#at least when it's at work people run the risk of getting fired if they don't do it

[neo-alpaca]

I violently hate group projects

[bunni-v1]

the latest post was real funny lmaoo, do u think u could also write abt the 2nd and 3rd years finding out the prefect is a girl? doesn't have to be immediate, take ur time <3

Second Years Find out You’re a Girl?!?!? (NOT CLICKBAIT) 

TW: Swearing; You have a smell (Ruggie); Floyd and Jade; Bunni can’t write Silver lol

Info: Ruggie, Jade, Floyd, Jamil, and Silver x Reader (Separate; Platonic/Romantic)

🍓Hiiii. Skip the intro if this isn’t ur first rodeo and buckle up cowboys (and cowgirls, and cowtheys, and cows). There is a notable lack of third years and dorm leaders because!!! They get their own part rip. I will (eventually) add links to the other parts, but I have a lot of homework to catch up on from being sick all week so it has to wait :). BTW it's long, but each part is pretty even. Love you all enjoyyyyy <3

First Years

Ortho & Sebek

Third Years

Dorm Leaders

-Okay so, I know we’re all wondering, how the hell do you get away with hiding your gender for so damn long?

-Firstly, those ceremonial robes do great at hiding the figure. The only tell would maybe be your hair, but feminine men aren’t unwelcome at Nightraven College, so you mostly get a few questioning stares and that’s it.

-Secondly, Crowley wants to save his own fucking ass. He already has to hide from the press that he has a MAGICLESS student from ANOTHER DIMENSION here, he doesn’t need the fact that you are a woman ALSO on his plate. So, obviously, he helps you hide your gender from others.

-Grim knows, of course, and he keeps his mouth shut for a few yummy cans of tuna (and threats of being expelled from Crowley <3)

-Even when you were just a janitor, he couldn’t have the rumor that he put a “helpless” young woman to work. (Like it wouldn’t be expected.)

-So how do you two do it?

-Baggy ass uniform. Crowley gave you at least three sizes too big.

-Your figure is completely hidden. Sure, you look completely homeless, but at least you’re hidden.

-For your voice, you simply deepen it. After some point, you blackmail Crowley into giving you a potion to help with it, since it's so taxing on your voice. (Or maybe your voice is naturally deep!)

-Sam provides you (for an unfairly pretty penny (not too different from your original world…)) any feminine hygiene products you might need.

-Honestly, you’re set for being cared for, but it’s the adjustment period that’s the hardest part. 

-Truly, it’s very jarring to suddenly be thrown into both a magical world and be isolated in a man's world with nowhere to hide.

-At least in your world you had other women who could understand your struggles. Here though? You’re completely alone.

-You notice how… messy some of these guys could be. How some of them smell… really rancid. -How rough they were with you and each other.

-Honestly, it’s kinda eye-opening. The way men show affection to each other is oddly refreshing to watch and experience!

-Ace and Deuce specifically are a good… trial run.

-That’s not what we’re here to talk about though…

-For the most part, it's incredibly easy to hide yourself for the first while on campus. Everyone on campus is so self-absorbed that they don’t bother questioning you.

-Your only real risk factor is Savannaclaw, but it's easy to avoid those guys (minus Jack, of course).

-However, you can only hide your gender for so long… It’s mentally draining to keep up this facade all the time around people you care about.

-So… how do they find out?

Ruggie

-Ruggie is… unique when compared to Jack. 

-The three beastmen in the cast are all oddballs in this case, but I feel Ruggie is the oddest.

-See, Ruggie finds out nearly immediately. I’m talking like… first day when you and Grim set the school on fire immediately.

-It’s my personal belief that he has the strongest nose between Leona, himself, and Jack so he doesn’t have to be close to smell that something is different about you.

-Now he wasn’t sure for sure. The smell of a person, especially humans, has a lot of factors playing in them. Plus the fact that you’re… not exactly a normal member of Twisted Wonderland’s Society.

-But he had a hunch. That hunch was only confirmed when he decided to steal your sandwich for Leona. 

-He got a nice big ol’ whiff of your smell, and he won’t lie and say it didn’t throw him off, for a second. He almost lost control of his spell on you.

-Luckily he didn’t, he got his sandwich and got away, but it left him with a lot to think about.

-(Bunni interjecting opinion here, my bad) See, Ruggie isn’t exactly afraid of the women in his cackle. They’re civilized people, after all, they’re not out there beating on every guy they see, but they are kind of intimidating.

-He was raised to respect and fear women by his granny, and he’s never really had anything that directly opposed that moral code impeded in him.

-That was until you started to get a little too involved in sniffing Leona and him out for injuring other students.

-Why couldn’t you keep that stupid little nose of yours where it belongs, huh? You’re making more trouble than it’s worth.

-Tries a ton of different ways to scare you off for your own good, but you are damn stubborn and Ruggie both hates and admires you for it.

-You figure he and Leona both know you’re a girl. Hell, Leona outright implies it every time he sees you (thank god your friends of choice are morons). 

-Ruggie though? He looks at you weirdly. You can’t be sure, but he’s a bit more cautious around you. Careful he doesn’t hurt you, but also sure to give you a spook or two when he needs.

-It’s all so odd.

-It’s not till Leona overblots that both of you get your closure. 

-Both you and Ruggie are left alone to recover after your friends leave and Leona’s family drags him away for forced bonding time.

-He can’t help but test the waters.

-“Yer weird y’know.”

“Gee, thanks. That’s how you talk to the guy who saved your life earlier.”

“Hey, that’s how I talk to everyone. Don’t matter if you saved my life or not.”

“Whatever. What's so weird about me then.”

“Why’re ya hidin’ who ya really are.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Yeah, ya do, yer the one who was insistent on that gym shirt that’s clearly three times yer size.”

“…

…..

…Fiiiiine. You got me.”

-He’s smug about it for the longest time too. Constantly cracking jokes and poking fun at you.

-Honestly, it's the start of a really cute friendship! 

-You two are far more chill and friendly after Leona’s overblot. So much so that Grim, Ace, and Deuce call it into question, but he won’t tell if you don’t.

-Besides, you need a good friend to hang around where you don’t have to constantly hide who you are all the time.

-He’s the chill presence that you need on campus, and he’ll keep his mouth shut with no problem. (So long as you keep providing him that sweet, free lunch).

Jade

-He doesn’t think you’re too good at keeping secrets.

-Unlike the beast men, he doesn’t have an amazing nose. In fact, Jade would say his smelling ability is rather lackluster compared to Floyd or Azul. 

-However, he has a crazy scary intuition.

-He doesn’t know right away, of course. He doesn’t have x-ray vision to see through your baggy uniform.

-What gives it away for Jade is your mannerisms. The way you react to different things your more… masculine peers do or say. The discomfort on your face with the more touchy-feely students on campus.

-To our lovely (bastard) Jade, it's all a dead giveaway. He knows by the start of book three when you first make your deal with Azul.

-It’s like he’s looking through you in that crowded little office. His gaze and placid smile pierced through your skin.

-He won’t say anything to anyone though. What fun would that be? 

-To him, it's quite funny seeing how unaware both he and your friends are of the truth.

-He gives you the chills every time he’s around you, but he’s not giving you any reason to believe he knows anything more than what you’ve told him.

-He uses the correct pronouns and treats you as he would anyone else. The only thing is that he’s got this knowing glimmer in his eyes.

-It scares you. Not in the ‘oh god he’s gonna do something to me,’ way, but in the ‘Oh god he’s looking at me again, why is he looking at me again’ kinda way.

-He really does not give you an inkling of an idea that he knows. Just stares at you, smiling like a creepy doll.

-Eventually though, at some point after Azul’s overblot, he corners you (quite literally).

-You honestly think he’s about to kill you, he’s very tall and his face doesn’t change as he leans down to whisper in your ear.

-“Your secret is safe with me.”

-And he walks away.

-What. The. Fuck. Honestly, the scariest thing he could’ve done. Scarier than anything Floyd could ever do honestly.

-To his credit though, your secret is safe with him! Floyd and Azul find out completely on their own, and in fact act surprised when you ask if Jade was the one who told them.

-And honestly, if you can ignore how scary his smile is, he’s always lovely to talk to when you’re in his serving section at the lounge.

-He’s actually the one who convinced Azul to give you a part-time gig when you tell him about your… difficulties affording Sam’s prices.

-Makes sure that your uniform fits the way that makes you most comfortable, and keeps the more rowdy customers AND servers (including Floyd) away from you.

-Very kind! Very weird! 

-When you ask him why, he just tells you, “What’s the fun in letting our little secret get out.”

-Creepy! But at least you’re sort of safe around him.

Floyd

-Now, I am aware that Floyd is a very smart person. As smart as both Jade and Azul, in fact.

-However, homie has ADHD like crazy, and if something doesn’t have his attention he is not learning anything about it.

-Therefore, when it comes to you being female, it takes him a little longer than Jade and Azul to figure it out.

-You don’t really pique his interest for a while. Sure, you’re from a different dimension and all, and you’re a magicless student at one of the most prestigious magic schools ever, and you defeated two of the strongest students at NRC’s overblots.

-So what! Who cares! Certainly not Floyd!.

-You don’t interest him, plain and simple. He finds you kinda boring beyond all that “superficial” stuff out of your control.

-That is honestly for the best, you think, You sort of have Jade’s attention already, and that’s scary enough for you.

-You’ve heard the terrifying tales of what Floyd does to Riddle, you’d rather not be an object of his “affections.”

-It’s not until he’s forced to pay attention to you that he gets… interested. (Yayy for you!)

-It’s not immediate, of course. 

-He thinks you signing the contract with Azul so confidently is really funny. 

-Your determination to pretend you’re not scared of him and Jade is kinda cute, sure.

-When he realizes you’ve caught Jade’s eye he really starts to wonder about you.

-What is so interesting about you that Jade, his brother who only ever really liked peculiar people, has been keeping an eye on you like you’re his prey or something?

It really makes him think, but he doesn’t get it. Seriously. What's so different about you.

-Realizes what’s up when your baggy uniform manages to hug just the right place just long enough that he notices in the heat of battle.

-He gets it now, Jade. How silly you are, little shrimpy, hiding something like that from everyone.

-Suddenly, after Azul recovers from his overblot, Floyd is really friendly with you. 

-Not even in the creepy, stalker-ish way that a lot of people like to portray him as. (Though he does, in fact, do a lot of creepy stalker-ish things. It’s in his blood, he’s an underwater predator after all.)

-It’s more like a really, overly excited, not well-trained puppy who just wants attention from its (new) favorite person.

-And, you have to admit, he can be pretty pleasant to be around when he’s in a good mood! He’s funny, easy to talk to, and always has something fun he wants to do.

-It’s annoying to him that everyone gets in the way of him talking to you, though. He’s not gonna hurt you or anything, just wants to give you a squeeze is all.

Jamil

-Jamil has literally no reason to interact with you, ever.

-He, quite honestly, tries to avoid you at all costs.

-Trouble seems to follow you everywhere you go, and with Kalim always trailing him like a puppy, it’s not a mixture he wants to deal with.

-So, Jamil doesn’t know. Nor does he care to know at all. He doesn’t want to know anything about you.

-Alas, you both attend NRC. Nothing goes well at NRC.

-So, you bump into him in the kitchen during winter break. 

-If he’s completely honest, you are incredibly nice and easy to be around. Smarter than he’d thought too, seems that your bad luck only comes from your goodness of heart.

-It couldn’t hurt to let you eat with the rest of the dorm just this once… could it.

-It could. It very much could.

-It’s in his nature to be observant. He easily picks up on people's mannerisms and tells them so he can adjust to them as quickly as possible.

-Your mannerisms, however, are particularly different from every other guy on campus. 

-You act more like you belong in Pomefiore in a lot of ways, and you tend to flinch at the slightest bit of contact.

-You keep your distance, wear baggy clothes, and your voice sometimes sounds really strained.

-All of these things are odd, but… everyone at NRC is a little weird. He’s a little weird.

-So what. He writes it off and moves on.

-That is until he has to give you the Scarabia uniform after pointedly deciding to kidnap you for a while.

-Your very visible discomfort at the idea of having to wear the new clothes, which he picked specifically to be closer to your actual size, was quite a big giveaway for him.

-He simply smiles and hums and goes to fetch you something a little bigger, for your comfort. He’s not a monster after all! He wouldn’t want a young lady to be uncomfortable around him.

-Keeps it to himself, like a little prize. He was the only one who knew, and he wanted to keep it that way for a while without letting you know.

-It was for no reason other than to fuel that ever-growing ego in his chest.

-However, he gets a little annoyed when Kalim asks him if he thinks you’re a girl or not. He also gets very annoyed when you outwit him and fly to Octanivelle for help.

-Then he finds out that not only did Kalim manage to figure it out on his own, but Jade, Floyd, and Azul have known for ages now.

-It’s just a fun little bonus stressor that adds to his ultimate overblot.

-The overblot in which he exposes your secret to the whole of Scarabia. The overblot where he is just a little too creepy for you to be okay with him for a while.

-Needless to say, you do not have a good relationship with Jamil after all of that.

-He does, however, apologize properly for what he did during his overblot during the music training camp arc.

-You two never really fix things, but you become amicable enough. 

Jamil doesn’t really care enough to try and out you to the rest of NRC, but he does owe you a semblance of kindness thanks to what he put you through.

-So he makes sure Scarabia students and Kalim don’t go yapping to everyone after school starts up again.

🍓I have to be fully honest before I write this, I don’t… know how to write silver. I’m not up to date with chapter seven, and he hardly has any in-game content, so I’m sorry if I got him wrong. I’m trying my best to learn the Diasomania characters, but I don’t have the time to sit down and read ALL of chapter seven. (I do, however, have the time to get about 30 hrs a week on Mercy overwatch so maybe I should get my priorities straight…)🍓

Silver

-Silver is one of the last people to find out on campus.

-Not only do you never hang out with the Diasomnia students (other than Malleus), but you and Silver have absolutely nothing to talk about.

-He’s always in a weird sleep-fueled daze, and he’s super quiet and stern. He’s not exactly an easy guy to talk to, but he is nice when you do talk to him.

-The greatest extent to which you’ve interacted with him is through Lilia, and you hardly interact with Lilia outside of Malleus.

-So yeah… Silver doesn’t really have a chance to find out on his own.

-Besides, even if he did suspect something, he’s too upstanding and nice to bother asking you about it.

-Like Jack, he would just assume you were trans, or you’d tell him if you wanted to tell him. 

-Besides, gender isn’t all that big of a concern at NRC, let alone for someone who was raised by a pretty open-minded guy like Lilia.

-So, really, Silver has no reason to suspect or ask anything at all.

-However… he does… overhear Lilia talking about something like that with Malleus.

-More specifically, Lilia scolded Malleus and made him promise not to say anything to anyone else. (Silver wonders who he might’ve spilled to…)

-It’s not like it’s his business. You two aren’t super duper close or anything. He’s a royal guard anyway, he can keep his mouth shut. Besides, he could’ve just misheard the conversation.

-.

-..

-…

-….He’s kinda curious though. Damn his human nature, he just wants to know that’s all.

-So, he asks you outright one day.

-“Are you a girl?”

“…No hello?”

-He doesn’t get why you’d hide something like that. Women are strong, what’s the point in hiding that you’re a woman.

-You explain it to him, and suddenly he’s much more sympathetic.

-Offers to protect you if you ever need it out of the goodness of his heart. (What a sweetie)

-Otherwise, he doesn’t change all that much, maybe waves at you in the halls now, but he’s not going out of his way to talk to you unless you want him to.

-He’s another good guy <3

[steddieas-shegoes]

cw: implied domestic abuse (zero detail is given)

Eddie was late for school at least once a week. It wasn’t a problem of getting up and getting ready on time, his mom made sure he was moving.

He could hear the way the new neighbors fought sometimes, saw the way the older boy would rush into his vehicle and practically fly out of the park. He’d watch as the younger girl, Red, would follow soon after, backpack slung over her shoulder and feet kicking rocks as she walked to the main road to catch the bus.

He didn’t stop her the first time it happened. To be honest, she looked furious and he didn’t exactly want to be torn to pieces by a girl at least 5 years younger than him.

But the second time, he swore he saw a few tears on her face and he couldn’t not at least try.

When she didn’t immediately murder him, he decided it was probably safe to offer a ride to school. Surprisingly, she agreed.

And this continued for months.

Annie Munson would get a call from the school every couple of times and try to explain, but any Munson excuse was not an excuse they cared to hear.

She didn’t say anything to Eddie about it; didn’t want him to feel like he was doing anything wrong by being kind to someone who needed all the kindness they could get. She saw the way Mrs. Mayfield seemed to stay curled into herself even when he wasn’t around. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on.

But eventually, the school threatened to call child protective services, and Annie couldn’t let Eddie deal with that. He’d already had enough of that before they moved in with Wayne.

So she pulled him aside the night of that call and hugged him hard, told him she loved him for his big heart, his caring soul, but he had to figure out how to not be late to school.

He could read between the lines easily enough.

Max started showing up at their door 15 minutes earlier every morning, not quite smiling, but not looking quite as angry. Annie welcomed her in as she finished packing her lunch for work, didn’t really try to talk to her much. She left that to Eddie, who always came down the short hallway with a beaming smile and a “Hey Red! Long time no see!” or a “You’re looking slightly less murderous this morning, did you already sacrifice something to Satan? Without me?”

Max always tried to hide a smile, but Annie caught it.

Eddie had that energy that made everyone feel just a hint of sun on a cloudy day.

It continued well into Max’s freshman year. Especially after her step brother died in a tragic mall fire and her step dad booked it out of town, she needed someone.

At school, they pretended not to know each other. Eddie explained it was easier on Max that way, and she had other friends, or so she said. He never really saw her hanging out with them, but he just assumed they had different schedules.

Annie saw through it. She was pretty sure Eddie saw through it. Neither of them risked her running for the hills, though.

- - - -

After the earthquake, Annie spent as much time with Eddie and Max as she could. Max’s mom seemed distant, like she couldn’t process any of what happened. Max deserved better than that, so Annie did her best.

It was easy to forget how young she was when she spoke. The boy who sat by her side nearly 24/7, Lucas, explained that she had to fend for herself since she was pretty young, as if she still wasn’t pretty young.

As soon as Eddie was able to leave his bed, he asked to be wheeled over to Max’s room.

“Gotta make sure she didn’t perform any satanic rituals without me,” he joked, though it fell flat when it hit him that most people still thought he actually performed satanic rituals.

Annie had to get home and make dinner for her and Wayne, so the Harrington boy volunteered to take him.

Annie was perceptive enough to see why the Harrington boy, Steve, was around nearly every day. She was also perceptive enough to see the way Eddie blushed when Steve wrapped his arm around his waist to help him into the wheelchair. She’d ask him about it later.

She did at least walk with them to the elevator, listened to their quiet conversation about Max being half blind and her arms being in casts.

The next day, she visited Eddie as usual before work, brought him a hot coffee. He was still asleep, his hand stretched out towards a sleeping Steve. Steve’s fingers were just barely touching Eddie’s, like they’d maybe been holding hands at some point until someone shifted in their sleep.

She set the coffee down on the table by his bed and scratched a note on the pad he’d been using for campaign notes.

Maybe they could bring Steve a cot if he’s gonna be a permanent fixture in your room. Love, mama

She folded it in half and set the coffee cup on top of it so hopefully only Eddie would see.

But if Steve saw it, maybe that would be okay.

- - - -

When Max got out of the hospital, Eddie was waiting for her in his van, only just released from police custody a few days before.

She shook her head.

“I may actually have to do a satanic ritual to get into that thing. I thought Steve was getting me in his car?”

The nurses scoffed at her words, but Eddie ignored her.

“Steve had to take Robin to the school for volunteering. And I brought Lucas to help,” he gestured behind him to where Lucas was hesitantly standing by the passenger door. “Between the two of us, we can get you in and out. No satanic ritual required. This time.”

He winked at the nurse, just to be a shit.

“Annie said she’d bring me cake when I got home,” Max said as they maneuvered her into the passenger seat and waved the nurse away.

“She’s at home baking it as we speak, Red.”

“Oh.” She said it like she actually didn’t believe it would happen. Maybe she didn’t. “Cool. I guess.”

Eddie smirked. “When my mama says she’ll do something, she does it. And if she can’t, she’ll do the next best thing. Never doubt her.”

“Yeah, but I’m not her kid.”

“Neither is Lucas, but she packed him lunches everyday for the last two weeks when she realized he wasn’t leaving your room to get something. Neither is Steve, but she makes his favorite for dinner once a week. Neither is Dustin, but she held him until his mom could get to the hospital when they were trying to set his ankle. If she cares about you, she does it.”

Max nodded. “I guess that’s a nice thing to have.”

“Yeah. And you have it now. So don’t push her away. Or any of us. Got it?”

Max snorted. “I haven’t had a moment alone in over a month. It’s not like I can get rid of any of you.”

“Exactly. Glad we’re on the same page!”

She turned to Lucas the best she could and glared. “You’re taking me to the movies as soon as these casts are off.”

“Yeah! Okay, yep!” He agreed quickly.

Eddie snorted. “Jesus Christ. You two are ridiculous.”

“Whatever,” they said in unison.

- - - -

When everyone was able to go back to school, Eddie drove them all.

He had a diploma, so he didn’t have to worry about being late, but he still woke up early enough to pick them all up and drop them off.

Max was always the last one out of the van.

“No satanic rituals without me,” Eddie would tell her.

“Not until Saturday!” Max would answer him.

[penny00dreadful]

And They Were Roommates! - Part 2

Part 1 Part 3 AO3

Eddie had called out of work the next day. Steve could hear him making his apologies to Mrs. Henderson who'd taken over the running of the shop when her husband passed.

Steve knew she'd probably tell him to stay home for the rest of the week, probably longer if she could get away with it, but Eddie loved every second he spent working there. Adored Dustin. Adored the other kids, Steve's kids, who used the back room for their dice game after closing on Thursday evenings.

Eddie would have to be beaten away from the premises with a bat. A bat with nails.

Steve might just have to give it a try if the idiot refused to rest properly.

He wasn't mothering him.

He was like… distant cousining him.

When he heard Eddie retreat back to his room after the call and when a light rumbling of snores came through the wall maybe a half an hour later, Steve finally made his exit from his room.

He hadn’t wanted Eddie to think he needed to put on a brave face or act like he was okay if Steve was out in the public spaces while he made the call. 

Not because he cared.

Just so Eddie wouldn’t have to pretend.

And so he himself didn’t have to deal with the tension.

Yeah, right.

Also, it was the least he could do to complete Eddie's designated chores off the whiteboard that there had been war over. 

Robin and Eddie’s friend Chrissy had been forced to come in and mediate the whiteboard before one of them set the other's hair on fire. Though by the end of the day the two best friends had been too busy making eyes at each other to be of any help.

Steve was taking a risk; messing with the delicate whiteboard balance that stayed the same, week in, week out, lest another war start. But if Eddie wasn’t up for going to work, he certainly wouldn’t be up for sweeping, mopping, countertops and garbage.

And like, Steve could hardly blame him, he’d been through a lot yesterday, he’d been betrayed by the guy he’d cared most about. He was attacked and had his heart broken all in one night.

So it was whatever.

Just a few chores. 

Whatever.

At least he didn’t have to worry about keeping the noise down. Eddie could sleep through the apartment being ripped up by a cyclone then dropped into Oz.

He’d probably sleep through any and all musical numbers to follow, too.

Though he’d be bummed about missing them.

A few hours had passed by that point and Steve was just about to sit his lovely bottom on the couch to enjoy some good old fashioned thoughtless tv when there was a knock at the door.

He half expected Mrs. Henderson to be on the other side with half a hospital in tow behind her as well as, like, fifteen gallons of her famous chicken noodle soup. Which Steve would not turn down for love nor money and would steal a minimum 50% share.

As was his right.

But it wasn’t Claudia.

It was some guy. 

Some guy who had a bandage over his nose, a harsh purple colour blooming underneath, sitting a little off as though broken. Some guy who had cuts and scratch marks all over his face and neck.

Some guy who seemed to be affronted at the very sight of him.

But as he stood there Steve could see the clogged up gears working in his brain before the guy opened his mouth and said "You're Steve, the roommate."

Steve pursed his lips. 

Well, this interaction was off to a great start. 

Though if this was who Steve thought he was, he couldn’t give less of a fuck.

"I'm Steve. Eddie's the roommate.” He said with a raised eyebrow. “What was with the look?"

The guy blinked at him. "What look?"

"The look you gave me, when I opened the door. Like I'd shit on your shoe." He answered with a cocked eyebrow and a cocked hip.

"Oh, uh… I just thought Eddie had shacked up with someone already.” The guy laughed. “Bit soon.” He shrugged and smiled at Steve as though looking for some kind of commiseration for a good joke, two men giving each other nudges about how silly their wives were or whatever other shit straight people did.

But Steve had no commiseration to give.

So this was definitely the shithead, then. Rick.

Steve leaned against the doorframe, practically acting like a barricade, blocking off access to the apartment with his arms crossed. "Don’t like the idea of him having someone at home?” He asked in a light tone. “Bit hypocritical if you ask me.”

Rick’s face immediately soured. "That wasn't his business to tell."

“I think you lose the privilege to that kind of privacy when you fuck around on people you’re supposed to love.” Steve shrugged. “Or just people in general.”

“Who the hell are you to judge me?” Rick puffed his chest out. “You don’t know me.”

“And thank god for that. I don’t need to know you. I know you’re a cheater, that’s enough.”

Rick scoffed. “Whatever, man. I’m not here to debate morality or some shit with you. I’m here to see Eddie.”

“No.” Steve answered as simply as he could. 

The guy seemed to need things to be concise.

Rick looked bewildered. “Ex- excuse me?”

“You got cotton in your ears or something? I said no.”

“Who the fuck do you think you are? His keeper? You know he hates you right?”

Steve pulled his mouth down into a mocking pout. “Oh no.” He sighed, deadpan. “I’m so heartbroken.”

“Listen, I’m not getting into it with you right now, man. So call Eddie out or move.”

“Or what?” Steve leaned forward a little, feeling his blood light on fire. 

There would be nothing more he’d love at this moment than Rick trying to square up to fight. 

The guy was a little taller than him, but Steve was much broader, much stronger and though it wasn’t something he liked to do, he knew he could throw a decent punch if it was for someone else.

That much was obvious. 

Thinking back on the things Eddie had said last night, the things Rick had tried, the way he’d cried into Steve’s shoulder, Steve would break Rick’s nose all over again if given half a chance.

“Steve.”

Eddie appeared next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and pulling him away from the door.

Rick looked between the two of them before his eyes landed back on Steve, snapping at him “You can fuck off now.”

Steve raised his eyebrows as if to say ‘oh, can I?’, but even so, he looked at Eddie, waiting for some sign of what he wanted, whether he wanted him to stay or go.

But Eddie gave no indication of what he wanted, wedging himself in between the two and pulling the door tighter to himself, his expression thunderous through the blooming bruises and angry cuts.

“The fuck are you doing here?”

Steve took that as his cue to go. Even through all the bluster and posturing and how much the two of them still didn’t like each other-

We barely tolerate each other, Steve insisted to himself, we don’t like each other. I don’t like him.

-he wasn’t going to force himself into this drama and if Eddie needed to tear this guy to shreds on his own, Steve would let him.

But he had barely taken a step back before Eddie’s hand shot out, grasping at what he could until he had a fistful of Steve’s shirt, white knuckling it and stopping him in his tracks.

The movement was hidden by the door, Rick wouldn’t have been able to see it and Eddie didn’t acknowledge that he’d done anything, still staring his ex down.

Steve stopped dead where he was and when Eddie seemed to realise that he wouldn’t be moving, his hand loosened, coming back up to rest against the door.

“I’m here to sort things out between us. Try to fix it.” Rick said, his voice going soft.

Eddie exhaled a derisive laugh through his nose. “Why don’t you go and ‘fix’ your wife?”

Steve crossed his arms, standing guard in the back but still mostly out of sight.

“C’mon babe…” Rick reached out, attempting to grasp at Eddie’s fingers but Eddie snatched his hand back. “I think you’re just… making a big deal out of this when you don’t need to.”

“A big deal?” Eddie snapped, leaning forward. “Not only have you been cheating on your wife but you’ve been cheating on me too.”

“You?” Rick sputtered, incredulous.

He exhaled with an eye roll and only then noticed that Steve was still standing there.

“Are you serious?” Rick almost shrieked. “What the hell are you still here for? Show’s over, normie!” He waved his hand in Steve’s direction as though dismissing him.

Steve raised his eyebrows and smiled back, not moving an inch.

Rick looked back to Eddie. “Are you not going to do anything about him? We’re in the middle-”

“Oh my god.” Steve injected as much sarcasm as he could. “Is this a private conversation? I had no idea.”

Rick’s face was turning red with frustration. “You got a real attitude problem, man.”

Steve turned his mouth down in a pout. “Oh no.”

“That’s it.” Rick slammed against the door all of a sudden, wrenching it from Eddie’s grip and almost blowing it open if it wasn’t for Steve’s hands stopping it in its tracks.

The sudden stop jostled Rick, sending him slightly off balance and Eddie took the opportunity to kick out hard, swinging his leg up until it landed in between Rick’s legs. 

Eddie retracted his foot for just a second as Rick crumpled with a scream of pain before kicking out again, catching him in the hip and shoving him back into the hallway, sending him sprawling.

“Lose my fucking number, asshole.” 

Eddie spat down at Rick before turning back inside and slamming the door behind him.

His eyes were still narrowed and furious as he glared at Steve who could do nothing but stand there.

The sound of Rick’s groans were still echoing beyond the door as the two of them looked at each other.

The silence stretched on as Eddie heaved heavy breaths in and out and Steve stared dumbfounded.

There was a glossy sheen to Eddie’s eyes by the time Steve opened his mouth, not sure of what he was going to say.

But it didn’t matter.

Eddie stormed past him without a backwards glance, his hair just disappearing behind the door before he slammed it closed and the wailing of a guitar and the crashing of drums started to scream out of the speakers in his room.

He didn’t see Eddie for the rest of the day. Didn’t knock on his door to try to pull him out and didn’t try to get him to talk.

Steve was only just waking up the day after when he heard Eddie’s bedroom door open and shuffling coming down the hall towards the phone.

He twiddled his thumbs, waiting in his room while he heard Eddie’s muttered conversation. 

He didn’t want to interrupt, didn’t want to have to force his presence on Eddie before it was necessary but he really had to pee and he’d have to walk past the phone to get to the bathroom.

Thankfully the conversation didn’t last long but then Eddie shuffled away from his own room towards the bathroom and Steve had to take some very deep breaths.

He couldn’t really be mad at him for it, the guy hadn’t come out of his room at all yesterday after the confrontation, he deserved to pee but Steve felt like his kidneys were gonna start failing at any second.

When he heard Eddie shuffle back into his room Steve nearly cracked the wall with how hard he threw the door open, rushing down the hallway and into the bathroom before he exploded.

Eddie hadn’t made another appearance by the time Steve was grabbing his keys for work and as much as it irritated him, he was feeling a little wary about leaving him all alone for most of the day.

Turned out he didn’t really need to worry about it.

Just as he had turned back towards Eddie’s room, there was a knock on the front door.

He swung it open to find bouncing blonde curls and a bright perky smile.

“Hi Steve.”

“Oh, hey Chrissy.” He stepped aside, allowing her to sweep inside. Her sweater was very unusual. Dark blue and baggy and tucked into her light wash jeans. Steve could have sworn he’d seen it before. There was a large plastic bag in her hand that a glance inside told him was filled with every tooth rottingly sweet thing she could have scooped off the shelves at their local store.

She placed the bag on the kitchen counter with a light clink of glass against glass coming from inside.

Maybe it was also a day-drunk type of visit.

“How is he?” Chrissy asked, blinking up at him with her big earnest eyes.

“I’m… not sure?” Steve shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck a little embarrassed. “I haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

She nodded. “Okay. That’s okay.”

“I think I’m probably going to call over to Robin’s after work.” He muttered, trying to keep his burning blush down. “Hang out for a little bit.”

He didn’t think he needed to say he was doing it to give Chrissy and Eddie their space, to do their ice-cream and chocolate and alcohol and talk about how terrible men were without him hovering. But thankfully she got it, smiling at him so bright it almost hurt to look at.

“Could you…?” She hesitated, pulling the sleeves of her sweater over her fingers. “Could you ask Robin- never mind.”

Steve opened his mouth to assure her it was okay to continue but she barrelled on.

“The boys are coming over later too. Is that okay?”

“The boys?” Did she mean the kids?

“From the band.”

“Oh! Yeah I mean why wouldn’t that be okay? Eddie lives here too.”

“Yeah. I just wanted to check in case-”

“In case I complained about it later?” He tried to ask in his kindest tone. Maybe he’d been guilty of bitching about them in the past but he would never deny Eddie his support system, not at s time like this.

Even if he did… dislike him?

Did he still dislike him?

What was he talking about, of course he did.

“I’m sorry.” Chrissy looked incredibly guilty and Steve couldn’t stand it.

“No, you were right to ask. I haven’t- I’ve been a bit rude in the past.”

She looked like she wanted to apologise again so he shot her a warm smile and patted her on the shoulder. “I have to get to work, but take care of him, yeah?”

She gave him a curious look but nodded, sending him out the door with a wave of her hand, her sleeve following loosely where it was still pulled over her fingers.

Steve was halfway through his shift by the time Robin came in. She worked shorter hours ever since she’d taken that part time internship as a translator.

They’d just gotten past their mid-day coffee rush by the time they had a chance to talk.

“Are you doing anything after this?” He asked her, leaning back against the counter.

“Is this your way of asking me out?” Robin was rifling through the under counter refrigerator next to him, throwing out any old stock that had gone out of date.

“Yes.” Steve nodded. “I’ve been hopelessly in love with you for years and I thought now was the best time to confess.”

“You could have picked a more romantic location.” She sniffed at a container of strawberries, considering before shaking her head and dumping them.

“But my heart told me it had to be now, Birdie.”

Robin just rolled her eyes at him.

“So?” He nudged her with his foot, very nearly sending her off balance. “You, me, two of the best subs this city has and your couch. It’s my best offer.”

She shut the refrigerator door, pushing herself to stand, using the counter for balance. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Steve absentmindedly snapped his fingers at her, remembering.

“Oh! You have a date tonight, right?” 

“I did have a date tonight but sh- he cancelled.”

“He cancelled, did he?” Steve smirked, trying not to enjoy the poorly masked revulsion on Robin’s face at having to pretend to be dating a man.

“Yes. He did. Rain check for another time.”

“Bummer.” 

Robin hadn’t told him much about the girl she was seeing and Steve hadn’t pushed for any more information than she was willing to give. When she wanted him to know, he’d know.

“But-” he continued “-that leaves your schedule wide open for a date with me.” He spread his arms wide open and smiled at her.

“Well, aren't I just the luckiest girl in the world?” She batted her eyelashes at him.

“The luckiest. Any reason for the rain check?”

Robin nodded. “Friend emergency.”

“Oh. That’s sweet.”

“Yeah.” She smiled. “He’s a very sweet…” her nose scrunched up, “boy.”

“Very sweet boy.” He repeated with a smile. “So can I steal your keys? Have everything all spread out for you when you get home?” He dragged his hand down his chest, wiggling his hips.

“God, Steven.” Robin shuddered. “You’re repulsive.”

“Wrong. I am a dish.”

“Ugh. Gag.”

Steve pouted at her. “I’ll get you a milkshake too, how about that?”

She crossed her arms and stuck her nose up. “Fine.”

She could only hold for so long before she started to break, cracking a smile.

“If you two don’t mind,” a voice next to them said and they both jumped, seeing Mark their manager standing there, “could you stop flirting and get back to work?”

Neither of them even bothered arguing that they were not flirting anymore. They both knew the rest of the staff had a betting pool going on when they would get together.

They would be waiting a very long time.

By the time Robin got home, Steve had himself swaddled in her blankets and had stolen her best hot water bottle.

Why did she live somewhere so cold?

His toasty warmth didn’t last very long, however. 

She wrestled the hot water bottle from his grip by resorting to dirty tactics, pulling at his hair until he let it go. 

“How many times have I told you the hair is off limits?” He hissed at her, trying to fix it. His hair was his fucking signature, how could she be so rude?

“That is exactly why I go for it every time. It’s your weak spot.” She grinned, smug in her win and attempting to pull the throw off of him as well.

“Go get one of my sweaters if you’re gonna be such a big bitch baby about it. I just got off work.” She pouted, batting her eyelashes at him. “I’m tired.”

“I brought you subs and milkshakes!”

Robin heaved out a heavy, put upon sigh. “Fine.” She heaved herself up from the couch, still clutching at the hot water bottle and disappeared inside her room.

Steve took the opportunity to swaddle himself again, just getting cosy when he heard Robin call out, “Evie, did you steal my sweater?”

“Which one?” He shouted back. He probably had five or more of hers at home and he wasn’t even sure if all of those had started out as hers or his.

“The blue one!”

“Which blue one?”

“The new blue one!”

“What does it look like?”

“What do you think it looks like, it’s fucking blue!”

Steve rolled his eyes and tried to remember any blue sweaters that existed within his own apartment. 

“I’m pretty sure I don’t have it. I don’t even remember you getting a new blue sweater.”

“Well where the hell is it then?”

“How am I supposed to know? I didn’t even know it existed!”

“You’re supposed to know these things!”

“Maybe the sweater fairy stole it.” He snickered to himself until a dark red sweater that had definitely belonged to him first hit him in the face.

“You are the sweater fairy.” She pouted, sitting back down and stealing the throw from his lap.

“Don’t hate crime me. It’s rude.” He tugged the throw back over his legs, leaving her enough slack to cover herself as well.

Robin reached over to snatch her sub from the coffee table. “So.”

“So.”

“Something’s going on with Eddie.”

“What?” Steve ran through the entire day in his head. He didn’t think he’d mentioned Eddie once. “When did I say there was something going on with Eddie?”

“You didn’t.” Robin’s mouth went slack in the way it usually did whenever she was hiding something but she covered it up with a large bite, speaking through a full mouth. “But you’re here and not at home so…”

“That’s not that unusual.”

“No, but what is unusual is that you asked if you could steal my keys instead of just taking them.”

“Oh.” Yeah. That was not the norm. “Um, well it’s not really my place to say-”

“Who am I going to tell?”

“That’s besides the point.”

“Tell me.” She jabbed him with a sharp elbow.

“I don’t know if I can.” He said, running his hand through his hair.

“I mean, nothing too personal, if you don’t wanna.” She backtracked with a shrug.

“Doesn’t matter what I want. The thing is it’s not my business, it’s Eddie’s.” He shrugged. “But there was some… relationship drama the other night.”

“Ooh. Juicy drama?”

Steve winced. “Not exactly. More like… red flag drama.”

“Oh shit. Chr- I didn’t know that.”

Steve looked at her, bewildered. “I wouldn’t expect you to, how would you know?”

Robin just shrugged, shoving another large bite into her mouth. 

“I don’t really… I’m not comfortable talking about the things Eddie and I talked about but I do need you to help me… figure myself out.”

“Okay, that I can do. I’m an expert at it. I helped you find your sexuality.”

“Find it? It wasn’t fucking lost Birdie.”

“Yeah, but I brought it out into the sunlight.”

“Jesus, you’re acting like you released it from captivity. I knew. I’ve always known. Just because you didn’t know that I know, doesn’t mean I didn’t know.”

She shoved his arm. “I unlocked it.”

He shoved her back. “You didn’t unlock shit.”

She shoved him again. “I unlocked it. You’re welcome.” 

He gave her a final shove with a huff to go right along with it. “Whatever.”

“Okay, no more side tracking. Tell me your scrambly brain thoughts.”

“Alright. Um. Okay. So.” Shit. How much could he tell her without either breaking Eddie’s trust or revealing too much. “So there was drama the other night, between Eddie and the boyfriend, you know that much. I won’t say what happened but he didn’t get home until like four in the morning and he called out of work yesterday and today-”

“He called out?!” Robin shrieked, open mouthed. She’d lived with Eddie long enough and been through enough of Steve’s bitching to know just how much Eddie loved that job.

Steve nodded. “Yeah. It was… it wasn’t good, Birdie, what happened. It was actually really fucking fucked up.”

She nodded, encouraging him to continue.

“So then yesterday he’s trying to sleep it off pretty much and there’s a knock at the door.”

“Oh no.”

“Yeah and I go get it because I had assumed it would be Mrs. Henderson with some chicken noodle soup and you know I’d kill my own mother for some of that soup-”

“-I’d kill your mother for some too, yes.”

“-yeah. But it wasn’t Mrs. Henderson, it was Rick, the boyfriend. Or ex-boyfriend, I don’t know and he was trying to like, bully his way into the apartment to see Eddie and I don’t know what happened with me but-”

“-you went full guard dog protector mode didn’t you?”

“I…” Steve sighed, looking down at his hands. “Yeah, I did. Why did I do that? It’s none of my business. I don’t even like the guy. Why would I care?”

“Because you always care, Evie. You saw someone who needed help and you helped, it’s what you do.”

Steve scoffed. “Hardly. It’s not like I’m some fucking selfless hero for doing it.”

“Nah, you kinda are.”

“It was just some guy!”

“And you’re just some guy too!”

Steve glared at her, offended. “You take that back.”

Robin looked at him for a moment. “Okay, fair, retracted.”

He gave her a small grin and dragged the sleeves of the sweater over his fingers.

“Hey! Stop, you’ll stretch it!”

“What does it matter if I stretch it, it’s mine.”

“It is not.”

“It is too!”

“Is not!”

“Is too!” He jabbed her in the side, knowing full well that if they continued the way they were this could go on all night. It had gone on all night more than once.

Robin squawked and immediately lunged, her hands grabbing at the top of his head. 

“No, no! I told you not the hair!”

“And I told you it’s your weakness.” She hissed, her eyes flashing as he scrambled at her wrists before she could get her fingers buried deep enough.

“Boobies!” He shouted, as loud as possible. The effect was immediate, Robin tried to cringe away from him with a look of disgust. “Boobies, boobies, boobies!”

“Oh my god are you five fucking years old? Can you not say tits or breasts or fucking mammary glands or something like a damn adult?” She wrenched her wrists away from him. “I’m so embarrassed for you.”

“I’m embarrassed of your face.”

“I’m embarrassed of your weird man hair.” She scowled, patting at his chest. 

“You shouldn’t be. Everyone loves the chest hair. Even the lesbians. It’s like a respect thing.”

Robin rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

Steve pouted to himself.

He just wanted to help. He wanted to make sure Eddie was okay, that he would continue to be okay and there was this horrible little part in the back of his head that also wanted to make sure that no one would put their hands on Eddie ever like that again.

It was weird and possessive in a way he really shouldn’t have been feeling about his irritating as shit roommate who didn’t even have the courtesy to play guitar with headphones on half the time.

No matter how good his playing was.

“I can smell your hair burning.”

“What do I do now, Birdie?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like… I want to help, I guess. But I don’t know how. We don’t even like each other, why would he accept my help?”

“Well… how did he react when you did what you did?”

“He… I guess he… I was going to leave when Rick came to the door and he stopped me. He didn’t say anything to me, he didn’t even look at me but he grabbed onto me and… I think he was scared, Rob. I’ve never seen him scared.”

“Well Steve, I think you’re gonna do what you always do. Help. Whether you know you’re doing it or not, whether you even really mean to, you always help.”

"You're making me out to be some sort of saint."

“I’m really not.” She shook her head. “You’re just… you.”

“Wow, incredible observation there, Birdie.”

“Oh, fuck off and finish this for me.” She shoved the rest of her sub into his hands.

Part 1 Part 3 AO3

@augustjustice @geekymagicalpotato @wormdebut @eddielives1986 @releasethexbarakat @a-little-unsteddie @steddietogo @steddiehyperfixation

Big thanks as always to @hbyrde36 for her magnificent beta work and to the @strangerthingswritersguild for their motivation.

Divider by firefly-graphics

[whoreish-behaviour]

Revenant 2

Previous - Next

Na'vi!Colonel Quaritch x Na'vi!Reader

Warnings >~< = Man-handling, nothing too extreme..yet

The throbbing pain all over your body was what woke you up. You felt as if you had been chewed up and spat out.

Even opening your eyes grew to be difficult, the blinding glare from above proving to be too much for your unadjusted eyes.

After much effort though you did, finding yourself placed carelessly into the corner of a room.

The ceiling was low and the table in front of you barley reached your knees as you wobbled to stand. You assessed yourself quietly, nothing looked broken or too bruised.

Aside from your tail, that had an odd bend to it.

However there was also an excessive simultaneous ache in your back, tail and thigh as you gritted your teeth.

You thought back to how you got here, the room leaking the scent of those sky creatures.

You could feel yourself get more angry as you remembered exactly how you ended up in this beaming white room.

The pathetic oaf had knocked you out. And how? You weren't sure.

Your tail whipped around you painfully as you felt yourself get more worked up, ears flattening as you circled the table - searching for a way out the puny room.

You spotted the door, stomping over to it only to find it completely sealed shut.

Banging you fist against it, you hissed at the thing blocking your path out of there. Spinning around, you then saw...you?

The whole wall seemed to reflect, like the water back home when you gazed down into it icy depths.

The reminder only fired you up more as you walked over to it, fingertips ever so lightly touching the cool surface.

You looked at yourself and tilted you head, ears up and alert. How these creatures had managed to mimic water baffled you.

They were such stupidly.. smart things.

They were smart and stupid enough to create destructive machines that in turn destroyed themselves and everything around them.

And now they were here, set on laying their destructive fingers on Pandora and cursing its soul with their disease.

The thought had your blood pumping with anger as your hand became a fist, slamming against the surface before you. You repeated it again and again, hissing and snarling.

They couldn't keep you here.

You had a family, a clan to keep safe - away from the sky creatures.

You then felt the wall begin to splinter beneath your fist. You stopped as you heard a hissing sound escape the damaged area.

Stepping back cautiously, your eyes bounced all over the room - waiting for something to happen.

And almost immediately, you began to hear the seal on the door break away, smoke collecting along one side.

Instincts on high alert, the only thought racing through your mind was Run!

Lowering to the ground slightly, you crept closer to the door just as it began to hiss along its edge- similar to the sound you heard from the wall.

As quick as anything it slid open, revealing the blue soldier from before, the ink on his arm easy to identify.

Your face automatically snarled - you couldn't see from his chest upwards as the doorway was too low, however you knew he was sneering right back.

Without thinking, you darted towards him, slipping though the gap between his body and the door.

Because of the doorway, he wasn't able to guess your intention, giving you a clear head start as you ran down the hallway.

'Fuckin’ hell..' You heard his curse just as you rounded the corner.

The hallway seemed to go on forever, littered with people in uniform who all turned to you, faces going pale.

Not wanting to linger any longer, you sprinted down the hall until you came to an absolutely massive room.

The eyes of soldiers and more people in white snapped to you, there had to be at least over 50 in the room. Amongst them, the blue soldiers that had helped raid your clan where also planted around.

Caught off guard you came to a stop, breathes heavy with frustration.

There was no escaping, not unless you wanted to risk being shot.

You felt a seed of panic grow as you saw people reach for their weapons, knowing this could be the place you die.

Not on the coast where you grew up, not on the back of your ilu fighting for your clan and not in the arms of the people you loved.

No, it was going to be a cold, white room filled with your enemies.

The air around you felt thick, too thick to breath as you began to heave. Why couldn't you breath?

All the air seemed to have been sucked from the room, causing your panic to grow more and more, working yourself into a terrifying state of fear.

Your legs and mind suddenly felt weak, too weak to feel hands behind you grasping yours in a firm grip before pinning them behind you.

You felt yourself being kicked to the ground, body collapsing as you continued to gasp out, all breath finally leaving you.

You cheek rested against the cold ground until you felt a warm hand on you chin, grasping you jaw and tilting it up.

You them felt another hand on the back of your head, gently lifting it off the ground.

Feeling the same hand crawl from the back of you head to the underside of your face, it supported the weight of your head entirely, your body loosing strength to so.

The hand on your jaw then left you, before quickly returning - a black breathing mask in it's grasp. It was pressed firmly to your mouth and nose, creating a seal.

You then felt it.

It was as if you were breathing for the first time again.

You eyes shot open as the air filled your lungs, your chest expanding as you let out a gasp.

Shooting out, your hand cupped over the one holding the device, pressing it even harder against you face, sucking in the air.

After a few, you eventually calmed down, breathes even.

As your mind cleared though, you realised who was siting on your back, their weight heavy but not entirely restricting.

It was just to make sure you didn't try anything stupid again.

Sensing your body tensing beneath him, the soldier pulled back his hand, leaving yours to hold the breathing machine.

'Easy.'

You didn't fight back, only relaxing against the floor as you allowed yourself to go limp.

You weren't in immediate danger, yourself told yourself to calm down, obeying the order given to you for once.

'You go ahead and keep that, but imma' need your cooperation.' He saw your ear flick in his direction as he watched you maul over his words.

You were either contemplating another cheap escape or was translating his words to yourself.

He hoped it was the latter.

He then felt your body shift under his, until you laid on your back, staring up at him. He didn't sense a fight or struggle but he could never be too sure.

He looked down at you, hands ready to hold you down if you tried anything, but the nod of your head had him relaxing ever so slightly.

You watched him as he looked away from you and towards the many people behind you.

You saw as another breathing mask was thrown towards him, his hand easily grasping it as he raised it to his mouth, deeply inhaling before letting it hang from around his neck.

You stared as you his chest expanded before settling once again. You then traced up to his neck, his traditional blue Na'vi stripes peaking out.

You cursed yourself for looking.

He was evil.

A walking devil in disguise of your people.

You saw him look back down at you, his right hand reaching behind him ominously. You felt your face screw up, his movements making you suspicious.

Only when your eyes saw the handcuffs did you move once again.

He wanted you restrained!

However, you'd never allow him to have that much effortless control over you.

Bucking your hips up to attempt to throw him off, you wriggled around, trying to escape as he pressed his weight down on you, trapping you to the cold tile.

'They’re only goin' on until I get you away from all these important people.' He rolled his eyes at your dramatic display, before placing the orange restraint between his teeth.

Now with his hands free, he was able to flip you back over, pressing down hard between your shoulder blades as you hissed at him.

You heard him whistle above you as you continued to thrash.

'How her down will you?' You heard him mock you, talking about you as if you were some rabid dog.

Looking to your side, you saw another blue soldier step closer over to you, her smirking face glazing down at you, her jaw chewing something in a bored manner.

She walked all the way up until she was directly in front, her boots an inch from your face.

You then felt a rough pressure replace the hand on your back, the texture painful as it dug into your skin to hold you down.

You whined from your helplessness as you felt two hands roughly grab yours, placing them at you base of your spine before being secured tightly.

Looking up, you saw the female soldier, her foot securing you to the ground, watch as you were restrained, a smirk on her lips.

Knowing there was nothing else you could do, you slumped to the ground, tired breaths leaving you.

'Atta' girl!' You heard her laugh at your submission, her foot lifting from up your back before dropping back down in front of you and walking back to where she originally was.

You then felt the weight on you move up, a single hand grasping the hair at the back of your head, pulling it to yank your head back. You cried out but didn't move.

'Don' move.' You heard him grumble before you felt the breathing mask being attached back to you, the band now going around you head to keep it there.

He released your hair and you felt his weight leave you completely. You shivered as the cool air traced over your uncovered back.

You eyes widened as you suddenly felt a hand grab at your tail, the thing still in pain from earlier. You looked over your shoulder and hissed at the soldier.

His thumb was tracing over the lower middle section of your tail that was bend ever so slightly, the area discoloured and purple.

And from your hissing and whines he would tell it was hurting like a bitch.

Looking over his shoulder, the colonel waved over one of the many doctors and scientists, who immediately came padding over - clipboard in hand.

'This thing look broken' to you?' He emphasised by moving your tail closer to the doctor, your body dragging with it slightly as you whimpered.

The doc's gloved hands replaced the colonel's, fingers assessing the area while the colonel's eyes bounced from your injured limb to you, making sure you stayed down.

'I'll definitely need an X-ray but I'm pretty sure I can snap it back into place. A few bandages for a while and it'll be fine.' The doctor spoke, shrugging as if it was nothing.

The colonel looked back down at you, body obeying for once and relaxing.

You wouldn't be useful if you were broke.

Plus, he knew how sensitive these things were and could only imagine the pain every time your body acted on instinct and moved it.

It was gonna be a bitch to do but he knew he was having your tail fixed whether you wanted it or not.

Part 3

Kofi <33

Taglist = @namor-is-the-way @kimqueenofhell

[michelle-is-writing]

Help, John Wick

Word Count: 2.8k~

Warnings: mention of gun fire, blood, injury, stitches

Working the evening shift sometimes proves to be a hassle, especially when I’m needed past midnight. On nights like these, I know as soon as I leave the hospital doors that I’m all alone in my somewhat safe city. The biggest issue in my city is the constant hidden dangers within it, as reported by the news many times. The attacks are always random, and the people are disguised, meaning no one can tell who is truly good or bad.

With the clock nearing 12:05, I’m finally able to clock out and head out of my hospital and to my car. On the way to my vehicle, I notice something weird about my driver side’s tires; they seem to be flat, but one has a knife stuck in it.

“What the…” my voice trails off as I look around my hospital’s parking lot, seeing maybe three or four other cars scattered throughout it. I’m already in a not-so-safe situation, and quite frankly, walking out alone late at night is not the best decision for someone like me to make.

Instead of risking my safety, I begin walking backwards to go back into the hospital before turning around, only to be knocked down on the ground by someone running into me from my left. As I fall with the person who rammed into me, my ears pick up distinct gunshots - something you hope to never hear when you’re leaving work late at night.

“Stay down!” A deep, gruff voice yells before the weight of the body on top of me is suddenly gone, and more gunshots ring out around me. Despite the pain from being slammed down, I still manage to shuffle away and get behind the bushes next to the pavement. It’s not the best cover, but it can at least help me figure out what the hell is going on right now.

Looking through the thick branches of leaves in front of me, I spot two people now revealed by the street lights as they shoot toward the entrance of the hospital. “Why would anyone shoot at a hospital?!” I find myself muttering before I jerk my head over to the doors. There stands a dark-haired man dressed in an all black suit, a pistol in his hands as well. Only two shots are fired from that pistol before all gunshots come to a stop, but before I have any time to process what has just happened, the man is running toward me. I’ve never seen him before, and he certainly doesn’t look like someone who could shoot two people in two clear shots. His face is even cast with concern as he nears the bushes I hide behind, a hand outreached for me.

“We need to go! Now!” He tells me, grabbing my hand before yanking me up from the ground and taking off. With his hand firmly gripping my hand, I’m left with no other choice but to run with him. Feeling my fight-or-flight instincts kick in, I recognize the rush of anxiety flowing through me as well as so much confusion. Why am I running with a man who just shot several men either wounded or dead? He’s obviously trying to help me, but who exactly is he trying to protect me from?

After running across the parking lot to a car parked in the shade, the man yells at me to get in, but as I near the passenger side door, I feel myself halt as time slowly passes around me. My body feels as if it’s stuck in honey, unable to move or do anything, and my mind doesn’t feel much better.

“Get in now!” The man yells one more time, fully snapping me out of my stupor and bringing my attention to the door handle of an older car as I open it before climbing in. Alongside me is the man falling into the driver's side, quickly turning the engine on before speeding out of the parking lot. Speeding lights pass all around me while my eyes fall to my arms and hands, a burning sensation taking over my limbs. My palms and elbows are scratched up from the fall, droplets of blood adorning the scrapes before leading down to the new holes on the knees of my scrub pants, crimson liquid beginning to show through there as well.

In this moment, as my brain now begins to process the oncoming stings and burns, I turn my head toward the man, finding him to be focusing every ounce of his attention on the road in front of us as he speeds way above the limit. “What just happened?” I ask him, my voice almost disturbing him from his focus as he slightly jolts in his seat. “What’s going on?”

He shakes his head, his long hair moving along with him as he seemingly ponders if he should answer my question or not. For a few seconds, he remains quiet before sighing and giving in. “It’s… hard to explain,” he starts, giving me a cautious glance before looking back at the road in front of him as he speeds through traffic. Between taking sharp turns and darting in between cars, I can’t help but grasp the door with all my might to keep me from going all over the place.

“A couple days ago, you treated a patient, a man who came in with a bullet wound directly below his heart,” The man explains, making me stare at him confused. I did have a patient come in with those exact issues, but he told us he was mugged and that’s why he was shot. Why would someone try to attack a mugging victim in the way they did?

“Well, the guy wasn’t exactly mugged, and the people who shot him thought you were helping out him and his… group,” he further adds, making my eyes widen in a mix of horror and confusion. “They didn't even know your name or anything about you and they still tried to put a hit on you, all because you helped him survive. He asked me to make sure nothing happened to you, said you were a sweet girl, and I promised him I would keep you safe,” he nods his head toward the road. “So, here we are.”

Despite his explanation definitely being… weird, I don’t question him any more about it, and instead, I ask him something else. “What’s your name?”

At my question, he gives me a wary glance before answering. “John,” he tells me, gaining a nod back from me.

“John, I think you got shot,” I inform him, my eyes falling to his bloody arm. It looks like the bullet either grazed or went completely through his arm, but nonetheless, it’s still bleeding like a gunshot wound.

John barely reacts, only nodding his head “I know,” he simply explains as if it were something simple and not a bullet wound. “I’ll take you somewhere safe until we know what the group is trying to achieve.”

His words barely register in my ears before I’m turning in my seat to shake my head at him. “No, no, we need to go to my apartment,” I urge him, and just as I expected, he begins to tell me it’s not safe. “But my dogs are there!” I quickly argue back, feeling my heart pound away in my chest.

In an instant, it’s like a flip in his head switches, and he gives me a small nod in response to my words. “Okay,” he simply mutters, “Show me how to get there.”

Arriving at my apartment, John parks the car way down my street before having us run up to my back gate and get in through there. By the looks of it, my apartment seems to be untouched, and after John does a quick run through, I’m able to let out a sigh of relief. I’ve witnessed a lot of crazy things tonight, and the fact that I have a man whom I just met in my house after being shot at is crazy. However, my dogs don’t seem to care about the crazy night I’ve had as they’re too busy trying to get John to pet them. In spite of what I witnessed him do earlier in the midst of gunfire, seeing him act like a complete teddy bear around my dogs practically makes my heart skip a beat.

“Sit down here, John,” I tell him, gesturing to stools by my counter as I wash my hands in the kitchen sink. “So I can stitch up your arm,” I add, drying the water from my hands before gathering the stuff I need from my medicine cabinet. He nods at my words before sitting and waiting patiently, now with my smallest dog in his lap. Beside him are my other dogs, all sitting beside him as if they were all best friends already.

Smiling at the sight, I look up from my dogs to meet his eyes, only to be greeted by his chocolate-like eyes already staring back into mine. However, I quickly look away and begin helping him take his coat off all the while remaining careful about the arm he got shot in. It’s only after I cut the arm of his sleeve off and begin gently cleaning the dried up blood off his arm that John speaks up. “Do you treat all your patients like this?” He asks, a small smile taking over his lips as the question falls from his mouth.

I find myself smiling back at him before moving onto clean the actual wound. “Only special ones,” I tell him, earning a small chuckle back from him despite me pressing gauze with alcohol against the bullet wound on his arm. I choose not to mention it, and instead point out all of my dogs’ sudden fondness for the man. “They really like you,” I point out before examining his wound. The bullet went through the very edge of his arm, avoiding his humerus or anything major. Despite it leaving a decent sized wound, it’s still a pretty easy fix, thankfully.

Telling John he’ll need stitches only gains a hum back from him. Even when I poke the needle through his skin and pull it through, he still fails to react, and instead, John speaks up with the same tone of voice he had earlier. “I love dogs,” John confesses, using his free hand to scratch the wrinkles on my pug’s forehead. “And they’re all so cute too,” he adds, once again, not showing any sign of pain as I finish suturing his arm.

“That’s a good thing, that you love dogs,” I tell him, dressing his arm before taping it. “It shows a lot about someone,” I add, watching as he watches me closely, yet softly. As time goes on, I anticipate his next words, but even now, he still doesn’t mention it.

“I’m sorry we met this way,” John’s apology takes me by surprise, causing me to look away from his arm and stare at him. “I wish this could’ve been under better circumstances,” he adds, a small sigh falling from his lips afterward. “You’re a truly wonderful person; you didn’t deserve to be a target tonight.”

Instead of agreeing with him, I sigh as well before smiling and speaking up. “If it weren’t for you, they would’ve shot me. Over something I haven’t the slightest clue on,” I point out to him, “I know there are things that go on in this city, and I never expected to be in the middle of it, but I am eternally grateful that you were there and able to save me tonight,” Taking his hand in mine, I maintain eye contact with him and squeeze his hand. “You saved my life tonight. Thank you.”

At my words, John smiles back and nods. “No problem, nurse (Y/n),” he tells me, his thumb gently running across the back of my hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll be here to do it again,” he adds, making my smile grow even more as his eyes never leave mine. I don’t doubt the mysterious stranger will hold true to his word, but at the same time, I want to learn more about the man outside of saving me from the city’s dangers.

“And I’ll be here to patch you up again,” I tell him back, giving his hand a quick squeeze before turning to put away all of my medical supplies. “In the meantime,” I start, glancing between him and my kit as my dogs take the opportunity to swarm him. “Would you mind explaining to me a little bit about what exactly goes on in this city?”

John doesn’t respond right away, and instead, he chooses to stand up beside me in spite of the protests from his new furry friends. Putting away the rolled gauze and cotton balls, I look over at him as he appears beside me, only to earn another small smile from him like before. “Too much for one night,” he tells me, placing a gentle hand on my arm as if to stop me from messing with my medical supplies. “For right now, you need to sleep. You’ve had a long day,” he points out. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to make sure you continue to stay safe for the night. Is it alright if I stay here?”

Seeing him gesture toward my living room where all of my dogs sit and eagerly wait for him to join them on the couch makes a small laugh leave my lips. If it weren’t for him saving my life and my dogs being so trusting of him, then I probably wouldn’t be as confident as I am with letting him stay. “Actually, I would prefer that,” I tell him, before nodding at the couch behind him. “Although I don’t think you’ll be alone, unfortunately.”

Just as I say that, all the dogs run over to us and stare up at him, causing John to look down at my dogs with a smile before his expression changes into one of concern. “You need to be bandaged as well,” He tells me, causing me to look down and see my busted up knees once more, reminding me off the dull pain currently shooting from them. “Let me do it,” he further adds before gently pushing me to sit back on the stool just like I had done with him.

“I can handle them, it’s okay,” I tell him with a chuckle. “I’ve handled much worse on myself.”

Despite my words, John doesn’t respond to me, and instead, he opens my med kit back up and begins taking out the same kind of supplies I used on him, all except for the sterilized needle and string thankfully. He doesn’t argue with me on me taking care of myself, but he acts as if I hadn’t said anything to him either.

Strangely, I allow him to take care of my wounds without interrupting him, settling for watching him instead. It’s only when he moves onto rolling my scrub pants above my knees that I find myself regretting my decision. His touch is seemingly nothing more than that of someone who cares, but I can’t help but feel the small degree of intimacy in the moment. I can’t decide if it’s his slightly rough, yet gentle hands grazing my skin or just the close proximity of him on his knees in front of me, but my mind is scrambled right now.

“Told you I’d keep you safe, right?” I hear him say, bringing me out of my stupor and down to him once again. His eyes remain on his task at hand, being careful as ever while cleaning my wounds. Instead of responding, I smile and simply nod back at him, relaxing a little as I do so. He seems to pick up on this, a soft, small smile making its way onto his face as well as he moves onto bandaging the now clean scrapes and cuts.

Once again, I feel his hands touch my skin with gentleness and care, but at the same time, I can’t help but revel in the sensualness of it as well. It doesn’t help that there are times that his touch lingers more than necessary and the smile on his face still has yet to die down. I can’t help but feel bad for the thoughts currently flowing through my mind, but a part of me likes the idea of him staying with me - minus the reason why, of course. Another part of me hopes this isn’t just a one time thing either.

[luxaofhesperides]

ghostlights prompt with "it's okay, you're safe now" hurt/comfort?

It takes over a month to find Danny. 

Thirty seven days of panic and ever growing dread, searching for him every single day. Duke hasn’t felt this way since he was in foster care, running away from whatever home he got placed in to search for his parents. 

The first week was spent trying to find any trace of Danny, working on nothing but his last few messages and a voicemail he left Duke, where all he said was a whispered, Call me back when you can. I might just be paranoid, but I think someone’s following me. I’m walking home right now. I… I don’t know, I feel a little sick, Duke, I— And then static before the voicemail ends. 

There hadn’t been any sign that Danny made it home. No cameras caught sight of him after he walked past a bus stop. No one around on the streets to tell him what happened. 

One moment, Danny was there. The next, he was gone.

He had to recruit the rest of the Bats into searching for Danny, and his guilt of outing Danny as a meta (half ghost, as Danny called himself) was easily buried under his desperation. Duke knows the statistics. The chances of finding someone after three days drop drastically, and after enough time, it’s safe to assume they’re dead even if people keep searching. 

Jason promised to interrogate some traffickers moving outside of Crime Alley, updating Duke weekly on any other kidnappings that might be related to Danny’s case. Tim had been checking around Danny’s neighborhood, slipping in and out of spaces to gather information, leaving behind cameras and bugs on the off chance the kidnappers came back to the area. Barbara hacked her way into the messages of traffickers, trying to find any mention of Danny. Even Bruce had gotten involved, looking into Danny’s background to see if there was anyone that might be connected to his disappearance.

Vlad Masters wasn’t a lead. He had no idea Danny was missing when they called, and he ended the call immediately to begin his own search.

Thirty seven days.

Duke didn’t want to lose hope, but all he could think about were the empty spaces in his life where Danny once was. 

And now, on the thirty eighth day, Duke jerks awake as his cell phone rings at max volume and he scrambles to get it. He’s not risking another missed call, not after Danny disappeared. 

He doesn’t have time to say anything once he accepts the call before Jason is saying, “We found him Duke. Babs is sending the location to the GPS of your motorcycle. Suit up and meet us here.”

“Is he okay?”

“He’s…” Jason hesitates. “He’ll live. But these fuckers did a number on him, from what we've read in their files. We’re waiting for you and the others to get here, and then we’ll take them out while you get your boy to safety.”

“I’m on my way,” Duke says, already pulling his suit out to get changed. He hasn’t bothered to bring it to the Batcave for weeks, spending most of his time out on the streets as the Signal. It’s just easier to have it on hand than to go to the Batcave to suit up, or to leave it in the Hatch. He chucks his phone back onto his bed and is jumping out the window of his apartment just a minute later, dropping down to street level just as his motorcycle pulls up on the street.

He’ll have to remember to get Babs a gift basket or something when this is all over. It’s the least he can do after she’s helped him so much over the past month. 

“Thanks, Babs,” Duke says into his comm, switching it to a private line with Oracle. She hums an acknowledgement, but otherwise doesn’t respond. Not that Duke has much in him for conversation; all his focus is on Danny, Danny, Danny.

The GPS on the motorcycle leads him to the outskirts of GCU campus, in one of the buildings that had been closed off after a fire earlier in the year that they still haven’t fixed due to the amount of mobsters who liked to pass through it, using it as a drop sight for arms deals. Red Hood leans on the chain link fence surrounding it, watching as he approaches.

Duke all but jumps off the motorcycle to reach Red Hood, barely remembering to turn on the cloaking to hide it from sight.

“Where is he?”

“Basement,” Red Hood answers, and even through the helmet, Duke can hear the tightness in his voice that means he’s doing his best to hold back his rage. “Red Robin and the Batgirls are in there, getting Oracle access to their computers. They’re going to make sure no one slips by us. I’m going to make them wish I had been kind enough to kill them, and you’re going to take your boy straight to the Batcave where the Doc is waiting with Alfred.”

It’s not much of a plan, but Duke trusts the others to do what they need to do. All he cares about is getting Danny out of there. 

“Lead the way.”

They scale the fence easily, and there’s no one on the upper levels when they walk in. Not even a single camera to alert anyone to their entrance. Red Hood leads him down a stairwell, ignoring the way the shadows around them move on their own, Duke’s agitation making them twist into some dark nightmare. 

He sees the flicker of light as soon as they step out into the basement hallway. All the light bulbs above their head are broken, covering the floor in sharp glass, and doors going down the hall are all left open, some barely hanging onto their hinges. The building is a wreck, graffiti decorating portions of the wall, and it looks abandoned. He would bet even mobsters avoid coming down here; it’s all sorts of health hazards.

Normally, he’d be cautious. He would sneak through the wall, sticking to the shadows and staying hidden as he went deeper in, ready for anything. 

Duke hasn’t been thinking clearly in weeks. He sees the light, the soft white glow he associates with Danny, and tears after it like a man possessed. 

Distantly, he hears Red Hood curse behind him, and then he’s turning the corner, feeling the familiar burn in his eyes as his powers kick in and let him see the small ball of light flickering weakly as it guides him through the basement level. 

Red Robin and Batgirl’s voices fill his helmet and Duke doesn’t waste a second in muting his comm; if there’s a problem, they can work it out with Red Hood. Now that he’s so close to Danny, he’s not letting anything get in his way. 

The first guy he runs into is a surprise. Clearly a scientist, judging by the lab coat and the notebook in his hands, paired with the dark circles stamped beneath his eyes. He barely has time to open his mouth, looking alarmed, before Duke slams into him, tackling him to the floor and knocking him out with a quick hit to the temple. 

A vent in the ceiling falls down, and Red Robin pops out.

“They’re keeping him in the back, locked in. I’m warning you now, it’s not a pretty sight.”

“I don’t care,” Duke snaps, “I’m getting him back.”

“We’ll clear the way and keep them from stopping you,” Red Robin says.

He whips out his bo staff and sprints away, kicking in a door. Duke follows after him, ignoring the yells from the other scientists gathered in there, leaving them to Red Robin’s tender mercies. 

The light leads him to a room hidden away in the lab, a small window in the door that is too dirty to see through. The door is locked, so Duke feels out the shadows around him and uses one to slip into the room.

And Danny’s there.

Danny, never without a smile, glowing and funny and so, so sweet, is lying curled up on the floor. There are shackles around his ankles, keeping him trapped in the room with the chain nailed into the wall. His wrists are bound in meta suppressant cuffs, leaving him weak and vulnerable. That’s not the worst thing.

The worst thing is the visible wounds Duke can see on him, sluggishly bleeding. There are blood stains all over the floor, cuts along his arms and thighs, clothes torn into nothing but dirty rags. There’s a large incision on his chest, going down from his collarbone to his navel, hastily stitched together in a way that only keeps it slightly closed, the stitches loose enough to be pulled out with a single pull. 

As if sensing his gaze, Danny blinks his eyes open, staring at the space next to Duke. Slowly, his gaze slides over, eyes hazy with pain and exhaustion. He opens his mouth, but no sound comes out.

Duke kneels next to him, pulling off his gloves to cup Danny’s cheek as gently as he can.

“Hey,” he whispers, overcome with both grief at the pain Danny had to go through, and relief at finally finding him. “Hey, it’s okay, you’re safe now.”

Danny doesn’t try to speak again. Instead, he closes his eyes and leans into Duke’s touch, relaxing. 

“I got you honey, it’s alright. I’m gonna get you out of here and take you to some people who can patch you up.”

He slides his arms beneath Danny’s body, lifting him into his arms. 

He doesn’t remember much of what happens next; it’s all a blur of movement and feeling blood slide over his hands. Later, he’ll hear the others give their report, telling of how they found Danny following the trail of a university professor bragging about a paper that would make him famous for a deeper understanding of meta biology. They’ll recount their scouting, the information they stole, how many people they fought and captured. They’ll talk about how the shadows completely overwhelmed the basement when Duke left with Danny, traveling through shadows at a speed he had never achieved before, going farther than he’s ever been able to. 

Leslie and Alfred input their own medical reports of the torture done to Danny and how long he’ll need to be in recovery, checking for infection and possible side effects to his powers. 

All of that will be important later. 

Duke doesn’t care about anything at all when he’s finally able to return to Danny’s side once Alfred and Leslie are done patching him up. The weight that’s been on his shoulders for the past thirty seven days is gone. The sight of Danny’s blue eyes fluttering open is the most beautiful he’ll ever see.

“Hey, honey,” he says softly, holding Danny’s hand as he wakes.

Danny smiles at him. “Duke,” he whispers, “I knew you’d find me.”

“Always, honey. Always.”

. . .

[send me a ghostlights prompt!]

[thestarrynightslover]

The Day You Finally Caught a Break

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader

Word count: 1,574

Warnings: FLUFF. Mentions of sex crimes and crimes involving special victims (all very slight).

Summary: After living in a boring routine, the detective (y/n) (y/l/n) catches a lucky break with her colleague Jay Halstead.

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the One Chicago shows, or its characters, also not associated with it in any way or know anyone involved with it.

A/N: So, this is my first fic in a while and I am aware that it is very cheesy but I just felt like writing something cheesy. Anyways, I hope you like it!

(y/n) = (your name) (y/l/n) = (your last name) (y/n/n) = (your nickname)

| masterlist |

The day started just like any other would: waking up earlier than necessary, going for a run, doing some yoga, reading, and finally getting ready to go to work. Sure, to a lot of people that might have been a great morning, having all that time to do all that stuff… The only thing was: you’d been running on nothing beyond routine — one that had become quite boring, to be honest — for a couple of years now. Which made you that weird cop who actually enjoyed the worst cases just because it gave you some sort of purpose, some sort of change. Holding that thought, you were supposed to feel lucky once you and your team got deeper into your current case. But, even with the most boring of lives, a person — a decent human being — couldn’t feel lucky for even knowing something like that happens in the world, much less for having to know every sick and twisted detail of a case that involved sex trafficking, pregnant women, all sorts of assault and child abduction.

After it was “over”, around midnight, all of Intelligence seemed to silently agree on staying as long as necessary to finish their reports. Everybody thinking the same way: finishing this today, I can get outta here, get drunk, and put it in a box in the back of my head — where it’ll stay forever. As soon as someone would finish the paperwork, they’d grab their coat, mutter something resembling a goodbye, and rush out of there like the room was on fire. Molly’s wouldn’t be open anymore and none of you really wanted to spend time with each other to risk having to talk out what had happened. And then something strange happened.

Instead of just leaving like your partner Kim and his partner Kevin before her, Ruzek just stood at the door frame, waiting. For Upton. What? He kept looking at her desk so it was pretty obvious but the confirmation came when the detective got up saying: “Hey, Jay, I’mma get going now. You okay if we do our thing some other day?”

By the time Halstead looked up, she was almost reaching Adam which shocked the shit out of you but didn’t seem to faze him much, who only answered: “Yeah. Sure. Night, guys.” And then there were two—the only two Intelligence members who never exchanged more than a couple of polite measures.

Nevertheless, your gossip-starved soul got the best of you, who ended up blurting out a “They’re together?” to no one less than Jay Halstead. For a minute or so the other detective just looked around the room, as if expecting someone to jump out of nowhere and answer your question. But, after your eyes eventually met, he decided on answering.

“Eh… I don’t really know”, he started, while scratching the back of his neck, “I mean, it’s not like I’ve asked, you know?”

“Ah…” Was all you found to say after he stopped for a moment, but he continued.

“That’s just not really how it works between us. But the other day he did show up at her place late at night, which was suspicious. To say the least.” The words just flew right out of his mouth, surprising both of you, who started chuckling awkwardly at the recognition, “this is the first actual conversation we’ve had after all this time working together, isn’t it?”, he asked, ultimately.

“Yeah, I think it is,” you said, now full-on laughing. “God, I can’t believe that the first time I worked up the courage to actually talk to you was to ask for gossip!” You exclaimed, knowing that your cheeks were probably burning up with embarrassment.

“To be honest, I kinda needed to share that with someone. Especially after this moment here.” He confessed, making you laugh and forcing himself to laugh a bit more to try and hide the fact that he couldn’t stop staring at you. It just went wrong when his mouth betrayed him by saying: “You look so damn cute right now!”

"Well, it isn't every day that one finds out that the detective Jay Halstead is a gossip. Which makes me wonder who the cute one really is…"

"Oh, so that's where you're going with this?" He asked with his eyes twinkling. "Because I can prove just how not cute I am…"

"Oh?" You replied simply wondering what kind of proof he could provide against that.

"In fact, I have just the perfect idea, but, for that, you'd have to agree on going out with me first." Jay himself couldn't believe he finally managed to invite you out.

"Ooh, as in a d- date?" Who were you? Stuttering? C'mon!

"A date, yes." He answered, making you feel relieved and nervous again all at the same time.

"Yeah, I, uh, I wouldn't mind that at all. We can try and think of a date that works for both of us…" You suggested.

"Well, on Wednesday I'll be off, how about you?" Jay asked quickly.

"Oh no, that day I have somethings Platt wanted me to do. How about next Monday?"

"That's a no for me, 'cause I'm pulling doubles next week.*

"Damn…"

“Maybe this is a crazy idea but have you finished your report yet?” He asked quizzically.

“Uh, hitting the send button right now. Why?

“Then what if we do it now?”

“The date thingy?” You asked shyly, afraid that had been just a momentaneous thought that came out of his mouth too fast.

At that, he looked at you in awe, mesmerized by how adorable you were. “Yes. The date thingy.”

A million thoughts crossed your mind, including the one that that was a lifetime opportunity and that you should be better dressed, but figuring that saying something like that would only make you miss the opportunity, you settled for asking: “But where would we go? Like, it’s past 1 a.m., Jay, I don’t think there are a lot of places open…”

“Well, I might have a few ideas… Do you trust me?” He asked, holding his hand out to you, who grabbed it at the same time as you grabbed your jacket and purse with your other hand.

“Do you really need to ask that?"

And, like that, some time later you found yourself pulling up to the address Jay had texted you, which was in Canaryville, and it turned out to be an old movie theater that apparently was doing a week of classics with sessions at all times of the day. How Jay knew about that, though, was a mystery to you.

"Hey!" You heard him calling as he crossed the street. "You made a better time getting here than I did!"

"Yeah, well, my car might be faster than your old one," you replied, shrugging innocently.

"Haha, very funny," he deadpanned.

"Hey, this is a cool idea but how did you know it is happening?" You asked, genuinely curious. "I mean, you just don't seem a lot like a movie nerd to me."

"Well, there are still many things you don't know about me. But this one specifically is because I grew up around here and the owner is a friend of my family, so he always lets Will and I know about what's going on with the place."

"Hmmm, that explains it!" You exclaimed with a tad of satisfaction for not being too far off about him.

"But I do enjoy movies, okay?" You made a face of disbelief at him. To which he replied with: "It's true, alright? I'll admit that these days I haven't had much time for it but when I was growing up around here, this place was practically my second home!"

"Oh, so you've brought many others here, I'll assume!" You teased, suddenly feeling more comfortable and consequently more confident.

"Don't! Don't assume that! Growing up I wasn't very successful with the ladies and after that changed I haven't come here often…"

"Ooh, so that means that I'm your first?" You mocked, putting your hand to your heart, "Wow, I'm truly touched now!"

"Yeah, sure, have your fun with me all you want! All I really care about is the fact that I finally managed to get you to go out with me, so I can only hope you'll enjoy yourself." Him saying that, while gazing so intently at you, was making you weak on your knees and got you blushing a bit as well. So you tried to get the attention off you.

"Okay! Then let's pick a movie and watch it already, 'cause tomorrow's probably not gonna be any shorter."

A couple of hours later you and Jay were walking down the street towards a Waffle House while chatting and laughing about the movie like two best friends, which felt really nice but also made you a little confused about the being a date of that date the two of you were on. But, after you both had cleaned your plates at the diner, Jay came onto your bench to clean the corner of your mouth with a napkin, and next thing you knew, you were kissing very passionately in public like a couple of teens, forgetting about the rest of the world altogether, which made you realized, once more, how dull and colorless your life was previous to that moment so you held on to it and you held on to the man behind it.

[fixfoxnox]

These Bones Are Broken

Summary: Roach nearly loses someone he cares about and it causes a break in his mask.

Warnings: Panic Attacks, Skin Picking, Hair Pulling, Mental Break, Discussions of torture

Note: A comm from the wonderful @theunbitten thank you <3

Roach was something of a statue. That's what Soap said, at least. 

He was quiet and he was focused. A beast with a single-minded determination to his cause. Nothing seemed to bother him, nothing ever distracted him from the end goal. It was as impressive as it was intimidating.

Soap and Gaz had witnessed him unflinchingly torturing men, sparking the pieces of a car battery together in preparation for getting information on their next target. They'd watched him mow down waves of enemies without ever wavering. No exhaustion, no fear, no nothing. He was a statue. 

At times, Soap found himself tempted to say Roach didn't feel anything at all. He was a robot or couldn't feel pain or something equally as terrifying. He thought Roach was incapable of anything except for his focus and his work. He knew he was wrong, even if it was hard to believe at times. 

He'd seen Roach's emotions in little tics. The twitching of his eyebrow or the slight curve of his lips. The way his voice would waver with anger and grow stronger in victory. Roach hid well. He hid all of those emotions that he had with so much skill. Soap knew better, though. He was smarter when it came to emotions than anyone gave him credit for. He could see right through Roach's walls. 

Sometimes, it was difficult. He would question himself as he watched Roach blow a man's brains out right in front of his family. He wondered if he was seeing things that weren't there as Roach flayed a man alive, desperate for information.

He knew he wasn't imagining things, though. It was just hard to see. It was hard to see because Roach never broke.

Roach gave an annoyed huff through the mask covering the bottom of his face, the puff of heat warming his face for only a short moment. The little huff was the first bit of emotion he'd managed to give since he'd stepped outside to meet Soap and Gaz.

The two were finally back from what was meant to be a short recon mission. Roach could only assume it had turned to shit, considering he'd lost comms with the two about an hour into the job. It was enough of a shock that he'd nearly had a panic attack the moment the comms went out. 

He'd spent an hour pacing around their little base of operations. He kept tugging at his hair and picking at his nails, forcing himself not to move from the room he was in. He knew if he did, he'd immediately make his way out to the van in the garage and try to stage a rescue operation. He hadn't even known if the two needed rescuing. 

His mind, of course, had spiraled. He couldn't help but think of his first life, of that mission where they'd been separated and the comms had been shit. He'd spent his time panicking over it, thinking of what could have happened after smoke and fire filled his lungs and choked the life from his chest. 

He'd run through every scenario. Shepherd's men turning on Soap and Price, gunning them down as they tried desperately to escape the mess they'd been led into. One of the two sacrificing themself for the other, running into the battle as a distraction so at least one of them could get away. 

He knew it would have been Price to do so. He hadn't known the man for long, but he knew him well enough to know that Soap was like a son to him and he wasn't going to risk losing him. From what Soap shared with him in that first life, he knew it was because the man hadn't been able to protect Gaz. He knew he wouldn't be likely to make the same mistake with Soap.

He knew Soap though, much better than he knew Price. He knew Soap wasn’t the type to let that happen so easily. He wasn't the type to let people sacrifice themselves for him. He already felt guilty enough about the deaths he had no control over. Roach couldn't see Soap allowing Price to even think of doing something like that. 

On occasion, he let himself dream that maybe the two made it out alive. Maybe there was some sort of kindness in the universe and only he and Simon were killed that day. Maybe only they had faced the sting of betrayal and the pain of a bullet. 

 He couldn't let himself have even that. He knew that even if the two had survived, even if they'd somehow managed to stop Shepherd, they would have been fugitives. They would be on the run and, knowing them, they wouldn't give up on the mission. They'd keep chasing Makarov until they killed him or he finally killed them. No matter what, he knew they likely hadn’t made it out alive. 

The thoughts never helped him in moments like this. His entire goal had been to stop anything like what happened in the first life from ever happening again. He wouldn't let anyone he cared about be hurt, ever again. Not when he’d been given an opportunity to stop it.

He'd been brought violently back to himself by another tug at his hair, this one much harsher. He hadn't even realized how tight he'd made his grip or how much he was yanking. Not until he pulled his hand back and looked down at the clump of hair laid in his palm. 

He'd stared at it for a long moment, scrutinizing the little tuft and the way his hand shook around it. It was ridiculous. He was behaving poorly, letting his feelings run wild. He couldn't do that, not now, not when he had such an important mission to focus on. 

He'd clenched his jaw in a flash of anger. His teeth gave a painful protest as he grinded them together, taking a long careful moment to come back to himself. He didn't have time for any of this, he needed to try to get communication with the two men back up, to find out what happened and where the two were. If they needed help. 

It was a short walk over to a trash so he could let the hair fall freely from his hand, out of sight and out of mind. He relaxed his jaw and let his face fall into something more neutral, something more blank. No one was around to see, there was no reason for it. But, he knew, he knew that if he didn't do something to hide how he was really feeling at that moment, it would be hard to hide it all later, when he needed to. 

He'd managed to finally get comms back up after another thirty minutes. He only allowed himself a small sigh of relief when both of the men confirmed they were okay and were in their transport. According to them, things had gone tits up.

It wasn't until they'd arrived that Roach got a proper answer about what happened. 

“You're both alright?” Roach gave them both a quick once over, noting a few new scratches and bruises, but nothing that seemed too bad. His eyes traced over Soap's body in particular, checking him for anything that might indicate he needed immediate medical attention. He knew he wouldn't be able to calm himself until his eyes had their fill. The most he'd noticed was the curious way that Soap was standing, clearly favoring one side over the other. 

Roach narrowed his eyes at the man and opened his mouth to question him, he was beaten to it by the man himself, his voice just a bit strained. Just enough for Roach to notice. 

“We're fine, nothing that we couldn't handle.” He gave Roach a toothy grin and Roach noted with careful eyes that his lip was split. “Just ran into a bit of trouble, these guys were a bit more wiley than we'd expected.”

“And what exactly happened?” He tilted his head at the two men, allowing his eyes to temporarily move away from Soap and over to Gaz. He gave the man a quick once over as well and was satisfied to see that the man appeared to be in much better shape than Soap. That was good, at least he could be certain Gaz was okay. 

The two men glanced at one another for a moment and that alone was enough to tell Roach that something had gone horribly wrong. Or, at least wrong enough that the two were concerned about it. 

“They knew we were there.”

“What?” 

Roach could see both of them hesitate, it was Gaz who finally spoke up. “We don't know how, all we know is one second we were just watching, the next second our comms were down and we were in a gunfight.” He motioned toward Soap quickly, “We only managed to get comms back because this one literally tripped over the jammers they were using.”

“Jammers,” Roach did his best not to clench his jaw again, “they knew we were coming.” He crossed his arms over his chest and tried to think of how it could be possible the men knew they were coming. The best he could come up with was some sort of security breach.

They’d been making waves in terrorist circles recently. It was one thing when one person turned up dead, it was another thing entirely when several high-up people in those circles turned up dead. He knew they'd been getting some attention, he just hadn't thought anyone would actually be able to find them.

“It's good the two of you got out.” He resisted the urge to run a tired hand over his face, “If you were compromised, it means we need to pull back a bit. We're being too obvious. Our target can wait.”

The two men glanced at each other again and shifted a bit, as though they were nervous. Roach narrowed his eyes at the two and his eyes drifted back to Soap in particular. Did the man look paler than usual?

“About that,” Soap croaked out, “uh, well, Gaz should explain.” His voice sounded weak and Roach noted with concern that he seemed more tired than he had moments ago. He pushed it down for the moment and turned his attention to Gaz with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, uh, we had an opportunity,” he cleared his throat and glanced at Soap again, “when all the chaos was happening, I guess they decided to try and move the target out. Soap and I happened across their path. And…”

Roach waited for him to continue, but Gaz only shifted nervously again. He gave him another moment of silence before pressing, “And? You ignored them, right? Kept going to the transport?” He paused for a moment, observing the two's guilty faces with rising panic, “Tell me the two of you did not try to take on an entire convoy of men by yourselves.”

The resulting wince from Gaz was answer enough. Roach had to fight down the wave of panic at the thought. He'd been here, safe inside while Gaz and Soap were fighting an entire convoy of men by themselves. All it would have taken was one misstep, one misstep and one of them would have been gone. Dead, and this time their blood would have been on his hands. 

He was panicked at the thought and that alone was enough to fill his voice with a shaking rage as he spoke. 

“What in God's name made you think that was a good idea?” He paused for a moment, taking in a slow breath to try and help the shaking of his voice. “Do you understand how fucking stupid that was? How easily one of you could have fucking died?” His voice rose slowly, “And where would that leave us? With your blood splattered in the fucking snow and no information to go off of. A meaningless sacrifice.”

He nearly spit the words between them, his heart pounding in his chest. He was harsher than he meant to be, and he didn't realize until they'd already escaped his mouth that it sounded as though he didn't care for the fate of the two men in front of him. They wouldn't know that he was angry and panicked because of how much he cared for them. 

“We did get something,” Soap protested. Roach looked over to him and took a reactive step forward. Soap looked as though he was going to collapse. “Show him, Gaz.”

Roach's attention was stolen away from Soap for just a moment, just long enough to watch Gaz turn around and make his way to the van the two men had taken on their mission. He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes as Gaz unlocked the back doors of the van and turned to give him a quick look. He was nervous.

Roach wasn't sure what he was expecting when the man opened the door to the back of the van. He didn't know if he thought perhaps they'd managed to snatch some data or a computer system or something. What he did know, was that he hadn't expected the door to open and reveal the very target the two men had been watching, now bound and gagged in the back of the van. They'd managed to take him. 

It was only with a great deal of self-control that he managed to keep his mouth from gaping open like a fish. This was much better than any computer or intel and, though he was still pissed that the two men had done something so stupid, he couldn't help but be pleased they'd at least gotten something out of it. 

“See,” Soap's voice was smug, even around the clear strain, “it wasn't for nothing.” Roach turned back to him, prepared to say something about how even if they got something it was still too dangerous. Then he saw Soap sway and the blood he wasn't able to hide anymore as it finally soaked through the layers of his jacket and sweater. “It was worth it.”

Soap gave one last sway before his eyes rolled back and his legs gave out underneath him. 

Roach hadn't left Soap's side since he'd been patched up. 

It had been a rush job, quick work between him and Gaz to get the other man inside and onto a bed so they could look over his wound. It was pure luck that the bullet hadn't hit anything important. Any further either way and Roach doubted he would have been able to stop the bleeding and get the wound patched up properly.

He was lucky they were able to close the wound with staples. His hands were shaking far too much for stitches. If Gaz had noticed the way he was shaking as he cleaned blood from Soap's chest, he didn't say anything, a fairly wise choice on his part. 

Roach, for what it was worth, had managed to stay relatively calm while he waited to see if Soap would wake up. Though, he knew that perhaps calm hadn't been the right word. There was no part of him that was calm, but his mind had shut itself down and retreated into a hazy cloud of nothing.

He didn't feel like he was able to think, everything was so foggy and thick around him that he had trouble believing that anything was real. He just felt…wrong. Like he was just going through the motions, not really living, just existing. All while he waited patiently by Soap's bed, checking his vitals and making sure he was getting enough fluids through the IV drip. 

Gaz had offered to take over for him several times. To allow him a break so he could sleep or eat or something. Roach had denied him. He wasn't hungry and he wasn't tired, he just was. He existed only to sit and make sure Soap didn’t die on that bed. That he made it through the night like he was meant to.

There were a few hours, every now and then, when Gaz came and sat with him. He never tried to say anything, he just watched Roach and watched Soap. Roach was sure his own thoughts and worries were weighing on him enough, it was good he didn't try to take on Roach’s as well. 

Soap, luckily, didn't take long to wake up. It was two days before he finally stirred, rising from his forced slumber as Gaz and Roach were sitting at his bedside. He'd come to with a slow groan, mumbles about how hungry he was slipping past his lips before he'd even opened his eyes. 

Roach managed a sigh of relief as Gaz snorted, “Course you'd only be thinking about food after almost dying.” The words were spoken with a bit of laughter and poorly hidden fondness, but after days of nothing they finally broke through Roach's cloudy mind to send a spike of dread down his spine. “Here, I've had some crackers ready for when you'd get up.”

Roach sat quietly, watching to make sure Soap didn't choke on the little bit of food they were going to start him out with. The man practically scarfed the crackers down, making it clear that it had been a good idea to only give him a bit of food at first. It hadn't stopped him from complaining and begging for more. Gaz turned him down without a second thought. 

There was a bit of silence for several long moments, Roach needed to allow Soap to get his bearings before he said or did anything else. So, it wasn't until after he’d watched the other man take several long sips from a glass of water and hold a small conversation with Gaz that he stood. 

The movement caught the attention of both men, their eyes turning to follow him. Roach stood still for a long moment, trying to find the right words. His hands clenched into a fist at his side before relaxing again. He repeated the movement another few times before Soap finally asked, “Roach?”

“What you did was stupid.” There was silence, Soap looked away from him. “Don't do it again. And next time you get shot, tell us instead of waiting until you pass out. You understand?”

Soap gave a slow nod, guilt painting his features. “Understood.”

Another moment passed before Roach turned away from the two men and started toward the door of the little room they were in. He paused in the entryway, his hand gripping the doorframe as though it was a lifeline. He took a moment to breathe before he looked over his shoulder and offered a simple, “I'm glad you're alright.”

He didn't wait any longer before leaving the room and beginning a slow walk toward their little holding cell. He thought now would be the time to try and get some information out of their prisoner. Now that he knew Soap was safe. Now that he knew Soap wasn't going to die. Now that…

The fog that had been lying over him for the past few days seemed to dissipate, rising into his head to gather and gather into a pool of pain and anger and so many emotions he'd refused to acknowledge for the longest time. 

He kept walking forward, pushing his feet to move even as every step felt heavier than the last. He kept moving, it was what he'd been doing for his entire life, there was no reason he couldn't do it now.

His breathing grew labored, his vision seemed to blur. He couldn't understand why. Why couldn't he see properly? He paused then, placing a hand on the wall next to him for support as the gathered fog in his head threatened to expand outward. His chest felt heavy, as though it was going to collapse inward. A part of him felt that his ribs had already given, had already punctured his lungs, and were slowly stealing the air from him, just as the fire and smoke had. 

There was something wet on his face. He brought a hand up slowly, touching his cheek and pulling his hand away slow enough that he could see the tear caught on his finger. Another slipped down his cheek. Then another and another and another and another and-

A sob ripped its way from Roach's throat, so overwhelmingly powerful that he was sent hunching over. His hand found his chest, touching the skin to try and calm his heart. It was going to beat out of his chest, the painful thudding he could feel from his throat to his stomach made him sure of it. He thought for a moment he was going to puke with the pain it brought him.

Air struggled to pull through his throat as he sobbed. A painful cry that would only cease for a split second, long enough for him to take a drag of air that pained his throat with how sharp it was. It was all painful. It was all pain, all of it. 

From his head to his chest to the very tips of his fingers and his toes, he was overwhelmed with the pain. A never-ending thing, worse than anything physical he'd been forced to endure. He'd been burned alive, shot, choked to death on thick smoke and none of it was as strong as this. None of it hurt so much as this pain.

Soap could have died. 

Everything Roach had done, everything he did now, it was all to make a better life. A world away from the danger and the torment they’d all been forced to endure when they'd lived for the first time. And yet, he'd almost lost Soap to it. 

He'd allowed Soap to become a part of his group, a part of his team to stop those fuckers who'd ruined him and everything he loved. In doing so he'd endangered one of the people he cared about most. He'd risked one of the only things he knew that he could gain back from that first life. 

He was disgusted with himself. How could he have allowed that? He had Soap, he only had Soap. He didn't know if Ghost had been born again, if he'd died already, if he was too fucking late to do anything because he was worthless and slow and-

Another breath of air choked his lungs. He reached, with tears blocking his vision and pain in every move he made, not for help, but for a little cord around his neck. For the comfort of three rings he'd designed himself. For the comfort and the reminder of why he did this. Of why he would continue to do what was needed.

There were men out there who wanted to take everything from him. Who wanted to kill and hurt and torture him. To ruin him. And Roach knew, beyond anything, that he wouldn't let that happen. The only answer was to find them first. To burn them before they burned him.

As suddenly as he started, he stopped. 

He stood, his face wiped of all emotion. He didn't bother clearing the tears or their stains from his face. He just started forward again. His footsteps still felt heavy, his chest still hurt, his head was so full he was sure it was going to burst. He kept moving forward. He didn't look back, not in the direction he knew Soap and Gaz were, not to the past, not to anything. He stared forward, his face stoic. 

As he neared the room where their prisoner was, he pulled a knife from his belt. There was no show with it. He didn't twirl it around in his hand or admire the shine. The blade gave him no pleasure. It was a tool, a tool he didn't look twice at. He didn't have time. He kept moving forward, pushing the door open and observing the weakened man in front of him.

He moved forward. There was work to be done. 

[stromblessed]

Mel 🔆, Viktor 🌌, and Jayce 🔥 symbolism

SUN 🔆

Mel's association with the sun is self-evident and still mostly shrouded in mystery, though her love scene with Jayce is notable, which is overlaid with starry imagery, where her silhouette and her freckled face are compared to the cosmos. The sun is also a star. It's just the star that's closest to Runeterra and has the most influence over the world.

Mel and the Hexcore are the POVs of the scene.

Hexcore and starry imagery is more strongly and consistently associated with someone else, though!

STARS 🌟 / THE COSMOS 🌌

Viktor's blue to purple pipeline is real

But seriously, the starry/swirly shapes point toward distant stars, the cosmos, a galaxy. There is no moon in Viktor's night scenes throughout the season, only stars.

Viktor's character regresses as the season goes on (blue to purple, ready to fall into Shimmer-like magenta as his corruption nears its peak).

His hubris opens him up to some kind of corruption by the Hexcore, or by whatever - or whoever - is using the Hexcore as a gateway, like what Jinx points out. Singed as his mentor plants and encourages the lie that Viktor believes, that he's better off alone and that the ends justify the means.

These perfectly ruinous circumstances lead to him getting Sky killed (Sky like sky blue, like Inspiration, lost as Viktor has lost sight of good in his pursuit of great).

In his running scene, Viktor runs not from left to right, filmspeak for progression - he runs from right to left, as though backstepping.

(And also for the Rocky Balboa reference called out in this brilliant post, but hey, I think it all works)

It's also worth laying the foundation that Viktor is a fantasy interpretation of Nikola Tesla, the Serbian-American inventor who was fascinated with electricity, radio signals, the cosmos, and [REDACTED for another post probably lol]

If you've fallen down the rabbit hole of League lore like I have, you might have picked up that peoples and warriors who are sun-worshipers are (at least anciently) tasked with hunting down and destroying Void beings, who are eldritch beings associated with the distant stars, or are Runeterrans constructed by the Void Watchers trapped between realms. The sun fights against interlopers from other dimensions or celestial bodies.

Mel and Viktor have the same ideas about risk and the nature of progress, and they are both technically foreigners living in Piltover and pursuing that progress - in two very different (but complementary) ways. They are most likely the two characters whose literal bodies are celestial, imbued with the Arcane. Their bodies are most likely augmented with magical metals.

Yet the arcane imagery that seems to accompany them respectively are diametrically opposed - Sun vs. Void, possibly. (Also, purple and yellow/gold are opposite or complement colors on the color wheel.)

Whether they wind up working together or whether they clash (as Viktor loses himself) or if it's a mix of both, I think Mel and Viktor are destined to collide in season 2.

So where does this leave Jayce?

FIRE 🔥

Fire for Jayce means more than one thing. The first thing that should come to mind is the fire of the forge. Creation and industry. The legacy and hard work of his family.

However, his FIRST imagery with fire occurs when Elora says "Speak of the devil" and Jayce is framed in flames at Mel's fundraising party.

He's similarly framed in the flames of a Molotov cocktail on the bridge between Piltover and the undercity with Viktor, after he's just called the people of the undercity dangerous.

What I think we're being shown here are Jayce's choices. He can use his talents and influence for good - creation and industry - or he can use them for destruction and oppression. A hammer can create.

A hammer can also be a weapon, a tool of destruction:

Fire can quickly burn and spread out of control.

Hey look, blue all the way to magenta in one scene!

And if you know his original League lore, the reason why his rivalry with [REDACTED] crosses the point of no return - fire and destruction. Yeah.

Jayce is interesting because his point position in the Mel-Viktor-Jayce trifecta makes it tempting to assign celestial imagery to him, too. However, adult Jayce is only present with Hexcore, star, and sun imagery when he is sharing a scene with Viktor or Mel respectively.

The show makes it a point that Mel and Viktor are the reasons he is the Man of Progress at all:

Note that Jayce in the center of his Man of Progress posters is backed by a gear (Viktor) and the sun (Mel). If Viktor had not intervened in episode 2, Jayce would be dead or disenfranchised. If Mel had not intervened in episode 3, then Jayce AND Viktor would have been kicked out of the Academy if not imprisoned or exiled, and Hextech with Jayce and Viktor at the helm would not exist.

(This is reaching, but I like to interpret that the circle + notches in the gear shape are like Viktor's star symbolism, but even if that's the big reach that I think it is, Viktor is a machinist, engineer, and techmaturgist with Artificer parents - the gear definitely represents him on a meta level)

The imagery that I believe is Jayce's and Jayce's alone is that of fire. He is terrestrial, using magic contained within tools the way he has always wanted to bring Hextech to every household, while Mel and Viktor are influenced by magic on a whole other level.

Sure would be a shame if Jayce found a reason to choose the path of destruction and be corrupted further, diverging from Mel and Viktor's core values

Sure would be a shame if Viktor's personal choices had consequences that radiated out further than season 1 and he gets put on a disastrous collision course with everything that Jayce and by extension Piltover hates and fears

Sure would be stressful for us if Arcane decided to be a Greek tragedy about it

Though possibly the most important piece of this picture is how Mel - gold like the sun, gold that doesn't tarnish or rust, gold that is an excellent conductor - has already faced the abyss and said NO to her own corruption:

It sure would be something for her to have to watch Jayce and Viktor go down a different path, huh

[candycandy00]

texasgirl1344 suggested this in a comment on a post I made (Dabi under a lust quirk). It sounded fun so here you go! 

Smut. 18+. Blowjobs, masturbation, fist time sex, etc.

There he is again. That guy who comes into the convenience store you work at and buys a random assortment of snacks, a hood pulled low, casting his eyes in shadow, a medical mask covering his nose and mouth. From his build and the glimpses you’ve gotten of his eyes, he’s pretty cute. He rarely speaks, but he seems nice enough. 

Of course he turns out to be a villain. 

At the end of your shift, you’re taking out the garbage in the alley behind the store when you see bright blue light to your left, further down the alley. The guy in the hood had only left a few minutes ago, and you’re struck by the fear that he’s gotten caught up in something, so you do a very stupid thing. You investigate the bright light. 

At the other end of the alley, you find your cute hooded stranger shooting blue flames out of his hands, his hood blowing back from the air pressure and revealing black shiny hair. In front of him, three charred bodies lie at his feet, smoke rising from their forms. You recognize him now, even with the mask still on. This man is a dangerous, wanted villain named Dabi. You’ve seen clips of him on the news, committing violent acts. 

Your first instinct is to flee, but you don’t want to alert him to your presence, so you try to back away quietly. And your foot hits a metal soda can, making a shockingly loud sound. Because of course it does. 

Dabi turns around and your eyes meet. There’s a brief pause where you both seem surprised and speechless. Then you turn and run back down the alley, some ancient prey instinct taking over your body. 

You don’t get far. He’s on you within seconds, grabbing you by the back of your shirt and jerking you backwards, into his grasp. He drags you over to the brick wall and tosses you against it, then slams one hand into the wall right beside your head. 

“Can’t believe you made a run for it,” he says, sounding slightly out of breath. 

“Please don’t kill me!” you blurt out, your whole body shaking with fear. Should you do it? Should you use your quirk? 

He pulls off the mask and takes a deep breath. “No point hiding my face now, huh? You know who I am.”

You nod. “Y-you’re Dabi.”

“That’s right. And I really didn’t want to kill you, but I can’t have you reporting to the heroes that I’m hanging around this area,” he says, then leans in close. “So what should I do with you?”

You shrink back as far as you can against the wall. “I won’t tell anyone! I swear!” You know saying things like that is pointless. He has no reason to trust you. 

“Sorry, but I can’t just take your word for it, can I?”

You start to sniffle as tears sting your eyes. You have to use it. There’s a risk involved, but it’s better than dying. You start to charge up your power, but you need to buy a few more seconds of time. “O-okay,” you stammer, “but please don’t burn me. You can stab me or bash my head in or whatever, but I’ve always been terrified of fire.”

He stares at you for a moment, then sighs and pulls back a few inches away from you. “Alright, I won’t burn you to death. So stop crying. I’ll just-“

Before he can finish the sentence, you hit him with your quirk. A massive cloud of pink dust explodes from your body, enveloping Dabi and causing him to cough and hack, waving his arm frantically to try to knock the dust away from his face. But it’s too late. He’s already inhaled it. 

Your friends have joked that your quirk reminds them of a skunk, because you once had to use it this way before. A man was trying to rob the store one night and had a gun pointed at your face. You hit him with the quirk and ran off while he was dealing with the consequences. 

Those consequences included a painfully sudden erection that didn’t go away for hours. At least, that’s what usually happened. To be clear, the quirk only makes people so aroused that they can hardly bear it. The quirk doesn’t make them attracted to you in the slightest. In fact, the few times you’ve used it (mostly on accident), the person hit with it ran to the nearest bathroom to furiously masturbate if they didn’t have a lover to run to. But you did realize the potential danger of using it on the wrong person, someone who didn’t care who they fucked and didn’t care about consent. Your quirk didn’t override a person’s mind or values, but someone who already thought nothing of raping someone would be very dangerous under the effects of this quirk. 

Dabi was a villain. It was certainly possible that he was the wrong sort of person to use it on. But it was either this or be killed. 

Presently, Dabi has dropped to his knees, panting heavily, looking down at his crotch in disbelief and then back at you. 

“What the fuck did you do to me?” he asks, his voice strained. 

“It’s a lust quirk. It’ll wear off in a few hours,” you tell him, backing away, getting ready to run back to the store, where a few other employees were still cleaning up before closing time. 

He groans, rubbing at his crotch though his pants. “A few hours?! Fuck!”

You pause and watch him, unable to take your eyes off his face, the healthy parts of his skin flushed red, his soft hair hanging in his eyes, his hand struggling to unbuckle his belt, stilted moans escaping his lips. 

Oh fuck, he’s hot. 

He looks up at you, and instead of looking threatening or angry, he just looks… hungry. Like he’s starving and you have a big plate of food in your hands. His eyes move over you, but he makes no attempt to grab you or even touch you. 

Suddenly you feel sorry for him. You step closer to him and say, “Do you want me to help you to a restroom?” 

He groans and tries to stand up, stumbling a bit. You take hold of one of his arms and help steady him, then you help him walk back to the store. 

The store is empty, and you remember that they had decided to close up early today. You feel like slapping yourself for forgetting, but it does make things less awkward as you lead Dabi to the men’s restroom and into a stall. He flops down on the toilet, fully clothed, and you turn to leave. 

Only, you can’t bring yourself to walk out of the restroom. You hear Dabi’s belt coming undone, and you go back to the open stall, where he’s in the process of unbuttoning his pants. He looks up at you questioningly. 

“Um… can I… watch?” 

His flushed face frowns. “Huh? You a pervert or something?”

“No! I just… Sorry, never mind! I shouldn’t have asked that!” You own face is flushed as you start to leave again. 

“I don’t care,” he says, those eyes looking at you hungrily again. Weird. Your quirk shouldn’t have that effect on him. 

“Really? Are you sure?”

He nods, finally getting his pants open and pulling his cock free. It’s huge, and so hard and stiff, it looks like it’s about to explode. You blush as you stare at it, watching his hand begin moving up and down the length, feeling transfixed as the tip glistens. He has three piercings that look like they were incredibly painful, but somehow they turn you on. You stand there in the doorway of the stall, holding onto the door frame, squeezing your thighs together to prevent the growing wetness between your legs from leaking out, watching this villain stroke his cock. You face is hot, tinted pink, your lips open. You’re beginning to breathe harder. 

Dabi looks at your face and, between ragged breaths, asks, “Did your quirk affect you too?”

“No,” you answer, “I’m immune.”

His eyes pointedly shift to your thighs, where your arousal has dripped down from under your short skirt and is leaving a trail down your leg. You gasp and reach down to try to cover it with your arm, but it’s no use. Dabi has already seen it. You squish your thighs even tighter together and say, “I’ve never watched someone jack off before. I didn’t know it would be so…”

“So what?” he asks, tilting his head back but still watching your face as his arm increases speed and force. The motion is making a wet sound as his hand spreads the wetness from the tip all over the shaft. 

“So… hot.”

He suddenly grabs a handful of toilet paper and covers the end of his cock with it. He groans and closes his eyes, then his whole body tenses. A few seconds later, he pulls the paper away and tosses it in the nearby trash can, exhaling a deep breath and leaning his back against the wall behind him. 

It only takes a moment for him to realize something is wrong and sit up straight, looking down at his still fully hard cock. “What the fuck?”

“Sorry, it’s because of the quirk. I said it’ll last a few hours, remember?”

“You mean it’s gonna stay hard the whole time?” he asks, looking at his own dick as if it had betrayed him. He groans as the feeling of uncontrollable arousal hits him again, and his hand is already beginning to move again. 

You shift uncomfortably in the doorway, your panties so wet that it feels like you’ve peed yourself. “I can help, if you want me to.”

His eyes shift to your face immediately, his hand freezing in place. “What?”

You step closer. “I just thought… since I caused this, I could help. If that’s okay with you.”

He opens his legs further apart and looks you in the eyes. “Do whatever you want.”

He must have expected you to reach down and stroke him with your hand, because he seems very surprised when you drop to your knees in front of him and lean your face forward. You extend your tongue and gently lap at the tip of his cock, causing him to moan. You’ve never even touched a dick before, something your friends tease you about, considering your quirk, but your instincts guide you. 

You close your lips around his cock, swirling your tongue around it as you move back and forward, letting it hit the back of your throat. You feel one of Dabi’s hands on your head, burying his fingers in your hair. You prod one of his piercings with your tongue and his cock twitches in your mouth. This all turns you on so much that you spread your knees apart, pull your skirt up, and shove one hand down the front of your panties. You have a well used vibrator at home but you’re so aroused, your fingers stroking your clit will easily get the job done.  

Seeing you do this must have turned Dabi on as well, because it feels like he just got even harder, if that was possible, and he moans as he presses your head down, making you fight to suppress your gag reflex. Then, all at once he pushes your head down so hard that you feel like you’re choking, and groans as he cums down your throat. 

You swallow it all eagerly, your hand still working between your legs. You only regret that he was so far down your throat when he came, you didn’t get a proper taste of his cum. You want it to coat your tongue. You want to savor it. 

He���s still hard in your mouth, so you don’t pull away even when he moves his hand from your head. You just start moving your tongue around him again, sliding your lips up and down him. You glance up at his face and see him looking at you with a strange expression. It’s unreadable, but he can’t take his eyes off you as you continue sucking him off and pleasuring yourself at the same time. 

You feel yourself getting close to climaxing, so you increase the intensity of your strokes, feeling your body quiver. Finally, you cum, and you let his cock slide out of your mouth just long enough to moan. When he sees this, he suddenly grips your chin and presses two fingers into your mouth, holding it open as he shoots his cum onto your tongue. 

You slide your tongue around in your open mouth, tasting his cum and spreading it all over the inside of your mouth. It’s so good, you think you might get addicted. You pull your sopping wet hand out of your panties, fingers sticky, and reach toward the toilet paper, but Dabi catches your hand in his and pulls your fingers into his mouth, licking them clean. 

He’s still hard. Of course he is. His eyes are looking increasingly wild and desperate, the lust completely over taking him. Soon he’ll be like a feral animal, doing anything and everything to cum again. If you don’t want to be fucked by him, now is probably the time to leave, before he loses himself completely. You stand up on shaky legs and look down at him. He’s breathing hard, one hand starting to stroke himself again, hair disheveled, blue eyes staring up at you. You look at his cock, and you wonder if that monster will even fit inside you. But he has that look again, like he’s positively starving for you, like he wants you more than anything else in the world. 

This man was going to kill you only a little while ago. Now you want his dick to obliterate your virginity. Maybe you’re not so immune to your quirk after all. You reach under your skirt and pull your panties down, tossing them aside. You step closer to Dabi and say, “I can help you some more if you want.”

He reaches up and jerks the skirt down so fast, you almost fall down from the force. He practically tears it from your body, leaving you exposed from the waist down. You feel a quick rush of embarrassment, but it quickly passes. You’ve been staring at his dick all this time. Why be embarrassed by him staring at your pussy? 

You position yourself above his cock, placing the tip right at your entrance. You rub yourself on him a bit, then prepare to lower yourself. “This is my first time, so be-“

He doesn’t let you finish the sentence. With a growl of pure, animalistic lust, he grabs your waist and pulls you down. You’re so slick from cumming earlier that, combined with him pulling you down so forcefully, his massive cock goes all the way in. For a moment, your brain goes complete numb. You don’t breathe. Your eyes go wide as tears fill them. You don’t move a muscle, you just sit there, impaled on his cock, your whole body twitching. Then you gasp, starting to breathe again. You’ve never felt pain quite like that before, but it also feels incredible. You’re so full of him, so warm, you want him to go even deeper. 

His eyes, clouded with desire as they are, stay on your face. “You okay?” he manages to ask 

“Yeah,” you say, “I think you just rearranged my insides, but I’m good.”

He laughs, but his face is still full of lust, arousal. He’s being as patient as he can, but he wants to move. You can feel it in the way his muscles are twitching. 

You take a deep breath and brace yourself, then you start moving, slowly and gingerly at first, just wiggling around a bit, and then you raise yourself up slightly so that you can slide back down. 

Dabi tosses his head back, grunts of “Fuck!” escaping his lips. His hands are still on your waist, gripping the flesh there for dear life. 

After a while, you start to feel more comfortable, so your movements get more bold. You’re riding him now, grinding against him, arms wrapped around his neck. The sounds he’s making almost bring you to orgasm again on their own. Soon after, his whole body stiffens, he moans again, and you feel him cum inside you. How does he have anything left? 

You slide off him and stand in the stall on trembling legs. He must know you need a break, because he starts jacking off again, using the sticky combination of your and his cum, and the small amount of blood from your deflowering, as lube. You watch him, mesmerized by the sight. Eventually he cums again, though only a few drops ooze out. 

He’s still hard, the poor guy. You start to feel sorry for everyone you’ve ever used this quirk on, even the guy who held you at gun point. You had no idea the effects were so intense. 

You have to take responsibility and help him out again. Two handjobs and another blowjob later, the quirk has finally worn off, and both of you are exhausted. You’ve collapsed onto his lap, breathing hard, clutching his jacket. You gather your strength and stand up, picking up your discarded clothing from the floor. 

You glance back at Dabi, who has his head leaned back, his eyes closed. Did he pass out? Should you take this chance to run away? That was the original plan after all. But no, something tells you not to do that. 

“So are you still going to kill me?” you ask, keeping your voice even. 

He lifts his head and looks at you. “I was never gonna kill you. I was gonna threaten you a little and try to scare you into not calling the heroes on my ass.”

“Oh,” you say, feeling stupid. 

He slowly stands up and buttons his pants. “I told you I didn’t want to kill you. Why do you think I keep coming in here?”

You still don’t get it. Maybe your brain is still fuzzy from all the orgasms. “Why do you keep coming in here?”

He gives you a weak grin. “There’s this cute girl who works here. I like seeing her smile when I walk in.”

You blush at that, your own grin spreading across your face. “What a coincidence. There’s this cute guy who comes in all the time but hides his face. I’ve always wanted to know who he is.”  

Dabi laughs as he heads to the sink and washes his hands. You watch him in the mirror, your mind drifting back to all the things you just did with this man. When he’s finished, he opens the door to the restroom. He looks at you over his shoulder and says, “That’s a hell of a quirk you have. Next time, let’s be a little better prepared.”

With that, he leaves. You look at yourself in the mirror. Hair messy, cheeks flushed red, drying cum on your face. All you can think is, “Next time?”

[stealingyourbones]

Bruce isn't the best parent, but a chunk of the issue is that he's an only child. Should he stop Jason and Dick from throwing Damian back and forth like a human ball? Is Tim threatening to bite Cass an issue? Are those death threats serious or not? The poor man is an only child trying to run herd on at least a half dozen feral siblings. He exists in a state of constant confusion.

I.

This isn’t to be mean, but that is simply not the case.

I keep getting bad parent bruce takes and it sucks because all of them aren’t even proper reasoning for his character.

I’m just using you as an example, but hear me out.

Bruce is an extremely smart person, Homie has watched movies and read books, he can learn from situations around him that things are sibling things. Sure, he was excluded as a kid, but that isn’t nearly the main issue why he isn’t the best parent.

homie has so much shit wrong with him, he’s emotionally just not there, he keeps himself stuck in a perpetual state of grief and mourning for his parents of a thing that happened when he was a child, he has been trained by assassins and has experienced loss and pain to an insane extent, he has such an insane extent of paranoia and trust issues that it affects his daily life, is definitely autistic, and has issues with social cues.

I’m trying to properly articulate just why that’s not the case but my brain isn’t working with me so I’m handing this over to my twin @bonebrokebuddy who is far more articulate than me.

———

Hi, it's Billy, Bones's twin writing because Bones had a hard time putting this into words and I'm more of a canon nitpick than her.

Uh- have you ever. And I mean even once, met an only child.

I promise, if you read even a singular comic, you could tell this take is incredibly out of character.

Bruce isn’t a good parent. He’s also not a bad parent. He loves his kids. He literally could not stop them from pulling dumb shit if they tried and putting themselves into danger.

Bruce is the worlds greatest detective. He knows how to spot and detect emotions and trouble in his kids. He’s The Worlds Greatest Detective.

His issue with being a parent likely comes from having Alfred as a father figure. Imagine having a dad that you can fire at any time, you pay so they can stay with you, and can just leave at any moment if they don’t approve of the person they work for. That will severely fuck up a kid.

His issue isn’t that he’s an only child, it’s that it’s every Robin’s god given right to go against and defy Batman’s orders whenever possible because kids are viscous little buggers who don’t like being told “you can’t do that” even if it’s for their own health, they’ll do it anyway.

After you’ve taught your kids how to exist in deadly situations, they think they’re invincible when it’s because Bruce is doing all he fucking can to make sure his kids don’t get hurt. If they feel like they can make the world a better place, they’ll do it, regardless of the risk because they’re inherently self sacrificing and good people.

Bruce’s issue with parenting is due to his relationship with his kids. Again, it isn’t that he’s an only child, it’s that the kids he adopted are their own people and they are even more stubborn and bad at communication as him.

Even more so, it’s due to the dang narrative.

Conflict between Bruce and his kids that cause them to separate has been the backstory for plenty of solo batkid runs to endure Batman isn’t as involved or the main focus of the run.

Narrative tension is literally the cause of all the bad parent decisions for Bruce, because conflict drives narrative or miscommunications cause the story to lengthen and complicate itself

it’s not as easy as “Bruce is bad dad” because he’s Not. Bruce is good with kids! He has a pouch in his utility belt specifically with suckers for kids!

But Bruce isn't a great world star dad either. He definitely inherited his ability to communicate with people outside crisis situations largely from trainers around the world and his arms-length-distance-at-all-times distance relationship with the butler who raised him.

Despite him being good with kids, his kids have lives of their own with morals and opinions of their own that conflict and clash constantly. It’s not a simple case of “Bruce is a bad dad.”

It’s a case of “everyone has slightly different opinions and approaches to situations so occasionally conflict happens when they clash or interfere with each other” because it’s a comic that tells a story!

Anyways, my recommendation? Pick up a comic. And preferably? Read it. Or watch BTAS if it’s more accessible to you. either works. This opinion isn't your fault most likely, just the quality of the DC fan-content you've been consuming that are incredibly removed from the comics. If you want, DM me at @bonebrokebuddy and I can send you some good quality DC fics with in-character Bruce.

————

Bones here again,

That basically sums up the exact stuff I couldn’t properly describe. I was using you more as an example because I have dozens of bad parent bruce takes in my inbox and I am 90% sure that the cause of them is that they simply haven’t read anything about the character.

Read a comic, read some strictly DC fanfiction, watch some of the many many TV shows and animated movies, there are even motion comics free online to watch that have voice acting and everything!

Being an only child doesn’t make you a bad father.

[multific]

The Moment Everything Collapsed

Thomas Shelby x Reader

Summary: Thomas had many enemies, he always feared that they will reach his family, one day on his way home, he had his son in his lap in the car, for afar they could see the smoke.

Tom felt his heart sink as he couldn't help but watch. 

He felt powerless, his struggling toddler in his arms, begging to let go.

But Tom couldn't.

He just watched as the house they once called home was burning. Flames high, he heard the windows crackle and the wood burn.

The memories come flooding back to when it was only an empty property when you said to him that this can be your forever home. How you told him during Christmas the news that he will be a father. Memories of you and him decorating the room for your son. Memories of you sitting by the fire, reading.

So many good memories, yet Tom felt powerless.

"PAPA!" suddenly he heard his son in his arms, slapping and yelling at his father. "MAMA!" the barely two-year-old boy pointed at the house.

Tom knew you were inside, but he couldn't risk going in there, he knew better. 

But his boy kept on begging and crying.

The moment the second floor collapsed is when Thomas lost all sensible thinking. Whoever did this, would pay. Tom lifted his son as he started to walk away.

His heart broke but he knew he needed to focus on his child.

He could mourn you after he killed the people responsible.

---

Two days later, one of his men entered his office, the man, out of breath interrupted a meeting.

"John, how many times do I have to tell you-"

"We found her! She is alive Mr Shelby! She is with the doctor!" John yelled as Tom's eyes widened and he began to run.

Could it be true?

Could it be real?

Were you truly alive?

Little Theodore was already in the room, taken by his trusted men into the hospital and to your room, the young boy, clued to his mother's side, only met his father's eyes for a second.

Tom didn't need to say it, everyone exited the room quickly. He looked you over, finding bandages on your left arm and shoulder, even your neck.

He knew what that meant, but at least you were alive.

"I was in the basement, a part collapsed and the fire got to me but I-" you couldn't even finish as Tom ran to your side and hugged you.

"I thought I lost you." he said as he kissed your hair.

"I told you when you asked me to marry you, it would be hard to get rid of me." Tom smiled into your hair, having you back was everything he wanted and there you were. You pulled Tom in for a kiss and Theo also decided to join, kissing his father's cheek and then yours. You pulled your son in, kissing him as he giggled.

Truth be said, as you watched the flames get bigger and closer, you truly felt like this was your end, you were glad that Theo was with his father at the time it is all you could think about.

You honestly thought you were going to die there, so when you saw the men getting to you, a beam of light emerged and you knew, you will be able to see your boys again.

Taglist: @fleursirvart​ @greenarrowhead​ @thisismysecrethappyplace​ @sincerelyfan​ @theoneanna​ @aestheticsandmarvel​ @rororo06​ @castellandiangelo​ @destynelseclipsa​ @spilledinkindumpster​ @capsiclesdoll​ @puknow​ @alwayshave-faith​ @alex12948​ @lxdyred​  @imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl​ @anonymoussherlockandmarvelgeek​ @praline357​ @trshngyn​ @avengers-r-us​ @violet-19999​ @top1bbgloak​   @manduse​   @jacalineiscomingforyou​  @mandoloriancookie​ @noname2246​

~Masterlist~

ˇAO3ˇ

DO NOT STEAL, REPOST OR TRANSLATE ANY OF MY WORKS  

[kapposuch]

You get in a fistfight

Bad Batch x reader (headcannons)

Warnings: Fighting, Alcohol, Slightly suggestive in some spots, nothing too spicy though

I'm super fucking ill rn and have been recovering from a medical procedure so here's some 100% self serving headcannons about my favourite group of boys because I'm itching for some sort of drama <3

apologies if this isn't great but I'm here to entertain myself for the long run

Scenario

It's an easy going night, and you're all in Cid's parlour, sitting in a booth and relaxing with drinks after a lovely payout from a very high-risk high-reward job. As the night went on, the rowdier you happened to get, as did the remainder of the group of people that had come into the parlour to bet on Omega's killer games of Dejarik, much to Hunters disdain.

An imposing zabrak seemed pretty intent on getting hefty winnings, so when things didn't go his way and he was beaten by the girl with the sunny smile, he too, got rowdy.

You were heading back from the bar with another round of drinks served by Cid, when he grumbled some obscenities towards Omega, to which, you were very much not impressed. Now, you're in no way a helicopter parent over this 5-parent child, but like hell were you letting that slide.

Can't have a Ho-down without a throw-down.

And so, you hit the fuck it button, my personal favourite, and take one of the drinks to pour down his face. A fist fight ensues. Naturally.

Hunter

He wants to be surprised, he really does, but he saw this coming from a mile away

sort of just sits there and sighs, a lil shake of his head as he waits for you to finish this man and head back to them

he is in no way, shape, or form, worried about you. in the same way he'd let his brothers kick up a bar fight without stepping in to help, he'll do the same with you, because clearly, you can handle yourself.

and Christ, can you handle yourself

fists are flying, people are cheering, and Hunter feels a twinge of pride come barrelling towards him

a sort of 'hey, I taught them that' moment

you're honestly having the time of your life, which is valid, but also makes you some what of a target

if someone else steps in to help the zabrak who instigated, he's sure as shit gonna stand up and give them the coldest glare known to man.

you're definitely relying on hand to hand right now, keeping on your toes and being swift, all the while being at least a tad tipsy, which, props to you, Hunter is shocked by your tenacity

the fight doesn't take long to end, especially since you're hyped enough to take on a Rancor. last time he did that, it took Wrecker at least 10 minutes, and all of his own energy to do that

he'll settle you by his side once it's over, and have a sort of look that says 'you really shouldn't have' while he cuddles you tight to his side and takes a swig of his drink

if you're wounded in any way, expect some PDA. while it's not usually his go to, he's not particularly sober so wouldn't mind kissing your knuckles or grazing his fingers across your cheeks to check for cuts or scratches.

if there's anything bad, he'll scoop you into his lap and make sure to rub or kiss you better, and promises to administer first aid whenever you're ready to go

he knows alcohol works like a numbing agent, so either way, you'll be feeling it in the morning. so he may as well let you enjoy the rest of your fun as to not leave a sour taste in your mouth

he's proud as fuck, honestly.

depending on how much he's drank, he'll coo into your ear how much he'd love to 'spar' with you another time to help you out with some techniques.

all the while, snaking his arms around your waist, resting them on your thighs, and giving a light squeeze.

nothing better than some possessive squeezes to ignite the fire in your belly

Wrecker

now,

in most circumstances, this man would just stand up when this asshat throws, or even threatens, to punch you, and that would just about chase anyone away

but he's had some drinks, and wants to witness chaos as much as the next good Samaritan. and who are you to deny the sunshine rainbow boy a healthy dose of chaos

there is a lot of items being thrown, much to Cid's clear disdain, but you don't care. you have claimed a chair and it is no longer for sitting, it's an improvised projectile

you land plenty of hits on this poor sod of a man, before he eventually backs down, all the while Wrecker is experiencing the entertainment of his life

it's hilarious to see someone he'd consider relatively calm lose their shit and start swinging, and to have that person be his? he already knows you have his back no matter what, but you have sealed the deal

"Your hand, I need it. so I can marry you."

"What?"

"Nothing."

you're probably hurt. you threw a chair, hon, you're gonna be hurt, it probably ricocheted and bounced directly off your skull, which

I'm not saying is a good thing, but I'm so glad, it made him keel over laughing. he cares but Christ it was beautiful.

if you come back to him hurt, he'll start pestering Tech to take a look at you, all the while cradling you like a baby and providing you with kisses and compliments on your wild gremlin-like fighting skills

you fit perfectly in his lap, so that's where you're staying, where he can keep you safe and let you calm down from all the excitement.

he's proud. he shouldn't be, because you just about beat that man within an inch of his life, but he's proud.

"That's ma' pardner!"

sounds like a cowboy because since when does he pronounce words properly. we love him though, our big dumb cowboy

you're the chaotic duo no one asked for

if it happens again (it probably will), no holding back. he will start throwing things. including his food if necessary

Tech

he was waiting for this.

saw it coming a mile away

you're not the best at fighting but you're not the worst, so he wants to let it play out, but at the same time, he's calculating the chances of a tipsy, maybe even drunken you winning a fight with someone who's clearly more sober than you are

but he knows better than to underestimate the power of alcohol, and his love of course

most of the time is spent staring down at his holopad, with the occasional glance up to check that you're still physically standing

at some point, he gets bored of not having your presence next to him, so he'll stand and make himself known to your assailant

"I'd recommend sitting back down, y/n. It's clear someone so desperate for masculine validity isn't going to back down until you're giving in."

You look at him with the most confused eyes, having just about no idea what he said, but you know it was a roast as this zabrak has eyes on Tech

now, our sweet boy has no reason to prove himself. he's plenty good in battle, as you've seen, and it's naturally a mistake to try and take on a clone

your foe just about throws himself towards Tech with quite a lot of force, to which goggles simply steps to the side, takes his dance partner by the wrist and thigh, and tosses him over his head onto the floor

you're absolutely gobsmacked

Tech seems utterly unfazed and grabs you by the wrist this time, gently pulling you back to the table, all the while stepping over this poor bastard sprawled on the dirty floor

he sits you down, gives you a once over for bruises or wounds, before getting comfy and diving into his holopad

he shuts things out for a little while, though eventually, a free hand makes its way to lace fingers with yours between you

he'll lean over and whisper as to not interrupt his brothers conversation

"If you like, I'll teach you proper self defence. You're fine on your own, but it'd be smart to learn suitable techniques."

it's endearing, and the sort of compliment that doesn't sound like one, but you know it is, and you absolutely agree to it

anything to spend more time with him

Echo

he's stunned for the most part, considering how calm you often tend to be around him

but he's not seen a bar fight since he was last at 79's with the 501st

a blast from the past, but a welcome one all the same

he's close to getting up and joining you while you're throwing punches, but he decides against it. he'll step in if you need him, so he'll just sit back and watch

considering he's had quite a few, and despite being half machine, he's still got the guts and brain of a clone, he's happily tipsy

some of the patrons don't seem so happy to be dodging a fight between a complete gremlin and a man with a dick smaller than your pinky nail, and you get a few threats from others mid fight

you're already too focused on your swings, dodging here and there to notice the words

Echo noticed though

now, he promised himself he wouldn't get involved, but now that you're getting threats to be ganged up against?

no sir.

he's swearing like a sailor, honestly. throwing a few 'shit's and 'bastards' here and there as he grumbles his way over to you

the zabrak eventually notices he's got what looks like a tank of a man hounding up the way behind you, and gradually raises his hands, asking to drop the fight

you have no idea Echo is now behind you, and with a healthy swing, you get a nice crack to your foes jaw

and down he goes

everyone gets back to it and your opponent, slumped on the dirty floor where he belongs, is left to sit

by the time you realise Echo is behind you, he's already chuckling, snaking his arm around your waist to pull you to his chest

he's mighty proud of you for handling the situation, and tells you he came for moral support, or defence if anyone else got involved, leaving you giddy

"good job, mesh'la, maybe you could... show me some of your moves another time?"

leaves a rough kiss on your cheek, almost as if to say to the rest of the parlour, 'this ones mine'

confident drunk. change my mind. I dare you

he's a bit too whizzed to check you for injuries, but so are you. you're not feeling anything but a flame in your belly as you sit down with him, almost on his lap

he won't let you go for the rest of the night, always reaching around you to pick up his drink to take a sip. his arm will not unwrap from you. you're stuck with him

I don't think you mind, though ;)

Crosshair

he really wants to care

but Jesus Christ he's had enough of this shit from the good ol' days with the rest of the 99'ers when wrecker would throw his food tray

but honestly? entertainment factor just went up

watching his drunk little partner stumble around with a switch blade, god knows where you got it from, was so funny to him

he's doing his best to hide his grin, but considering his brothers are all far to drunk or unbothered to point it out, he lets go and simply gets comfortable

eventually, your swinging slows out of exhaustion, since you're pretty sleepy from the mission

cross notices pretty quick, and considers getting up

he waits a moment more to see what the zabrak does, until his grimy, dirty hand grabs your bicep

oh no. not a chance, buddy.

Cross still doesn't move from his seat, but simply pulls his own tactical knife from it's sheath and it absolutely flies across the room

in the zabrak's bicep

all's fair, right? he touches you, he gets punishment, yeah?

the zabrak just about screams and rips the blade from his arm, blabbering on about how the pair of you are crazy, before running off

you, still a tad weary, pluck his blade from the floor and look over to a very possessive looking Crosshair, whom is patting the space of the booth beside him, silently demanding you sit

you do as your told, snuggling into his side, and he simply leans down with a quiet whisper

"if you wanted my attention, all you had to do was ask, cyare."

his arm is snaked around you, and his hand comfortably glued to your thigh.

he's not letting you out of his sight

and god, he's glad he gave you a switch blade. maybe you need lessons

he'd happily oblige on the conditions that you... return favours for him

[k1ngpin42]

Hey guys, this is my first post so I’ll need to set up some ground rules, feel free to skip.

First of all I write NSFW/18+ content, but I will write other content upon request. If you are a minor, evaluate whether or not you will interact with my content at your own risk, but if you find it innaproopitate, please scroll.

I’m an Abby girly, but this is just a Dina fic to test the waters, a full Abby NSFW fic will be released on my page soon too. 

The plot dragged on more than I would have liked, I’ll have the smut in bold if u want to skip to that ;)

———————————————————

Comforting Dina after Ellie leaves

You were relatively new to Jackson. You had been picked up by Jesse’s patrol when moving through a dangerous part of town and had been offered a place there if you could pull your weight. You are a good shot, and cook, for that matter, so finding your place wasn’t too difficult. Still, you felt like an outsider to people who had been there most or all of their lives, and Dina was one of the people who made the adjustment the smoothest. 

You always felt safe with her, and had even developed feelings. When you watched her kiss Ellie that night in town, you let your heart break for the last time before moving on. 

At least, you thought you had moved on. You still thought about her every day, even if you tried to push the thoughts away.

You were coming back from a regular supply route when you spotted a girl on a horse. She had beautiful, silky black hair in a bun and was wearing a pale yellow flannel. 

Was that…?

“It’s Dina!” Someone called excitedly from the gate. 

A sharp sensation ran through your body and you found yourself letting out a shaky breath you weren’t aware you had been holding.

Dina. The girl who in the middle of a fucking outbreak, has more fire than a group of soldiers combined. The girl who makes dumb jokes that only she could make sound so sweet. The girl who’s smile was brighter than any light the fireflies so desperately wanted to find, the girl you…liked.

You pull the reins and approach the gate swiftly, leaving your patrol group behind. 

When you dismount at the gate and lock eyes with her, it was as if all your pain was, not forgotten, but almost gone. As if Dina had stuck bandaids over the wound.

 Dina lets out an excited gasp and runs at you, holding you in her arms tightly.

“I was hoping you’d be here.” She speaks quietly, still smiling as she pulls away from the hug. You nod, barely looking into her eyes as you feel the heat rush to your cheeks.

“Is everything okay? Why’s Ellie not with you guys?” You ask as you plant a soft kiss on JJ’s forehead. 

A pale look touches Dina’s ordinarily warm features, and you know immediately what that look implies. 

“Oh…oh I’m sorry I didn’t mean to-“

“It’s fine. She’s gone.” Dina says, forcing a soft smile and ignoring the tears in her eyes.

“We’ll have a patrol pick up your stuff tomorrow.” Mariah says, approaching Dina and giving her a hug herself. 

Mariah walks behind you, leaning in to your ear. 

“Look after her, you’re dismissed from your duties today, your only job is putting a smile on that girl, okay?” She whispers, and Dina seems too lost in her own head to notice. 

You nod. “Of course, thank you.”

You take her hand and lead her through the town.

“You hungry?” You ask, eyes wide with worry. She nods.

“Yeah, actually, but I don’t really want to be smothered by people right now.”

“Oh, sorry do you want me to-“

“No, I want you to stay.” She reaffirms, and you nod, still feeling considerably nervous.

You walk past the butcher and the man working there smiles brightly.

“It’s great to have you back Din’s!” Dina forces a smile again.

“Yea…thanks.” She says.

“Uh…What can I get you guys? It’s on me today.” The man says again. You nod and look at the options.

“I’ll get some of those sausages and I know it’s a stupid question but, do you have any steak?” He laughs.

“The answer to that would be no, but Dina can have my sandwich, I was saving it for later but it’s the real good stuff, had to give some trading cards and ammo but, I’m only the cook, what would I do with ammo anyways.”

“Kill me some steak maybe?” You remark, making Dina smile. 

“I’m pretty sure he would kill the cow…I don’t think you can “kill steak” Dina informs her, an amused expression still evident. 

“Potato potato Dina.” She turns to face the man again.

“What’s in it?” Dina asks. 

“Premium pork-“

“She’s Jewish…” You say, instinctively. She looks at you and the man just has a confused expression.

“So…?”

“Well Jewish people typically don’t eat Pork or…shellfish, so-“

“Oh sorry, I didn’t know. 

“How did you know that?” Dina asks. You shrug. 

“You told me you were Jewish so I read a book about it.” You explain, matter-of-factly. She looks impressed, but doesn’t say anything.

The man hands you the bag with the meat inside.

“Thanks.” You say, leading Dina away again.

“Is there anyone you want to say hi to?” You question. You can hear the snow crunch under your feet. She shakes her head.

“Not today, not like this.” You nod.

“I’ll take you back to yours then, grill you up some lunch. Smothered in onion right?”

“The smellier the better.” She laughs weakly. 

When you get to her place, the cold air hits you square on and you both shiver.

“Fuck it’s cold.” Dina remarks, and you can’t help but laugh at her bluntness. 

“I’ll get a fire going.” You tell her, taking the lighter out of your pocket. You turn the power on and put the sausage in the fridge.

“I really need a shower…” Dina admits, and you turn to look at her again.

“Uh…alright, yeah I’ll just…I’ll just wait here.”

“Thanks.” She says, walking up to her room and folding up some clothes by her bed. 

You then see her turn on the hot water generator and step in to the shower. 

You wait by the fire for 5 minutes, then 10. Then, a faint voice over the bathroom exhaust. 

“Hey can you come in here please?” You stand up, nervously and make your way to the bathroom, opening the door only a fraction and turning around so you can’t see her. 

“I’m here…” You explain, your voice sounding more high pitched than usual and making you cringe. 

“I couldn’t find a towel and it’s freezing out. Can you try and find one for me?” She asks. Your cheeks, now a new shade, shape into a nervous smile.

“Of course, where should I look?”

“My room, it’s at the top.”

“Sure.” 

————————————

When you return, you see Dina, completely exposed, standing in front of you out of the shower. 

You immediately turn around and shut your eyes, bumping into the door during the commotion. She chuckles.

“Turn around.” She instructs, and you do so with your hand over your eyes. Dina rolls her eyes, grabbing your hand and placing it back down.

“What are-“ You don’t even know what to say, you don’t even know what words are anymore. Instead, you just admire her body, the way her complexion paints her body like the artwork it is. The way her hips curve out ever so slightly in ways that her devilish clothing concealed. 

“Why didn’t you write me?” She asks, trying not to smile at your currently dropped jaw.

“I um…” With her permission, you now glance at her breasts. You try to convince yourself you’ve never thought about what they might look like before, but you give up trying to convince yourself of that and decide they are more beautiful than anything you have or could have imagined. 

“Did you not get my letters?” She asks, and now you look back to her eyes.

“Um…I did.” You admit, feeling the heat spread to the back of your neck now.

“Ah, so you just didn’t want to respond?” You roll your eyes.

“That’s not it.” 

“Then what?” She asks, sounding more angry than you would have thought. She lets out a deep breath.

“I thought about you all the time, you know? Did you ever think about me?”

“All the time. But how was I supposed to respond? ‘Dear Dina, I’m so happy you and your girlfriend decided to raise sheep and a baby together away from everyone, I’d go visit but I have duty, send my regards to Ellie?’ 

“Okay, okay, but you could have at least kept me informed, tell me about your life, I mean you could have been dead for all I know.”

“You wouldn’t have believed that.” 

“Don’t be so full of yourself. You may have never missed a shot with a rifle, you may not be the kind of girl to go into a house without taking out every single infected first, but I hate to break it to you, you’re not invincible. As unlikely at it would have been, you could have been dead.”

"Fine. But you wouldn’t have cared what I had to say anyway. ‘Dear Dina, I woke up, had breakfast, went on patrol with another stranger who I wished on everything was you instead, but they weren't. I went home, showered and slept like I do every day.”

“I would have cared. I do.” She mutters. You sigh.

“Well I’m sorry. It was just hard for me, hearing you so happy with someone so…” 

Dina’s eyebrows raise.

“Yes?” 

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have.”

“Finish your sentence.” Dina argues. You take a deep breath.

“Stupid. She was stupid to have left you, I never would.”

“Yeah well, Joel was the only person Ellie loved.”

“You don’t really believe that…”

“Well to think she truly loved me and chose to leave anyway for a bit of revenge hurts even worse.” You don’t know what to say, you just nod and hand her her towel. She tosses it on the ground.

“Want to hear what I left out in my letters?”

You’re still blushing over her naked body, but nod.

“sure.”

“Dear (reader) I’m trying to be happy with Ellie and JJ and yet all I can think about is you. Sometimes Ellie treats me like I’m nothing and I know why she does, but it hurts to think how well you would treat me if you were here. You’d probably tell me, “it’s okay…” She pauses. “I’m here…” You’d say.” You don’t know how to react to this, so you just keep listening.

“Dear (reader), Ellie left today, and even though it hurt, like nothings hurt before, I feel like a horrible person.” You walk towards her, looking upset at her words.

“Why would you feel like a horrible person?” Dina lowers her head, looking ashamed.

“Because even though I did love her, when she left it felt freeing, and then I saw you at that gate and it felt as if the part of me she took was never really gone at all.”

“Dina…”

“No, don’t fight it.” She says, grabbing your face and placing a warm kiss on your mouth. You sink into the heat of the kiss, tasting her more passionately now. You pull away from the kiss and you see her eyes, consumed with darkened lust.

“Dina.” You say again, more stern this time.

“You broke up with Ellie only a few weeks ago, you’re still hurting and I will NOT be your rebound. Not when I have spent almost an entire yer lo…” You stop yourself.

“You mean a lot to me Dina, I’m not going to ruin this-“

“Please.” Dina says, kissing your neck and making your legs feel weak as a result.

“I’ve been craving you for longer than you could ever realise. I didn’t even truly know till…till I saw you just now” She says between breaths, wrapping her arms over your neck to pull you into a hug. The warmth of her bare skin is elevating, and it feels like every sensation you experience is heightened. 

“I’m not going to take advantage of you Dina.”

“You think I’m unattractive?” She asks, and you pull away from the hug, putting a hand on her face.

“Dina, when I look at you I don’t just see my best friend, I see the most beautiful of women. The girl I have liked since I first came to Jackson.” You explain, feeling emotional to bring these thoughts to words. 

“You are a rare jewel, and I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret.”

“I know you think I’m not acting on logic, but there has always been something between us. Ellie…she was like an addiction, something I thought I needed to function. I always had to be one way with her, but with you I feel happy, safe. I’ve dreamt of this ever since Ellie and I broke up and I spent the whole ride here just wishing you would feel it back.”

Smutttttttt ya’lllll

—————————————————————

“I….don’t want you to regret this.”

“Then don’t give me anything to regret.” Dina speaks smoothly, kissing you deeply again. You sigh into her mouth and let your tongues dance as your hands slowly lower to her shoulders, your fingers gently trailing her cold skin, still damp and glistening with small water droplets.

You push her back against the sink, the air between you two barely existent as you gasp excitedly and desperately between kisses. 

You lower yourself, putting yourself into a position between her legs.

“Can I?” You ask, and Dina gleams at the indication of what you want to do, her head leaning back with anticipation. 

You take a moment to admire her cunt, drawing a line between her folds all the way up to her clit with your thumb.

She’s already wet. You can tell by the way your finger glides in, the way she glistens, it turns you on even more, if that were possible. Then, with your thumb still on her clit, you start doing tricks with your index finger, enjoying the sounds of her shaky breaths as you finger her with just the tip of your index finger.

You continue with your fingers, pushing your entire index finger inside this time. She cries out, moaning in pleasure. You remove your finger and suck your index and middle finger before putting them both inside her. You doubt it would have made a differences, she was so wet anyway it would have gone in like two pieces of a perfect puzzle. After caressing the inside of her cunt with your fingers for a few minutes, you decide to finally feed the burning desire to taste her, to feel her come undone on your tongue.

Without so much as a warning, you start eating away at her cunt, sucking and licking sloppily, savouring every inch of her like it’s a 3 course meal.

“F….fucking h… mmm…” Dina struggles, biting her middle finger softly in a barely successful attempt of suppressing the sounds escaping her lips. 

You smile, using this as an excuse for more air before going back and attacking her again with your tongue. She tastes so fucking good. You could get drunk off the taste, in fact, you would be a fucking alcoholic if that was the case.

“Oh shit…Oh sh…mmm….so-“ She struggles, letting out a deeper moan this time. “good.”

You move your tongue faster in circular motions on her clit while sucking on her lower lips at the same time. By this point, anything Dina tries to say is inaudible, replaced with fast paced moans and whimpers.

“S….s…mmm…..so..clo-“ She cries out. You don’t stop. You keep going even after it pulses in your mouth and your throat is filled with your new favourite taste. The taste of her.

When it becomes too much for her, she pulls your face away, breathing deeply, eyes slightly shut from the overstimulation. 

“Was that…” You hesitate, face red. “Good?” Dina laughs.

“Fuck off.” She manages, still in a stage of ecstasy. 

“I don’t want to move too fast or anything but…do you want to have…” You say, clearing your throat “um…” Dina smiles again, nodding.

“Fuck yeah.” With this, you pick her up and bring her to the bedroom just outside the door. As soon as you two are on the bed, she practically tears your shirt off, immediately kissing all over your body. She flips you so her body is on top of yours. 

“You look so fucking hot Dina…” You breathe out as she bites down slightly on your neck. She rolls her eyes playfully. 

She pulls off your underwear, tossing it on the floor beside her bed.

“I want to do it to you too.” Dina says casually, and you initially feel insecure about letting her, but you agree.

“Mm.” You say as she disappears under the covers. You then feel her hands pulling your legs apart and you help part the way for her. You practically shiver as the starts tonguing your pussy delicately, with a lot more precision than when you did it to her, as if starved. 

She then started sucking and the moan that left your mouth was instantaneous. She keeps going and you feel yourself started to soak as you claw on to the bed sheets below. 

“Feels so good.” You say, and she keeps going till you feel your body tremble and pulse. She looks up at your, feeling satisfied with your expression. She wipes her mouth with her thumb and then sucks on it for a second, maintaining eye contact with you.

So goes back to the previous position, pulling your body down so it’s below her.

“It’s still cold.” She states as the bareness of your bodies connect. You smirk beneath her.

“Whatever will we do about it?” 

“Just shut the fuck up and fuck me.” She orders, and so you let her have her way. 

She pushes your leg down and positions herself so she is sitting over it, then you feel her pussy rub on yours and your eyes immediately roll back at the sensation. Without the pleasure of your clit even in the equation yet, you feel as if you’re melting. 

Then, she pulls you in closer, moving you just right and making you moan desperately. 

“Dina please…” You sigh out as she moves her hips painfully slow in a circular motion.

“J…just like that.” You say again. 

Her hands are on your thighs when she starts to pick up speed. She’s moaning too now, her beautiful features looking even better covered in sweat and pleasure. 

“Faster….please?” You ask, your voice sounding more helpless than you would have liked. She continues at her current pace, a cruel smirk on her mouth.

“This…” She gasps, riding the sensation. “Is for not stopping earlier when I had already…” You try to increase your own pace and she shoves your legs back down with her full body strength. 

“You can come when I say.” She gasps, wrapping her fingers softly around your neck. 

“You like that?”

“Mmm.” You reply, eyes closed shut. It isn’t long before a familiar sensation stirs in the pit of your stomach, as bad as you wanted to come, and also didn’t want this to end, it was the best and most conflicting thing you had ever experienced. , 

Dina finally complied and went faster, and you sing out a chorus of moans and whispers.

“I’m gonna cum…” Dina says, still holding you close. “Cum with me.” She says again. You nod, kissing her quickly as you both release on top of each other, liquid lining your bodies and trailing down onto the bed. 

You just hold each other, ignoring the stickiness of the situation and letting comfortable silence fall before you too fall back onto the bed, looking into her eyes fondly. 

“Do you…regret it yet?” You ask. She shakes her head. 

“The only thing I regret is wasting all that water, I’m going to need another shower after all that…excitement.” You both laugh. You lean into her ear and whisper, “We can save water by showering together?” Her smirk widens and she nods.

“The things we do for this town.”

“Mhm.”

[climbthemountain2020]

Flame of Autumn - Chapter 3

Part 4/25

Also on Ao3!

Eris

Of all the days Eris had lived to see, he’d somehow never imagined his own wedding day. He was strangely nervous. He would have never entered into a marriage of his own volition–he had told himself long ago that his love wasn’t worth risking the lives of anyone else, and definitely not someone he cared about. He knew arranged marriages were incredibly common amongst noble families, but after the failure with Morrigan, centuries passed and nothing else happened. He’d hoped he’d continue to just go unnoticed, and maybe Beron would continue to forget his marriage potential. It seemed his time had run out.

Eris wasn’t ignorant of how arranged marriages within the noble families worked. He’d known he would have no say in his bride, but he had thought he might at least know her name or face before he they met at the end of the aisle.

Eris knew her party had arrived the previous afternoon. He’d been out on business, but had seen the servants unloading the carriages when he’d returned. While he had never met his bride, he’d had the unfortunate displeasure of knowing who her uncle was. Donal Beck was an unpleasant man–stout and ruddy. He was the younger brother of a noble line, always scrabbling for more land, more power, more, more, more. He himself had never married or had children, but he was a known skirt chaser in the villages of his territory. He used his station and money and threats–and clearly not his looks–to secure the pleasure of females. When he visited the Forest House, he split his time between terrorizing the female guests and servants and cowing to Beron’s every whim. It was pathetic.

Eris, however, knew absolutely nothing about Donal’s niece. Apparently, she’d been the heiress of Donal’s late brother who had died in the war with Hybern. He remembered having met the male long ago, though he stayed mostly to his own territory to the north. He did, however, know of his recent prowess in the battle against Hybern. People of Autumn had spoken of it for weeks–the rampaging swath of death that was Kieran Beck. He’d single-handedly taken out massive battalions with his fire and his sword skills. He’d died on the battlefield that day. Eris remembered hearing his wife had died centuries before, leaving him with just a daughter who Eris may or may not have met once in his youth–he’d need to do some subtle digging–but he assumed that his bride must be that daughter. He hoped she’d have a thick skin. She’d have to in order to survive here.

Eris stared into the mirror, straightening his collar and tunic below it. He pulled his sleeves down and secured the amber cufflinks. He shook out his hands. He hated this nervous energy. His chest felt like a great weight sat upon it, making it nearly impossible for him to take a breath.

Would she look at him and find him lacking?

Stop it.

He had to get control of his thoughts. It was stupid to think of this as anything other than a transaction. That horrid, acrid voice rolled around in his head.

How pathetic to think you could find happiness with someone. Weakness.

He shuddered and rolled his shoulders. He couldn’t manage to shake that tiny spark of hope.

Would it be so terrible to hope for a friend?

His mind warred with itself. He’d been alone for so long. In all likelihood, Eris knew she would probably be one of the vapid girls of Autumn dying for a raise in status like so many who had been thrown at him over the years. Every event, ball, equinox, female after female was dressed and painted and paraded in front of him like cattle. He hated it. They were all horribly shallow girls who saw him only as the heir. Why would this one be any different? She was, after all, from the same circle of nobles that those girls frequented.

He quashed his hope like a bug beneath his heel. They would meet, marry, and produce a child. How hard could it possibly be to copulate and wash his hands of it? It’s not like he hadn’t regularly found release in the hundreds of years of living. This one would just be attached to him a bit more legally.

Eris could already feel a headache forming behind his eyes.

Do not let this distract you from your purpose. This is a means to an end.

He would never be cruel like his father, but it would be foolish to entertain the idea that this stranger might become something more to him.

And Eris couldn’t afford any slips like that.

Matilda

Matilda frowned at herself in the mirror. The staff had spent hours today painting her face a litany of stupid colors, shoving her into an Autumn dress of lace, and ripping her hair at the root to make her into a presentable bride.

The dress itself was gorgeous, lace from stem to stern, and actually did make her smile. The neckline plunged to her chest, showing a bit more chest than she would have chosen for herself, but the intricate lace wove tightly down over her arms, flaring into a bell sleeve at the wrist. It corseted around her waist, then bowed back out into a waterfall of beautiful fabric inlaid with pearls sewn all the way down. It was by far the nicest thing she’d ever worn.

The makeup and hair, however, were a nightmare. She waited for the last of the staff to leave then locked the door. They’d been so strange–refusing outright to speak to her, even when she asked questions. She wondered if all the staff here were that way.

She hurried to the bathroom, found a cloth, and began to scrub furiously at her face. Today began her servitude for the rest of her life, but she’d be damned if she’d go into it looking like a painted jester. They’d covered her freckles entirely and painted a deep red onto her lips that aged her centuries. She wiped everything but the kohl around her eyes, then dried her face.

Much better.

She also had to admit she found the rooms absolutely beautiful. The entire suite she was in was made of rich wood, polished until it shone. The colors were the deep, beautiful greens, browns, and reds of Autumn. Frankly, they reminded her a lot of her father’s house. She hadn’t slept the night before, kept awake by nerves for today and memories of her father and mother. She sent a little prayer to whatever afterlife there might be and whatever gods might be listening that they would keep her safe.

Tonight would be her wedding night, which in and of itself was a worry enough for her. She hoped that Eris didn’t expect her to be a virgin at five centuries old; he would be sorely disappointed. The whole week she’d wondered what he’d be like. She tried to stop herself, knowing that the worrying would be of no use to her, but it was impossible to not think about it.

After arriving yesterday, she’d been seen to her rooms, then hadn’t encountered anyone except the staff who brought her dinner, then breakfast, then lunch and got her prepared for the ceremony. She’d eaten alone, though she could hear people milling about in the hallways outside her doors all night while she tossed and turned. She did have a turn in the beautiful bathtub with water that was deliciously hot against her skin, the heavy copper tub holding the heat against the chill of the air. The floors of the guest suite had been covered with thick rugs to hold heat, too, so perhaps she’d find some silver linings to living here.

She had no idea where anyone was, or if someone would come and fetch her for the wedding itself. As if reading her mind, a knock sounded on the door. She took one last look at herself and found her reflection to look much braver than she felt. An escort had arrived to walk her to the ceremony.

The male did not speak to her at all, but he seemed friendly enough. He’d had an almost-smile on his face as she’d answered the door, and that seemed to be about all she would get out of the staff here in Autumn. He had dark, chestnut-colored hair that shone as they passed the windows. The sun was setting and it cast the halls in deep oranges and reds, making sure she remembered exactly what seasonal court family she was marrying into. He stopped as they reached an archway leading out to what appeared to be a courtyard, and she took a deep breath to step through it.

The music began as Matilda got her bearings, took one more deep breath, then looked up the long aisle where she would meet Eris Vanserra, her betrothed.

Time stood still as her hazel eyes met his amber ones. She was supposed to be walking, but she’d stalled out when she laid eyes on him. A gentle push against her lower back snapped her back into the present and set her into motion.

He was astonishing, and by the look he was giving her, she might be inclined to think he felt the same about her. His beauty was cold, and sharp, and absolutely stunning to behold. His wine-red hair curled and tousled into a perfectly placed pile on top of his head, and it reminded her of the deep red leaves of her home. His eyes were pools of honey, the russets, yellows, golds, and browns of the foliage of their court merging to form the most depthless eyes she’d ever seen. Her heart beat out of time as she beheld him, feeling the tiniest needle of hope at how attractive she found him.

He was dressed impeccably, his clothes tailored closely to his body that must have been wrapped in centuries of honed muscles. He didn’t command the armies of Autumn without training for that kind of role. His hands, however, seemed strong yet delicate–the long fingers graceful as they clasped in front of him.

He parted those hands and held one out to her, his ivory skin freckled and shining in the setting sun. Looking back into his eyes, she reached out and tentatively took his hand, heat zapping through her at the contact in the way only Autumn magic could. Despite her having hidden hers for almost 500 years publicly, her magic begged to dance with his. His hands engulfed hers with a warmth that heated her through, and she was reminded of her father’s warm, loving grip.

She’d foolishly let the hope bloom in her heart, but perhaps this was a sign that things might be okay. Matilda laced her fingers through his and prayed that the open, earnest look in his eyes wasn’t just for show.

Eris

Beautiful. She was the most beautiful creature he’d ever beheld.

When she’d rounded the corner of the courtyard, it had felt as though his heart had seized in his chest and then abruptly taken off flying without him attached. She was absolutely astonishing.

Her gilded red hair shone in the sunlight like a halo, matching the fall flowers she gripped tightly in her dainty, lovely hands. Her face was like beholding the sun directly–her eyes focused straight on him made him feel like all the sentient thought had been knocked from his head. They were the most beautiful hazel he’d ever seen, like the rich forest floor, lined by dark, thick eyelashes. As she got closer, he saw the constellation of freckles across her nose and cheeks and was overcome with the urge to count each one.

Breathe, Eris. Control. Get back in control.

He forced a breath into his lungs, but he couldn’t look away from her. It was as though his entire universe had narrowed to this one point of contact; nothing else mattered. He compelled another breath into his lungs and desperately tried to regain use of his brain as he reached for her hands, but the zap of magic when he touched her echoed through the empty chambers of his heart and clanged all the way through his lonely body. The hope reared its ugly head, and he was a goner.

The only thought Eris could force through his head was that he hoped his hands weren’t sweating all over hers. He couldn’t even imagine the thoughts he’d been having just an hour ago about tolerating her presence.

Please, please don’t be tedious and shallow.

She quirked an eyebrow at him as though she’d heard his thoughts and he involuntarily huffed a laugh, shocking his own eyes into widening.

As he stood there, looking at this female that was about to become his wife, he knew with more certainty than he’d ever had before that he would do everything in his power to treat her kindly, to show her warmth and joy here. Something had changed within him in these last few moments, and there was something about her, past her unequivocally beautiful exterior, that told him she was special–different.

The priestess began the opening remarks, the welcome, but Eris was still staring squarely at her.

“We’re here today for the joining of Eris Vanserra and Matilda Beck…”

Matilda.

He rolled the name around in his mind, memorizing the sound of it, the feel of it. It felt right, as though it belonged there. He repeated after the priestess when asked, his eyes never once leaving Matilda’s. When it was her turn, her lilting voice blew through him like a gale of wind through the woods.

They spoke together–“You are mine, and I am yours. From this day, until the last of our days, and then on into eternity.” And Eris could have sworn the entire world shifted on its axis. He knew he would be hearing that infernal voice in his mind any moment telling him to stop being so weak, so pathetic, but for once he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

Without thinking, he brushed a hair off her face, tucking it behind her ear, and her lips parted in a surprised smile. Eris Vanserra, perhaps for the first time in his entire life, was left entirely speechless. The priestess spoke that they may kiss to finalize their marriage, and though it was chaste, that petal-soft press of her lips to his had sealed his entire fate. In mere moments, his life had been changed irrevocably. There was no use fighting the glimmer of hope that burned brightly inside of him now.

He could dare to be happy.

Eris couldn't help but feel like the world was transforming in a way he had not been prepared for. He was stuck within the pull of the tide, and not one single piece of him wanted to fight it.

Matilda.