#as soon as he figures out he's the traitor and push him to toss him aside

[fullscoreshenanigans]

The little bow of reflection and smile Ray makes as he briefly soaks in the last morning Emma and Norman will be able to carry out their routine as usual knowing the horror they'll endure before night's end.

He knows they'd both prefer the harsh truth over a pretty lie, would hate to think about other siblings suffering the same fate as Conny, Hao, Sadie, Susan, and so many more before them if there was even the slightest chance of being able to do something about it. It's part of what he loves about them; where he had the tendency to give up after years of learned helplessness and self-loathing, they would resolutely say "no" and escape the system they had been born into.

(they are better, they are deserving, unlike him)

He loves them so much he can't help but let some of his fondness show on his face as he savors Emma's reaction to seeing him and Norman, because if that isn't so incredibly her, to love so effortlessly and uninhibited, to live so unabashedly authentic.

It's part of what got him through a life he cursed and part of why he has faith if anyone will be able to do this, it'll be them.

[sissylittlefeather]

Suspicious Minds: Part 3

A/N: Phewwwww alright, y'all. I finally was able to finish this!!! I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, so I hope you all love it too! Please let me know your thoughts in the comments. Seriously, we writers live for that. Your love was the only way I was able to break through that writers block!

Need to catch up? I know it's been awhile. Masterlist HERE.

Warnings: 18+ NO MINORS ALLOWED, kissing, cussing, gun violence, blood, espionage, and sex, oral sex (m receiving), p in v penetrative sex, unprotected sex, creampie

Word count: ~4.4k

"Elvis!"

bang

******

You cringe and shudder as the bullet hits the wall right behind your head. Elvis rips the earpiece out of his ear and tosses it on the ground, stomping on it quickly. Before you even register what's happening, he does the same thing to yours.

"Elvis, what the fuck is going on?!" You ask shakily. He grabs you and pulls you to him, holding you tightly and trembling.

"I just either uncovered two traitors in our organization or betrayed my country."

"Why did you almost shoot me?!" He pulls back and cups your face in both of his hands.

"They told me you were working for the enemy. Tell me that's not true, honey."

"Of course it's not! I swear it, Elvis, I-"

"I trust you." He leans in and kisses you. "I lo-"

Just then the door busts open and multiple armed security guards enter the room, automatic weapons pointed in your direction. Elvis turns and pushes your body behind his. That's when West saunters in.

"Ah, Agent Presley, I knew you would be a problem for me."

"West. I should've known, you fucking rat-"

"I think that's plenty. Grab him, boys." The guards approach Elvis and he fights back, but they get him restrained and drag him away from you. "Her too."

You shake your head as the guards grab you and pull your hands behind your back with zip ties.

"Elvis!"

"It's okay, honey, I'll come for you as soon as I can. It's okay."

But it doesn't feel okay as you're dragged down a hallway to a room away from Elvis. They plop you in a chair and the two armed guards assigned to you circle like sharks.

You sit in the chair trying to assess the situation. Maybe you should just wait for Elvis to come to you. But you are probably significantly less guarded than he is. You can't just wait here. What if they kill him? No. That's too much to even think about.

You look between the guards and try to figure out what to do. As you do, tears begin to stream down your face. How did you get here?

"Shut up that crying." One of the guards yells at you.

"I can't! I don't belong here. I'm just a person. I'm not a spy." You continue to cry hysterically, increasing in both volume and intensity and an idea occurs to you.

"I said shut up!" The guard hits you across the face and you yelp in pain. You don't stop crying though. If anything, that makes it worse. You shudder and hiccup and cry with everything inside you. "I said-"

"I'm sorry! I can't help it! I'm so scared and I don't know what to do! I need my meds." The guards exchange a glance.

"Meds?"

"Yes! For my anxiety. I have them in my pocket. Please." You sob loudly again and the guards look at each other.

"No. Just shut up."

"I literally can't! Please! I won't do anything. I'm just a girl. What would I do?"

"No." He says it shakily. You can tell his resolve is faltering as you continue to sob openly.

"Please! Just cut me free and let me take my medicine. That's all I'll do. I promise." The guards seem to be trying to communicate silently. You whimper and cry and pray that they'll let you free. Finally, one of the guards walks to you and pulls out his knife. The other one shakes his head.

"If this'll shut her up then it'll be worth it." The guard leans down and slices open the zip ties at your wrists.

Before either of them can register what's happening, you rip the gun out of your shoulder holster under your vest and shoot the guard with the gun in the head.

"Oh God. Fuck." You try really hard to ignore what you just did. Your love for Elvis outweighs any other hesitation. You quickly point your gun at the other guard who has his hands raised, daring him to do or say anything.

"I'm going to leave here, and you're going to let me." The confidence in your voice shocks you. But still, you walk to the door and sneak out, leaving the guard standing there in shock.

Alarms blare as you search from room to room for Elvis. You have no idea what you'll do when you find him, but leaving without him is not an option. After a decent amount of time, you open a door and find him sitting in the middle of a room, hands zip tied behind him. Your heart stops when you see him. They've obviously been beating him. To what end, you're not sure, but his face is bloody and swollen and it breaks your heart. You immediately rush over to him, pulling the knife from your boot to cut him free.

"Baby, how did you-?"

"Shhh, Elvis, we need to get out of here." You get him completely cut free and he leans against you as you move towards the door. When you get there, he stops you and kisses you.

"You're incredible. I need to to tell you-"

"Elvis. We really have to go. They'll be here any second." He nods and lets you guide him out the door and up staircases. You manage to make it to the roof without running into anyone else. But once you get up there, you stand there with him wrapped around you, not sure what to do next.

"What's your plan, babe?"

"This was it. I don't know-" You're cut off by the sound of a chopper hovering close to the roof. Elvis pulls his gun out and points it at the helicopter, but the door swings open.

"Get in!" Its Nine. Part of you freezes. Whose side is she on? "All hell's broken loose. Get in the fucking helicopter!"

You decide you don't have a choice and half carry Elvis over to it and climb in. You slam the door and she takes off quickly.

"Well, that didn't go as planned, did it?"

"You could say that." Elvis yells over the sound of the chopper. You make the rest of the journey in silence, but she doesn't take you back to headquarters. Instead, she takes you somewhere else. It's not until you land that you realize you're at some kind of government location. She cuts the engine and the blades slow and you are finally able to speak.

"Where are we?" She looks at you, seemingly trying to decide how much she should tell you.

"Langley. My organization is shot. We need big guns." She leads you into the building and you're greeted by the deputy director of the CIA. Nine does all the talking as you hold Elvis up. He does his best to stand on his own, but you can tell he's in a good deal of pain.

Eventually, they separate you all to tell your pieces of the story. You sit with an agent and tell him everything, starting with the night you downloaded the information.

"And where is that flash drive?"

"We gave it to the Colonel." The agent curses openly.

"That traitorous bastard will be on the first plane to a country that doesn't extradite."

"I'm sorry."

"We'll get it back." You continue your conversation until he finally dismisses you. He takes you down to the cafeteria to eat something and then brings you back up to a waiting area of sorts. They appear to do the same with Elvis and he sits next to you about an hour after you sit down.

He immediately turns to you and wraps you in a hug, kissing your cheek.

"Honey, I'm so glad you're okay. I thought I'd lost you." He gently brushes his thumb across your face and looks into your eyes.

"I'm right here. We made it out."

"Yes, but you failed the mission." Nine appears, looking between the two of you cuddled together in the chairs. "You're obviously fired, Agent Presley."

"I know I should care, but right now, I really don't." He looks back to you, his hand on your face again.

"Good. That means you can work for me." The deputy director chimes in, interrupting your moment with Elvis.

"Work for you? Here?" You ask genuinely curious.

"Yes, here. The mission still needs to be completed. I'd like to have you both work here to make sure it gets done. Once that is complete, we will consider you for other projects in the future. Our concern is your skill, not your relationship status." Elvis looks to you as you nod and smile and then up at the deputy director.

"I think we can make that happen, boss." He stands up and shakes his hand, grimacing with the pain of getting on his feet.

"But not today. You two need some time to recover. We will resume the mission in 48 hours." Nine nods to the deputy director.

"We'll put them back in the safe house until then."

You both breathe a sigh of relief that you'll be alone again soon.

******

It's dark when you finally get back to the safe house. Elvis is really glad to see his Stutz is still there. He unlocks the door and you both drop your bags on the floor and wrap yourselves around each other, but he winces and pulls back.

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't apologize. Let's just get you cleaned up." You take him into the bathroom and manage to find a bowl and washcloth. He leans against the counter as you gently dab at his face to remove the dried blood. When you finish, he takes your hand and kisses your palm softly.

"Thank you, baby." He's dying to tell you what he's been trying to get out all day, but his exhaustion gets the better of him.

"Okay, let's get you into bed. You need rest." He nods and allows you to lead him into the bedroom.

You sit him on the edge of the bed and begin to undress him carefully. He grimaces as you move him to remove his jacket and shirt. The bruises on his ribs are starting to turn dark purple and it breaks your heart to see them. Your fingers are featherlight as you graze them over his skin.

"Oh, Elvis."

"It's not so bad."

"You don't have to play tough for me." He pulls you down into a kiss. Keeping his lips pressed to yours, he turns and lays back on the bed, bringing you down with him, his hand on the side of your face. He backs away from the kiss and his eyes flick between yours quickly. It's like he's trying to decide something. You stare into his eyes silently waiting and he finally opens his mouth.

"Baby, there's something I've been trying to tell you all day." Your heart flutters as he moves a piece of hair out of your face.

"Yeah?" He swallows hard. You can tell he's nervous too.

"And you don't have to say anything. I know it's quick, but I just can't wait anymore."

"Elvis-"

"I love you." It hangs in the air like something tangible, falling on you like soft rain drops. You close your eyes and let it wash over you. "Baby?"

Your eyes open and you lean in and kiss his cheek. You kiss above his eye where there's a deep cut. Then you kiss his other cheek, the end of his nose, his jawline, his forehead, and finally land at his lips. Then, you whisper.

"I love you too." He pulls you in to kiss you deeply and presses his forehead to yours.

"You do?"

"Of course I do." He smiles and kisses you again and then backs off quickly, grunting in pain. You kiss his neck and start to move down his chest, softly pressing your lips to the places where the bruises are forming. He whimpers as you leave a trail of kisses down his abdomen to the line of hair that leads down into his pants. You undo his belt and begin to strip him from the waist down.

"Honey, I want nothing more than to make love to you, but I can't really move-"

"Then don't. Be still and let me take care of you." His cock bounces free, standing at full attention, as you remove his pants and settle between his legs.

"Honey-OH!" He leans his head back and moans loudly as you take him in your mouth. You use one hand to push his foreskin back and then pull him deeply into your throat. "Goddamn, baby, that's good."

His hand goes to your hair and he grabs a handful as you bob up and down on his dick. You run your tongue up the bottom of his shaft and then lick a slow circle around the head. Then, you go back to bouncing up and down and pull him into your throat again. His hips buck and he moans and you know he won't last much longer if you keep this up. You pull off of him and stand up next to the bed, stripping off all of your clothes. He reaches up and touches your body, squeezing your breast gently, dragging his thumb across your nipple, and then moving down to your center where he rubs circles on your clit.

"You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. You have me body and soul, honey."

"I'm yours, Elvis." You whisper as you climb on top of him and straddle his hips. He groans as you sink down onto him, taking his whole cock inside you. You start to slowly grind against him, pushing him even deeper and he whimpers. "Does it hurt?"

"God, no, baby." You smile and lift your hips, sliding him back into you as you lower yourself. He grabs your hips and holds them, moving you up and down on himself sensually. "Mmm I'm not gonna last long."

"That's okay." He moves one hand back to your center and moves his thumb on your clit. "Me neither, if you do that."

You throw your head back as you ride him a little quicker and he continues to rub your sensitive bud. You moan softly and sweat as he groans and tenses under you.

"Cum with me baby. I'm so close."

"Yes, fuck. Me too!"

You both move a little faster, trying to push the other over the edge. Finally, your climax bursts inside you and you come so hard just as he grunts and bucks his hips up into you one last time, filling you with his release. You shudder and pulse around him as he trembles and groans. He pulls you down to his chest and holds you close as you both try to catch your breath.

"I love you, Elvis." He kisses the top of your head and sighs.

"I love you too, baby." He mumbles and you lay in silence for a few minutes before you realize his breathing has evened out. You look up at him and smile. He's asleep. For the first time in days, you feel completely relaxed and drift off to sleep in his arms.

******

For 48 glorious hours, you're in the safe house enjoying the bliss of being together uninterrupted. At the end of it, you dress again for the mission and he kisses your forehead with his arms wrapped around you.

"No matter what happens, remember that I love you. We can do this, baby." You nod and snuggle into his chest.

He drives the Blackhawk back to Langley and you both get out and walk in. You're led to the roof where there's a helicopter waiting for you. You find yourself again with a voice in your ear telling what to do and you start to have flashbacks to the last time you did this. Your anxiety hits the roof. Elvis can feel the change in your demeanor and he reaches over to take your hand and squeeze it gently. He gives you a smile and you breathe a little easier. Something about having him close by makes you feel like you can do anything.

Next thing you know, you're being dropped on the roof again. Security shows up a little quicker this time, but you make it inside. There are more armed guards and it's harder to make it to your destination. Elvis also has a harder time fighting hand to hand with all of his injuries. Still, you're doing okay and making it to your destination.

"One last corner, baby, then we're in the room." You nod and Elvis grabs the back of your neck and pulls you into a kiss. He's smiling at you, distracted, when he walks around the corner.

bang

*

*

*

*

*

*

Everything is in slow motion as you watch in horror while Elvis's body hits the floor in front of you. Somehow, you think fast enough though to pull your gun before you turn the corner and shoot the guard. Turns out your aim is pretty good and he hits the floor too. You frantically kneel next to Elvis and watch as his fingers turn red where he holds the wound.

"Oh God."

"Angel! What is it? Is Agent Presley down?" Nine asks sternly in your earpiece.

"Yes!" You holler shakily in response.

"You have to continue. We will send someone to help."

"No! I'm not leaving him."

"Angel, you have to-" You rip the earpiece out and set it on the ground, turning your attention to Elvis where he lays on the floor in what is quickly becoming a pool of blood.

"You have to stop the bleeding." He growls, grabbing your hand.

"What? Elvis-" Your voice comes out a panic-stricken screech.

"You can do it. You need to cover the wound and then tie something around it to keep it in place."

"Keep it in place? I'll just hold it?" You strip off your vest and press it against the wound, holding it down as tightly as you can.

"You have to tie it in place so you can finish the mission."

"No! I'm not-"

"Listen to me. If you don't finish this, then it's all for nothing. Please. You have to do this. For me." His blue eyes plead with you and you know you can't tell him no. You rip your shirt off and tie the sleeves around him tightly to hold your vest in place on his bullet wound. Left in just your undershirt, you shiver a little, but you'd give every article of clothing to save him.

"I don't think I can do this."

"You can and you will, baby." He reaches up to touch your face, but his fingers are covered in blood. You grab his hand in yours and kiss the back of it. "I love you."

"I love you too. Please don't die." He smiles weakly.

"I'm not plannin' on it. Now go." You snatch the earpiece off the ground and stuff it back in your ear. Giving Elvis one last quick kiss, you stand and look up and down the hallway. You hear someone coming and pray that it's help and not another guard, but just in case it is, you quickly slide into the room and lock the door behind you.

Breathing deeply, you walk to the computer and start your part of the mission. Surprisingly, no one bothers you and you're able to download evidence of West's and the Colonel's treason with no issues. Then, you plant a virus given to you by the tech team at the CIA and watch as their system begins to crumble. That's when the alarms go off.

You sneak back out into the hallway, gun drawn, but there's no one there. Even Elvis is gone and there's nothing but a bloodstain where he was lying. You say another quick prayer that he's been rescued and not found by the wrong people. Miraculously, you make it back up to the roof without having to shoot anyone else. It seems like everyone is too busy dealing with the system crash to find you.

You run to the chopper as it lands on the roof and jump in, expecting to see Elvis there. But he's not. The helicopter is empty except for the pilot. You scream at him that you have to go back, that you're not leaving Elvis behind, but he ignores you, taking off as soon as the door is shut. He can't hear you over the sound of the blades, so he doesn't notice that you cry hysterically the whole way back to Langley.

Back in the building, you stomp and scream at anyone that will listen, begging them to tell you where he is. They shake their heads and tell you they don't know and you become more frantic by the second. Finally, you locate Nine and run to her.

"Where the fuck is he?!"

"Angel, calm down-"

"No. I want to know where he is! Did you leave him there?!" She purses her lips.

"Of course we didn't leave him! He's in surgery. It doesn't look good. If you'd stop screaming, I could take you to the hospital."

"Surgery? No." All of the adrenaline that was keeping you standing is sucked out of you when you realize he may not make it. You fall to the ground weeping quietly. "He's going to die and it's all my fault."

"I said he's in surgery. They're still working. Don't give up on him yet. Come on." She drags you up off the floor and half carries you to her car.

At the hospital, the doctor comes to you to explain what's happening, but all you hear is that he's in critical condition, has lost a lot of blood, and they're not sure they can get him back. You nervously pace the hospital waiting room, chewing your nails until they bleed. Nine watches you, in awe of your dedication to him. Several hours later, she tries to encourage you to take a break.

"Angel, why don't you go take a shower and change. Eat something." For the first time, you realize you're still in your undershirt, dirty and covered in Elvis's blood. You haven't eaten in almost 14 hours.

"I can't leave him."

"Then at least sit down." You nod and drop into the chair next to her, your exhaustion winning out. "You really love him, don't you?"

"I do. I can't lose him."

"I hope you don't." She pats your hand awkwardly. You can tell she's not one for conversations about feelings. But you are grateful that she hasn't left you alone. You're about to tell her as much when the doctor comes back. You immediately stand up and walk to him quickly.

"Doctor, what-"

"He's alive." Your heart skips and you breathe for the first time in hours. "It was touch and go and he has a long recovery ahead of him, but he is alive. I can take you to him."

"God, yes, thank you doctor." He leads you down a hallway to a room. It's dark with lots of beeping machines and you nearly lose it again when you see Elvis laying there on the bed. He seems almost childlike in his vulnerability and it makes you love him even more. You go to his side and sit down, gently taking his hand.

"He won't be awake for a while. You can go home-"

"No. I'll stay." The doctor shrugs.

"Alright, then. Let us know if you need anything." He leaves you alone and you lay your forehead on the bed. The exhaustion hits you and you're sound asleep in minutes.

You wake up to the sun peeking in through the curtains and a nurse there to check his vitals. You sit up quickly and look at him.

He smiles warmly.

"Hey, honey, you're awake."

"I'm awake? You're awake! Why didn't you wake me up?!" He reaches out and caresses your cheek gently.

"You were sleepin' so good, baby. I didn't want to bother ya."

"Elvis Presley, I could slap you right now."

"Please don't. I'm still in a lot of pain." You smile despite yourself and then start to giggle. He tries to laugh with you, but it hurts. Then, your giggles turn to sniffles as the tears start to slide down your cheeks. You wrap your arms around him and kiss him gently on the lips and then on the cheek. "Aw, honey, now why are you crying?"

He catches your tears with his thumbs and wipes them away.

"I thought I'd lost you." He pulls your face down to his and presses his forehead against yours.

"Baby, it's gonna take a lot more than that to get rid of me." You smile and close your eyes. "I love you."

He whispers and you whisper in return.

"I love you too."

******

One year later

You're in the kitchen staring at water and waiting for it to boil when you hear the front door open.

"And just what kind of time do you call this?" You holler to him. He saunters into the kitchen.

"Some of us have real jobs that require paperwork." He walks up behind you and wraps his arms around your waist, setting his chin on your shoulder. "We don't all get to work in a cushy office at headquarters."

You turn to face him and he kisses you tenderly.

"Listen, it's not my fault you botched that job and had to fill out a report. The direction I gave you was good, you just weren't listening."

"I was a little distracted. I kept thinking about you naked on top of me last night." You gasp playfully.

"You naughty boy."

"You love me." He kisses you again.

"I do love you, Agent Presley." He smiles and you kiss the end of his nose.

"I love you too, Agent Presley." This time he kisses you deeply, sliding his tongue into your mouth. You completely forget about the water you were waiting to boil as he lifts you into his arms and carries you to the bedroom.

He was right about one thing on the night you met him. You never needed that pink vibrator again.

******

The End!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Taglist:

@arrolyn1114 @ccab @elvisfatass @elvisalltheway101 @aliypop @18lkpeters @dkayfixates @tacozebra051 @your-nanas-house @deniseinmn @joshuntildawn13 @lookingforrainbows @60svintage @littlehoneyposts @epthedream69 @louisejoy86 @rjmartin11 @from-memphis-with-love @deltafalax @atleastpleasetelephone @cinnamoroll-things @burnthheparaphilia @jhoneybees @cattcb @everythingelvispresley @returntopresley

[heartofspells]

Masterpost

@wolfstarmicrofic

Prompt: cards

"How did you do that?" demands Remus, sounding angry, though Sirius can't hear most of it through the pounding of his head. He squints at the other man as he pushes himself up to a sitting position. "You were on the other side of the door! I closed it in your face! How are you back there?"

"I dunno, do I?" cries Sirius, clutching at his head. "Can you please stop shouting? That's not helping."

"Helping!" says Remus forcefully, a small amount of exasperation and hysteria behind the word. "I'm not trying to help. I'm trying to get you out, but you've done something. Some sort of spell that keeps you locked here or – or something!"

Sirius glowers at him as he levers himself up to his feet, the expression more than a little weak as he wobbles on unstable legs. He squeezes his eyes closed as his surroundings spin around him, stomach lurching sickeningly. Sirius scrubs over his face with rough hands before resting his gaze on the other man again.

"I don't even have my wand," he argues. "How could I have possibly done anything? I still think it's September for fuck's sake! What could you possibly think my reasoning is behind any of this?"

"I don't know, and once again, I do not care," spits Remus, his every word biting and enunciated. "I just want you gone, and eventually you'll stay that way."

Remus strides across the floor then, and before Sirius can recover enough from his disorientation, he's once more being hauled to the door by a firm hand. He tugs against the grip uselessly, stomach still turning violently like it's being attacked by churning seawater. Remus pushes him out into the hall beyond the flat, but as soon as the door latches closed, he's finding himself sprawled haphazardly around the base of the sofa again.

"You must be joking," grumbles Remus as Sirius groans. He winces as his head throbs traitorously, but he's got no time to right himself before the other man is pulling him to his feet and tossing him through the door.

He does it again and again until Remus is panting from exertion and Sirius feels as though small pieces of himself are being forcibly ripped away. His head is threatening to fall away from his neck from the pressure building inside it, his eyes ready to burst with every terrible throb, his very skull aching. Sirius' entire body feels like one raw nerve exposed to devastating heat, and he thinks he might be ill over his rug at any second except there's nothing in his stomach to come up.

He groans again, a pitiful sound that he doesn't have the strength to hate himself for releasing. "Please stop," he begs. "Please. I can't anymore. I can't leave. I haven't done anything, but I cannot leave. You have to stop."

Remus stares at him, chest heaving, gauging him warily, eyes observant like Sirius is a tower of cards that he can topple with the slightest of movements if he can only find the correct one. Sirius thinks that's maybe an accurate comparison. He stays where he is on the floor this time, not moving, gazing blearily into the empty grate of the fireplace, gasping for breath.

"This cannot be happening," mumbles the other man, sounding as though he's speaking mostly to himself. "What are you?"

"I'm a bloody person!" shouts Sirius with as much vehemence and strength as he can manage, his voice harsh and ragged as it tears from his throat. "I'm a human being that you're treating like a dog you can kick when it's down. What are you that you're able to do that and feel no remorse?"

Remus' eyes shift over him, something flickering within them briefly before it's gone. His shoulders sag a little as he pinches the bridge of his nose, releasing a large, heavy sigh.

"I'm going to bed," he announces, sounding exhausted. "I don't have the energy for more of…of this. I'll figure it out in the morning. You can just…just stay there on the floor. Seems to be a favored spot of yours."

And with that, he turns on his heel and disappears from sight to the bedroom, Sirius scowling after his retreating form. He lays there for a while before he attempts to move, ignoring the bile that floods his throat, swallowing against it, but it's no use. Whatever had jerked him back within the flat to this place each time he'd been thrown out has left him too weak to do much of anything, so Sirius remains where he is, feeling helpless and angry. He needs to talk to James and Lily, needs his friends to help him make sense of what's become of his life so suddenly, but he can't. Without the ability to leave, with no wand that he can find, no Floo connection, and having never purchased his own owl, Sirius is stuck with no one except a strange man who doesn't know what to make of him anymore than Sirius knows what to make of himself.

[deepfried-dildos-again]

The wrinkles of my brain have birthed something maybe marvelous; lobo who obviously doesn't want to ruin his image as a tough guy so he keeps making bullshit strong man reasons to be soft with his s/o, which in turn makes s/o just start initiating the cute soft touch's and lovings much to lobos dismay cuz if he gets mad about s/o calling shots it proves he's soft and he has to pretend he doesnt care with a red face

YES YES YES CORRECT YOU ARE RIGHT I THINK ABOUT SOFT LOBO EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE

I have a weakness for being soft while someone is ill so take this and ignore my hand waved explanation for why his healing factor doesn't work rn.

Finally figured out how to do cuts on mobile so fic is under the cut!

"You suck at making chicken soup"

"Feetal's Gizz, babe, this ain't chicken."

"... what the hell is it then"

"Kester."

"Fucking what."

"Kester! It's like... space chicken."

"Gross space chicken."

"Gross space chicken that's gonna help ya not be sick, open UP."

Lobo tried to spoon feed the soup to you again, but you artfully dodged and managed to get him to spill it on the pillow.

"Sugar, I killed this myself. Eat it."

"Greeeeat incentive, Bo, but I'll stick to my cold meds."

He sighed and rolled his eyes, then put the bowl down and crossed his arms.

"What I get fer trying to be a good boyfriend. Whatever."

"Baaaabe."

"No, uh-uh, save it, traitor."

"I'm sorry for saying that space chicken is gross"

A sigh, and then he gave in. He sat on the bed next to you and rubbed a hand over your hair.

"Get better, mkay? It sucks when ya get sick because y'can't do stuff with me."

"I'll do my damndest."

"Thanks."

His lips pressed against your sweaty forehead and you settled into the bed. Dodging his soup attacks had tuckered you out, and you were ready to sleep.

Once you'd conked out, Lobo stood up and grabbed the bowl. Taking an experimental sip, he wrinkled his nose and shook his head.

"Stuff IS gross..."

Looking back on you, he felt his heart do an (in his mind) incredibly stupid little tap dance. You always made him feel... gooey. It was dumb. That was dumb. You were dumb. But dumb in a very very cute and likeable way. More like he was dumb for being... what?

What was it? He knew he liked you but how? It was... weird. He didn't really do committed relationships, so he didn't really have anything to base this off of.

... You were probably just a phase, anyway. But if you were then why did it hurt to think that?

He looked at you again from the door and smiled a little. If you were a phase you sure were a nice one.

________________________________________

Months later, after you had gotten better, you were sitting in the bedroom, reading. Bo had been out on a bounty for about a week now, so the house was much quieter. Much... emptier. You missed him, but he was coming home soon.

The door slammed open and shut, there was the thud of boots being tossed off, and a loud sneeze.

"Babe! Hey, welcome home!"

"Mm. Hi, sugar."

You ran out to see him, and he looked... bad. He was sweaty, his eyes were bleary, and his nose was running.

"Oooh. Hi, Bo"

"Mmh."

He leaned down a bit and wrapped his arms around you. It was a warm hug. Far warmer than normal. This man was absolutely sick, what with the fever and sweating. You pulled away and looked him in the face.

"What happened?"

"Got inna fight inna lab. Knocked into a fridge."

"... did anything... spill on you?"

"Lotta stuff."

"Oh, baby..."

"M'fine, what's fer dinner?"

He peeled himself off and stumbled to the kitchen. Oh, the poor dear, he looked like he was about to fall over. While he rested his head in his arms, you set some stir fry in front of him, along with a bottle of cold meds. He ignored that, chomping on the food, and you crossed your arms.

"Take the meds"

"M'fine."

"You are very obviously sick"

"I got a healing factor."

"Well it's not working!"

"Babe..."

"Dearest. Most darling. Light of my life. Please take the cold meds."

"No."

Pushing himself up, he put his plate in the sink and lumbered to the living room. Again, you followed him, getting more and more worried.

If he'd been exposed to just one virus, that would be fine, but a mixture? That might confuse his healing factor enough to actually get him sick, at least for a while.

Coughing, Lobo tried to focus his eyes on the TV, but they kept drooping shut. He didn't brush you away when you sat down, so you put a hand on his. It was icy. Sighing, you pulled it to your lips, and he groaned and leaned into you. He was heavy, and you struggled to pick him up off the couch, but you eventually did.

Once you got him into bed and covered him up, he huffed and closed his eyes.

"Lobo..."

"Dunno why yer worrying, m'fine."

"Sweetheart, you don't have to be tough around me. It's just me."

His breathing hitched at that. When his eyes opened, you saw pupils. Genuine pupils. You'd only ever seen him have pupils when he was just waking up, at his most vulnerable.

"Bo?"

"...you take good care of me."

The bed springs creaked as you sat next to him, and you took his hand into your lap.

"I have to. You wouldn't take care of yourself if I weren't here."

"Been getting along fine fer years..."

"Lobo, please. It was a fight to get you in bed in the first place. You're stubbornness is matched only by your radiant beauty."

He chuckled at that, then coughed.

"Stay with me?"

"You don't even have to ask."

That was, apparently, the wrong thing to say. As soon as you did, he yanked you down onto the bed and latched on. God, for a sick guy he was still strong.

After a few moments of initial shock, you decided to stop struggling. If it made him feel better, hey, let him cuddle you.

Maybe an hour passed before you remembered something important.

"...baby, you do realize that I still need to give you medicine, yeah?"

"Few more minutes."

"Ok. A few more minutes"

_________________________________________

A.N.

Hi. This took way too long to write. Sorry about that. It's also not exactly what you asked but it's where the muse took me I guess. Hope you enjoy!

[sacredsorceress]

Falling for You || Bucky Barnes

pairing: bucky barnes x avenger!reader

summary: when you slip in the shower and dislocate your shoulder, the only person in the compound left to help you is your least favorite teammate, bucky barnes

word count: 1.4k

warnings: none, fluff

masterlist || request || taglist

It had been a long day.

Everything just seemed to be working against you from stubbing your toe on the dresser when you first got out of bed to getting your ass kicked by your least favorite person during training. So when you were finally able to take a nice, hot shower at the end of the day- you were relieved. 

What could go wrong?

You were regretting asking yourself that question as soon as you went to pull the shower curtain closed only to discover that the rings of the curtain were looped together. Tugging on the curtain to no avail, you groaned, climbing onto the edge of the tub to separate the rings.

“Stupid fucking thing.” You grumbled to yourself, stretching the curtain across after unlacing the rings. “Why can nothing in this stupid-”

Just as you went to step down from the tub’s edge, you miss your footing, slipping on a bar of soap that had been sitting on the bathtub floor below you. Grasping the shower curtain to no avail, you slipped and fell backwards onto your side, a shooting pain spreading throughout your shoulder.

“Shit!” You shouted, glancing at your shoulder.

It hurt like hell.

“Is everything alright, ma’am?” You heard F.R.I.D.A.Y ask.

Gripping your shoulder, you shook your head, speaking up over the rushing water. “No, F.R.I.D.A.Y I think I dislocated my shoulder. Shit. Can you call Nat in here?”

“Agent Romanoff isn’t in at the moment.” 

Of course she wasn’t.

“What about Wanda?” You asked.

“Wanda Maximoff is also out at the moment.”

You closed your eyes and took a deep, long breath.

“Who is in at the moment, F.R.I.D.A.Y?”

“Sergeant Barnes is the only one in at the moment, ma'am.” F.R.I.D.A.Y stated. “Would you like me to call him for you?”

“No!” You shouted as fast as you could.

You would rather crawl to the hospital yourself than have Bucky Barnes find you naked in the shower with a dislocated shoulder.

You didn’t hate each other, but you didn’t particularly get along either. It was always a competition between the two of you and when you weren’t physically fighting each other in the training room, one of you would tease the other throughout the day. The last thing you wanted was more fuel for Barnes to use against you... and for him to find you in this position.

Attempting to push yourself off of the floor of the tub, a sharp pain shot through your arm and you couldn’t help the scream that escaped your mouth. Not a moment later you heard a knock at the door.

“Y/n?” Bucky asked from the other side of the door. “You alright?”

Of course he heard.

“I’m...” You said, through huffs and puffs trying to subdue your pain. “fine... Barnes.”

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, what’s wrong?” You heard him ask.

“Miss Y/l/n fell and believes she has dislocated her shoulder, sir.” F.R.I.D.A.Y informed him.

“Traitor.” You mumbled under your breath.

Hearing the fiddling of the doorknob, Bucky called to you through the door once again.

“Really, Y/n?” He asked. “F.R.I.D.A.Y unlock the door.”

“F.R.I.D.A.Y do not unlock that door!” You shouted again, gripping your shoulder.

“Why do you always have to be such a pain in the ass?” He asked from the other side of the door. “Just let me drive you to the hospital, Y/n.”

You knew he was right. You turning him away wouldn’t help anyone- least of all yourself. As much as you hated the situation, you knew there weren’t any other options.

Sighing, you asked F.R.I.D.A.Y to unlock the door.

When she did, you heard the lock click and the door open, Bucky making his way into the bathroom. As soon as you heard his first step in the room, you shouted.

“Hey!” You called. “Close your eyes and hand me the towel!”

As much as he loved to tease you, he was a man born in 1917 and he wasn’t about to cross that line. 

Squeezing his eyes shut he reached out for the towel, tossing it on top of you. Wrapping it around yourself, you reached your free hand up.

“You can open your eyes now, Barnes.”

Opening his eyes, he stood there and gazed at you, not a single word coming out of his mouth.

“Quit staring.” You said.

Snapping himself out of the moment, he shook his head, leaning over the tub and reached his arms out for you.

“You wish.” He scoffed.

Rolling your eyes, you wrapped your free arm around his neck, pushing yourself to your feet. When you did, however, you felt another burst of pain shoot out from your ankle. Falling into Bucky’s arms you swore.

“Shit!”

“What’s wrong?” Bucky asked, holding you up.

“I- I think I messed up my ankle too.”

“How many missions have you been on that the shower’s the one thing to take you out?” He chuckled.

“Shut up!” You groaned, nudging him with your good shoulder. “This really hurts. I don’t think I can walk.”

Without another word you felt as one of Bucky’s hands wrapped around your back, the other beneath your knees. Before you could protest what he was doing, you gasped as he picked you up into his arms, your arm wrapped tightly around the back of his neck.

“Oh!” You exclaimed, looking up at him. “You uh... you didn’t have to do that, Buck-”

“It’s fine, Y/n.” He said cooly. “Relax.”

Taking his command to heart, you bit down your complaints, allowing yourself to relax in the man’s arms. Grabbing your fresh clothes off of the countertop, he carried you out of the bathroom. Resting your head against his collar, you watched as he effortlessly carried you out of the Compound.

You had been close to Bucky plenty of times- more times than you could count actually- but as he carried you out of the building you couldn’t help but admire him. Did the scruff on his jawline always look so good? Were his eyes always that blue?

Squeezing your eyes shut, you shook your head focusing your attention instead of the car in front of you. Stopping in front of the vehicle, he pulled on the handle, kicking open the passenger door with his foot. Lowering you inside the vehicle, you situated yourself in the seat, wrapping the towel tighter around you.

“I gotta go get my keys.” He said, tossing you your clothes. “Try your best to get dressed while I’m gone.”

As soon as he left you tried your best to get dressed, groaning as you pulled your bottoms on. Grabbing your sweatshirt, you pulled it over your head with your free hand, but as the bottom hem reached your midsection, you struggled to get your head through the opening at the top. Just as you were beginning to feel frustrated with not only the sweatshirt, but the weight of the day you just had, you felt Bucky’s fingertips brush your skin, pulling the article of clothing down over your torso.

When you pulled your head through the hole and your eyes met his, a small smile played on his face.

“You all set?” Bucky asked, his face inches from yours.

Glancing from his lips to his eyes, you suddenly felt as though the air was growing warmer by the second around you.

“T- Thank you.” You whispered. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s no problem, Y/n.” He said. “I uh... I like seeing your face.”

Trying to process the words that had just came out of his mouth, you didn’t know what to say.

“Oh.”

As soon as the word slipped out of your mouth, you regretted it.

“I’m sorry,” Bucky said, rushed, a blush rising to his cheeks as he backed away. “I don’t know why I said that. I just made everything weird-”

Before he left your reach, you quickly grabbed his hand, pulling him back towards you. When he turned around, his eyes met yours.

“No, Buck, I’m sorry.” You apologized. “I just didn’t know what to say. I... I like seeing your face too.”

A silence hung between the two of you for a moment, both of you staring at the other, figuring out what to do next before Bucky leaned in closer, his face so close to yours that you could feel his breath against your lips as a smile crept across his face.

“If you wanted to see me in the shower so bad,” He said. “You could’ve just asked.”

“Oh shut up.”

And as his lips met yours, your free hand grabbing his collar to pull him closer- he did.

[a-constant-gay-panic]

Fears 

masterlist

pairing: peter pettigrew x gn!reader

warnings: angst w a little bit of comfort at one spot, kinda gets dark at the end, mentions of james and lily's deaths

summary: you've always feared the worst about everything but you never expected any of these fears to come true. what happens when one of them does? when one of your friends turn into something you fear, someone you fear - a death eater.

word count: 2.5k

a/n: here's the fic based of this request. hope you enjoy anon <3 i decided that i'd make it a gn!reader cause a specific one wasn't mentioned and this could pretty much work for anyone. also, just a little disclaimer: this peter pettigrew is a mixture of my headcanon personality for peter and canon peter. some of his traits and characteristics will match his actual character while others might differ from it as it's how i interpret him (plus i see him as dane dehaan btw)

— — — — — X — — — — —

you're silently sitting on the couch, blanket wrapped around you as you listen to the crackling of the fire.

you've been staying at the order for the past year, not exactly having a home or family to go back to. you and the rest joined as soon as possible, willing to do anything to stop the dark lord.

you don't get much sleep these nights, mind swirling with fears and worries. there's whisper of a traitor amongst you and quite frankly, you can't find it in you to get a decent sleep anymore. tossing and turning, fearing for you and your friends, not knowing what's happening or if you can stop it.

the one constant worry of yours is engraved into your mind, replaying over and over like a mantra.

‘what if it's one of them?’

you don't want it to be true, but you can't shake the feeling. what if one of them is this traitor people talk of? what if you have to stop them? will you be able to? how could you when you consider them all family? how will you-

creak

you snap your head up at the sudden noise, fear rooted deep within you.

you squint in the darkness, the bright flames giving you just enough light to make out the figure which stands in the doorway.

“remus…?” you question.

a deep chuckle reaches your ears as the culprit steps forward, allowing their face to be seen.

“peter? what're you doin' down here so late?” you're surprised to see him. peter often prefers to stay out the way, not wanting to draw any excess attention to himself.

peter pettigrew… you've known him since your first year. you were both put in gryffindor, quickly becoming friends with remus lupin, james potter and sirius black.

since day one, he's always intrigued you. the way his eyes seem to hold so many secrets, his strange demeanor around everyone, his timid and reserved persona which definitely didn't fit in with the other marauders.

he's intrigued you yes, which is why you made it your mission to get close to him. and it worked rather well actually. you consider him to be one of your closest friends, and he would say the same for you.

that's exactly the reason he's standing in front of you right now.

“i couldn't sleep… guessin' you couldn't either.” he slowly walks towards you and rests his forearms on the back of the couch, staring at the orange flames in front of him.

you slowly nod. “yeah… don't get much sleep anymore.” you admit to him.

he frowns and gives you a side glance, not noticing the way he taps his fingers on the back pillows. “why not?”

you shrug and make a mental note of his seemingly nervous state. “dunno. jus' worryin' too much i s'pose. that and the fear can get too much, y'know? but it doesn't matter.” you try to force a small laugh, not wanting him to really continue the conversation.

he, being oblivious to obvious social cues, doesn't notice your attempt to end the discussion. “fear? fear of what?”

you shrug yet again, his fingers slowly but surely drum faster and you're almost positive he doesn't even realise it. “y'know… everythin' i guess.”

his brows furrow and as he pushes you further. “everythin'? that's not very descriptive.”

“everythin' pete. everythin' scares me nowadays. there's a war brewin' and any of you could get hurt, there's supposedly a traitor among us, we're no closer to findin' the dark lord than we were when we started. bloody hell, the list goes on!” you sigh in frustration and fail to notice the way his eyes dart to your face at the mention of the traitor.

“oh.” is all he can manage to say and you scoff at his response. “yeah, oh.” you sarcastically say.

a moment of silence passes before he quickly stands, stopping the rhythmic tapping of his fingers.

“care for a walk?” he says. you're surprised to say the least.

“a walk? at this hour? are you mental wormtail?” you stare at him in confusion.

“i jus' might be…” he mutters, you not quite catching what he said.

“what?” you ask but he just shakes his head and walks away from your sitting figure before turning and nodding his head in the direction of the door, a silent demand for you to go on that walk with him.

you roll your eyes and get up, whining in annoyance as the warmth leaves you and you're met with cold air. 

you tighten the gown which keeps you somewhat warm and begrudgingly follow peter out the building and into the cold streets of london.

the two of you walk in silence for a while, the only noise being the shuffling of feet and your occasional sniff.

he suddenly stops in his tracks when you pass a park bench and pulls your arm so that you're following him to sit down. once you're sitting, he quickly let's go of your arm and his fingers start to nervously drum against his upper thigh.

‘he's nervous again… why?’

you decide to wait and see if he speaks up first but after a few minutes of dead silence and his skittish behaviour, you figure you better say something.

“peter. what's up with you mate?” you turn your body so you can face him.

he looks at you without stopping his fidgeting. “nothin'...” you roll your eyes at him.

“c'mon. you're shakin' like you've jus' seen a dementor. why'd you bring me me here?” he takes a shaky breath and his next question gives you chills.

“what if your fears were to come true?”

you stare at him, mouth agape as you try to understand what he's asking. your mind races with thoughts and questions, not knowing how to respond.

“what?” you dumbly ask.

“you're scared of the traitor right? scared that it's one of us. what would you do if you're right?” he's looking intently into your eyes, trying to analyse your reaction and answer.

“i… i don't know pete… i wish i did but i don't. it'd depend on who i s'pose. why'd you ask?” you answer truthfully.

he doesn't answer your question, instead he counters it with another one of his own. this one sends a shiver down your spine.

“what if it was me?” his voice is just above a whisper.

your eyes widen and your pulse races. something about this situation scares you. something about his words send fear throughout your mind and body.

“what're you sayin' peter?” your voice trembles slightly, not wanting him to confirm the thought which bubbles in your head.

“what if i was to say that i'm the traitor? that i'm the spy. what would you do then?” his eyes never leave yours and the pace of his fingers gets faster and faster, the constant drumming doing your head in, making you unable to think properly.

you open your mouth, only for no words to come out, your mind goes blank and you sit there gaping like a fish above water. 

“what would you do if i was the one betraying everyone?” his drumming gets faster still. “the one passing all the orders secrets to the dark lord,” and faster “the one helping voldemort?” even faster now, aggressive almost.

there's only one word to describe what you feel. fear.

not fear of him, but fear of the possibility. fear of finding out that he might be the one who's turned. fear that he's become the one thing in life that you fear above all else. the one thing that makes your blood boil and freeze at the same time.

the thought plays on repeat in your mind.

‘what if he's the traitor? a death eater…’

the last words make your heart clench. the thought of the sweet and timid peter being one of them.

‘death eater… death eater… death eater…’

those two words replay in your mind like a broken record and you have to fight to keep yourself under control, the frantic tapping of his fingers and the fear of what might be sending you into a spiral.

you shake your head in an attempt to clear it and deny what your gut is telling you is true.

“no…” you whisper into the cold air. he still doesn't look away from your eyes, his filled with regret and a deep rooted sense of despair.

“what would you do if it was true? if i became what you fear.” he questions again.

all you can do is shake your head, heart pounding in your chest. agitation clouds your fearful mind at his constant repetitive tapping.

your mind races and you place your head in your hands, squeezing your eyes shut as you shake your head, desperately trying to force the loud voices out.

‘traitor… spy… backstabber… enemy… betrayer… death eater.’

you're pulled from your overwhelming thoughts as it goes dead silent all of a sudden.

you raise your head and see that peter is standing up. you look closely at him and see the tears which brim in his eyes.

“what would you do…” he takes a deep breath before continuing, “if i was to show you this.” his trembling fingers roll up the sleeve of his nightshirt, revealing your worst nightmare and confirming all your fearful thoughts.

‘he's one of them.’

you're frozen in your spot, eyes wide as you stare at the dark ink which is tattooed onto his pale and fragile skin.

“what would you do y/n? what are you going to do now?” his voice is full of fear. 

you can't answer him. all you can do is sit there in shock.

peter pettigrew, your long time friend, the shy and timid boy you've known since you were 11, is now a death eater. he's betrayed you and the others and has now blatantly put it on display for you.

why? why would he do this? why would he tell you? you had no idea.

“peter… why?” is all you can manage to say.

he shakes his head in defeat as silent tears run down his tired face. “i was scared… i didn't want to die.” his voice cracks on the last word, more tears rolling down his flushed cheeks.

you don't know what to feel. one part of you is scared. you want to run away from him, fearing what he's capable of. you don't want to be near him any longer than you have to be.

but then, there's the part of you that feels for him. the part of you that wants to comfort him and let him know that it's going to be ok. you want to embrace him and keep him near you. afterall, he's still the same person he was just a few years ago, is he not?

your heart wins over your mind as you stand and wrap your arms around his shaking frame.

as soon as he is in your embrace, his walls crumble as does he.

there the two of you sit, on the ground in a park at the early hour of 2 am, the chilly air causing the both of you to shiver uncontrollably, the warmth from one another not nearly enough to outweigh the cold.

“y/n… 'm so sorry… so sorry…” he murmurs through his quiet sobs.

“shh… 's ok pete… i know you didn't want this…” you comfort him, hand coming up to run through his locks in an attempt to calm him.

“c'mon… let's get you back to the order…" you softly say once his cries subside.

you stand and pull peter along with you. the walk is silent yet again, only this time your mind is desperately trying to come up with a solution.

you open the door and lead him inside, up the stairs and into his bedroom. you help him in bed and sit at the bottom of it, deep in thought.

‘what am i going to do now? peter asked the same thing but i still don't know. he's with the dark lord. he's betrayed all of us yet i can't seem to do the same to him. i can't tell the others can i? no… i can't. but can i just ignore the fact that he carries the dark mark? that isn't an option… merlin i don't know anymore. he may be one of them but he's still peter right? he wouldn't hurt us, would he?’

before you can ponder even more on it, he pulls you from your thoughts as he grasps your hand, silently urging you to say something. anything.

“i don't know pete…” you sigh, “i honestly don't know.”

he leans his head back onto his pillows and whispers 5 words which both warm your heart but also make you shiver.

“i won't hurt you, y'know.”

you slowly nod. “i know.”

but you didn't. you really didn't. you had no idea what he was capable of. you underestimated him greatly, letting your own misconceptions of the man you once called ‘friend’ cloud your mind and judgement.

— — — — — X — — — — —

‘why did i do that? why did i keep his secret? now they're gone and it's my fault.’

you're standing by james and lily's graves, a bouquet of roses in hand, tears streaming down your face as you remember what he did. as you remember how he broke his promise.

he didn't hurt you, no. but he hurt the others. he hurt your family and you let it happen. you let him destroy the only family you had left.

“y/n. 's time to go.” remus' soft voice speaks up.

you nod slowly and bend down, gently placing the flowers where your two of your best friends were buried. the graves which marked the death of two members of your family. you stand and turn to him, giving him a sad smile which he returns.

“ 's all my fault, y'know. if i had jus' said somethin'-”

“no. 's not your fault ok? you didn't know. peter tricked you like he did to all of us. don't blame yourself. james and lily wouldn't want that, nor would sirius.” he cuts you off.

you don't respond, opting to nod slowly at him again. “now c'mon, it's time we leave.” he holds his hand out and you grasp it before the two of you apparate away from it all.

away from all the memories, away from all the pain, away from their graves.

‘when i see that backstabbing bastard, i'm gonna kill him.’

is the last thought you had before you let sleep overcome you that night, a plan for revenge already forming in your mind.

you were going to make him pay. you were going to make peter pettigrew pay for his betrayal and you were going to make it hurt.

you were going to avenge your family. he isn't the same boy you once knew, you realise this now. he isn't the same and now, neither are you.

— — — — — X — — — — —

[tryingmybestpls]

Golden

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader

Summary: The Reader and Bucky go through different stages of the Reader’s pregnancy.

Rating: T

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: Mentions of pregnancy, giving birth

Two Months

Y/N had been mulling over how she was going to tell him since she found out a week ago. She had thought her anxiousness and worries would have faded away after she saw those two little lines on the test. No, they had only increased ten-fold, only worsening when she went to her doctor and got an official test. Her stomach tossing and turning when the doctor told her that she's been pregnant for eight weeks. Y/N was now stuck with the most important and difficult part of this whole thing-telling Bucky Barnes that she was pregnant with his baby.

How does one tell an over one hundred year old super soldier that they're going to be a father?  Getting a tiny Brooklyn Dodgers onesie made? Too cliché. Make some awful pun themed dinner that might include "buns in the oven"? Might go over his head. Hand him the sonogram that she had gotten after the pregnancy test just to be sure? He's from the forties, what the fuck is he going to know about a sonogram?

Y/N was terrified over he was going to react. Bucky was barely getting used to the world, barely getting used to having control of his own mind. And while he had been doing a lot better and he makes sure to take care of himself, Y/N didn't know how he would handle the stress of a baby. Did he even want to be a dad? Y/N didn't even know if she wanted to be a mom, but she know that somehow it felt right. They've never even talked about having children and now-well they were sort of past the point of thinking about having kids.

The whole situation made her want to vomit, and she was pretty sure it wasn't just from the morning sickness.

Y/N eventually landed on telling him over dinner. Nothing too fancy, just the usual place they always go to so that Bucky wouldn't think anything was up. All day long as she sat through meeting after meeting, her date got closer and closer, and that dread that had settled in the pit of her stomach grew with every second. Y/N felt like she was going to vomit by the time she met up with her boyfriend back at their apartment. Luckily, Bucky talks the entire car ride to the restaurant, complaining about something Sam did that day. She uses her training for good, covering up her nervousness with a neutral face.

They made their regular small talk as they sit in the back of the restaurant at their usual table. Y/N orders her usual lemonade while Bucky orders a Coke. They share a basket of bread and Y/N hopes that the carbs soak up the acid that keeps threatening to rise up her throat. Each time she wants to bring up her news, their waitress would come up with refills, an E.T.A on their food, or just to ask how they were doing. And each time, Y/N would glare daggers at her back once she was turned around to walk away.

Then their respective plates of pasta were placed in front of them. Bolognese for Bucky, arrabbiata for Y/N. While usually she immediately dives into her plate, the way her stomach is twisting and turning, she's unable to eat. Y/N pushes her pasta around with her fork as she works up the courage to talk to him. She just didn't know how to say it. All she knew is that she had to say it. Y/N puts down her fork, moving to wipe her now sweaty hands on the cloth napkin on her lap as she looks up at him. Bucky was raising a pasta laden fork up to his mouth as she opened hers.

"I'm pregnant." She finally blurts out. Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper, barely audible over the noise of the other guests at the restaurant. She was afraid that he couldn't hear her, afraid that she was going to have to say it again. But by the way Bucky's eyes widen, she knew that he had heard her loud and clear. He lowers his fork, mouth opening and shutting.

"I-What? You're-What?" The super soldier asks, looking from her face to her stomach and back to her face. Y/N felt like she was going to be sick to her stomach, the blood draining from her face.

"I-I'm pregnant. I found out last week." Y/N manages to get out, still looking down at her plate. Her eyes started to sting and she tried to blink her eyes rapidly in order to keep her tears at bay. Bucky's silence is deafening and Y/N wishes she could run out of the restaurant, but it's like she's glued to the chair. She wants him to say something-anything, but he is silent. Y/N is about to say something when he holds his hands up, almost in defense.

"Wait. I-I don't want you to be upset. I'm not mad-I just don't know how to put my feelings into words. I'm happy. I'm really happy. I just-You know I'm not good with words." Bucky finally speaks, stumbling over his words. Her eyes widen and she quickly looks up at him.

"I-Really?" Y/N asks, the knot her stomach slowly unraveling. Bucky nods, a small smile appearing on his face. This time the tears that are filling her eyes from happiness.

"I'm not going to pretend that I know anything about babies or raising a child, but I'm sure I can figure it out." Bucky jokes, his metal hand fiddling with his utensils on the table. Y/N feels a million times better, a huge weight being lifted off of her shoulders. He looks up at her again, "I'm happy, Y/N. I am."

"Me too. Me too."

-

Four Months

As Y/N walked into her apartment, the only thing on her mind was kicking her shoes off, taking off her bra that was digging into her sides, and taking a much deserved nap. Her meeting had ended early and with Rhodey not needing help with anything, she had decided to return to her apartment. Yet, with not even a foot inside of the apartment, she was immediately greeted with an argument.

"No, what I am saying is you're painting wrong." Bucky snaps, which makes Y/N's eyebrow raise. Her boyfriend wasn't in sight, but he certainly was in the apartment somewhere. She sets her things down, walking over to where the arguing is coming from.

"How the hell can I be painting wrong? I'm putting paint on the wall. The wall is getting painted." Sam fires back and Y/N has to force herself to not laugh, covering her mouth. She stands in the doorway of the guest room, taking in the sight in front of her. The floor and furniture was covered in plastic tarp, blue painting tape lining the white molding and outlets. Painting supplies littered the room and standing in the middle of all of it were two idiots, both of them holding paint rollers covered in a light sage green paint.

"I'm sorry-what's going on here?" Y/N questions, motioning to the two of them and the mess in the room. Their heads snapped towards her, nervous smiles spreading across their faces. They looked like two kids that have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

"Hey doll-uh fuck-surprise." Bucky announces a little defeatedly while Sam gives a one handed jazz hand. Y/N laughs, carefully stepping into the room as the 106 year old man tries to explain, "I-We were going to surprise you by painting the room. Why are you home so early?"

"My meetings ended early and I am extremely surprised. Thank you and thank you too, Sammy." Y/N says sweetly, smiling at the two of them. Bucky lets out a sigh of relief and Sam chuckles. While the men may not see eye to eye all of the time, Sam has been a great help to both of them. The man had some knowledge about babies and children, being the proud uncle to two little boys, and he had been trying his best to put some of Bucky's worries at ease.

"I'm just trying to be a really great uncle." Sam teases, which makes the super soldier roll his eyes.  Bucky didn't have any living siblings and Y/N's teammates were the closest thing she had to family so it was going to be Uncle Sam, Uncle Rhodey, Auntie Pepper, Auntie Wanda, and so on and so forth. Their little patchwork support system that they were incredibly grateful for.

"Do you two need any help? I can't because I am pretty sure I'm not supposed to be inhaling paint fumes. But I can give Peter a call, I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Y/N offers, grinning from ear to ear. She knows that both men weren't exactly best friends with Peter Parker, both of them having gotten their asses handed to them by a teenager. Y/N didn't have any issues with the kid, hell she talked to him on a weekly basis. He reported to her every Friday, filling Y/N on his week. While it had first started as him telling her what Spider-Man did, it soon turned into a three hour long meeting that included take out while he filled her in the weekly drama and tales of him and his two friends. And every Friday when she would return to the apartment, Sam and Bucky would greet her by calling her traitor.

"Jesus-No, we are okay doll. I think we can manage, right Sam?" Bucky asks, looking at the other man. Sam just nods, holding his paint covered roller a little higher.

"Yeah yeah I think we will be okay. This room will be done in no time."

-

Seven Months

Y/N watched from her seat at the kitchen island as Bucky moved around the kitchen, attempting to make dinner.

Y/N had been put on bed rest due to the fact that the Super Serum that had affected Bucky's DNA was causing the baby to grow at an accelerated rate. Seeing that this is going to be the first baby born with the serum (that they know of), the doctor wanted Y/N to be cautious.

Bucky, had taken the doctor's words incredibly seriously, going so far as to not even let make any food, like he is doing now.

"Bucky, baby, I can help you, y'know." Y/N tells him as Bucky attempted to follow a fairly simple recipe for marinara sauce. It was already going south pretty fast. He hadn't bought the right type of tomatoes and hadn't chopped nearly enough garlic. She kept herself from micromanaging the whole thing, but it was getting harder and harder to do so.

"Doll, I used to make dinner for me and my sister. I think I can handle this." He replies, setting the knife he was using to chop up the yellow onion aside. He scoops up the onion in his hands, moving to toss it into the big pan on the stove. The onions sizzle as soon as it hits the olive oil covered surface of the pan.

When Y/N had told Bucky she was craving pasta, she had kind of meant that they would just pick something up. Bucky had decided that he would make the meal himself and Y/N, once she saw how excited he was, didn't have the heart to tell him that she had wanted take-out.

It was actually sort of sweet, seeing him trying to hard to make this meal for her. All he wanted to do is take care of her, take care of their baby. She loved cooking for him for the same reason. It was a way to show her love, to show how much she cared about him and he just wanted to do the same.

"Alright, Barnes. I believe in you." Y/N responds, smiling at him. She just watched as he cooked (and occasionally danced to the jazz music that was playing on the record player). It didn't matter if the meal sucked, Bucky was just trying his best to take care of his girlfriend and their child.

But for the record, the meal did suck.

-

Eight Months

It was a sight, seeing them together.

Bucky held their daughter close to his chest, bouncing her carefully as the light started to filter through the blinds of her hospital room. A smile was stretched across his tired face as he moved from side to side, cooing to her softly. His hair was a mess, his clothes incredibly wrinkled. The morning light surrounded the two like a halo and if Y/N could, she'd take a picture of them. A picture of her family.

Their daughter had been born a month early, which wasn't too surprising considering with how fast she had been growing. Although it was a shock when Y/N's water broke the night before while they were sleeping. Then Y/N had spent most of yesterday in labor, finally giving birth to their sweet baby girl-Rebecca Natalia Barnes, named after Bucky's little sister and Y/N's best friend-in the evening. Bucky had started crying when Y/N had told him that she had wanted to name their daughter after his sister, not thinking that Y/N would have wanted to pay tribute to his long dead sister.

"Look Rebecca, mommy's awake." Bucky says softly, looking over to where Y/N was laying in her bed. The Super Soldier grinned at her, still rocking their child. Y/N smiled at the two of them, shifting on the bed so she can sit up a bit more as her boyfriend walked over. She looks up at the two, her heart swelling with the way Bucky looks holding their daughter.

"Hi baby." Y/N says hoarsely, the bundle of pink shifting and squirming in Bucky's arms. She holds her arms out, silently asking if she can hold Rebecca. Bucky carefully places the newborn into her arms before he pulls the plastic chair closer to the bed, not wanting to be too far from either of them.

"I can't believe she's actually here." Y/N announces softly, taking in every detail of her daughter's face in the early morning light. She had Bucky's blue-gray eyes and his nose, but her hair. It felt weird to see her, felt weird to be holding her. Y/N felt like she was dreaming, but the pain she had gone through the night before-the pain she was still feeling now-had made it real.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Bucky asks, looking at mother and child interacting. Y/N nods, tears filling her eyes as she looks down at her daughter. She presses her lips against Rebecca's forehead, taking in that baby smell that every parenting book seemed to mention. Bucky is still smiling, looking at the two, "My two beautiful girls."

Hours from now, the hospital room would be filled with friends what were more likely family, wanting to share this incredibly special moment with the Y/L/N-Barnes family. Rebecca would be introduced with her aunts and uncles, each one of them getting a chance to hold and introduce themselves to the newborn.

But for now, for now, the three of them were alone. The three of them sat together in this room, all getting used to each other. Nothing else existed outside of this room, nothing else mattered outside of this room. All that mattered was that they were together.

[prettytoxicrevolver]

Traitor | Dream

Requested? Barely

Warnings? so much angst it hurts, also mentions of cheating

Summary: Dream only waited two weeks after your break up to date the girl you had always worried about

Word Count: 1,001

Flashbacks are in italics :)

In between the painful sobs and cries that never seemed to end, you almost forgot how you ended up here. How you found yourself lying on the bathroom floor, head in your best friend's lap as you practically screamed from how bad your heart hurt.

You swore the only thought in your head for the past hour all went along the lines of “traitor” and “how could he” and a million other thoughts like that.

It hurt.

It hurt like someone had taken a crowbar and wrenched your heart straight from your chest. Tossing it to the ground and running it over with a 16 wheeler. It hurt so bad you felt like you were dying and you weren’t sure if you were going to be able to catch your breath anytime soon.

You had trusted Dream. Had loved him with your whole heart, and gave him everything you had. All he did was turn around and stab you right in the back. Yet you sat on this cold tile and still wondered if it actually happened.

Two weeks.

That’s all you were worth apparently, was two weeks. Two weeks before Dream went off and found a new girlfriend. And no surprise to you, the one girl you had been worried about your entire relationship.

You and Dream had been together for 2 years. Something that meant everything to you, and seemed to mean nothing to him. The entire time you were madly in love with him, whether he knew it or not when you first met, you had loved him from the beginning all the way to the end.

A loud knock sounds on your door, a wide smile spreading across your lips as you make your way over to your front door. You swing it open, a shriek leaving your lips when an arm wraps around your waist and lips press against yours.

A soft giggle is suppressed when Dream presses his lips against yours, more smile against smile than anything. Your heart jumps to your throat, no doubt beating against your lips as they stay placed against Dreams.

“Hi,” he says, pulling away.

“Well hi to you too,” you respond, suppressing a giggle.

“Where were you?” you ask still inches away from Dream’s face, his arm secured around your waist.

“Uhh nowhere. A friend’s.”

“Clay,” you state, and his head drops.

“(y/n),” he begins. “Don’t start.”

“How can I not? You won’t even tell me you were with her.”

Dream drops his hands from you as if your touch burned him. Your face fell right along with him, dropping through each floor of the apartment building along with your faith in your boyfriend.

“God you are so paranoid,” he says, throwing his hands into the air while stepping away.

Your arms wrap around yourself, shielding you from the oncoming argument. The words that would fall in the next few minutes, stabbing pieces of you inside and out.

“I could be 30 seconds late and you’d think I was sitting around texting her,” he says, whipping around to face you.

“Well, you don’t leave much to the imagination!”

“You’re insane! She’s a friend, can’t I have friends?” he yells.

“No you’re right you can have friends just not ones that are in love with you!”

Dream throws his hands up walking away and your heart aches at his retreating figure.

Over time, you had grown sick of the lies, his guilty eyes whenever he came home to you. You were exhausted running your brain into circles straight into the ground to reach the same conclusion again and again.

He loved her. He was with her.

But you couldn’t give him up. No matter how many times you knew they were texting, or how often he showed up late to press a kiss to your cheek and avoid your questions about what he did for the day. You couldn’t lose him.

The door lock clicks quietly, followed by it swinging wide open and quiet but unsure steps into your apartment. The first noise wakes you up instantly. You wait, your tired form still half asleep on the couch where you had fallen asleep waiting for Dream.

His footsteps near you, and you glance at the clock to see an astounding 3 am, a whole hour earlier than the last time he had done this. The overwhelming feeling of dread falls over you and a tear slips from your eye.

You couldn’t keep doing this. You had wasted enough sleep, tears, worry, and anger on the boy waltzing in smiling after a long night out without you at 3 am. It wasn’t fair to you, but why did he do this? Why didn’t he think first?

Finally, Dream drops down in front of you, your teary eyes meeting his. He reaches a hand up to your cheek, brushing the sadness away but only imprinting more hurt into your skin.

“God,” you finally breathe out. “I wish that you had thought this through.”

“(y/n),” he whispers pity for the first time in his life settling in his eyes.

“I wish that you had thought this through before I fell in love with you.”

Dream’s head falls before nodding slowly. He presses a kiss to your forehead, before standing once more and making his way out the same way he came in.

You practically heave thinking of the brutal memories once more and Karl’s hands come to your back, rubbing slowly and worried eyes pouring over you.

“Shhh honey, try and breathe,” Karl whispers and you pull in a shaky breath.

You turn in his grasp, forcefully wiping a tear away as you cast your eyes up to him.

“Why didn’t he love me?” you ask and Karl’s face falls further.

“Oh baby,” he says, pushing your hair back before pressing a kiss to your hairline.

“Two weeks Karl. He waited two weeks before dating her. He never loved me.”

“He loved you, baby, just not in the way you think.”

[quillsandtypos]

Captain America: The Traitor Soldier

Summary: You figures that Bucky needed to loosen up a bit so you enlist Sam as your new partner in crime. But did you underestimate the winter soldier?

Words: 1.7k

Warnings: about four curse words

Pairings: small stucky, could be taken as sam x reader, or loki x reader

...........................................

“What’s up Cap?” you asked as you took a seat next to Sam.

His head turned to face you with an amused grin. “Where are you gonna start calling me Sam just like everybody else?”

You put your finger to your thumb as if you were deep in thought. “Mhmm, how about never?” you paused before continuing, “But I have a proposition for you Cap.”

“How about you call me Sam and I’ll think about it?” he smugly suggested.

You rolled your eyes, but you agreed. “Fine, if you wanna take all the fun out of it then, Sam, I have a proposition for you.”

“And?” He gestured for you to continue.

“Well, I figured you would be the best person for pranking Bucky,” you explained.

“And what makes you think I won’t sell you out?” Sam quipped.

You tilted your head menacingly. “Because Bucky will never believe you anyways,” you scoffed.

“And what makes you say that I want to help you? Besides don’t you usually partner up with Loki for this?” he grilled you.

“Well, yes, usually but I figured you’d be the best person for this job because you’ve been around him so much recently that you’d want to help.” You were slowly reeling Sam into your scheme, just as you had intended. He was looking into the distance as he cycled through his past couple of weeks. “You know, he has been acting like a stick in the mud lately.”

“See? And you want to get him to lighten up right?” Your tone was very persuasive. You could feel Sam’s mood start to shift over into an agreeable one, and you internally cheered that your plan had worked. Sam figured that you knew he had already agreed.

“And I’m assuming you already have a plan for this?” he asked.

“Of course I do, I always have a plan Cap,” you quipped. Sam jokingly rolled his eyes at the nickname but listened intently as you told him your plan for taking down Bucky.

“So tell me again how this is gonna get him to loosen up?” Sam asked, as he did the wiring on the ground.

You already knew the answer to your question before you asked it. “Sam, do you not trust me?”

“Not for a second,” he quickly responded, which you both knew was a lie; but it didn’t mean you wouldn’t play along.

You dramatically covered your mouth in shock. “How you wound me captain!” you wailed. The two of you quickly bursted into laughter. But you recovered quickly as you remembered you needed to not get caught. Once you managed to get control of your laughter the two of you went back to putting your pieces into place. The adrenaline was pumping through your system, and your breathing cycle was rapid.

“You ready?” you nervously asked.

“Hell yeah,” he excitedly agreed.

You nodded over to him. “Okay, your move first.”

“Bucky, come to the living room, quick! I need your help with something!” Sam urgently called out. You quickly heard pounding footsteps that were fast approaching but they stopped just short of the red string across the door and the saran wrap.

“Really guys, I mean y/n you can do better than that.” He pointed to the rope. As far as you could tell, he was letting his guard down. Which was your cue.

“Damn it! We were hoping you wouldn’t notice,” you frustratedly exclaimed.

“Better luck next time,” Bucky scoffed with a smirk. As he climbed through the now smaller door he failed to notice that Sam had stepped into his line of sight. When he finally did manage to get through the door he stood face to face with Sam for a millisecond before Sam shoved a whipped cream pie in his face. The group of you stood in shock for a minute; Sam and you were in shock that it had worked, and Bucky in shock of what had just happened. It wasn’t until Bucky whipped the whipped cream from his eyes that the two of you snapped out of it. Sam started cackling and you snorted.

“Oh my god, you should’ve seen your face!” Sam wheezed.

You suddenly remembered the video camera you had hidden minutes ago. You quickly raced over to your camera and grabbed it before Bucky could realize it was there. “And he can see his face over and over again because we got it on video,” you taunted. You felt relatively safe since he was a couple feet away.

“Delete the video y/n,” Bucky warned.

“What are you gonna do Buck?” you retorted. Your attitude was cocky, but Bucky could tell from your position that you were ready to bolt at any minute. Sam held a similar hunched over position.

Bucky paused for a moment, observing the two of you, but he was completely silent. You could feel the energy that radiated off of him, but it wouldn’t have taken someone with your powers to know he wanted revenge.

“Hey, Sam?” You didn’t dare take your eyes off of Bucky as you talked. “Yeah?” he asked. His eyes stayed locked on Bucky as well.

“Now is usually when we RUN!” you yelled before taking off. Sam quickly followed you, and Bucky couldn’t have been far behind. You led the line to the other side of the floor and into a sitting room. As you entered, you realized Steve was in the room, and you got another idea.

“Steve stop your boyfriend!” you yelled, and you ran to stand beside him. Sam took his position by you.

You could tell Steve was at least a little bit amused. “What did you do this time y/n?” His question was answered when Bucky walked in with whipped cream still covering most of his face.

“Buck, I think you got something on your face,” Steve said sarcastically. It was evident that he was biting back laughter.

“I know, from these two fuckers.” He pointed in your direction, and you smirked in his direction.

“Yes, but I think Steve should still help us because you’re being a pain in the ass,” you pointed out. Sam grinned at the nickname.

“Sorry but I can’t y/n, I’m retired,” he said with a look on his face that wasn’t apologetic in the slightest.

“Steve, you can’t use that as-” you had started to argue but you were quickly grabbed by the arm and Bucky lunged at you, but Sam managed to pull your arm fast enough for you to nearly escape. The two of you bolted out the door with Bucky on your heels. You were soon back where you had started in the living room. Sam and you made eye contact and decided to head through the doors that led to the pool deck, but just as you followed through the door after Sam a cold, metal arm snaked around your stomach. You were then tossed onto his shoulder with your stomach on his shoulder.

“Oh, no,” Sam muttered under his breath as he backed up.

Bucky cocked his head to the side. “Sam did you really believe y/n’s plan was going to work?”

“More of hoping.”

You deadpanned. “Wow, thanks Sam.”

“You’re not one to be talking right now,” Bucky cautioned. He was practically beaming with mischief, and plotting.

“Bucky I don’t know what you’re about to do, but whatever it is if you would not, that would be great.”

“I don’t know, doesn’t the pool look quite refreshing y/n?” he hinted. Sam grimaced. You hissed at the thought of it. The pool had just gotten refilled the week before and was still a crisp thirty degrees.

“Don’t you dare,” you threatened.

Bucky took a couple more steps in front of the pool, and your head dangled straight above it. “Give me the camera and I’ll set you down,” he offered. There was no doubt that Bucky was having fun at that moment, which is what you wanted; though admittedly this wasn’t quite how you pictured it. But you hadn’t failed yet, so you decided to push your luck.

“Not today, Buck,” you said calmly. Sam watched anxiously behind you.

“Last chance, or both you and the camera get it.” Bucky tipped slightly forward, as if he was going to drop you, but he stopped just short of you falling.

“Try me,” you provoked. Bucky shrugged before dipping farther down. It all happened in a millisecond you threw the camera over Bucky’s shoulder, Sam caught it, and your body fell into the piercingly cold. You involuntarily let out a shriek as your senses finally caught up to your situation.

“I saw that!” Bucky called out to Sam. You pushed yourself out of the pool and onto the grass to watch.

Sam hid the camera behind his back. “Saw what?” He was doing a terrible job of playing dumb; a smirk was plastered across his face.

Bucky was unphased. “The camera dumbass. I’ll throw you in the pool too.”

Sam’s smirk faltered and he raised his hands in surrender. “Nevermind you can have it!”

“That’s what I thought you’d say,” Bucky smirked.

“Traitor!” you yelled.

“Sorry,” Sam whispered. He handed the camera off to Bucky.

He held the camera up. “I will be disposing this, but good try,” he commented smugly. He walked down the steps off of the balcony. You waited until he was back inside to talk to Sam.

“You sent it to Stark’s office right?” you checked.

“Yep, I did it as soon as I caught it, just like we planned.” He reached out to give you a fist bump, and you returned it.

“We make a good team,” you commented.

“We do, but you know you didn’t have to end up in the pool, right?” he pointed out.

You wrung out your hair. “I know, but I wanted to make sure we really sold it.”

“Damn, when you commit you really commit,” Sam shook his head and laughed.

You grinned proudly. “They don’t call me the full front for nothing.”

“Well full front, you might wanna get dry off before you get hypothermia,” Sam mocked.

“That’s a good point,” you agreed.

The two of you went down the steps that Bucky had minutes ago, and went inside. To say the least, Tony was amused when he walked into his office that afternoon.

Marvel Taglist: @tenaciousperfectionunknown @teti-menchon0604 (use the link in description to be added or asks/comments to be taken off)

[dorcxsmdws]

@fxprewettx

"Heard my brother and Carrow got one of the Prewett twins last night.”

 She hated this assignment.  She hated every moment she had to associate with these disgusting, brainless psychopaths.  But she was good at it.  She was good at finding an opening, at integrating herself into their circles.  At gaining trust and influence with all the wrong sorts of people.  She was good at it, and she despised that she was.  But it was a necessary evil, having a spy behind enemy lines.  She had to step back and look at it logically and understand that every piece of collateral damage, every person she was forced to hurt, every morally bankrupt action she took, was all a part of the greater good.  Did the ends justify the means?  She had to believe that they did.  She was gaining their trust, and the more trust she gained the more people she could save in the end.

The greatest hinderance had been her blood status, but even that was quickly minimized once she pried the door open far enough to show them her talent.  Magic came easily to her, so when she was competing against men like William Mulciber and Rabastan Lestrange, who looked at the war as a sort of dick measuring contest , it became easy to sweep her lack of purity under the rug.  Equally, that talent allowed her to create a false sense of comradery with some of the others near her age.  It was how she found herself at Rabastan Lestrange’s flat, helping him work through a plan for an assignment.  It was quite an easy task.  It should have been idiot-proof, but perhaps even that was too high a bar for Rabastan.

The quill had been pressed to her lips as she worked through exactly how to imply he was an idiot without saying those words exactly when she comprehended what he had said.  She was well versed in stoicism, even when her friends were being discussed by the worst of humanity; she had learned to keep a straight face while listening in on plans that required an urgent warning.  She knew how to do her job, and she knew how to do it well.  It was the only reason she was still alive.  

But for the first time she nearly blew her cover.

"Yeah?”  Her voice was steady, but her back was to him.  He couldn’t see the wave of emotions hit her.  She had always been quiet.  It wasn’t insecurity, as so many had assumed.  She wasn’t an insecure person.  Rather, she simply preferred to watch and observe, to form an opinion before allowing herself to step forward into an unfamiliar situation.  It was just that not many bothered to wait until she was ready.  The Prewetts had though.  They had waited, and they had never left.  “Did you hear which one?”

She had no siblings, not by blood anyway.  But from the moment Gideon had held her broom steady when the pair of them caught her down practicing on the pitch after hours, from the moment Fabian tossed walnuts at her so she could practice her dives, from the moment they had cheered the loudest when she made the team, when she caught her first snitch, despite being in different houses, she knew what it meant to have brothers.  People she could count on to support her, and in equal measure, there wasn’t a thing she wouldn’t do for them.

The war was heating up.  It had been weeks since she had been able to safely get away.  If Rabastan was right, if one of them was truly gone, the fact that she hadn’t gotten the chance to say goodbye had easily become her greatest regret.  Who had she lost?  Who had the world lost?   Gideon with his easy laugh and kind nature?  Fabian with his compassion and his love of dragons?  Which had been taken, and which was going to have to find a way to survive without their other half?  God, she needed to go.

“Dunno.  Don’t suppose it matters.  They’ll find the other soon enough.  It’s a good thing, if you ask me.  A dead blood traitor is the best sort.”

She just nodded.  “Can I see your wand for a moment?”  Her voice was as even as it always was, but she could feel something dangerous building inside of her at the cavalier nature of his words.  “I’m thinking this will work best if you get a Muggle suit jacket.  Not a full tuxedo coat, that will be too much.  But a nice blazer in whatever color will blend the most.  I can pick one up for you, but I want to be sure I add enough room for you to holster your wand up the sleeve.”  She gestured down to her paper where she was prepared to mark the size of his wand.  “You could tell me, but I don’t know what nine inches looks like.  I need a visual.”

Rabastan, the idiot, Lestrange passed her his wand without looking at her, his eyes still on the toy quaffle he was tossing into the air.  It was for that reason he didn’t notice as she pulled her sleeve over her hand to cover her finger prints.  The jet of green light, from his own wand, struck him in the chest and he never saw it coming.  She watched as his arms fell against the bed like a marionette whose strings were cut, his vacant eyes staring at his bedroom ceiling.  Never allowing his wand to touch her bare fingers she carefully rolled it under the bed, watching it get lost in a jungle of dust bunnies and crumpled candy wrappers.  She pulled out her own wand, making quick work of the room, vanishing any sign that he wasn’t alone that night.  Before she left she walked to him, the only guilt was over the lack of guilt she felt for taking a life.  Using her sleeve again, she gently closed his eyes, tilting his head to the side.  She used her wand to slide the blanket out from under him and over his stocky frame.  With any luck it would take them some time to even realize he was dead.  She walked out onto the balcony and twisted, disappearing from the Lestrange manor like she had never been there at all.

----

It was not a good idea.  She didn’t think she was being followed.  If she was someone surely would have retaliated after she killed Rabastan Lestrange.  But it still wasn’t safe.  For more her own sake than anyone else’s, but the risk for her Order friends wasn’t nothing.  She’d stopped caring about what happened to her a long time ago, but it was grossly unfair of her to put anyone else at risk.  But this?  This was more important than her safety, and she felt very sure that anyone who threatened her or the people she cared about this moment would be easily dealt with.  She was angry, she felt like she was teetering on the edge, uncaring what was right and wrong in this moment.  Two wrongs didn’t make a right, but killing a Death Eater surely would save someone grief somewhere down the line.  She was more than willing to compromise her own soul for that benefit in this moment..

She knew she’d be able to get into their flat.  A better question was whether she was wanted.  Was quiet grief more important than support?  She thought about it for only a moment before she decided that she didn’t care.  She opened her mouth to call out down the hallway, but she closed it as soon as she realized she didn’t know who to call out to?  Her heart ached far more for the brother who had lost his twin than for her own grief, although there would be time to manage that later.  The floor board creaked as she stepped into the hall, her wand held loosely in her hand.  She was prepared to disarm if needed.

First she poked her head into Fabian’s room.  She could feel the fear creeping in as she found it empty, but she didn’t want to make assumptions.  Not until she knew.  She turned, stepping deeper into the flat -- and that’s when she heard the rustling.  Her fingers tightened around her wand as she pushed the door open.  Her eyes closed as she saw the figure on the bed, immediately recognize Fabian; relief and grief fighting for dominance in her.  One of them was okay.  Fabian was -- he was alive, but Gideon...

Hesitantly stepping forward she sat next to him on the bed.  This was not her first brush with death.  This was not the first time she had lost someone she cared about, not the first time she was at a loss for words.  But this was the first time she desperately reached for the right ones.  This was the first time she wanted to get it right, to say the right thing.  She wanted to take on some of his pain, even though she knew it to be impossible.  So instead she just sat there, reaching for his hand after a long moment of silence.

[coldflame96]

Lunch Break

Summary: Tohru skips lunch to avoid being an inconvenience. Thankfully, she has a loving huband to set her straight. 

Rating: G

Also found on AO3 and FF.net

Inspired by a RL situation with a friend of mine. 

The store was busy today. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast and she was starting to get hungry. They had just finished with the last customer in line. 

“Hey, Tohru-kun,” Her supervisor got her attention, “I know it’s kinda late, but did you wanna take your lunch break?”

“Yes,” she sighed in relief. “Thank you, Kaori-san.”

She opened the mini fridge and felt her heart skip a beat. It was empty...She thought back to when she had left this morning and rested her head on the counter, groaning. She must’ve forgotten it in the fridge this morning.

“What’s wrong?” Kaori-san asked. 

“I was in such a rush this morning I forgot my lunch,” she admitted shamefully. 

“Oh, well that’s no big deal! Just go to the cafe around the corner. Kenji-kun is working and he likes me so just tell him I sent you and he’ll make whatever you want for free.”

“I can’t do that!” 

“Eh? Why? Will your husband get jealous? He doesn’t have to know.”

She shook her head. “Kenji-kun is always working so hard I can’t trouble him like that!”

“Trouble him?” Kaori-san laughed. “Man, you’re really funny sometimes, Tohru-kun.” She frowned. She was sure Kaori-san didn’t mean anything by it, but sometimes it felt like she was a small child being dismissed even though they were close to the same age. She didn’t really like it...

“Oh! Good afternoon!” Kaori-san greeted as the bell rung. 

Well...her shift was over soon anyway. Might as well just hold out until she got home. She would be fine.

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

She wasn’t fine. It had been a rough day. She ended up having to stay three hours later than initially planned due to a coworker calling off sick. She clenched her stomach. She was so hungry! 

On shaky legs, she managed to let herself into their apartment. Thankfully, her and Kyo-kun had gone grocery shopping yesterday so there was enough there to make something easy. 

Just the thought of eating made her stomach yowl in protest. 

She set up two boiling pots of water, one for rice, the other for the potatoes. 

She mustered up whatever energy she could to start peeling the potatoes, arms heavy with fatigue. She was really tired. Hopefully Kyo-kun wouldn’t be too disappointed if she tucked in early after dinner. 

She heard the creak of the door. “Tohru?” Oh, so he was home already. 

“Kyo-kun!” she jumped up from the table, apparently too fast as it made her woozy, and tried to run to greet her husband but ended up tripping on the way, strong arms keeping her afloat from under her shoulders. 

“Whoa! Clumsier than usual, huh?”

This would normally be the time when she would defend herself, but her tongue was...stuck. 

Kyo-kun, always so perceptive, cocked his head in concern. “Tohru, are you okay?” he stroked her cheek. “You look pale.”

Say something. “I-I’m fine, Kyo-kun.”

He wasn’t convinced. “You don’t really look fine.” He put a warm hand on her forehead, brow furrowed. “You don’t have a fever..”

She pulled away, careful not to be too abrupt. “I’m fine, really! I just feel a bit faint. Once I get something to eat, I’m sure I’ll be right as rain!”

“What, did you take your lunch break really early today or something?”

She giggled nervously. “Yeah, something like that.”

“What time did you eat?”

She froze, blanching. She was never a very good liar, and with the way he was staring at her now, she knew she wasn’t getting anything past him. 

“Before I left,” she mumbled.

“Huh?”

She cleared her throat. “Last time I ate was...before I left.”

Kyo-kun gave her a steady look. “That was over 11 hours ago.”

She averted her eyes shamefully. His fingers crooked her chin up so they were facing each other. “Tohru, why would you not eat?”

“I-um-” she floundered, “I was in a rush this morning and I completely forgot to pack my lunch and I didn’t realize it until I was already there.”

“There’s a cafe down the street from you. Why didn’t you just order from them?”

“W-well, I-I thought about it but I didn’t really have time to go pick anything up.”

“So have someone else do it. You could’ve called me and I would’ve brought you something.”

She waved her hands. “Well, everyone was really busy and I didn’t wanna bother them and have them make food for me. It’s my own fault I forgot my lunch, not theirs and-”

He groaned, “Tohru, you’re not bothering anyone, that’s literally their job. They get paid to make food for people. Including you.”

She knew that. Of course she knew that. She’d been kicking herself for it all day. “By the time I had time for a break, I was already almost off anyway, so I figured I would just wait til I got home.”

He cupped her cheeks. “You should’ve eaten something sooner, a pack of crackers, anything. You look like you’re about to pass out.”

She jerked away. “I’m fine, really!” And then she swayed and soon enough she was in the air, tossed over her husband's shoulder like a sack. 

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” he asked nonchalantly, not even grunting with the effort of carrying her at all, which she vowed to file away for future use. “I’m taking my wife to bed.” Almost married for a year now and she still felt a tingle in her chest when he called her that.

“What?! But- but dinner!-”

“I’ll finish it.” And then he gently tossed her on their bed. “Last thing we need is for you to pass out while cooking.”

She wanted to argue, to protest, but the longer she sat, the more the energy left her. And all that was left...was shame. Shame at herself for not eating over something so silly, shame that Kyo-kun had to come home from a long day just to worry about her...Her throat got choked up and she felt her eyes go misty.

“Tohru?” He asked softly. He was always so kind, so much kinder than she ever deserved. Long fingers fanned her cheeks, wiping away the tears at the corner of her eyes and he was kneeling in front of her now at eye level. “Why are you crying?”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m always being stupid and making you worry about me.”

“You’re not stupid and if I don’t worry about you, then who will?” She didn’t have much of an answer to that. “I’m not mad at you,” he sighed out, “And I don’t mind taking care of you. If you don’t want me to worry, then you should be better at taking care of yourself once in a while.”

She sniffed, nodding. “Right. I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.” He grabbed something out of his pocket. “Here.” 

She scrunched her eyebrow at the wrapped snack. “A granola bar?”

“You need something in your system before dinner. It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing.”

He was always so rational. She smiled softly. “Thank you.”

He hummed in response, pushing her hair back to kiss her forehead. “I’ll come get you when dinner’s ready. Just sit here and relax for a bit.”

And then he was gone. 

She obediently opened her granola bar, chewing in slow, careful bites. She really would have to be more careful, wouldn’t she? It wasn’t like Kyo-kun could trail her around to make sure she wasn’t hurting. She smiled at that visual image. Cute. 

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, sinking into the mattress, slowly getting through her granola. 

“Oi,” she got a light bonk on the head and she jolted. 

“Oh, Kyo-kun! You’re back already?”

He raised an eyebrow and then burst into chuckles. 

“What?”

“I’ve never seen someone space out while eating a granola bar.” he stroked her hair. “You’re really adorable sometimes.”

She blushed and he just laughed some more and she felt her breath leave her a bit. He really was beautiful, wasn’t he?

“C’mon, come eat with me. I’ve missed you.” She knew he meant it. Kyo-kun didn’t just say things to butter her up. Before she could respond though, she was being hoisted from under her knees into the air. 

She squeaked in surprise and wrapped her arms instinctively around his neck. “Kyo-kun, I can walk on my own,” she protested weakly. 

He shrugged, smirking. “It’s more fun this way.”

He started walking out, effortlessly. Did she weigh anything to him at all?

“Nah, you’re pretty light.” he responded, and she stiffened as she realized she said that out loud. 

“Am I?” She’d always thought she was pretty average sized. 

“I’ve held kittens heavier than you,” he drawled. 

She pouted, huffing, “Now you’re just bullying me.”

He snorted. “You love it though, don’t you?”

Well, two could play at that game. “Of course!” she chirped innocently, “I love everything about you.” And then she kissed his jawline sweetly and watched with delight as his cheeks turned pink and his grip slackened enough that she could slide down to the floor gently. 

She saw the spread on the table and clapped her hands together. “Wow, Kyo-kun! It looks so good!” Then she grinned at him. “You’re so amazing!” 

His face almost matched his hair now. “It’s not a big deal,” he mumbled, “It’s just dinner.”

They’ve known each other for almost half a decade now and he still got so bashful over the smallest things. 

She threaded her fingers through his. “Thank you.”

The shy smile he gave her made it all worth it. 

“Hey, Tohru?” he asked as she sat down to eat. She looked up at him curiously. “Please don’t do this to yourself again. Just call next time. You’re never a bother. Not to me.”

Of course she knew that. It had been clear to her for a long time, but it didn't stop her eyes from getting watery. Her traitorous brain still sometimes told her she wasn't worth it, and here he was to tell her otherwise. She wondered if she'd ever get used to it. 

"Oi, don't get all weepy on me now," he scolded gently. "You need to eat." 

She rubbed her eyes. "Right." 

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

It’d been over two weeks since that incident and she’d been extra diligent to make sure she brought her lunch with her every day.

Kyo-kun had said she could call him if she needed to, but she still wanted to avoid doing that if she could. 

She felt the rumble of her stomach. She had finished with wiping the counters, cleaning the windows, and organizing the snack areas. She should ask Kaori-san for a break soon…

"Hey, Tohru-kun," oh! And there she was! "There's a super hot guy over there checking you out! I know you're married so you want me to send him away?" 

She scrunched her brow. Super hot…? She looked where Kaori-san was pointing and her eyes widened at the familiar copper hair. 

"Kyo-kun!" She gasped. 

"Wait, you know him?" But she was already running from behind the counter, only vaguely registering Kaori-san calling her. 

She only had eyes for the man in front of her, still in his gi and looking so effortlessly handsome. 

"Kyo-kun!" She grabbed his sleeve.

He smiled at her. "Oh, hey. That was quick." 

"Wh-what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the dojo?" 

"I'm on lunch. I wanted to see you. Have you taken your break yet?" 

"Uhh, no, I was just about to…"

"Take it now." He nodded towards the counter where Kaori-san was watching them with rapt attention. "That's your supervisor?" 

"Yes."

"Want me to tell her?" The woman in question narrowed her eyes. 

"No, that's okay!" She waved her hands. "I've gotten a lot done already so I'm sure she won't mind! I can..ask her." 

"Alright, I'll wait here then." 

His eyes lingered on her as she carefully made her way behind the counter to grab her lunch. 

"Sorry for the short notice, Kaori-san, but I wanted to take my break now if you don't mind." 

"Just a minute, Tohru-kun," Kaori-san stopped her in her tracks. And then she lowered her voice. "Who is that guy?" 

"Eh? He's my husband!" 

"Him?" Then she put her chin in her hands. "Wow, no wonder you're always talking about him. You hit the jackpot, didn’t you?" 

Tohru felt something warm in her chest and she whispered fondly, "Yeah, I did." 

"Does he have a twin by any chance? Brother, sister, it doesn't matter to me." 

"Sorry, Kaori-san," she said sheepishly, "he's one of a kind." And he’s mine, a tiny, possessive part of her brain whispered. "I'm going on break now so I'll see you later." 

And she left before Kaori-san could give a proper response. In the past, she would be worried about coming off rude and she would probably apologize later, but she had a wonderful husband waiting for her and he was first priority. 

And as they walked out hand in hand, she was reminded not for the first time and certainly not the last, how blessed she was to have him.

[vintagedolan]

downhill (gbd)

an early december snowboarding trip to colorado with your favorite boys is on the agenda. nothing can go wrong... right?

word count: 6.8k

warnings/tags: jealous!grayson, angst, mild injuries, arguing, angsty angst angst I did my best okay I hope it’s worth the wait :’)

feel free to send in requests! and check out my masterlist if you wanna :)

It was the kind of cold outside that you could feel through the car. Even the metal frame of the van seemed to be shivering as Grayson continued down the highway, hand warm in yours on the center console. The sun had dipped down under the horizon, and you shifted again, trying to get comfortable in the passenger seat. 

“All good?” You felt him squeeze your hand, eyes flickering over to you. Nodding, you squeezed back, shifting so you could lean against him, resting on his shoulder. 

“Yeah, just trying to keep my ass from going numb,” you admitted, grinning when he let out a dry laugh. He turned his head, pressing a kiss to your forehead, then resting his cheek against the top of your head. 

“You wanna go sit in the back for a bit? It’s almost Ethan’s turn to drive anyway, then I can join.” His eyes flickered to his phone, maps pulled up. Four hours left until you got to Keystone Colorado. 

“I don’t wanna miss the Christmas lights.” Half the reason you were going back to Keystone was because Grayson proclaimed it to be the cutest little christmasy town he’d ever seen. 

“Baby we’re on the highway for another -” he checked quickly - “three hours. Go wake E up for me so he’s ready to drive, I’ll make sure you see the lights before we leave.” 

Even though it was your first time traveling long term in the van, you’d become so comfortable in it. You easily unbuckled and climbed over the center console, letting out a squeak when Grayson’s hand came up to swat your ass while it was up in the air. 

Ethan was sprawled out across the bed in the back of the van, head towards the back doors, arms crossed over his torso - the perfect position for pouncing. Grayson laughed as he watched you in the rearview mirror, heading around the seats before getting a three step run in, giving you just enough momentum to launch onto Ethan. 

“BOO!” You yelled, landing directly on top of him. His groan was so loud that even Grayson jumped in the front seat. “Gotta wake up, almost your turn to drive.” 

“That’s twice that you’ve jumped on me today. I’d rather Grayson wake me up than you,” he grumbled, eyes still closed.

“I’m offended.”

“Because I can hit him,” he finished, making you grin. 

“I’d like to see you try!” Gray called from the front, shaking his head. 

“Is it really already my turn to drive? Isn’t it your turn yet?” 

“Bitch I drove the first 5 hours this morning, I don’t wanna hear it,” you scoffed, rolling to the side and flopping down on the cushions. Just laying down was enough to remind you that you had in fact been up since 4am, having been the designated alarm clock for the group. The coffee you’d downed was long gone now, and with the gentle bumps of the car on the road, you knew you’d be asleep soon if you stayed down.

With that, you sat up, reaching around to get into the ‘junk’ drawer, pulling out the old deck of cards that you’d tossed in. Ethan narrowed his eyes at you, hesitant. You didn’t blame him - it was common knowledge that you could kick his ass in cards. 

“War. That’s all I’m playing.” 

“Lame,” you muttered, but you dealt the cards out anyways. The game helped pass the time, both of you getting a little animated when you’d pull away with a lead. He threw a card at you when you got the last ace, knowing he’d effectively lost. You stuck your tongue out in response. Bad move.

That mischief that you’d seen so many times flickered in his eyes, and you made a dive for the front of the van towards Gray. It was futile; Ethan’s arms immediately trapped you and he drug you back onto the bed.

“No!” You squealed, knowing exactly what he was going to do. The two of you ended up in sore loser situations more often that you’d like to admit, and you crawled away, trying to avoid it. Unfortunately, the van wasn’t as long as you thought and when you turned around, he was right there, pinky finger up and devilish grin on his face. He put it in his mouth and you made one last dive, but he caught you, effectively giving you a wet willy that you cringed away from. 

As soon as you could you scrambled off the bed, up the tiny hallway and past the curtain, crawling into the front seat and curling up in a ball. Gray moved on instinct, arm stretching over to your seat, blocking the gap between them so his brother couldn’t make it through.

You grinned, knowing you’d made it to safe territory as Ethan glowered at you over the seat.

“Don’t make me pull this van over,” Grayson cautioned, putting on his best dad voice. You just laughed as Ethan rolled his eyes.

“Traitor,” he accused with narrow eyes, sitting back into the second row of seats as Grayson pulled off the exit to find a gas station. Once he pulled in you hopped out of the van, stretching your legs and heading in to pee. You started walking as fast as you could, the air so cold it took your breath away.

“Hang on, I’m coming.” Gray jogged to catch up with you, leaving Ethan behind to pump the gas.

“I’m fine,” you reassured him, bumping him with your arm. Almost five months ago you had told him that one time at one gas station you’d gotten kinda spooked, and ever since then, he made sure you never went in one alone if he could help it. 

“I know.” He kept walking anyways, following you in and over to the corner of the store where the bathrooms were, standing by the shelves and trying to look non-creepy while he waited for you. 

By the time you got back, Ethan had finished up; you could see him in the driver’s seat, plugging in his phone. Gray opened the door for you and you gladly climbed back into the warmth. You beelined for the bed, grabbing the blanket and immediately climbing under it. 

You heard him laugh first, and then you felt the cushions dip as he crawled over, laying down and resting his head on your side until you turned so he could cuddle up to you.

“Keep it PG back there, I can’t close the curtain,” Ethan called, prompting Gray to flip him off. You didn’t care if Ethan saw, you wiggled down until your face was even with Gray’s, pulling him in for a kiss. You could feel his smile as he brought an arm over and under you, rolling to pull you on top of him, your hair falling around him. He reached up to push it back, holding your head and guiding your lips back down to his, skin soft and warm against yours. 

Something about being so close to him just relaxed you like nothing else - you didn’t care about anything, worry about anything when you were in his arms. It had become home to you in the best way. 

The downside of that? The fact that you were so comfortable that you had to pull away and let out a huge yawn. As soon as you were done you looked down to see him watching you with a smile.

“Am I boring you?” He teased, leaning up to press a kiss to your neck. 

“No, you’re just cozy,” you hummed, nuzzling down onto his chest. He had on his yellow Cudi hoodie from coachella, and you traced the letters on his chest absentmindedly, eyelids heavy.

Before you knew what was happening you were fast asleep, Grayson smiling when he felt your breathing even out above him. He shifted you over onto the bed, rubbing gently over your back to keep you lulled. Once he was sure you were out, he kissed your head and slid off the bed, moving up to the passenger seat to keep Ethan company. He turned the music down so it didn’t wake you up, and E filled the silence.

“What happens when I get a girl? All four of us won’t fit in here,” he mused. 

“We’ll figure it out, we could always pitch a tent if we had to. Gotta find a girl whose gonna put up with you first.” 

“Ha- ha. If you can find one, I shouldn’t have a problem.” 

On instinct, Grayson craned his neck up to look in the rearview mirror, checking on you. You were still asleep, curled up on your side in the middle of the bed. You looked so small and cute back there, it took more willpower than he thought it would to keep himself in his seat. 

“She still out?” 

Grayson just nodded, still watching you. “She was exhausted bro, I don’t know how she even stayed up that long.” Ethan’s eyes flickered up to the mirror, and he smiled. 

“You picked a good one. She’s gonna fit right in.” 

Grayson was pretty sure it must be a twin thing that Ethan could sense his worries even when he hadn’t voiced them. It didn’t matter how much he loved Y/N, he was still a bit nervous to bring her home to meet his family for the holidays in just a few weeks. 

“I’m not worried about Ma. She’s gonna love her, I already know that. I’m worried about Cam.”

“Why wouldn’t Cam like her?”

“Cause Cam doesn’t like anyone we date, ever, you know that. She’s too damn protective.” Just the thought of his sister and his girlfriend in the same room together made his palms a bit clammy. He wiped them on his sweatpants quickly, hoping Ethan didn’t notice. 

“Neither of us have ever brought a girl home like Y/N before though. And let’s be honest... Cam’s never been wrong, has she? Even if she’s a little over the top, you gotta admit, she’s got a radar for crazy. She always knew before we did if things were gonna go to shit.” E raised an eyebrow, and Grayson couldn’t help but laugh. His sister really had called out every crazy ex before he had been able to see the red flags. 

“Now I’m really scared, cause I gotta trust her. Her track record’s too good, what if she says Y/N is actually batshit crazy or some shit? Then what?!” 

“Well, she is dating your ass, so she’s gotta be a little crazy,” Ethan grinned until Gray smacked the back of his head.

“It was her idea to invite you along, so yeah, I’ll give to yah, she’s a little crazy.”

“I helped build this van, I automatically get invited on all trips that it embarks on.”

“Ethan you put in two fuckin screws, you didn’t build shit.”

“Cause you wouldn’t let me do anything!” 

They bickered for a few more minutes before they got over it, moving onto other conversations until they ran out of highway. When they got off the exit, they were immediately greeted by the most christmasy town they’d ever seen. Every store, every porch was covered in twinkling lights - Gray considered waking you up, but you looked so peaceful that he let you be, knowing he’d have another chance to show you. 

Everything went to plan until Ethan pulled into the campground that was supposed to house them for the night. The woman was nice enough, but even her polite tone didn’t make the news that there were no open campsites any better.

“I’m sorry boys, we filled up the last spot about an hour ago. Lots of people trying to get their ski trips in before the holiday rush. There’s a rest stop about 5 minutes up the way, you could park there for the night.” 

“It’s alright. Thank you for your help.” Ethan mustered up the best smile he could through his exhaustion and turned the van around, pulling back out and onto the road.

“We’re gonna freeze our asses off again. The whole point of the campground was so we could run the fucking heater.” Grayson checked his phone - it was 20 degrees. 

“We’ll just have to make it work. We can wake up and drive around in shifts if we have to. I’m fuckin toast man, you are too. We gotta at least try to sleep,” Ethan muttered, eyes peeled for the rest stop. Grayson didn’t have an argument for that.

As soon as they pulled off at the rest stop they were climbing into the backseat, stretching their legs for a minute before they grabbed the extra blanket they had and headed to bed. 

“Don’t wake her up, she doesn’t go back to sleep easy,” Grayson cautioned, careful to move the bed as little as possible while he climbed in. Ethan copied his movements on the other side of you, trying to settle in. 

“Night bro,” Ethan muttered, rolling over to face the outside of the van before reaching up to turn off his light. 

“Night,” Gray answered. You were still sleeping soundly, facing towards him, some of your hair falling into your face. He couldn’t help but smile - you looked so peaceful, so cute all curled up in your pullover. He leaned over and kissed your forehead before reaching up to turn off the light, his hand finding yours that was resting face up by your head. With your fingers intertwined, he fell asleep almost immediately. 

It was peaceful - until it wasn’t.

When you woke up, there were too many things going on at once. For one, the light was on, practically blinding you, which didn’t help the mission you had of figuring out what the fuck was going on. Two, your face was freezing, but your back was warm. And three, you felt heavy, and it took you a minute to realize that there was an arm slung over top of your torso, wrapped around and under you. 

Seeking the warmth and the comfort, you relaxed back against his chest, blinking to try and figure out what was going on. 

And that’s when you saw Grayson, up on his knees on the bed, hovering tall and angry above the both of you. It clicked then, and you realized exactly what had happened. 

“Ethan, what the fuck!” Gray was yelling, his voice bouncing off the metal all around you and making you wince. 

Ethan only stirred, and did the worst possible thing he could have done in that moment - you felt his arm tighten around you, pulling you against him firmly, face hiding behind your head to get away from the noise.

“E, Ethan wake up,” you muttered, knowing it wasn’t going to end well. He didn’t have much of a chance to even disengage before Grayson was grabbing his wrist and yanking his arm off of you, much more force behind it than necessary. 

“Bro, what the fuck?” Ethan groaned, starting to wake up. You did your best to move quickly, rolling away from him and ending up bumping into Grayson’s thighs. Damn tiny home. Grayson’s anger dissipated for just a second while he helped you sit up, and you climbed off the bed, half to find water and half to avoid what you knew was about to happen. 

“What the fuck?” He mocked. “Are you fucking kidding me Ethan?” 

“Dude, I don’t know what’s up your ass right now, but can you just wait until the morning to be a dick please?” He rolled over towards the outside wall of the van, trying to avoid the lights. It didn’t last long - Grayson was on him in a second, pulling him back over onto his back. Ethan put his arms up in defense, and it was a smart move, because right after that Grayson started shoving, pushing at his chest and his shoulders.

“Grayson, what the fuck is your problem right now?” He was fully awake now, his anger rising. 

“My problem? My problem is that I woke up to you all over my fuckin’ girl, that’s my problem. The fuck is wrong with you?” He shoved him again, and you winced when you heard Ethan’s body hit the metal of the wall. You knew it didn’t hurt him, but it still made you upset.

“Guys-” you tried, but you knew it was futile - you knew better than to try to get into the middle of one of their piss matches. Your voice fell on deaf ears, and you sighed, climbing into the second row of seats. The leather was cold, so you tucked your hands down into your sleeves, curling up on your side while the argument continued. 

“Bro, I was fucking asleep. I probably thought she was a blanket or something, it’s cold as fuck in here.” Ethan tried to defend himself. You hoped Grayson would be calmed by his words, but of course, he wasn’t.

“I don’t give a fuck if you’re fucking cold, Ethan. You can keep your hands to yourself.”

“Oh, shit, you’re so right! Let me just check in with my motivation real quick... oh wait, I was fucking unconscious.”

Your exhaustion only heightened your annoyance, and you moved your arm up over your ear, pleasantly surprised with how much noise the fluffy fabric blocked out. 

You’d almost made it back to sleep, surprisingly comfortable in the seat when Grayson noticed you were gone. 

“Y/N? Y/N! Where the fuck did she go?” 

You only reacted when you felt his hand on your arm. You turned to look up at him, and even if you were annoyed your heart tightened at the little bit of panic left on his face. 

“I thought you left the van, you scared me,” he breathed, still keeping a hand on you. 

“Nope, just trying to get some sleep and avoid the testosterone overload,” you muttered, quirking an eyebrow. 

“Come back to bed.” There was a twinge of guilt in his tone, and it softened you whether you wanted it to or not. 

“I can sleep just fine right here. Might avoid me becoming a tug-of-war rope at 3am.” 

“Baby. Please.” He was pleading now, tugging on your arm just barely. The stubborn part of you fought it, but you knew you were going to give in eventually. Might as well do it now. 

Grayson relaxed a bit when you stood up, taking your hand just for the quick walk to the back of the van. Ethan was on his side, facing the wall again, but you could tell he was awake when he scooted over as Grayson climbed into the middle where you had been. 

It was petty, but you figured it would solve the problem well enough, so you didn’t fight it. He turned the lights off, and as soon as you were laying down Grayson’s arm was around you, pulling you back against his chest as tight as he could, cold nose nuzzling into your neck.

“Mmmm, you’re warm,” he hummed quietly, just for you.

“You’re lucky you’re cute, you possessive fuck,” you mumbled, cuddling up to him despite your words.

“You love it.”

“I don’t love when you fight with Ethan.”

“I always fight with Ethan.”

“I know, that’s the whole point,” you sighed. He shifted behind you, and you felt his hand come up to brush some of the hair off your neck, fingers moving to the collar of your pullover so he could find some skin and press a kiss there.

“I’ll try to behave tomorrow. Promise. As long as Ethan keeps his hands to himself.”

You just rolled your eyes before closing them, soaking in the warmth of him there next to you as you drifted off.

----------

The first sip that hit your lips was still too hot, and you frowned down at your mug.

“Not good?” Ethan quirked an eyebrow, already downing his latte across from you.

“Still too hot,” you mumbled, blowing down onto the liquid, watching the ripples spread across the top of the foam. 

“Before he gets back -” Ethan nodded at his brother, who was still waiting for his coffee by the counter - “I just wanted to say I’m really sorry if I made you uncomfortable last night. I mean, I was asleep, but I still feel really bad cause I know that was probably weird for you.”

“E, chill. It’s fine, really. We were all cold as fuck, I don’t blame you for grabbing the first warm thing you found. I’m sorry he’s so damn protective, I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” You did your best to reassure him quickly but sincerely. He just mouthed a quick “thank you” as Grayson sat back down at the table. 

Even though they hadn’t outrightly bickered yet, the tension was obvious between the boys. Gray sat turned almost entirely towards you, his back to Ethan in the most subtle of standoffish ways. 

You stayed out of their arguments as much as you could - you had no place interfering in the twins relationship with each other, that was for sure. But it didn’t mean you didn’t feel bad for Ethan sometimes when Grayson was being a dick. You frowned as you watched him quietly sip at his coffee, knowing that if he said something that could even be slightly misconstrued, his brother would take it and run with it. 

“So what gear do I need to get exactly?” You opened up the conversation, hopeful that it wouldn’t devolve. 

Grayson launched into it, explaining everything you would need to rent out for the day ahead of you, from your board and boots to your goggles and helmet. It got him talking, which kept him from giving Ethan dirty looks, which was your ultimate goal. 

You kept the conversation going as best you could for the rest of the morning, just bringing up random things to keep the emotions light and friendly. You got your reprieve about an hour later, when the three of you arrived at the slopes and walked into the rental store at the bottom. Someone greeted you at the door, giving you a chance to take a breath.

“You make a good mediator,” Ethan muttered in your ear when Grayson followed the employee towards the snowboards. Maybe you hadn’t been as subtle as you originally thought.

“Might as well be my full time job living with you two,” you teased, bumping him with your shoulder. 

“Hopefully he gets the stick out of his ass before we hit the slopes.”

You headed over to Grayson, Ethan in tow, and started to listen to the instructions from the employee. You got a bit lost in the jargon, but you understood that the boys got advanced boards and you got a beginner one.

“It’ll make it easier if you mess up, cause it’s more bendy,” Gray explained, offering you an encouraging smile. You weren’t the most coordinated, and you’d never tried to snowboard before, but you’d promised you’d try. 

“Sounds good to me,” you shrugged, letting out a bit of a clueless laugh. 

“First time out there huh?” The employee offered you a bright smile - he was a bit shorter than the boys, with a sweet face and a head full of blonde hair.

“Yeah, gonna give it a go.”

“Nervous?”

“A little,” you admitted.

“I’m sure you’ll do great, you seem like a smart girl. Just stick to the green slopes at the start, those are for beginners. If you need some tips, just let me know.”

Grayson’s arm was around your waist immediately, pulling you against him so hard you almost lost your footing. 

“I can handle the tips. Just need the gear,” Gray said, tight smile on his lips. It took all your willpower to stop yourself from rolling your eyes. 

“Right. Let me just go get the rest of it.” 

“Thank you,” you said, elbowing Grayson in the ribs as soon as the boy turned around and disappeared to the back storage. 

“So we’re being assholes to customer service workers today too, huh?” You accused. You saw Ethan’s eyebrows raise as he held back a laugh behind his brother. 

“He was flirting with you.”

You didn’t get a chance to refute it because the boy came back with all the gear in his hands. Most of it was for you - the boys already had jackets, boots and goggles. You passed them their helmets while you scooped up all the puffy fabric and Grayson paid. 

The whole interaction didn’t come up again until you were on the lift, all geared up and headed to the first green slope. Ethan had gotten onto the seat behind the two of you, and you knew he’d done it on purpose. You tried a softer approach - instead of bringing it up, you just leaned over and kissed him. Your goggles that were nestled on top of your head clinked together, and you giggled at it before you leaned back.

“What was that for?” He mused.

“Just a reminder that I’m yours and you don’t have to worry about a teenage ski resort employee. Or your brother. Especially not your brother.” 

You expected him to laugh, or at least smile. You got neither. 

“A reminder? Why would I need a reminder?” 

“I don’t know, you’ve just been getting jealous really easy lately. Thought maybe it was something I did,” you muttered, already shrinking down. You got annoyed when he was pissy with other people, but when he was pissy with you? You felt like an ant, tiny and fragile. 

“I’m fine.” 

“Okay.”

The rest of the short ride was silent, and you were relieved he still helped you get off the lift despite his attitude. But that was about the only help he gave you - he went down the slope almost immediately, leaving you at the top with your board in your hands. You pulled your goggles down over your eyes, hoping that might keep you from tearing up more than you already were.

“Here. I’ll show you,” Ethan’s voice was as soft as ever when he came up beside you. “Put your board down, and strap your right foot in.” 

You did as he instructed, glad that he had his foot in front of your board so it didn’t slide away from you.

“Okay, now you just gotta feel it. Kick using your back foot for a minute so you can move and get used to it and find your balance, and then bring your other foot up on top. To go faster, shift forward a bit, and to stop turn your board sideways. I’ll go with you in case you can’t get stopped.”

You followed his instructions, gliding just barely over the snow. You were crawling forward, but you started to get the hang of the feeling. All was good until you tried to stop, overcorrecting and immediately losing your balance.

“Woah, I gotcha, you’re fine.” Ethan caught you, somehow managing to stay up on his board as well. You’d never understand how both boys could be so athletic. 

“Thanks. Was that right? I mean, besides the stop.” 

“Not bad for your first, uh, 2ft run,” he grinned, teeth as white as the snow he was standing on.

“Thanks for helping. Sorry he’s being a dick, I know you all usually snowboard together.” It was kinda their thing. Maybe you coming along wasn’t such a good idea.

“This was your all’s trip, you were nice enough to invite me on it,” he reminded you. “So I’m sorry he’s being a dick. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. Right?”

“Right,” you smiled.

“Okay then. Let’s keep practicing.”

Ethan’s patience was endless. He showed you the ropes, encouraging you as you got your control down, even cheering so loud that everyone looked when you made it all the way down the slope without stopping. 

“We should go up to an intermediate slope. I think you can do it.” His confidence transferred over to you, and you just shrugged, laughing a bit at the sound your suit made when it rubbed against itself.

“If you say so.”

“Let me go find Mr. Grumps, I’ll meet you back at the lift.” And then he was off, looking for his twin. You undid your straps, picking up your board and heading for the lift. 

Five minutes later, you saw the boys approaching, boards tucked under their arms. Just from their walks, you could tell that Grayson was still pissed, and you sighed at the sight. When he got in his head like that, there wasn’t much you could do to bring him out of it. But that didn’t mean you had to put up with it either. 

So you only felt a little guilty when you climbed onto the lift seat next to Ethan, leaving Grayson to sulk by himself.

Ethan just quirked an eyebrow over his goggles, making you laugh.

“Nobody wants to ride with Mr. Grumps,” you teased. 

“Understandable. We’ll just make this a best friend run instead of a couple-and-third-wheel-twin-brother-run.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

When you got off the lift, you didn’t hesitate. Knowing you’d lose your confidence if you waited, you started down immediately, exhilarated by the feeling of the freezing wind in your face. You felt in control, like you could conquer the world. Ethan was right behind you, whooping and yelling as you both tore down the slope, picking up speed.

All was well until someone cut a bit too close to you, almost running into you, turning at the last second and sending snow up into your face.

“Woah!” You squeaked, trying to turn to avoid them. It happened quickly after that, a blur of white snow, hard ground, yelling and a body colliding with your quite hard. A sharp pain erupted in your ankle as you jolted to a stop, only then realizing that your eyes had been squeezed shut. You opened them to see pine trees above you, slightly discolored by your goggles. 

“Y/N! You okay? Are you alright?” Ethan’s voice was in your ear first, and then he was moving, shifting from underneath you. You pieced it together quickly - he’d grabbed you, kept you from slamming into the trees. Which meant he’d taken the brunt of the force.

“I’m fine, I’m okay. Are you okay? Holy shit.”

“I’m alright, just a little winded,” he said, trying to take a few deep breaths. 

“Just breathe, you’re okay,” you encouraged, but you weren’t sure he heard you over the yelling that had erupted back on the slope. You looked up to see Grayson, running over as quickly as the snow trapping his feet would let him. When he got to you he sent snow flying when he dropped to his knees beside you.

“Baby! Are you alright? Are you hurt? You okay?”

“I’m fine, Ethan took the worst of it.” 

“E, you good?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he reassured him, moving to stand up against the tree.

“I saw you all go off track, I thought you totally lost it, that was scary as fuck.” The panic was still evident in his voice, and you couldn’t help but reach a hand out to him. It grounded you more than you thought it would, and you shifted to him, asking for a hug. He pulled you to his chest, squeezing tightly. 

“C’mon, let’s get you up.” Gray stood first after he let go, and you leaned forward to unstrap your board. As soon as you touched your left foot you winced, the breath you sucked in hissing through your teeth. 

“What, what’s wrong?” It was Ethan’s voice, which surprised you.

“I must have hit my ankle on the tree. Hurts like a bitch.” Now that you had noticed it, there was no ignoring it. It throbbed like your heart was there instead of in your chest.

“Can you walk on it?” Grayson pushed his goggles off his face, concern strong in his eyes.

“I don’t think so.”

“I told you she wasn’t ready for an intermediate slope Ethan, I fuckin’ told you!” Grayson turned on his brother, and you spoke before you could think.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Grayson turned back to you, eyes wide. “You should be thanking him right now, he just saved my ass. And where were you? Oh right, sulking. Like you have been this whole damn trip. I’m done dealing with it. So just get me off this damn mountain. Please.” 

They both just stared at you for a minute, unsure of exactly what to say. It wasn’t often that you had an outburst like that, but your anger was still bubbling, only fueled by the pain in your foot. 

“I’ll go flag somebody down. Do you think you can get her out of the trees?” Grayson’s voice was small, and you immediately felt a twinge of guilt that you tried to ignore. 

“Yeah, yeah I got her,” E answered, already moving over to you. He reached down and picked you up bridal style, heading back out to the edge of the slope. Once he sat you down and went back for the boards, you watched Grayson, who was traversing down to the medical tent located halfway down the slope. 

Five minutes later and you were in a small sled, which was tied to the back of an ATV of sorts. You already knew you looked dumb, but Ethan laughing at you didn’t help matters. You flipped him off and stuck your tongue out.

“I’m coming with you,” Gray offered.

“No. You two are gonna go down at least three more slopes, and you’re gonna come back to the van and be happy siblings again. Okay?”

“Y/N...”

“I’m not asking. Give me my board, and go,” you instructed. You were pissed enough that he didn’t question it, handing you your board in defeat. 

The paramedic looked back at you for a signal. You gave him a thumbs up and he pulled away, sending you on your way down the mountain, the boys watching you leave.

The process was easy enough at the bottom of the mountain considering they put you in a wheelchair to get you to the small clinic they had on site. The nurse was nice, reassuring you that they saw stuff like this all the time and there was nothing to be sorry for.

An hour later, you had the diagnosis of a severe sprain and a crutch to use to help you get where you needed to go. They had been nice enough to take your gear back to the rental, which meant you could head straight for the van. It was a relief when you made it there, glad that you’d been trusted with the keys. 

With no hesitation, you climbed back to the bed, glad to have a place to put your swollen ankle up. It was already starting to get dark, and you knew the boys would be headed back soon. 

back at the van, just knock when you get here cause I might be asleep you text, moving your phone over and cuddling down under the blankets. 

Sure enough, you awoke to the knock on the metal door about an hour later. The entire interior was pitch black, so you turned on a light before you headed to the door, hopping on one foot until you got to the seat, sitting down and reaching for the door.

It slid back to reveal only Ethan, standing there with a goofy smile.

“Did you kill him or something?” 

“Thought about it,” he joked, climbing up and around you, immediately moving towards the console and maneuvering into the driver’s seat. You narrowed your eyes. Something was definitely up. 

“He’s going to try to make this up to me isn’t he.”

“Yes.”

“Did he at least apologize to you?”

“Yes.”

“And you aren’t going to tell me anything else are you.”

“Absolutely not.” 

“Cool.” You sat back into your seat as Ethan backed the van up, heading god knows where. There was no point in stressing about it - it was happening whether you liked it or not. You tried not to speculate as Ethan drove back through the town, but you couldn’t help but get curious when he turned into a neighborhood. 

“Pretend I’m not here,” he mumbled, pulling over to the sidewalk and putting the van in park. 

Before you could ask, the door was opening and there stood Grayson. But you only looked at him for a moment before you looked down, something catching your eye.

“You’re here to apologize. And you brought... an office chair?” Your eyes flickered between his face and the chair. He offered you a small smile, holding up a cup.

“And hot chocolate. Just... just get a blanket and come out here. Please.” 

It wouldn’t have mattered if you didn’t want to, you were too intrigued to resist. Ethan passed you a blanket from the passenger seat, and Grayson came up to the side of the van, wrapping an arm around your waist to lift you down gently onto your good foot. It took a bit of hopping, but soon enough you were settled in the chair.

He handed you the cup before he wrapped the blanket around your shoulders. You felt him press a kiss to your head before he closed the van door, tapping it twice, signaling Ethan to drive away. 

“You gonna fill me in?” You craned your neck back so you could look at him. Even with just the light of dusk, you could see the guilt written all over his face.

“I was a dick this whole trip. And I ruined it. For you, and for Ethan. I don’t know what got into me, I’ve just been in my head a lot, but I took it out on you all instead of just talking about it. Which is dumb as fuck. And shitty. And I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.” Sincerity dripped from every word he said, and you were surprised at the weight that it lifted off of you. 

“You’re forgiven,” you grinned, glad that you didn’t feel like you had to be mad at him anymore.

“Really?”

“Yes really. Now are you gonna explain where you stole this chair from and why?” You accused.

“I didn’t steal it. I convinced the lady at the coffee shop to let me borrow it for an hour.”

“Convinced?”

“I gave her twenty bucks,” he grinned, shrugging one shoulder up to touch his ear. You couldn’t help but laugh at him. You sipped at your hot chocolate as he started to push you down the sidewalk.

“I promised you I’d show you the lights before we left. And somebody went and sprained their ankle, so I had to improvise the cute little walking date I had planned,” he explained, making your heart swell. Sure enough, as the sun continued to dip down, more and more houses intricate light displays were coming to life, mixtures of crisp white and colorful arrangements. 

“Woah, look at that one!” You pointed at one with snowmen out in the yard, only realizing that he was filming on his phone when you turned around to look at him. 

“You’re so cute,” he smiled, continuing to push you through the neighborhood. You weren’t sure how long it lasted - there were too many houses to count, and you both rated them out of 10 each time, picking out your favorite parts. 

When you reached the end of the road he spun you around, leaning over you, hands on the armrests for support. The lights behind him turned into fuzzy circles as your eyes focused on his. 

“I promise I’ll make this up to you. Take you on another snowboarding adventure and not be an asshole this time.”

You scrunched your nose at him. “Yah know, I think I might be more of tropical girl. Beaches. Fruity drinks. You shirtless instead of in five layers,” you grinned, tugging down on his hoodie so you could pull his lips to yours.

“You taste like chocolate,” he mused, kissing you again, tongue running over your lips. “I’ll take you wherever you want, you just say the word.”

“Right now? I have an idea of exactly where you can take me...” You let it hang in the air for a moment. 

“Oh?”

“Mhmmm. Back to the van. So I can get my hands on... some fucking ibuprofen. This shit hurts,” you pointed down at your foot with a wicked grin. 

He huffed out a breath that turned to fog in the cold air. 

“I deserved that one.”

“Yep.” You pulled him back down for one more kiss, savoring the warmth of it on your cold lips. “I love you, even when you’re a dick.”

“I love you more. Thanks for dealing with my annoying ass,” he sighed, forehead against yours.

“It’s worth it. Now c’mon, apparently we have an office chair to return.”

[sokkascroptop]

traitor. (sokka x f! reader) pt 9

part 1 | part 8 | part 10

A/N: I finished this at 4 am, I am so tired. I also loved writing this, hence the staying up until 4 am to finish it. 

Y/N looked between them, unsure of what to do with herself. She wasn’t friends with Katara, she was in fact better friends with Zuko, but it felt weird to stay, like she was listening in on a private conversation. But she thought they were starting to make some headway. They hadn’t tried to kill one another while locked in the catacombs yet. And she missed him, she wanted to stay with him, to see if she could make up for the mistakes she made while with Azula. 

Neither girl knew what to do with one another. 

The cavern was large and they kept each other in sight as they explored it separately. Green crystals grew out of ground everywhere Y/N could see. They shined like glow-moths and lit up the cave with an eerie haze. It was cold and damp too, and all she could smell was wet dirt. 

She reached up and touched one of the crystals. It was the tallest of it’s bunch and thick as her wrist. She ran a finger along it. It was angled on top, it’s sides were sharp.

Y/N found a foothold and pulled herself up to be eye level and tugged on it. 

“What are you doing?”

Y/N gasped and slipped off the rock she was standing on. She felt something sharp dig into her belly and pulled herself back up. She turned around and looked at the watertribe girl who was standing there with her hands on her hips.

“Don’t run up on someone like that. You scared me. I almost impaled myself on another one of these dumb crystals.”

“I didn’t–what are you doing!” She exclaimed as Y/N pulled hard on the crystal, this time her hands slipped off the slick surface and she had to jump down backwards before she fell on her back. Maybe she needed to try one that was smaller. 

“Are you trying to find a weapon?” the waterbender asked her. Apparently whatever made her want to stay away from Y/N a few hours ago was gone, she followed Y/N close on her heels as she inspected other rocks in the cavern.

“No.” Yes, Y/N very much was. 

“Well, they took my waterskin so I don’t have anything to bend. You shouldn’t be worried.”

“I’m not.” Y/N wiggled a smaller crystal but it was rooted just as deep as the last one. She had a feeling they were all going to be like that. “Besides there’s water all in the air, can’t you smell it?”

The girl’s voice was small when she answered. “I don’t know how to bend water out of the air.” 

“Oh. Well, what a time to learn,” Y/N muttered. She bunched up her dress around her and sat down heavily in the dirt. She really needed to learn when to stop talking. “What’s your name?” Y/N asked, trying to be polite. She didn’t really know what else to do. They were stuck in this cave and weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

“Katara.” she sat down across from Y/N, an arm’s length away. “And I already know yours.” She wasn’t too hard to read. She looked like the person who held all her emotions on her sleeve. She wasn’t mad at Y/N, she just looked suspicious of her. Y/N was sure she looked the same. They represented two sides of a war. Wait, could Y/N even say that anymore? Were they two opposing sides? Or side’s adjacent now?

“I guess I should say thank you?”

Y/N waved her away almost immediately and Katara looked grateful that she didn’t have to say anything else. Y/N picked her words carefully. “I think that we both helped each other.”

Katara raised one eyebrow and stayed silent. A clear indication she wanted Y/N to continue. Y/N sighed. “I was… planningonleaving,” she said it quickly, like the words would burn her mouth. It was the first time she admitted it outloud and it felt surprisingly nice. Like when you’re underwater running out of air and you finally reach the surface. “But, I couldn’t do it. I was scared of leaving. You gave me an opportunity to get away.” 

“Then why don’t you seem happy about it?” Katara’s face was so open, she looked like she genuinely wanted to hear about what Y/N was going through. She didn’t think she had ever met anyone like that before. 

“That’s the worst part of it.” Y/N whispered like there was someone around to hear her admit it. “I have regrets. Not everything but–and I know, I know it’s stupid of me to think that but, I just wish I had kept my mouth shut and done what she had told me to do.” Y/N put her head in her hands. How could feel like that? One minute she was weightless, the next moment she couldn’t breathe from the pressure in her chest. 

“Like kill me.” Katara frowned. 

“No.” Y/N recovered quickly. “That was never something I would have done. I—I thought that my guilt would be gone if I was, and it’s not.”

“Because that’s not how feelings work. You can’t just wish them away. They’re going to stay until you can let go of them.” 

“That’s...”  Probably true and definitely deeper than Y/N wanted to go. Because Y/N wanted to let go, so why hadn’t she? What were the claws of guilt hooked on? Where had everything gone wrong?

Neither of them slept fully that night. The cave had too much light for Y/N to feel like it was night time even though her body told her it was. Everytime she closed her eyes, she tossed and turned fitfully. She woke up from dozing one time and Katara was sitting up looking off in the distance with tired, unfocused eyes. Another time Y/N sat up and Katara was sleeping nearby, her head pillowed on her arms. The third time Y/N was jerked out of her sleep she swore she woke up to Azula’s voice but after looking around, realized that she wasn’t there. It felt like she was hallucinating, her dreams mixing with reality.  

The last time Y/N woke up it was for good. Her sleeves were covered in greasepaint from rolling around in her sleep, using her elbow as a pillow. Her stomach ached with hunger pangs. She leaned her head back against some rocks. “They could have at least given us food,” she groaned.

Katara’s stomach echoed her sentiment from where she was pacing with a low growl. She grimaced. “Maybe let’s not talk about food. It’ll only make it worse.”

Just then, above them, there was a loud rumbling as a rock was removed from the entrance of the tunnel they were dropped down from. Y/N went to stand next to Katara. They squinted up at the blinding light that came in through the hole. “You’ve got company,” One of the Dai Li shouted down to them. They watched as a figure was pushed and rolled down the tunnel to a stop at their feet. 

The red scar on his face was unmistakable. “Zuko!” 

Zuko pushed himself to his knees and scowled at them. Katara slowly started backing away from them. She looked between Zuko and Y/N defensively. Y/N could tell she was feeling outnumbered. “No, Katara wait–” Y/N started to say.

“What are you doing here?!” Zuko grabbed Y/N’s arm and turned her around to face him. 

She shook his hand off. “What?”

“Why are you here?” He asked again. “Is this one of Azula’s tricks?”

Y/N watched his mouth move and heard the words he said but Y/N just stared. Of course he wouldn’t know. Last thing he knew, Azula and her were joined at the hip. 

It seemed the answer was clear as day on her face. His eyes widened and then his face returned to his usual frown. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

Y/N had taken a few steps back, creating a large distance between the two of them. She kept looking between him and Katara–who was eyeing them closely from across the cavern. 

“Had what?” she asked, confused.

“The ability to defy her.”

It was Y/N’s turn to scowl. “I’ve always had it in me,” she said defensively. “This is just the first time I’ve used it against her.”

She’d always had a streak of defiance. That’s what Azula liked about her in the first place. But all these years of being friends with her had made Y/N compliant and malleable because those were the types of friends Azula needed. Y/N’s rebellious streak of never listening to her teachers or parents had faded when she realized the kind of trouble it could get her into when you were friends with a young firebender with a temper. 

Zuko sat against a rock and set his head in his hands. Y/N noticed his hair was longer than before, scruffy looking. He didn’t look sad, just beaten. 

“I’m sorry,” Y/N blurted out. When both Katara and Zuko looked at her. She sighed inwardly. She hated that she had so many people to apologize to. She groaned and fisted her hands in her air. She paced back forth between them. “I’m sorry for… what do I even say? I’m sorry for chasing you around the Earth Kingdom and trying to capture you? I’m sorry for lying and being deceitful and… fuck!” Y/N kicked the toe of her boot into a rock. The sharp pain did nothing to distract her. Y/N didn’t know why it was so hard to find the words she wanted to say. 

Zuko didn’t look at her as he spoke. “Kind of hard to not do what the Fire Lord orders.”

“Well, you’re not the only one who was chasing after us.” Katara glared at Zuko.

Zuko glanced at Katara with his one good eye and looked back at his hands. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No, I do! You’re always following us, hunting Aang, who is by the way, the world’s last hope for peace! You’re a terrible person. But what do you care? You’re the Fire Lord’s son. Spreading war, violence and hatred is in your blood.” 

None of this was directed at Y/N but she was rocked by the powerful words Katara spoke anyways. Every word she said rang true. The Avatar–Aang, was not someone who was meant to be captured, and Y/N was sure in this moment she couldn’t trust or fight for a Nation that wanted him all to themselves. She didn’t know how she didn’t see it before. 

Katara was crying softly in the corner she situated herself in. “The Fire Nation killed my mother. It doesn’t matter what you say, you can never tell me they’re fighting for good.”

Y/N felt a pang of sympathy for Katara. She hated seeing other people cry. She wanted to move closer and comfort her but she wasn’t sure how well that would be received. 

“I’m sorry.” Zuko lifted his head to look at Katara. 

She looked taken aback. She wiped her eyes and the three of them sat in companionable silence. Y/N felt so miserable for the three of them, sitting in a cavern together. Two sides of the war and one girl who was now stuck in the middle, looking for a way out of it all. Two, who had worked for and acted in place for those more powerful and had no choice in anything. And the one who took the hardships for it all. 

Y/N heard a rumbling over her right shoulder, and in an instant, the wall was knocked down. Through the rubble and dust she saw the Avatar and Iroh. 

“Aang!” Katara beamed. She ran and hugged him. “I knew you would come. 

Iroh walked over and hugged Zuko, which Y/N was surprised to see him return. “Uncle, I don’t understand. What are you doing with the Avatar?”

“Saving you, that’s what!” The Avatar quipped. 

Zuko snarled and Iroh had to hold him back. “I think we need to talk, Zuko.” Iroh nodded at The Avatar and Katara. “Go help your other friends. We’ll catch up!” 

The Avatar grabbed Katara's hand and they began jogging back through the tunnel he had made. 

Y/N looked between them, unsure of what to do with herself. She wasn’t friends with Katara, she was in fact better friends with Zuko, but it felt weird to stay, like she was listening in on a private conversation. But she thought they were starting to make some headway. They hadn’t tried to kill one another while locked in the catacombs yet. And she missed him, she wanted to stay with him, to see if she could make up for the mistakes she made while with Azula. 

“Y/N,” Katara called from the tunnel. “Come with us.” The Avatar stood next to her, looking at her like she had grown another head. 

Y/N looked at Zuko and Iroh, people she knew, people who were where she was from, people from home. “Why?”

“Where else are you going to go?” Katara asked. 

Y/N sent another look to Zuko. He looked like he wanted to say something, maybe tell her not to go with them, but he didn’t and Y/N ran off with Katara and the Avatar. 

They ran into a larger cavern, much like the one they were just in. Next to them was an aqueduct and from somewhere Y/N could hear trickling water filling it. 

“We’ve got to find Sokka and Toph!” Katara said to the Avatar. 

They were two steps ahead of her, and Y/N kept looking over her shoulder to see if Iroh and Zuko had caught up yet. Instead, she saw the last person she expected. 

“Duck!” She yelled. A ball of blue fire was blocked by a slab of Earth the Avatar brought up. Katara ran around the stone and used her bending to drag a wall of water up from the aqueduct and pummel Azula with it. Flames hit the water and evaporated it instantly. Y/N stuck behind the wall, feeling helpless in the fight. 

Azula jumped and ran across a row of crystals above them. Y/N noticed she was no longer wearing the Kyoshi warrior uniform. She was wearing a Dai Li uniform and had Y/N’s sword strapped to her back!

A white-hot streak of rage shot through Y/N. She didn’t even know how to use one and she was carrying Y/N’s around like a trophy! 

Azula jumped a small space between the crystals she was balanced on and a large tower of rock. She threw three fireballs at Katara and the Avatar who blocked it with a water shield above them. 

Azula landed in a crouch on a small ledge and as soon as the water fell around them, the Avatar used earthbending to knock the tower down. Azula jumped at the last minute to avoid being crushed and landed between Katara and him. 

Before a thought could even go through her mind, Y/N launched herself out from behind the rock and ran full speed at Azula. She hit her with a grunt and tackled her to the ground. They landed in a pile of writhing limbs. 

“Give it back!” Y/N screamed. She yanked her sword out from under Azula and kneeled on her chest, the sword posed over her throat. There was a beat, and then another. Every sound in the cavern was blocked out by the blood rushing in Y/N’s ears. She was elated to see the look of shock and terror that crossed Azula’s face. Y/N wasn’t able to enjoy it for long.

An explosion next to her knocked her of Azula and she went rolling away. It could only have come from one person. Zuko stood in the entrance of the cavern, still poised like he was ready to throw another fireball. The five of them looked between each other and Y/N broke into a smile when she saw him. 

But he didn’t return it. 

Suddenly, he threw a fire punch at the Avatar.

He blocked it with a gust of wind but was still thrown backwards from the force of it. Upon seeing her brother fight for her, Azula began a fight with Katara. 

And Y/N just watched it all unfold in front of her, helpless in the bending war that was going on. 

Zuko threw fire-punch after fire-punch at the Avatar. She could see the anger in his eyes as The Avatar evaded the flames each time using earthbending and airbending to jump and weave around fireballs. He bowled over Zuko with a large gust of wind and jumped to perch on a crystal at the top of the cavern. Zuko yelled in frustration and jumped to his feet. 

He set his feet and threw the largest fireball she’d ever seen him make at the Avatar. He bent the crystals around him but the energy from the fire still hit it, knocking him into the cavern wall. He jumped around the top of the cavern on ledges, avoiding Zuko’s fire whips. He used earthbending to knock a stalactite down from the ceiling, causing Zuko to dive to the side. 

Azula was having just as much luck as her brother. Katara had waterbent shackles around one of Azula’s arms and one of her legs. She tried to yank out of their grasp but there was no use. 

Y/N thought back to a time when seeing her be incapacitated would have scared her, she would run to Azula’s aid even if it was the middle of danger. Now, she just watched as she struggled. 

Suddenly, the shackles were cut away with fire and Zuko jumped in the fight, and Y/N saw her chance. 

She jumped in, ducking under a fire whip. She sliced at his leg and cut Zuko. He stumbled a bit and threw fire at her that was quickly extinguished by Katara’s water. Together they worked to push Zuko further back, Y/N waving her sword around in his face, occasionally catching some skin and Katara extinguishing any flame that got too close to Y/N. With Y/N as a distraction, Katara was able to encase one of his arms in water. He thrust the other in Y/N’s face but she carved upward with her sword and cut the middle of his palm. He winced and pulled it to his chest. 

All of a sudden, Azula jumped down from above Y/N and shot a fire blast at her. She jumped away but the edge of her Kyoshi dress caught fire. She patted it out quickly and looked to see that Azula had turned on Katara, shooting fire blasts her way. She was forced to let go of Zuko’s trapped hand to defend herself. Y/N ran to Katara reaching her just in time for her to throw a water shield around them. With the onslaught of fire from Azula and Zuko though, the shield busted and they were thrown into the rocks. 

Y/N’s vision went fuzzy. She could tell something was happening in front of her but her eyes wouldn’t focus and the ringing in her ears was too loud. She felt something warm roll down the side of her face. What was that? Next to her, Katara was lying motionless, her hair loosened from it’s braid. Y/N reached out and shook the other girl’s shoulder. 

“Hey, Katara, we have to get up.” She groaned and blinked her eyes open. 

Y/N grabbed her wrist and pulled Katara to her feet. They were instantly surrounded by Dai Li agents. Katara pulled water from the aqueduct and encircled them with it. She flared her hands out and tentacle-like projections waved around them. Y/N hefted her sword but it hadn’t been much use and it still wouldn't be when the Dai Li trapped her like a stone mummy.

On the other side of the aqueduct, the Avatar faced down Azula and Zuko and more Dai Li agents. There were too many of them for the three of them to fight off. She watched as he turned away from them and created a crystal tent. Then, the crystal tent began to glow. 

It was blinding. The crystals exploded and the Avatar rose in the air. Everyone stopped to look in awe. Y/N saw now that it was him glowing, his eyes and tattoos lit up the cavern like a small sun.

And then the lightning hit. The Avatar’s body jerked in the air as lightning coarsed through him. Someone screamed. It might have been her, but Y/N wasn’t sure. And he fell. 

Katara didn’t miss a beat as she created a large wave that flooded the cavern, knocked over most of the Dai Li and carried the two of them to the Avatar. She caught him before he hit the ground. She held him like he weighed nothing, his clothes were torn and burnt. Y/N couldn’t tell if he was alive or dead. Katara looked up at Y/N with tears in her eyes. Y/N’s face was wet too; she knew what she had to do. She turned her back on them. 

Last stand it is, she thought to herself as she raised her sword against the army of benders in front of her. But a wall of fire blocked them from attacking. 

Iroh jumped down in front of Y/N. “You have to get out of here. I’ll hold them off as long as I can!” 

Y/N grabbed the Avatar’s other arm and threw it over her shoulder. Together, her and Katara dragged his limp body to the waterfall where she bent the water and lifted them up. 

They landed in the grass behind the palace. High above them, circling like they were looking for something was the Avatar’s sky bison and the rest of his friends. 

Y/N stood and waved her hands above her head. “HEY!” she screamed. “Over here!!” 

Someone on the sky bison heard her and they turned their way. 

Y/N faced Katara. She was still holding the Avatar in her arms. Her hand shook as she pushed his shirt aside and looked at the wound on his chest. It was red and laced outwards like tendrils of smoke. Y/N looked away. 

She grabbed one of Katara’s hands. “You can heal him.” If she was as good of a healer as she was a fighter, the Avatar would be fine. 

“I–” 

“You can.”

The sky bison landed next to them and Katara and Y/N lifted the Avatar up to Katara’s brother to be pulled on. 

He grabbed Katara’s arm first and pulled her up onto the bison. He looked down at Y/N’s outstretched hand and hesitated. But then he grabbed it anyways. They needed to get out of here, they needed miles and miles between them and Ba Sing Se and Y/N was coming with them whether he protested it later or not.

A/N: so there she is!! I might have unintentionally lied and said that we have sokka x y/n content in this part. I planned on this actually being longer but I was too tired to continue this one any more and I feel like Y/N and Sokka talking in a brand new part would be better. Also! It was so hard to write a non-bender in this fight?? Let me know what you guys think!! ❤️❤️

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Taglist: @myexgirlfriendisthemoon​ @reclusive-chicken-nugget​ @astroninaaa​ @bubblebars​ @beifongsss​ @crownofcryptids @welovediaaxx​ @littlefluu​ @lozzybowe​ @thebluelcdy​ @ohjustlookalive @sugarmoongey​ @fanficdepot​ @teenbiology​ @13-09-01​ @riespage​ @davnwillcome​ @naanlianid​ @creation-magician​ @lunariasilver​ @vintagerose1014516 

[silvermoonflowers]

Moonflower Act III

Priestess!Reader x Demon!Bucky

Summary: You get to see him again after so long.

Warnings: Some violence

Act II

For a moment, the world became silent.

Everyone watched as the cloaked figure slowly approached the still writhing demon. If anyone had looked underneath the hood, they would’ve seen a pair of red eyes glowing eerily.

James was infuriated. He had awoken from what felt like a long nap, and decided to take a stroll in the Kingdom of Larissa. Due to the kingdom’s citizens being extremely wary of demons, he had to disguise himself. He could’ve just appeared like any normal citizen. But he didn't want to reveal his face, so he preferred to wear a dark cloak, took some weapons, and made himself look like a demon hunter. How ironic.

Since today was so beautiful, he was hoping to see you again. 

But when James approached the kingdom, he felt an extremely vile presence and heard people crying for help. That was when he saw the group of demons fighting you and your friends. This took James by surprise, because most demons rarely came out during the daytime. But that confusion turned into rage when he saw one of them chasing your beloved sister and a little girl with her. 

He stopped before the demon, watching with dark amusement as it tried in vain to pull the arrow out of its forehead. The anger that built inside of him was enough to wipe away the demon in an instant. But he couldn’t do that in front of all the humans. Instead, he readied another arrow and called out to the demon telepathically. 

Look at you. It’s too painful, huh? James’ voice became absolutely demonic that would’ve chilled anyone, even the brave, to the bone. The demon only responded with a pained groan which made James smile viciously. Don’t even bother trying to get that arrow out. It’s laced with my power and deeply rooted into your head, slowly eating your mind.

You traitor! The demon weakly tried to grab at his leg. How could you?!

Oh? James shot back coldly. You honestly thought that I was on YOUR side? How pathetic. But enough, you’ve caused too much damage. Now burn in hell.

Before the demon could protest, James shot the arrow straight at its chest. There was an agonizing howl that sent a few civilians stumbling back as the demon faded away. With one deep breath, the color of James’ eyes went from red to blue again. He then turned to Nicole and Emily. Both of them were still shaken from the close encounter, but he could sense that they were no longer frightened.

“T-thank you, kind sir,” Nicole said while Emily nodded and looked at him with admiration in her eyes. James replied with a gentle “Your welcome” as he slung the bow on his back.

“Yeah, thanks man!” Sam said.

“You’re a demon hunter?” Steve asked as he walked up to Sam’s side.

“...You could say that. I just happened to be passing by is all,” James said lowly. Thank goodness he wore a cloak so he could avoid the captain’s gaze. The way the captain looked at him with such suspicion made him uncomfortable. It was like he knew who James truly was. Several more people surrounded him, trying to thank him for his bravery. He sighed internally. This was certainly not what James expected: to be in the center of attention. All he wanted was to see you again. 

“Well...if there are no more demons...I’ll be on my way.” James ignored the curious stares as he gently pushed through the small crowd of people. You had suddenly disappeared, but James sensed that you weren’t too far away. He wanted to walk hurriedly to where you were, but he had to act casual around everyone so as not to raise suspicion, especially from the captain…

“Yeah, it looks like there are no more demons - hey wait...Clint, don’t tell me you tossed the basket aside,” Natasha suddenly hissed. “Do you realize how long it took Steve and I to prepare all that food?”

“Whoa, whoa. Now I made sure the food basket was somewhere safe - “

“Uh-huh, yeah right,” Wanda interrupted. “Remember what happened last time?”

“Oh come on! That was just one time!”

James took one glance behind him and smirked. Perfect, everyone was distracted. Even the captain, who was giving the archer an extremely annoyed look while the others watched the petty quarrel with bewilderment. Now was his chance to see you.

As soon as he was out of sight, he became a shadow and picked up where your spiritual energy was. He had to hurry though, now that he sensed that something was troubling you. 

That’s when James found you, standing in an alley between two houses. You were staring at the ground forlornly with the captain’s sword hanging loosely from your hand. Even with sorrow masking your face, you still look as beautiful as ever to him.

“Priestess.”

You looked up, startled. “James?”

He nodded before taking off his hood. Your heart nearly skipped a beat as you saw his handsome face once again. You quickly ran up to him and bowed. “Thank you so much for saving Nicole and Emily!”

James chuckled. “Please, no need for formalities. I do what is best.” He winked at you, but you only gave him a half smile in return.  “What is the matter?” James asked as he put his hand on your shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. Despite his cold touch, all you felt was warmth on the inside. You looked down again, avoiding his kind gaze.

“...This is all my fault,” You said solemnly.

James furrowed his eyebrows. “Why do you say that?”

“Because today was so bright and beautiful...I wanted to take Emily and everyone else for some fun...but instead...I nearly got all of them in danger, especially Emily...all because I’m the Priestess…” You nearly dropped the sword as you spoke.

James took your free hand into his and looked at you with such fierce intenseness that you nearly gasped.  “Priestess…”He began, his voice taking on a soothing tone. “None of this is your fault. No one expected for these bastards to show up. I certainly didn’t expect them to show up. Things just happen…so don’t blame yourself okay?”

You wanted to cry. Never had you expected such kind words from a demon. James was truly something else.  “James...thank you.” He responded by pressing a kiss to your hand, which made you smile. Someone was calling your name, but you didn’t seem to notice as you gazed at him. He has such beautiful eyes...

“I...we’re having a picnic, do you want to...?”

James quickly shook his head. “I’d love to...but your captain seems to not trust me, so I don’t want to cause any trouble.

You sighed. Sometimes Steve’s big brother instincts annoyed you to no end. “Oh, Steve...”

James held up a hand. “He's just trying to protect you. Now, be safe and have fun, okay?” 

“...Okay. Thank you. You be safe too, James.”

You reluctantly walked on ahead while James remained in the same spot, staring in the opposite direction. If only you could spend more time with him...

Before you could take another step forward, a pair of arms gently wrapped around you, pulling you close to his strong chest. Your grip on the sword tightened as you felt James’ lips brush against the temple of your head.

“I’m so glad to see you again, my dear Priestess,” He whispered before sliding his hands from your shoulders down to your waist. His touch lingered for a few more minutes before he let go, leaving you blushing.

“I-I’m glad to see you again too, James.”

There was no reply from him and with one glance behind told you that he was already gone. Or so you thought. He was probably still there, hidden in darkness and must’ve heard what you said. With a sigh, you stepped out of the alleyway to the sound of your family calling out to you.

“Sorry, I was doing something. Do you guys still wanna have that picnic?”

“Of course!” Emily replied happily as she ran up to you while everyone else nodded.

“Alright, let’s have some fun!”

[otonymous]

A Bolt From The Blue (MLQC Shaw - NSFW) - Part II: Formal Introductions

Description: A stranger finds himself in a strange place Warnings: NSFW/18+: Explicit/graphic language & mature themes — reader discretion is advised.  Potential trigger warnings: mild depictions of injuries, police, profanity Word Count: 1328 words (~7 mins of tension and the beginnings of love) Author’s Notes: First of all, I just wanted to give everyone who read, liked, reblogged, and/or commented on Chapter 1 of this fic a massive THANK YOU!  It has been an absolute joy to read through your reactions to the story so far, and I hope you will continue to join me on this wild (and eventually, sexy) ride! 😂 That being said, here’s Chapter 2!  Hope you all enjoy the read 💖

Tagging: the lovely @op-peccatori​​ 

Jump to Chapter(s): One | Three | Four

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“Ahh—!”

A large hand clamps over your mouth to muffle the scream of shock when you wake to a pair of amber eyes staring intently into yours.  Then you remember that you had given up your bed to the man you now knew went by the name of Shaw.

At least that was what was on the ID card you found in his wallet.

“Finally awake, Sleeping Beauty?  Care to tell me where I am?”

Once assured you had sufficiently calmed, Shaw lowers his hand, turning his attention to your tiny apartment.  You straighten up from where you had fallen asleep, kneeling on the floor beside the bed with your head slumped on the pillow just next to his face.  Cheeks burning, you bite your lip to distract from the way your skin still tingled in the places he had touched.

“You’re at my place.  But don’t worry, I live alone.”

“I figured that much,” he says, trying to prop himself up on his elbows before his face contorts in pain.  You quickly rearrange the cushions and pillows behind him for support.  Shaw reaches towards his bare abdomen, hand trembling slightly as his fingers trace over the bandaged stitches holding it together.  “How did you…?”

“My next door neighbour did it.  He was a doctor back in his home country and owed me a favour.  I figured it would be a bad idea to take you to a hospital given…given everything that’s going on.  You can trust him, he’ll be discreet.”

Shaw heaves a sigh; even that seems to hurt him.  “How long have I been out?”

“Almost two days.”

“Shit.”  His brows pinch together.  “Do you have my phone?”

Nodding, you make your way to the kitchen counter where it sat along with the things that fell from his pockets when you undressed him as per your neighbour’s instructions: his wallet, a pack of cinnamon gum, a key and a guitar pick.

The phone lights up at your touch when you hand it over.  You pretend like you don’t notice the photo of the two young boys on the lock screen — one taller than the other, both wearing matching smiles and big, amber eyes.

You watch from the side, waiting with bated breath as Shaw scrolls through the messages with an impatient hand, the expression on his face growing darker with each swipe until he’s throwing off the sheets, pale lips trembling in pain as he tries to maneuver off the bed.  “I have to go.”

“But, wait…you’re not fully healed yet!  The doctor said it would likely be another day or two before you should start moving about—”

“I ain’t got that time.”  Feet finally on the ground, Shaw looks down, seeming to realize for the first time that he’s completely naked save for his boxers.  “Could you, um…pass my clothes?”

His cheeks grow pink.  You clear your throat.

Knock, knock.

Freezing in the midst of gathering his belongings, both your gazes shoot to the door when a muffled voice on the other side calls, “Loveland City Police!  Anyone home?”

Tossing Shaw the bundle in your arms, you push him back into bed, holding a finger to your lips for silence before you throw the covers over him.  Running sweaty palms over disheveled hair, you breathe deep, opening the door just enough for the chain to pull taut.

“Good morning, Miss.  I’m Detective Lai and this is Officer Wong from the Loveland City Police Department.  We’re currently conducting an investigation in the area.  Have you seen either of these men around here lately?”

Putting away his badge, Officer Wong holds up several large photographs, one a grainy picture from what appeared to be security footage, and a couple of mugshots.  You keep your expression flat as you pretend to study the one of Shaw’s face.

“Doesn’t ring a bell, I’m sorry.”  

Shaking your head for emphasis, you try to ignore the heat prickling beneath your collar when Detective Lai leans against the doorframe, gaze sharp as he sweeps the space behind you before finally relenting.  “Sorry to have disturbed you, Miss.  Please don’t hesitate to inform us if you notice anything out of the ordinary.”

Quickly shutting the door, you slide to the tiled floor of the entryway, shaking so hard your teeth chatter.  Suddenly, a hand thrusts into your field of vision, making you jump: Shaw is standing before you, one arm outstretched to help you up as the other hovers over his bandaged abdomen.

“You should be resting.”  The words leave your lips in a whisper.

He doesn’t budge.  “Don’t worry about me, I’m stronger than I look.”

And when you finally place your hand in his, the smile that brightens that handsome face brings one to your own.

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“You win.  Looks like I’m not going anywhere anytime soon with the cops crawling all over the place.”

Shaw’s voice drifts to the kitchen from where he lay on your bed.  Avoiding a cloud of steam when you lift the lid from a pot on the stove, the comforting smell of ginger and scallions wafts to tickle your nose as you portion out a single serving of congee, bearing it over to him on a tray.

“Here.  It’s not much, but it’s easy on the stomach.  Careful, it’s hot—!”

The congee splatters onto your sheets when Shaw drops the ceramic spoon, hissing as he sticks out a burnt tongue like an accident-prone child.  Biting back a chuckle at the discord between the man before you now and the one who had valiantly saved you during the robbery, you quickly reach for the glass of water on your bedside table, watching him gulp it down for dear life.

“I know it’s no Coke and Pepsi, but I hope it’ll do anyways.”

He laughs, and the sound tightens around your heart before he almost chokes on his water, coughing violently into the crook of his elbow and breathing deep to ride out the wave of pain radiating from his torso.

“Wow.  So she can tell jokes too in addition to saving lives.  Impressive, just like the lies you told the cops.  I have to say though, I’m surprised you noticed my drink of choice.  All those nights I came in, you barely even looked at me.  I was starting to wonder whether or not I was invisible.”

A smirk curls upon his lips; you wondered how they would taste.  Then, after a beat of silence, he says, “Thank you.  For everything.  I owe you my life.”

His amber eyes hold yours, completely devoid of sarcasm.  Counting to three before the intensity forces your gaze down to the fraying edges of your house slippers, the fierce beating of your heart makes you feel faint.  

“I’m just repaying a favour.  I haven’t thanked you yet for saving me that day you took out the robber with your skateboard.”

“Was nothin’.  Just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”  He shrugs, running a hand through his hair before extending it to you for the second time that day.  “Name’s Shaw, by the way.”

You stop breathing when your hands touch, hope your cheeks won’t betray you with their traitorous red when those long fingers tightened to hear you say yours in return.

“I know.  I’ve seen it on the tag on your uniform many times now.”  He repeats your name, soft and with intent, as if the tip of his tongue held something of infinite importance.  “It’s nice…suits you.  I like it.”

Raising a spoonful of congee, Shaw puckers his lips, blowing gently to cool it off first this time around.

“I like your congee too.”

⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

Thanks so much for reading!  Hope you all enjoyed it and please stay tuned for part 3 because there is only one bed! 😱😆

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[enigma-im]

The Less I Know The Better

Rating: Explicit Relationship: Imp!Black x F!Yellow Warning: Attempted murder, Among us fanfic, Monster sex, horror, comfort, angst, i’m not sorry

Word Count: 4916

      Boyfriends can bring comfort, monster boyfriends can bring...

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"Hey, Blake, can you help me with coms? I've been stuck on that silly little radio for a while," I rock on my toes, hands clasped behind my back as I await his answer. For a good moment, he looks mostly confused, brows furrowed and mouth slightly open. It's curious, what is there to be so conflicted about?

"What," he gawks.

"Coms," I answer slowly," can you help?"

Blake stares down at me, looking sort of angry under the blatant confusion. I grow embarrassed having asked him. We don't talk much or anything, merely coworkers and nothing more. Perhaps I'm pushing a boundary I had no idea existed.

"Uh, sure," he answers almost like a question.

"Great," I perk up, twisting on my heel to walk away. I feel him reluctantly follow, throwing his hands into his tied off jumpsuit pockets. I toss a glance over my shoulder, giving him a bright smile of appreciation. He grunts in response.

We walk- more like I lead- to coms, awkward silence occupying the time. I stop over by the little frustrating radio to wait for Blake. He stops in the middle of the room, looking nervous but still. It's strange seeing his shoulder tick and his fingers fidget in his pockets but his face is so neutral.

"You ok," I ask. His forearm stiffens, barely noticeable fists clenched within his pockets.

"I'm fine," he says terse," what do you need my help on?"

I jump on the topic change, turning back to the radio. I turn it on, the horrid static blaring around the silent room. Wincing, I turn the volume down and begin fiddling with the knobs.

"Layla switched jobs with me this week because she is trying to get close to Bucky- which is understandable- and now I have the task of making sure the radio is up and operational. Which shouldn't be a hard job, just turn it on and off. Yet, lucky me, I have a radio that doesn't want to connect to anything and I don't know what to do," I answer, flicking the knobs this way and that. Listening closely to the change in static I just barely catch the sound of something wet snapping. I stop, curious above all else. The sound echoes again with a rip.

I twist around to the room, looking to Blake who is standing still in the middle of the room. He looks tense and his black shirt is askew with a single tear by his hip.

"Oh," I gasp," Your shirt? What happened?"

"Nothing," he answers shortly," let me see the radio an-"

I walk over, interrupting him," nonsense, I'm pretty good with sewing as my mother taught me when I was young. I'm sure I can fix that up. Accidents happen and I'm pretty sure Dax keeps an extra shirt around here." as I ramble I grab his shirt, looking to the tear with trained eyes. I'm sure I can fix this by tomorrow.

"uh," he keeps his arms away from me, uncomfortable to the max," ok."

I look to him, smiling sweetly before walking away in search of a clean shirt. I fiddle in a drawer, finding a dark green t-shirt for him to wear.

"This should do, you and Dax are big dudes," I hand him the shirt," I know you prefer wearing black but green would still be a good look for you. It will bring out your eyes and make you look quite handsome."

Blake seems lost as he grabs the shirt. He mutters a thanks, looking away flustered. I want to coo but keep the urge to myself. He grabs the hem of his shirt, hefting it over his body. I squeak, turning around with my own flustered face.

He changes quickly, handing me the shirt in his normal bored expression. Not wanting to dwell on the matter any longer he walks to the radio, twisting the knobs expertly.

It seems like ever since that day in coms Blake is always nearby. It's a huge comfort as conflict engulfs the crew. Rumor has gone around that there are two imposters aboard the Skeld. People barely paid it any mind till the first body was found in the med bay. I hardly knew the lad, only recognized them by their bright orange jumpsuit. Since then I have appreciated the company of Blake.

An alarm rings around the ship as Blake lends a hand in Reactor. We both look around, me more nervous than him. It's when a neutral voice calls for an employee meeting that I settled a bit. Blake and I walk to the cafeteria, meeting with the rest of the crew at the center table. Once we all are seated, Charlie talks.

"Another body has been found between electrical and the engine," Charlie says solemnly. I stiffen at his words, worried above all else that it was so near. "Was anyone near there, did anyone see anything," he asks.

The group murmurs amongst themselves, giving each other alibis and recounts. I look around, thinking to myself that I should speak up. Lifting my arm to speak of my whereabout Blake grabs my wrist.

"Don't," he whispers.

"Don't?" he nods, clenching my hand down to the bench. I curiously look from him to Charlie, conflicted. "Why not," I ask," We were near and if we can bring any information then it's a start in finding the imposter."

"It also puts a big target on your back so just keep quiet unless specifically asked," he snaps through clenched teeth. I gawk at him, not paying a bit of mind to a few crewmates recounting what they were doing while the body was being discovered.

I silently seethe to myself, feeling like a traitor by keeping information to myself. We didn’t see anything, having our backs to the hallway, but telling Charlie that could help figure out which way the imposter could have gone. It's not good to keep such information to yourself at a time like this.

With no details added the meeting is dismissed with everyone more on edge. I quickly depart from the cafeteria, wanting to get away from Blake for now. Marching to my room I don't even notice when the man I wish to avoid is standing at my door. I flop down onto my bed, feeling stressed and anxious.

"You're mad," Blake grunts. I startle, twisting to my side to look at him. He stands tall, unfazed by the announcement of another dead crewmate. His dark grease backed hair is immaculate like usual. The fact that not a single hair is loose seems unfair to the situation.

"Yes," I bark," I'm mad."

"Why," he asks, stepping further into the room.

I gawk at him," why do you think I'm mad? One of our crewmates is dead and you don't want me telling anyone where I was because you think it will put a mark on my back! It shouldn't matter, I didn't kill them but I was close by. I could have been useful."

Blake's lip twitches towards a sneer. His hands leave his pockets in favor of crossing his arms. He looks annoyed, which is better than looking bored. Good, he finally acts like he feels something about all this.

"Did you see anything? Did you hear someone walk by? Truly, do you think you have anything important to say that won't paint you as a potential suspect," he snaps, leaning towards me as he angrily shouts his point. I sit up in bed, throwing my arms up in exasperation.

"No, but i-," I try to explain.

"No," he walks over to the bed," you don't have anything that could have been even remotely useful. Saying nothing was almost the same outcome as saying anything. The only difference is you would have been watched and targeted by the true murderer. It's easy to paint you as the imposter when people are already looking your way and I will not let that happen." he is nearly face to face with me, towering over me easily. His ire is almost enough to silence me. He makes good points but it's not enough for my frustrated self.

"Why should it matter to you if I want to let myself be targeted like that? It's not your job to keep me safe," I stand strong, keeping myself confident in my argument.

"It is my job to keep you safe," he snaps, growling under his breath.

I get up in his face, feeling his breath over my cheeks," Why?"

He stutters," Because- it's cau- I- fuck." his shoulder sag, sighing as he grabs my shoulders. Before I can even blink his lips are on mine. My heart stutters along with my breath, shocking me to my core. I don't have time to react before he is pulling away, the ghost feeling of his warm lips on mine.

Blake opens his mouth to answer, lifting his hands off my shoulder as he struggles to speak. Before he can get too far I panic, reaching out and grabbing his shirt collar. I tug him back, leaning up to kiss him.

It's not magical or special but it feels right. The comfort he gives makes everything disappear as our mouths dance together. I like his warmth, I love his taste. Though my anger dwells in the back of my mind I don't care enough to split. Right now is perfect, even though a true surprise.

The next week is easier to deal with as I have Blake by my side. His ever-present self brings a sort of ease to the chaos around us. The bodies stack up as the killer continues their spree and when the stress becomes too much I can rely on Blake to calm me down.

"This is getting ridiculous," Charlie snaps, running his fingers through his hair for the hundredth time," soon we are going to be outnumbered by theses dickheads, we have to pick someone. Randy, you have had eyes on everything, who do you suspect?"

We all look to Randy," I don't want to be the one pointing fingers here but I have barely seen pinkie here on cams."

Peter gasps, sneering at Randy," So you think I did it just because you don't know where I am every second of the day? How about Lesha? She has been the one to report the body almost every time, seems kind of sus to me."

"Fuck you, Peter," Lesha shouts," don't be pointing that finger at me. I can't help that none of you walk the ship, like, at all."

"Walking the ship and killing people seems like a better waste of your time than fixing the constantly sabotaged O2," Peter barks back.

"Yea, well how about bumblebee over there," she points to Blake and I," those two have been together nonstop, looks like we found our two imposters right there."

"What," I gawk," we have been keeping an eye on one another, doing our tasks. Blake has helped me with so many difficult jobs."

Charlie hums," interesting that you don't seem to understand how to do these simple tasks. The fact that Blake has to basically do them all for you seems rather sus. Clearly, an imposter wouldn't know how to accurately know how to do the jobs us crewmates have been trained for." the group nods, agreeing with his statement. I can only sit back in surprise as everyone turns their gaze to me. My crewmates, people I have worked with for a while, are now turning on me. All of them pointing their fingers to me. What can I do now? I have no alibi or excuse.

I fall to my misfortune, gawking at them all. I have nowhere to run or to escape. These people I have shared so much with is going to shoot me out the nearest airlock without any regret. All I can do is hang my head in defeat.

"She has been with me and hasn't off-ed me," Blake answers casually," clearly if she was the imp then she would have slashed my neck when she had the chance. Believe me, she has had many chances." I don't dare to hope.

The group mutters amongst themselves. It's ultimately Charlie who they all look to, waiting for his final verdict.

Charlie hums in thought, watching me with eagle eyes. "That is very fair. You two have been alone often, it seems like a likely excuse. Our best bet is to keep an eye on her, wait for her to make her move."

The sigh of relief is short-lived as the accusatory eyes lock on me. I think I'll be having a great deal of company this day forward.

In just a few days my ultimate stress has been reached. Every turn I take I'm watched by crewmates, laser focus on my every move. Blake does his best to settle the crew, keeping them at a distance while I work. It's a little relief but I appreciate it all the same. Though walking out of my room every night to someone lounging against the wall nearby brings everything to a head. I will live like this till I'm truly accused or murder by the actual killer.

Blake and I walk to my room, two crewmates following further behind. When we reach my door Blake shoos them away with a promise to watch over me tonight. The two grumble in agreement, marching off.

"Thanks," I mumble, walking into my room.

"hardly something that needs thanks," he grumbles as he follows me in.

We lounge in my bed, looking at my tablet a bit. It's when I'm left staring at the screen for a solid minute that Blake bumps my shoulder.

"You alright," he asks. I chew my cheek, not wanting to reveal the true levels of stress I'm living with.

"As alright as I can be," I shrug. I look back to my tablet, flipping through messages. Blake grabs the tablet from my hands, tossing it aside.

"You can talk to me," he turns on his side," I can't say I'll be much help but I can lend an ear." I turn to him, meeting his charming green eyes. He truly is handsome. I try to tell him that often, adoring the blush that gifts me every time. Though he has bags under his eyes and a rather rude disposition, I treasure his constant presence.

I sigh, closing my eyes," it's hard dealing with all this distrust. Like, I've worked around these people for months. We have joked and laughed together, taught one another. It's depressing."

Blake doesn't answer, making the words linger for a bit. Anxiety bubbles in my chest until I feel him shift closer. He grabs at my hips, turning me towards him. I open my eyes in time to see him lean up and press a kiss to my forehead.

"I'm sorry you have to deal with all this," he mumbles, laying back down against the pillow. Minimal relief floods my chest. He may not have a way with words but he nails the tenderness.

"it's ok, we will figure this out in the end," I reach up and pat his cheek. He turns and kisses my palm, his thumb petting at my hips as he does. I can't help myself, I lunge up to kiss him. He startles when my lips touch his, his fingers clenching my body a bit too tight. Despite his preparedness, he eagerly returns the gesture.

We have made out like a bunch of teenagers before but right now I need more. I crave more from him, greedy as it feels. I pull at his collar, leaning back while guiding him over me. He catches on, pressing his body over mine while sliding his tongue into my mouth. I mew in approval, gripping his shirt to bring him closer.

"Blake," I groan into his mouth. He stiffens, retreating a small distance. I meet his eyes, seeing his confliction. Reaching around I pet at his cheek, softening to his blight. "You alright," I ask," we don't have to do anything you don’t want."

He shakes from his stupor," No, it's just- no, we can keep going."

He falls back into the motions, kissing and licking my lips with more eagerness than before. His hips grind slowly into mine, pressing his hard-on into my crotch. We groan and grope, reaching under the other's shirt. I scratch at his chest while he slowly pets up to my chest.

Before he can touch at my bra I push him up. He goes, stiffening once more in worry. Instead of comforting him, I take off my shirt, tossing it aside with a teasing smile. His eyes dart towards my chest, gulping while his fingers curl near my waist.

Worried, I reach for him," You alright?". His answer is to drop his head and bury his face in my cleavage. "I'll take that as a yes," I laugh. He kisses and nibbles at my boobs, reaching around and unclasping my bra. Leaning back he throws the pesky clothing away, falling back to take a nipple into his mouth. His warm mouth and soothing tongue makes my back arch, pulling a groan from my mouth.

"you like this," he asks, nuzzling his cheek to my boob.

I pet his head," yea, but I think it's your turn now."

He sits up," my turn?"

"yep," I pop the p, fisting his shirt in my hand to give it a tug. He catches on, swiftly pulling off his shirt. I eagerly look him over, admiring his firm chest and light pooch of his stomach. I reach out and trace a finger down his chest towards his pants. Hooking my finger over the waistband I tug, throwing a cheeky eyebrow raised in question.

"You first," he asks, grabbing my waistband. I smile in answer, pulling my feet up as he tugs my jumpsuit bottoms down. After he tosses the bottoms away he swiftly removes my underwear, not paying them a bit of mind as he looks at my crotch with awe. In a trance, he falls to his stomach, tugs at my thighs, and dives in.

"Oh-oh damn," I say shocked at his hunger. His tongue danced over my clit, lapping up my slick with great vigor. I can't help but writhe under his assault, reaching down to grasp his head. I grind into his mouth, almost tormented by his tongue. He lathers my cunt in sweet, sweet attention. It's shocking how quickly he drives me out of my mind. I can hardly believe it.

His tongue soon circles at my entrance, exploring the space timidly. He then shoves his tongue inside me, giving the same vigorous attention. He thrusts and wriggles, bringing me closer and closer to a climax. As I lose myself in bliss I can faintly feel his tongue reach deeper, swelling in girth. I can't bring myself to care as I cry out, nearly ripping his hair from his head as I cum on his face. Choking on my cries of pleasure.

"Blake, oh- stop," I pant, lazily pressing against him. It takes a second for him to catch on, drinking from the new tap. He shoots off, lifting his head sharply.

"Sorry," he grins," was a… tasty experience." his eyes drop back to my crotch, drooling a bit as he gravitates towards me.

"no, no sir," I grab his arm and lift him back over me," I have a different craving than your tongue right now."

"Is that right," he chuckles, leaning in for a kiss.

"oh yeah, you think you can supply me with what I need," I cup his head, kissing him. He hums in answer, awkwardly kicking off his pants. I don't get a chance to say anything before he is resting at my entrance, his tip nudging excitedly. He leans back enough to meet my eyes, asking without words. I nod.

Not looking away he bucks forward, sheathing himself swiftly. We both cry out, startled at the pleasure. His head falls to my shoulder, panting hard. I come back to myself in the meantime, petting at his back. I can feel his body flex, his shoulder twitching and tightening. His chest feels like it swells as his labored breathing ghosts over my chest.

"you alright, dear," I ask, pressing my cheek against his.

"yea," he answers quickly," just- just need a second."

"Take your time," I hug him closer.

He needs longer than a second to reel himself in. slowly his body stops twitching and tightening. Timidly he arches his hips back, bucking forward with a relieved sigh. He repeats, arching back and bucking forward. His tempo is timid but nice. I let him go at his own speed.

Blake holds me snuggly as he slowly fucks me. His cock glides smoothly in and out, squelching lightly each time he goes all in. I find pleasure in his body, listening to his grunts and sighs. I echo him, panting against his shoulder. Though I have to fight against the urge to buck my hips.

"Blake," I sigh, question sitting on the end of my tongue. As I say his name his body stiffens again, his hips stuttering with restrained vigor. It's clear now why he is so apprehensive. I turn to his ear, whispering," let go."

He stops breathing for a moment, his hips freezing as well. Frustration grows in my limbs as I wish for him to keep moving. With a kiss to my cheek, I get what I wish.

Blake's hip draws back almost far enough for him to fall out, slamming forward in a body shaking thrust. I yelp, my nails biting into his shoulders. He draws back again and quickly fills the space he departed. His tempo ups to an amazing degree, plowing into me. Our hips clap as I cry out over his shoulder.

We cry out together, rising in pleasure till we are damn near breaking. I hold him tightly, clenching up as my second orgasm of the night washes over me. He chokes, grunting as he fights through my tightening channel.

Blake is still chasing his finish as I fall back onto the bed, closing my eyes as I ride out my high. I listen to his grunts, pleased above all else.

His hips finally stutter as he cries out. He pumps a few more times till he stills, flooding my insides as he cums. I hum in content. Before I can open my eyes to watch him I hear a loud wet crack. I snap my eyes open looking up to a horrid sight.

"Oh my god," I shake. Blake is perched above me, looking less like himself. His face is cracked down to his neck, his tongue long and extruding from the gap. Sharp teeth line the wet appendage, some teeth visible within the gash. In the darkness behind him, I see an even larger appendage writhing around in the air. Some drool drips off the tip of his tongue, splatting against my sternum. It's enough to shock me into action.

I kick at his thighs, getting his cock out of me while crawling up the bed. As my foot nudges roughly against his thigh he opens his eyes to see my terrified face. With another crack his face rights itself, the gash snapping shut. The appendage behind him slithers back from where ever it came from with a wet snap.

"No," he grabs at me," no, no, it's ok." his tightly clasps my shoulders, pulling me back under him. "It's ok, I won't hurt you," he says panicked. I wiggle in his hold, trying to getaway. I slap at his chest, kick at his legs. He stops this by pinning my body. As I sit tightly in his arms he drops his head to mine, "Please, I won't hurt you. I won't hurt you, you are safe." he rambles these words over and over till I lose my fight.

I fall lack, sighing," Blake?"

"yes, it's me. It's Blake," he tries to smile," I'm me, it's ok."

We both take a moment to calm down, though my heart doesn't catch the message. I manage to convince him to let me go, though it took a lot of promises. It took a moment to find our clothes, putting them on as a reason to put off talking. Soon I'm sitting on the bed and he sits across the room in a chair.

The silence is awkward.

"So," I start," you're not human."

He chuckles without amusement," that's one way to put it."

"Well," I fiddle with my fingers," What are you?"

He sighs," an alien is a good enough term." him actually saying it makes my head hurt. He is an alien, I had sex with an alien. Oh god, I had sex with an alien. I drop my head into my hands with a drawn-out groan.

"This is a mess," I grumble in my hands. It's the truth, where do you go from here. I shake my head in disbelief.

"I'm sorry," Blake says, his chair screeching as he stands," I wanted to tell you but it's hard to just bring that up. Then I thought I could control myself during…well, that."

I scoff," you didn't seem to have control there at the end." I can't help but laugh at that, finding minimal humor in all this.

"Yea," he chuckles," I did not." we laugh a bit together, having a bit of normalcy before we fade off. We sit in silence once more. My brain races as thoughts creep back in. something clicks as I look to him.

"You're the imposter," I startle back," you killed those people, oh my god." I scramble back away from him, hitting my back against the wall. He panics, walking over to me with raised hands.

"No, I didn't do that. Yea, I'm the imposter everyone is hunting but I'm not like the other one. I couldn't even get the guts to kill you, how can i-," he freezes, straightening with tense shoulders.

"What," I curl up," you- you tried to kill me?"

"No," he answers quickly," well, yes, but I couldn't do it. You were so nice and peppy, too lovely to kill."

"Too lovely to kill? So if I was mean then I would be one of the dead launched out the airlock," I scoff," why should that be so special? Were you just trying to get in my pants or something? How can you expect me to believe any of this, this is outrageous."

"Don't accuse me of something I never did. I like you, plain and simple. Sure, if situations were different then maybe we wouldn't be here but we are now. You humans always ask 'what if' but don't settle with what is happening now. I'm sorry for not telling you, that will stay with me for a long time, but it's out now. So all I can say now is that I will keep you safe and I will never hurt you."

His outburst lingers in the air for a bit. His promise is heartwarming. Looking at him now I can nearly feel his sincerity. It's easy to believe him, though doubt wishes to taint it. I watch him for a moment, trying to fight for my ire. It's a losing battle. I sigh, dropping my head as I know I will forgive him. God, I hope this won't go wrong.

Blake and I become closer than ever as the crew searches far and wide for the true murderer. Blake swears up and down he has barely a clue on who the other person is, just having a faint idea. He keeps his suspicions to himself though, telling me that I have a bad poker face. Which… is true.

One night closes to an end with Blake walking me back to my room. We pass by electrical, hearing a strange noise. Sneaking inside we catch a glimpse of someone jumping out of the vent below. Swiftly Blake grabs me and runs out the room, whispering to me that the imposter dwells within the room. We shuffle out, hiding around by storage as the footsteps echo closer.

"Got to play casual," Blake suggests.

"How do we do that," I silently yell. As the steps near Blake grabs my shoulders, forces me against a storage bin, and kisses me. I catch on quickly, cupping the back of his head and hiking a leg over his hip. We listen closely to the steps, ready for the confrontation.

"I believe you two have a room for this kind of thing," a man calls from behind Blake. I pretend to startle away from Blake, laughing as I look over his shoulder.

"Sorry Charlie," I giggle," we got a little sidetracked."

"Yea, sorry Charlie," Blake mumbles as he sets me down, keeping himself between Charlie and me.

"Eh, all's well. Just head back to your room, it's late," he smiles kindly.

We depart from him, nodding as we pass. Our rush to my room is tense, listening for anyone following until we reach the sanctuary of my room.

A body is found that same night, a meeting taking place early the next morning. As we sit at the table Blake and I share a look as Charlie asks the group if they have any suspicions. Blake speaks first.

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I wrote this strictly for the sex part. Everything else after that meant nothing to me. Also the guy taking control of the situation should always be sus. No one wants to be the leader in an Among us game unless they are the imp.

Didn’t like this one either, but i did have fun with the sex. cause i’m a thot.

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