind you.

“Nellie, you’re prolonging this by not counting as I said. Now, I will not ask again: count to ten.”

Go to hell.

You don’t know what compels you to – perhaps it’s the thought of you being unable to sit for the next few days on any surface without wincing in pain – you inhale sharply, swallowing back the insult you’re planning to hurl, and whisper:

“Ten.”

Another cracking of the belt, followed by your cry as it hits you, followed by you shakily whispering a number. He repeats this without mercy and without reprieve – just pure malice and the intent of inflicting pain.

Sniffling, you manage to stammer “f-five,” bracing yourself for another, but it doesn’t come.

You lay flat on your stomach as you weep audibly in your helplessness and shame, belatedly realising he’s removed himself from you and has gone off fuck-knows-where. Just as you’re about to try and get up, he makes a re-entrance, having come from the bathroom. He’s completely shirtless now, eyes locked in and heading straight towards you.

You begin sobbing anew and try to crawl off the bed, but he’s instantly on you, pinning you down as he straddles your thighs with his own, taking your wrists and pinning them above you with a single hand.

“No, please…”

Directly over your ear, he whispers gently, “Sshh, shh, it’s over, sugarplum, I’m here to take care of you now.”

Despite your rather pathetic sobs, he continues cooing over your ear, while you feel something wet and cold being rubbed gently on your ass where the belt had hit you multiple times.

“It’s just a salve, my little sugarplum,” he explains. “It’ll help heal the skin faster and reduce bruising.”

The salve helps like he says, thank goodness, because after he’s massaged the area, it had numbed almost entirely – too bad it does absolutely nothing with the trembling on your hands. For the next few minutes, your fiancé strokes your hair, kisses your crown, and whispers what he thinks are comforting words, all of them a blur to you as you continue lying down on your stomach, unmoving and still trying to wrap your head around what just happened.

“You made me do that, my sugarplum,” he says, and you’re almost tempted to believe how contrite his voice is. “I will never hurt the love of my life – as long as you give me no reason to.”

You’re barely paying attention when he starts peeling off your dress entirely, even when he jerks himself off above you and spills himself on your bare back, even when he cleans you up and wraps you almost lovingly in his blanket and pulls you close to him in a cuddle you’re all-too-familiar with.

What you listen to aptly, however, is what he tells you quietly as he runs his fingers through your hair in this sick form of forced intimacy.

“I will move the wedding to a month and a half from now. Mid-October. In return, you get to keep your maid of honour, and I will lift your uncle’s exile the day before the wedding. That way, he can walk you to the aisle and hand you over to me, just like he should’ve done from the start.”

Just before you let yourself succumb to sleep in his arms, you make a mental note to ask Livia for a crucial favour as this last-ditch attempt to throw a wrench at your fiancé’s plans for the future.

Sejanus Plinth felt a little guilty as he sat beside you on his bedroom couch. You were hunched over the coffee table poring over three open books at the same time, scribbling madly on a nearly full page of your notebook, essentially doing your part and more in this supposedly partnered effort of writing a ten-page analysis of some pre-Panem fantasy trilogy. It was obvious you had been spending the recent nights getting some work done on the paper based on the way you rubbed your eyes constantly and yawned into your palms. He was supposed to have written about three pages now, but he had barely scraped one and a half, and the open notebook he had on his lap was devoid of handwriting.

Yet he still couldn’t quite believe his luck that he had you in his bedroom, the first friend he had ever made since his family’s official move to the Capitol. His friend, the smart, quiet, sassy, pretty girl who had once defended him from one of the many bouts of name-calling by his own classmates and then vanished from his life. He had little hope he’d see you again, but here you both were in your second year, your friendship stronger than ever.

“You know, experts say that staring into paper has been scientifically proven to yield a ten-page book review.”

Your cheeky little comment did not go unnoticed, but Sejanus just flashed you an innocent smile he knew you couldn’t resist. You rolled your eyes at him and proceeded to sigh, before setting your pen down and heavily leaning back on the couch.

“I guess we could take a break,” you admitted as you rubbed your eyes, and grabbed a throw pillow, hugging it to yourself.

“Speak for yourself, I can go all day,” Sejanus joked. “I’ll go get us some food.”

He stood from his couch, but before he exited the door, he looked back at you and grinned, “Nellie, try not to fall asleep before I can come back, yeah? Ma worked hard on those strudels.”

You gave him a sweet, exhausted smile, and said, “Please thank her for me. Not that I won’t be thanking her later before I get home, but still.”

“I’m sure she’d like that,” Sejanus nodded when he finally closed the door behind him.

He released a breath he didn’t know he was holding and straightened the collar of his shirt. As if having you alone in his room – albeit for completing the essay together – had him feeling nervous enough before you even arrived, his Ma just had to gush over you just as soon as you crossed the threshold.

Of course, he’d revealed to them how he met you all those years ago, carefully omitting a few details, but when he told her last week he’d have you over to visit, she had wildly assumed you to be his girlfriend, which you weren’t. Something he had always been so adamant with her about. Besides, he knew he had zero chances on you, as gifted and as talented and as attractive as you are.

Sometimes, he’d find himself wishing that weren’t the case.

It wasn’t your looks or your brains that had him developing some sort of…feelings for you. You were a breath of fresh air in the Capitol for him, starkly different from the other girls in the school who were either vapid, vain, or arrogant, or all those three at once.

“So? How is it with you and your…friend so far?”

He hadn’t even crossed the doorway to the kitchen and his Ma was already on his case. He loved her with all his heart, and he was extremely grateful for her hard work, but she could scare you away even before he had made a move.

He met his mother’s expectant smile with a tired grin and replied, “It’s going great, Ma.”

His mother beamed at him – he didn’t have the heart to take this little joy away from her when she was so excited – and told him a maid would carry the tray of food upstairs for him instead and shooed him away from her kitchen.

“She’s really pretty, by the way,” she added just as he was leaving to go back to his room.

Sejanus found you resting your head on the couch’s armrest, hugging the throw pillow to yourself and in blissful slumber.

He didn’t have the heart to take this little bit of rest away from you, either.

Sighing to himself, he grabbed a fresh velvet blanket and tucked you in it before sitting beside you and observing you. He brushed a stray lock of hair away from your face and let his fingers linger on your cheek.

You didn’t wake up until about two hours later, and by then, Sejanus had made good progress on the essay since you weren’t distracting him too much. He then spent the rest of the day doing more staring than actual schoolwork, trying to commit this day to his memory, no matter how inconsequential.

Aside from the kiss he would eventually share with you, Sejanus would constantly remember in his last days just how soft your cheek was and just how he could’ve snuck in a quick kiss on them that day if he hadn’t been so faint-hearted.

Enter Level 17 - soon

Next on Level 17 - Wedding bells toll, Snows going honeymooning on the beach, just filthy filthy smut (fucking finally lmaooo)

Author notes:

Please reblog and comment, it's always appreciated! Sorry for the delay as well, the next update will likely take about 2 weeks from now duw to work still being crazyyy. Thank you for your patience!!!

[imaginesandbandfiction]

Triad Part 2 — Aftermath of the Mating Bond

A Cazriel x Reader Headcanon

Masterlist

A/N: Here’s another part of my Cazriel x Reader headcanon universe that probably needs a better name if I’m gonna keep up with it. Validation works everyone!!! Also you’re def in Mor’s room because they couldn’t agree on whose room to go to and had to take you to neutral territory bc they are big dumb idiots.

PART 0 PART 1

You wake up at the Townhouse, in Mor’s room, completely alone. It feels like you’re being torn in two from the inside out.

In the hallway, Cas and Az sit with their backs against the wall on either side of the door, arguing in barely-audible whispers.

“We can’t go in there,” Az hisses.

“It’s been fourteen hours! We should at least try to use the bond to help,” Cassian grumbles back.

Yet somehow you can hear them through the wall; a ghost of their words kisses your ears.

“It’s Y/N’s choice whether to accept or not. We cannot take that choice away from her.”

“How long are we going to wait out here? Until she dies?”

You curl up on your side and press your hands against your ears. Your body shakes with the conflicting magics rumbling through you.

“Amren and Mor are digging up everything they can find about Triad Bonds. If there’s anyone I trust to track something down, it’s those two.”

“How long will that take? A week? A month? A year? I can’t sit back for much longer. Not all of us have mountains of patience like you.”

“No, some have thimbles.”

Fighting. They’re fighting and, somehow, your magic is fighting alongside with them, split from a deep violet into strings of blue and red that battle for dominance. Surrounded by golden flames that burn through your veins, filling them with the sharp sting of lightning.

“Clear your mind, like I told you. Conjure up your shields.”

“Oh, yeah, sure, like it’s that easy.”

“STOP!” You scream. When the boys burst in, your back is arched so far that only your fingertips and your toes are touching the bed.

“Y/N,” Cassian shouts, diving for you. Azriel’s shadows reach you first, swirling up your legs and arms. Cold snakes its way towards your heart, soothing your burning magic like putting a hot bath on an aching muscle. It can only dull what’s already there.

Cassian pulls you to his chest and falls back onto the bed.

“Hey, hey, hey,” he whispers, shoving the sweaty hairs off your forehead. “We’re here, Angel.”

The red magic is swallowed back into purple and the pain eases up a little bit, freeing your mind from the hazy fog covering it.

“Wh-what’s happening to me?” You ask, words wobbly as they escape your trembling lips. “It’s like my magic is… tearing me apart.”

Cas’s head whips around and in an instant, Azriel is behind him. It hits them both at the same time, that your pain is their fault. That if they were feeling such strong emotions it must be doubled for you.

Your body is flooded with guilt and shame for a second, and then the golden flames die down as the blue magic is folded into the violet. Collapsing against Cassian’s chest, the golden magic reaches out for Azriel, mirrored by your hands. It takes a second for you to realize that they’re clutching the front of his jacket, pulling him flush against Cassian’s back.

Realization hits you like a blow to the chest, rattling your heart.

“Is this the mating bond?” You ask, pulling back just enough to see two pairs of eyes full of conflicting emotions.

“Yeah, baby, it is,” Az says, leaning forward to press a kiss to your forehead. He wraps his arms around you and Cassian and the golden magic settles over you like a thick wool blanket. You open your mouth to speak but Az shushes you. “It’s okay, we’ll talk about it tomorrow. For now, you need to rest.”

Despite the part of you that aches for answers, you can’t help but drift off to sleep to the steady rhythm of their hands on your body, soothing you to sleep with gentle touches.

Answers will come eventually; for now, you’re completely content.

[1989butcher]

Apple Pie

dean winchester x reader

you try all day to bake a pie for dean

wc: 1.3k, complete and utter fluff

Wiping the sweat from your brow, you slid another pie crust into the oven. After shutting the oven door with your elbow, you turned to find Cas in the doorway. “Please, don’t make me try any more. I cannot taste it, Y/N.” you half-laugh and sigh. “I’m sorry. Honestly, if this one doesn’t turn out good, I am just going to toss everything and pretend it never happened.” Castiel looked at you, a confused look plastered on his face.

“Why would you throw it all away?” He asks, making his way towards the counter, his eyes going over the mess of cooking ingredients and cookware all over the place. His eyes make his way to you, your apron covered in flour, hair all tousled and falling out of the bun it was put in hours ago. You had clearly exerted loads of effort.

You begin to run the sink, bringing over some spoons and dishes that were covered in various flavors. “I don’t know, it’s embarrassing I guess. Like, how am I unable to bake a pie?” Cas almost cuts you off, “You’ve baked five pies, I think.” You shake your head, turning to him.

“I’ve tried to bake about five pies. And not one of them was good enough. I’m not asking for your pity, I’m just, saying I guess.” you reply wryly. He shrugs, now assisting you with cleaning the dishes. The two of you cleaned in silence, since he wasn’t sure how to comfort you or even wanted to be comforted. 

He eventually excused himself to the war room to continue a case he had been working on, leaving you to stare at the pie, watching it slowly bake in the oven. You had placed a chair in front of the oven, just staring into the void, basking in your embarrassment and failure. Then, you began beating yourself up for being upset over not being able to bake. It was a vicious cycle.

Only to be broken by a warm laugh. “Now, now, now, what do we have here!” Dean exclaimed. He just about floated down the stairs and into the kitchen. Although those first few pies didn’t exactly taste good, they still smelled it. You blinked hard and turned around to see him. His hair is a bit flat, wearing a worn green flannel with a pair of blue jeans. But the largest smile was plastered across his face.

Dean’s arms were outstretched for you to fall into, pulling you into a deep hug. His hand instinctively went to the back of your head to cradle, kissing your forehead as you hummed. He breathed in your hair, to find it speckled with flour and something sticky. But you smelled good.

You smelled like pie.

He licked his lips and pulled you out of the hug, you whining a bit in retort. You look up to him with your doe eyes, his weakness. Dean gave a smug smile before pulling you in for a quick kiss. Your lips tasted of apple with a hint of cinnamon, making his heart soar. 

Dean pulled back from the kiss, his hands on your shoulders. He gave them a slight squeeze, trying to come up with something clever to say. “Oh, please, Winchester. I know exactly what you’re thinking.” 

He shook his head, laughing a bit and sliding his hands down your arms. The warm taste of apple from your lips still lingered. “You gonna tell me about this?” He nods his head to the rest of the room. The sink was filled with dishes, although cleaned. But the counter was still covered in crusts and apples, and tons of flour. 

You felt your cheeks flushed red and your gaze hit the floor and his boots. You shook your head, laughing a bit. “No way.” your voice is light, trying to hide your frustration. The last thing you wanted was for him to walk in the door to this mess, not even knowing if what you were attempting to make was good enough.

Dean’s smile dropped a bit, his finger lifting your chin to meet his gaze again. “Come on, sweetheart. It’s not like you burned the place down.” his joke struck a nerve with you. He was an excellent cook, and all you wanted to do was repay the favor. He takes your hand as you walk over to the counter, covered in the mess.

“Ta da!” You exclaim sarcastically. Dean doesn’t look away from you, knowing you are seconds away from spilling out your guts. “Y/N-” he starts. “I’ve tried all day to bake one pie. One god damn pie. I have gone to the store twice today Dean. Twice! Are you aware we live in a small town? There’s like a couple hundred people so when you go to the store twice and buy the same things, the cashier is going to notice. Even better that it was the same person.

You would think as an adult, I would be able to bake a single apple pie for my boyfriend. But no. I can make rock hard crust,” you pick up and toss one of the burnt crusts on the counter down. “And mediocre filling. I honestly don’t think there’s enough apples in the world for me to be able to get this recipe right.”

As your rant continued, Dean looked at you with nothing but love. He had no idea he could feel this way. He loved you for trying so hard. You didn’t have to bake a pie. Honestly, you still have a pulse and wanting to be within 10 feet of him was enough. As you went on about your day and all your baking attempts, it made him realize how much you loved him. 

And the word boyfriend rang through his ears. The two of you never defined anything. Sleeping together for years, living together, you had even convinced him to go on a weekend trip for fun once. But to his face, you had never called him your boyfriend. All those nights spent in each other’s arms, yet afraid to label anything to make the other run away. 

But there you stood, what you would call a complete mess but he thinks you are prettiest this way. 

Whatever you were saying at this point, something about the oven being your enemy, was in one ear and out the other. Dean pulled you in for a deep kiss, both hands on either side of your face, stopping you mid-sentence.

“I love you.” he said, breaking the kiss. You pulled back just enough to look into his green eyes, that somehow had a little more sparkle to them since you saw him this morning. “I love you, too.” you smiled, rubbing your thumb on his cheek. Staring into each other’s eyes, the words “my girl” slipped Dean’s lips. Heat rose in your chest as you pulled him in again, this time his tongue slipping in your mouth.

Right on time, the oven dings. The pie is done, and so is the moment. You slide out of his grasp and sigh. “Don’t get your hopes too high.” He watched you take the pie out, some apple oozing from the crust. The smell alone sent him over the edge.

“I can’t believe you went through all this trouble for me.” he said quietly, almost as if he didn’t want you to hear. You raise an eyebrow. “Dean, I’ve pretty much died for you, yet this is something you can’t believe.”

It was the mundaneness of it all. The normalcy. He felt there was no room in his life for it. That he didn’t deserve it no matter how badly he longed for it. He shrugged it off, not quite ready to dive into that. But more ready to dive into what laid in front of him.

“This one actually looks edible!” you sigh in relief, inspecting the pie closer. Dean scoots behind you, placing his hands on your hips.

“I’ll tell you what else looks edible.”

[0cta9on]

Unlikely Duet - 3

length: +4k words

Genre: Fluff

NewJeans Minji x Male Reader (OC)

(Author's Note: This took longer than I thought because of finals and I'm flying to the Philippines to see my family. Will probably take a while for the next chapter to come out, but I'll try my best :) )

【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★

Yuno’s POV

As I enter my house, the stench of alcohol immediately assaults my nostrils. I turn to my left and see the familiar sight of my father’s unconscious body on the couch, crushed beer cans littered on the floor around him.

“Hey dad,” I muttered, my words dissipating in the stale air.

I go up the stairs to my room and toss my backpack onto my bed, grabbing my makeshift piggy bank I made out of an empty tin of peanuts from my desk.

“Only $20 left,” I sigh. “I’m gonna need to find a job again soon.”

As I go to change out of my school uniform, I take out the $10 bill I got from Winter out of my wallet. “Looks like I’ll be able to eat dinner tonight. Thanks Winter,” I smirk to myself.

After donning a comfortable hoodie and sweatpants, I descend the stairs, carefully maneuvering through the graveyard of beer cans. Before stepping outside, I stop and take one more glance at my father, still out cold. I grab a nearby blanket and drape it over him before stepping outside.

The chilly afternoon air hits my face as I walk to the nearby convenience store. The sunset paints the sky a gradient of bright tangerine with streaks of violet to contrast. The chime of the door signals my arrival as I enter the store. I grab a cup of ramen and a soda before heading to the front to pay.

“Cash or ca- Yuno?”

I glance up and see Winter on the other side of the counter, wearing the store’s uniform.

“Oh. Hey,” I utter, placing my items in front of her. “Didn’t know you worked here.”

Winter’s lips curl up into a smile. “I-it’s my first week here actually, I’m still getting used to everything.” She giggles shyly as she fumbles with the scanner. After a minute, she successfully rings up my items. “Y-your total is $12.59.” I take the $10 bill out of my pocket and sigh, disappointment evident on my face.

“A-actually,” Winter stammers, nervously wringing her hands. “W-we’re having a 50% off s-sale today, s-so your t-total is six bucks.” She flashes me a nervous smile.

I study her expression for a moment, her unconvincing smile starting to waver. I knew she was lying out of pity, but considering the alternative is to sleep hungry, I eventually gave in.

“I’ll pay the rest next time,” I say, handing her the $10 bill. Relief washes over her face as she takes the dollar with her trembling hands. I grab the plastic bag with my food and turn to leave.

As I open the door, Winter calls out, “W-wait! Your change!”

“Keep the change. It’s your money anyways.” I give her a small nod before exiting the store, the chime of the door echoing behind me. Turning the corner toward my house, I’m suddenly knocked to the ground as someone collides with me.

“Fuck, watch where you- Minji?” I look up and see the perpetrator to be none other than Minji, her face filled with fear as she silently mouths,  ‘please help me.’

______________________________________________________________

Minji’s POV

I stretch my arms upwards as I let out an exhausted yawn. “That meeting took longer than I thought it would.”

Danielle and I walk side by side as we exit the campus, the sun already setting after the prolonged student council meeting. “Well, prom is happening next month. It’s a lot to prepare for,” Danielle says, mirroring my exhaustion with a yawn of her own.

My stomach grumbles, signaling my hunger. “Let’s stop by the convenience store on the way back. I’m starving.”

“I wish I could, Minji, but I have to get home ASAP to work on an english project,” she replies with an apologetic look. “Maybe next time.”

I sigh in disappointment. “I guess so. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” We wave goodbye as we part ways. On my way to the convenience store, I take a shortcut through an alleyway, hoping to get there before it gets too dark. Suddenly, a gray cat comes out of nowhere and looks up at me with its large seafoam green eyes.

“OMG, HI BABYYY,” I call out to it in a high pitched voice. The cat meows before walking up to me, rubbing its body against my leg. I crouch down and gently pat its head, the cat reciprocating my affection with a purr. “You’re a friendly little guy, aren’t you?”

Before I knew it, the once-orange sky had turned pitch black. I grimace as I realize I got too distracted playing with the cat. Suddenly, the cat skitters away as I hear footsteps approaching from behind me. I stand up and turn around, shivering as I see a rather disheveled looking man stumble towards me. As he gets closer, I can smell the strong stench of alcohol emanating from him.

“Heyyyy, you lost, girly?” he asks, slurring his words.

I slowly back away from him, not daring to make any sudden movements. My heart feels like it's about to burst out of my chest with each step he takes. “I-I’m fine. J-just trying to get home.”

He scoffs at me. “C’mon, come have a couple drinks with me first. Just a couple drinks, I won’t tell no one.” His pace increases, attempting to close the gap between us.

“I-I should really get home, I have school tomorrow,” I try to reason as I stagger backwards, beads of sweat forming on my forehead.

“What are- what are you afraid of, huh?” he hiccups. “You think… you think you’re too good for me, huh? Fuc… fuckin’ bitch!” His drunk expression turns angry as he lunges to grab me. I swat his hand and make a run for it, weaving through the dark streets using the dim streetlights. Despite his intoxicated state, he manages to stay close behind me, just barely grabbing onto my backpack. As I turn the corner, I accidentally knock someone to the ground.

“Fuck, watch where you- Minji?” the person grumbles.

A wave of relief washes over me as I see that it’s Yuno I knocked to the ground. My voice hitches in my throat as I mouth a silent, ‘please help me,” towards him. In a flash, Yuno is on his feet, grabbing the drunk man’s wrist right as he’s about to grab my shoulder.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Yuno questions in a threatening tone as he shoves his man’s hand aside. I instinctively hide behind him, clutching onto his shoulders for support.

The man stumbles back, his eyes narrowing in anger. “Who the fuck… Who the fuck are you, man?”

“H-he’s my… um…” I stutter, struggling to find the right words that would make this man go away. Suddenly, my thoughts are interrupted as I hear Yuno speak.

“I’m her boyfriend.”

“Y-yeah, he’s my… what!?”

______________________________________________________________

Yuno’s POV

I cringed at myself as those words escaped my lips, silently cursing my impulsive response. Fortunately, I couldn’t see Minji’s reaction as I focused my sights on the piece of shit who was chasing her. 

“Boyfriend?” He throws his head back in laughter, teetering dangerously. “Whatever man, we were just- just having a fucking conversation, that’s all,” he slurred, staggering towards us. I braced myself for a potential confrontation, feeling Minji’s grip on my arm tighten with each unsteady step he took.

Suddenly, Winter appears out of nowhere, brandishing a can of pepper spray that she directs at the assailant's eyes. He crumples to the ground, shrieking in pain as he desperately tries to rub the stinging sensation from his eyes. I grab Minji’s wrist as the three of us run back to the convenience store, the attacker’s screams of agony echoing behind us.

“A-are you two okay?” Winter asks, her breath shaky with anxiety and exhaustion.

I nod, secretly feeling impressed by her swift reaction despite her typical timid demeanor. “Yeah, I’m good. Thanks, Winter,” I say before turning around to check on Minji.

“Are you alr-”

My words are cut off as Minji envelops me in a tight embrace, her sobs muffled against my chest. I stand there, my body tensing up while my mind goes blank from the sudden contact. Heat envelops my cheeks as I feel the warmth of Minji’s body against mine. Unsure of how to respond, I awkwardly pat her head.

“Uhh there, there,” I murmur in a feeble attempt to sound comforting. “You’re alright, Minji.” Winter ushers us towards one of the nearby tables in front of the store. It takes a while for Minji to regain her composure, her face still pressed against my chest as her tears slowly subside.

“How did you know we were out there?” I ask Winter while trying to subtly pry Minji off of my body.

“W-well, I originally followed you out to give you your change, but then I saw what happened and something just came over me. I-I always carry pepper spray just in case, but I’ve never had to use it until today,” she explains, her hands still trembling slightly as she tries to give me the money.

I sigh, succumbing once again and accepting the money from her. Despite her unassuming appearance, she’s surprisingly stubborn. Minji, who’s now calmed down, finally releases her grip on me, revealing her puffy eyes from all the tears.

“Th-thank you…” she sniffles, nodding towards Winter. “A-and sorry about your jacket, Yuno…” Minji tries to wipe away the wet spots on my hoodie, but to no avail. I glance down at the damp spot, then back at her.

“Don’t worry about it,” I responded in a soft tone.

The three of us sit in contemplative silence for a while, the only noise coming from the chirp of the crickets and Minji’s occasional sniffle. Winter is the first to break the silence.

“I-I should head back inside now or else my manager will yell at me,” she says, standing up. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Yuno.” I nod at her as she leaves before turning my attention towards Minji.

 “I’ll walk you home,” I state.

“Okay… Thanks, Yuno…” She sniffles  in response, her gaze fixated on the ground. I grab my bag with the food that I bought and turn to lead the way, but I’m stopped in my tracks as Minji tugs on my sleeve. “Please… let me hold onto you… while we walk…” I nod in understanding, offering my arm.

We walk in silence towards her house, her fingers gripping my sleeve the whole way. I steal a glance at her to see if she’s okay, but her black hair covers her face, obscuring her expression. Her uncharacteristic silence mixed with the subtle eeriness of the night created a somber atmosphere, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. 

We eventually arrive at the steps of her front door. I gently shake my arm to let her know we’re here, causing her to pop her head up as if she broke free from a trance.

“Are you okay?” I ask, my head tilted in concern.

“Yeah, I’m okay…” Minji replies in a small voice. She goes to open the door, but stops with a trembling hand over the door knob. “Y-Yuno…”

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“Can you… stay with me a little longer…?”

My body tenses at her odd request. I considered making up an excuse to leave, but I knew it wouldn’t be right to leave her like this, especially after what happened.

“Sure, I guess I can stay for a bit.”

Minji offers me a weak smile as we enter her house together. The familiar sight of her home feels weirdly calming despite me feeling out of place. I follow Minji to the kitchen and place my food on the counter.

“You should eat something. Maybe it’ll make you feel better,” I suggest, surrendering my ramen to her.

“Thanks…” she mutters, her eyes glued to the floor. As if on cue, her stomach grumbles, signaling her hunger. I hide my grin with my hand as her cheeks turn a slight shade of pink from embarrassment.

I take out the cup of ramen and fill it with water before popping it into the microwave. Deja vu washes over me as the two of us stand in her kitchen in silence, the microwave humming in the background. I take the can of soda I had bought and crack it open, trying to make small talk to distract her from the earlier events.

“So,” I began, awkwardly taking a sip. “How did your student council meeting go?”

Minji slowly glances up at me with a downcast expression, her glossy eyes reminding me of a sad puppy. Suddenly, she bursts into tears, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

Caught off guard, I scramble to figure out what to do. “Aw shit, Minji, what’s wrong? A-are you okay? Do you need something?” I ask, panic evident in my voice.

Minji wipes away her tears with the back of her hand, struggling to compose herself. She takes a deep breath before speaking, her voice shaky.

“I-I’m sorry, it’s just… everything,” she admits, exposing a vulnerable side of her that I’ve only seen briefly during our last encounter. “There’s a lot on my mind with the student council, and my parents are coming home soon, and then that guy in the alley– I thought he was going to… I don’t know, and then I bumped into you and now…” Her words trail off into a choked sob.

I hesitantly place a reassuring hand on her shoulder just as the microwave dings, signaling that the ramen is ready. I set it on the table, grabbing a fork from one of the drawers, and pulling out a chair for Minji to sit.

“Here, eat up,” I say in a gentle tone.

Minji nods and takes a seat. We sit there in silence as she eats, the sound of her slurping noodles filling the quiet kitchen. She steals occasional glances at me, her eyes no longer reflecting sadness, but something else - something I couldn’t decipher. She sets her chopsticks down, finally breaking the silence.

“Back there… Why did you say you were my boyfriend?” she asks, her voice steady but curious.

My cheeks flush with embarrassment from her question. I’m not sure if I knew that answer myself. I could have easily said ‘brother’ or ‘friend’, but for some reason ‘boyfriend’ is the word that slipped out. I hesitate, grappling for an explanation.

“U-uhh,  y’know, it just, uhh, kinda came out. I thought it was the quickest way to get him to back off. Although, I guess it didn’t really work in the end…”

Minji chuckles at my awkwardness, her lips forming a small smile. “It’s okay. Thank you for that, I really appreciate it.”

Feeling a bit sheepish, I stand up to leave as she finishes the rest of her food. “I should probably get going now.”

“Wait,” Minji calls out. She looks down at her hands, seemingly lost in thought. “Yuno, would you mind… staying the night again? I just… don’t wanna be alone right now.”

She looks at me with pleading eyes, making it impossible to say no. After a moment’s consideration, I give in. “Uhh, yeah. I guess I can sleep on the couch again.”

“I’m not gonna make you sleep on the couch again, Yuno,” she says, sporting a grin. “You can sleep in my older brother’s room.” Minji gently grabs my wrist, leading me upstairs before I can utter a word. She swings open the door, revealing a nearly barren room with just a double bed in the corner and a drawer on the far side. “It’s not much, but it should be more comfortable than the couch.”

“Uhh, thanks, I guess,” I mumble, scratching my head.

Minji flashes me a bright smile, a welcome contrast to her earlier glum demeanor. “I’m gonna change into some pajamas. Make yourself at home,” she says as she disappears into her room next door.

I sink onto the bed, exhaling deeply. The mattress feels firmer than my own, likely due to being unused for a long while. As the room’s silence and emptiness offer no distractions, my mind swirls with numerous thoughts. Fate seems to be steering me toward Minji, though I can’t understand why. Mere days ago I could’ve gone an entire day without so much as thinking about her, but now I can’t go more than a couple hours without some unexpected encounter. On top of that, I’m suddenly met with new people that don’t avoid me like the plague. Yujin, Winter, even Minji’s friends don’t look at me the same way that other people do (Well, most of them at least). It all feels confusing and weird. But… It doesn't feel all bad.

My train of thought is interrupted by a knock at the door. “Can I come in?” Minji’s voice filters through the door.

I shake my head, ridding it of any stray thoughts. “Yeah, sure.”

She opens the door, revealing an armful of pillows and blankets barely contained in her grasp. “I brought some stuff so you’ll be more comfy. And, um…” she pauses, averting her gaze. “I’m gonna sleep in this room too, if you don’t mind.” I look at her in disbelief, which is quickly washed away as I watch her expression darken. Minji sits next to me on the bed, fiddling with her fingers. “I-I’m sorry if this is a lot, Yuno, I really am. I’m just really freaked out right now because of what happened earlier.  A-and I know we don’t know each other that well, but I just feel… safe around you.”

My eyes widened slightly, feeling stunned by her words. “I didn’t really do anything though, it was Winter who stepped in,” I mentioned.

“I-I know, but if I’m being honest, I’d rather be with you right now than Winter.” 

I felt my cheeks start to burn as she spoke. Minji’s eyes widened in realization at what she said, her face turning a bright pink. Flustered, she shakes her head at me. “I-I mean, umm, y-y’know because uhhh, I-I know you more than Winter kinda a-and, um, she uhhhh, w-well I just met her t-today a-and-” She grabs a pillow and buries her face in it to halt her rambling.

I couldn’t help but snicker at her reaction. I had never seen the student council president get so flustered about anything. It was almost cute, in a weird way.

“I know what you meant. Don’t worry about it,” I reassure her.

Minji removes the pillow from her face, still pink from embarrassment. “A-anyways, we should get some sleep now. I’ll, uhh, sleep on the floor.”

“No,” I protested. She freezes and turns to look at me. “You can take the bed. I’m not gonna make you sleep on the floor in your house.”

Her lips form into a smile, her expression softening. “I appreciate your kindness, but you’ve done a lot for me already. This is the least I can do for you,” she says, using the pillows to create a makeshift bed on the floor.

“Minji-” She turns to face me and I suddenly find myself staring straight into her large, round eyes, mere inches away. I gulp, my body freezing as if it’s stuck in a trance. Everything goes silent except for the sound of my heart pounding in my chest. We stood there for what felt like years, the concept of time slipping from my mind as I analyzed the details of her appearance. The way her long, black hair frames her round face. The slight plumpness of her cheeks. Her heart-shaped lips. Unconsciously, I find myself slowly leaning in out of a desire to see more of her. I never noticed how soft her lips looked…

“U-um!” Minji exclaims, breaking me out of my trance. I quickly back away, not realizing how close I had gotten. “W-we can just share the bed, I guess.”

“R-right,” I stutter, my mind too jumbled to think about the implications of what she said. I fan myself, suddenly feeling very hot.

Minji picks up the pillows off the floor and uses them to create a barrier in the middle of the bed. “I-it’ll be fine as long as we don’t cross the line. Right?” she asks, looking to me for reassurance. I nod mindlessly, still reeling from our impromptu “staring contest”. We awkwardly lay on the double bed together, separated by a loose line of pillows. I turn my body away from her, feeling too embarrassed to even look in her direction. 

“Um, goodnight, Yuno.”

“N-night, Minji.” I forcefully shut my eyes, praying that this was all just a weird dream.

______________________________________________________________

Minji’s POV

Hours passed as I lay there in my brother’s bed, staring at the wall. The exhaustion was killing me, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw that man’s face again. I would normally call Hanni at a time like this, but I didn’t want to disturb Yuno, who was snoring softly right next to me. I can only imagine what the girls would say to me if they ever found out about this…

While deep in thought, I felt Yuno shift in his sleep and suddenly found his arm wrapped around my waist. The barrier of pillows had somehow collapsed as I could feel the warmth from his body pressing against my back. 

“U-uh, Yuno? Are you awake?” I whispered. I waited for a response, praying that he was awake, but all I heard was the sound of his snoring. Panicking, I gently tried to lift his arm off me, but his grip on me only tightened. My exhaustion completely drained me of my strength, making it impossible for me to shimmy out of his arms. In the end, I gave up and surrendered to his embrace. I’m not sure if I was going delirious from the lack of sleep, but I felt oddly comforted by his touch. My eyelids felt heavier and heavier as I lay there, feeling warm and safe. Instead of seeing the face of my assailant, all I could see was Yuno’s kind face as I felt myself fall into a deep sleep…

______________________________________________________________

“Minji! Minji! Minji!”

Thousands of people cheered my name as I finished my last song of the night. Lights flickered all around me like stars in the night sky. My heart swelled with joy as I stood upon the stage in front of my fans. It felt like a dream come true to be able to perform in front of everybody.

“Thank you all for coming tonight! You were a great crowd!”

“MINJI!!!” I heard a voice yell out in the crowd. Suddenly, the entire stadium fell silent as the spotlight shined on the source of the voice - Yuno. Confusion washed over me as he made his way towards the stage. Was he always this bold?

“Minji,” he said, taking my hands. “I have something I need to say to you.” 

I tilted my head in uncertainty. Despite performing for this enormous crowd, I suddenly felt embarrassed with Yuno’s eyes on me. “U-uh, yeah? What is it, Yuno?”

His grip on my hands tightened slightly as he leaned into my ear, his warm breath on my earlobe. “Minji… I love you,” he whispers sweetly.

The crowd roars with cheers and screaming. I felt the blood rush to my face, rendered speechless by his unexpected confession. The previous chants of my name were now replaced with “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” Yuno began leaning towards me, his lips puckered. With my body suddenly frozen in place, there was nothing I could do except shut my eyes and wait for the inevitable. The echoes of the crowd began to fade away until it was completely silent. 

After a moment of nothing happening, I open my eyes, faced with the egg shell white wall of my brother’s room instead of Yuno’s puckered lips just moments before. Sunlight peeked through the blinds of the windows, melting away my drowsiness. A wave of relief and a slight bit of disappointment washed over me as I realized that everything that happened was all just a dream. As I moved to get up, a weight on top of me stopped me. I look down and see Yuno’s arm still wrapped around me. The relief I felt turned into embarrassment upon the realization that I slept in bed with a boy the entire night. A boy that I met three days ago.

I nudged his arm off of me, hoping that he didn’t wake up, and swiftly got out of the bed, tiptoeing to my room. After shutting the door behind me, I paced around my room, a thousand things running through my mind.

“We didn’t technically do anything, so it’s all good, right? But we slept in the same bed together… OMG THIS WAS MY IDEA!! MINJI, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?? It’s okay, it’s fine, we just… cuddled for a bit. Cuddling is okay, right???” I thought to myself, my hands squeezing my brain for an answer. The weight of my actions was too heavy for me to bear, causing me to collapse face first into my bed. My internal debate is interrupted as I hear a buzz from my phone. My stomach drops as I see it’s a text from my dad.

Dad: Your mom and I are on our final flight back from the conference. We’ll be home by the time you get out of school.

Minji: Okay. I’ll see you then.

I hit send and toss my phone on the bed. It hasn’t even been an hour since I woke up and yet I’m already under a lot of stress. With not much else to do, I decide to go and get ready for school, hoping that the rest of the day will be better.

______________________________________________________________

After showering and putting on my uniform, I peek into my brother’s room to wake up Yuno only to find the bed tidied up with a note perched on top. 

“Went home 2 get my uniform. C u around,” it read. A subtle smirk forms on my lips at his thoughtful gesture. I shove the note into the pocket of my blazer and head downstairs, exiting the house. The morning air of spring fills my lungs as I step outside. Flowery scents waft through the gentle breeze of April. I shut my eyes, momentarily forgetting about all the worries I had earlier. 

The buzz of my phone pulls me back to reality. Frowning from being broken from my trance, I take out my phone and discover a text from Haerin.

“Meet me in the lunchroom before class. I got you a coffee.”

My frown immediately turns into a smile at the promise of coffee. I quicken my pace, putting a little pep in my step. Walking through the gates of Evergreen High School, I exchange greetings with students and teachers as I make my way towards the cafeteria.

“Hello!”

“Morning, Minji!”

“Good Morning, Ms. Kim.”

The warmth from these greetings never failed to make my morning. I spot Haerin and Hyein sitting together at an empty table, smiling at me as I approach them.

“Good morning, Minji,” they say in unison as Haerin slides an iced americano towards me. I gladly accepted the drink and took a sip, savoring the refreshing notes of espresso as it revitalized my senses.

“Good morning, girls. Thanks for the drink, I definitely need it this morning,” I greeted them. “So what did you two want to talk about?”

Hyein shrugs. “Haerin just said to come with her to meet you here. I’m not exactly sure what this is about.”

Glancing over at Haerin, I find her staring at me with an odd intensity. “Uh, what’s up Haerin?” I ask, confused.

“I had an odd dream last night, a premonition if you will, and I think you’re the one that will be able to explain it,” she begins, her cat eyes unwavering. “You see, in the dream, I saw you getting attacked by this lanky-looking monster with red eyes, but then this shadowy figure came and rescued you. You started crying a bunch, and then I saw you cuddling with the shadow guy all night long. Did something happen last night, Minji?”

All the stress from earlier suddenly came back as Haerin recounts her dream. They sound eerily similar to the events of last night, but surely it’s just a weird coincidence. Even if she did manage to witness Yuno saving me, how did she know he slept over? Beads of sweat form on my forehead while Hyein dismisses Haerin’s revelation with laughter. 

“Yah, have you been watching those cryptid videos again, Haerin?” she teases, chuckling. “I told you to stop watching those late at night, they give you weird dreams.” Haerin ignores her jab, her piercing eyes still fixated on me. Thankfully, the bell rings, saving me from potentially revealing something out of nervousness.

“Y-yeah Haerin, you need to stop watching those silly videos. A-anyways, I gotta go, bye!” I grab my americano and quickly exit the cafeteria, feeling Haerin’s piercing gaze lingering on the back of my head.

[saiyanprincessswanie]

I Promise

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: You fought by Steve’s side until the Accords made everyone choose different sides. You wanted to run with Steve and he thought going alone was better. Do you take him back when he finds you? Can you trust him when he makes promises to you?

Word Count: 686

Warnings: Light Angst, Happy Ending

A/N: This is for Annie's Writing Challenge @nekoannie-chan with the prompt of  "In case you didn’t get the memo, I’m not one of the good guys anymore." I hope you like this bestie!

A/N 2: Beta read by @ifnr-blog-blog-blog & @nekoannie-chan Moodboard by Me. Please be kind as this is the first thing I have written in months.

Reblogs & Comments on Tumblr are welcomed and encouraged. Even if you leave an emoji you will make my day. 😊💜

I do NOT give my consent to have my work translated or reposted on any social media platform, apps, or third-party sites. If you see my work anywhere besides my personal Tumblr & AO3 accounts, it has been stolen. I will NEVER give written or verbal permission to repost or translate any of my fanfics as they’re MY intellectual property.   🚫🚫

You were once an Avenger fighting alongside your friends and the love of your life Steve Rogers. With the chaos of the Accords, everyone took a side, your side was on the run from the law with Steve. That was until he decided he needed to run on his own. It was supposed to be temporary but you should have known better. Steve saw this as protecting you while you felt this was going to be permanent. 

So you lived on your own in a little town in New Hampshire where your home sat in a wooded area. You would grab supplies once a month in town so you wouldn’t be recognized. Hauling everything home you put everything up and grabbed wood as it was supposed to snow for two days. 

You went about your day organizing everything, starting a fire, and eating your favorite soup. The sun slowly was covered by the storm clouds that were rolling in and sure enough within the hour it started to snow. After you cleaned up you went to your room and grabbed a hoodie to put on. It was once Steve’s and it was big on you. 

Walking out to the living room you grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and covered yourself. Picking up a book you started to read. The fire in the background cracked and snapped in the background. Before you knew it the fire gently lured you to sleep.

A loud knock on your door startled you awake. It was past nine o’clock and there were no neighbors nearby. You set the book down and grabbed a gun from the side table drawer and walked cautiously to the door.

“Who is it?” You yelled through the door. Your gun trained on the door.

“Doll it’s me, open up.” 

You recognized his voice immediately and put the gun down as you flung open the door. Steve was bundled up on your front steps. He had snow caught in his hair and beard. He was exactly how you remembered him.

“Please come in and get warm by the fire.” You closed the door behind him watching as he took his boots and coat off. He then joined you on the couch. “So what brings you here? Last you told me you wanted to be on your own.”

“I did it to keep you safe. I didn’t want you to live the life I have been living. Being on the run is stressful at times. You deserve better than that.”

“I deserve better? In case you didn’t get the memo, I’m not one of the good guys anymore, Steve. Why do you think I’m living in the middle of nowhere? I would have rather lived a life with you on the run than live here alone.”

“Why do you think I’m here? I’m here to stay with you if you’ll have me. I’ve missed you so much while I was gone. Say you will have me again. That you can eventually forgive me. If not, I will leave now and never bother you again.”

You had to admit you did miss him a lot. Your heart still belonged to him. Hell, you still have a few shirts in the closet that belong to Steve. 

“Promise me you won’t ever leave me again.”

“I promise.” He answered.

“Promise wherever you go I can follow.” You continued.

“I promise.” 

You crawled across the couch to hug him but he was already pulling you into a bear hug. You had to admit you missed this.

“I will always love you, sweetheart. I will never leave your side again.” Steve promised before he sealed the promise with a kiss. Thankfully Steve kept his promise and you got to live your lives together in the mountains.

tags:

@americasass81

@b3autyfuldisast3r

@caffiend-queen

@charmed-asylum

@denisemarieangelina

@fictional-affairs

@georgiapeach30513

@get0verit

@hollybee8917

@joannie95

@jobean12-blog

@jvanilly

@labella420

@lfnr-blog-blog-blog

@madscape

@mdemontespan1667

@mrsmischief209

@mycrazyasslikestoread

@nekoannie-chan

@notyourtypicalrose

@patzammit

@princessofdarkwinter

@rayofdawnworld

@reneeenders

@sweater-daddiesdumbdork

@wolfsmom1

@what-is-your-plan-today

@writercole

@missvelvetsstuff

@jtargaryen18

[masterofengene]

heyy , could you do &team reactions to their s/o having trouble with sleeping ? thanks a lot

&team with an s/o who has trouble sleeping.

Warnings: none

K.

Okay so he gives off the vibe that he has trouble sleeping as well, maybe occasionally.

He is gonna be a sweetheart about it.

He knows you need sleep and he knows it's what is good for your body so he is gonna try every way he knows how to get you to sleep.

Essential oils. Massages. Soft music playing throught the room.

He makes it his mission to get you to fall asleep.

"I know you can't sleep...but you have that big assignment tomorrow and you need the rest...."

Plays with your har until you fall asleep (unless he falls asleep first, his methods are very affective.

He doesn't want you to take melatonin, instead he wants to find a natural way for you to sleep.

Fuma

He may be the most fit one in &team. But TRUST he turns into your own personal pillow.

In his mind, cuddles are the solution to any problem (he's right)

He's gonna put on your favorite show with the volume down low, turn the lights out.

Then cuddle.

He's gonna spoon you so he can feel when your breathing evns out, or have you lay on his chest.

He says it's because he wants to make sure you fall asleep but really it helps him fall asleep more than you.

Hums tunes in your ears until you relax and rubs your back

Nicholas

Honestly, I feel like he has a hard time sleeping as well.

So really the nights you spend together, you guys might not even sleep.

Because you both know that your brains won't slow down enough for you to sleep so you both just...don't sleep

Instead you guys stay up just talking about your day and just playing around until the exhaustion finally wears on you two

If you guys have something important the next day. Pillow fight.

Pillow fights exhaust both of you so quickly. You could just wage war on each other for 15 minutes then boom.

Sleeping babies.

Ej

Okay so deep breath.

I feel like he would take a logical approach and do things that he knows bores you, or that you don't find entertaining.

Puts on a nature documentary.

"What? It's educational!"

He isnt even into it, but he knows you'll be so bored you'll fall asleep

Evil genius.

Certified evil genius

Lights a candle that he knows you like.

Random background noises.

Whale noises (clearly those don't work)

Eventually you fall asleep while he is reading the encyclopedia to you

Yuma

He's gonna have you drinking herbal tea that has no caffeine.

He won't do much else to help you sleep, just pull you in for snuggles and sing for you tbh.

He's gonna make sure that everything around you is calm and serene. If maki tries to come in and disturb your slumber he's throwing the nearest object at him.

Be prepared to be the little spoon. He's gonna cuddle you for days.

If he notices you tired one day, he is gonna try and get you to take a nap. Even if it's just a 15 minute power nap.

He knows how important sleep is.

Frowns when he sees you chugging an energy drink.

Jo

To be honest. I get the vibes that he doesn't sleep that well.

I feel like he's the type that stays up all night to play video games or watch anime.

You both don't realize how bad your sleep schedules are until you two stayed up until 6 in the morning and fuma walked in looking like he was ready to strangle you both for staying up all night.

From then on you two try not to stay the night with each other, because your bad sleep feeds off each other.

You two can only spend the night together once a week for the sake of your eye bags.

Gucci eye bags

Designer eye bags

Harua

He's not going to nag you into getting sleep.

He reminds you about once a week that you need to try and get a better sleep schedule going.

When he notices that you're staying up way too late, he's going to start texting you every night that it's bed time.

He's trying okay. But he doesn't want to see annoying or bother you.

If he notices that you're struggling to stay awake, he will try to get you to a place where you can relax as soon as he can.

"Please start trying to slep better...always being awake isnt a good thing."

Taki

To be honest I feel like he has just as bad a sleep schedule as you do.

Like it's just because he started training to be an idol so young so he just couldn't help it.

He was used to late nights anyway so he always had trouble falling asleep.

So when he met you you're two sleep schedules sort of fed into each other.

It was like an understood "my body won't let me fall asleep"

So you two just filled your nights with telling each other stories either over the phone or in person.

You two would just talk about your day until you finally fell asleep.

Maki

Okay. He straight up doesn't care. At all.

He knows you and he knows how to help.

If you say "I can't sleep." He won't listen because yes you can.

He knows his voice is calming to you. You told him so. So when he notices you're restless he comes to cuddle.

He does it so Inconspicuously that you don't even notice his master plan.

Lulling you to sleep with good cuddles and whatever rambled comes to mind. Sometimes he serenaded you in German (even if you have no idea what he said)

He just talks. He let's everything come out at once.

[tyxoxo]

RxLuSTx0_ - II.

pairing: jeno x fem!reader, read part 1 here

genre: smut (aftersex/aftercare), camcouple!jeno/reader

words: 850~

warnings: none

a/n: typed this up at work LMFAO

jeno ended the live quickly, bending down to the height of the laptop to tap the “end stream” at the top right hand corner.

his audience was used to his silent goodbyes, knowing he just wasn’t the type to say any closing remarks, especially if he was the one still standing from the night's events…

which was usually the case.

all that remained was the homescreen, a picture of the two of you from one of your vacations, jeno hugging you from behind as he rested his head on your shoulder. two big grins, in front of whatever monument you all decided to track down that day in the blistering heat.

he abandoned the laptop, rising to his feet and walking over to where you lay sprawled on the vinyl floor. to no surprise, he was still hard, fighting the urge to stroke himself over your unresponsive body.

you looked so pretty, arms splayed up at your head, cum stuffed so far in your throat that it managed to come out the other end—bubbling past your nostrils with every shallow breath. you would probably be mortified to see yourself this way, but to jeno, it was the hottest sight he’d ever seen.

he noticed your tremors, jolting from the aftermath of your trouble to swallow everything he gave you. you did amazing, he thought. and he was sure the audience thought so too, considering the abundance of donations that poured in. with a smile just as soft as the picture on the laptop monitor, he bent down once again, bundling your arms over your torso and gathering your legs together.

in one swift motion, he lifted you bridal style, making sure your head fell into the crease of his shoulder for support. you finally responded to his affectionate stimuli, eyes attempting to blink away the remaining tears that pooled under your eyelids.

“you did so good baby…”

you finally set your eyes upon your boyfriend, breath hitching from the gentle tone of his voice.

“i did?”

your two words were followed by a delicate cough, attempting to clear your throat of the thick substance you thought you had swallowed thoroughly.

“of course you did…so beautiful.”

he lowered his face to your flushed skin, continuing to whisper sweet nothings against your tear-stained cheeks as he carried you over to the bed.

he lowered you onto the faux fur comforter, giving a tender kiss to your forehead before walking off in the direction of the ensuite bathroom.

by the time he came back with a warm washcloth, you had already attempted to rid your face of the mess he made; even wiping the remnants of his cum off the corners of your mouth. still, you couldn’t help but savor the salty fluid, sucking the pads of your thumbs clean with a slight pop.

jeno’s eye smile grew upon seeing your antics, adoring your effort to never waste a single drop—something he taught you very early on in the relationship.

you scooted a few inches on the bed, allowing him room to sit on the side.

the comforting silence was just what you needed to comedown from the intensity of tonight’s events.

even though jeno wasn’t much of a talker, except for when he was buried inside you or your mouth, it was a nice change of pace to receive such calming aftercare. no worries about the past, present, or future, just pure enlightenment in each other’s company.

you rose up to rest your back against the headboard as he brought his fingers forward, taking off your eyelashes that were completely soaked, or more appropriately—ruined.

you kept your eyes closed as he began wiping along your forehead, somewhat embarrassed at the realization that you were comparable to that of a train wreck.

but the warmth brought on by the washcloth now swiping along your breasts eased your worries, your upper half eventually slouching into his gentle cleansing.

“i’ll keep this here in case you need it okay.” he stopped his ministrations, setting the washcloth on the nightstand.

you craved his touches, something softer to end the night. even as he turned to set the cloth down, you reached your hands forward, clawing at his thighs, signaling that you were impatient for his cuddles.

he turned back to face you, bangs sweeping across his twinkling eyes.

“don’t worry baby, i’m here…i’m here.”

he hushed words were repeated like a mantra as he began enveloping you in a sweet embrace.

he’d always been the bigger spoon, wrapping his arms under and around your neck and letting the other rest on your hip, scooting your front further into his broad frame.

he had plenty of preferred positions, but whatever allowed him to plant consistent kisses on your forehead, was his favorite.

“you’re all mine, you know that right?”

you felt him whisper along your temple, causing a shiver to run along your spine. you arched your back in response, breasts pressing firmly against his chest. you peared up slowly, speechless from viewing absolute beauty right in the face.

“always yours…”

was the last response you could muster as the onset of slumber descended upon your eyelids; drifting off to the caresses that were of assured and everlasting peace.

i feel like this is trash >.<

[scoobydoodean]

You know what just really frost my cookies with the whole "Dean doesn't care as much about Cas" discourse??? That post you reblogged about how strong their relationship was in s4/s5 got me thinking about this, but like they had two seasons of such intense relationship building and camaraderie, that Dean was literally fighting Bobby and Sam (his two most important people!!!) over not trusting Cas in s6, and it was DEAN who tried to keep a relationship with Cas s6 - s8, like that man tried everything to keep their relationship going - and that's not to blame Cas, he had his own shit going on (well except for s6, I do blame him for that lol his position is understandable, but it was still his fault), but Dean tried and it still just never worked.

Maybe this is just me, but I've always kind of viewed their relationship in the later seasons as, Dean worked hard to keep them going for so long that eventually it kind of just...hit him that maybe Cas didn't want that? So he stopped trying quite as hard, he remembered the times Cas left, and he interpreted them as rejections, which is in part why the Divorce Arc happened - it was a culmination of many many MANY things, not just the "obvious". That's just my interpretation though, and obviously others have and can interpret it differently.

In summary I see it as, early seasons Dean chasing and pining after Cas, eventually feels rejected and betrayed, later seasons Cas chasing and pining after Dean

Though to be fair and admit to my biases, I was watching s6-s8 in real time on TV, and then I drifted away mid s9 and didn't go back and watch the rest of the seasons until recently, so my strongest impressions of Destiel are of those earlier seasons, so I tend to view it in a different light I think than people who started watching later (or more specifically after Nov 5th and/or for Cas - not that anything is wrong w watching for those reasons lol)

Yeah I think it is very very silly to think that Dean doesn’t care about Cas as much as Cas cares about him. Like wildly so.

I think this line of thinking comes mainly from focusing too much on one character's POV. I think Dean came off a few times in season 6 like he saw his relationship with Cas as transactional—even though that isn’t imo how he actually felt about Cas (just like we can analyze Cas as thinking of his relationship with the Winchesters as very transactional but he does care about them despite how it appears). I think Dean was just kind of hurt because Cas had ghosted him for so long and he thought they were friends and they'd built this bond? So in season 6, he was reacting to what he thought were the boundaries Cas himself set—boundaries that suggested Cas—the guy controlling the means of communication—did not want a friendship with him. Cas ditched Dean in the car at the end of Swan Song and then just invisibly watched Dean rake leaves. Dean was right there. Dean could only pray to Cas. Cas wouldn’t respond. In season 6, without giving Dean a say—while watching Dean rake leaves and considering whether to ask for his help—Cas decided (again--unilaterally) he wouldn't involve Dean, and I do think that decision was out of love, and also probably because... well—he probably thought "what can Dean actually... do?" But ultimately, he wanted a person he cared about who had been through a lot to just be able to rest—that's what he says. Not including Dean (and Sam) continued after Dean came back to hunting as well, because 1) Cas was still thinking about protecting Dean 2) He didn't think Dean could do anything to help (which I think is... probably pretty reasonable—he originally considered including Dean I think mainly for his tenacity) 3) the whole thing had ballooned and Cas was making deals he probably didn't even fully agree with himself—so he was ashamed to some extent, but also knew... he wasn't going to stop, and that Dean would ask him to stop.

Cas is... well—I'm going to say "more morally flexible"... and I don't think that's always a bad thing. This is a useful quality in the line of work TFW is in, honestly. He is more ruthless than Sam and Dean and he also knows that he is, and I think he actually likes to position himself as the ruthless one. He likes being the person who is willing to do what is necessary to get shit done and he's willing to sacrifice a part of himself to do it... because he can take it. He planned to kill Jesse behind the Winchester's backs to spare them the unpleasantness (and the same, later, with Kelly and Jack—when Sam and Dean were looking for a way to save both of them and Cas just went to go find Kelly and kill her). He broke Sam's wall and killed a very good friend—Balthazar—because his friends were standing in his way and he was focused on his ultimate purpose which was stopping another apocalypse. He mind tortured Donatello because it needed to be done. I think that Dean understands that Cas wants to position himself as the ruthless one, and I think Dean also understands that this isn't always a bad quality. I also think it's an obvious point of contention, because Dean is the least morally flexible in the group and is the most tenacious, which I think Cas, in turn, appreciates about Dean—but it is going to lead to clashes between them as best friends with one being tenacious about choosing the least morally crooked path when possible, and the other saying "Can we please just get on with it? I'll do it if you don't want to—I don't mind."

And that's... to some extent, what is happening in season 6... besides the lying and the hurt besties feelings and secrets and betrayals. The actual soul swallowing plan? It's Dean's tenacious insistence on following a more prudent path versus Cas's "Let's get the fuck on with it"... and there's fairness to both sides of that imo... which is why I'm annoyed with certain individuals trying to make this a "sides" thing. It isn't the actual plan as much as it's what he did around it that's the issue, and Dean isn't obligated to agree with him or to trust him after he lied so many goddamn times. Like. Dean's trust was not something to which Cas was entitled, point blank.

You're right—Dean didn’t think Cas would ever lie to him like that in season 6. He couldn’t believe it. He refused to believe it. And I think fans do this thing actually where they hear Cas say in season 6 that he’s always trusted Dean and he always comes when Dean calls and they just buy into that and go “Yeah! That’s so true!” and build an entire analysis on that (and then post insufferable parallels between that and 4.21 thinking they are saying something about Dean's "trust issues" when they are... making a very different parallel lmao). What Cas is saying about always trusting Dean isn’t true—and what’s more, Cas knows it isn’t. He knows suggesting Dean doesn’t trust him enough isn’t fair. When he was spying on Sam and Dean and Bobby he made specific note of “Dean trying so hard to be loyal” and defending him fiercely. (In fact—was there anyone Dean trusted more at that point in his life—despite also clearly being hurt by Cas ghosting him? Bobby, maybe. That's about it.) When Cas came back and tried to retroactively claim entitlement to Dean’s trust, he suggested an imbalance of trust because he was trying to dig into that part of Dean that is loyal to his friends. In other words, he was telling a lie for manipulation purposes, and that's just the damn truth. It isn't some crap about Dean having trust issues. It's Dean not buying some crap Cas is trying to sell—a twisted picture he is trying to paint to avoid doing something worse to get Dean out of his way.

It is insane for people to say Dean doesn't care about Cas as much as Cas cares about him though when you consider Cas hurt someone Dean loves just to keep Dean out of his way—he broke Sam's brain—Sammy's brain—and Dean still found a way to forgive that despite all of the trauma he has wrapped up in protecting Sam, and then he fought 360 degree combat through Purgatory looking for someone who abandoned him. Then while that person was beating him to death he was looking up at him calling him family and Cas again abandoned him. Any time Dean expressed affection for Cas there was a good bet Cas leaving would follow quickly. But Dean approaches Cas in a way the majority of fandom refuses to approach all of the characters—with an understanding of his motivations and hangups and intentions and what is in his heart (and Cas approaches him the same way). Despite it all, Dean knows that Cas cares about him. He doesn't understand why Cas won't include him though—or he does, and the reasons aren't okay with him and Cas will. not. stop. and that is the ever growing festering wound that leads to the divorce arc. It is absolutely 100% a "straw that broke the camel's back" situation. Dean's frustrations with Cas's unilateral decision-making are not... ever dealt with. Cas wanting to ghost Dean is not ever dealt with. Cas Malewifing sidelining Dean whenever he damn well feels like it by just refusing to answer the phone is not ever dealt with. Because each time it's discussed, it happens again. The ultimate narrative is just that Dean should be expected to accept it, and be grateful, and I don't think that's fair. I don't think that refusing to communicate is something that Dean should have to put up with from his best friend. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But more than that, I'm sad that it's something Cas isn't allowed to grow from, because that tendency—that desire for that secrecy and control of the means of communication and that desperation for martyrdom—that is coming from a place of great pain for Cas—a wound—and it's a deep one, and he deserved to get to start to close that wound up and heal.

[richincolor]

We have five books on our radar this week, and there's something for just about everyone here. Which ones are you adding to your TBR list?

Against the Darkness (In Every Generation #3) by Kandare Blake Disney Hyperion

This epic finale to the The Next Generation trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Kendare Blake ( Three Dark Crowns ) features the next generation of Scoobies and Slayers who must defeat a powerful new evil. For generations, the Slayer was supposed to be the chosen, the one girl in all the world with the power to stand against the vampires, demons, and forces of darkness. When Willow used the scythe to call up all the potential slayers at once, it changed everything. For years, the slayers have been working and fighting together as a team. Then the Darkness came, killing many slayers and trapping the rest in an alternate dimension. And Frankie Rosenberg, the world’s first Slayer-Witch, found herself fighting evil alone. Sort of. Sure, she has her new Scooby Gang, plus the help of her mom, Willow; Watcher, Spike; and even the brooding-but-hot Hunter of Thrace. But even though they have a master plan (obviously), the gang is more fragmented than ever. So maybe it really is up to Frankie—and Frankie alone—to stand against the darkness. With Jake’s wild werewolf brother back in town, Dark Willow threatening to return, and the Darkness preparing for the final stage of their attack, now is not a great time to wallow in teen angst. After all, she’s the Slayer. It’s time to slay.

And Then There Was Us by Kern Carter Tundra Books

A mother's death forces a teen girl to reevaluate their tumultuous relationship in this powerful coming-of-age novel for teens. For fans of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. Coi is just eighteen years old, but has already survived years of physical and verbal abuse from her mother. After being kicked out of her mother's house at age fourteen, Coi has lived with her father, and together they've created a peaceful life. That peace ends suddenly when her mother dies. While Coi struggles to find kindness in her heart for the woman who only hurt her, she starts having lucid dreams, forcing her to relive moments of abuse and emotional trauma that eventually led to Coi's abandonment. Her mother's passing also reopens the door to her mother's side of the family, including her beloved younger half-sister, Kayla, her stepfather and her grandmother. Each of them challenge Coi's long-held views about her mother, especially Kayla, who, Coi realizes, is taking their mother's loss hard. As she reconnects with her family, Coi learns to see parts of her mother she never experienced, and for the first time since she was abandoned, opens her heart to forgiveness.

Canto Contigo by Jonny Garza Villa Wednesday Books

When a Mariachi star transfers schools, he expects to be handed his new group's lead vocalist spot—what he gets instead is a tenacious current lead with a very familiar, very kissable face. In a twenty-four-hour span, Rafael Alvarez led North Amistad High School’s Mariachi Alma de la Frontera to their eleventh consecutive first-place win in the Mariachi Extravaganza de Nacional; and met, made out with, and almost hooked up with one of the cutest guys he’s ever met. Now eight months later, Rafie’s ready for one final win. What he didn’t plan for is his family moving to San Antonio before his senior year, forcing him to leave behind his group while dealing with the loss of the most important person in his life—his beloved abuelo. Another hitch in his plan: The Selena Quintanilla-Perez Academy’s Mariachi Todos Colores already has a lead vocalist, Rey Chavez—the boy Rafie made out with—who now stands between him winning and being the great Mariachi Rafie's abuelo always believed him to be. Despite their newfound rivalry for center stage, Rafie can’t squash his feelings for Rey. Now he must decide between the people he’s known his entire life or the one just starting to get to know the real him. Canto Contigo is a love letter to Mexican culture, family and legacy, the people who shape us, and allowing ourselves to forge our own path. At its heart, this is one of the most glorious rivals-to-lovers romance about finding the one who challenges you in the most extraordinary ways.

Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier Clarion Books

From acclaimed author Makiia Lucier, a dazzling, romantic fantasy inspired by Pacific Island mythology. In the old tales, it is written that the egg of a seadragon, dragonfruit, holds within it the power to undo a person’s greatest sorrow. An unwanted marriage, a painful illness, and unpaid debt ... gone. But as with all things that promise the moon and the stars and offer hope when hope has gone, the tale comes with a warning. Every wish demands a price. Hanalei of Tamarind is the cherished daughter of an old island family. But when her father steals a seadragon egg meant for an ailing princess, she is forced into a life of exile. In the years that follow, Hanalei finds solace in studying the majestic seadragons that roam the Nominomi Sea. Until, one day, an encounter with a female dragon offers her what she desires most. A chance to return home, and to right a terrible wrong. Samahtitamahenele, Sam, is the last remaining prince of Tamarind. But he can never inherit the throne, for Tamarind is a matriarchal society. With his mother ill and his grandmother nearing the end of her reign. Sam is left with two to marry, or to find a cure for the sickness that has plagued his mother for ten long years. When a childhood companion returns from exile, she brings with her something he has not felt in a very long time - hope. But Hanalei and Sam are not the only ones searching for the dragonfruit. And as they battle enemies both near and far, there is another danger they cannot escape…that of the dragonfruit itself.

The Smoke That Thunders by Erhu Kome Norton Young Readers

From a debut Nigerian author: a spectacular young adult fantasy rooted in West African mythology and brimming with adventure. In this mesmerizing fantasy rooted in Urhobo and West African folklore, sixteen-year-old Naborhi longs for a life away from her small, traditional clan in Kokori. But as her rite of passage approaches and she is betrothed to an arrogant young man, Naborhi feels her dreams slipping away from her. Then Naborhi becomes bonded to a mysterious animal and begins having harrowing visions of a kidnapped boy. She soon meets Atai, the son of an Oracle from a rival queendom, and learns that she is being guided by the gods. She and Atai, along with Naborhi’s eager-for-adventure cousin, Tamunor, set off across the continent to rescue the mysterious boy. But when they find him―and find out his true identity―Naborhi realizes there is more than just her freedom at stake: she must stop a war that has already been set in motion. With lush, unique worldbuilding and a dynamic cast of characters, The Smoke That Thunders is a gripping story of political intrigue, fierce love, and what it means to be free.

[linkemon]

Noctis Lucis Caelum x Reader (selship)

Selfship made for xivia___ on Wattpad.

Friendly reminder that English is not my first languge. You can check my Masterlists both in English and Polish here.

↠ Noctis met you when he started going to school like most people his age. You weren't very talkative. Neither was he. Maybe that's why he liked you. Unlike his peers, you didn't take the initiative to get to know him. You just existed somewhere, minding your own business.

↠ The prince was fed up with everything that surrounds him at times. At times like this, he was holed up on the roof. One time he found you there sleeping. He got confused and tried to pull back but that's when you woke up. You got shy. You gathered your things as fast as you could and got out of there. What you didn't know was that you forgot your game. Freshly bought, still in foil.

Noctis wondered if it wouldn't be better to just leave the box where it was but eventually the urge to talk about the game won out. He had just bought it and had a lot of thoughts about the plot and gameplay strategy. So the next day he found you in the hallway and gave you back. You two had a nice conversation so he walked you to your classroom at the other end of the building. That's how your friendship started.

↠ The boy heartily hated vegetables, so he kind of understood the problems with nutrition. He was a bit of a hypocrite in that regard, however, as he would remind you from time to time to eat right, even if he couldn't do it himself.

↠ You often had gaming sessions with Noctis and later Prompto as well. Mostly online but sometimes also on the couch in my apartment. Ignis was preparing only good delicacies then. Scientia scolded the boy if he misbehaved and these visits were one of the few times he really listened and obeyed him.

↠ As a friend of the prince, you managed to visit the palace. Your first visit was quite a disaster. First you broke an ancient vase, then you got lost between the long corridors and finally you ran into King Regis. You cried out of frustration. The prince found you laughing through tears in front of his father. A man tried to make you laugh by telling a childhood story about his son and it worked out quite well.

Noctis also took you to his training that day. Partly because he had to and partly to show off to you. His pride when you completely blew Gladion off and congratulated him was immense.

↠ Neither of you have confessed your feelings to the other in a typical way. Just one time, walking around the city at sunset, you held hands. And a few days later, the moment in the park was so magical that you had your first kiss. Being a couple came out without any formalities or announcements.

↠ Your dates weren't much different from what you used to do together. Gaming, shopping and trips to the city. The difference was that you went out without the boys, who sensed quite quickly that something was up.

You hid your relationship from your three friends for quite a long time. Your relationship back then was full of little touches of the hand, quick stolen kisses and unexpected truancy in the middle of the day.

↠ The prince got used to the fact that you were always sleepy. He didn't mind letting his arm be your pillow.

↠ It was you who came up with the idea to employ you in part-time work. That's how you ended up working in a sushi restaurant for a while. Since then, you can't look at such food anymore. But you had to admit that the boy was extremely caring. When he saw you weren't up to the task, he would send you on break and take over your tasks.

↠ Noctis tended to keep his feelings deep inside. If you wanted to get to know them in depth, you had to make a lot of effort. You also often told him how proud you were of him because trying to grow up to the role of a king gave him sleepless nights.

He, on the other hand, supported you more often with deeds than with words. For example, by coming to various school competitions or dealing with some issues that cause you problems. Including people who accused you of being with him for fame or profit. He had his ways with such people.

↠ Your relationship lasted quite a long time but the closer it got to marrying Lunafreya, the more Noctis considered breaking up with you. Duty won out and not wanting to hurt you later, he parted ways with you long before he left Insomnia. Still, he kept coming back to you. He has you especially on his mind now that news has reached him of the attack on the capital...