#angry hissing. rolling on the floor and clawing at the wallpaper

[fragonreal]

so mad rn. another gay lookin mf all over my dash so i had to learn about him, naturally now im head over heels FUCK EVERYTHINGGG

[stardustndice]

——A Fire Exit. A Sword-Fight. An Overdue Discussion.

Part 2 of 2 of an FBI AU Obi Wan Kenobi x Reader Story. Read Part 1 Here.

a/n: It’s finally here! I’m so sorry this took so long, everyone. I’ve been so busy figuring out plans for my freshman year of college and I graduated high school! Very exciting. Anyways, please enjoy the final part, I’m very proud of it. Props to @hellotherekenobi​ for spawning this fic. Couldn’t have done it without ya.

tag list (either you asked to be tagged or I like your writing a whole lot): @kaminobiwan​ @karasong​ @morganas-pendragons​ (if you want to be tagged in future fics, lmk!)

warnings: mention of blood, minor violence, some hot stuff near the end ;)

“Because she isn’t you.”

You thought it was impossible to have the air knocked out of your lungs without having been pushed onto the ground. Evidently not.

Your heart feels like it’s about to tear itself out of your chest and blood is rushing to your cheeks as thousands of possibilities sprint across your thoughts. Every time you’d seen him in the past, scanned his face, or gazed at him when his back was turned, you always assumed he didn’t feel the same way, that you didn’t deserve someone so kind, so hardworking, so passionate about protecting the innocent. To your surprise and excitement, you were wrong.

Another shriek from the hostage wrenches you out of your daydreaming. The Negotiator steps into view of the abductor, but not before nodding at the collection of terrified patrons huddled near the bar and meeting your eyes. You get the gist and begin to step towards them, avoiding the neon spotlights shining from the ceiling. Scanning the room quickly, a fire exit catches your eye on the other end of the bar, just a short distance from the room Orwen expected you to ‘service’ him in.

“Rheva, I need you to talk to me,” you hear Kenobi say calmly. His shockingly calm demeanor when negotiating never fails to shock you but you still feel an ounce of worry at his seemingly nonchalant tone in these situations. “What happened?”

You can’t afford to turn around as you begin leading partiers out of the exit. You don’t want to know the possible carnage that could ensue in the event that such a delicate position is compromised.

“You think I’m an idiot, Kenobi?” someone sneers, you assume Rheva. “No one wears a fucking suit and tie to Kina’s, not unless they’re looking for something.” You hear an exasperated sigh from your partner and you suppress a giggle. As they continue speaking, a Togruta gives you a look of shock, probably at your giggling during a hostage situation. You shoo him to the exit. Once everyone besides a few stiff, armed guards remain, you turn to see how Obi Wan is doing, moving silently until you’re merely a few steps behind him.

“I know you’re looking for me. You and your pretty little friend,” Rheva spits, gesturing to you with her knife. At this point, the hostage, a girl who looks to be in her early twenties, is hysterical. Tears are streaming down her face and she’s frantically looking between you and Obi Wan, desperate for eye contact. Despite his deescalation expertise, you see Obi Wan tense slightly at Rheva’s not-so-fond nickname for you.

“Rheva, we’re looking for Sarek, not you. Has he done something to you?” Obi asks softly, cautiously taking a step forward. Almost imperceptibly, Rheva starts to shake, her grip on the knife becoming weaker. Both you and your partner notice. Your partner’s patience is thicker than yours, though, as he spots you itching to quickly diffuse the situation.

“He can’t...if I tell you, I’m dead!” she shrieks. Obi Wan’s brows furrow. This is new information. If Sarek has been telling whomever he sleeps with about his plans, then you’ve had everything you need without even knowing it.

“Tell us what?” you chime in, taking a step to stand at Kenobi’s side. You hear a clatter behind you and you turn quickly, pistol drawn. A trandoshan hisses and licks his fangs, the last thing you glimpse before someone hits you in the back of your head and the world goes dark.

Someone poking your cheek gently rouses you into the conscious world. You groan lazily until a harsh slap hits your cheek. At that, the world rushes into your brain like ice water dumped on a drunk sorority girl. After several rapid blinks to clear your cloudy vision, you whip your head towards the source of the hit.

Sarek grants you a sinister grin, his lizard tongue darting out to sound a signature trandoshan hiss. It doesn’t take long for you to realize that your hands are tied behind your chair with zip ties. A spark of hope flies in your chest.

Sarek will regret not using handcuffs later.

It’s not long before that spark is snuffed out and replaced with a venomous anger. A grunt sounds from behind Sarek and your eyes dart away from his pale golden eyes. Obi Wan is in the same predicament, although his left eye is now outlined in a garish, swelling plum. As your blood boils you look around for an escape route. Nothing adorns the dusty concrete walls besides cracks and mold, so you assume however Sarek entered the room is out of your line of sight.

“Maybe your friend isn’t as tight-lipped as you, Kenobi,” Sarek drones, and you wrench your head away when he drags a claw down your jaw. A cry escapes you when he grasps your hair and yanks your head back towards him. It’s truly painful, though, when he steps aside, still holding your hair, to show your partner. When you make eye contact with him, ashamed, his eyes widen and his mouth opens barely, only to be replaced immediately by an angry mask. “Don’t touch her, Sarek.”

“And why not? What exactly are you going to do about it tied to a chair?” Sarek giggles maniacally, his back to you but you’re sure he’s baring his teeth grotesquely.

As quietly as possible, you begin to shimmy your hands, now in fists, out of the zip tie. It stabs into your wrists, but adrenaline and determination push you to keep pulling and twisting. Your partner notices your efforts and focuses on Sarek. He takes a leap of faith.

“We have Kaiela.”

For a moment you pause, your head shooting up to raise a shocked brow at Obi Wan, but he doesn’t return your gaze, and you quickly resume your task, praying that his risky bluff won’t get the both of you executed. You’re not too worried; Obi Wan has a 100% success rate at life-or-death mission improv thus far.

“If you let us go, we’ll give you two a happy little reunion,” Obi snarks. Time passes as Sarek stares down at Obi Wan, who huffs a strand of hair out of his eyes, all the while maintaining Sarek’s gaze. You’ve nearly wrangled yourself out of the zip ties when Sarek’s cackle makes your heart drop. “Oh, Kenobi, you handsome idiot,” he drawls and leans forward, whispering loudly “she’s with me.”

Everything happens at once. The zip ties snap apart and you lunge for Sarek right as he turns to smirk at you. His smile vanishes and you deliver a powerful blow to his solar plexus and he crumples gracelessly to the ground. Your eyes narrow when you notice an empty sheath for a small knife on his waist and look at Obi Wan. The world screeches to a halt for the second time tonight when you see a knife sticking out of his stomach. You spring up to inspect his wound and he winces when you touch the handle. Taking it out would make matters much worse. “Christ, I’m glad you never became a doctor,” he mumbles while you snatch another knife from Sarek’s inventory.

“We don’t have much time. He’ll only be out for another minute or so. We have to leave. Were you conscious when he dragged us in here?” you ask. Obi Wan nods and looks somewhere behind you. Once you follow his gaze after cutting him free, you see a large metal door. It takes some effort, but you manage to help him limp out the door only to groan upon seeing Sarek’s garishly-decorated office. A gold chandelier hangs from the marble ceiling and plush fur rugs are piled on top of each other in a seating area by the exit, you assume to whatever ‘jail’ the two of you were dragged here from. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer a view of the starlit harbor, the ocean peacefully rolling into wooden pillars holding up the dock.

Halfway across the room: that’s how far you get before you wince upon hearing a metal slam and reptilian growl from behind you. You’re surprised when Obi Wan stands on his own to turn to Sarek, determined. Sarek, however, is not nearly as composed. Both of you sidestep Sarek’s messy charge, but you tense when he quickly pulls out...a sword? If it wasn’t for your partner slowly bleeding out and how painful your heels are getting, you'd laugh, but Sarek holds the blade to Obi Wan’s throat and backs him into the burgundy wallpaper in front of you.

By the grace of the gods, you spot an atrocious-looking display to your left, holding a gaudy and intricate broadsword. The rug helps muffle your footsteps, and the sword smoothly slides out of its mount. It’s surprisingly light and you whirl around to see Obi Wan struggling to push Sarek away. With all the strength of an MLB pitcher, you hurl the broadsword into the wall to his right. The blade sinks into the wall with a solid thunk and the practically-bedazzled handle wobbles back and forth next to Kenobi’s head. He then offers a sly grin that releases a cage of butterflies in your abdomen and yanks the sword out of the wall and brandishes it out in front of him. Sarek leaps back in the nick of time, nearly getting sliced in the belly.

You suddenly get an odd feeling of déjà vu.

Stress festers in the pit of your stomach as you watch Obi Wan and Sarek dance around each other, composing a metal rhythm as they lunge for the other’s vital organs. Sarek’s knife is still lodged in Obi Wan’s stomach and you fidget. “Please be careful,” you yell halfheartedly over the clanging, “You do remember your stab wound, don’t you?” Obi Wan glances over at you for a split second and gives you a cheeky grin. “Are you sure I’ve been stabbed? I hardly feel a thing!” he puffs, ducking under a particularly clumsy swing from Sarek. You roll your eyes but the duel escalates quickly when the exit bangs open harshly, and in piles an assortment of trandoshans, each of them wielding a firearm of some kind.

A snicker sounds from Obi Wan’s opponent. Kenobi drops the broadsword and backs away from Sarek and his rapidly-advancing cohorts. Tension has clogged the room at this point. It’s silent until Obi grabs a heavy-looking vase and unceremoniously chucks it at the window. Before you know it, he’s wrapped an arm around your waist and takes one, two, three steps and leaps out into the air above the water. You shriek and clutch at the back of Obi Wan’s suit jacket, shutting your eyes tight and bracing yourself for the icy plunge.

It never comes. Instead, a loud thump rattles your bones and forces your eyes open. The first thing you notice is that Obi Wan is still holding onto you. More importantly, he’s rubbing circles into your back to try and help you relax. You scramble gracelessly off of him and look around. A consistent dripping noise echoes around the space and you discover that somehow you’re in an open space under Sarek’s office, which was sticking out from the building and over the water like a sore thumb. Your eyes trace a long black wire leading from the edge of the building to your location. You squint at Obi Wan. “There’s no way you could’ve known that wire would be there.”

He chuckles. “I was fully prepared to go for a swim before I spotted it. It would’ve been a pity to ruin such a nice dress.” You stick your tongue out at him and he softly jabs you in the waist, eliciting a very mature squeak from you. Once he winces from laughter your face softens. “Let’s get you to a corner store and grab a first aid kit. If you’ve gone this long without passing out from blood loss the knife must not have punctured anything vital,” you tell him, gently touching his abdomen. He’s silent and you look up at him to see him...avoiding your gaze? You realize you’re still touching him and jerk your hand away like you’d just burned it.

“Are you worried about me?” he laughs, beaming. In retaliation (and to hide your glowing cheeks), you move to support Obi Wan and begin to lead him out towards the street, purposely looking as far away from him as possible.

“We can buy a first aid kit at the corner store and perhaps grab a bite to eat at Dex’s?” Obi Wan suggests. You nod and the two of you walk/limp to your destination.

On the sidewalk outside of Dex’s Diner, Obi Wan sits patiently, waiting for you to bring out food. You both had decided not to eat inside the restaurant and scare the customers with Obi looking so banged up. You’d carefully cleaned and stitched up his wound, and all the while he stared down at you, bewildered by your concentration and skill.

He’d come to terms with his feelings a long time ago, only now he’s scared you don’t feel the same way. You’d always treated him like a brother, as much as it irked him sometimes. Too many times you’d come very close to catching him gazing lovingly at you while you cut down mobsters and the like. It was becoming more difficult by the day to keep his heart from tumbling out of his lips, to keep the dam shut.

His chest clenches as the memory of your pained and frightened face in Sarek’s grasp resurfaces. It cleaved straight through his soul. At that moment, he gives himself a task: he’ll make sure that you never have to be that scared again, even if it kills him.

He is torn from his thoughts when the bell at the door of the diner chimes and you take a seat on the curb beside him, a hand offering him a Shawda club sandwich. He groans in happiness and you laugh, watching him dramatically savor the first bite. Peaches and purples swirl together in the sky as the sun begins to peek over the horizon. Its rays are cut into pieces by towering skyscrapers and buildings, the pieces hitting the sidewalk around you. The moment is peaceful but you have something to get off of your chest, you just don’t know how.

“Obi Wan-”

“I-”

You both startle. You gesture to him to speak and all at once the words he was going to say are absent from his tongue. An awkward pause fills the space between you.

“What I said at Kina’s...I wasn’t lying,” he says firmly. “I’ve never met anyone who comes close to you. I’m sorry if you don’t feel the same way but I need to tell you this before something happens to me again. You’re everything to me. You’re strong and capable and you deserve the world. I just hope you can settle for me.”

When you don’t move his heart sinks into his stomach. His hope tarnished, he begins to ramble. “If you don’t want to work with me anymore, I understand. I just hope we can-”

The defeat laced in his voice breaks you out of your shocked stupor and you whirl around, planting your palm on his mouth. He quiets, his eyes searching yours for an explanation. You press your forehead to his, giggling from relief and the last of your adrenaline. Your hand falls to cup his jaw, his beard soft under your fingers.

“Shut up and kiss me, you reckless dork.”

Obi’s face splits in a grin as he finally kisses you, pulling you closer at the nape of your neck and his other hand tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. Your other hand is splayed on his chest as you break for air and you initiate the next searing kiss, tugging him with both hands by the collar of his torn dress shirt. You hear his muffled chuckle at your unbridled enthusiasm.

You push him away to make sure it isn’t some kind of twisted dream, but you’re instead greeted by a rather attractive sight. Obi Wan is panting, his cheeks dark and one button undone on his dress shirt, revealing his collarbone and the top of his chest.

“I’m offended that you called me a ‘reckless dork’ when you just aggressively made out with me,” Obi Wan snarks, grinning.

“Oh shut it, you loved it.”

“I suppose it was alright…although it wouldn’t hurt to practice.”

[nevermore-ocs]

Protective

Author’s Note: 7.3K words of a smut fic of my character, Internal and @flowerthornsart‘s character, Codec!!

Internal snarled to himself, the smell of the common dreg of the undercity of Daxton made him gag, walking rotten meat slabs that wore disheveled clothes they were to him. And now, the fact that Drake's great plan of getting information about their youngest brother, Blood, from these stains was working, he wasn't going to hear the end of it. He leaned against a wall, silently watching the discussion of the eldest vampire conversing with a masked man dressed in a long sleeve shirt, tattered and worn jeans, and sneakers coated in dirt. "And you're positive they were here?" Drake's voice rang through Internal's ears, "Yeah man they were here, that big bitch Blade and his little vampire sidekick were here like a week ago," even his voice sounded disgusting, it was rough to the ears like he's been smoking every day for the last three years. "Thank you for your information," Drake reached into one of his suit pockets and pulled out a wad of cash held by a small rubber band and handed it to the man who boisterously unbounded it and counted the bills with a wide-spread grin. He took another glance at Drake, putting the money away in his pocket. "'Ey I meant to ask, where's that cute girl that comes with y'all?" That's when Internal's attention was caught at full force. "How do you mean?" Drake could sense Internal's quick-growing anger, he had to quietly put a hand up to halt his hot-headed brother. "That cyborg girl, dude! The one with the helmet? She's fine as Hell, hehe!" Drake had to take a glance over his shoulder at Internal, he was fuming, his now unsheathed claws were slicing into the decaying wallpaper behind him, he was growling lowly to himself, drool was cascading down his chin. "Sucks how she didn't come with y'all, I would have LOVED to show her a good time, you know what I mean?" The man snickered, Drake opened his mouth to say something only to be interrupted by Internal's boots thudding against the creaking hardwood floor due to him stomping up to the two, however, he was halted yet again by Drake who outstretched an arm across his brother's chest, as security. Internal hunched over, he was baring his teeth, his eyes were wide and his pupils were in slits, and a rough, snarling growl emitted deep from his throat. "Drake..." Internal finally spoke, his voice laced with a dangerous amount of venom, it was practically dripping out of his mouth. "Yes, Internal?" Drake asked, already knowing what the question was going to bed. "Can I eat now?" The feral vampire hissed through his gritted sharp teeth, and after being mute for a moment or two, Drake lowered his arm back down to his side, freeing him. "You may." It was like the leash was taken off of a dangerous dog, Internal charged forward at the man with unnatural speed and a hissing roar, there was a loud sound of his teeth piercing through the flesh of the man's neck, right into the jugular, he dug his sharp, pointed, dagger-like teeth deep into his neck flesh in a ferocious bite. His jaw locked, the blood from the man's arterial vein sprayed thickly in Internal's mouth like a dense red mist and as the feral vampire heard the man's gurgling pleas for help, and his feeble, weak attempts to push him off of him, Internal sharply turned his head to the side, the man's throat was torn clear out, the blood spray continued heavily right onto Internal's face before he dropped the man's now limp body down onto the wooden, creaky floor. "Well that was-" Drake paused when Internal knelt to the body and started to use his claws to slice through the man's chest cavity, blood splattered in numerous pools around the fresh corpse, the feral vampire took a hold of the body's ribcage and with a grunt, and with a quite a show of strength, he splintered bones and broke them, tossing the pieces away to the side sloppily. Internal's mouth was practically frothing at the invading smell of human organs and that's when his stomach growled loudly. He glanced over his shoulder at Drake who gave one nod and Internal's feast began. "Violent." Drake finished his thought.

"You left the lungs?" Drake questioned, counting in his head while his fingers flicked through the dollar bills from before, when all was counted for, he folded the money back up, clasped them all together with that rubber band from before, and slid the payment back into his suit pocket. "He was a smoker, I could fuckin' smell it off of him. I'm surprised how you didn't." Standing up with the man's liver in his hand, Internal brought the organ up to his mouth and dug his teeth into it, tearing a bite out and he easily chewed and swallowed the meat, he slammed the door open with his elbow and as the scents of outside filled both of their noises, in which Internal scowled and Drake was already mapping out their destination in his head, he started to walk in that very direction with Internal next to him, shoulder to shoulder. 10 minutes of undisturbed silence, Drake spoke up, "Should we talk about what got you so angry in there?" The question was brought up, Internal stopped himself in pre-bite and he lowered his hand, his eyes narrowed somewhat and they drifted to the side, and his cheeks sported a very light dusting of pink. He didn't want to admit it out loud, he wouldn't if Drake wasn't there to witness the whole thing. "What's there to talk about?" Internal was already sounding hostile and defensive, which his brother should have expected, that was never new. Drake placed a kind hand on his brother's shoulder, "Internal, I know you did it to protect Codec's honor, there's nothing wrong wit-" Internal snatched his shoulder away from his brother's grasp. He tossed the organ from before to the side and turned towards Drake with a rumbling growl, "You don't breathe a fuckin' word about what happened tonight to her, ya understand me?! So help me, Drake, I'll beat your face in so fuckin' deep, they're not even gonna be able to tell we're related anymore, ya got it?!" Drake's gaze and overall body language was unfaltering, he barely moved an inch at Internal's outburst and his ruby-red orbs bored right into Internal's matching ones. "I won't. Though you can't beat yourself if she asks you what happens, lie to her if you want, but she'll be touched by what you did." Drake was looking at Internal's back now as the feral vampire pressed onward towards their destination, the feral vampire paused mid-step and truly thought it over. Could he tell her? He could tell her what he did and leave it at that, it probably wouldn't go to anything else, anyway. If anything, he was going to get a teasing from Codec about him being 'a big softie' around her. "...fine, whatever. Can we get there already?" Nodding, Drake used his unnatural speed to appear right next to his brother again, he read Internal like a book, he knew he wasn't used to these feelings, let alone towards a human, something that Internal despised with a burning passion ever since the attack but Codec was different for him. He's caught Internal smiling around her, yes they teased each other and butted heads, but it had a playful twist to it, for God's sake, Codec's poked Internal's nose when he was right up in her face with his fangs bared at full extension, it was different. Drake wasn't used to it and he knew for sure Internal wasn't. Their walk back towards the hotel they were staying at with Codec remained silent the entire time back, Drake's eyes were fixated forward for the most part but he couldn't help but take the occasional glance over towards Internal, he was staring directly at the ground, his arms were crossed firmly over his chest, even his claws were digging into the fabric of his jacket. He wanted to get to their room and relax, blow off steam, even if that might take the rest of the night and a midnight hunt to do so. "Here," When they were standing at the doors of the hotel, Drake pulled out a handkerchief from his front pocket, "Wipe your face, and hands, good thing you didn't get it on your clothes...this time." Internal gripped the rag and yanked it from Drake's grip and he did just that, he cleaned his hands off and then his mouth, the red liquid stained the white fabric a reddish-pink color. Without saying anything else after, Internal tossed the cloth back to his brother who caught with ease, balling it up, he slipped it into his slacks' pocket. "Can I go in now or do I have to fuckin' dress like ya too?" The feral vampire spat, earning an eye roll from Drake who went up to the double glass doors and he took hold of one of the handles. "No, but you could have manners," he pulled the door open and motioned to go inside with his free hand. "You could say thank you for this."

Even the elevator ride up to the suite was quiet, and again, Drake was looking forward and Internal's eyes were locked onto the carpeted flooring of the elevator. When the two metal doors squeaked open, Internal took a firm grip on one of Drake's arms which instantly caught the attention of the eldest brother. "Remember. Not a fuckin' word." The feral vampire's fangs bared ever so slightly but his mouth closed again when Drake put his open hand up in defense. "I promise, not a word, Internal, I won't say anything to her." Drake fixed his sleeve after Internal let him go, he did the same with his tie and his lapel to his liking. "If she asks you, you get yourself out of it, you either tell her or lie, whichever." Walking out first, Drake pulled out their room key from one of his inner suit pockets and the two approached the corresponding suite. Sliding it into the electrical lock, Internal impatiently shoved the door open, and walked in, "Hey there you guys are, how'd the meeting go?" Codec, pulling herself out of maintenance on her robotic arm, she watched Internal go to the main bedroom of the suite. "It went fine," Internal muttered too quickly for her liking, and she especially knew something was up when Internal went into the bedroom, took a hold of the tinted sliding glass door that separated the living room and the bedroom, and slammed it shut so hard, the door shook. Blinking rather confused, it even showed on her helmet, Codec faced Drake. "What the Hell happened? I said one thing and he's pissed off already!" Codec stood up from the couch, "I can't...exactly tell you, Codec," Drake saw Codec cross her arms, which easily meant she wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Drake, what happened? Seriously, I know he can be a real hot head but usually, he screams at us, and then he's fine, this is different! What's going on?" Codec couldn't hide it, but there was worry evident in her voice, she cared about Internal a lot; she would never admit that aloud and could never bring herself to do that, she was far too stubborn for that and she even knew that. With a sigh, Drake raked his fingers through his messy hair and took one more look over at the shut door with the frosted glass, then he looked back at Codec. "I promised him, but, I know him. He was truly bothered by what happened with the contact today. That man said some less than...appropiate things about-" "Blood?" "You." That certainly caught Codec off guard, "What? Oh God, I don't even wanna know but, what did he say?" She couldn't help herself but turn her head towards the door once more, she could see Internal's infuriated silhouette grabbing what appeared to be a pillow or blanket off of the bed and he threw it against the wall. "He said sexual things, disgusting things about taking you and making you feel good," she practically gagged at those words, she certainly looked disgusted. "However, Internal...snapped. He lunged at the human and killed him on the spot, he fed, of course, but he did it out of your honor, you weren't there to protect yourself and Internal wasn't having it." Codec's eyes gradually widened with surprise at Drake's retelling of the night's earlier events, she was used to Internal being violent but she was surprised by this, and touched, this was so out of character for him. Not the violent stuff, of course, but the whole thing of just protecting her name when she wasn't even there. "Should I, um, should I talk to him?" She was glad that her helmet was covering it, but her face was extremely red, the thought of Internal protecting her was definitely on her mind, she couldn't get it out of it, "I think you should, calm him down, it's the easiest thing for you to do when he's like this, just, be careful is all." Receiving a smile from Drake, Codec returned it with her small one, and the eldest vampire went over towards the couch and took a seat in the middle, crossing one leg over the other as he finally started to relax. Codec, with little hesitance, went up to the glass door, she gazed inward and saw the shadow of Internal's form sitting on the bed, hunched forward, he was probably steaming still but luckily he was sitting down now so he couldn't cause too much damage at the moment. She wrapped her hand around the handle and inhaled deeply. She held it for just a moment or two before breathing out through her mouth and she pushed the door open, "Internal?" She spoke up softly, stepping through the open door, she let it slide carefully and quietly behind her, now it was just the two of them. Internal knew she was in there now but he didn't look at her yet, he was leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together in front of him, his coat and undercoat was stripped off of him so it left a tank-top, his jeans, and boots, it looked like he tried to get comfortable but was still too angry to do so. "Vallen?" When Internal heard his real name flow from Codec's lips with that soft tone to it, that's when his eyes finally decided to slowly drift over towards her. "He told you, didn't he?"

When Internal read Codec's mind, she made her way to his side and she sat down next to him, her hands resting on her lap. "Yeah, yeah he did," that blush was coming back to his cheeks and it felt so odd to him, he wasn't used to the feelings and thoughts that he got whenever she was around, he acted differently around her, the teasing and usually vile words were playful, like flirting. God, he was even more handsy with her, like he'd push her helmet down her head further whenever he was done with her teasing, or whenever she won a round of them going back and forth and she was the same way, being handsy with him, hers usually included taking his coat from him when he least expected it, Hell, she's even gotten him to purr and he hasn't done that in a LONG time. It would make sense why he defended her, even if the feral vampire would deny it. He was just as stubborn as she was. "So, what about it?" He didn't mean for it to sound as mean as it was, but he was getting defensive all over again and he was going to move but Codec placed her hand on his upper arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. "First off, I wanna say thank you. I wasn't even there and you killed some asshole for me, I-thank you," she smiled up at Internal and the sight of Codec's face flushed with a smile made her look so precious in his eyes, it made his blush worsen. "Yeah, yeah, so fuckin' what?!" He grumbled, and then she giggled, and that made his face catch on fire. "You are a softie aren't you?~ But, seriously, Vallen, I appreciate what you did for me," Internal had to process what was happening, she felt like she had moved closer to him, her hand had moved down to his forearm and was holding it tenderly, "You didn't have to do it, you know? He was just some dirtbag who-" Internal stood up abruptly, "Are ya kiddin' me, Codec? Yes, I fuckin' did! The shit that, that fucker said, it was fuckin' disgustin'! And ya weren't there to stop it yourself, so I fuckin' killed him and fed!" Internal was pacing back and forth in front of Codec, he was pissed just picturing how scummy and shallow that guy looked, a copy cat in the undercity, if anyone else thought like that about her, he was going to feed a lot there. "Ya deserve better than some fucker who doesn't even deserve to mention ya talkin' about ya like that, okay?" The feral vampire's gaze fixated on the ground again, his face, even the tips of his good and torn ears were a blazing red too, "Vallen..." Codec was, beyond touched, she felt like she lost her voice, she heard her heart pounding away in her ears, she didn't expect Internal to ever talk like this to her, but she, she loved it, it made her eyes go wide and her face turn as red as his. "So, yeah, there ya go." He was about to sit down, but Codec's metallic hand going up to his chest paused his motions and he watched as she stood up from her seated position, her hands went up to her helmet, the digital eyes on the glass visor of it turned off when she slipped the helmet off of her head and she used a hand to fluff up some of her lilac-colored hair. She gazed up at him and her eyes locked onto his despite the uneven scar the took up the entire upper half of her face and Internal smiled, it was a real one, he never thought she looked bad or ugly whenever she had her helmet off, he truly loved seeing her without her helmet on, it was such a nice change from her wearing it pretty much 24/7 out of her insecurities that he wished she didn't have. "I'm being serious, I'm not trying to get under your skin or some shit like that I'm, I'm thankful for that."

It was like the rest of the world just faded away to Internal and he was sure the same happened for Codec, her pouring her heart like that out to him after his little outburst. All he could hear is his heartbeat pounding steadily away in his ears and how tuned his advanced hearing was, he could take in Codec's too and hers was just as bad as his. Both sets of eyes were darting around the room to try and focus on something else other than the person right in front them, the room was drenched with silence so thickly, nobody knew what to say right now and neither one of them dared to look at the other person, but after numerous failed attempts from both sides, Internal's ruby red orbs bored right into Codec's bright blue ones, his next action surprised himself. It was like he blacked out, but when he came to his senses, his arms were wrapped around Codec and she was held tight and close to his chest, there was a feeling of protectiveness in his embrace, how tight he was holding her. It was like he never wanted to let her go, he was even growling lightly to himself at the utter thought of what that guy would have done if Codec did show up to the meeting with them. If she did, and that guy had tried anything or even made a move closer to her, he would have killed him sooner and slower, to make him feel every single claw dig and rip through his flesh. "Vallen?" Codec's voice had a slight stutter like she was nervous to get her next words out and hearing that made Internal's voice do the same, "Yeah?" He wasn't sure where this was going to go next but how she was leaned against his chest and he could feel her hands moving from his back to his sides and waist, he had a feeling and he wanted it more than anything else in the world right now because nothing else mattered other than her and him in the same room. Her human and cybernetic hands maneuvered themselves from his sides to his chest, she grabbed at the fabric of his tank top, right at the dipped hem of it. "Come here, you dork~" Taking a firm grip of his tank top's hem, she pulled him down to her level, her lips collided against his in a passionate kiss, drawing a surprised but muffled grunt from Internal in the process. His eyes were wide as saucers, at the action out of nowhere, he's probably only ever daydreamt about this, he never expected it to happen, but it took a few moments and his eyes drifted, and they shut tight. He leaned into the kiss further, almost knocking Codec off of her feet if it weren't for one of his arms being thrown around her waist and keeping her held close to him. Their hands grasped at each other's bodies, Codec's had reached up behind Internal's head and she threaded her fingers through his dark red tresses took a handful of them, the other gripped at his shoulder, her digits digging into his skin ever so slightly. Internal's hands took almost selfish handfuls of her hips and backside, he felt her body fill his palms perfectly and he squeezed where his hands were positioned at, making her gasp out in between their tongues sliding and pressing against one another, allowing the feral vampire to lean forward and practically shove his tongue deep within her mouth, eliciting a breathless, muffled moan from her.

Exploring Codec's mouth with his tongue with such a burning desire, their teeth clashed together during the restless lip-lock, her hand at his head gripped and pulled somewhat on his hair, pulling a deep, suppressed growl from that was so sensual, it rocked through her whole body and made her tremble. Her thighs pressed up together and Internal took notice of it. Slowly retracting his longer than human tongue from her mouth, there was a thin line of saliva that stretched in between their open, panting mouths and it broke when he licked his lips. Hurriedly, he slid his arms down from her waist and placed his hands on the undersides of her thighs, easily hoisting her up and taking just a few steps, he carefully and gently, of course, threw her onto the bed. "Hmf-! How do I weigh like nothing to-" Codec's words were abruptly taken from her mouth at the tantalizing sight of Internal stripping his tank-top off himself and she got a full show of his toned torso on display, how scars were dusted here and there on both his front and back, her thoughts were screaming at her to just touch him already, more than she already was. "Because ya don't," Internal shot back with a chuckle, tossing the black tank-top away to the side since was it unnecessary at the moment and he climbed onto the bed, hovering above her, his hands planted on the bed at her sides and he grinned down at her, showing those dangerously sharp teeth of his. "And don't act like I didn't see ya gawkin' at me just a second ago~" He purred, "S-Shut up!" She turned her head to the side as an attempt to hide her flushed face, crossing her arms below her bust, but as she laid her head to the right, she revealed her neck as a price, and Internal saw the exposed area. With a soft chuckle, he leaned down and licked a long stripe up her neck from her collarbone to her jaw, drawing a shivering moan from her mouth, her hands also shot back up to his shoulders and back, gripping and holding onto him however she could. He locked his lips onto a certain spot, sucking at the small area and he ran his tongue over it numerous times too, he was so tempted to bite, his teeth were even grazing her skin. "A-Are you, hnh, gonna bite me?~" She breathed out, "Pull me closer I just might~" He responded, almost in a challenging way, his eyes even met hers again to further press it. Going over the dare put in front of her, she guided her hand back up to his head and pushed him more into her neck, he wasn't expecting that, but he wasn't complaining either. Leaning back up, he grinned, brandishing those fangs of his, even more so by running his tongue across the white, smooth surface and the sight of it practically set her face ablaze.

"Okay, well first, these are coming off~" Internal, initially, reached towards her to strip her of her clothes but she lightly batted them away, "Ah, ah, you're gonna rip them, you," she poked the tip of his nose, "feral cat," he narrowed his eyes after rolling them, but he listened to her wishes, albeit he was getting extremely impatient when he sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Hey I didn't rip my top, did I?!" Codec playfully stuck her tongue out at him, proceeding to strip herself right in front of her after her bit of taunting. Internal couldn't help but watch, his eyes were drinking up the sight of her body becoming more and more exposed, her breasts gently falling into place when her shirt came off, she unbuckled her belt and slipped it from her waist, and then her shorts were slid off next. It wasn't too long before she was completely nude in front of him, he saw her robotic leg and arm were connected to her human body, it was honestly a flawless connection, how smooth the rest of her looked to the touch, he was aching to touch her already and while he was sitting there, he could sense her self consciousness, how an arm was draped over her bosom, her thighs were pressed somewhat together and her other arm was across her stomach like she was hugging herself. "Oh no," Internal growled, moving his hand quicker than her eyes could pick up, he gathered her wrists together in it, he pinned her arms above her head, his free hand pressed against the mattress as like before, "Yer not hidin' anything from me. Yer fuckin' beautiful, I hope ya know that, and if ya think I give a shit about any marks or anythin' like that, yer fuckin' wrong," She felt her heart get filled with love all over again, her face was just on fire, it certainly felt like it, she truly didn't expect him to ever speak like that to her but how touched she was just tripled from the amount before. "Aren't you a flatterer?~ That means a lot though, Vallen, thank you~" Leaning up, only a little though given her pinned position, he saw her attempt to come closer to him, so he leaned down to meet her in the middle, she, at first, pecked the tip of his nose. She giggled and he chuckled before the two of them met in a kiss again, their mouths sliding against another, his tongue swiped across Codec's bottom lip, and with little to no hesitation, her mouth opened and his tongue returned to her mouth, slipping around and grinding up against hers. His grip on her wrists loosened until she was freed again, her arms hooked around his neck, and his hand from her wrists traveled downward from above her, to her shoulder, and then to her chest where he cupped one of her breasts, his tuned ears easily picking up a mute moan from her mouth. He kneaded her breast, squeezing gently and rubbing the mound in a slow, tender, circling motion, he could feel her nipple hardening against his palm, so he focused on that now, of course. Lifting his hand, he caught her nipple in between his index finger and thumb, pinching the hardened nub and he rolled it carefully, even pulling on it too. He could feel her body twitching, moan after moan that emitted from her just got swallowed in their mouths.

Breaking the kiss off for, Codec's face was flushed a bright red, her eyes were closed, her head was tossed to the side and buried in the pillows while she steadily panted, her hands moving from his back and down to his biceps where she gripped him, "Ya like it when I focus on these, huh?~" He purred, giving her breast a gentle squeeze to signal what he meant. He watched her nod, and when he saw that, he adjusted himself. Putting himself in between her legs with his crotch pressed right up against hers, he used his free hand at first to hike her legs around his waist and he let her tighten them around him, to hold onto him as tight as she wanted. Leaning down, his tongue flicked across one of her nipples, and she gasped out lightly at the feel of the wetness going across her like that. Opening his mouth, he took the nub into his mouth and started to suck on it, his teeth grazing over the risen flesh while his free hand held and tenderly rubbed and kneaded her other breast, he hummed against her skin, sending jolt after jolt of pleasure through her too. All Codec could do was just lay back and enjoy, her fingers were threaded in his hair again, gripping it, her free hand took a handful of the sheet they were laying on, her pants were getting quite breathless, "Ahhnn~ Vallen, tha-that's so good~ Mmmnnhff~" She gasped out, much to his pleasure, her voice was addicting so covered in pleasure and want, his own was practically filled with a natural, feral lust, only for her and her alone, he was purring, loudly, his voice had growls whenever he spoke. He kept her nipple in his mouth, sucking and flicking his tongue across it over and over again, he even carefully pulled it with his teeth before letting it go with a breathless huff, his eyes cascading back upwards towards her flustered, red face, "Good~ I want it to be~" He opened his mouth and was in the process of leaning towards her other breast but Codec's hand cupping his cheek stopped him and his eyes instantly flicked back upwards towards her, he could see a glint in her eyes like she had a plan and determined as all Hell to carry it out. "As, whew, as much as I want you to keep going with this, I think it's about your turn to get something, hmm?~"

It took them rearranging their position for Internal to realize just what Codec had planned, he was leaned back against the numerous pillows on the bed, he still had his jeans on from earlier before, however, that look was still ever present in her eyes and now it was his turn to turn as red as all Hell, and he silently cursed to himself since his pointed ears, both torn and normal, were turning red too. Pressing a quick peck to his lips, Codec started to move down his body, her hands on his torso and caressing him the journey downwards until she was at his belt, "I think you might be getting redder than me, Vallen~" She teased, earning a growl deep from Internal's gut, "No one's done this to me before, alright?!" He shot back, making Codec giggle, "I can tell since your jeans are looking pretty tight down here~" She cooed, her hands went up to his belt buckle and she started to undo the metal loop, unbuckling it and after that, she unthreaded it from the loops of his jeans, tossing it to the side with the rest of the discarded clothes. She unbuttoned his jeans and unzipped them too, letting her fingers hook around the edges of both his underwear and jeans, she pulled them both down at the same time and let out a soft gasp to herself when Internal's cock sprung out of the prison that was his underwear and stood straight up at attention. She gazed at him, gulping to herself, out of her excitement and also on the fact that he was bigger than she's imagined before, not that she was complaining though. "Yeah, yeah, ya did this to me~" He chuckled, he sucked in a soft breath when her robotic hand wrapped around his length, the metal was a cold contrast again how warm he was down there. "Did I?~ Well I should take care of it, shouldn't I?~" Allowing her hand to glide downward, she tenderly held his cock by the base, squeezing it gently and she licked her lips too, probably hinting to him what she was going to do next. Leaning her body forward, she pressed her tongue flatly against his cock and she dragged her tongue up from the base, taking her time on his shaft so that she licked the entire length of it, ending her long lick at the head which she promptly pressed a kiss to it. Internal's eyes rolled back and closed while letting out a long, low groan, his claws had unsheathed and were currently digging into the sheet and the mattress slightly with how tight he was gripping. Gauging his reaction, Codec giggled, craning her head forward, she wrapped her lips around the head of his cock, starting suck on it whilst her tongue flicked across it too and as she did this, her hand steadily pumped what wasn't in her mouth yet. He groaned, sitting up again to stare at how she worked her mouth around him, feeling her mouth open up wider, she started to slide more of his cock deeper into her mouth, feeling the head of it press against the back of her throat is when she gagged lightly, knowing that's how much she could take. "Ghhnhfm~ MMmmhhffnh~" She moaned out around him, sending pleasurable waves up and down his body. She started to bob her head up and down as she sucked, her tongue swirling around his shaft buried in her mouth and her hand continued to pump what wasn't in her mouth, her other hand squeezed at his inner thigh, feeling his body trembling with the gasps and low groans that breathily escaped his mouth. "Fuck~ Hnnh~ Nnhg~ Yer, hah, really fuckin' good at this, Codec~" He whispered, his shut eyes were twitching before he finally pried them open to take in the sight of Codec's mouth wrapped around him, smudged and streaked remnants of her purple lipstick painted his cock, her eyes fluttered and landed onto his and made such a deep eye contact with him, it felt like it wasn't going to break. She took in just how cute he looked, his entire face was flushed, his eyes struggled to even stay open a little and if he wasn't letting out breathless groans, he would chew at his bottom lip to bite back any noise that attempted to seep through his lips.

Codec lifted her head off of his cock, she panted out heavily to catch her breath, her tongue was even hanging out of her mouth. She gazed at Internal again who was recovering from her mouth being pried away from him, his body was heaving with his panting, his defined, scarred body was coated in a thin sheen of sweat and he even had brushed his messy hair back and away from his face. With how he was twitching, that certain gaze in his eyes, and how he was panting open-mouthed with his fangs on display, he was close. "You, hah, whew, mmhf, taste good, Vall-oh!~" She had to remind herself about the vampires' unnatural speed since, in a blink of an eye, he was on top of her again, his body wantonly pressed up against hers. "I don't think, haah, ahhn, I can take too much anymore, Codec~ I have got to be inside of ya already~" There was a degree of need in his voice when he murmured that out, "Trust me, I'm, hnn, the same~ I want you, Vallen, please~" She pulled him down to her level again, her mouth right next to his ear, "I need you~" She pleaded. Letting their foreheads press together, Internal let one of his hands roam downwards and he grasped his cock by the base, letting his hips adjust and when he did, the head of his cock pressed against her slick, dripping slit, drawing a soft, sharp gasp from her. He dragged it up and down her folds, beginning to drench himself with her wetness, and when he was slick enough, he lined his cock up to her and moved his hips forward, sinking himself deep inside of her pussy and she wrapped around him tighter than he expected, but he adored it. Codec moaned out rather loudly, her hands shooting to the sheet and she took fistfuls of it while her back arched off of the mattress, "H-Haah!~" When he was buried inside of her, he let out a low, animal-like growl at the relief rushing over him at being inside of her already. "Fuck~" He drew the swear out, "Yer tight~" He husked out, he didn't move quite yet, he wanted the okay from her more than anything. He wanted her to love this. "Y-You're, hah, hnnh, oh~ Bigger than I thought~" She whimpered out, she could feel Internal's eyes fixated on her, they didn't break from her body jolting with enjoyment. It took a few moments to a minute and then she gave him the nod for him to begin moving. He pulled out of her almost all of the way, only to snap his hips forward again, his hands went back to gripping the mattress after wrapping her legs around his waist all over again and he started to steadily pound and thrust his hips downwards into hers, Internal's eyes were screwed shut, he was leaned over her and his head hung some while he kept up this steady pace of his hips while Codec gripped and grasped at his body, her hands were gripping and grasping desperately at his back and his shoulders, her heels dug into his hips as they slammed into hers. The sounds of his waist slapping up against hers filled her ears and the room, "Oh, fuck, unhnf~ Unhf~ Ya like that?~ Tell me, I wanna hear that, mmffhh, pretty voice of yers, Codec~" He growled, he glanced downward at the sight of his cock pumping in and out of her, how it disappeared inside of her over and over again at quite the fast pace. He instantly snapped his eyes back onto her face when Codec, attempted, to speak up again. "I-fuck!~ I love it~ Please don't stop, Vallen, please~ Please don't~" His ears flicked, he wasn't expecting her to beg but allowing a grin to dance onto his lips, he pressed his body up against hers again and it let him rock and slam his hips down into hers faster and harder than previously.

Their bodies pressed against one another in a heated embrace, the headboard to the bed was knocking against the wall it was pressed up against, most definitely alerting anyone in the room next to theirs about what they were doing. Internal reached down again, and he hurriedly collected both of Codec's wrists again and he pinned her arms above her head again, his free hand roamed up her rocking body, pausing a moment at her breasts to cup one and knead one tenderly before letting his hand continue until it made it to its destination, her neck. He wrapped his hand around her neck, he wasn't choking her of course, but he had a tender, loving hold on it as he kept her pinned like that, much to her approval, "Vallen~ Vallen~ MMhff!~ Ahn!~ Oh!~ L-Like that~ Just like that~ Oh please don't stop~ Please~" She whispered breathlessly, "God, I can, fuck I'm gonna come soon~" He leaned down, his forehead pressing against hers, "I plan on fillin' ya up to the fuckin' brim~ I want my cum drippin' from ya~" He grunted, the thought of that alone fueled him to do just that, and judging from Codec's numerous, begging nods, she wanted that too. Internal's pants were getting heavier, his thrusts turned needier, more desperate, and his pace that he had set prior was getting lost from him. His hips collided with hers erratically, "F-Fuck I'm gettin' close~" He rasped out, "M-Me, hah, anh, oh, me too!~ Fuck!~ V-Vallen-!~" Codec's gripped him tightly, her fingers dug into his and her thighs tightened around her waist, effectively trapping him and with one more strong, fast pound from Internal, she came, that coil that tightened in her abdomen snapped and released. Throwing her head back against the pillows and letting out a loud moan open into the room, she tightened around him, hugging him, and with how warm, wet, and velvety her slick walls felt around his cock, he wasn't that far behind her. He released her, both her neck and her wrists to get a firm hold of the sheets and his claws dug into them so far that when he was pushed over the edge, he tore slashes not only into the sheets but also into the mattress itself. He buried his cock deep inside of her, his teeth bared and he let out a roar almost of just pure feral pleasure, his orgasm hit him hard, it felt like wave after wave of fire rushing over his body, his hips jerking forward with every pump of this thick seed shooting and spilling inside of her, his hips planted firmly against her, his cock hilted inside and his plan of just filling her up all of the way didn't change at all. When he was done with his orgasm, he had to pull his claws out of the fabric of the bed, his cock slid back out of her and he fell limp down beside her, he was panting out loudly alongside her, he felt sweat accumulated all over his body, especially on his forehead and on his back but the bed was handling that right now. Codec shuddered, feeling Internal's cum eagerly drip out of her slit and onto the bed, she could barely move, a lot like him, but neither one of them was complaining. The scent of sex was strong in the room, there were feathers from the pillows and torn fabric evident on his side and when he caught his breath, enough, not fully, but enough to speak up, he glanced over at her in the corner of his eye.

"So, ya are a bottom, huh?~" "...You're so fucking lucky I love you~" "Hehe, love ya too~"

[tomjopson]

If you're taking prompts for the sensory list, may I request #20: “Wax-scented night” for Jopson/Little? Thank you. :)

So, while I finished writing this last night, there was a massive thunderstorm outside. Which was very fitting all things considered.

Anyway, have a self-indulgent gothic!au because why not?

***

Thomas.

He hears it echoing down the walls, a sinister sigh whose source he cannot discern, swallowed as it is by the paneling on the walls and the thick carpet underfoot. The drumming of rain overhead further mutes any guiding voice as the storm outside intensifies.

Thomas knows that he should not be awake, wandering the halls of the labyrinthine house, his only source of light the candle gripped quaveringly in his hand.

The breathing of the house had roused him, followed by that unmistakable moan of a name. His name. As if in a trance, he had risen and followed.

He pulls his housecoat tighter around his frame, cursing athimself for forgoing slippers as the cold from the floor seeps into the baresoles of his feet. He moves as in a dream, each step labored, the air heavy andreeking of moist earth. Lightning lands outside, its only presence marked by aloud crash and the bright claw marks slashing down the seams of the tapestriesdrawn across the hall’s windows. When he flinches, wax flings from the candleonto his hand. He hisses and peels the cooling wax off the reddened skin.

Thunder follows the lightning, and the walls of the houseshift inward as it breathes in and out, in tandem with the storm.

Thomas.

Behind him, this time, a murmur, so soft that the thundernearly masks it.

He twirls, but there is only the long passageway behind him,empty and dark. Thomas swallows, feeling sweat collecting at the base of hisneck. Reason begs him to return to his bed, to think nothing more of thestrangeness of the manor. All this nonsense will seem silly in the morning,under the comfort of daylight.

Thomas.

The two syllables of his name jeer in a paper-thin voice,inches away.

A hand falls on his shoulder.

The candle falls onto the rug, but before Thomas can cryout, another hand slaps over his mouth. He sees the flash of a man with darkhair of equal height to Thomas before the scuff of his boot extinguishes theflame into the carpet, pitching both of them into the lurid darkness of thehouse. Thomas’s eyes adjust, enough that he can make out the figure before him.

Mr. Little, his mind foggily supplies. A guest of Mr.Crozier’s who had arrived two evenings ago, of whom Thomas knows nothing andhas seen only once at dinner.

“Stay close,” Little says beside Thomas’s ear as lifts hishand from his mouth. “Don’t move.”

“Mr. Little, I don’t—”

“Quiet.”

The words are hissed with such urgency that Thomas shuts hismouth. The rolling nausea in his stomach worsens as anxiety shoots through hisevery limb and as gooseflesh ripples up his arms. Little pulls him close, onehand on his shoulder, the other resting at his waist. The man is near enough tohim that Thomas feels his breath brushing against his neck. Equal forces offear and excitement battle within Thomas, and he is immensely grateful for thelack of light in the hall, as he feels his face and neck blotching from the confusion.

His ears catch a low rumbling, from somewhere deep in thebowels of the house. It morphs from a soft growl into a roar as the deafeningsound charges through the house, shaking the walls, the paintings clatteringwhere they hang, and the floor beneath rocking as fitfully as a ship pitchingon an angry sea.

Thomas’s feet start to sway, his balance thrown, and he isonly kept upright by the tight hold of Little’s hand on his shoulder. There isanother crack of lightning, and the pair are close enough to a window that theflash of light illuminates them long enough that Thomas can see Little inprofile, staring intently over Thomas’s shoulder and toward the black hallwaybehind him. His brow is furrowed, and his lips parted as he wets them with histongue.

There is fear on Little’s face, and Thomas’s breath hitchesin his throat, his eyes squeezing shut as the noise reaches them, the deafeningcacophony ringing and plunging so deeply into Thomas’s ears that his teeth acheand his muscles quiver.

Then it passes, as rapidly as a stampede of wild horses, andthe echo of it fades as it races to another part of the house.

Thomas releases the breath he did not realize he washolding. Slowly, almost reluctantly, Little’s hands remove themselves from hisbody.

“What was—” Thomas begins.

Little grunts. “Not here.” He grabs Thomas by the wrist andpulls him down the hall. “Come.”

The events of the night leave Thomas reeling, so he finds noreason to argue. He walks, his feet mindlessly accepting Little as guide.

They turn a corner, into a hall that leads deeper into the manor,near the converging of stairwells that meet in the center of the house andspiral into the foyer of the great hall. To Thomas’s confusion, Little does notpause before a door but simply the wall itself. Little releases Thomas longenough to tap something against the wall. In the near palpable darkness, Thomascan only guess at what he is hearing,  buthis eyes go wide as he sees a crack in the wallpaper, faintly illuminated by alight behind it. The wall moves back and slides open, revealing a narrow corridor,barely the width of their shoulders and lit by a single, hanging gas lamp.

Little glances back at Thomas, something in his eyessilently imploring Thomas to continue following before he ducks into thepassageway and disappears into the darkness beyond the lamp.

Hugging his arms around himself, the surprises of thismassive house no longer as strong a shock as it had been his first nightsstaying here, Thomas follows.

He tries in vain to ignore the racing of his heart as thewall clicks shut behind him, trapping him in whatever maze Little has opened.

The hall is short, however; its destination obscured by acouple of cobwebbed twists, designed – so Thomas believes – to disorient andconfuse. The passage ends in a cramped, unadorned room, the location of whichis hard to establish. Paintings and furniture, draped in dusty canvas line oneside of the room, and on the other side is a cot, freshly made, and a desk. Tothe left of the desk and directly across from Thomas is an odd, octagonal windowthrough which the flash of lightning and the crystalline smear of raindrops isvisible. Thomas stares in wonder at the strange space before him as Littlebusies himself with lighting candles across the room.

The various stubs of wax are placed haphazardly, some set inbrass holders, the others melted into their resting places. He loses trackafter he counts over a dozen of the mismatched candles, and he watches silentlyas Little finishes lighting each of them. When he is done, the room blossoms witha cheerful, yellow light that helps to dampen the fear that coursed throughThomas when they were exposed in the vengeful darkness of the hall.

He takes the opportunity to truly see Little and issurprised that, despite the late hour, he is completely dressed, save the lackof a neckerchief where his collar lies open instead. Their eyes meet as Littlecrosses the room to secure another door behind Thomas, effectively locking themin.

Startled toward the center of the room, Thomas stares at thecot and desk in wonder.

“Are you…staying here, Mr. Little? Not in the guest room?”he asks, the idea as baffling as it is maddening, as he knows fully well theludicrous number of guest rooms the manor hosts.

Little shrugs. “Sometimes. Please, sit.”

There are not many options from which to choose, so Thomasperches on the edge of the cot, folding his hands neatly into his lap. Littlepulls a stool in front of Thomas that he leans on before he takes Thomas’s jawin his hands and lifts his face, his dark eyes scanning every inch of hisfeatures.

A tiny gasp slips from Thomas as he stiffens under theunexpected scrutiny.

Little begins to list a series of questions to which Thomastries to reply promptly and accurately; the whole setup oddly clinical.

“Did you see anything?”

“No, sir. Only noises.”

“You are unharmed?”

“Yes, I’m fine, sir.”

“What were you doing up? Did Captain Crozier send for you?”

Thomas relaxes somewhat, the quaint way in which Littlecalled Mr. Crozier by his late naval title somehow being the reassurance hewanted. “No, sir. Mr. Crozier takes a tonic before bed. He rarely wakes in thenight.”

“How long have you worked for him?”

“Since May, sir.”

“As his…nurse?”

“Yes, sir. His caretaker.”

Little releases his face and walks to the desk. He isfrowning deeply. Thomas clenches his hands on his lap as he resists the urge tobrush at his hair or rub away the tingling sensation on his skin where Little’shands had touched. Thomas’s toes curl against the cold floorboards, and thelonger Little stands at the desk, rifling through papers, his frown worsens.Questions of his own fly through Thomas’s head: what was in the hall thatfrightened him so, whether he served in the Navy alongside Mr. Crozier, why hisconcern for Thomas’s wellbeing, and why the secret rooms in a house alreadyriddled with mysteries.

Exhaustion begins to creep into Thomas, the excitement fromearlier having long faded, and as the scent and warmth of the many candles laya blanket of ease over the room, he catches his head from drooping. He shiftson the cot so that he can tuck his feet under his legs to warm them.

Little looks up at him, and his mouth hangs open a fractionbefore he hurries to a chest, opening it and pulling an extra blanket from itsdepths.

Before Thomas can protest, Little sits beside him on the cotand helps to wrap the blanket around his shoulders. Thomas stares at his lap.His face feels hot, and – if he were truly honest with himself – the tenderattentions of this handsome guest of Mr. Crozier’s have been a delightful surprise,and the more that Little’s hands stray near him, the more Thomas finds himselfwanting more.

Little pats both of Thomas’s shoulders when he deems himproperly wrapped in the blanket.

He clears his throat. “I feel I owe you an apology,Mister…?”

“Jopson.” Thomas smiles, his blushing cheeks dimpling. “Wemet briefly last night.”

To Thomas’s utter amazement, Little returns the smile, onecorner of his mouth pulling farther than the other, the grin boyish and kind.

“Right. Jopson,” he repeats with a nod, the intensity of hisgaze unsettling but warm.

Even as his heart beats faster, Thomas tries to keep hisbreaths calm and regular. Once their gaze has connected, he finds it impossibleto look away, and sitting this close to Little, Thomas can make out more colorin his eyes, the deep brown shimmering from the candlelight, specks of whitedotted across the dark irises. Thomas is reminded of a night in London, morethan a year ago, when he and his brother had walked along the Thames one lateevening, and both were enraptured by the gleam of the many lamps lighting upthe street, or along a bridge, or illuminating the deck of a barge on theriver; the deep, murky shadows of the night broken up by each floating halo oflight. Homesickness hits him in a wave, and his smile fades.

Little’s brow twitches, perhaps as he notices the suddenshift of Thomas’s demeanor, and he pats Thomas’s knee.

“It’s best if you stay the night here and return to yourquarters come morning.”

Thomas stares at him, eyes wide, his discomfort swelling atthis room hidden in the walls of the house, and the presence of a single,narrow bed most prominent in his mind.

“I don’t want to impose.”

Little shakes his head. “You won’t. It’s safer during theday.”

In the back of his mind, that spine-tingling whisper which beckonedThomas from slumber and his bed raises its ugly head, and the memory of itrushes back full force, so strongly that Thomas flinches. It’s a wonder. He nearlyforgot why he was wandering the halls of the house.

“I heard my name,” he says simply. “Earlier. That’s why I wasawake.”

The revelation of this jerks Little up onto his feet. “Itspoke to you?”

Thomas nods dumbly, almost wishing he had refrained fromsaying anything.

The fear has returned to Little’s face, though he looks awayfrom Thomas, as though attempting to shield Thomas from the worst of it.

“How much has Captain Crozier told you?”

“I know very little about him, save his illness and that hewas a naval officer,” Thomas says.

Little runs a hand down his face before he turns to thedesk. From a drawer, he produces a pipe and tin of tobacco. Thomas watches ashe methodically stamps a thumbful of tobacco into the pipe, retrieve a box ofmatches from his pocket, and light it. Thunder rumbles distantly outside, thestorm moving farther from the house, but Thomas feels a sudden shiver. Thelights of the candles flicker ominously, and Thomas tries to console himselfthat it is only a draft. The house is old, and there must be cracks, even in bizarre,hidden rooms such as these.

He also wonders, against his better judgment, if the thingstalking the halls can hear them, even as he and Little try to hide from itwithin its own shadow.

After a few puffs from the pipe, Little turns to face Thomasand leans against the edge of the desk.

“There is not much that I can tell you that will explain thegoings on here, and Crozier can supply you with more answers in the morning,”Little says, deliberately chewing over the words as he chooses them. “I don’tknow how much you read in the papers concerning ship voyages, but I servedunder Crozier on an Arctic expedition in 1845 in an ill-fated attempt to findthe Northwest Passage.”

Thomas nods. “He mentioned it in passing.”

Little bites the mouth of his pipe. “Well, I don’t know howmany details he burdened you with, but we were unsuccessful and were beset inice for two years. We had to abandon the ships and walk across hundreds ofmiles of wasteland in the hope of being saved.”

Thomas finds it difficult to breathe, as the room feelstinier by the second. “And you were saved, clearly?”

“Yes. But not before half our men froze to death or starved,including most of our officers. We were picked up in the summer of ’48 and cameback to England, ashamed and disgraced. The Admiralty did what they could tosuppress any news of our expedition’s missteps. Crozier and I retired from theNavy, and we foolishly thought that would be the end.”

The rain outside has ceased but is replaced by a sharp,howling wind that buffets against the house and rattles the geometrical windowglaring down at them from its position high on the wall.

“Something—I don’t know what—followed us, ” Little says witha deep sigh. “All the way from the godforsaken Arctic.”

Thomas’s mind reels from the information, the events of thepast two days blurring together. He recalls a telegram arriving from town,shortly after Dr. MacDonald left from his biweekly checkup with Mr. Crozier.The day had been particularly cold but humid, a thick fog settling over thehedges of the remote manor. When Thomas delivered the telegram to Crozier, theman visibly relaxed, sagging with a relief that pulled on his muscles likegravity.

“Mr. Jopson, I know this is outside your usual tasks, butwould you make sure one of the guest rooms in the east wing is clean and thebed made?”

“Of course, sir.”

Edward Little arrived late that evening, a scant half hourbefore Crozier retired to bed.

Now, he sits opposite Thomas and tells him, perhaps withoutthe explicit words, that they are haunted, by some ephemeral and vindictivespirit that trailed them from the far North.

“And this…thing? It is dangerous?”

The pause is long enough that Thomas wonders if Little heardhim.

“It seems determined to kill us all yet,” Little manages,after another puff from the pipe. He looks at Thomas, the fondness in hisexpression taking Thomas by surprise. “Please, get what sleep you can. Therewill be much for us to do come morning.”

“Of course, sir.”

Little smiles again. “No need for formalities. I’m not anofficer anymore. Please, call me Edward.”

Thomas smiles and nods, adjusting himself under the woolenblanket, feeling safer now that he was not alone, and protected as they are bythe sunny glow of the candles.

A spontaneous impulse bursts into Thomas’s mind that heshould invite Little to share the cot with him, but he stamps it down with abarely suppressed chuckle, reasoning that he does not know the man well enoughto tease him so. He lifts one arm to cushion the side of his head and closeshis eyes, the mellow light of the room cradling Thomas.

“Good night, Edward,” he says.

He falls asleep before he hears Little respond.

Minutes later, or perhaps hours later, the bed dips besidehim, and his eyes squint open long enough to see that Little is on the cotbeside him, the pipe hanging from his mouth as he sits against the metal frame,his chin resting on his chest. His eyes are closed, and he breathes deeply.

The light in the room has dimmed, a few wicks drowned intheir waxy basins, but the room is illuminated enough for Thomas to see thefreckles splashed across the bridge of Little’s nose. After a long sigh, Littleslumps forward more, so Thomas sits up long enough to gently pull the pipe fromhis mouth and lay it on the man’s lap.

Little turns toward Thomas but otherwise does not stir.Thomas brushes some dust off the man’s jacket before he stops himself and thensettles back under his blanket, lying as close to the warmth of Little’s thighas he dares.

Minutes pass. Perhaps hours again.

The house breathes in. It breathes out. Wind whistlesagainst the glass pane of the window.

Thomas.

His eyes snap open. The room is swathed in near darkness,only a single flickering candle still burning on the desk. His pulse is racing,but he is frozen in place, on his side, pressed close against Little’s leg.

There is another indentation on the bed, and the springs creakunder the added weight.

Thomas breathes faster, his eyes wide and unblinking, tears gatheringin the corners.

He wants to roll away. He wants to sit up. He wants toscream. Though none of his muscles even twitch from his mind’s desperate pleas.Blood pounds through his veins as he tenses his arms and tries to move them,even an inch, anything to help push himself away.

A hand touches his back, and the chill of it seeps throughhis clothing. The scream begging to burst from his throat crawls out as awhimper.

Thomas.

The candle sputters out.

He screams.

Little jerks awake when Thomas’s paralysis blessedly lifts,and he catches Thomas before he causes them both to tumble from the bed.Thomas’s breaths come fast and hard, and as his pupils – blown wide with fearand adrenaline – adjust to darkness of the room, he nearly cries with reliefthat there is nothing else on the bed with them.

Little’s arm is tight around his midsection, and Thomas canfaintly hear him shushing him, humming something gentle in his ear. Thomassqueezes his eyes shut, a few stray tears sliding down his cheeks, as his cheststops heaving. He places one of his hands over Little’s arm and wills his heartto slow down.

“It was in here,” he whispers, eyes still shut as he pullsLittle’s arm tighter around him. “Whatever the thing is, it was right behind me.”

Little says nothing but wraps his second arm around Thomas,loosely embracing him. He presses his nose against the crown of Thomas’s head,and they stay wound around each other for what feels like eons.

With a pat on Thomas’s hand, Little finally extracts himselfand stands. Thomas’s hand reaches after him, not wanting to be separated yet.Little lights a few of the candles that had extinguished during the night, andThomas wraps himself in the blanket while he watches. The window has a graytint to it with the approach of dawn.

“The light keeps it away,” Little explains, as he flicks thematch out and lights another. “Or so I like to think. I’m sorry I fell asleep.”

Thomas shakes his head, his gaze vacant as it stares at hiscovered feet.

“Are we safe in here?” His voice is quiet, like a childspooked by the dark and the threat of monsters spiriting the naughty ones offinto the night.

Little does not look at him. “I had hoped.”

He produces fresh candles from the same trunk that housedthe blankets, and once he has replaced them in the brass holders and haslighted them, he returns to the cot and sits beside Thomas.

“I fear this is worse than Crozier thought. This,” Littlemurmurs, his eyes reluctantly meeting Thomas’s, nodding toward him; “itsfixation with you…changes everything.”

Trembling, less violently than before, Thomas cannot find itin himself to answer or speak at all, but he is grateful when Little wordlesslylies on the bed with him and urges Thomas’s arms to wrap around him as theysleep, chest to back, Thomas burying his face between Little’s shoulder blades.

The wind groans outside, and the candles flicker.

Thomas tries to sleep, but the house breathes so loudly thatsleep comes slowly, if at all.

[andyl394]

10 Signs an Introvert Likes you (4/10)

Summary: Bucky wasn’t the type of guy to show his feelings and neither were you the one to notice subtle things, until you come across this video. A guidance that may help you discover rather The Winter Soldier likes you or not.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word Count: 978

Chapter: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Warnings: None, just cursing and FLUFF.

A/N: So, I found this video here and the idea crossed my mind. Ok, I’m not lying this time, I already wrote until the seventh chapter, so yeah. I ACTUALLY TRIED! Hope you enjoy this chapter! <3 

Masterlist of the Series

Four: Inviting you into their personal space – Introverts like spending time in solitude to reflect about themselves, their thoughts and emotions. If you are invited into their personal space and asked to spend time with them, they – no doubt – enjoy your company.

It was a boring evening; you had been doing nothing more than to pace around the tower and bother Tony at his work-shop, switching the place of things so you could watch him narrow his eyes at you as you played innocent.

“Okay, out of my work-shop, little one.” He finally said after having to search for his eleventh tool, making you gasp in false outrage.

“But what did I do?” Tony rolled his eyes, shoving you gently to the exit of the room and down to the hall; Bucky arched one brow at the scene, questioning with his facial expression.

  “She’s being a pain in the ass; please take her away from me.” It was your time to roll your eyes and huff “She is like a cat and needs attention. I don’t like cats, so…”

Bucky laughed at his desperate face, holding one hand to you and denying with his head.

“I’ll feed her and try to entertain her, somehow. Don’t worry.”

Bucky grinned down at you when he pulled you to the elevator, clicking on the button to the floors of the kitchens and rooms. His eyes fixated on your pout, he couldn’t control the thought of how your lips looked like sweet cherries, those where he would just love to roll his tongue on.

“So, I hope you keep your promise, feed me, human!” You tried to play a cat, lightly shoving his side with your shoulder before looking up at him to playfully hiss and make a claw with your hands, making Bucky laugh loudly while following you to the kitchen.

“Okay, little kitten. Go to my room and choose a movie while I grab some goodies and order something for us to eat.” You nodded with your head, going unnoticed that it would be the first time that you would enter Bucky’s room, not the first time you two spend time alone in one room, since you often invited him to yours.

But it seemed natural to you enter his room and lay on his bed after taking off your shoes and placing them next to the door, not wanting to break the clean and tidy room.

Everything there screamed “Bucky” to you, his straight neat bed – army style –, the dark green walls, his slightly mint scent, all the minimal decoration – most of it being pictures and weapons. Your eyes were attracted to the wall with photos, it wasn’t new to you that Bucky’s hobby was taking pictures, since he would often be seen caring his polaroid around.

However, you were surprised to see pictures of you and Steve in there.

It was perfectly placed to that there would be the same size of distance from one picture to another and the pattern seemed to change from you, to a random flower, to Steve, to a view he seemed to have liked, and then to both of you together. Every type of picture in one same vertical column, still side to side.

There was one where you were all curled up on a cushion, a licorice red string hanging off your mouth while your eyes were glued to something in front of you.

There was Steve smiling at the camera while holding a mug up, still in his pajamas;

And then there was one where you two were in your combat suits, laughing at something. You were – apparently – slapping Steve’s shoulder while he had a hold on his own stomach.

“Well, unless you want to watch the turned off TV, I would choose something for us to watch, doll face.” You whipped your face at Bucky, his eyes searching for any signal that your pictures in there bothered you, his chest clutching with the thought of you storming out of his room and saying that he had crossed the limits. When you just shrugged your shoulders and went to choose one movie while getting comfortable on his bed, Bucky released the breath he didn’t realize he was holding while you teased:

“I hope you didn’t come with that rabbit food of yours, human.” Laughing, he sat next to you, thankful that the space you had let for him was the one where you would be sat at his flesh sided.

“Is it candy and that junk food of yours, OK, Little Kitten?” You hummed in joy, happy with his choice of food while zapping through Netflix, searching for something that both of you hadn’t watched yet.

Looking at him for agreement, you clicked on Reign before snuggling further into the cushions and opening your mouth so Buck could feed you with candy, since you had turned into a human-burrito.

“You should fill those walls with pictures of you, too.” Your mumble made him slowly turn his gaze at you; it had been some hours of angry and frustrated huffs because of the story, so it took him by surprise when you finally said something that it wasn’t about the dick-headed prince.

“You’re not mad at me that I have pictures of you in there?” Bucky silently asked, wanting a confirmation that you really weren’t mad or disgusted by him.

Frowning and giggling, you denied with your head while pulling your phone off of your pocket so you could show him your wallpaper: A picture of him reading a book on the floor by the corridor.

“Of course not, you dummy.” His cheeks went red when he remembered how you found him. But he just couldn’t wait to read the book you had handed to him, it seemed to be important to you. “I would be a hypocrite.”

“You should come here more often.” You narrowed his eyes at his slight smirk. “Your room is always a mess.”

“Calm. The. Fuck. Down.” Hissing at yourself, you straightened your back, you’ve been repeating that for the past minutes before pressing ‘play’ again.

All Bucky: @ifoundlove-x0vanessa0x

10signs: @perrychastain @becaamm @the-witching-hours12-3 @17marvelousfreak

Condemn to a forever tagging: @fangirlandnerd @tommys-girl1980