#but it is without fail the thing everyone who looks in my fridge comments on

[kirayaykimura]

im begging, pls explain the nail polish in the fridge thing!! is it to make it like,,,keep for longer? and if so how did you figure that out, i'm genuinely SO curious!!!

i like drinking the polish cold rather than at room temperature

[samcatcher]

When in London.

Chapter 6. masterpost.

I awoke suddenly that same night and something dawned upon me to check my phone. It was 1:17 AM. After a few seconds of waking up, I discovered the urge I had was due to the constant vibrating, pinging and ringing from Jean. There was so many notifications everyone at home probably thought I had an alarm going off that I was sleeping through. It was just Jean obsessively ringing me over and over.

I turned towards the wall and tried to ignore the constant ringing, but I couldn’t. It had been ringing now for 20 minutes, and I know that everyone in the house could probably hear it, and even if I put it on just vibrate, the vibrating would be just as annoying.

I answered the phone, and just as I expected, there was shouting. I didn’t say a word, I just listened, analyzing what he had to say.

“Ces derniers jours, j'ai commencé à avoir l'impression de ne plus t'aimer du tout.” He stated. Monotone. It made my jaw drop in shock.

-These past few days, I've started to feel like I don't even love you at all.- is what he said.

I told him that he doesn’t mean that. I told him I hadn’t done anything but what I wanted to do, and I told him that if he can’t accept that, he should leave me. I opened up about the way he made me feel. Explaining that over the past few days, I have felt like he doesn’t know who I am. And he has surely been treating me like he didn't like me. After I had done absolutely nothing wrong. All I did to him was accidentally respond to a message in English. All I did was fall asleep without telling him. I knew there was other things I did which would cause him to be angry, but these things he did not know.

“Vous m'avez épuisé. Je ne suis loin de toi que depuis trois jours et je le préfère déjà. Je suis assez mature pour croire qu'on peut s'en sortir, donc je te demande, viens à Londres, je sais que tu as toujours un billet de train, et arrangé ça avec moi. Si tu ne veux pas faire ça, tu peux partir et ne plus jamais me parler.” I added.

He sighed as if I would never understand what he was trying to say. I had just told him that if he doesn’t come to London and try to speak with me, he could leave me and never speak to me again. Because it would be a perfect example of his immaturity, which I could deal with, but not on this level.

He didn’t say anything for a few seconds, then put the phone down on me. I layed there, numb, drained. He had never ever been this horrible to me, in the whole two years we had known each other. He was always controlling and hated it when things didn’t go his way but he was never so verbally horrible and disrespectful towards me. All of my opinions of him being a respectful gentleman was thrown out of the window. I don’t know how he managed to hold back this intense hatred for so long. I couldn’t help but think something had changed at home. Something for him to be guilty about. However I shook the thought because it was extremely unlikely.

I tried to get myself back to sleep, but failed, as my head was now pounding, from the restlessness of my emotions. I decided to go and get a drink, but as I stepped out of my room I was startled to see Danny standing in the kitchen, drinking a beer and looking through the cupboards. He turned around quickly, equally startled, and watched me carefully with narrow, tired eyes.

I ignored him.

“Hey stranger.” He said as I walked past him to get something out of the fridge, but I didn't say anything back.

“what’s happened?” he added after he didn’t see me politely smile or laugh.

I did a half smile out of politeness after he added the comment, then I shook my head.

“It’s nothing Danny, I’m just tired and my social battery is low. Thanks for the concern though.” I said as I pulled a can of beer out of the fridge and opened it. I began to walk to my room, but Danny touched my shoulder, which made me turn around.

“It’s been a while Lola. I still know you though.” He softly spoke to me. Expressing his disbelief at my excuse.

It reminded me of when we were younger and I’d always be upset about something small. I would go to Danny often when I was upset, he was one of those people that you just couldn’t help but be vulnerable with. He wasn’t judgemental or anything, he just listened.

Hearing his soft voice and recalling the memories of being young, I broke down. Suddenly tears were flowing down my face uncontrollably. Danny’s soft expression or voice didn’t change, he just stepped towards me and pulled me in for a hug, rubbing my back and softly shushing as I cried. It reminded me of when we were kids so much, it felt almost exactly the same. Although this time he was larger and warmer, he felt more aged and meaningful. He had grown up.

I tried to speak but couldn’t. I didn’t even want to. I didn’t want everyone to hate Jean. None of this was his fault. He just wasn’t used to being away from me for so long, everything would be okay in the end and he didn’t deserve to be alone in France while everyone was making a fuss of me back here in London.

“missing home?” Danny whispered after a while. I just nodded. I suppose I did miss home in a way, I miss when Jean felt like home.

“Me too.” Danny added after a few moments.

Danny hugged me tighter for another few minutes, then I decided to pull away, as his embrace had re-entered all tiredness in my body by making me feel safe and relaxed.

-I’m so glad you’re here.- I said to him as I grabbed my drink and began to walk to my room.

-See you in the morning.- He whispered, making his way back downstairs. I watched him walk away from my doorway, walking past a figure on the stairs. It was Sam, obviously, he had seen the entire thing.

I creeped into my bedroom, pretending that I didn’t see Sam on the stairs. I didn’t hear him walk back down though, he stayed still. Not a creek nor a step. I couldn’t even hear the light sounds of his bare feet gripping to the kitchen floor. I slipped into my bed and while I was adjusting the rustling covers and placing my head on the pillow, my ears were preoccupied. So I didn’t realize Sam had snuck in behind me.

I closed my eyes with the same numbing thoughts of Jean. The same pounding in my head from the crying.

“Lyla. I’ve never seen home sickness this bad. Plus, I keep hearing you shouting and speaking on the phone in French. Who is it?” Sam spoke from the foot of my bed. It scared me. I completely jumped out of my skin but Sam didn’t react. He just stood there concerned with his arms crossed.

“It’s-“ I started.

Sam waited for my reply. I looked at him in the cast of the moonlight shining from my window. His hair messily draped on his shoulders. His pajama shorts slipping past his hips ever so slightly, revealing slight belly hair. His tan skin, shining in the light and his big brown eyes staring at me with concern. More concern that Jean had ever felt for me. It was as if Sam had held this concern for years. I knew he had it at that moment. I felt it all.

“It doesn’t matter.” I rolled over, signaling to Sam that I didn't want to talk.

He just silently left the room.

I wanted to sleep but couldn’t. Two men had tried to help me get to sleep and be peaceful tonight, whereas one man had created it all. Something in me just felt so sorry for Jean yet something in me was shocked that he would take it out on me.

Having to rely on other men to console me was something I also felt guilty about. If Jean was here and saw me crying into another man's arms he wouldn't be happy, and I hated hiding things from him. Sometimes I just had to though. To avoid an argument.

I checked my phone once more, because Jean had put the phone down on me before confirming that he was still coming to London tomorrow but there was nothing from him. I prepared myself for either heartbreak tomorrow, or a surprise visit at the door at around 8 am. He was an early bird.

I put my phone down on the side table and told myself that was the last time I would touch it for the night. I needed to get some sleep.

I looked at the clock after another session of staring at the ceiling. It was 3:27am. I was so fucking frustrated. I wished Sam was in my room playing me to sleep again. I know he would if I asked but I didn’t want to disturb him. Even though I kept hearing him and Danny speaking, they must have got a burst of energy and woke up. I also wished I was in Jean’s arms. I wished I could smell his scent. It’s almost as though I could?

chapter 7.

[echoesofbooks]

Brooke -- Ronie Kendig

Releasing February 6th, 2023! It can be purchased here

Prioritizing career over family cost Brooke Metcalfe Mulroney everything—her relationship with her siblings, her marriage, her children. Written off by her family, she delves deeper into her work. Until a life-altering moment offers a chance at something she didn’t know she wanted—redemption. But her self-centered ways nip at her heels as she goes on the lam to do what she knows is right.

Former Special Forces operator and founder of MiLE, Cord Taggart wages war on human trafficking by taking the violence to the wicked, determined to never again let an innocent die because he did nothing. But maybe he’s bitten off more than he can chew this time as he works to track down New York City high-powered attorney Brooke Metcalfe, who is MIA. Then there’s her brothers who have threatened to chase him into the afterlife should he fail.

Tricky are the hours as Cord negotiates many battles: freeing the captives, demolishing the Trench that has made millions off the skin-trade industry, and his growing, deep-rooted feelings for the bombshell in her highfalutin tower. Brooke must put her life—and heart—in the hands of the thick-skulled operator.

4.5 Stars!!

Holy crap!! Okay, so prefacing this with 2 things: a)If you haven't read the previous Metcalfe books ( Stone , Willow and Range ), it's probably best that you do that first. Or just be aware that there's parts you might miss. And b)This book is hard. It's tough. It shows the dirty world of trafficking and doesn't pull a single punch. But don't let that get you down. This book does show that there are people who are looking for those victims. It shows that there is hope.

Now that we've got that little disclaimer out of the way...

Brooke has been present in the previous books but she's been very cagey and clearly hiding something as she runs away from Cord, but you never quite got the full picture of who she was/what she was doing (I mean, it makes sense since this was her book and everything but she definitely peaked my interest in the last books). I will admit to rolling my eyes just a bit when she admitted to herself that she was probably in over her head and needed help yet still refused to reach out to Cord. I could have maybe understood not reaching out to her brother's because the situation was the slightest bit complicated. But she ended up reaching out to him anyway (even if she actively tried to stop it at first) and he did come after her, so it kind of worked out. I did wish there'd been a little more on her past/the broken relationship with her ex and her kids. Like, she told Cord how things happened/why she ended up divorced but towards the end, it seemed like she was wanting to reach out but we never got to see whether she did or not. Little thing, but I feel like I could have used a little bit of a wrap-up/closure on that aspect of things.

I've kind of loved Cord from the beginning. He was able to give as good as he got when it came to all the snark and sass that came his way and it was clear that he cared about Brooke, even if he was trying to ignore (not that he tried all that hard) his interest in her. I did want someone to throttle him for his assumptions when it was revealed that Mazin and the kids were living with her. Yeah, things were half setup to point that direction but all he had to go on were pictures on a fridge and Ishwin's comments. Yet everyone jumped to "I can't believe they're sleeping together" without bothering to consider what else could be going on. Again acknowledging that there was a ton of evidence that pointed one way, I just...I feel like even before they saw all of the evidence, everyone was half condemning Brooke.

I did wish there'd been a little bit on the reunions of people. Like, we didn't need to see all the kids getting reunited, but it would have been nice to see Willow and Chiji reunited with Ginika and Adesina. Or Mazin meeting back up with Jehan and Caliyah. It kind of felt like that part got shoved to the back in order to get to Brooke and Cord's HEA. Little thing, but I did wish we'd gotten to see it.

[f10werfae]

The Build Up Pt.2

pairing:Husband!Construction!Chris x Pregnant!mom!Reader

Summary: Y/n and Chris retell the start of their love story to the boys, major domestic house fluff! Major dilf Chris

Part 1: The Build Up

- Requests are open!

Likes, Comments and Re-blogs are appreciated♥️

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(Y/n's P.O.V)

“Welcome to our house y'all” I beamed ushering Chris' workmates into our country home, a mass of pickup trucks piled on down the driveway. All five of them nodded and greeted as Chris led them into the dining room, Noah waving at them while he was on Chris' hip.

Waddling back towards the dining room I saw their eyes widen at the array of foods decorated around the house, not hesitating to dig in once we all had sat down.

“So ma’am how did you and Chris meet?” Logan said, his plate near empty making me smile at how everyone was enjoying the food I had made, call it the nesting hormones coming in.

“Ya alright to tell 'em babe?” Chris whispered into my ear, one hand on my thigh as he ate.

“Of course i'd love to tell y’all”

(Flashback- 6 Years Ago. Y/n is 22, Chris is 30)

(Y/n's P.O.V)

Having pulled up to my ma's house, degree and suitcases in toll, I let out a sigh of relief at finally being back home. Deciding to just get my stuff out later I walked towards the front of the house, I used my keys to get in knowing my ma was away to the farmer’s market.

“It has not changed a bit” I whispered to no one but myself, tracing my hands across the walls I ventured throughout the bottom floor, following the sounds of banging coming from the back yard.

“What on Earth is that?”

Looking out the window I was met with this absolute hunk, work helmet on, cargo pants, white vest with screws held between his teeth. Our eye contact broke when he nodded at me and sent a wink my way, there were definitely no boys like this at college. No way.

“Uh h-hi” I squeaked out pushing open the screen door, watching as he got down from his step stool, his hands wiping themselves onto his pants.

“You must be Mrs. L/n's daughter?” He asked, God his voice was heavenly, his arms just made me drool alone. Don’t even get me started on his face, fucking masterpiece. At 22 years of age I could feel myself getting giddy as if I was 17 again.

Nodding, I shook his hand, calloused yet soft in a way.

“What a precious thing you are” He smirked, his hand going up to put a piece of hair behind my ear, my cheeks heating up immediately.

“Uh tha-“

“Oh Y/n you’ve met Chris then? Isn’t he just charming” My ma said from behind me, her groceries in each arm.

“Come on in hun, I haven’t seen you in so long” Ma nodded towards the door, making me smile and follow her in, but not without shooting Chris a sweet smile.

His fingers looping into my belt loop of my pants pulling me closer, “Dot your number down 'ere gorgeous, I may need it” He smiled, taking out a marker from behind his ear and holding his wrist out to write on.

“Ma who is he?” I asked when we were inside, trying to act coy but clearly failing when she started smirking at me.

“Ya know, he is single Y/n in case you were wonderin'. Very successful man he is, on the way to startin' up his own business”

“Really?”

“Mhm all i’m sayin' is, there’s no harm in it. I know you Y/n, your eyes are wanderin' all over him”

“Ma stop it please” I whined putting away food into the fridge, embarrassment crawling up my veins.

“Plus how old is he anyway?”

“He’s 30 love, perfect jus' for you”

“What if he thinks i’m too young, and ya know how pa is gonna feel about it”

(Later on That Night)

After reuniting with my parents I retreated back to my old bedroom, posters of puppies still littering my walls, I was never really into boys as such. But Chris, he would not leave my mind. Sure it was such a minuscule interaction, but it gave me so many butterflies that it was almost sickening.

*Brrrr*

Furrowing my brows I watched the unknown number call in, hesitatingly picking up the phone and answering.

(Phone Call)

Y/n: H-hello?

Chris: Forgot bout me already eh?

Y/n: Oh I forgot I gave you my number

Chris: And I forgot to get your name beautiful

Y/n: It's Y/n, b-but call me whatever you want

*Fuck sake why'd I say that*

Chris: Cute. Anyways I was wonderin' are ya free tonight?

Y/n: Hmm I should be yeah

Chris: Alright be ready in half an hour, wanna show you somethin

Y/n: Wai-

(End Of Phone Call)

"Why does everyone do that" I grumbled to myself, that sickly feeling erupting in my stomach realising I was going to have to see him again.

Standing up to change I decided on a plain t-shirt with shorts, seeing as the warmer nights were now coming in.

Doubts started coming when I realised I was essentially meeting up with someone I had met once today for five minutes, surely if my mother trusted him then it would be alright?

Receiving a text that he was outside I walked down the stairs telling my parents I was meeting up with some old friends when I caught my mums eye and she gave off a knowing sly smile.

Walking out the door I saw Chris leaning onto the side of his dark blue pickup truck, twirling his car keys around one of his fingers. His hair kept back under a backwards cap, a slim fitting white t-shirt on with a pair of jeans.

This man.

“Hey Chris” I waved coming up to stand in front of him, not really knowing what to when except for when he kissed me on the cheek unexpectedly.

“Hey sunshine, ya ready to go?”

“Y-yeah but what are we doin'?” I asked as he walked me round to my side of the car and helping me get onto his tall ass car.

“Don’t even worry bout it, and no I am not going to murder you in case you were thinkin that”

We both laughed as he started the car, some old country song playing on the radio, Chris humming along quietly.

“So what did ya do at college?” He asked sneaking a glance at me as he turned down another road, a road I recognised that leads down to the coast.

“I uh did Culinary sciences”

“So you’ll be able to cook me somethin nice then” He joked, finally pulling into a random parking spot a little bit away from the beach.

“Are we here?”

“We are yeah”

Chris got out of the car and walked round to mine, grabbing my hand helping me to jump down onto the ground.

Not letting go of my hand, he led me to the top of a hill where a massive rock formation sat. Choosing the smoothest piece of stone we both sat down, the hill overlooking the ocean, the stars starting to draw across the night sky.

“It’s beautiful here”

I whispered looking over the soft waves that crashed against the rocky shore.

“I know, it’s my spot”

“Hey sorry this is just confusing me, but why did you bring me out here tonight?” I asked, the curiosity getting to me, looking over at him I saw him purse his lips before blowing out.

“Well not to be creepy, but when I saw ya earlier I was instantly captivated by your beauty. There’s jus somethin' about ya, somethin that makes me wanna know ya. I know I don have much to offer ya as another Southern bloke, well not as much as the college people you’re probably used to”

“You don’t think it’s weird that i’m only turning 23?”

“Ya think it’s weird i’m 30?”

“Well not really, we’re both adults”

“Sorted then”

Nodding at his answer I looked forward, feeling a burst of confidence coming over I leaned over and grabbed his chin to look at me, firmly pressing my lips onto his. His hand laying flatly on my back, both of my hands now cupping his face with our lips moving in sync. His beard scratching against my face in the best way possible.

“God you taste heavenly sweetheart” He breathed out with our foreheads against each other, giggles left me as I backed away, his hand taking mine in his; interlacing our fingers.

“What would your ma think about this?”

“She wouldn’t care”

“And your pa”

“Oh he’d absolutely hate it”

(End of Flashback)

“Awk didn’t know boss was such a romantic” Logan purred teasingly, wiggling his eyes at Chris whose hand was still on my thigh.

“Shut it man” Chris grumbled, bringing another spoonful to Noah's lips, an excited squeal leaving the boy’s mouth as he slapped the tray of his high chair. His big blue eyes clearly fascinated by our new house guests.

“So did your dad end up approving of Chris in the end?”

“My dad’s pretty strict considerin' I was the only daughter so it took a while, heck he almost strangled Chris when he first found out we were dating a month later. He came around in the end when he saw how happy Chris made me” I smiled joyfully, taking Chris' hand in mine seeing a victorious smirk on his face.

(After The Dinner)

“Sweetheart?”

“Yeah?” I called out walking into our bedroom after putting Noah down for the night, my swollen ankles getting the better of me.

“Do ya ever regret gettin with me?”

Chris asked laying on his side looking at me, his bottom lip slightly jutting out.

“Why would you even ask that baby?” Getting up he helped me get back into bed beside him, I put my head on his chest with my belly more or less leaning on top of him.

“It’s just that, you coulda easily have found someone that coulda given you a better life and your pa would’ve approved of”

“Listen I chose you, I don’t care what anyone else coulda given me, you’re my first love and will be my last. Alright? You’ve given me a home, a family and more love than I could have ever dreamed of”

“I guess we do make a good pair” He smirked cockily, his hand playing with my hair gently.

“Plus you’re hot as fuck” I smiled to myself, remembering how he’s aged so fine, the greys in his beard making him even more sexy.

“You’re also hot as fuck precious, by the way do ya remember when I first went into your room? We cuddled jus like this?”

“Yeah how I snuck you in through my window and ya started teasing me for all my dog posters calling me adorable”

“cause it was hun, you still had plushies decorating your room”

“Well do you remember our first argument a few months in and you started singin outside my window with your guitar and my pa chased you down the street?” I snarked back, his hand caressing my face softly as he traced my features, occasionally leaning down to kiss me anywhere he could.

“Aw yeah but you forgave me after that anyway, so clearly it worked its magic”

“I love you so much ya know that?” I whispered looking up at him, suddenly wincing at the sharp kick at my ribs.

“Baby girl loves you too” I smiled rubbing my stomach,

“Well I love my two girls more, trust me” He said deeply, his head dipping down to press a sweet kiss onto my lips which slowly turned heated, a small mewl leaving my lips.

“God you are so fucking precious, sweet pea”

———-

A/n: I actually love construction Chris omg😭😭 Best thing i’ve ever created I say, might make this into an actual continuing thing. So any ideas? for drabbles or chapters? ID LOVE TO HEAR THEM XOXO FAE

[ykwrites]

Friendship- Osamu x reader

Pairing: Osamu x reader

Warnings: NONE

Rating:SFW

MASTERLIST

‘‘So, what´s with you and my brother?’‘Atsumu asked in a failed whisper. 

Upon hearing that question, you breathed deep and ignored it, concentrated on fixing a white bandage around his left wrist, he had injured himself in last weeks practice. 

Your reasoning for not giving a response, was the constant push and insistence about this topic. Atsumu and his brother were really good friends of yours, that´s it. 

However, Atsumu was obsessed with dumb details he claimed were proof of an undying love and attraction between you and Osamu. 

‘‘Pass me the tape’‘you calmly pointed at the ivory roll of tape placed on his nightstand.

‘‘Okay, boss’‘he mocked, handing you the item with a smug smile ‘‘Osamu is coming for dinner, by the way’‘

‘‘And?’‘

‘‘Just thought you might want to know’‘

‘‘He lives here, I expected that would be the case’‘

‘‘I told him you were coming too and he said he will cook your favorite’‘

‘‘That´s nice of him’‘

It was funny to watch, because Atsumu enjoyed such simple things like they were new. Osamu cooked for you constantly, but it was the normal thing to do, you also did other things for him to show you cared. 

That day you were over at their apartment to help Atsumu do some things while his brother was running errands for his restaurant and they already invited you to stay the night. 

8pm rolled around and you sat on the couch next to your friend watching tv when the sound of the door made you look to see Osamu walk in with his hands full of bags. 

‘‘Hello, Samu, how was your day?’‘you greeted, getting up to help him. 

‘‘Hi’‘he said with a bright smile on his face ‘‘It was boring but fine’‘

‘‘You bought the whole grocery store?’‘

Osamu followed you to the kitchen and placed all the bags on the counter, breathing and stretching his muscles after. 

‘‘There´s nothing in that fridge, and since Atsumu is injured now I have to do it alone’‘

‘‘You should’ve called me’‘

‘‘You’re already doing enough by putting up with mr annoying’‘

‘‘I can hear you!’‘Atsumu yelled from the living room. 

Both of you laughed and put away the groceries while talking, his company was comforting as always, coming from him even the meaningless things were interesting.

After everything was in its place, Osamu pointed at one of the stools in front of the kitchen island, and you obligued knowing that meant you could observe and keep him company but he liked cooking alone.

It was entertaining to see such skills playing out in front of you, chopping vegetables like a genious and doing a million things at once without losing track of the conversation you had. 

He looked handsome with hair back, his apron on and the long sleeves of his sweater folded up neatly, letting thick veins be on display like a beautiful painting from his forearm all the way down his hands. Always the nice and calmer brother, with a soothing energy towards you, the one who made sure you were comfortable at all times. 

‘‘Before you say anything’‘Atsumu’s voice echoed behind you ‘’I am not here to get in your precious kitchen’’ 

Osamu always kicked him out, so it was understandable. 

‘‘What do you want?’‘Osamu asked, focused on stirring a sauce of some sort. 

‘‘The bandage got loose’‘he explained, putting his arm practically in your face. 

‘‘Okay’‘you laughed, carefully holding his wrist ‘‘you don´t need to fuse it with my face for me to see it’‘

‘‘Help’‘sulking, he took the roll of medical tape out of his pocket and gave it to you.

‘‘Don’t act like you are dying’‘his brother nagged ‘‘You take advantage of her’‘

‘‘I don´t!, I´m hurt, just let me babied for once!’‘

While they argued, you bandaged Atsumu´s wrist again, laughing at his comment because everyone knew he always wanted to be babied. 

‘‘Dramatic’‘

‘‘I get it, you don´t love me’‘

‘‘Oh my, you are so annoying’‘

‘‘Stop’‘ you interrupted their antics ‘‘I don´t mind helping you, Tsumu, but don´t pretend this is new, you always want to be babied’‘

‘‘More like he demands it’‘huffing, the cook pointed out. 

‘‘It’s okay, come here’‘extending your arms you gave Atsumu a hug, stroking his head like he was a child ‘‘now leave before your brother stabs you’‘

Atsumu complied, leaving triumphant with an inflated ego. The only reason you hugged him was to make him leave without arguing further. 

‘‘You know’‘Osamu cleared his throat ‘‘He is an adult and the fact that he acts like this makes me think he´s crazy’‘

‘‘And you know I let him be like that so he stops being dramatic faster’‘

‘‘He only does that with you’‘

‘‘I believe it´s just to decompress, because he´s so comfortable around us he doesn’t have to be a responsible professional athlete all the time and can fool around’’

‘‘As long as it doesn´t bother you’‘

‘‘I don´t really care’‘you shrugged.

Osamu grew silent for a moment, not really reacting to what you said and focusing on cooking. 

You knew what this meant coming from him, frustration, because he thought Atsumu was too overbearing and clingy sometimes, and you didn´t stop him or set boundaries. 

However, for you it was very natural to give in and shower them in attention if that´s what they needed, both the brothers were with you through every good and bad experience for the last three years. 

Two weeks after meeting them, you broke your left leg and they spent most of the day with you, making sure you were okay. They cooked and cleaned, never asking for anything in return.

‘‘Atsumu!’‘Osamu yelled, interrupting your internal monologue. 

‘‘What?’‘his brother responded. 

‘‘Go to the convenience store and bring something to drink, we’ll set up the table’’

‘‘Okay!’‘

Before you could offer to do it yourself, the front door closed, indicating Atsumu practically ran outside. 

‘‘I´ll take the chopsticks and napkins, okay?’‘you said, walking next to Osamu and getting everything you needed. 

‘‘Okay’‘ 

His response sounded dry, he was either mad or distracted, but you thought it would be best not to ask. 

Ten minutes after, all the food was neatly placed on the table and Atsumu barged in with drinks, sitting right next to you. 

‘‘Have you been careful with your wrist?’‘you asked patting his shoulder. 

‘‘Yeah’‘

‘‘Doing something for once won´t kill him’‘

You quickly looked up at Osamu, frowning and confused, of course you understood he got frustrated but this sudden change of demeanor and rudeness wasn´t normal. 

‘‘Damn, this food is good’‘Atsumu said, mouth full and holding your hand under the table as to stop you from responding. 

Deciding to take his silent advice, you started eating and thanking Osamu for the food instead, receiving a quiet ‘’I´m glad’’ as a response. 

For the first time since you met them, dinner was awkward, and poor Atsumu tried so hard to speak, bringing up random topics with no success. 

After what felt like an hour long uncomfortable meal, Osamu excused himself to go to bed. 

‘‘Tsumu’‘you said while doing the dishes, he stood to your right drying them.

‘‘I have no idea why he´s acting this way’‘

As always your friend read your mind. 

‘‘I think he´s mad at me’‘this sentence made you realize that this scenario hurt you a bit too much.

‘‘He can´t get mad at you’‘

‘‘I feel so bad, this is the first time he gets distant’‘ 

‘‘Wait until tomorrow, let him cool off’‘

Maybe you were overreacting and it wasn’t that deep, anyway you had no idea what went through his mind and there were other possibilities other than him being mad at you.

Before going to sleep, Atsumu reminded you not to overthink and gave you a tiny goodnight hug.

Laying in bed, the same thoughts flooded your judgment. You couldn’t let it go that easy, because in three years this was the first time Osamu acted cold towards you. Usually if something bothered him, he would come and talk about it to resolve the issue immediately. He always said that being mad at someone you appreciate isn’t worth it and hurts both people.

Trying to entertain yourself you took your phone and scrolled through instagram for about an hour until you got bored.

Unfortunately you were not sleepy, so quietly you got up and headed to the kitchen to get some water and one of those homeophatic pills Atsumu took to help him sleep even though they never did anything for you.

“Can’t sleep?”a low voice made you jump back almost making you drop the glass.

You turned around, Osamu.

“You scared the shit out of me”you said “yeah, I have too much going on in my head”

“Same”he huffed, sitting in the same stool you used earlier that night.

Instead of cold, he now sounded tired and defeated, wich definitely made you worry more.

“Want some?”you pointed at the box of pills.

“No, thank you”

Keeping quiet, you nodded and took one yourself, leaving the glass on the counter and heading out of the kitchen to go back to sleep.

You wanted to talk to him, but at the same time feared that he was actually mad at you and you wouldn’t know how to fix it.

Luckily before you crossed the door, a hand on your left wrist stopped you abruptly.

“Y/n, can I ask you something?”

Once again you turned to look at him, his gaze now fixed on yours with a sadness you never imagined would see in his eyes.

“Of course, Samu, are you okay?”immediately you took a step closer to him and carefully placed a loving hand on his shoulder.

“You like my brother, right?”

That question hit you like a ton of bricks, so unexpected to hear.

It was obvious that you didn’t, wasn’t it? How on earth did he come to this realization? Because you cared for Atsumu like you did for him?

“I don’t” that’s literally the only thing you managed to say.

“You can tell me, we are friends after all”like he didn’t believe you, he insisted.

“I told you already, I don’t like Tsumu”you felt the need to reiterate “He isn’t my type anyway”

“Oh, I understand”his eyes glued to the floor.

“That’s why you got mad? Because you thought I liked him and didn’t tell you?”

“Can I ask you another question?”he ignored what you said.

“Sure”

“If Atsumu isn’t your type, does that mean I am not your type either?”

Honestly you had no idea where this was going, but it sure bothered him, so you took a second to think and give him a good response.

Well… they were certainly different, people may throw them in the same box because of the twin factor, but to you they didn’t even look that similar. Osamu was way more attractive.

“I think I’ve told you this before, but you are the attractive twin”

“You say that a lot, but it feels like you are joking”

“Well, I’m not” you insisted “Samu, tell me what’s going on”

He took a deep breath, composed himself and dropped a huge bomb.

“I love you”

This wasn’t the first time he told you that, not at all, but this time, this time was different. He said it blushing, looking scared and serious.

He said it like he meant it in a way that didn’t indicate friendship.

“Well”he stood up, fixing his clothes nervously “I’m going to sleep then”

“No, you stay right here” you stopped him.

Something inside you needed to make things clear right now, because talking might get uncomfortable but it was better than ruining your friendship or making things weird.

“Okay”Osamu responded, surprised at your reaction.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Jeez… this is harder than I expected”he scratched the back of his neck “I liked you for a long time and I realized I was in love with you about a year and a half ago”

Oh god, this kept getting bigger with every word.

“A year and a half?”you asked in disbelief.

“Yeah…”

“Right when Atsumu started saying you and I were secretly in love”

“I mean, I told him I felt like that, but I thought you liked him”

“I don’t like him”

“We literally look the same”

“Are you kidding me? You are smart, nice, gentle, a good cook, give great advice, know how to calm me down, not to mention you are hot as hell” you point out, Osamu’s face growing red hearing those words “Atsumu on the other hand… well, gives good hugs I guess?”

“Didn’t know you thought all that”he gulps, almost stuttering.

“And there’s so much more, but we would be here for days if I start saying how many things I like about you”

“You like me?”with a smug smile, he raised an eyebrow.

Did you?

Holy shit.

You did.

Atsumu was right.

“Can we pretend nothing happened in front of your brother?”you said, thinking about the relentless I told you so that would inevitably appear.

“Nothing happened”

Osamu was now amused at your mental gymnastics and realization that you liked him and he laughed faintly, making you slam your lips with his just to shut him up and at the same time make that something happen. Quickly you got lost in his touch, amazed with how comfortable and warm he made you feel. Hooking your arms around his neck you got closer to him and he wasted no time placing his hands on your waist ever so gently.

“Now respond to my question”you said as soon as your lips parted “can we pretend nothing happened in front of Atsumu? At least for like a week so he doesn’t tease us”

“So you want something to happen more often?”

Again the damn smug smile.

“I take it back, you two are actually the same, both annoying”

“I was kidding”he laughed, placing a hand on your cheek “But I don’t wanna hide anything, if he bothers us I can just punch him”

“No”you nagged playfully “We just have to be subtle with pda”

“I don’t think I can do that, now that I know you like me back you aint getting rid of me”

You didn´t even get time to blink before his lips were on yours again, clearly enjoying the moment and your willingness to return his actions.

Osamu definitely had skills, you could tell he was nervous and he still did everything right, gently caressing your sides and deepening the kiss, your mind going... interesting places. 

Feeling hazy, you stopped the kiss and fixed your eyes on the floor, face burning and most likely painted crimsom red. 

‘‘Are you okay?’’ He asked, placing a sweet hand on your cheek to make you look back at him. 

‘‘Mhm’’you managed to respond with a mere sound, now focused on him. 

‘’The kitchen is pitch black and I can still see your face all red’’a faint laugh resonated  in your ears. 

‘‘You bitch’’

Laughing with him but still embarrassed, you tried getting away from his hold, with absolutely no success. 

‘‘Let me go’’you pouted ‘‘I´m embarrassed’’

‘‘Okay’’Osamu smiled, leaving a gentle peck on your lips and dropping his hands ‘’Let me walk you to your room’’

‘‘I can do that alone, thank you’‘

‘‘The appartment is dark and scary, I have to’‘

Defeated but also amused by him, you complied, walking to the guest room with him following close. 

Obviously your destination was only a few steps away, so you got there in ten seconds and turned around before getting in. 

‘‘I´ll see you tomorrow’’you said in a shy whisper. 

Each minute that passed you realized more and more how attractive this man was and even after kissing him he made you nervous. 

‘‘Have a good night’’he gifted a small smile and quickly walked away to go towards his room.

For some reason, you waited, observing his back like you wanted something to happen but didn´t know exactly what, so naturally your heart raced when he stopped mid way, hesitantly turning around. 

‘‘So, just to make sure’’he spoke and you nodded for him to continue ‘‘you like me’‘

Wasn´t that clear? So damn cute. 

As dumb as it was, this little act he just pulled made you feel less nervous. 

‘‘Yes, I do’‘you responded. 

‘‘Good’‘

For a couple seconds you both stood there in silence, of course your feelings for each other were clear now, but it was like the simple act of liking him was suddenly magnified.

It wasn´t until Osamu opened his door that you snapped out of that dumb haze. 

‘‘No goodnight kiss?’‘your question came out smug, sweet and faking innocence. 

‘‘Please’‘Osamu practically flew to have you pressed against the wall ‘‘You don´t have to ask me twice’‘

Butterflies roamed free in your stomach when he gave you that kiss, desperate and loving, like he was telling you how in love he was without having to speak a single word. 

The next day´s breakfast was interesting, even more so when Atsumu spilled his coffee al over the couch when he saw the both of you getting out of the same room.

[fandomhasruinedmylife]

Weird RWBY Headcanons that make no sense pt.2

Note: Still in my happy little land of “Nothing Bad Ever Happened” because I am in denial during hiatuses. This one is kind of long, my bad.

Jaune played softball (yes, softball. no, not baseball.). He was really good at it too. His mom still has pictures of him from every year he was on the team. They’re all on the fridge at his family’s home.

Jaune’s sisters got him into Taylor Swift at a young age, and he still listens to her as a guilty pleasure.

Ruby’s a skater kid. She got rusty when she went to Beacon due to getting swamped down by work, but she used to be “One of the best,” according to Yang at least. She used to scare the hell out of Qrow and Tai, because she would come home covered in scrapes and bruises, but what could they do? Say no to her? To Ruby? Yeah, that wasn’t happening.

Weiss will say some of the most out of pocket stuff without thinking about it and then immediately regret it. The thing is that the severity of the comments are inconsistent.

So sometimes she’ll say the most spoiled rich kid stuff, like, “Why can’t they just buy a new one?” before getting a side eye look from Blake and correcting herself and pointing out how the comment was insensitive.

Other times it’ll just be stuff where you question where it came from, like, there’s dead silence then Weiss just says, “If you think about it, Dante’s Inferno is just Bible fanfic.” And then nobody knows what to do with that, so they just stay silent, which ultimately leads to Weiss quietly apologizing and everyone telling her she doesn’t need to.

Or, she’ll say stuff like, “Yeah, I think my dad hit me once,” then get the saddest looks from Yang, Blake, and Ruby, and follow it up with, “Oh, I said something sad again, didn’t I?” and getting slow, concerned nods in return.

There are a lot of mumbled apologies from Weiss because of this, which means there’s also a lot of Ruby, Blake, and Yang panicking and telling her it’s not necessary.

Similarly, Nora will occasionally just drop the wisest or deepest things anyone’s every heard, just out of nowhere. Like, someone will be talking about life and then Nora will just chime in with, “Yeah, that’s the crazy thing about life. It’s very big and you’re very small, and ultimately when you die the world will continue on without you, but also in a sense, it won’t. There’s a strange beauty to it. A weird mixture of grief and survival,” and everybody will just sit slack-jawed and questioning their perception of her until right after she goes, “Can I just call potatoes pre-fries?”

There’s a running joke about Ren being the best wife/husband (they’re used interchangeably). He’ll make flower crowns, cook breakfast, do household chores, etc. This ends up confusing the hell out of the rest of the school for a moment because RWBY, JNP_, Sun, and Neptune are all calling Ren their husband/wife, and nobody can figure out who’s actually dating Ren.

Adding onto that, it is a known fact around the school that, at this point, nobody asks who’s dating who when it comes to RWBY, JNPR, Sun, and Neptune, they’re all just weirdly close and everyone just accepts it.

One time, Yang made a joke about starting a band with Jaune and Sun and calling it The Blondies 3.0. Then, Jaune asked why 3.0 instead of 2.0, which Sun responded to with “So we can kick one out and then rebrand.” Soon there was a whole plot line on what albums they would make, how the break up would go, who would get kicked out, there was even a plan for a failed comeback. The only that stopped them was Blake and Pyrrha.

Ilia’s an astronomy nerd. I know we know, like, nothing about her parents, but I like to think that’s where it came from. Like, they used to teach her about the stars and the universe, and after they died Ilia just kind of held onto to it, because it was all she had left of her parents. She’s not super into astrology, though she does know the constellations and their stories. (Blake is kind of the astrology to Ilia’s astronomy)

Kids and stray animals love Ilia, and she has no idea why. Like, kids will just kind of follow her around and hug her ankles and ask her to tell them stories about the constellations or the White Fang, and she will. And stray animals will come up and give puppy eyes, then suddenly she’s buying dog treats. The kids and the animals know why they love her, but she’s got no clue.

I like to think Ilia is very similar to Qrow in a couple of aspects, specifically love language type stuff. Like, when you do something stupid, she will call you an idiot for it and she will never let you live it down, but she’ll also check to make sure you’re ok and not physically injured in some way. She’s also a nickname collector, and has one for everybody (except for Penny and a few other because they very seriously requested that she stop, which she respects).

Multiple guys have tried to trip up Pyrrha when it comes to her mythology knowledge, since a lot of her actions allude to Achilles. They fail miserably every time due to the fact that Pyrrha just genuinely does enjoy fairytales and mythology. Occasionally, RWBY, JNR, Sun, or Neptune will just ask her about it just so she can talk about it because it makes her happy.

A lot of people in the White Fang had little to no education when it came to Grimm, so there are nicknames for different Grimm. (Ex. Beowolves = Hellhounds, Boarbatusk = Demon Hogs, Lancers = Steroid Wasps, Death Stalkers = Big Boy/Ole Crawlers, etc.)

Vacuo is pretty similar due to their isolation. So, Ilia, Blake, and Sun will talk about Grimm using nicknames, and nobody will know what their talking about.

[dollslayer]

Botanical Interest - In Bloom

Soft!Mob!Steve Rogers x florist!Reader

Summary: Steve comes home to you angry after a rough day at work. He made a promise to keep his work life separate but can he keep it?

W/C: 4,103

Warnings: Angst, mentions of past abuse, smut, swearing, alcohol consumption

A/N: Hi there! A part three for our soft mob Steve and his lovely florist. Thank you so much to everyone that has shown interest in my work so far, if you like it please reblog and comment!! You can also check out my other stuff if you haven't yet. Cheers!

Botanical Interest Masterlist I Main Masterlist

_____________

When Steve Rogers had asked you to be his girlfriend you knew there was a weight attached to it. A long talk over a stack of waffles and a couple of beers left Steve with a ‘yes’ and some ground rules.

After the incident in the alleyway you both agreed that he left his work at the door whenever you spent time together. Steve’s profession has made you uneasy since you met him and you two couldn’t avoid it forever.

A month later and you’ve managed to avoid conflict for the most part. Nothing as bold as that day in the alley, just small moments where he’d have to take a phone call, once when he had to cancel your plans for a ‘work incident’. But still he really was trying to keep his work and personal life separate and you appreciated it.

It had bothered you that he had to do those things but it’s not as though your work hadn’t impacted your time together either. Being a florist meant a lot of late nights when you worked events. Wedding season in full swing, every weekend was a busy one for you.

That’s why Monday’s have become almost sacred to you, your one day off a week. You and Steve always spent time together, sometimes you’d go out or stay home and just relax.

This Monday Steve had promised to come over and make you dinner. He’d only ever tried to cook for you once and it had ended with a lasagna burnt so badly you had to open every window in the apartment just to get the charred smell out. You couldn’t wait for him to redeem himself and take him to bed after you both came out of your food comas.

You were cleaning the kitchen when you heard your phone buzz. You had asked Steve if he wanted you to pick up any groceries since you had the day off. Expecting a list you were met with mild disappointment.

Running a little late, doll. 6:30 and not a minute later, I promise. Don’t worry about groceries. I'll get it all taken care of, just enjoy your day off.

You were kinda miffed but at least he gave you a heads up and he was going to get the groceries. You picked your sponge back up and scrubbed away at the counter.

________

Expecting to be let down, you were pleasantly surprised when 6:30 rolled around and your doorbell sounded. You buzzed him up and waited patiently for him at your door.

Steve appeared as he rounded the corner and he looked exhausted, irritated maybe. He carried a lot of tension in his shoulders and his suit jacket was long gone. His tie was undone and his sleeves were rolled up to where you could see well toned forearms. You bit your lip thinking of those arms holding you in place in bed.

Maybe we should just ditch the dinner and skip straight to dessert.

He approached you and you leaned up to give him a kiss.

“Hi, honey. How are you?” You greeted him as you shut the door behind you.

He set the groceries down onto the counter with some force and you winced. Okay so he did have a rough day. Do I ask him about it? I don’t wanna talk about his work but I don’t want him to feel like he can’t talk to me about his day.

He sighed and turned to face you, took his tie off completely and ran a hand through his hair.

“Don’t worry about it” he responded as he took a beer out of your fridge.

You were off-put by the abruptness of his answer. Maybe he was just short with you because he didn’t want to talk about work.

You stepped closer and tried to approach him again.

“I-“

“I said don’t worry about it.” Steve snapped, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and swiped the screen, visibly annoyed. “I gotta take this”. He slammed the door to your bathroom shut behind him and left you stunned in the middle of your kitchen.

What just happened? You had never seen him so upset aside from when you caught him mid-punch a month ago with Mr. Andersen.

Realistically you knew it wasn’t you he was mad at but you’d never done well with people when they were mad at you. You were engaged years ago to a man that was abusive towards you. Things had started off well like they always do but he became manipulative and he was quick to anger. You were constantly questioned and criticized. He kept you from seeing your friends, even some of your family. It took your friends coming through for you to get you out of the situation safely. Through lots of therapy and flinging yourself headfirst into your business you’ve come a long way but sometimes you had difficult moments.

It couldn’t be helped as your heart began to quicken and you felt heat come to your face from the embarrassment of being snapped at. Unsure what to do you poured yourself a glass of wine and sat down at your small dining table facing away from the bathroom.

You were trying to get yourself to not shut down in response to his change in mood but it was hard. He’s upset and clearly irritated with me already, he probably just wants to go home. Maybe you should just reschedule. Don’t cry, if you cry you’re gonna make it a whole Thing. Don’t cry. He’s not mad at you specifically and it’s not your fault.

In the torrent of your thoughts you didn’t hear the bathroom door open. Steve hadn’t spared you a glance or a word as he started unloading the groceries. Angrily placing a jar of pasta sauce onto your counter with a thud and muttering under his breath. You watched him timidly and took another sip of your wine.

He turned to you and took another swig of his beer.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that? What did I do?” He challenged.

Not wanting him to be upset with you, you devolved into old ways of over-explaining so you could justify your actions. Somewhere in the back of your mind, the rational part was telling you it’s not your fault he’s angry and you don’t owe an explanation but you were too far gone.

“I, I just, you didn’t do anything you just, um, you just looked upset. I don’t want to make it worse, I’m sorry. I was just looking at you, I didn’t mean to-”

You were cut off in the midst of your nervous rambling by the shrill ring of Steve’s phone. A frustrated growl escaped his mouth.

“I have to take this,” he muttered as he strode back to the bathroom. “I told you not to call me until you had it fixed” you heard him before the closing of the door muffled his anger.

He left you there to stew in your nervousness and self loathing. Five minutes had gone by and the rational part of your brain was slowly taking over. The rational part of your brain was angry. It’s okay for him to have a bad day and not want to talk about it but the way he’s spoken to you and responded to you isn’t warranted. You needed to confront him calmly and if he was still angry you needed to ask him to leave. You can talk to him another time but not while he’s angry. It won’t do anyone any good. Just like you’ve talked about in therapy.

You rehearsed the lines in your head and finished your glass. You heard the door open again and almost threw everything you had been going over in your head out the window. Just breathe. It’s fine, he calmed down so quickly after that time in the alley, he’ll understand.

_____

Steve was angry. With Clint for getting the dates of Pierce’s arrival wrong, with Sam for failing to get the recon they needed to get the drop on him. Even angrier with Bucky for taking all of this out on him when it wasn’t even his fault. But most of all he was angry with himself for letting his work get in the way of your time together. He promised you undivided attention and you deserved it.

He knew how important your day off was to you and after the day he’d been having he couldn’t wait to just come back to you. He just wanted to make some decent spaghetti and melt the worries of his day off with your embrace. He craved the physical comfort he got from you after a long day. The feeling of endlessly sinking into your arms while you held him in bed allowed him to be the vulnerable one for once. He never felt comfortable enough with any of the other women he’d dated to even entertain the idea of being the little spoon.

He always suspected that who he was at work was almost the only reason any of the other women had even gone out with him. Who he was at work was almost a front for the art-loving, touch-starved, hopeless-romantic that he was when he let himself relax. They’d all just wanted this big burly man who was always in charge, a walking wall of muscle and testosterone that they had seen and heard of him to be when he was on the job. But when he was on his own time he just wanted to feel comfort more than anything.

He just wanted to melt into you.

That’s why he was eager to get to you today but the constant calls were cutting him to his last nerve. Bucky was out with Natasha and her parents so he specifically asked not to be called. Being the boss, Bucky was not to be bothered. Being second in command, Steve was.

When he hung up with Clint he exited the bathroom and walked straight past you without a word, knowing you didn’t want to hear about work and talking about it would just make him angrier. He started unloading the grocery bag with maybe a bit more vigor than was necessary.

Remembering he had opened a beer that was probably warm by now he turned to you and grabbed it off the table you were sat at. At this moment he looked up and you had this look on your face he couldn’t quite place. He wanted to know what was up so he asked but you just ended up stammering out a response that didn’t make much sense.

He was trying to listen to you, he really was but he just couldn’t work around this building anger, couldn’t let it go. So of course his phone rings again. And of course he takes it. Excusing himself and locking the bathroom door behind him again he was already forming how to lay into his men on the other line without raising his voice and alarming you too much.

“I told you not to call me unless you had it fixed” he seethed into the receiver. Steve pounded his fist against the porcelain of your sink in aggravation. “I’m not fucking coming down there tonight. I shouldn’t have to be taking fucking phone calls to solve this kinda shit when I’m with my girl. Lose their tail, re-track them, and we’ll deal with the rest in the morning. Don’t call me again unless someone fucking gets shot”, Steve hung up abruptly and took a deep breath.

He wasn’t even sure what he was going to say to you so he just waited a minute to collect himself. He took another deep breath and readied himself to go back to you.

_________

You were sitting quietly at the table, silently digging your nails into your palm as you tensed your fist. Steve had exited the bathroom and taken a seat across from you. You decided to see if he’d speak first and waited.

A beat of silence and you sighed deeply, readying yourself to talk to him like you’d planned.

“Steve, I understand you’re having a bad day and it’s probably work related. That being said, just because you’re mad at someone else doesn’t mean you get to take it out on me” You blew out a shaky breath, wanting to finish before you lost your nerve and before he interjected. You didn’t dare make eye contact. Only stared at his hands on the table in front of you.

“If- if you’re mad don’t take it out on me, and if you feel like you can’t control that anger I don’t want you around me while you feel that way. If you want to talk through it or just work past it then I’m here. But if you’re going to snap at me again and just be mad then you need to leave. It’s not fair to me.”

I’m pretty sure Dr. Danforth would be fucking proud of me right now. Straight to the point but respectful, just like we talked about. And even if Steve’s mad, you’re in control. You’re doing great.

You braved a peek at his face at this point and he looked stunned himself. He’s probably never been spoken to like that in his life, being the second in command and all. You watched his brows bunch together in what you hoped was thought and not frustration for you and waited for him to speak.

________

Oh. Steve was a little struck by what you’d said. Have I been that bad? She’s shaking like a leaf, of course I must have been that bad. He’d had no idea that he even snapped at you, that’s how wrapped up in his own business and his head he was. He never meant to take it out on you, didn’t even realize he had. Sometimes it was like he was so deep into his work life he couldn’t take himself out of it. But he wanted to try, for you.

He remained silent while he pulled the chair across from you out and took a seat. He looked up to meet your gaze only to find you staring at your hands. You were digging your nails into your palms so he brought one large warm hand to cover yours and brought the other up to your face gently to get you to look at him. You flinched away from him and he felt another strike of surprise, but also maybe a hint of shame. Is she afraid of me? Normally Steve likes when people are afraid of him, makes his job easier, but he’d never want that from you.

“Sweetheart”, Steve’s voice was just above a whisper when you finally looked up at him.

“I’m… sorry, that’s really it I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take it out on you. I didn’t even realize I did.” He apologized.

____________

You could feel your tears subsiding and finally brought yourself to look at him. He looked just as exhausted before, just a little bit more sad. You imagined it was probably easy for him to get swept up in who he was at work so it must be hard to separate himself from it since it requires so much from him. You don’t want him to feel bad for being upset, you just want him to be more aware of himself and to not take things out on you.

“Steve, I know we said you wouldn’t talk about work when we’re together but I don’t want you to feel like you can’t talk to me if you have a bad day. Maybe you can keep it vague but I don’t want you to feel like you can’t say anything or be yourself, unless of course you don’t want to, I don’t want to force you to talk about anything either. When you snapped at me I just sorta shut down” You explained.

Steve seemed to be processing your words and forming a response when he took your hand in his to stop your nails from ripping into your palms like they often do. He nodded and took a breath.

“You have no idea how much it means to hear that from you, thank you. Just for the record, I never feel like I can’t be myself with you, it’s opposite, really. When I’m with you I get to drop all that bullshit at the door. Girls in the past have just wanted me because I was scary but seeing the way you flinched just now, I don’t ever want you to feel scared of me.” Steve confessed.

Maybe it’s time to tell him about the engagement, let him know where you’re coming from. You blew out a shaky breath and looked away from him again.

“I, um, I’m not scared of you. Years ago I was engaged to a man and things were really bad, he was really bad. I’m not ready to talk about all of it but that’s why I shut down on you when you snapped. I’ve been through a lot of therapy and I’m still working on it, but I’m not afraid of you. Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, it’s… kind of a sore subject” you admitted.

Steve’s nostrils flared and his grip on your hand tightened a little but you could tell he was trying everything he could to school his features and reply to you.

“I… didn’t know that I’m sorry.” he said as he ran his thumb over your knuckles. “If you ever wanna talk about it more, I’m here. And if you don’t, I understand.”

You stood from your chair and came around behind him to throw your arms around his neck. You kissed his cheek and rested your head against his.

“Thank you for listening and apologizing. I forgive you. And if you wanna talk about your day then I’m here.” You assured him.

Steve turned his head to capture your lips in a soft kiss which you reciprocated. Steve stood to his full height without breaking the kiss and brought his hands up to frame your face. The warmth was comforting again to you. Your tongue slipped into his mouth and he elicited the softest of sighs before returning your passion.

He broke the kiss while his hands explored your curves. “I want to make it up to you, will you let me do that, sweetheart?” he asked.

You could only look up at him with eyes blown wide with lust and affection. You nodded and he kissed you swiftly before leading you to your bedroom. You were holding his hand when he let go and softly urged you backwards onto the bed. You obliged and soon he was on top of you laying feather-light kisses to the column of your neck.

Your hands mussed his hair and smoothed out the tension in his shoulders as you held onto him. He kissed his way lower and lifted up the hem of our shirt and kissed his way back up to your breasts. You sat up slightly and took off your top and unhooked your bra, letting it fall before throwing it to the side. Steve took turns taking your nipples between his teeth and teasing them, licking and kissing them. He knew it always made you squirm and would build the anticipation before you could even touch him.

“Steve, please.” You whined.

Wordlessly he kissed and bit his way lower and undid your shorts. You arched your back to help him remove them along with your panties. Steve wasted no time and administered the smallest of licks to your clit. You gasped slightly at the feeling when you felt two fingers prodding your entrance before going in. Your body was getting accustomed to the initial wave of pleasure brought on by Steve’s movement and slowly you ground your hips against his hand and cried out softly.

Normally Steve would never let that fly, he was always so controlling and dominant in bed but tonight was different. Tonight was soft and he was making it up to you, showing his love in a physical way. So he let you push him deeper and raise your hips just so to reach the perfect angle. You felt yourself tighten around him and this is the point he usually slows down just to drag things out but your loud cries only fueled him as he doubled his efforts. With a final cry you came around his fingers, white heat blinding your vision momentarily.

You caught your breath and looked down at Steve. His beard was absolutely drenched and he sucked his fingers clean. You could almost cum again just from the sight of it. He wiped his mouth on a tissue before returning to you to give you a kiss. You tasted yourself on him but you didn’t care, you just wanted his mouth on yours. You felt his erection pressing against your thighs and it had you squirming all over again. You reached to undo his belt when he stopped you.

“This night is supposed to be about you, doll. I’ll be fine” He protested.

You shook your head at him. “I want you, all of you. Please, Steve”, you begged.

He nodded and undid his belt. You helped undress and when he was finally naked you felt the rush of heat to your core all over again, an itch you couldn’t scratch. You laid back further on the bed and soon he was above you, face inches from yours and one arm at the side of your head.

His cock nudged against your core and entered slowly to stretch you out. You moaned deeply and when he was all the way in he kissed you passionately and began moving. It didn’t take much for him to pick up the pace as he started to fuck you. He swore under his breath at the feeling of you.

“You’re so, so, good sweetheart. So fuckin’ good.” He praised.

His words made you keen as you let the feeling of him making love to you take you over completely. His lips grazed yours in between grunts and he moved one hand to your clit while the other cradled the back of your head. You held onto his shoulders tightly and sobbed out pleas for him to keep going. His thrusts picked up speed and so did his hand. You were so close to the edge and you could feel he was too.

“I love you” he panted out before his hips lunged forward into you one last time before he came inside of you.

The shock of his confession and his work on your clit triggered your second orgasm. It was powerful and had you clawing his back and gasping in pleasure. He’d never said that before. Did he mean it? You looked to him for the answer but his lips caught yours as he gave a few last lazy thrusts. He finally collapsed to your side and was heaving to catch his breath.

You both laid there basking in the afterglow of the makeup sex for a few minutes. You turned on your side to look at him. He was so perfect like this, so at ease.

“Did you.. Mean it? What you said?” You questioned nervously. You really wanted him to mean it.

He turned slowly to look at you and he was blushing. “Yeah, I did. I know it’s kind of soon and you don’t have to say it back, but I couldn’t help it. I love you” he confided.

“I love you too, I’m not just saying it cause I feel like I have to, I love you Steve Rogers. All of you.” you assured him.

The softest of kisses was laid on your lips. This moment with him was perfect.

“I can’t believe you love me. I’m so sorry about earlier. I feel so comforted when I’m with you, the last thing I want is to lose you. I promise I will do everything I can to never be like your ex. Ever. If I’m being a dick I want you to tell me,” He apologized again.

You were about to respond when his stomach let out the loudest groan. You both laughed as you sat up.

“I did promise you dinner. Unburned this time!” Steve pledged as he helped you gather up your clothes.

“That’s a promise I’m going to hold you to, Rogers.”

[islesnucks]

BACKUP BABYSITTERS - MAT BARZAL X READER

It's here! once again thank u @softbarzal for inspiring this

Word Count: 3.5 k

Warning: none

Summary: your date with Mat is cut short when a friend asks you to look after her daughter, but then he tags along

Masterlist

Add yourself to the taglist!

“Please, please, please. I have to stay here for like 3 more hours and I already called the babysitter and she can’t stay longer. Just put on a movie and I promise she won’t cause any trouble.” your friend basically begged you from the other side of the phone.

“It’s not that I’m worried about taking care of her, I love spending time with her, but I’m in the middle of a date Lili.” you told her, turning your head to look at Mat who was sitting back on your table. He sent a small smirk your way, probably because he saw your furrowed brows.

“Shit I forgot that was today.” There was a long silence but you knew what was coming next. “Can’t you leave early? I know I’m asking a lot and I promise I’ll make it up to you.” You could sense the desperation in her tone and you knew she wouldn’t be asking this if it wasn’t really the only option, so there wasn’t much to think about. Even if it meant leaving Mat not even halfway into the date, you had to do it.

“Ok, sure tell the nanny I’ll be there in 15.” you said and heard Lili let out a deep sigh making you smile. Being a single mom wasn’t easy and if you could help your friend in any way you most surely would.

“You are the best. Seriously. Best human being in existence.”

“I know, I know. Now get back to work before they fire you.”

“Love you, bye.”

“Love you too.”

Mat watched you talk on the phone, intrigued but trying not to be noisy. It was clear to see you were in distress and that caused him to worry. Soon you were making you way back to the table. He felt a bit of deja vu seeing you walk to the table like you had done earlier that night when you arrived at the restaurant, gorgeous as ever, taking his breath away. Only that now instead of that beautiful smiled that would appear whenever you looked at him, you had a concerned look on your face, which only made him worry more. You were just trying to come up with a way of telling him you had to leave right now without it sounding like a lame excuse to dip.

“Is everything okay?” he asked as soon as you were next to him.

“Yeah, just a little change of plans.” you started to say, without taking your seat and grabbing your coat from behind it. “I have to leave, like right now.”

“What happened?” He was genuinely preoccupied which warmed your heart. 

“Remember my friend Lili? The one that has a daughter of 5?” you asked and he nodded. You had told him about her on one of your first dates some weeks ago. “There was some problem at her office, she has to stay longer and the girl that babysits for her can’t stay the extra hours so she called me to see if I could go take care of little Amy...”

“And you said yes.” he finished the sentence for you. 

“Yes. I’m sorry. I promise I’m not making this up.” you were quick to add making him chuckle. “I really was enjoying this but she’s my best friend and Amy is like a niece. I can’t not help her.”

“Don’t worry I totally get it. We can raincheck, no big deal.” he said grabbing your hand in a reassuring manner. “Do you have a ride?”

“No, but I’ll order an uber-”

“Don’t. I’ll give you a ride.” he quickly said standing up, not letting go of your hand.

“You really don’t have to-”

“I’ll take every extra bit of time I can get with you miss.” Your cheeks turned red at his comment and he smiled down at you, loving the effect he had on you.

After making your way to the counter and failing to convince Mat to split the check for the food you weren’t even able to finish, you walked to his car hand in hand.

On the ride low music played in the background as you made conversation and Mat took advantage of every single red light to sneak a kiss or two. However the ride was shorter than you would have wanted it, in a couple minutes you were in front of Lili’s house.

“I’ll walk you to the door.” he said taking off his seat belt. You open your mouth ready to tell him he didn’t have to, but before you could Mat added: “Don’t even try to stop me, every minute counts, remember?” He leaned in to give you a final peck on the lips and then rapidly left the car to go around and open the door for you.

“Such a gentleman.” you joked taking the hand he was offering.

“I try my best.”

He closed the door behind you and gently moved your hand so it would be wrapped around his arm as you walked up to the door. Once there you rang the bell and within the second the door was opening showing you a really stressed teenager.

“Hi you must be Y/N, right?” she asked, already putting on her coat and grabbing her backpack. You nodded. “Thank you for rushing here. I really wish I could stay but I have another kid I have to babysit. Please tell Lili I’m so sorry-”

“Don’t worry she gets it.” you tried to calm her down.

“Amy is in the living room-” she started to say only to be interrupted by the 5 year old suddenly appearing down the hallway. Her eyes went wide and she smiled as she ran down the hall screaming your name.

“Aunty Y/N!” she screamed before jumping into your arms. You couldn’t help but laugh, wrapping your arms around her and positioning her on your side, resting her weight on your hip. Mat was beaming beside you, eyes full of adoration as he watched the sweet exchange.

“How’s my favorite niece doing?”

“I’m your only niece.” she remarked making you and Mat laugh once again.

“You’re getting too smart.” you joked poking her side to make her giggle.

“She already ate but there’s some food on the fridge if you get hungry, and we were about to watch Frozen 2.” the babysitter said as she crossed the door, clearly on a rush to leave.

“Wait do you have a ride or something to get to your next house? It’s already too late to be walking outside alone. I can give you a ride if you need.” Mat said before the girl could leave. You looked at him, a bit surprised by his words but at the same time not at all since you knew how gentlemanly he could get. How he could go from behaving like a kid to an adult within a second still amazed you. 

“Oh don’t worry I have my car, but thanks!” she replied, pulling out the keys to the car. “Bye Amy, see you tomorrow.” she added waving to the little girl.

“Bye!” Amy replied waving back to her. The three of you watched making sure the girl got back to get her car safely and once she was gone you closed the door and turned to look at Mat.

“That was such a dad thing to do considering she’s probably not that much younger than us” you teased him.

“I was being polite.”

“I know. I loved it.” you said giving him a wink and made your way to the living room before he could respond.

He watched you walk down the hall with the little girl in your arms and had to tell himself it was way too early in your relationship to start fantasizing about what your kids would look like, but that wasn’t enough to stop him from doing it.

“So we’re watching Frozen 2?” you asked Amy as you placed her on the couch and sat beside her.

“Who is he?” she asked referring to Mat, completely ignoring your question. You surely weren’t about to explain to a 5 year old the concept of dating and boyfriends. Plus you and Mat hadn’t talked about where your relationship stood, so you actually had to discover that yourself before telling the little girl. But as you looked for the right words Mat appeared on the living room and answered.

“I’m Mat. I’m a friend of your aunt.” he said followed by his best smile, but you could tell he was a bit nervous meeting the kid. Especially because he knew kids had no filter whatsoever so she was gonna say whatever came to her mind. He just hoped it was something good.

Amy looked him up and down, sword of examining him and Mat could have sworn he hadn’t felt that judged ever since his fitness test at the scouting years ago. You tried to hold in the giggles as you watched the grown man standing a bit awkwardly in front of you, being extremely intimidated by a 5 year old. Amy then scooted close to you and lifted herself on her knees putting her hands around her mouth and reaching your year to tell you a secret. Nevertheless she was still a loud young kid so what intended to sound like a whisper ended up being loud enough for anyone to hear.

“Is he the cute hockey player you and mom talked about?” she asked and your eyes went wide and face red. You looked at Amy surprised she had just said that and then looked at Mat, who was looking away pretending not to have heard that but the wicked smile on his face said he had.

“We really have to start being more careful with what we say around you.” you jokingly reprimanded her making her giggle. “But yes he is.” 

Your eyes went to Mat after saying that, wanting to see his reaction. Proud smile and puffed out chest, it was clear to see he liked hearing that. Mat was a man that thrived on praise, everyone knew that, but he was happy just hearing that you talked about him with your friend. It made him feel important, like he was part of your life and he loved it. He had talked about you to everyone who was willing to hear really, he actually couldn’t shut up about you sometimes and that resulted in his friends teasing him constantly, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was that apparently you were as into the relationship as he was, that couldn’t make him happier.

Amy nodded and then seemed to think about something serious for a moment before turning back to Mat.

“Are you going to watch Frozen 2 with us?” she simply asked like it was the most casual thing ever. You started panicking a bit, heart raising on your chest. This was the first time Mat met someone from your life, it didn’t matter if it was a 5 year old girl who didn’t really understand what was going on. You didn’t want to rush things only to end up scaring him away like it had happened with other guys you’d dated.

“Well Amy, Mat has other things-” you started to explain to her, trying to get out of what could turn out to be a really awkward moment.

“If you aunty is okay with it, then sure I’d love to watch Frozen 2 with you.” he replied with the sweetest grin in his face, but you still feared he just felt some kind of obligation to stay because Amy was the one asking.

“That’s sweet Mat but you really don’t have to. I’m sure there are thousand things you’d like to do rather than watching a kids movie.”

“First of all, Frozen 2 rocks, I wanna watch it. Secondly for the third time tonight, everything I’m doing is because I want to not because I feel like I have to.” he reassured you, washing away once and for all any insecurity left in you. You smiled at him, biting your bottom lips in disbelief, wondering how you had gotten so lucky. 

“Then I guess Mat is staying for movie night.” you told Amy and she stood on the couch and started clapping. “But I have to warn you, Mat eats all the popcorn.”

“That’s not true!” he replied, taking his hand to his chest in pretended offense.

“Ok Mat and I will go make some popcorn and you Amy go get your stuffed animals because we can’t watch a movie without them, right?” you said and Amy was instantly rushed to her room making both of you chuckle.

You stood up and grabbed Mats hand, dragging him across the house to the kitchen.

“Is Lili going to be fine with this? You know, she doesn’t know me and I’m hanging around her daughter, I don’t want you to get in any trouble.” Mat said leaning against the isle as you walked around the kitchen grabbing everything you needed for the popcorn.

“I’m like her second mother, Lili trusts me and I trust you to be around Amy so there won’t be any problem.” you told him as you put the bag on the microwave. Those words meant more to Mat that you would have guessed, you didn’t noticed but his cheeks went a bit red and he couldn't contain his smile. He couldn’t understand why you letting him into your life had such and effect on him, and he couldn’t quite put a name yet to the bubbling feeling you caused on him, but he would later realize it was love.

Soon you felt a pair of arms wrapping around your waist and his chest pressing against your back as he rested his chin in your shoulder.

“Thank you, it really means a lot.” he whispered into your ear, squeezing you a little. You knew the action was supposed to be cute, but his hot breath against your skin sent shivers down your spine.

“Could you be any more perfect?” you said turning around in his embrace to face him after turning on the microwave, being met with his all too familiar smug smile that made you roll your eyes and chuckle at the same time. He was about to reply something cocky surely, but you decided to erase that smile of his with a kiss.

You placed your arms around his neck, bringing him closer, as his hands stayed firmly in your waist. His lips fitted with yours in perfect rhythm, like it was meant to be. You wanted to deepen the kiss so badly but a voice inside your head kept on reminding you there was a really energetic, curious little girl around the house that run into the kitchen any second from now. And just as you were thinking that you heard her.

“I’m ready!” her voice traveled around the house from the living room to the kitchen, making you and Mat instantly stop kissing. There was a moment of silence and you looked at each other before you broke out in laughter. 

“That’s our cue.” you said freeing yourself from Mat’s embrace. Then you opened the microwave to get the popcorn out as Mat handed you the bowl you had set aside earlier. As soon as you put the popcorn in said bowl Mat’s hand was reaching to grab some.

“Don’t.” You jokingly slapped his hand which made him look at you with furrowed brows. “It’s still hot, you’ll burn yourself.”

“I already kissed you and I’m fine so...” he said with the cheekiest smile, making you roll your eyes at the cheesy comment. Then grabbed some quickly taking it to his mouth, only to start groaning in pain one second later.

“I told you it was hot Mathew. I thought I’d be babysitting one 5-year-old today, not two.”

“I didn’t think it would be that hot-” he started to defend himself but was cut off.

“When are you coming?!” Amy shouted again.

“We’re going! We’re going!” you replied between giggles, grabbing the bowl with one hand and Mat with the other and making you way back to the living room.

When you made it to the room you found 2 stuffed animals carefully placed in the couch facing the tv and Amy next to them wrapped around the Frozen blanket you had gifted her not too long ago.

“I see you have everything ready.” you said placing the bowl on the coffee table.

“Mat sits next Sammy and Eddie.” she pointed out signaling Mat to sit between a stuffed dolphin and a cat, which he instantly did. “And aunty sits with Eddie and me.”

You bit your lip trying to hold in your laughter as you took your seat between your niece and the stuffed cat she had obviously placed there intentionally so you wouldn’t be next to Mat. But the moment he looked at you lifting his eyebrows in amusement a giggle escaped your lips. 

“What’s funny?” Amy asked watching as the two of you exchanged looks.

“Nothing, nothing. Let’s watch the movie.” you replied, grabbing the control and starting the movie. Amy snuggled to your side and you could feel Mat’s arm behind your head as he stretched it on the back of the couch.

Within 20 minutes Amy was already asleep with her head in your chest and your left arm wrapped around her holding her close. That’s when you decided to put away the stuffed cat that served as a barrier. Mat looked at you confused, not wanting to do anything that could make the little girl dislike him.

“She’s asleep.” you whispered to him, he had been too focused on the movie to notice. “Sorry about Eddie the cat, she can be a little territorial.” you explained making Mat smile.

You tapped the new empty seat next to you signaling him to move closer and Mat scooted over to your side, placing his arm around you as you gently nestled into his side, trying not to wake Amy up. 

“And sorry about tonight, I know this isn’t what you had planed.” you said turning you head to face him.

“Stop apologizing Y/N. I have you by my side, that’s all I need.” he told you and even though his face was barely visible, poorly lit only by the light emitted by the tv, you could see a certain spark in his eyes that showed you how honest he was being. “Also this movie is actually great.” he added, making you laugh.

“You’re earning a lot of points tonight Barzal.” you said stretching your neck to kiss him briefly before cuddling back to his side. He then placed a kiss on the top of your head and went back to watch the movie, which he was clearly enjoying.

Lili arrived at her house over an hour later. She wasn’t surprised when she opened the door to a completely silent house, expecting you to have put Amy to bed by then. However she was surprised when she walked into her living room only to find the three of you asleep on the couch.

Amy had changed position and now was laying on the couch, still wrapped in her blanket, with her head laying on your lap as your arm was placed over her. Mat and you hadn’t moved that much, his arm still wrapped around your shoulders and your head on his chest, but now his head was resting on top of yours, moving your hair a bit with every deep breath he took.

Lili smiled to herself as he took in the scene. This was actually the first time she had seen Mat in person, but she was not mad at all, she actually found it quite cute. 

She carefully lifted her daughter in her arms, trying not to wake neither of you up. Amy’s arms instantly wrapped around her neck as she watched you unconsciously snuggle further into Mat’s chest now that Amy had left your side.

Needless to say you and Mat woke up the next morning really confused, not even remembering falling asleep the night before, and with terrible neck pain, but you woke up next to each other which was enough to make it a good morning.

-

hope you liked it! likes and reblogs are always appreciated!

Tagging those who asked to or seemed interested:

@spencereidbasis @2manytabsopen @spencereidbasis @bbbbruins @softbarzal @dreamer1430 @matsbarzals @hockeyandsht @barzysandmarnersbitch @shawnsreputation @glassdanse @tazeboes @barbienoturbby

Also here you can add yourself to my taglist for barzy or the other players i write for

[wincestisasincest]

Waves on the Shore - Chapter 11: Chapter 11 Sneak Peek

Aight so first, if you have not yet heard, updates are gonna slow down a bit because my life is in shambles. Don't worry, I'm still sexy, just need to make sure I don't fail college or die. Second, thanks to everyone who left a comment or sent a sweet message, y'all are keepine me going like an IV tube. Third, something kinda funky has been going on with the tags, so lmk if for some reason you did not get a notification and should've. I love tumblr.

~Wince from the future here with an extra note: just realized that I forgot to write a kind of important part of this so this preview might not be thaaaaat representative of what coming up. Might rb with a better version soon~

WOTS masterlist // wc: 1.2k // triggers: uhhhhhhh none? // @edenstarkk, @modernamilf, @dedicated2viktor, @doctorho, @yeehawbvby, @arcaneparx, @the-lake-is-calling

Viktor could not find his pants. 

Last night, he worked through a glass of sweetmilk as he slithered out of his clothes, leaving them on the floor so he could change into clean sleepwear with maximum efficiency. He even spilled a little of the sweetmilk on them, but he figured that he could deal with it in the morning. 

Well, it was morning now, and though the red pool of his shirt was still where he’d dropped it, with the sweetmilk dried up but the smell still there, his pants had disappeared without a trace. Once again, it would’ve been a problem for later, if he hadn’t left his ID and keys in there. 

He scoured every inch of his apartment, under his bed, on top of the bookshelves, even in his fridge. Nothing. He was pantsless. He’d have to hope that the front desk believed his story until he found them. They were somewhere in his room, he was certain, as he’d used them to unlock the door just last night. 

“Yes, I have lost my ID, but if you just check the-” he reached over the secretary’s desk to point out where his name should’ve been. 

“I’m sorry sir, but with increased security on campus we can only allow entry to people with Academy-issued IDs.” 

“Helen, you’ve seen me come in every day for the past year.” 

“I know, but,” Helen sighed, “look, they’re taking this whole body found on campus thing really seriously, and I don’t blame them. People have already lost jobs because they didn’t follow protocol, so I’m sorry, but I really can’t afford to cut corners now.” 

Vikor leaned both of his elbows on the desk and rubbed his eyes. 

“Apologies,” he mumbled, “I did not mean to be so rude. It is a stressful time.” 

“Yeah. It is,” she rested her cheek in her hand and looked at him with her olive green eyes, “but you know where you can get a provisional one, right?” 

“Of course,” he straightened his spine, “do you think you could give a message for me, though?”

*****

“Uh... do we still have that?” 

“He said it’s in the cooler.” 

“Since when was there a cooler?” 

“Whole time.” 

“Oh,” you could barely look Jayce in the eye as you said that, “well then I’ll, uh, get ready for transport.”

Viktor had kept his word; and you really would not put it past him to wake his best friend up in the middle of the night to tell on you. But, at least for now, Jayce was none the wiser. 

Somehow, it made you feel worse, like that time you’d tried to steal blueprints. He was just so nice, and it felt so wrong, but you could bare the guilt this time. Viktor said last night that this project meant “everything” to him.

You were up in the air about whether or not Viktor was a liar. You weren’t aware of any lies that he’d said, so either he was a really good one or he didn’t bother, but you did know that, regardless of his inclinations, he could lie if he wanted to. And he protected Jayce and that work with a rare kind of fire. 

You wanted to verify. To see just what kind of foundations your bargain from the night before was built upon. 

“So where’d you get the idea for this stuff, anyway?” you tried to ask it casually when Jayce came back into the room, holding the cooler with the lab saftey-approved two hands method. 

“Uh, transporting cadavers?” he said as he plonked the cooler on the table. 

“No, no, I mean like, portals and all that. It’s not exactly what magic is known for, after all,” you carefully moved the slick, black, Noxian portal circuit that they’d used to transport the mice all those days ago onto the table, where you could wire it into the power units. 

“Hoo boy,” Jayce cracked his neck, “get ready for story time with Jayce.” 

“There’s lore?” 

“Yup. With a test, later,” Jayce cracked a grin, “But seriously, way back when I was, like, 9, my mom and I were coming back home from a trip up to Targon, and we got stuck in the weather. I’m talking the most aggressive blizzard you’ve ever seen.” 

He moved his hands theatrically, like someone telling a tall tale at a bar. But you believed him. 

“We were out there, completely lost because we couldn’t see anything, and on top of it all, my mom was getting hypothermic.” 

“Oh, shit.” 

“Yeah. Don’t worry, she lives,” he said hastily, before putting his narrator voice back on, “It’s bad, my mom can’t go any further, and then, out of nowhere, this tall, hooded figure with a staff just appears in the snow. And he offers this to me.”

Jayce undid the bracelet on his hand - the one that he wore every day - and passed it to you. Embossed in the middle was a dull, blue crystal in the shape of a tear drop, with a rune carved into it. 

“Not the whole thing, just the crystal. And at first, I’m not sure, but then I realize that if I don’t trust him we’re screwed, so I let him help us, and he-” Jayce looked up for a moment, his parted lips dispalying his gap tooth as he recalled the memory with the same awe he must’ve had as a child, “he started doing these motions. I’d realize later that it was a somatic component of a spell, which, as you know, we can synthetically create in a lab, but even then, something about how he did them was just... magical. And there was this flash of blue light, and the next thing I knew, we were at the bottom of the mountain in sunlight, and everything was okay.” 

“He sapped the crystal,” you observed, resting the leather that the crystal was in between your fingers. 

“Yup. I guess it was useless so he just... let me have it,” he chuckled, accepting the bracelet as you returned it to him, “but I swear, it was... really something.” 

He was half in the world and half in his head. It was endearing, you thought, the way that he couldn’t even describe his own devotion without dissolving into a puddle of feelings. 

“I believe you,” you said. 

“It saved me once, and I think that it can save the Ionians now,” he looked down at you, and the gap tooth disappeared behind closed, resolute lips.  

Gods, even if you were unsure of the portals, you couldn’t doubt Jayce. He literally wore his heart on his sleeve (or, under his sleeve and on a bracelet). He was... trying. You were both trying. 

And, maybe, since he had been so accommodating to you, you could accept your place in his dream. For now. Even if it didn’t feel like home.

[schleierkauz]

Resa and Cockerell?

Resa: When did you first read Inkheart?

I got the book for my 10th birthday and I think I started properly reading it a few months later? Maybe a year? I remember that it spent a long while just sitting next to my bed and I'd just reread the first few pages. My cat really liked to sit on it. :D Eventually I sat down to really focus on it and immediately became obsessed.

Cockerell: What are your hopes for the 4th Inkworld book?

Oh Man. Okay.

Generelly speaking, I hope it opens the Inkworld up a little more without feeling like Reckless Light™. I know Cornelia is really excited about drawing connections between the books and that's fair, but, to me at least, the two stories still feel very distinct. And I hope TCoR fits in with the other three Inkworld books instead of trying to be a hybrid. For example, if some plot point is resolved with the help of Magical Fairytale Item #72, I'm gonna be less than happy.

I also hope it doesn't introduce too many entirely new characters. There should be some, obviously, but the comments Cornelia made about how new people keep showing up in the story made me a little nervous... We already know and love so many players in this world, I want the focus to be on them. That said, I really love the whole witch thing and Jehan's friend sounds adorable, I DO want to know more about her! Just, give me a few chapters about Dustfinger and the Prince and their whole history. With everyone else fridged for the time being, those two should get some quality time together. :')

Speaking of Dustfinger, I am. torn.

Part of me wants him to murder Orpheus. Just straight up kill him.

On the other hand, though... It would feel weird. For all these years, he's been such a pacifist at heart, I wouldn't want him to deal with the emotional aftermath of what he's done. Because despite everything, I don't think he could just walk away from that. Remember when he killed Basta that second time? That scene, short as it is, doesn't feel violent at all. More like doing an old enemy a favor. And I love that moment but something like that wouldn't make sense with Orpheus... Maybe they end up in a situation where killing him would be the kind thing to do, and Dustfinger doesn't? I don't know... Either way, I'm looking forward to the inevitable confronation of these two.

Basically: Dustfinger can kill if he wants to. I'll support him no matter what. <3

Wow I need to shut up. Some more hopes of mine, lightning round:

Brianna content, specifically Brianna-finally-bonding-with-her-father-content (yes I'm still emotional about that wristband she made him)

We meet the Black Prince's younger sisters

The Barn Owl shows up or is at least mentioned

Some kind of throwback to Capricorn and his men, idc what exactly I just want them mentioned

Witch lore. I wanna know all about them.

At least one of the new characters is another Bird Person

Proper love interest for Violante (not the Black Prince, I don't think they'd work out in the long run (although they do make a pretty intense power couple.) (Also Brianna is literally right there-)

Gwin bites the shit out of someone and is also immortal

The Prince's bear bites the shit out of someone and is also immortal

"Orpheus' evil plan fails because Balbulus is racist" plot point stays, that shit is so funny to me

Cornelia really leans into the whole 'Illustration as magic' theme, esp in contrast to 'Writing/reading as magic' as we had it in the previous books

Mo does not fully go back to his Bluejay persona and people who were there for the events of Inkdeath but don't really know him are super confused about why he won't just kill his enemies

Resa however...

Thank you for the questions! :)

[jadelynlace]

Ink Drinker / Modern Vikings AU [Ivar x F!Reader], Chapter 7

☾ catch up here!

synopsis: Ivar was only meant to be a friend with benefits, but he caught feelings for his older brother’s best friend, and co-worker: you.

pairing: Ivar x F!Reader 

author’s note: this chapter is going to be slightly short than others in the past, but don’t worry, good things are coming. this is also everyone’s daily reminder not to rush content creators, or guilt trip them into writing/creating. [divider, as always, is by the wonderful @firefly-graphics] additional thanks, to the love of my life, I mean mutual, @quantumlocked310​ and her ability to listen to my bullshit and help me sort it out. ♡

content warnings: mentions of Ivar’s recovery, mentions of mental break downs (both readers & Ivar’s), and Good Dude Hvitserk. Ivar’s break down does have moments of sickness (vomit), so I’ll tag that as a warning as well. include negative self talk and drinking to dull the reader’s pain. And, because I cannot simply help myself: some Floki. be on the look out for any additional spelling and grammar mistakes.

word count: ~1,896 words

You finally break. You finally break after an old photo pops up on your phone, and it’s of Ivar. Laying in your bed, smiling with his eyes still closed right as you tell him good morning—on the last day that he was the same. You finally break because he’s trapped in his mind, still glued to a hospital bed. A raspy voice from misuse echos through your mind, and you can’t recall the old voice he once had. Thick and silky, even when he would speak of utter nonsense. You finally break when you roll over for another night in a bed and he’s not there. When your apartment exists with an air of loneliness, quiet and bleak without the sounds of Ivar. You’ve trekked to his flat, you’ve cleaned the rotting food from his fridge, gathered his mail, tried to keep the place as it was. And you finally break.

It’s been two months Ivar exists with an array of wires connecting him to machines. The medical life that helps him seek the connecting path for a fair recovery are there, and his face is pale, gaunt, but there’s still a beauty to his blue eyes. Mad with flames, further weighed down by this incomparable and vile creature that covers him with thoughts of his uselessness. Another cause for self hatred as he’s covered with scars and healing wounds, and little semblance of the kind, loving man you know is becoming harder to find. You have never seen him this mad. He doesn’t understand why he can’t just rise from the cot and walk out the door. Why he needs the nurses to help him from his bed to his wheel chair and why his legs have failed him as they heal. There’s a deep ache of uselessness in his heart and it’s starting to grow, take up space as he houses it, harboring it and welcoming it because it’s easier than the acceptance and the blame. It’s easier to hate himself as he crawls along the floor because he doesn’t need to help—he’s not worth it anymore. Screaming at you, screaming at the nurses, as they have to restrain him and he only begs them to kill him. It was how simply this man is reduced to a wail, the man you had seen with anger struck eyes and curved lips in pursuit of a sarcastic statement. The man who pretended he never liked you, just to hide how much he did. How his arms would fold in challenge, and you can remember the first time you ever made him laugh—not out of a stupid comment or blunt return, but a real laugh that had danced from your ear drums and made you smile. “Oh, you do know how to smile.” You remember saying. And he smiled again at that once more.

You have sat along the white linens with him, silence in between the two of you as you rake nails through his hair, sending shivers to dance down across his skin. As you wipe his jaw, smear it with shaving cream and take the razor to the scruff. Even when the nurses tell you visiting hours are over for the evening, you still stay lined in the uncomfortable bed with him. Because this has grown into your fight too.

The years of hiding emotions, shoving trauma under a rug that simply cannot hold anymore finally ask for their dues. They’re back to collect the debt and you finally, finally break. Your sob is the first thing that echos in Hvitserk’s ear, and his fingers reach quickly to turn the burner off, stopping the stove. 

“I feel like such a failure.” Comes your voice and his heart sinks. A wail comes next and it irks Hvitserk because he has never heard you cry. Ever. Not once after a call, even with what you two have seen. “I can’t do any thing else to help and I feel like such a failure.” And god if that doesn’t break his own heart too.

“Where are you Y/L/N?” He asks softly.

“In my car.” You answer back.

“Where are we going?” He asks and you can’t help but let a small laugh loose. “Where are you taking me?” 

“I don’t know…” You try, and with those words you finally start a fresh wave of sobs, your head leaning forwards to rest along your steering wheel. “I wish I could go back in time—” and your sobs take over as you try to tell yourself these words, thinking you won’t believe them. But you do. The lowest depth of hell has claimed you in the fight and you still know that somewhere, swamped in the sea of indigo hatred, Ivar is still in there. And that he still loves you; no matter what kind of horrid mixture of a man he acts like to you. Your hand pounds the steering wheel, the horn blaring as you scream, trying to hold onto the last happy memories you have of Ivar but they slip through your fingers like sand.

When Hvitserk shows up to your front door, it’s late. You’re almost done with your second bottle of wine and he doesn’t even bother to knock. You’re wiping at bloodshot eyes as your grip on the bottle shakes as you pour the final glass, and Hvitserk looks from that now empty container, to the other one on your counter. And he only sighs.

“You’re going to make yourself sick,” Hvitserk says softly, “We’re scheduled for tomorrow.”

“Suck my silicone dick, Hvitserk.” You spit, a quick gulp from the last of the glass making it down your throat. “I failed as a girlfriend, as a medic, as a fucking human being and Ivar thinks he’s some crippled—”At that, Hvitserk’s hand covers your mouth quickly, forcefully and you’re both shocked at his motions.

“Stop it.” He says sternly. “Stop what you’re doing. You’re wrong—out of everything you just said, it’s all wrong.” And his blue eyes darken as they look at you, match like Ivar’s would and you accept his words. “Ivar does not know what the hell to do, and he doesn’t know what the hell is going on. You know he loves you, more than anything; more than me, more than our mom, more than drawing, more than fucking algebra. Ivar loves you. And you need to stop doing the one thing you always do, and that’s blaming yourself. You’ve done nothing wrong, Y/N. Not a single fucking thing.” He says, and there are tears in Hvitserk’s eyes too. “So it’s time for us to do that one thing we both hate doing, and it’s time to step back from the situation.” You can’t say anything back to him, just a hiccup from the wine and then a sob takes over your body again. Hvitserk catches you quickly as you cry, and he can only squeeze you in response. “I know, it sucks. I know—but we just have to step back. He’s not our patient anymore—he never fucking was. He’s my brother and your boyfriend, and we need to let him sort it all out. He’ll come back. He’ll crawl if he has to but Ivar will come back.”

*

Time moves like molasses. Between fits of medical jargon, scan after scan and line reattachment, it drills at Ivar like an unruly tool that he can’t power off. Trying to maintain a sense of his former self as he’s walked through the motions of learning to be mobile again. Legs that are tired, weak, lead blocks weighing him closer to the ground, but he can feel them. He can tell each nurse where they place their hands and they praise him. But time still does not move any faster. It feels like a race he cannot win, catching up with the life he was taken from and he’s stuck now, wading through quick sand and the future he wants is getting harder to see as it fades. As he screams for your hand in the locked box of his mind, as he screams for anyone out there to help him. But his old self is sinking, and he’s not sure there’s a way to resurface, or if there’s a way to crawl back. 

Specialist after specialist tell him the same speech, the dedication he’ll need. The strength he’ll find and each time he’s given a new name of a new doctor his mind over flows. He’s an unplugged sink as it trickles over the brim and he can only hear the droplets now, and obsession with the simplest things and he’s so lonely again. Lonely even when you visit him, when anyone visits him. Lonely as your head rests on his shoulder in the white linens that have become his coffin. They tell him names of centers, places that will lessen the journey over all like they’re shortcuts. And then Ivar remembers what his father used to tell him about shortcuts—they wouldn’t be called shortcuts if they were true, they would be called routes.

It’s been hours and Ivar hasn’t stopped crying, hours of salt water rolling down his cheeks and snot coming from his nose. Hours after Floki can’t even fathom any liquid left in the kid’s body. When a sledgehammer takes up home in Ivar’s head and his crying has turned from sadness, to heartache and pain, Floki speaks:

“Listen to me,” Floki says through the door, and Ivar knows he doesn’t mean it to come out as bluntly as it does, but the words still spring from his lips in such a degrading manner. “Ivar listen to me.” The sound of bile comes next, spilling into the porcelain bowl and Floki’s heart sinks further, even with no more space to fall. Ivar made himself so sick from his crying, just as he used to do when he was a child. With the sound of the toilet flushing, Floki can hear Ivar move, turning his body along the floor before his back comes against the other side of the door. Parallel with him as the wood frame becomes the only semblance of separation. “Do you remember when you were a kid, and Hvitserk told you he wanted to be a firefighter?” He asks suddenly.

“Yeah, he never shut up about it.” Ivar rasps back.

“Do you remember what you told me you wanted? You wanted a family, Ivar.” Floki then says. “You can’t chase after your kids if you never learn to walk again. You can’t stand with Y/N at the alter if you stay bed ridden. There’s a future for you Ivar, and after rehab, this hospital—or any hospital—isn’t that future.” 

“I’ll go,” Ivar says after a moment of quietness. “To the rehabilitation center.”

“Thank you, Ivar,” Floki says back, and that is one hurdle in the obstacle course Ivar has had the strength to climb. Even when he doesn’t think he’s worth the chance, Floki is right—like he always has been. He wants a future, and a family, and a life with you. And he won’t get it from the floor he crawls upon.

“I’m sorry that I’m so much,” Ivar tells Floki. “That I’m so difficult.”

“You’re not, Ivar. You’re never too difficult, or too much, for the right people.”

Ink Drinker Tags:

@smileysam13579 @dreamtherapy @heisentwerk @angelofthenightposts @youaremyfamiliar @unbetaedimagines @kathryn-jane @readsalot73 @lihikainanea @queen-sarang   @anastasiaskarsgard @andmyannabellee  @peachyboneless @heavenly1927 @istorkyou @quantumlocked310 @xbellaxcarolinax @mighty-ragnarssons @alexhandersen-marcoilsoe-fandom @queen-of-upshur @nanahachikyuu @fandomlifeandeverythingelse @ivarhoegh @a5hl3y5ibley @hashimily @youbloodymadgenius @love-all-things-writing  @theanxietyqueen17 @trip2themoon @tgrrose @synnersaint @kataphine @prepare4trouble @abbiii72 @not-another-viking-fanfic-blog @pixikiss

*please message me to let me know if you would like to be added or removed from my tag list. specifications for series/etc. are also welcomed, as well as feedback.*

full masterlist can be found here & currently requests are closed.

[mourntheantagonist]

#HarringroveApril Day 7: Daisychain

***

“Mr. Harrington? Who’s your favorite student?”

The question came about at least once every year without fail, and he’d always answer in the same, textbook way.

“I don’t have favorites. I love all my kids equally.”

And, deservedly so, the whole class would grunt and moan because they knew just as well as he did that it was a load of bullshit. Steve loved every one of his kids, that part wasn’t a lie, but… he also definitely had his favorites.

For the graduating class of ‘90 when he was only a teaching assistant his name was Daniel. He was the youngest in his class because he started early, and he was incredibly bright. He could count higher, he could read quicker, and his mind just worked in ways that no adult could possibly understand. But it wasn’t the textbook intelligence that made Steve fall for this kid. It was his emotional intelligence. He was funny and he was kind and five year olds were cruel, but he never let that get to him. He had an outlook on life that Steve was jealous of, so when the other kids would turn him down for a game of checkers, Steve would happily join him, because Steve saw it as his job to keep that kid kind.

For the class of ‘91 it was Christopher. He was nothing like Daniel. He was held back and was repeating kindergarten, and that was evident in the way he walked through life. He was quiet and would voluntarily remove himself from the rest of the class. He’d sit by himself and read a book and get frustrated when he didn’t understand one of the words, he would swing by himself and he always tried to sneak off with the first graders when it was time to line up. And Steve perfectly resonated with that feeling of watching all of your friends move on without you. He was left in the dust too. When all his classmates moved on to college or hightailed it out of Hawkins, Steve was left there by himself, working at Family Video with his only friend in the grade below him, and it took her leaving him as well for Steve to finally get his shit together, haul his ass west of the Mississippi, and enroll in a community college and work towards his teaching degree.

And he did it, against all odds and obstacles in his way, he did it. It took extra work and the support of his best friend who he followed, and he did it. He saw himself in Christopher, and he wasn’t going to make that kid wait as long as he did to realize that setbacks don’t define his future.

Steve usually took a liking to the quiet kids, and that only changed in ‘93 with the girl named Amy and the familiar last name. She was loud, vibrant, and everyone loved her. Her smile was contagious and she could be the sweetest little girl at times, but she also wore her heart on her sleeve. She cried quite a bit, just the littlest thing could set her off. A boy accidentally knocking over her blocks, not knowing how to spell a certain word, accidentally coloring outside the lines. She didn’t throw tantrums like he saw in the other kids. She would just bow her head and cry and it would break Steve’s heart every time.

But other than those few moments, she was bright and charismatic and with the last name, the blonde curly hair, and the big personality, Steve really should have put it all together much sooner than he did.

He didn’t put it all together until he saw Billy Hargrove in the soup aisle at the local grocery store wearing a chain of little daisies on his head like a crown, and he knew exactly where it was from.

It was from the little girl named Amy Hargrove who frolicked in the field instead of playing on the playground, collecting flowers that she meticulously made into bracelets and crowns and anything else she put her mind to. She gave them to friends, she even gave one to Steve, and of course she would give one to her dad too.

He looked so different, and yet exactly the same. He still had the damn mullet, just dragging the eighties with him as far as he could, he was a little more cleaned up but still had a similar style to what it was in highschool. Still with the same denim jacket, denim jeans, Canadian tuxedo type deal. In a side by side picture situation you wouldn’t really be able to tell the difference. It wasn’t his dress or his hair or anything physical about him that made him look so different, it was the way that he carried himself. It was the relaxation and the eyes that didn’t droop and the smile lines that didn’t used to be there that made him almost entirely unrecognizable from the Billy Hargrove who pushed freshman against lockers and drove his car too loud and too fast and had cigarettes for three meals a day. Not the kid who ran off to California as soon as the hospital released him with only his Camaro and a small suitcase and a large sum of money the government used to keep his mouth shut, leaving just a note for Max on the fridge that didn’t get any more specific than that about where he was going, not even leaving a phone number for her to contact him with. He also didn’t look like the kid they all pictured in their heads after basically the whole town found out about exactly what Neil Hargrove did to his son behind closed doors.

Steve wanted to go up to him in the store, but he stopped himself. Because Billy left. Without a trace or a word, and who was Steve to think that Billy having to be reminded of something he voluntarily abandoned without a second thought would have any sort of positive outcome?

So he turned down the aisle and kept his distance from the man in the flower crown because he was scared. He wasn’t scared that Billy would see him and turn back to his old ways and hurt him again, he was scared that he’d turn back to his old ways and hurt himself again.

Because he’d been hurt enough already.

Steve successfully avoided Billy until parent teacher conferences had rolled around, and instead of seeing Amy’s mom on the list of names he’d be seeing that day, it was Billy’s.

Steve would be lying if he didn’t think about calling in sick and sending his TA in his place. But he still had to be her teacher for another six months, he just had to get the interaction over with.

Many of the parents that came before Billy had to have known he was on edge about something considering he excessively tapped the table with the eraser of his pencil and stuttered his way through conversations. His organized folders and notes of talking points had been entirely thrown out the window and he was an absolute nervous wreck. And he could only anticipate it being ten times worse when the cause of said anxiety walked through his door with the long hair and the leather jacket. It was only with the help of the little girl in the sunflower dress and daisies in her hair skipping from the entrance to the chair in front of him that calmed his nerves just a bit.

But Billy had just stayed at the door, no movement, and any hope that Steve had that perhaps his new haircut and the glasses on his face would be enough to keep Billy from noticing the obvious vanished when Billy snapped his fingers like the lightbulb in his head finally flickered on.

“I knew it couldn’t be a coincidence.”

Steve just held out his hand to shake like he did with any other parent, unsure how to gage the situation because Billy’s words could go either way and his facial expressions didn’t give him anything to go off of. It would be weird to introduce himself, he didn’t know what to say.

“Hi, I’m Amy’s teacher. Should we start?”

Billy looked a little confused, but he sat down in the little kindergartener chairs anyway. This meeting was almost more organized than the ones prior, likely because he was trying to go as quickly as possible and get it over with. Steve showed Billy some of her artwork and commented on how her reading comprehension was great but she could work on her spelling a little more. He didn’t want to bring it up, but he brought up the crying and it hurt to see how him bringing it up set her off again. The same bowing of the head and quiet sniffles into her sleeve.

But Steve thinks he just fell in love a little watching Billy comfort her. With one hand rubbing circles into her back and the other holding her small hand. Steve feels like shit watching her cry because of him and is also semi-fearful for his life because he already knows he can’t take Billy in a fight.

“Baby, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with crying. It’s okay.”

“You’re dad’s right Amy. I think it’s very healthy. Crying is good for you.”

She looks up at Steve with those big blue eyes and tear stained cheeks when he says that.

“Really?” she asks.

“Yeah! I’d say it even makes you more mature. Even some adults I know don’t let themselves cry and it’s not good.”

“My daddy cries a lot too.”

Steve looks at Billy who’s eyes widen when she says it, then tries to laugh it off like she didn’t just say that.

“Hey Amy, you wanna go and play while your daddy and I talk for a minute?”

She just nods her head and wipes away her remaining tears and quickly hauls the bucket of Lincoln Logs off the shelf.

“So. It’s been a while. Hasn’t it?” Steve starts.

“Yeah it has. So, you’re a teacher now.”

“And you’re a father. That’s crazy.” Steve was fiddling with his hands, trying to make the conversation less awkward. “She’s wonderful by the way.”

“Yeah. She doesn’t get it from me.”

Steve just shakes his head. “No. I don’t think that’s true. She has your charisma, and it appears you found a better way of channeling your emotions since last we saw each other. She’s a lot like you.”

“Thanks.” Billy blushed. He actually blushed. “I don’t know if this is allowed considering you’re her teacher, but would you want to catch up sometime? Maybe dinner or something?”

There it was. That was the olive branch. And Steve would be an absolute fool not to take it.

“I’d love to.”

Before they could come up with a time or a place, Amy was running over to the table with loudly stomping feet.

“I almost forgot! Daddy! show Mr. Harrington what I brought him!”

Billy reached into his pocket upon her demand and pulled out a little bracelet made out of little daisies and honeysuckle and handed it over to Steve.

“Thank you Amy! It’s lovely.”

“Daddy show him yours!”

Steve looked to Billy’s wrist where he slowly lifted his sleeve to reveal an almost exact replica to the bracelet in his hand.

“Looks like we’re matching.”

[amive2567]

Snowy sneezes

Class 1a x GN! Reader

Quirk: Snowman ~ can produce snowmen with everything that includes water. They can't melt (only by other quirks, not through natural causes), and they do whatever the host wants. If the host doesn't give any tasks immediately, the snowman becomes a body of its own forever. Unfortunately, they can't speak :( The more water there is in the air, (or any other source of water), the bigger the snowman gets. 

Warning: Crack, Fluff, mention of sexual content (because Mineta), swearing (because Bakugou), a bit OOC Midoriya

Summary: Y/n is sick, and every time they sneeze, little snowmen appear in their dorm. They are listening to music and study. Because of that, they didn't even notice that the snowmen disappeared and caused trouble. 

Disclaimer: My hero academia and the characters belong to Kohei Horikoshi.

Words: about 2.489

Masterlist

Inspiration by Frozen Fever

Your head pouted, and you barely could keep your eyes open. You had a quirk about snow, so why did you get sick from a snowball fight. "L/N-san, could you please lift your head from the desk and focus on the lesson." admonished you Cementos. "I am sorry, Ishiyama-sensei." you apologized. He continued to teach, but you couldn't focus on a word he said. The lesson dragged on like forever. 

After the day ended, you went straight to your dorm room to replicate the knowledge you got taught today. 

After some time, the headache disappeared, and you could finally focus on your unfinished notes. Your nose started to tingle, and with a loud achoo, you sneezed.  A cold shiver went down your spine, but you didn't think much of it. You were so caught up in the work that you didn't notice how a small snowman waddled quietly around the room. Since listening to music helped you while studying, you didn't hear the rustling steps on your carpet.  The cute snowman watched your back and looked around your room. He investigated your plant in front of your bed. His tiny form tried to stroke the plant, but his short snowy arm couldn't reach the plant. The small snowman was determined to stroke the plant, so he tried to climb up at the plant pot. Since he didn't think about the consequences, the plant pot fell over and covered him with the potting soil. Anxiously he watched if you had seen his plight. You didn't seem to notice it. So he tried to clean himself with his tiny arms. 

Another sneeze shook your body, and another tiny snowman appeared. He looked around the room and found his buddy. The two jumped happily around, and the new snowman helped to clean up his pal. The two snowmen happily discovered your room, as quiet as they could. After they were done, your room looked like you had a fight in it.  They also tried to open the door, but they were too tiny. Exhausted, the two snowmen settled in front of the door. 

A sneezing fit hit you, and about five snowmen developed in your room. The two snowmen got right up and wobbled to the new snowmen. They hugged each other like they were old friends. Silently the two older snowmen convinced the younger ones to open the door together. They built a ladder out of snowmen by stacking themself on their shoulders. With a soft click, the door opened, and they left your messy room.

Your classmates were occupied with their interests and tasks. Some were reading, training, baking, showering, or learning. So they were either outside, in their rooms, or in the common room area. This meant that the hallway in front of your room was empty. The snowmen waddled quietly around the enormous building. 

Since they discovered their new skill, they opened another door. In the room was a blond boy, who laid on his back with a manga in his hand, called Snow white with the Red Hair. He was completely caught up in the book, so he didn't even notice that someone entered his room. The snowmen inspected his room. It has the theme of yellow and blue, and on his shelf were tons of All Might figures. One snowman got his snowy hand on a manga and tried to read it. He failed because snowmen can't read, but the pictures were interesting. He wanted to read it later, so he took it with him. 

The gang of snowmen went downstairs to explore the other parts of the dorms. Loud singing caught their attention. They followed the singing and landed in a steaming environment or, to call it something more simple, the bathroom. It was hot in there, and the snowmen were happy that they couldn't melt by natural causes. Since the bathroom was really a boring place to be, they climbed on the shelves and searched through the products. After the other snowmen had left the room, the last one of them was mesmerized by a big red bottle with the label: red hair dye. He took the bottle with him and followed the other snowmen fast. 

The next stop of the seven snowy figures was another room. They used their secret method again and opened the door. The room was cramped with bookshelves that reached the ceiling. Another weird thing was that there was a shelf only for tons of glasses. No one was there. The snowmen wandered around the room like it was an old museum. The two snowmen that stole something hid in the corners of the room, so their misbehavior wasn't noticed. The smallest of the snowmen looked around and climbed up on the shelf with the glasses. Unfortunately, one of the spectacles fell on the ground and broke. No one seemed to witness it, so the tiny snowman grabbed them and hid them behind his back from the others to see. After they discovered every inch of the room, they made their way to the next one. 

The room wasn't much different from the first one, but it had a more pleasant atmosphere. It was bright and happy. Some snowmen were bored because of the All Might figures they had already seen, but one of them got interested by the rarest of all time. The bronze age All Might figure. Only fifty got produced, and the owner of the room had one. The snowman needed this figure, so when no one watched him, he took the opportunity and stole it. 

They went into two other rooms before they finally got to the common-room kitchen. There stood a tall brown-haired boy with a tart pan. He studied a recipe and was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice how a snowman stole his eggs. After the boy wanted to reach for them, they were gone, and he questioned himself if he forgot to lay the eggs on the kitchen counter. He opened the fridge and saw no eggs. But he was sure that he bought them with Koda yesterday. They couldn't be gone, only if someone used them. And he was sure who it was. With angry steps, he walked to the room of a certain angry pomeranian. 

In the meantime, the snowmen discovered that everyone had stolen something. They laid their stolen objects in the middle of their circle. The items they had stolen were a romance manga, red hair dye, a pair of glasses, a rare All Might figure, eggs, lipstick, and a book. All of the snowmen had a panicked expression on their snowy faces. The humans aren't dumb they would soon find out, so they have to hide their items somewhere. Fearfully they collected the things and quickly set about hiding with the stuff in a nearby room. 

It was a dark room, and it got lit by a small source of light. Unearthly sounds could be heard from the computer screen in front of a short, purple boy. The older snowmen tried to cover the eyes of the younger ones. So they couldn't see the horrific show that played on the screen. It was dangerous to be in such a gross environment with young snowmen, but it was better than getting caught. 

"I didn't steal your lame eggs. Now leave me alone fat lips." cursed Bakugou as Sato confronted him. "But I am sure you know where my manga is, don't you?" Bakugou questioned harshly with a raised eyebrow. "Why would I want a manga from you?" Sato asked him. The blond one scoffed and pushed Sato out of the way. "I bet shitty Deku got it," he grumbled and stamped in the direction of his room. Without knocking, he kicked the door open. "Oi, shitty nerd. Give it back," he yelled. But what he didn't notice that the room was messy as hell. "Ah, Bakugou, I wanted to talk to you," Midoriya spoke slowly. His expression was horrifying. Even when Bakugou wouldn't admit it, he was scared of the shorter green-haired boy. "Now, where do you have it?" Bakugou asked, unimpressed. "What should I have? I wouldn't even give it to you. You stole my All Might bronze age figure." Midoriya yelled. He activated his quirk, and before he could Detroit Smash Bakugou into nirvana, Kirishima intervened. "Wait, that's not really manly of you, bro. My hair dye also went missing. I think someone is stealing from us." Sato followed the red-haired. "I think he's right," he said. "Let's meet up with the other ones and think about it before we hurt each other." mediated Kirishima. Still, with rage in his eyes, Midoriya let got of his powerful quirk and noded. "Alright, but I am not done with you, Kacchan." proposed Midoriya. "Whatever you say, shitty nerd." scoffed Bakugou.

As they got everyone except two persons in the common room area, the yelling began. "My lipstick went missing. How can I be able to rock my hero costume." Mina cried and hugged Uraraka desperately. The short brunette patted her back, comforting. "A book of mine also went missing," noted Momo. "Did someone saw my pair of glasses? I need to find Marry the third. Without her, my collection is incomplete." Iida yelled and made his typical hand gesture. At his comment, more than half of class 1a had to suppress a burst of laughter.  "My hair product also went missing," said Kirishima. "My limited All Might figure in his bronze age is missing," said Midoriya grumpily. "You look a bit scary, Midoriya. Is everything ok?" Todoroki asked. "Yeah, of course. I didn't need my All Might figure anyway." he sarcastically answered. "It's just a figure," Todoroki mentioned, and every chatter died down. "Dude, does he have a death wish?" asked Kaminari quietly. "Maybe," answered Sero noiselessly. "A figure... A figure..." Midoriya yelled and wanted to charge for a punch, but a frustrated screech interrupted the argument. 

You finished the last sentence of your work. So you turned around and stretched yourself with closed eyes, but as soon as you opened them, you were met with a tremendous mess. "The sneezes and the...oh shit," you yelled out in frustration. You were so occupied with work that you didn't even notice that you let go of a bunch of snowmen. Your steps stormed to the common-room to start the search for the tiny, snowy trouble makers. The yells in the common-room got louder and louder as you got nearer. "Guys," you yelled over the screeches of Midoriya. "I let go of my quirk, and some snowmen are probably starting some trouble. We need to find them." you got straight to the point. Everyone looked at you with expressionless faces. "Why is even every one of you here?" you asked now, confused. "Your tiny snow fuckers stole our stuff," Bakugou grumbled. "What was actually stolen from you, Kacchan ?" Kaminari asked.  "A manga," answered Bukugou grouchily. "Uh, which genre?" questioned Kaminary. "Shut it, dunce face," Bakugou yelled. "Just asking." waved Kaminari away. 

"Do you know where they possibly went, or how we can get rid of them?" asked Momo calmly. "I don't know where they could be," you answered, a bit disappointed. "If we find them and want to get rid of them, we need to destroy them with fire quirks. They don't melt of natural causes," you explained. "Alright, I think we build two teams. One team goes with Bakugou and the other one with Todoroki," suggested Momo. "Why do I need to be in one team. I can do this on my own." Bakugou protested. "Do you want your manga back asap?" Momo asked after that the ash-blond boy was quiet but still grumpy. "I am not going with Kacchan." Midoriya angrily said. "I don't want to go with you either," shouted Bakugou. "Just like an old married couple." laughed Kaminari. "Shut it, dunce face." yelled the blond boy. 

After you build up the teams, you started to search for the cold troublemakers. The team of yours consisted of Todoroki, Aoyama, Tsuyu, Iida, Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, a grumpy Midoriya, Tokoyami, Shoji, Ojiro, and you, of course. The other ones had fewer patient people in their team. Bakugou got Sero, Kirishima, Kaminari, Ashido, Jiro, Sato, Koda and Hagakure in his team. Your team searched on the second and third floor for the stolen things and your snowmen. 

The third floor was clear now you searched on the second floor. "Waa, how did snowmen came into my room?" a high-pitched yell caught the attention of your team. You neared the room and opened the door. Mineta was standing in front of a bunch of tiny snowmen. Everyone in the room turned, slowly their hats to the door. "Yeah, gotcha," you shouted happily. The snowmen suddenly let go of the stuff they hoarded and ran in different directions. "We need to catch them. Todoroki, Tsuyu, Iida, Momo, and I are catching them, and the rest of you secure the missing stuff," you ordered. During this time, Momo produced earpieces for communication. The people named ran with you to catch the snowmen.

Since the snowmen were fast and not as dumb as you wished they were, you had to separate. The snowman in front of you ran fast, and you yelled after him. As the snowman had to take the elevator, you could easily catch him. "I got one. Does someone else has one?" you asked in your earpiece. "I've got one too." answered Iida "Me too," said Tsuyu. "I have already burned two," said Todoroki in his calm demeanor.  "I am currently trying to catch one," yelled Momo hectically. "Thanks, guys, that means only one is missing," you said. A loud explosion roared through the dorm-building. "Now, I think only one is left." you corrected yourself. "I got the penultimate snowman," said Momo proudly. "Great." you cheered. As the elevator stopped at the ground floor, the snowman in your arms tried to wiggle himself free. "We need to met up in the common room, so we can get rid of the captured snowmen," you said to the others. 

After you got rid of the captured snowmen. Bakugou stormed into the common room area. "We found only one, are all gone?" he asked grumpily. "Only one is missing," you answered as you watched the penultimate snowman melt. "I got the last one he was hiding in the fridge," said Sato and brought you the last one. 

"Thanks, guys, for helping. I am so sorry that my quirk got out of hand and caused such trouble," you apologized to your classmates. "No problem, that could happen to every one of us. You don't need to apologize." Midoriya said reassuringly. A small smile spread across your face, and you were relieved that everyone agreed and wasn't angry with you. Except for Bakugou, but that was to be foreseen. 

[manonblaqkbeak]

How We Met

here it is, my last fic for rowaelin month! thank you so much to everyone that’s read, liked and commented on my fics, it’s been so much fun reading and writing these last four weeks! i’m glad to know that i’m not the only one that is in dire need of more rowaelin content (srsly, i would pay sjm a truck load of money for a strictly rowaelin book bc i miss them sm)

here’s part 4 for the little series i had going on. i was so tempted to make this an angst piece but held back lol.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

cw: none

1.8k words

enjoy and thank you again!!! :) 💕💕💕💕

Gathering the ingredients for the cake that she and Ophelia were going to make for Rowan, Aelin plopped them down on the kitchen counter and tied her and her six year old daughters hair back. Even in the kitchen light, Ophelia's hair was a vivid shade of silver and when she turned to look at her mother, the golden ring in her eyes were just as bright.

“Up, mama!” Ophelia asked, pointing to the step ladder that Olive made for her little sister in her woodshop class at school. Getting it off from atop the fridge, Aelin and Ophelia started their baking session for today. It wasn't often that Aelin baked cakes from scratch but it wasn't every day that her firstborn turned sixteen—not that Aelin could really comprehend that her Olive was sixteen—but Aelin wanted to do this for her, wanted to make something special.

She hoped that it wasn't going to taste as bad as the last cake she baked. Rowan had been sick afterwards and didn't go to work the next day.

That was five years ago, so surely with gaining wisdom as people said when others got older, her baking skills grew too.

“Where did everyone go?” Ophelia asked, her little tongue poking out as she helped Aelin sift the flour.

“To get dinner for tonight. We're having Ollie's favourite.” Which was cuisine from the Southern Continent, there was a restaurant that specialised in the spicy food, and Aelin couldn't wait—she and Rowan often tried to recreate their favourite recipes, but it was never right, so Olive wanted to have the genuine stuff for her birthday and not her parents shoddy attempts.

Not that Aelin could blame her.

They continued making the chocolate cake, Ophelia babbling on about her day at school, when her little one asked, “How did you and papa meet?”

Aelin blinked at the sudden question, but answered it nevertheless. “At the grocery store.”

Ophelia furrowed her brows, and with the way her nose scrunched up, she looked so much like Rowan that it made her heart sing. When Aelin first realised that she was pregnant, she was nervous, they had only been married for seven months and while they spoke about having a child of their own, she didn't think it would happen so quickly—but Rowan's enthusiasm melted away her fears. She would never forget his tears of joy when she showed him the pregnancy test, his beaming smile when they heard her heartbeat for the first time. Aelin would walk through hell, as long as Rowan was by her side, or waiting for her at the end.

It wasn't always perfect, however, they had their ups and downs like every long-term couple, they had moments where it felt like they were walking on tightrope, either because of their own personal issues or marriage issues, or when Egan was fourteen and completely lashed out at Aelin, accusing her of replacing his mother—but she worked with her son, telling him that she had never intended to do that, that Lyria would always be the woman that brought him into the world, and that Aelin was raising him. Her heart broke in two at his pain, but she understood, he grew up with photos and stories of Lyria.

Or when they had the awkward conversation when Olive was eleven and asked why she didn't look like Rowan, and Aelin had explained her story, about Sam being her biological father, but he had given them space for Rowan to raise her instead. That had lead to brooding silences and confusion, but otherwise, Olive still saw Rowan as her dad, but she did ask from time to time about Sam, what he was like and what he was doing (the last update Aelin received from him via email that his wife was pregnant with their second child. Aelin was so happy for him that he was able to have a family, a feat that was made easier since Arobynn had been dead for years by this point) and that she would like to meet him properly one day; Aelin had kept that to herself, not wanting to tell Sam in case Olive changed her mind—Aelin hoped that she wouldn't.

Overall, their life together was what she needed, she went to bed each night loved and fulfilled. It was better than what she might have had with Chaol all those years ago, she was fairly certain that if she had married him, it wouldn't have been a long marriage.

“How did you meet at the food store?” Ophelia asked, her brow still furrowed as she and Aelin stirred the cake batter. It surprisingly smelled good.

“I needed something from a high shelf,” Aelin said, “and I couldn't reach it. Your papa was only a few feet away from me, so I asked him to get it for me.” She might have also subtly ogled him as his shirt exposed his tanned skin, and Aelin had damned near swooned at the sight of his six pack.

“Did you get married at the food store?”

Aelin laughed at the question. “No, we got married at the beach. And then you arrived not long afterwards.” Sometimes they wanted another, but things financially were going so well that they didn't want to jeopardise that by adding another mouth to feed.

“Can you have another wedding?” Ophelia asked, looking at her mum with wide eyes. “So I can go? Please?”

“I'll talk to your daddy about it, but I like the sound of that.” Kissing her daughters forehead, they continued. Just as they were putting the cake in the oven and the icing mix in the fridge, the front door opened and three booming voices infiltrated the house and the mouth watering goodness of food.

Aelin's eyes widened at the amount of food that Rowan piled on the table. It looked like they were feeding a small army and not a family of five.

Ophelia helped her older brother set the table, Egan ruffing her hair as he recounted their little adventure to the restaurant.

As they sat down, Aelin mentioned Ophelia's request. Rowan pretended to mull it over as their daughter pleaded, giving her best puppy dog eyes. It didn't take for Rowan to relent—he really had trouble saying no to her—saying that a second wedding was a great idea.

Ophelia squealed in delight and squealed even more when food was placed in front of her (she was very much like Aelin in that regard).

“How did the conversation of another wedding start?” Rowan asked as they all started eating.

“Phia here wanted to know how we meet.”

Olive snorted. “Yes, the ever romantic story of meeting in the toilet paper aisle.”

“It was not the toilet paper isle!” Aelin protested. “It was the cereal aisle.”

“At least you kids have inherited my manners,” Rowan said, “your mother didn't even ask nicely. She just came over to me and said, 'You're tall, could you get that box for me?'” It had taken him a moment to realise he had been spoken to, too focused on deciding what box of porridge to get when Aelin showed up, wearing a faded band shirt and shorts, pointing to the box of cereal that had far too much sugar to be healthy. He had said 'yes' because it was the nice thing to do, and had stayed behind, talking to her for so long in the aisle that his vanilla ice cream had started to melt.

It was the best decision in his life back then, he never thought he would have gained a friend in the grocery store—and that the friend would become his wife.

“I have manners. I said, 'Excuse you' first before I told you what I needed.”

“That's not really using manners there, ma,” Egan said, smiling as poked her tongue out. He looked so much like Lyria that it was almost scary—he still loved flowers and plants too, and was currently studying to become a florist and then one day horticulture. The backyard was full of flowers and plants thanks to him, making into a little wonderland instead of the barren plain it used to be.

“I did say 'thank you' afterwards.”

“You said 'thanks',” Rowan interjected, laughing as Aelin threw a chunk of her flatbread at his head. Ophelia's cute laughter rent through the air.

“It's the same thing!”

“If you say so, love,” Rowan muttered, his lips twitching. Aelin rolled her eyes in the dramatic way Rowan was used to, but he saw the mirth behind the movement.

“Like I said Phie, it's very romantic,” Olive said drily, sounding very much like Rowan. She had even inherited his scowl, which she was wearing now as she sniffed at the air. “Is something burning?”

Aelin had never run so fast as she did right then, the kitchen filling with smoke as she took in the blackened cake. Swearing viciously under her breath, Aelin chucked the cake into the bin, apologising to Olive as she did so.

“It's okay, mum, dad got me an ice-cream cake earlier today anyway.”

Aelin narrowed her eyes at her husband, who simply gave her an innocent smile in answer.

Rejoining her family, they talked well into the night, helping Aelin to forget her failed baking attempt. Ophelia asked more questions about their time in the grocery store and how that moment lead to friendship, to pining for the other without realising it, to a life together.

And to think, Aelin almost didn't go to the grocery store that day.

Rowan thanked the gods that he had remembered at the last moment that he had no porridge left, otherwise, he might not have met Aelin at all. Might not have had this life, this family. Part of him would always be sad that things had gone so wrong with Lyria, and he would always miss and love her. But he learned in therapy that it was good to have a life, and Rowan was glad that he heeded that advice.

He thanked the gods all the time.

And thank the rutting gods he did right now for the umpteenth time that Aelin deemed him tall enough to get her food for her, to stay in that aisle with him as they got to know each other.

Rowan was a very happy man indeed as he and Aelin went to bed that night, the smiles still on their faces at Olive's unrestrained joy at the sight of the car they spent weeks looking at second-hand dealerships at, hunting for the perfect car for their daughter.

Thank the rutting gods for all those moments in the past, present, and future.

Rowan couldn't wait to marry her again, and neither could Aelin.

Life was good.

[erensproudsimp]

Work out

Armin Arlert x reader Oneshot

⚠ Sexual Content Ahead ⚠

Summary : I woke up, thought of gym sex and wrote it

Word Count : 2.3k

"Come on y/n, going to the gym is not that bad plus Mikasa would be joining us too", Annie encouraged you.

"Working out seems so much of trouble that I certainly don't want to partake as I'd rather spend my energy to binge watch anime", you replied flatly eyes not moving away from your phone.

Snatching your phone Annie said with a serious face, "Y/n how do you expect to pull any of your anime crushes looking like a potato? "

"Hey! Give me my phone back and even if I do look like a potato Sasha would love me and don't bring my husbands in this topic!" you ran after her to retrieve your phone.

"Alright then, I'll pay you a KFC meal if you come for one day to at least try it out", Annie suggested.

"I don't know why you're so adamant about taking me to the gym but if there's free food involved, I'm in", you gave in.

"I just want you to stay fit you know and we're starting tomorrow so go to sleep", your roommate said preparing her gym bag.

"Whaaat nooo", you complained unaware of the impact that a stranger you're going to meet will have have on you.

The next morning both Annie and you hopped into Mikasa's car to go to the private gym owned by Mikasa's family and family friends.

"That's actually a relief to be able to work out without fearing strangers looking at you", you reassured yourself.

"Yeah it's gonna be really comfortable and I also would like to introduce you to some of my friends y/n, I know you're gonna like them", Mikasa added.

"Well can't say I'm not excited to meet them", you replied looking at your phone reading a fanfiction.

Couple of minutes later you reached your destination. From the outside the building looked very modern with transparent glasses through which you could see the inside and barely any life around made the place peaceful.

When you went inside, Mikasa took you both to the changing room where you left your stuff on the shelf to change your outfit.

Putting your towel on your shoulders followed by Annie, Mikasa led the way to her friends who were lifting weights.

"Hey guys", Mikasa said to get their attention, "This is y/n and Annie and this is Eren and Armin", she said pointing at each person respectively.

"Pleasure to meet you two", Armin said as Eren nodded with him.

You swore that the moment you saw the blonde boy, your heart skipped a beat. He was so effortlessly gorgeous.

"Same here, hope to have a good gym buddy relation with you two", Annie replied as you were lost in your reflection. Snapping yourself from your thoughts, you agreed with her.

After that y'all left the boys to let them do their previous activities and went to train yourselves. With your unfit body you were tired from the first exercise itself and was laying on the ground trying to catch your breath.

You failed to understand how could Mikasa and Annie keep going but you were not going to give up and decided to look at it as a new challenge for yourself.

Picking yourself up, you went to do something easy as a starter which was skipping ropes.

Little did you know that the blonde guy had been sneaking peeks at you from time to time smiling to himself.

One hour later, everyone decided to take a break to refuel their energy.

"So, what are we going to eat", you questioned.

" Why not soup? I've been craving miso soup for a while," Armin proposed, everyone settling on soup.

Getting into the car, Eren drove us to the nearest fast food restaurant. Inside you sat between Annie and Armin. Filled with anxiety of Armin being so close to you, you fidgeted with your hands to keep yourself stable. Armin noticed your restlessness and asked if you were okay but you couldn't possibly tell him that you were crushing hard on him so you just replied with a 'I'm fine' and concentrated on your food.

"What are your majors?" Eren asked you and Annie to make conversation.

"I am doing engineering and y/n's an art student explaining why she's so lazy", Annie responded.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Annie, I am not lazy", you said passive-aggressively looking at Annie with murder in your eyes.

"Says the girl who could barely run to take her phone from me yesterday", she coughed smirking.

"No- I - bye-", you stammered making Armin erupt into a fits of laughter. His laugh gave the impression as though angels came down on earth to bestow you with blessings which in this case was the cute sound of his voice. You didn't realise that you were staring at him until Armin spoke, "Is there something on my face?"

"Yes," you said casually swipping the little ketchup stain near his mouth with a tissue. His cheeks were a light pink colour because of your action and he thanked the heavens for not letting his friends noticing what just happened.

"Th-thank you", he bashfully thanked.

"Sure", you said looking away to hide your blush.

Finishing your meals, y'all returned to the gym to continue training then took your leave after two hours. Saying your byes to the boys, Mikasa gave you both a ride to your dorm.

Throwing your body on your bed you heaved a sigh of relief that you were able to survive this first day of going to the gym.

"Tired already y/n ? Too bad we're going to do this routine everyday", Annie commented.

"I guess time to fill the fridge with energy drinks", you jumped out of bed to buy bundles of different brands of said drink.

The only thing that would be keeping you going about working out was that you were able to see Armin everyday.

Due to your classes running late one day you reached the gym at 06 00 pm. Everyone was still there; you greeted them and went to use the treadmill. At around half past seven your friends were hungry and decided to go to a nearby takeout to bring food to the gym because you didn't want to come out of exhaustion.

"You guys go ahead, I would keep y/n company", Armin told them.

Soon you were left alone with Armin and not knowing what to say out of shyness you excused yourself to the bathroom.

There you freshened up yourself to make yourself look more presentable to your crush. Luck was in your stars as you were wearing leggings that gave your ass a nice curve with a matching colour sportsbra.

When you came out, you saw that Armin was missing. You assumed that he too went to the restroom and decided to do squats. A little while later the man indeed returned from the wc. His breath was caught in his throat when he saw you.

He came up to you and asked if you needed any help regarding your training.

"Actually I do, would you assist me in doing sit ups?" you requested.

"Yeah sure, I'll hold your shoes while you're doing them," Armin accepted.

Laying your body on the mat, you watched Armin going in front of you to your feet and held them down. You began to lift your body with your hands on the back of your head as you realised how close your faces were being when you were raised up. You never realised how broad his shoulders were until then and you gulped hard.

"How much do you plan on doing?" Armin asked.

"I'm setting a limit of thirty but let's see if I manage to exceed it." He nodded. Gosh, how does someone manage to look cute and hot at the same time?!

At your 15th sit-up you lifted up your body to make eye contact with him as you were with the previous sit-ups but this time it lasted longer because you stayed still. Both of you gazed into the eye of each other without saying a word your faces becoming closer. You didn't realise what you were doing. It wasn't long until both of your lips touched each other. When your senses were brought back to you, you pulled back so quickly. For a second you saw a frown on Armin's face.

"OMG! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do this, I swear," you apologized frenzily.

"It's okay, I don't mind at all," Armin just chuckled at your reaction. He came closer and tucked your hair to your ear.

"Have you ever realised how beautiful you were?" he whispered in your ear making all your blood rush to your head.

"I - I- mmph," you were cut off by Armin

colliding his mouth with yours. He sucked on your lower lip asking permission to let his tongue enter your mouth. You opened it a little only for him to stuck in his whole muscle.

You left out a small moan feeling his tongue roaming everywhere while his hand untied your hair and was playing with it.

He had the most tender lips that you ever felt in your life. Giving you a forehead kiss, he held your face in his hands stroking it with his thumb.

You crawled to sit on his lap as he continued to shower you with affection. His head pats were so gentle, you were melting under his touch. He bowed to gain access to your neck and gave it a subtle lick and then proceeded to find your sweet spot kissing you everywhere. A small mewl left your lips when he kissed a certain spot. The man was proud of himself to have found it and attacked it with hickeys. At this point you were shaking on his thighs and in his embrace.

Your hands reached the bottom of his shirt and pulled it off him. His sweaty body glowed in the light yet he looked so heavenly. You couldn't help but lick his collarbones leaving your saliva on his skin.

The fear of getting caught by your friends during this sinful moment turned you on.

Armin's hand gave your ass a tender squeeze before making you lay your whole body on the mat as he left a trail of kisses from your neck your stomach. He grabbed your waist to kiss your on your bellybutton.

"Is it okay if I remove it?" he said hinting at your leggings. You lifted your lower body to help him remove it and threw it away. He gave your core a kiss then carried you in bridal style to place you on the bench press.

He spread your legs and buried his face between them. You wouldn't have never expected such an innocent face to do such unholy things to your body in your life. He sucked your clit which sent electrics all throughout your body. He ate you out as though you were the most tastiest meal he's ever had. You crushed his head with your thighs but he didn't seem to mind that as he continued doing his job. You were pulling his hair so hard screaming his name making sure people passing nearby could hear how good he was making you feel.

His soft hands ran through your thighs making small circle motions on them to soothe you.

"Ar-Armin, I-,"

"It's okay love you can spill it on my face, I want every single drop down my throat," Armin panted.

What he said set off a trigger and the knot in your stomach snapped. All your juices went on Armin's face and he ensured to have swallowed everything.

He retreated away from your opening swipping your cum with his fingers and licking them off. While you were collecting your breath, Armin took off his sweatpants and let his hardened dick free.

"Do you mind if I -," he insinuated with his dick at your entrance.

"Please Armin don't hesitate," you were practically begging him. You expected him to slide it in but instead he was stroking your folds with his swollen member. This felt so good it sent you in a rollercoaster of immense pleasure. You could feel his veins pulsating against your own pulsating clit.

While he was caressing your cunt, his hands went to grab your boobs and fondled them.

His up and down motion continued as he was mixing his precum with your wetness.

Your overwhelming neediness pushed you to grind on him as he was moving so slowly. With instinct you lifted your hips as shivers were sent through your spine. Noticing this Armin picked up speed and with his hand rubbed your clit hard. He bent over to give you a kiss on your nose then to make out with you.

"Ah-ah, y/n-I'm going to cum," Armin moaned.

"Cum with me Armin," you breathed.

Suddenly he picked up more speed and thrusted faster. His dick was moving so quick on you, the lewd sound of your pussy's liquids filled the gym. Armin held your hands and intertwined your fingers. He let out a grunt as he came on your stomach and you on the bench.

He looked at you with such love in his eyes and reached out to wipe your tears and kissed your hands.

He fetched your leggings while he also cleaned the bench leaving no marks of this incident. Since your legs were shaking so much you could barely walk, Armin carried you to the bathroom.

After you went to pee, he made you sit on a stool and he tied your hair back in a ponytail. Hugging you from the back he asked, "Are you feeling okay now beautiful or do you need anything?"

"Water?" you replied.

"Anything for you," he went to fetch the requested item.

Just at that moment your friends returned.

You thanked the universe for not making them arrive while you were making love with Armin and you kept your cool acting as though nothing happened.

Thus, this was the start of a wonderful relationship.

End.

Thank you for reading. :)

[your--isgayrights]

How about 999 yjh and uriel?

This went a bit past just 999, but I had fun with this prompt! Here's some cannon based Jonghyuk angst with happy ending lol.

The nine hundred ninety ninth regression was one that Yoo Jonghyuk planned based on his previous regressions, as he always did.

Although, it wasn't as if the previous two regressions, the nine hundred ninety seventh and eighth, were really the worst the starstream had seen of Yoo Jonghyuk. That title would probably be saved for the forty-first from which Yoo Jonghyuk was conscious of the fact he had to deliberately block memories from to stay sane.

No, the problem with the last two regressions wasn't the presence of any memories that were wretched to the point of novelty. The problem was the fact that Yoo Jonghyuk barely retained any memories of them at all.

It was all a haze… it was honestly hard to tell if those regressions had been even markedly different from the ones previous to them, as all of the repeated events seemed to mush together and meld with the centuries of anguish he had already endured.

He hadn't felt anything new. Done anything new. So much so that he would forget his place in the new regression and wander aimlessly thinking of the old until some high level constellation punk got a lucky shot at him.

And then all of a sudden, Yoo Jonghyuk woke up in that familiar train car. The one that no matter what would only last for the first thirty minutes of the scenario.

Almost out of habit, he looked for that boy he had been keeping an eye on. The one who always died.

He stopped when he realized.

999.

That boy had died one thousand times.

Yoo Jonghyuk had lived one thousand times. Been in this train car one thousand times. Failed to save anyone one thousand times. Died one thousand times.

Was he really that useless? Yoo Jonghyuk thought to himself, as he went through the motions of beating Choi Han-gyu to death before he could blow up the car.

Honestly, at this point maybe he should accept that he was just like the boy in this car.

No matter what he did, he was going to die anyway.

If he thought about it like that, then…

Well, what was the best thing that he could accomplish with his own death, knowing that it would come to him no matter what he did?

So in the nine hundred ninety ninth turn, Yoo Jonghyuk took more risks than ever before. He made choices and plans that he never would have before because experience had shown they were the antithesis to his former dogma. That which put his own means of survival above all else.

And little by little, Yoo Jonghyuk began to notice that things could be new again.

In this regression, his companions cared more about him. They respected him more, and opened up about things they never had. As if something in his actions connected to them. Made them think he acted out of love for them since his actions clearly showed no care for himself.

And maybe Yoo Jonghyuk wanted to believe them, too. That he was still capable of that sort of love. That desire for connection.

So he let himself fall into it. He made his decisions based on everyone's survival except for his own.

And his comrades continued to show new sides of themselves. The way Lee Jihye tried not to weep aver the bloody remains of his leg, even though no one had died that regression. How Lee Hyunsung's lips trembled while trying to stop the blessing where Yoo Jonghyuk's arm used to be. Shin Yoosung's open bawling, as it began to set in on Yoo Jonghyuk that he would never see this version of her's face ever again.

But Yoo Jonghyuk knew whose response to his actions had surprised him the most this regression.

"Jonghyuk. Are you ready?" The voice of a certain archangel was heard near his somehow still intact ears.

Uriel's face was close to his, a tight grip on his arm and waist along with the angelic wing steadied on his back the only support keeping him held upright as the others had followed his instructions in forging through the final battle ahead of them.

"There's no need to watch over me so closely, Uriel." He told her. It was, in fact, something he had been telling this strange angel recurrently ever since she had stepped down from Eden to join their group.

That was one thing he had never expected of the entity he had once known as the Demon-like Judge of Fire. In all the timelines he had been through Uriel had been just that, a silent judge. Reacting positively to his lawful actions in the early scenarios with coins, and expressing disappointment over his more morally dubious actions. Only descending after the destruction of Eden occasionally to cast judgement in person.

But something about this round had moved the archangel to act differently after the destruction of Eden this round.

"No offense, but there's obviously a d**n need for it, Jonghyuk." Uriel casually censored herself, as though the restrictions of Eden were still in place. "You can't see how the others are looking back towards you right now, but they know it too. That it's always times like this that you feel the need to go and take unnecessary risks."

Yoo Jonghyuk thought that he heard it in her voice, then.

That lilt in Uriel's voice that suggested she was talking to an old friend, even though the span of time in which he had met this version of her was infinitesimal in comparison to the life he had already lived before her, and perhaps compared to the life of a constellation as well.

Maybe Uriel, too, had lived through this all before. A war where she was called upon to support a comrade close to death.

Perhaps she also knew what it was like to be too helpless to save someone important.

Yoo Jonghyuk should be sorry that she would have to go through it again.

He could already feel it. No matter how close Uriel and her sword stayed by his side, Yoo Jonghyuk could feel his death coming to him.

It was because the outer world covenant wasn't an outside threat. It was something that was inside of him. A hole that came from the very center of him. Almost as if there were no outer world god involved, and Yoo Jonghyuk had really only done this to himself.

When everything was fading, and he could recognize her voice as one of the ones desperately calling out to him, Yoo Jonghyuk thought that he should apologize to her.

Instead, he died with a smile on his face.

.

.

.

The one thousandth regression was one that Yoo Jonghyuk planned based on his previous regressions, as he always did.

When he woke up on the train car again, he wasn't smiling as he had been when he died.

It was because he knew that he wouldn't let the events that let him get so far in the last regression repeat.

He couldn't live like that.

Suicidal idiot that he still was, he couldn't let the same thing happen to his precious memories of those friends in the nine hundred ninety ninth that had happened to every other memory he had of them from all those other regressions. Let them repeat until the point of oblivion. He couldn't do it. He just couldn't, even if it would be the right thing to do, even though it could save their lives, Yoo Jonghyuk just wasn't strong enough.

And he hated himself, for that weakness.

That was when Yoo Jonghyuk decided that he had to die, sitting there in that subway car before the scenarios started.

No matter what it took, killing every constellation in the starstream, losing distorted versions of old comrades, finding and wringing out his sponsor's neck…

Yoo Jonghyuk had to survive long enough to stand in front of that wall once more.

And join all of his once treasured memories in the deepest oblivion of death.

From then on, the only times he saw that Demon-like Judge of Fire descended from Eden was when she was sent with the express purpose to kill him in a way that didn't matter.

The only thing new he learned about her thereafter was how her corpse looked with a sword through the middle.

That was, until he met her as an outer god.

Secretive Plotter had wondered if it would please an angel like Uriel to know that he had prayed for the first time in that moment.

Prayed against all odds that her firey sword really could pierce through his curse of life and see him to his end.

But some dumb guy saved him that day.

And now, in the present, Yoo Jonghyuk was watching the kid version of that guy pick the green bits out of the omelette he had made him.

He had been trying to remember from the timelines where he had kids how he had tricked them into eating their vegetables, but like most of the times he tried to recall those deep memories of his, something in his brain had gotten caught up in that pesky number 999's time.

It was probably because his current company made those times hard to forget.

"Aaaaah I'm going to be late!" Uriel ran into the kitchen in a flash of blonde curls, going for the bread in the fridge as if she was going to run out of the house with toast in her mouth like a schoolgirl from one of her animes. "Jonghyuk do you know where Jihye is?"

"She already left." Yoo Jonghyuk reported, as he batted her hands off the bread and gave her a fork for the small omelette he had already put on the table for her. "Her first class this semester is in an early slot."

Even though he had told that girl to schedule her classes with the university early if she wanted good times…

"Shi-" Uriel seemed to remember there was no system to filter out her swears as she spared a glance toward Dokja before correcting herself. "Shoot. I mean shoot." She started speaking between bites as she scarfed down the omelette "I think that [munch] girl borrowed the shoes I was [chew] going to wear to my interview [gulp] without asking…"

"Does it really matter what shoes you wear?" Yoo Jonghyuk commented as he used his chopsticks to start placing Dokja's vegetables back into his omelette. "A former constellation is going to look strange submitting her manhwa manuscript to an editor for review no matter what."

"Give me a break." Uriel frowned. "It's not my fault that your world somehow made the mistake of making creative skills look more appealing on a resume than demon slaying skills."

Yoo Jonghyuk thought that there was truth to her observation, as he watched Uriel ruffle the hair of the pouting Dokja, before putting her clean plate in the sink for him to deal with later.

Everything about this world was new to Uriel. One could see it plainly in the very way she moved, unused to not carrying wings everywhere she went and walking ever so lightly on the earth wherever she went. Whether it was because she knew what it was to fly or because her shoulders had never felt so light before, Yoo Jonghyuk couldn't be sure.

"Good luck." He called, as Uriel walked out into the fray ahead of him, donning combat boots instead of the professional heel she seemed to have misplaced.

"Thanks Jonghyuk!" She replied, seemingly not compelled to look back to check on him as she walked out the door.

Yoo Jonghyuk had this certain feeling, then. A feeling that he often saw himself having in this new life of his, with these old friends of his.

Even though he thoroughly knew these people already, that fact made it all the more exciting to watch them grow into their roles in this world. Become the people that he never got to see them be.

"It's that look in your eye."

Yoo Jonghyuk almost startled, as he remembered he was being watched.

He turned to find young Dokja looking him with a gaze that seemed to see beyond his stoic expression.

"My father never looked at anyone like the way you looked at her just now, Hyung." He said, in that small, knowing voice of his, before a shyness seemed to come over him, and he looked down at his plate.

"That's why nine hundred ninety nine was always my favorite." He admitted, in a little voice

The emotion that Yoo Jonghyuk felt then was a rare one, but not entirely new.

A mixture of pride and bashfulness that only his own children had ever raised out of him, a glow that seemed to start from his chest and go on to cover his cheeks.

Perhaps an erstwhile familiarity with that feeling was the only thing that allowed him to save himself from smiling, as he tried very hard to tell Dokja sternly to eat his vegetables.

And when Uriel came home that evening to announce that her manuscript had gotten picked up… well, it wasn't hard to admit that Yoo Jonghyuk too was now living through a life that he never had before.