#dark and blank maybe make an appearance? man i wish

[cheesecakethots]

Date Night

Chrollo Lucilfer x Reader

after being left alone by your date in a ballroom you weren’t even invited to, you make conversation with a strange man that has bindings over his forehead.

tw: murder, sexual tension, you make out with him which is a little bit cringe, romance is a little rushed but too bad, yan!chrollo, i wrote this a year ago and never posted it so excuse the shoddy writing

this is a soulmate au except chrollo is only one who can sense that you’re his soulmate so it isn’t really mentioned, maybe i’ll make his pov at some point.

“You appear to be as bored as I am.”

The lit cigarette in your hand almost topples into the darkness when you jump at hearing a voice behind you. You don’t turn, instead leaning back into your relaxed position against the balcony railing, facing out into the night sky.

You shrug, “Bored enough that I was considering throwing myself over.”

The stranger chuckles, and you swear the sound of it sends something straight to your belly.

“If you’re so bored, why not go home?”

Finally, you turn to look at him. You’re certain that if you were in a cartoon you’d have heart eyes at seeing the strangely handsome man with an odd bandage on his head.

“I mean, you can probably tell,” you say, gesturing towards your outfit, one that you put on tonight in preparation for a nightclub and not a ballroom, “that I’m someone’s plus one rather than an actual guest. That someone has gone off with another woman, leaving me here with a dead phone and no idea where I am. I have more pride than to go inside and ask those judgemental assholes to call me a taxi.” You look him up and down from the corner of your eye, taking note of his no doubt expensive suit. “No offence.”

“None taken. Does that mean that someone is looking for you?”

You sigh, frowning a little. “Probably not. My friends had basically left me alone at the club anyway. I don’t really enjoy going out to bars all that much, so when some guy in a nice suit offered me to be his date to some fancy ballroom party, I couldn’t pass it up. Now I wish I had just gotten a taxi home then and there.”

The man nods, seemingly in a bit of thought, before coming closer and planting himself next to you, also leaning against the railing. You can’t help but side eye how tight the suit is around the muscle of his arms.

“Your date and friends don’t sound like the best of company.”

“You’re not wrong.”

“May I ask for your name?”

You give him it, “And yours?”

He pauses for a moment, but not long enough for you to think too much on it.

“Chrollo… and, if you don’t mind, I have a proposal. It might help with your boredom.”

You nod, tilting your head a little in curiosity.

“Well, I came outside here to see if anyone wasn’t present in the ballroom. I have a plan set up so that I can thieve the antiques and artworks present in this building, as well as the jewellery being worn by the guests.” He hums, tilting his head a little at you. “You’re rather interesting. I wouldn’t be opposed to sharing some of the loot with you, provided you give some assistance.”

You stare at him with a blank expression for a little while. Then, your lip twitches and a loud laugh escapes you.

“Alright,” you breathe out, wiping away a stray tear, “deal. Make sure to leave that fancy pearl necklace the lady with the red hair has. I’m sure it’d suit me better.”

The man smiles, and for but a moment you take note of something other than amusement in the look, but it quickly goes.

“It’s a deal, then. When would you like to begin?”

“Hmm,” you hum, bottom lip jutting out and finger pressing to your chin jokingly. “Probably soon, it’ll be starting to get light in a few hours. Rich people melt in direct sunlight, y’know. Don’t want them taking the loot with them.”

Chrollo laughs, and it’s a gentle sound that has your heart beating faster.

“It’s a shame, though,” you murmur. “As a kid I always wanted to go to a big fancy ballroom in a big fancy dress and dance around with someone until my feet hurt. I doubt I’ll ever get the chance to be invited to one of these again.”

You sigh, eyes drifting from him back out to the scenery beyond the balcony. His own never stray from your face, a fact you don’t take notice of.

“I disagree.”

You raise an eyebrow, but say nothing more, and it prompts him to continue.

“You’re more interesting than all those inside put together. If I had been the one who had brought you here, I wouldn’t have left your side, and I would most definitely want to bring you with me again. Besides,” he says, voice shifting to a more teasing tone, “I’m sure once our little job is over, you would have enough money to come to these as you please.”

You giggle, blushing a little at the sweetness in his previous words, “Oh, with all the money I make after this job I’ll have my own ballroom to dance in. I’ll let you come visit it, if you’d like.”

The man grins, and god you almost swoon. “Oh? You’re sure you’d allow a man like me into your home, sweetheart?”

You’re considering letting him into your bed at this point.

“Hm, why would I not? I thought you were my partner in crime in all of this?”

“Well, I suppose you’re right in that,” he stands up straight, and a hand extends towards you. “How does a dance sound then, partner?”

“Sorry, partner. I’m not going back in there, at least not for a while.”

“I didn’t say anything about going back inside the ballroom.”

“Huh? Ou-Out here?”

“Why not?”

“As cliché as it sounds, I don’t really know how to dance all that well,” you admit rather awkwardly, and he laughs once more. You’re beginning to become addicted to the sound.

“You don’t have to worry, it’s only me out here. I can teach you the basics. I promise, it’s not hard, partner.”

You don’t say that you’d rather not embarrass yourself in front of the most attractive man you’ve ever met, instead hesitantly placing your hand in his own.

His skin is colder than you expect it to be, and when his other hand envelopes around you, gently holding onto your waist, you almost jolt. He leans in close to you, and the faint minty scent of his breath has your head feeling light.

“No need to be so rigid,” he murmurs quietly, “Just do as I do. I won’t laugh at you.”

How did you end up in this situation again?

He takes a slow step back, pulling you with him, and your foot accidentally treads on his own.

“Sorry!”

“It’s alright,” the man whispers, continuing to hold you as though you were made of the finest material.

A few moments pass of what you consider his graceful movements and your awkward shuffling.

“You are a natural at this, sweetheart.”

“No need to lie to me. Maybe next time we’ll bump into each other at the club and I’ll teach you how to move on the dance floor. Or, I would if I knew how. Maybe we can learn together… then again,” you eye him up and down, “you don’t seem the ‘club’ type, Chrollo.”

“I could say the same about you.”

“Is it that obvious?”

Were you two always this close to each other? One wrong move and you might end up brushing lips. You’re not opposed to the idea.

“Oh, maybe not to others, but I’m good at reading people.” He pauses for a moment. “I would describe you as a book I just can’t seem to put down.”

“You can lay me down instead, if you’d like.”

He halts rather suddenly, and you register the words that just tumbled from your mouth with a gasp.

“S-Sorry! Shit, shit, sorry, I didn’t mean to say that-“

Chrollo’s hands are tightening around your flesh within a fraction of a second, and suddenly his lips are moulded against your own, your body being pushed back until it’s pressed against the brick wall behind you.

If you were more coherent, you would be wondering what happened to the sweet gentleman you had been conversing with only a few moments prior. Maybe you would wonder if he had been replaced by some wild animal, evident by the desperation in his kisses.

But you don’t care about all that, all you can think about is how hot the air has suddenly turned, how there’s a familiar feeling in the pit of your stomach forming, and how good this feels.

Chrollo pulls back from you for a moment, and through half-lidded eyes you’re able to catch sight of your smudged lipstick around his face. You can’t help but giggle at that, prompting a slight smile from him. It doesn’t last very long, as soon he’s moving lower, face pressing into the crevice of your neck and hands combing over your waist.

“I can’t believe I’d meet you here,” You swear you hear him mumble, but you don’t really have time to think on it, not when his body presses even further against you, and his hands ghost over the backs of your thighs.

“Jump.”

“Hu-Huh?”

He doesn’t give you much time to think about it, as you’re swept of your feet, thighs encircled around his waist and allowing him to move impossibly closer.

Something hard presses to the spot between your legs, and he quickly drinks up the gasp of his name you give in response.

“Oh my!”

It takes you a few moments in your lustful haze to realise that it was not your own voice you heard. Chrollo doesn’t even glance to the side at the no doubt horrified guest who had stumbled upon the two of you, instead sighing tiredly into the skin of your throat.

The poor intruder doesn’t stick around long, retreating back into the ballroom to no doubt call someone to kick the two of you out. Chrollo slowly places your legs back on the floor so that you can stand, and you’re tempted to tear off your own skin you’re so embarrassed.

“… God.” An awkward laugh bubbles out of you, and soon you’re wheezing uncontrollably, doubling over and your head pressing to Chrollo’s chest.

“A shame,” he murmurs. “I was enjoying myself… and by the sounds you were making, so were you.”

You fear this moment will plague you forever and ever.

“Maybe I should throw myself off of the balcony, after all.”

“I wouldn’t allow you to. How am I supposed to get the job done without my partner in crime?”

You laugh, a hand moving to your face so you can cover the blush that’s only growing worse by the second. “… I like you, Chrollo. I know this is a little, um… forward and, well, fast… but I want to keep speaking to you past this night. I-If that’s not what you’re after, that’s alright too…”

You’re not sure you can bring yourself to meet his gaze, especially not after the lengthy pause that follows.

“I would like to speak to you past this night as well... and… I like you, too.”

Maybe this night wasn’t a total disaster, after all. Maybe this is the beginning of something new for you.

“Alright, well… I’m going to go inside, and get a drink before we’re kicked out, if you’d like to join me. Looks like our master plan has yet to come into fruition.”

His hand meets your hip again, “I wouldn’t be so sure on that, partner… Shall we?”

“Wait, let me…” you raise a hand and softly wipe at the lipstick staining his lips and jaw.

“Don’t make me kiss you again.”

“Nope. No more PDA. I’ve learnt my lesson.”

He opens the door for you, and you breathe in a big breath of air. This is going to suck, but at least this weirdly charming man is with you.

As the two of you step inside, your eyes immediately find the food and drinks table, missing the sight of two strange men, one short and one large, on the stage.

“Ah, it seems Feitan and Franklin are ready.”

“Hm?”

You’re not sure what comes first, the ear piercing scream on the other side of the ballroom or the sudden darkness that blankets the area.

Another scream, and you jolt backwards, reminding yourself of Chrollo, who is still holding onto you, his grip only tightening and his front pressing to your back.

“Stay close to me. This’ll be over soon.”

“Wh-What?! Chrollo, I don’t-“

You yelp when something falls down beside you, the thud managing to be heard over the chorus of screams.

“What the fuck is going on?!” Someone cries out near you, “Call the-“

Something wet sprays across your neck and face, and another thud follows.

Is this real? Are you dreaming?

A flurry of gunshots are accompanied by brief flashes of light that illuminate the people fighting to get to the doors in front of you, treading and falling over each other in a scramble to escape.

Red. Red. Red. Every flash has you shaking at the sight of more and more blood, and less and less movement. The silence you soon hear is more deafening than anything else before it.

Someone groans, and a popping sound ensues. It is silent once more.

Maybe this is some prank, some elaborate joke set up by a morally bankrupt TV show, you just happen to be the poor sucker who-

Something cold wraps around your neck, and you taste vomit in the base of your throat.

“You were right. It does suit you better.”

[undiscovered-horizon]

Imagine accidentally summoning Morpheus [Part 2]

The cardboard box had your name written on it in sharpie and judging by the amount of dust collected on the lid, it must have been waiting for you for at least a decade. According to your grandmother, everything inside was a remnant of your early childhood when she would take care of you when your parents couldn't. All of it was waiting for the day you become an adult and, to your grandmother's nostalgic dissatisfaction, that day had come a little faster than she wished.

Upon opening the box and coughing up your lungs with the old dust, you heard yourself gasp at the very first thing you lay your eyes on: a music box.

"Please, tell me you still work," you whispered to yourself as you hurriedly took it out.

The enamel was chipped away in many places but not enough to make the trinket in any way ugly. Its black paint and golden decorations took you back to all the sleepless nights when your grandmother would wind the music box up and let it play your insomnia away. "You'll be asleep before the song ends," she used to assure you. And she never once was wrong.

Carefully, you lifted the porcelain-covered lid. Inside, the figurine of a black raven was still taking flight, even after all those years when it was hidden away in a cardboard box somewhere between Christmas decorations and VHS tapes no one watched anymore. The inside of the music box was just as dark as the outside except for the tiny, white dots that were meant to resemble stars as though the black bird was always flying away into the night sky.

You turned the winding key countless times or so it seemed. When you felt that it wouldn't turn anymore, you excitedly retracted your hand, expecting the sweet melody of childhood to resound in your ears once more.

The raven figurine turned slowly as the equally slow melody began playing. Curiously, you never did learn what song it was as you have never heard it anywhere else. A grimace appeared on your face as you listened to the high-pitched, bright sounds: the melody in minor key sounded a lot darker, creepier, than you remembered it. Maybe the fang of time had already gnawed on the music box? Perhaps it was simply out of tune and you had to find someone capable of fixing it.

"Why have you summoned me?"

The low voice behind you made you fall over. Scurrying away in fear, you turned around only to see a tall, thin man in a long coat. His hair was dishevelled and its dark, raven-like shade made his pasty skin appear only lighter. Suddenly, you noticed the air in your bedroom smelling somewhat sweet and stale like fruit in an antique bookshop. His blue eyes remained strangely expressionless as he stared at you.

Even if you did know what to say, you were physically incapable of doing so. Who was he? How did he get in? And what on Earth did he mean by 'summon'? Your heart was thundering in your chest and you quickly began feeling trouble catching your breath. Fearful blankness wove a nest in your thoughts. A cold sweat run down your back.

"I know your face," he spoke again as he slowly walked towards you, "although long years had gone by since I last saw you."

Your back hit the wall - there was nowhere else to run from the stranger. He, to your horror, only continued his stroll in your direction. Panting, you looked around if there was anything you could use to defend yourself from the trespasser but a cardboard lid wasn't a weapon in any way or meaning. As it befits prey, you simply waited.

But his hand was never once raised against you. When the stranger stood right in front of you, he silently extended reached his arm to you to help you get up. With great hesitation, you took it.

"I must confess I did harbour some hope that you might remember me," he said once you had gotten up. "Alas, we are strangers once more."

You didn't believe him, not for a second. Had you ever met such an odd men, equally intimidating as he was gentle, you'd surely remember him or at least recognize his features as familiar. But you did not.

In a trembling voice, you managed to stutter out a response: "I have no idea who you are... sir."

For a moment, he appeared somewhat upset, vacantly looking towards the floor. "I know," he quietly answered in a raspy voice.

[thenotsoholyspirit]

Holding pt 2

(Here for pt 1)

Matt Murdock x reader (angst)

Note: I never expected to do a part 2 for this, but I got inspired re-watching the third season. I hope you guys enjoy it ❤️. Also, a bit of a trigger warning for the mention of the death of a pet.

Summary: What if Matt came back after all that happened, what if things could change.

♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡

"It was a building, an old abandoned storage. It was a horrible incident indeed. Authorities have yet declared the reasons for its collapse, but apparently, some criminal group is-"

Will the tv anchors let go of that new? It's been more than a month

I sigh as I start to bite the head of the pen in my hand, turning the tv off. I look now directly at the blank screen, only being able to see my own reflection. I look exhausted.

I am exhausted.

It's been weeks since Matt Murdock has been declared dead, more than weeks since I've myself collapsed into some sort of numbness.

It was almost months since I last saw him, yet..

You could've prevented this

I shake my head, trying to get the thought out.

The darkness in the room seems almost too engulfing now. My four walls feeling closer and closer now. I close my eyes

You can not take responsibility for everybody..

I remember my mom telling me this the day my first pet died. It was an accident, the poor bird escaping his cage and getting electrocuted by some some disjointed wires from the utility pole.

Not everything is under your control

I remember his little body dead on the asphalt eyes wide open, looking like he could wake up at any time and take his flight..

Suddenly the noise of the keys opening my door make me stand up. I quickly go grab the old baseball bat hidden under the couch and I go stand besides de doorframe.

Breath

When the person enters I immediately go for a hit, only to be surprised as what appears to be a man easily stops it mid-air making me loose my balance and stumble.

"What th-"

Suddenly he grabs me by my waist preventing me from falling on the floor. Its so dark I can barely perceive his face, yet his voice makes my heart suddenly drop.

"Please..this time I can explain (y/n)"

I immediately pull away from his arms as I go quickly grab my bat again and turn on the lights. I feel my hands weaken their grip as I now recognize the man in front of me. It was Matt. it was actually Matt.

Its you

But I keep my defensive position. Its impossible. This cannot be.

"Who the f- are you". I spat, trying not to let my vulnerability take over.

The supposed Matt stays in place, as I can see him twitching a small smile. He retakes his serious tone

"I know.. I know how this must appear from your side but you must believe me.."

I look at his eyes. Those puppy eyes he used to make when I caught him in trouble. For such a strong man he could be quite sensitive indeed. But I cannot forget neither.

"Even if..if this was true..how..how do you want me to trust you..after all that happened"

He looks down, shame now filling his face. He must have remembered the last time we saw each other. Not the best goodbye indeed. He bites his lip

"I know..I.. I didn't come for forgiveness just..I thought...", He turns his head around, probably scanning the room, "That you deserved to know the truth before you heard it from someone else.."

In the depths of myself, I know all I wish to do is to jump to his arms. It was him. He was alive.

"What exactly happened?"

My voice wasn't as cold as before but I still hold an strict tone, wanting to keep my distance.

He nods his head as he takes a long breath.

"You really want to hear the whole story ?"

"Ive got all night"

So thats how for the next hour he tells me what he seems to know about this Hand. The war. Stick and even the two deaths of his ex. It was a lot I admit, but I still listened with attention to each of his words. We both end up sitting face to face on the floor

"So that's how I ended up here", he finally says raising his shoulders.

I could notice something in his tone. Something more lonely that what used to be in there before. Something more bitter too, but I decide not to comment on that.

"So neither Karen or even Foggy know that you're alive and well ?"

He groans a bit. Probably a touchy subject.

"I'd rather leave it like that... they're safer that way"

I sigh. Some things never truly change

"Then why are you here Matt?"

"I told you.. I-"

"Bullshit"

My raise in tone paralyzes the conversation for a moment. Matt seems surprised and stays silent waiting for me to continue

"Sorry..just", I try my best to hold my emotions, "Last time you were in here..you..you left me Matt..you left me..."

"(Y/n).. sweetheart..I'm"

"Don't you dare call me sweetheart Matthew.." Im now standing up giving my most glaring stare at the man in front of me. "Don't you dare use that word"

Not everything is under my control

"I.." , I look at him again, " I had to mourn you twice..twice.."

Now tears are falling from my eyes. I know he can sense them but I don't want him to comfort me. I have to be strong

"I loved you with all my heart"

These last words are merely a mumble.

The noise of the outside is louder, the cars, the streets, the people. The city being so alive. All of what Matt can hear and perceive, his life. His real life. Not here with me, but outside.

He seems unsure what to say next.

"I never wanted to lose you", I've never heard his voice being this fragile "I just wanted to protect you from all the danger I brought upon you.. I don't want to make excuses just.. I got lost in the way"

He tries to come closer to me, putting his hand on my cheek cleaning my tear

"I'll try to make it up... even if it takes me a whole eternity to do so"

I look at him. Will I be able to ever forgive it all ?

I softly take his hand from my face. Holding it with such strength, like if he was about to vanish again. We stay in this silence for a while. It was a lot of feelings for just one night.

But time is still moving as I look at my kitchen's clock.

"Its getting late, I'd guess you have to go"

He nods letting a sad smile slip.

"Yes I guess so"..

He walks to the door, putting his dark glasses and cap on. He gives me a long stare before going. I wonder what he may be thinking

"Goodbye (y/n)"

"Goodbye Matt"

I see him disappear down the hall.

As I get back in, I think again of my souvenir of the poor bird laying on the ground. Maybe I couldn't bring him back to life, but what if he was given a second chance.

I stare at the door.

Maybe things could have ended differently in that case.

[dearmantis]

A lost embrace

Pairing: Aleksander Morozova/The Darkling x wife!Reader

Summary: You're not sure how long you can continue living like this. How long you can pretend that everything is alright. Like you can't feel your soul rotting in your chest.

Warnings: infidelity (?), betrayal, some Darkling slander (he deserves it), a hint of gaslighting, toxic relationship, mentioned smut (it's only 4 words, I can't write smut I'm so sorry), a tiny hint of suicidal thoughts, wishing for someone's death

Word Count: 1.2k

Authors' Note: There was a different ending to this that made it a bit darker and made him more possessive (and also made him a bit more of a romantic in a fucked up way?), but I didn't think anyone would really care for that, so I left it out. Also I'm not a native English speaker and this isnt edited.

Masterlist

You love your husband. You love him more than the moon, the stars and the saints, but you do not trust him.

You can't. Not since the sun summoner appeared in the Little Palace and Aleksander pushed you away like a simple inconvenience to make space for her.

She's a young girl who doesn't know any better. Someone who sees a husband betray his wife for her and sees it as something good, a compliment from him towards her. From her perspective you're an obstacle standing between her and the man who has been so welcoming and wonderful to her. She doesn't understand that you're not her enemy, that she fell for a trap designed specifically for her.

You see through it though. You see through it all.

You can't stop seeing.

The first time you mention the game the Shadow Summoner is playing with Alina he comforts and reassures you, his voice soft and familiar like freshly washed wool. He takes you in his arms, pressing your body close to his as he lists every reason why he married you. You fall asleep with your head on his chest that night, listening to his calm and steady heartbeat while his fingers draw patterns on your back.

Just to wake up all alone the next morning, finding out through Ivan that he went out to ride horses with the sun summoner, your heart dropping to the heart of the world.

The second time you bring his behaviour up, he's harsh and clearly annoyed by the fact that you haven't forgotten, that you're not giving up on his repeated behaviour despite how sweet he can be sometimes.

"You don't trust me? After two centuries of marriage, you can't trust me? I hunted down the very amplifiers keeping you alive, and now you believe I'm trying to replace you? You're insane."

The third time he's even harsher, voice awfully calm and cold has he speaks down to you. He reminds you so much of his own mother in that moment that you have to wonder if it's just time making him bitter and cruel, or if this part of him has always been there, slumbering in his chest like a bear in hibernation.

"You're too old for this childish jealousy."

But you can be just as cruel when you want to be.

"And you're too old and too married to chase the skirt of a scared little girl in front of all of Ravka, but here we are."

He sleeps in the war room after that night, the shadows that fill the room at his silent anger crawling through the space under the door into the bedroom, but you pay them no mind.

Every night you hope the darkness he unconsciously summons in his sleep scares him to death when he wakes up and frees you from this torment. Maybe he will be so scared he accidentally kills you too.

When Alina finally runs away, horrified by the truth of who and what Aleksander truly is, you don't even bother to act like you don't think he deserves this, like you don't pray that the young sun summoner disappears from the face of the world and never returns, leaving him to live through eternity alone.

No, you just stare at your husband, expression blank like freshly fallen snow, the words resting on your tongue stinging like acid when you finally speak.

"Your true equal wouldn't have left after finding out who you are. Your equal would've stayed to help with your plans, or done their best to kill you before you find out that they know your biggest secret."

Your words are a reminder of what happened when you found out about his true identity. You had discovered one of his diaries one day, reading it while he was out, scouting the area around the Little Palace because of a few recent Drüskelle sightings, and when he returned to your quarters and saw the open notebook on his desk, he thought you had fled.

Then he heard your quiet sobs and slowly stepped over to your shared bedroom, opening the door to reveal your shaking body on the bed, wrapped tightly in a blanket and hugging a pillow to your chest.

You were whimpering and crying like a wounded animal, and when he asked what happened you stared at him for a few seconds before loudly wailing, hysterically blabbering something about leaving him all alone after your death and how lonely and scared he must've been for most of his life. It was a pathetic sight to behold. A sight that he claims proved to him that he wants to spend the rest of eternity with you, or at least as long as you will let him stay at your side.

You're starting to doubt that now, obviously.

But when he returns to the Little Palace, almost on deaths doorstep, his body covered in wounds the healers have trouble healing, he turns into the soft, familiar Aleksander again. Your husband.

He's quiet, sweet, kind, and polite. He thanks you for putting up with him, for being his wife even after everything he has done. For accepting him for who he is. For staying.

He wakes up screaming occasionally, tears running down his face while he anxiously looks around and slowly realises that he's no longer dreaming.

He begs you to let him sleep next to you in your shared bed again, his eyes wet and filled with worry as if he's scared of being alone in the darkness of the night, and you give in, wrapping your arms around him as he presses his ear against your chest, waiting for the sound of your heartbeat to lull him to sleep.

Everything is like it was before Alina for a few weeks. You're glued together at the hips, spending every hour you can at each others sides. He kisses you, finishes inside of you, holds you while you sleep and helps you wash your hair, and you kiss every single one of his scars, your soft lips carefully touching the ink black lines covering his body, paying extra attention and love to those in his face.

It's the bare minimum, but after months of not receiving any of his affections you relish in his love the way the trees enjoy the first warm and bright day of spring after a brutal winter.

But despite all of that love there's a dark corner in your heart where a piece of your withering soul waits for the other shoe to drop, and when it finally does you can feel how the rest of your heart fills with rot and decay.

That kefta – that stupid, horrible piece of wasted fabric and stitching – is the reason. The reason for the tiny bit of darkness now sitting between your ribs.

You're already laying in bed, fluffing up the pillows and getting in position to cuddle with your husband, when Aleksander steps in, the golden treads on the clothing item shimmering in the light of the candle on your bedside table.

Jaw clenching slightly, you watch as he undresses, carefully hanging the kefta up in his wardrobe as if it is his most prized possession.

You don't know if it's an accident, or perhaps a sign from the universe, but he hangs it right in front of the kefta he married you in, covering the beautiful ink black fabric and it's intricate and complicated decorative stitching almost entirely from view. There's acid rising in your throat at the sight of it and it's many implications.

When he turns back to you, now in his pajamas, he seems to finally realise that something is wrong, his eyebrows furrowing as he looks at you. "Are you alright, milaya?"

You nod stiffly, laying down and pulling the blanket up to your chin. He doesn't question your behaviour further. He probably doesn't care, to be completely honest.

The Darkling joins you a few seconds later, bending over you to blow out your candle before dropping a single, short kiss onto your forehead.

That night he sleeps with his back turned to you for the first time since he returned from his near death encounter in the fold.

You don't mind it much, unable to sleep anyways as you stare at the back of his head and remember all the times he has rejected the idea of adding some of your grisha colour to his kefta.

"But I have black on my kefta. Why would it be so bad if you wore some of my colour as well?"

"That's different. The black protects you. It shows people not to touch you. If I wear your colour people are going to accuse me of favouring your grisha order over the others. I just want you to be save. I can do that by showing that you're mine."

You never want to see the colour black again.

Part 2: There's no love like our love

[shinagawa-division]

Happy Birthday Tomi!

Mature Themes Ahead. Minors Do Not Interact.

— Shinagawa Division, August 14th, 2024 —

The sun had set over the city of Shinagawa, casting the restless city in darkness as the building lit up and shown as brightly as the stars in the night sky. On the residential outskirts of the city, in her bedroom of her mansion, Miho Kobayashi was currently finishing up getting ready to meet her darling husband to spend his birthday with by having a lovely date at the finest restaurant money can buy. Fitted in a tight, black dress with diamonds, Miho was putting on the finishing touches to her makeup when her phone pinged, signaling that she had gotten a message, causing her to put down her blush brush and went to pick up her phone which pinged again…and again and again and again, almost rapidly, catching the female CEO off guard.

“What the hell…” She muttered as she held the still pinging device in her hands, just who the hell was messaging her so much? Opening her message app, she saw that she was being spammed with the same link over and over by her friends, colleagues, and even random numbers, furthering confusing the raven haired woman even more, at first she thought that it was some prank or that maybe her phone got hacked again but then she got even more messages, each one telling her to click the link, that she had to see what was happening and the most confusing part, people were giving their condolences.

Having enough with the suspense, Miho clicked on a random contact and tapped on the link which immediately brought her to a video. It was that of a bedroom of what looked to be in some high end hotel, it looked to be empty until the door suddenly bursts open and in came two people that were locked in a very passionate embrace, their facing pretty much glued together as they were eagerly making out with each other. Miho’s mind went blank as her face scrunched up with disgust at the thought of being sent a porn video…until she looked closer at the couple, specifically the man of the two who looked scarily familiar to her…husband…

Miho’s heart froze and promptly dropped to her stomach as the couple pulled away and she could clearly see her husband, the person who vowed to be with her in sickness and in health, until death do them part, Tomi fucking Chōten push the woman who he had just been making out with to her knees, who only giggled and started to unbuckle his pants to pull out his length and give him a blowjob, the Socialite throwing his head back and groaning in pleasure. Miho’s knuckles were pure white with how hard she was gripping her phone, her mind going a million miles per minute as she tried to grasp the situation, surely this couldn’t be real right? It had to be some AI generated garbage, Tomi wouldn’t do this to her, he couldn’t, not after everything, not after she bared her heart and soul out to him, not after she told him everything about her past traumas, including with how her first engagement ended, there was no fucking way he would do this to her twice.

‘Damn this is so fucking hot, I love NTR’

‘I’ll pay 20 dollars if you fuck her face’

‘Hey! I know that guy! Isn’t he that rich motherfucker from Aoyama?’

‘God I wish that were me’

‘Oh shit, you’re right, wait, isn’t this guy married? Damn, I’d hate to be his wife right now’

Almost as if spitting in her face, a chat box appeared which was rapidly being filled with messages and donations, other people were watching this, they were watching her husband sleeping with another woman, the shame and embarrassment Miho was feeling was sickening, apparently the footage she was looking at happened to be live footage, which meant that this was happening in real time, Miho was just sitting here getting pretty for a man who currently had another woman’s mouth deepthroating his cock. The camera angle had switched, zooming in closer on the male’s face, there was no doubt about it, it was truly Tomi Chōten, his bleached blonde-white hair was disheveled and out of its usual ponytail due to the heavy make out session he and the woman had, those gray eyes that Miho once adored were hazy and cloudy with lust and would shut close solely from the pleasure he was getting from the woman that was lathering his cock with licks and kisses.

And most of all, the most telling feature that convinced Miho that this was indeed real, were his eyebrows. His goddamn eyebrows that were long, thin, and had the iconic loop that nothing and nobody could replace. Miho wasn’t aware of how weak her legs had gotten but she had collapsed on her knees on the floor as she just numbly stared at her phone in horror and disbelieving anger. The woman in the video, which Miho subconsciously note was a younger woman presumably in her early 20s, with orange hair and blue eyes, popped his cock out of her mouth after giving one last suck and stood up, grabbed Tomi’s hand as the camera angle changed again, closing in on the two of them and Miho watched with sickness as she guided him towards the bed.

The woman took off her heels and lifted her skirt up, tugging her panties down and tossing them to the side, looking back at Tomi with a lustful look, almost as if giving an invisible command to take her, Tomi scrambled to get on the bed, positioning himself behind the woman and Miho’s eyes, who were slowly gathering tears at this point, widened as she realized that they were not going to stop any time soon, they really were going all the way. Miho desperately wanted to do something, to scream, to cry, to get angry and trash her room but she couldn’t will herself to move an inch, too shocked and paralyzed by the utter betrayal of watching her second husband commit adultery.

The final nail was in the coffin the moment Tomi entered the other woman and immediately began thrusting, moans and cursing spilling out from the both of them as the bed creaked and rocked with their movements.

“Oh fuuuuuck~! Daddy, your cock’s so fucking biiiiig~!” The woman gave a moan so pornographic that it would’ve made the most degenerate person blush but all it did was stab another knife into Miho’s chest, the tears finally spilling out and pouring down her cheeks, messing up her make up and creating tear tracks. The worse part was that she could clearly see Tomi’s ring glittering in the light of the hotel room, fucker didn’t even bother taking it off.

“S-shit..so fucking tight..” He groaned and Miho wanted to vomit with how much he looked like he was genuinely enjoying having sex with another, much younger woman, her other hand that wasn’t gripping the phone had clenched into a fist so tightly, her nails had cut into her palm with blood starting to drip down, almost in tandem with her tears.

“A-ah…mmf, yeah? You like that, Daddy? I’m better than-fuck!-your skeleton of a wife, right? Bet a prudish-ooooh-bitch like her couldn’t get you this fucking hard-shit!” The woman moaned, throwing herself back in time of Tomi’s thrusts, said man still had that lust filled glossed over look as he continued to pound into her.

“Y-yes! God, yes! S-so much better than her!” He gritted out, pumping inside her faster as the woman made eye contact in the direction the camera was and gave an evil grin causing Miho’s heart to stop for the nth time this night alone.

The rest of it was a blur, Miho couldn’t even recall anything after that except waking up in her bed, still in her dress, her injured hand now bandaged and what remained of her phone was sitting in a plastic bag gon her bedside table, the device completely shattered into pieces. Miho blinked, eyes staring blankly at her ceiling before the events of last night came back to her, making her eyes twitch slightly before slowly sitting up to get ready for the day.

— Later, Aoyama Division, August 15th, 2024 —

In a luxurious hotel located in the city of Aoyama, Tomi Chōten groaned as he slowly woke up, a headache pounding in his head and his body completely sore as he tried to recall what the hell happened last night but to no avail, as if something was blocking his memory of last night. He looked around to find the place cleaned up aside from his clothes which were strewn everywhere across the floor and the bed he was laying in to be a mess. Looking down, he was shocked and horrified to find that he was naked and covered in bruises, scratches, and bite marks as well as dried up cum which signified that something definitely happened last night and Tomi felt ice cold fear wash upon him at the realization of what he had done.

Scrambling to get out of the bed, the Socialite hurried to put his clothes on, not giving a damn about his dirty body and went to grab his phone that was lying on the bedside table, fully charged surprisingly but he didn’t care about that, he paused as he saw that he had a bunch of unread text messages and a whole lot of voicemails coming from acquaintances, colleagues, his parents (who sounded especially pissed off), Karada and Luis, and from one unknown number. Sitting back down on the bed in shock, Tomi hesitantly went through messages, most of them were trolls but a large majority were death threats and comments about how much of cheating piece of shit he was and how his wife deserved so much better than him, some even sending links to various news articles and the trending hashtags on PROFILE, which was having a field day dragging his name in the mud with various clips of his infidelity circling the internet.

BREAKING NEWS: AOYAMA SOCIALITE TOMI CHŌTEN SEX TAPE LEAKED

TOMI CHŌTEN, HUSBAND OF FAMOUS CEO, MIHO KOBAYASHI, CAUGHT CHEATING WITH AN UNKNOWN WOMAN.

WILL MIHO KOBAYASHI AND TOMI CHŌTEN GET A DIVORCE?

Then there were the voicemails…

From his parents…

“You filthy little ingrate! Do you know what you’ve just done?! Videos and picture of you fucking some whore are all over social media! Do you have no shame?! Or perhaps you do because you have brought it towards our family name and tarnished it! Your father and I expect you to be back at the mansion RIGHT NOW or so help me God, Tomi, you will regret it!”

“No words can express how utterly disgusted and disappointed I am in you, Tomi. I do not know what possessed you to do such a heinous thing, especially putting it on the internet for everyone to see your filth and degeneracy. Your mother and I are doing everything we can to do damage control but the truth is that you completely destroyed our family name. Come back to the mansion, there is much we need to discuss.”

From Karada and Luis…

“Tomi…dude…just…why? Didn’t you love Miho? She’s actually a really cool woman and you…really did that…I don’t know what to tell you, bro but…you messed up…you messed up big time.”

“I don’t say this a lot even though I should but you truly are a fucking idiot, Tomi. I expected this sort of stuff from Karada but you? Eh, well, I guess this isn’t too shocking now that I think about it but still, I guess all your vows from your wedding were just bullshit huh? Whatever, anyways, as you can guess, the public is having a field day tearing down your public image and reputation so…good luck, I guess.”

And finally from the unknown number, Tomi froze once more when he heard Miho’s voice, staring off cracked and watery at first, as if she had been crying but growing more and more angry and vitriolic later on.

“I..l don’t know what to say…bra-fucking-vo I guess, truly a stunning performance, y’know I think you should take after your brother and go into acting because this was nothing short of amazing, you truly are dedicated to the act…more dedicated than to me…I guess that’s where you slipped up.”

“Everyone told me that this was a bad idea, that I was making a mistake, that out of all the people in this godforsaken country, choosing you to be my husband was only going to come back and bite me on the ass. I defended you, y’know, I told everyone that they were wrong and that I had faith in you, that perhaps you would change…I’ve never felt like such an idiot, I can already hear them, the never ending cycle of “I told you so”’s.”

“You knew…you knew about everything and what I’ve been through, I told you about how my last engagement ended, I put everything on the line for you, my heart, my soul, my dreams and you FUCKING RUINED THEM LIKE THE BASTARD YOU ARE! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME?! DID YOU ENJOY IT?! DID YOU ENJOY RIPPING MY HEART OUT AS YOU BANGED HER?! YOU PIECE OF SHIT! I HOPE YOU FUCKING ROT IN HELL, I HOPE THAT BITCH GETS PREGNANT AND YOU HAVE TO LIVE WITH THE CONSTANT SHAME AND HUMILIATION AS I HAVE AND DON’T YOU DARE EVER COME NEAR ME EVER AGAIN OR I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU—“

“Greetings, Mr. Chōten. This is Goro Eguchi from the Kobayashi residence, please pardon me for the interruption but I have come with some very urgent news. My Lady has hereby banned any and all visitations from you or any of you associates on her property and has now declared that she wants a divorce, I’m sure you can understand why but the papers will be sent to your mansion tomorrow. Mr. Chōten, I strongly recommend that you sign those documents and go through the process with giving as little difficulty as possible as quickly as possible, failure to do so and My Lady will take legal action against you. Right, and another thing, My Lady has told me to tell you that you are allowed to keep your ring, she said and I quote “perhaps you can give it to that whore as a form of child support”. I believe that will be all, good day Mr. Chōten and goodbye.”

Tomi only sat numbly on the bed, there was only a ringing in his ears that seemed to grow louder and louder, he had only just noticed that the ring on his finger was actually missing this whole time and all of a sudden, his eyes grew damp with tears. Outside of the hotel room, a housekeeping maid jumped in fright and promptly scurried away from the door once she heard Tomi scream and start to destroy everything in the room.

— Earlier, Aoyama Division, August 14th, 2024 —

The gala was in full swing, people were mingling and enjoying themselves, all of them attending to celebrate the birth of one Tomi Chōten who was currently socializing and networking with various other businessmen. One of those businessmen happens to be Masuzō Shinomiya, the CEO of the most popular video game making company in all of Japan, Player One Studios as well as Japan’s most eligible bachelor. He’s quite the talk of the town, with women falling for his handsome looks and dark aesthetic while men were jealous of his looks and riches but couldn’t deny his wealth and fortune.

If you were to ask Tomi Chōten however, he completely despises the man, simply due to the fact that he is the older brother to bane of his existence, Sumire Shinomiya.

“Lovely party, as always, Chōten-san.” Masuzō took a sip of his champagne and Tomi only gave a polite smile in response, refraining from scoffing and retorting with an insult. “Thank you, Shinomiya-san.”

“However..” Masuzō drawled, downing his drink completely and turned to face the Socialite. “I’m a bit bored, you don’t suppose this place has a gambling den?” He asked and Tomi raised an eyebrow but nonetheless nodded. “It does, why do you ask?”

Masuzō smiled and Tomi felt a shiver down his spine from how similar it looked to Sumire’s, the family resemblance was borderline uncanny between those two. “Perfect, I don’t suppose you men fancy a few games, do you?”

Tomi should’ve said no, he wanted to say no but as he heard the other men around him agree, he couldn’t help but bite his tongue and smiled, nodding his head. “I don’t see why not, follow me gentleman, I’ll lead the way.”

It wasn’t long until they all entered the gambling den and were sat around a large blackjack table, the dealer, a cute young woman with orange hair and blue eyes, bowed and greeted them before shuffling the cards. As they were all preparing themselves for a night of gambling, Masuzō grabbed a waiter and whispered a few words to him, the waiter nodded and left dutifully before coming back with a variety of drinks on a platter, serving each man their drink before getting to Tomi who raised an eyebrow at the cup of liquor that was placed in front of him.

“I’ve never seen this kind of alcohol before, what is this.” He demanded the waiter however, Masuzō came to his rescue.

“Relax Chōten, this is my gift to you, I had that liquor imported from Barcelona, it’s unknown to some due to how exotic it is, only the very best of the upper echelon are able to afford that drink.” He explained as he took a sip of his whiskey, the other men could only murmur in awe at the nonchalant display of wealth, Tomi hated to admit that even he was impressed so all he did was huff and began to drink it, it was surprisingly pleasant, with a hint of a fruity aftertaste, he couldn’t help but drink some more and Masuzō could only smile mysteriously, knowing that his gift was very we’ll received.

The night continued, the games continued and the more sloshed the men became, all except Masuzō, who only watched with a blank face as Tomi got more and more handy with the dealer who did absolutely nothing to stop his advances, all she did was look back at Masuzō who only gave her a nod, making her nod back and gently pulled Tomi into a deep kiss, the Socialite jolting in surprise before eagerly kissing her back. The other men were too wasted to care, some even giving the two of them cat calls and cheers, the dealer pulled back to whisper something in Tomi’s ear before the two of them went to go exit the room. Masuzō waited for a minute, finishing his 15th shot of whiskey before leaving the room to go follow the two, only stopping when he saw the two of them enter the cab he had called in advance and drive off.

“Fucking finally.” He sighed in relief and went to fish his phone out of his pocket, seeing the familiar icon of his creator, he sent her a message.

Did my part. Your turn.

— Shinagawa Division, August 15th, 2024 —

Sumire Shinomiya walked down the hall leading to her aunt’s room, carefully holding a tray of food and painkillers. She had managed to convince Goro to let her serve Miho her lunch, the butler hesitated at first but after seeing how genuine she looked, decided to let her. Sumire balanced the tray with one hand and use the other to knock on the door. “Miho? Can I come in? I got your lunch…”

It was a few minutes before the door opened to reveal the CEO, her hair was frizzy and out of it’s usual bun, she was dressed in casual wear and her face looked messy from angrily wiping away tears and makeup. Sumire bit the inside of her cheek, a pang of heartache going through her as she looked at her aunt who only stared at her niece with a tired look before sighing and letting her in, it was completely dark inside save from the few strands of light that peaked through her curtains but Sumire managed to navigate it expertly and sat the tray on the dresser.

Turning around, she looked to see that Miho had gotten back to bed, facing away from her. Sumire bit her lip in thought before walking over to the massive bed and slowly sat down on a free spot that was close to her but far enough to provide some much needed space. “Miho…”

“Say it.”

“What?” Sumire blinked in confusion and Miho turned around and sat up to face her, a defeated and slightly angry look on her face. “Go ahead and say it, I know you’re dying to tell me you told me so, I bet your so fucking happy right now, what, do you want me to tell you that you’re right?! That you’ve been right all along and that I deserved this for not listening to you—“

“Miho stop!” Sumire cut her off, placing her hands on her shoulders, a frown on her face and her eyes expressing genuine sadness. “Look…I’m not happy about this, despite what you think, I’m not happy that bastard hurt you like this when he knew that you went through this before and honestly, I was so ready to go hunt him down and string him by his balls when Aiko stopped me…Miho, I’m sorry this happened to you, despite what I said and did at the wedding, I really wanted you to be happy.”

Miho sniffled as she reached up to wipe her tears, releasing a shuddering breath, she gestured for Sumire if she could get a hug with the Anarchist hesitating for a moment before slowly wrapping her arms around her aunt, a weird feeling in her chest but pushed it down when she heard Miho start to softly cry.

“I’m sorry…” She whispered, Miho only responding with more sobs and holding her tighter. The aunt and niece duo stayed like that for what felt like hours before Miho finally pulled away with one last sniff and wiped her eyes again. Sumire fiddled with the silk sheets under her and almost shyly asked, “Are you okay?”

“No.” Miho said bluntly making Sumire wince but Miho patted her head. “But I do feel a little lighter now, thank you.”

Sumire slowly nodded and turned her attention to the tray of food sitting on the dresser. “I think your food’s gone cold.”

“Let it, I’m not hungry anyways.” Miho laid back down and closed her eyes, Sumire only sat in the dark and silent as she watched her aunt drift off to sleep once more before carefully standing up and walking over to the dresser, opening the drawers to find something and sure enough, managed to snag her aunt’s wedding ring before closing the drawers and sneaking out of the room as to not disturb her.

Now back in the corridor, there was nothing stopping Sumire as she began to hum cheerfully, a wide grin spreading across her face as she almost danced her way down the stairs and towards the basement to her lab where the rest of her “siblings” were chilling and waiting for her.

“Family!” She called as she jumped the last step onto the floor, giggling gleefully. “Operation Break The Hegemony was a success!” She threw her arms up in celebration yet only receiving silence as Malphas, Aiko, and Seizou only looked at each other than back at their creator. Sumire huffed and scowled before dramatically clearing her throat and repeating herself, “I said…Operation Break The Hegemony was a SUCCESS!”

“Okay? So you ruined your aunt’s second marriage, do you want a fucking medal?” Malphas raised an eyebrow, clearly not giving a shit about the whole thing despite his part of the plan. Aiko only shifted from side to side uncomfortably as Seizou was much too busy on organizing his Yu-Gi-Oh cards to listen, Sumire rolled her eyes and sighed. “Y’know what, fine, whatever, thank you Mal-Mal for your assistance, you were a big help.”

Malphas shrugged and went back to scrolling on his phone. “You say that like you wouldn’t find some other way to break those two apart…but you’re welcome.”

“True but this way won’t involve me straight up murdering the guy.” Sumire walked over to one of her lab tables, setting Miho’s ring on the surface before looking back. “Which one of you has the other ring?”

Malphas sighed before getting up and walking over to his creator, pulling out Tomi’s ring and handing it to her. “Right, I’ve been informed to tell you that your friend got the money and that it was a pleasure doing business with you.”

“Lovely but I think it’s best if she laid low for the next couple of weeks, something tells me that shit is about to get messy.” Sumire chuckled as she went to grab a cylinder container from her weapons vault, walking back to the lab table, she opened the container to reveal acid nearly bubbling at the surface. With a smile on her face and humming a tune once more, Sumire grabbed a pair of tweezers and one by one, dipped the two rings in the small vat of acid, the pieces of jewelry hissing as they were dissolved and eaten alive by the acid. Sumire discarded the tweezers and closed up the container of acid, placing it back into the vault.

“And what’s done is done, finally, we’re fucking free of that bitch ass loser, haha!” Sumire squealed out a laugh before falling on the couch next to Malphas who only gave a lazy “yay” in response, Seizou only hummed and Aiko frowned, Sumire noticing immediately and looked at her little sister in concern. “What’s wrong, Ai?”

“I’m glad the operation was a success big sister but…I feel bad for Miss Miho…I looked at the footage of her in her room when the livestream was happening…she was in so much pain…” Aiko sorrowfully admitted, shyly fiddling with her gloves. Sumire and Malphas shared a soft look before Sumire sighed and moved to kneel down to her little sister.

“I get it, Aiko, I meant what I said to Miho, I really didn’t enjoy hurting her with what I did…but this was necessary, she won’t ever know what happened but she’ll be thankful that she never stayed in that marriage one day.” Sumire brought her into a hug, carefully rubbing her back, Aiko hugged back and rested her head on her shoulder. “I guess…but now Miss Miho is going to have to start over again, I’m afraid she’ll probably give up on finding love after this.”

Sumire only stayed silent for a minute before speaking up. “Seizou. What are the chances of Miho dating again?”

Seizou perked up at the sound of his name being called, automatically responding. “Seizou calculates that there is a 15% chance of Miho Kobayashi finding a significant other after today’s events, Seizou also calculates that the chance will decrease over approximately the next few months.”

Sumire sighed and Aiko winced, Seizou only continued to speak, ignoring his sisters’ reactions. “However, Seizou has seen support and public opinion of Miho Kobayashi grow exponentially since yesterday and has only continue to increase, Seizou hypothesizes that Miho Kobayashi will receive many suitors in the upcoming months.”

Sumire smiled and Aiko perked up. “See Aiko? There’s still hope for Miho, we just gotta give her time to heal, I’m sure she’ll bounce back from this in no time and when she does, we can work on finding her a proper, much better partner. How does that sound?”

Aiko beamed brightly, eyes shining in excitement at the thought of playing matchmaker. “Amazing, big sister!”

*Gives you the divorce papers* Happy Birthday Tomi!

Also shave your fucking eyebrows

@aoyama-division

[shaperaverse-brainrot]

@steampunk-raven thank you so much, I'm going to do Han first and then maybe Sarah in a reblog at some point.

First Impression

Gotta admit I kinda panicked at first when Helen introduced her with "dark oriental magic she brings to us from the east" but literally the next line it turned out Paul Shapera was critiquing the trope rather than making her play right into it so...

Impression now

Where do I even begin. I love her. She's awesome. I wish I could draw or write her more but I really struggle making her look/sound as awesome as she does in my head. She might not be my absolute all time favourite Shaperaverse character but she's at least top six. Maybe top five.

Favourite moment

I really like the storytelling in Han Mi's storytime theatre. It's probably just her actor's voice (Psyche I think? My mind is blank right now) but the narration style in it is amazing. Oh and Han saying Mary "wouldn't send someone on a dangerous journey she wouldn't do herself" THE SIDE EYE IN THE VOICE I'M SORRY

My favourite oddly specific moment has to be when Han Mi shaking with tears and having just gone through one of the most awful moments of her life is begging Henry to get it up

Idea for a story

Well I asked for these characters to be sent just to procrastinate on writing a fic with Han in so...

Apart from that I would be really interested in exploring her flowering in comparison to Lloyd's. Maybe Lloyd can find her after a nightmare or she could admit that she's really been struggling dealing with everything and Lloyd draws comparisons between her and him hiding away after Matt's death.

Unpopular Opinion

I don't think I really have one? I think the closest I would have is that I wish we got more of her and Raven growing closer, especially given how important she is to Raven's while redemption arch thing. Like we have little snippets from twitter tales, Raven in Lost Fairy, and of course the postie cabaret, and it may just be me wishing for more happy postie content but yeah. And I wish we got Raven's reaction to finding out he not only had a daughter, but that daughter got to grow up, and start a family of her own

Favourite relationship

I have already ranted about her and Raven in the Raven ask I got, so I'll choose to speak about Han and Henry in this one. They're the only surviving members of the cabaret, and the fact that if Han could go on an adventure anywhere with anyone she'd go on a pirate adventure with Henry???? (If I recall correctly). I love them so much. And it is of my opinion that a big reason she couldn't skip Henry's wedding was because she was his best man (best woman?)

Favourite headcanon

She looks almost nothing like Raven or Isabela. Sure, maybe there's something in her smile, or in a curious expression she wears that looks so much like David getting used to the August Sky Playhouse, or when you see her from a certain angle and she holds herself in a similar way Isabela did, but you wouldn't know they were related unless you were told.

Even so, Raven likes to joke that she truly is their grandkid. She may not look like them, but she has a similar sense of humour to Raven, she can hold her own and plan shenanigans in a similar way Isabela did. She likes to give shiny gifts to people and experiment with her appearance and expression like her great-grandpa does.

And Raven is prouder of her than anything else. He doesn't know if Isabela would be, but he tells Han she would have been, anyway.

[nothwell]

Scene 6 of Solar Fantasy – Aubrey & Lindsey Retold is up on my Patre♡n! Please enjoy this sneak peek and join me for more.

~

“Who was that beautiful man at the party?”

Graves gave him a blank look. “You’ll have to be a little more specific. I rather stacked the deck in that regard.”

Upon reflection, Lindsey supposed all the guests had looked quite fashionable. But to his mind, there was only one truly beautiful man. “Dark hair, compelling eyes.”

“Beardsley?” Graves guessed. “Long face, slender hands, tall, artistic type?”

“What? No,” said Lindsey. “Shorter than myself—”

“Most people are,” Graves said in the tone of one who’d often lamented it.

“Shorter than you,” Lindsey added.

“That’s something, at least,” Graves sighed. “Why didn’t you ask him his name at the time? Not shy, surely.”

“No,” Lindsey said. “Its just I didn’t think of it. We stopped talking after a certain point.”

At first it seemed this allusion might pass Graves by. Then, with a spark of understanding which turned to wonder, he stared at Lindsey. “Do you perhaps mean your mouths were otherwise occupied?”

“Yes,” said Lindsey with heat rising in his cheeks. He didn’t see why Graves had to make such a point of it. Graves himself was no stranger to, well, encounters with strangers.

“How occupied?” Graves demanded with a wolfish grin.

“Enough so that I failed to catch his name,” Lindsey said firmly, hoping to dissuade any further delving for details.

Graves appeared disappointed, but glossed over it with reasonable grace. “And you wish to see him again.”

“Very much so.”

“Can you recall any more details?”

Lindsey could recall a great many, but he didn’t think they were of a sort Graves would recognize. Or maybe they were. Perhaps Graves had dallied with the beautiful man before. Lindsey felt a pang, more sympathetic than jealous. He’d heard how Graves spoke of his more casual conquests, and didn’t like the idea of him speaking of the beautiful man in the same tones. “Heart-shaped face. Cupid’s bow lips. Sharp features—cheekbones in particular. And his eyes…” Here Lindsey faltered, not for lack of memory, but overcome by it. “Large and dark, with such a gaze as would bring anyone to his knees.”

Graves’s own eyes widened. “Would it, now?”

Too late, Lindsey realized the implications of his description. “You know what I mean.”

~

Did you want more Aubrey and Lindsey – but in a whole new world?

Joining me on Patre♡n will give you access to “drawer fic” – aka the 500k+ words worth of manuscripts that have been shelved until I figure out how to fix or finish them.

A new scene will go up every week. Missing (unwritten) scenes will be indicated by brackets describing what would probably happen if the scene were written. Example: [in this scene Aubrey and Lindsey ride a carousel]

Currently posting… ♡ the Aubrey & Lindsey solar fantasy project (mm) (90k)

Future posts will include… ♡ Shakespeare’s Henriad with elves and dragons (mm) ♡ what if a Welsh vampire dated an English baronet and a Portuguese whaler together and also it was Victorian times (mmm) ♡ Gilded Age murder mystery in small-town Massachusetts (mm) ♡ Hold Fast 2: Hold Faster (mm)

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[aestheticallygory]

The monotonous ticking of a clock ricocheted off the walls of Shuichi's room. The boy brought in a shaking breath with each stern blink of the hands, his mind blank as he focused on the action.

The soft banging on his bedroom door broke Shuichi's silent reprieve. he bit his lip at the sound of his uncle's voice on the other side.

"Shuichi?" The man said slowly his low rumbly voice pushing the boy's head into his knees.

"Hey bud, I know today was...... rough, a-and I know you probably want to be left alone right now, but I just wanted to let you know that what happened wasn't your fault OK?"

The ticking clock bellowed out in the silence. Shuichi didn't answer.

"......right ok, I love you 'kay buddy? Just...... don't blame yourself for this" With that final statement the man walked away from the door his footsteps off time with the clock.

Shuichi waited until he heard the faint noise of a door shutting before allowing the tears to fall from his eyes.

Truly he was horrible disgusting person, to make his uncle worry and care for him. To allow himself to believe for even a second that maybe his parents had been wrong about their genetic waste of space. To believe that he was anything but a failure who was too selfish, to useless, to naive.

It was such a show of infallibility that Shuichi wondered how he had deluded himself into believing the lie for so long.

digging uneven nails into his arm, he rocked back and forth swallowing back cries that would be far too loud in this empty space.

Shuichi didn't deserve to be heard.

Didn't deserve to be comforted.

Didn't deserve to be loved.

The stupid useless Ultimate detective deserved to die alone in his room hung by a cord.

but of course, the moron wouldn't do that. A coward he was, Shuichi would simply allow himself to waste away instead. To sit in his misery and filth as the world slowly floated away with his conciseness.

it was an end so predictable that Shuichi already felt bored by the concept

.

.

.

Months passed in cold dark isolation

the sound of his uncle's voice outside his door appeared less and less and Shuichi both abhorred and loved it.

Jīn deserved better than him

the bright stark light of his computer screen became his new normal the sound a comforting backdrop to his muddled misery

Something that stood out to Shuichi though was Japan's newly named guardian, Median.

He was short in stature with eye's so bright that they nearly got Shuichi to stand.

Then two others joined him.

A tall girl with an uncannily comforting presence and a burly boy whose glare could cut through diamond.

Shuichi found himself marveling at the group of hero's and with an energy that he had thought to be long dead. He filtered through every video featuring the group.

He found himself in awe of the fact that they could help people like that. That they could fight against the lost one's who brought even the best of ultimate's down to their knees.

He wished with all his heart that he could be like them. That he could help people and bring hope without the selfishness of his previous tries.

But Shuichi knew that would never happen. He wasn't special, he wasn't Ultimate, he was a worthless coward who sat in his room and leeched off of a man who deserved better than him.

Shuichi should just stop dreaming.

It was easier that way.

.

.

.

A tired man sat in the loveseat of his living room staring at his nephew's door in despair

what could he do?

what could he do?!

he looked down at his phone starring at the picture of the Ultimate Pianist's Hall. She was hosting a show this weekend and had lowered the prices of tickets wanting everyone to attend.

.

.

..

Jīn knew what to do

Maybe it wouldn't help everything, but even one day outside.

One moment of reprieve

One chance to just talk, might make all the difference.

He ordered a ticket to the ultimate Pianists showing unknowing of what he had just set in motion.

[luxsombra]

The meteor shower scene retold for Rainei? Shinden? whatever ship name we decided on for them. Read below the cut or on AO3

“I’ve seen one. The thing was it was in the middle of the battlefield, where everyone else had been eliminated. Except for the one man at my side. Right, Undertaker?” Green eyes looked at Shin from across the room.

“Well that isn’t as romantic as one might have hoped,” Anju said with a sigh.

Over the para-RAID, the Handler laughs.

“And to top it all off, our juggernauts ran outta gas so until Fido came back from whereever he ran off to, we were stuck in the middle of all that carnage with nothing to do but wait.”

“Who’s Fido?”

“Our dog.”

“You have a dog?”

“Well, he’s a very unusual dog. He doesn’t go ‘woof’ so much as he goes ‘beep.’” Daiya added with a shrug.

“Nights on the battlefield are terrifyingly dark. And they seem to go on forever. Then, all of a sudden, the pale silent lights ignite the sky, appearing one after another, and then falling to earth. That is when I made the biggest mistake of my life. Said something weird that shouldn’t have slipped out.”

Shinei looked over at Raiden, somewhat in disbelief that he was really about to tell this particular story. He remembered that night vividly. He knew what came next.

“What did you say, show off?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Well, if Raiden wasn’t going to tell them, Shin could at least take the chance to embarrass the other.

“If this is the last thing I—“

“If this is the last thing I see, then maybe that’s not so bad,” Shinei says, staring right at Raiden. What he doesn’t share is that Raiden wasn’t looking at the stars when he said that. He was looking at Shinei, lips red and swollen.

———

Finally. Silence. Or as close to it as they could get amidst the dwindling flames eating at the last blades of grass around them. After the hours of voices and screams, both in his ears and in his head, Shin would gladly take the crackling of dying flames.

“Your juggernaut’s wrecked.”

He turned, eyes falling on Raiden who stood a few yards away, leaning against his own mech. Which also wasn’t in great shape, to be completely fair.

“Yeah. Fido should be gathering parts from the others.”

He notated the location of each fallen comrade during the battle. Guided them to a safe and peaceful death before returning to the fight. Once he could safely transmit data, he sent the coordinates to Fido to recover as much as he could.

Of course, Shin had failed to consider that the two of them could have used a resupply first.

“What happened back there? You turned off your pararaid. If it weren’t for the Handler’s bitching about it, I would have thought you died.”

Shin gave him a blank look. They both knew Shin was cursed with being unable to die. That’s what made him the Reaper.

“Too many black sheep,” he replied, leaving it at that. Raiden nodded with a soft sigh.

“I wish I could take it from you for a few hours. Share the burden.”

Shin gave a soft chuckle. It was sweet. Touching, even. But he wouldn’t wish this curse on anyone. “You’d change your mind about that pretty quickly. It’s fine. I’m-“

“Used to it. I know. But that doesn’t mean it’s right. I hate seeing you suffer.”

“You’re sounding soft, Raiden. Did you hit your head? Come sit.” Shin wasn’t known for teasing or playful banter, but with Raiden, he was always a little more relaxed. A little more playful.

“Ah, shut it. You worried me, is all.” But still, the green eyed male walked over and sat beside Shin, both leaning back against the juggernaut with the headless skeleton painted on its side.

“You can disconnect from everyone else. But don’t disconnect from me. I need to know you’re okay.”

Shin turned to look at the other male, trying to read what Raiden wasn’t saying and failing. Normally, he could read the other without a problem, but perhaps he was too drained from having to guide so many friends to their graves that day.

“I’ll always make it back at the end of the day.”

Raiden clicked his tongue and clenched his fists in aggravation. “Dammit, Shin. You say that but there’s no guarantee. You’re just as susceptible out there as the rest of us, Especially with the way you wreck your mech!” Raiden turned to face him fully, eyes blazing with a flame that had always drawn Shin in like he was nothing more than a moth. “Just listen to me for once, would ya?”

Shin chuckled and knocked his shoulder against Raiden’s. “Alright. Sorry. Forgive me?”

Raiden scoffed and turned away, turning his eyes to the sky instead. “Yeah. Whatever.”

They were silent after that. Shin actually found himself drifting off, eyes heavy with the weight he’d carried that day. He didn’t usually sleep very well, especially not somewhere so open and dangerous. But there was a certain level of comfort that always came with being beside Raiden. His mind knew that even if all hell broke lose, the other would protect him long enough for Shin to get his own bearings.

“Hey. Shin. Look.” Raiden jostled his shoulder, causing Shin’s head to bounce. He hadn’t realized he’d slumped against the other. Blinking slowly, Shin opened his eyes and looked to Raiden, who was pointing to the sky. Following his direction, Shin looked to the sky in time to see dozens of stars shooting across the deep blue sea before burning out of view.

He’d never seen a meteor shower before. He’d heard of them of course. But the stars were never a thing of interest for him. They were just something that happened. The same as trees or rocks in his path.

But this. This made it abundantly clear why people spoke so highly of the stars.

His vision was eclipsed by dark hair and bright green eyes. Before he could react, warm lips were pressed to his. Shin froze from the initial shock, but took only a moment to melt into it and return the kiss. They may have stayed like that for hours, or maybe just a few seconds. Shin wasn’t sure. For once, he’d stopped thinking, stopped analyzing, stopped waiting.

Shin never allowed himself to get too attached and develop feelings for others. Not only was it due to the very real threat that everyone he knew would be gone tomorrow, but he also simply held no interest in romantic relationships. He didn’t feel that pull everyone else spoke about. He couldn’t say he exactly felt it now, either. But what he did feel was…

Nice. This was nice. If he thought about it, anyone else trying the same move on him wouldn’t have had the same result. Somewhere in Shin’s mind, he knew he’d accepted the kiss and returned it because it was Raiden.

“If this is the last thing I see, then maybe that’s not so bad.”

Shin’s cheeks burned red, a feeling he was not quite accustomed too, and he turned away from Raiden’s intense gaze.

And honestly? He held the same opinion.

——

Everyone at the barracks laughed, pulling Shinei from his thoughts. A small smile remained on his lips, a near foreign expression most days.

“It sounded good at the time!” Raiden said to everyone before pointing at Shinei, eyes burning with that familiar flame again. “Give me a break, man. I see you laughing, don’t try to hide it.”

And at that, everyone turned for the rare opportunity to see Shinei laugh.

[bronze-bell]

Even as Frederick watched over Victor and Aesop from a distance, he couldn't help but smile, knowing they were comfortable, knowing they were warm and safe and that they had somewhere they could go if they needed to.

Both of the others were quite visibly asleep, and the sky was growing dark, anyway. Maybe it would be best to have them over for the night. Maybe they'll stay until morning, maybe they won't, but he was happy they chose him to lean on anyway.

Untying long, white hair and letting it fall, he stared into the bathroom mirror as he contemplated just what he'd learned, what he'd entrusted to Victor and Aesop, what he hoped the two wouldn't have to learn. Before he finally retired to bed, he placed his hands ever so gently on the heads of the two men who were currently asleep within his room, another peace offering, another wish for them to be happy, for him to be enough for them.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In another room entirely, meanwhile, a man is standing in front of a blank canvas balanced on an easel, hand and brush frozen. Frustration mounts as he examines the paints on his palette, glaring as he mixes selections despite not being sure if any are going to work, until a breaking point strikes, and he slides the palette knife along the canvas, marbled, partially mixed oils creating a ground for whatever may come next.

...Oh god, that actually sort of looks good. Oh, he can use this.

Painting tools clatter to the ground beneath him as he remembers something he told himself he was going to do. After all, this paint needs a long time to dry. Pen in hand, hurried script, breaths heaving and eyes much too wide, he set to work.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(The paper appears to be notably expensive, a deep crimson border ornamenting the words, as does the envelope. The wax seal is red, bearing only the initials "E.V." on its stamp. As for the writing on the letter, the handwriting is frantic, shaky, stressed.)

Good day.

I could not tell you when I'm writing this letter, with the hours blurring together, only that it's by lanternlight. I could not tell you why I'm sending it to you of all people. Only that I believe you will not tell others of what's inside. Do not prove me wrong.

I was told by the composer—Frederick, I believe—that it didn't matter who I played to. That they didn't care for me anyway and I should paint for myself. I don't know what that means anymore. How should I know what "I" want? I know people don't want me. I know they won't listen, or bother with anything that isn't packaged as the right misconception of art. But if I don't pander, I can't survive. Even if I know what art and its meaning should be, why can't I create something that lives up to that? How haven't I been able to since... god, I don't know when? If I don't have to get things right, then what does any of my work mean?

I started a new painting today. I froze in front of the canvas for so long, I tried something undeniably stupid. And it worked. I can see all too many things in just what I've put on the canvas, I can see all sorts of ways I can show things that live outside of a single moment in time, things that feel like they move and glow and flicker and burn. The world is too large to show everything, but I can select my subjects and what I focus on within them to make a point. Beauty, pain, fear, time moving forward, meaning lives around us.

The paintings have gotten louder since then. I used to be able to hide from their screeching and hissing in my room. What happened?

I don't care if you respond. It's probably better if you don't even read this, frankly. After all, these are my words you're reading. If you chose to do so anyway, I will tell you one thing. If anyone asks, I'm fine.

Edgar Valden

They stayed in that sanctuary until morning, Victor waking up to warmth and safety and love for the first time since he was a child. Unfortunately for Victor and his loneliness, not doing his job for a few days was starting to get to him, and so he eventually decided it'd be best to leave and continue his duties somewhere.

If there were a few tears shed upon leaving, and if he held Aesop's hand until he heard the sounds of people and knew he had to let go, well... Nobody had to know that.

As part of Victor's work routine, he'll check his room for letters in case any had been posted directly to him. There usually weren't, as there was no reason to send him much, but with the last few days in mind it was less of a hopeful dream and more of a very real possibility.

Rounding the corner, bell around his neck ringing out to signal he was here and prepped for delivery, he is startled by a door swinging open behind him as he walked, causing him to stumble back in a flustered panic as it nearly knocks him over with the force.

There's a letter thrown hastily in his direction before the door swings shut again, almost like whoever's inside is in a rush, or a frenzy of some kind. Victor sighs, inspecting the letter to make sure nothing is majorly damaged.

If the wax seal or paint stained corners weren't enough, the plaque on the door that nearly toppled him over like a bowling pin was unmistakeable proof of the sender. He really did worry about that painter sometimes, even if he rarely got close...

He turns the letter over to find where it's supposed to go, but is met with a blank side. That's fine, he's more than used to this conundrum. Slipping into his room and locking the door behind him to ensure safety, he works on prying the wax seal off with a practiced ease to reveal the contents.

It comes as quite the surprise when it's addressed directly to him.

-----

The letter that is poked gingerly through the mailbox has watercolor at the edges, pretty red creating a border on both the envelope and the paper inside. The ink, too, is red, along with the wax seal bearing an envelope. Clearly Victor was going for a theme.

The handwriting is crisp and neat, just like the tone of the letter itself, in stark contrast to what it's replying to.

[Dear Mr. Valden,

Good day to you too! As of writing and sending, it is about 10 am. I am sorry for not being available earlier, I was pulled away from my duties temporarily.] Honestly, he hoped he would be pulled away tonight as well. Maybe he should wait by the mailbox in the middle of the manor and see if either Frederick or Aesop show up... That's for after this conversation, though.

[I promise I will not tell anyone of what I have read. I have locked your letter away as well, in case anyone else should try to read it somehow. It is safe with me.

I wish I could help you, although all I can be is a listening ear, as I have not experienced anything like that myself.] A complete lie, but he doesn't want to tell Edgar that. He shouldn't get close to someone like Edgar, because Edgar doesn't seem like the type to get close to people. It'll just end in him being thrown away, surely.

[I'm sure saying I cared for you would be hollow and worthless, since we've barely interacted and you do not enjoy my presence, but I will say here that I do, at least, worry about you, especially after reading the things in your letter. Please try to take care of yourself if you can, okay?

I do not know the first thing about art, as you've definitely gathered, but from what I can tell of your words you seem to be... Happier? If that is truly the case, and I am not mistaken, I am glad you seem to be enjoying it.] Victor shudders as he deciphers the words scratched through. It's not at all safe to say he's read them, so he decides to pretend he hasn't, and just end the letter here.

[Have a good time with your painting! I am glad you are fine.

Regards,

Postman.]

Frederick is behind this? Surely something must have happened between them, but for lack of a better word, Edgar takes things... pessimistically. He should ask Frederick in some capacity, although keeping the key information out as to not break the promise.

Victor can only hope his oblivious act will bring more answers than questions.

[rawiswhore]

Tommy Rogers x Fem Reader- "Baby Come Back"

Is it weird that I post fanfics about professional wrestlers a lot of people have never heard of?

______________________________________________________________

The World Wrestling Federation's Attitude era was mostly about creating and building new young stars, unlike WCW which mostly had wrestlers that had been famous for a very long time (i.e. Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Macho Man Randy Savage, Rowdy Roddy Piper, etc.).

Granted, some Attitude era wrestlers do have their roots in the WWF's New Generation era (i.e. Kane as Isaac Yankem, Triple H as Hunter Hearst Helmsley, X Pac as the 1-2-3 Kid, Stone Cold Steve Austin as the Ringmaster), but at least these wrestlers were young.

However, there were a few wrestling veterans from the past that did make occasional guest appearances during the Attitude era, like Sgt. Slaughter, the Rock n Roll Express and Terry Funk.

One professional wrestler veteran from the past you wish would have a few matches again during the Attitude era was Tommy Rogers from the 80's wrestling tagteam the Fantastics.

Tommy doesn't have to frequently appear in the WWF now, but he can appear occasionally as a jobber.

Why?

For certain reasons that you'll say to him.

During the late 1990's, Tommy was actually a part of the ECW roster and had some matches.

But, you weren't allowed to cross over into other wrestling companies while being signed to the WWF.

When you had some free time in 1998, you pulled your laptop out and opened it up, where after your laptop turned on, you scrolled the cursor of your mouse to your email, where you typed a new email to Tommy.

Tommy was in the World Wrestling Federation for a brief while in the summer of 1997, and you had his email account.

After you typed the name of his email address as well as yours, not to mention typed the title of the subject of your email, you began to type away on the blank paper, filling up that blank paper with words.

What did you say in your email to him?

This was your email:

Dear Tommy,

Yes, this is me, y/n. The same y/n you had sex with from time to time. The same y/n that's been causing a lot of controversy in the WWF right now.

I know you were only in the WWF for 2 episodes in 1997, but I miss you quite a bit.

Do you miss me? Did you leave the WWF to get away from me?

And I know that the WWF is mostly about creating new stars now and not relying on old wrestling veterans from the past like WCW is, but I wish you could come back to the WWF, even if you were just a jobber.

I'd actually even be okay if you were a jobber, as long as you're in the WWF again.

The Rock N Roll Express were in the WWF at the beginning of this year, Barry Windham has made a few guest appearances in the WWF this year, even Terry Funk has appeared in the WWF this year.

I want you back in the WWF so if you were an opponent, I'd flirt with you and seduce you as a valet, not to mention distract you with my flirtatiousness and sex appeal.

That's not all---backstage, when the cameras aren't rolling, I wouldn't mind having sex with you again.

You still are kinda handsome now.

I'd love to do some sexual moments with you in the WWF backstage, during dark matches not broadcast on TV and maybe even when the cameras broadcast on television and in pay-per-views.

I don't like male wrestlers that are ugly and hideous and I have to flirt with them to distract them, ugh.

Since Jim Cornette is so obsessed with old pro wrestling from his heyday, maybe you can come back to the WWF.

I'll talk with Jim and ask him if you can come back to the WWF for a few appearances as a jobber.

Either that, or I'll join ECW.

I'd LOVE to be a part of the ECW roster sooooooooo much for so many reasons, and yes, one of the reasons is because I want to do sexual things on television and in pay-per-views (not to mention when the cameras aren't rolling) to some of the sexiest male wrestlers in that company!

I'm surprised you aren't in WCW considering that company is filled with a bunch of older wrestlers from the past--Hulk Hogan, Macho Man, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Ric Flair, Mr. Perfect/Curt Hennig, Ted DeBiase, etc.

Keep in touch and send an email back to me!

Love, y/n xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

After you've typed and proofread your email, you scrolled the cursor of your laptop to the "send" button and pressed send on the touchpad of your laptop, where now your email was sent away.

This was in the late 1990's, when as Britney Spears said, everyone was doing emails.

There was a popular romantic comedy in 1998 titled "You've Got Mail", which was a popular voice on people's computer if someone had a new email.

Backstage, you've talked with Jim Cornette privately if he can bring Tommy Rogers to the Fantastics back to the World Wrestling Federation, since Jim loves old wrestling so much and has tried bringing old wrestling legends back to the WWF.

Despite that Jim doesn't particularly like you due to your sexual promiscuity, he did like that you wanted Tommy to be back in the company for a while, even as a jobber.

Jim worked with Tommy sometimes during the 1980's, and I even think Jim managed the Fantastics tagteam duo in the 80's.

You did eventually get an email back from Tommy, even Jim Cornette emailed and called Tommy to get back in the WWF again thanks to you.

Tommy did tell you that he misses you much, and he wouldn't even mind working for the WWF again.

Tommy would not blend in the WWF in the late 1990's, which not only was creating new young stars, but was more edgier than professional wrestling of yore.

But it's okay if Tommy even just occasionally appears as a jobber.

ECW has often been stereotyped as nothing but hardcore wrestling filled with blood and violent matches, but ECW had all different kinds of wrestling matches as well as different types of wrestlers---from luchador wrestlers like Rey Mysterio to hardcore wrestlers to technical wrestlers like Chris Benoit to wrestling veterans.

You're not quite sure why Tommy would work for ECW, though.

He's probably better off in WCW since that company is filled with so many wrestling veterans.

Since Jim Cornette loves old wrestling so much, he was better off working for WCW in the 1990's since that company was filled with so many older wrestling veterans.

Your dream of joining ECW did come true at the end of the year 2000, however, by the time you joined ECW, Tommy was no longer in ECW anymore.

Tommy Rogers actually did join WCW for a while in early 2000, but you weren't in WCW then.

There was a short lived wrestling company in the year 2000 that Tommy appeared in called WXO, and that was a wrestling company that was family friendly and kid friendly wrestling as opposed to the raunchy WWF Attitude era and ECW, even WCW was becoming a little bit more vulgar in 2000 (and maybe, 1999).

Ted DeBiase (yes, the Million Dollar Man) was the CEO of WXO.

WXO was also a wrestling company that had wrestlers that were never really big stars, like Bart Gunn, Repo Man and Barry Horowitz.

But, you didn't appear in WXO, even though you wish you did, even if it was kid friendly wrestling.

When the new millennium and 21st Century entered, Tommy no longer wrestled.

But he'd be outdated by the 2000's and 21st Century and not even really a draw by then.

[tiny-crecher]

*realizes there’s going to be an Unus Annus April Fools video*

[lemonjoonah]

The Garden Thief (M)

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader Word Count: 9.3K Genre: Hybrid AU, romance/drama/comedy, enemies to lovers Warnings: Unprotected sex, oral sex (fem. rec.), they get down and dirty outside but no one else is there to see them, cum play? (just a little), there’s also a bit of mud (sorry, but also not sorry, they’re outside what do you want from me?!?!), referenced hybrid neglect and oppression (hybrids are wrongfully deemed as pets by law and the majority of society).  

Summary: Your beloved vegetable patch has once again been victimized by a hungry thief in the night. The prime suspect? Jeon Jungkook, your neighbour's rabbit hybrid. But when you finally confront him, he pleads innocent, and proposes a plan to clear his name.

A/N: I wrote this fic’s premise and opening scene for the ‘A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Game’ that I played oh so long ago and now I’ve finally finished the tale!

...

“Oh for fuck’s sake, not again!” You swear upon seeing the leafy green remains of several carrots lying in your garden, inches from where they used to be buried. This maddening mystery of the vanishing vegetables has been playing out all summer. You’ve set out deterrents for every possible garden pest, rolling out chicken wire and spraying natural remedies to repel anything from bugs to small rodents. Yet you still wake to find that your garden has been robbed in the night. The only possible suspect you haven’t been able to protect against resides just next door, in fact—

You squint up at the boarded fence, spotting a pair of long dark ears peeking out over the posts. “Jungkook, is that you?”

The ears immediately disappear, ducking down behind the barrier. The sound of his hurried footsteps trailing away are followed only by the slamming of a door.

You rush into and through your own house carrying the wilted carrot greens. Exiting out the front, and over to the house next to yours, where you repeatedly press the bell.

The entry whips open on the fourth ring to reveal Jungkook. His face is flushed, beads of sweat racing down his brow, and a shirt that one would normally use to cover their chest, is instead thrown over his shoulder. “Something wrong neighbour?” He asks with a carrot stick in hand. Bringing it to his mouth, he taunts you with a bite and crooked grin.

“Is-is your caretaker home?” You stutter trying your best to swallow your nerves. Concentrating hard on his face, you plead with your eyes not to wander down. That’s exactly what he wants, a reason to put you off your mission, to make you so flustered that you have to walk away. He’s always trying to use his allure against you, and you hate how often he succeeds doing just that...  

“No, he’s at work.”

“When will he be back?”

“Not sure, maybe a week, or two? He’s on a business trip.”

Your gaze falters in it’s determination for a brief second as a drop of sweat descends from his neck to his chest. Holding your breath you watch it’s path, tracing the valleys between his muscles. When Jungkook finally wipes it away your brain catches up and scolds you for your weakness. “And he left you here, alone?”  You ask, while trying to recollect your dignity, reminding yourself of how much grief he has put you through.

“Of course.” Jungkook’s smile grows. “I’m not just some common pet. I know how to behave myself.”

The statement makes your brow twitch, enraging you enough to overcome his tactics. “I know you haven’t been here long, but you should know, people typically don’t like it when someone steals from their yard.” You lecture him, waving the carrot tops in front of his face. “So stop treating my garden like your own personal snack bar!”

“Now why would I take from you? I have plenty of food here, even got another delivery this morning.”  The hybrid kicks at a box next him filled with a vibrant collection of fresh produce and grains.

“I don’t know why. I just know it was you.”

“Prove it.” He prods, while taking the last bite of the vegetable from his hand.

The loud crunching gnaws on your composure, stripping you of any patience you may have had for the hybrid. “This all started when you moved in, and I’ve ruled everything else out!” You shout, but as good as it might feel to finally vent your anger, you feel as though you’re somehow playing into his hand.

“That doesn’t seem like very good evidence. It’s circumstantial at best. If you want to find out who the real culprit is you should have a stake out.”

“A stake out?”

“Yeah, you know, watch over the garden for the night, catch the criminal in the act. I could even help if you’d like.”

You scoff at the ridiculous notion. “You really think I should invite you over to guard my crops?”

“I do, so I’ll come over tonight? Say around seven?” You open your mouth to object, but the rabbit hybrid jumps from one statement to the next casually inviting himself into your own home. “Perfect. See you then.”

“I didn’t-no wait, that was sar-” The door closes between you before you can finish. Leaving you baffled and alone on the doorstep. You ready to knock but stop just before your knuckles hit the wood. Trying again right now is a lost cause, it’ll just play into his game. So why waste your breath when you know it’ll just end the same way? Tonight then, as he suggested, that’s when you’ll be ready to hit him with some hard evidence that he won’t be able to refute.

Admitting defeat for now, you retreat back to your garden to pick the surviving vegetables and contemplate the encounter. You wish your could have just spoken to Jungkook’s caretaker—fuck what was his name again? You’ve only seen the man a couple times since they took the house, but at least he doesn't give you a nervous knot in your stomach, or leave you confused and speechless like his hybrid does.

It’s been three months since they moved in. You were excited at first, to have new neighbours in your almost vacant cul-de-sac. Buyers don’t seem to be interested in the old houses with large lots in your area. Too much work to maintain, and not enough good job prospects to go around. So when you saw the sold sign go up you were beyond thrilled. Greeting the new residents with a fruit basket and a smile.

The rabbit hybrid you now know as Jungkook appeared rather shy at first, you did your best to welcome him. Always greeting him when he was outside, trying to engage him in small chat, but the first time you caught him during his workout everything changed. Until that point you had not considered him as anything but a prospective friend. You were stunned to see him in such a confident state, throwing around his weights like they were nothing. In that moment, with you too nervous to admit that you found him attractive, you became the anxious and blubbering fool in his presence, and he, unfortunately, took note. The once quiet and cute rabbit, became a flirtatious and bratty bunny.

And since then, whenever you would work in your garden he’d be on the other side of the fence grunting and panting. Staying close to the gap in the divider, a missing panel you had yet to replace. On days like today you would often look up from your radishes and accidentally lock eyes with the hybrid, drenched in sweat and showing off his skills.

Out of respect and self preservation you tried your best to not to pay attention, to keep your nose buried in your garden, but as the weeks went by the vegetables under your care started to disappear. The ample crops you tended to in the evening, lessened by morning, with only the refuse remaining to indicate it’s former presence. You didn’t want to point fingers immediately, but today was the final straw, and tonight no matter how hard he tries to distract you, you will find him guilty.

After harvesting the choice crops for the day and watering the rest. You dust yourself off, settling inside and in front of your computer; opening the visitors page for your place of work, the city's greenhouse conservatory. To help promote the centre in the community the staff all take turns writing articles revolving around their own projects or home gardens, and you’re up next in the rotation. You stare at the blank document for several minutes trying your best to concentrate on the task, but you are unable to think of anything other than the mischievous hybrid next door.

Embracing the topic of your aggravation, you start the post off with a title sure to catch the eye of any reader, ‘Garden Thieves.’

‘We’ve all been there, finding a tomato just about to reach its peak ripeness. We give it another day to grow into perfection, only to find it missing later on. In your absence something else has taken it into its own clutches. I myself have been dealing with a vegetable thief for several weeks, so if you are struggling like I am, here are a few things that might help. ’

You proceed to outline several garden pests uploading photos of their damage, along with quick remedies to deter their presence. Netting to block the sparrows, raised beds and fences to keep out most rodents or mammals, and a caffeine solution to stave off slugs.

‘I hope this may help you all in your efforts to keep your plants safe, but I must add a disclaimer. Unfortunately nothing here is completely foolproof. Even if you do follow all of these steps you still might lose some of your crops to a crafty critter. But I wish you the best of luck on all of your backyard battles. I myself plan to face off with my own long-eared menace tonight.’

You finish your post with a smile. Sending it off to your coworker Namjoon to get his approval before you make it public.

He calls a few minutes later, his laughter carrying through the speaker. “That was easily the best article you’ve written all year. You should definitely post it.”

“Thanks.” You chuckle, hitting the submit button. At the very least feeling a bit relieved to have one less task weighing on your mind. “I really appreciate it.”

“No problem. I take it you’re still having trouble with that hybrid neighbour of yours?”

“Yeah,” you groan. You’ve complained to Namjoon about the issue several times in the past month. It must have been all too easy for him to read between the lines and see what set you off to create this specific entry.  “But he refuses to admit it was him. It’s like he’s trying to make me question my skills as a gardener and I hate it! I went over to talk to his caretaker but he’s away on business for a couple weeks.”

“He left him alone for that long? What about food?”

“He’s been getting deliveries. By the looks of it, he has a healthier diet than I do.”

Namjoon pauses on the line giving you only a simple, “Huh...” in a long break.

“What?”

“Well it’s just-” A loud buzzing sound erupts through the phone line cutting off his answer. A noise you know to indicate someone is at the back door. “That’s weird. I didn’t think we were supposed to get anything delivered today. No one else is here.... did you have anything scheduled to come in?”

“No.” You double check the calendar sitting on your desk. “I shouldn’t have anything until next Monday.”  

Namjoon puts you on hold while he checks on the reason for the interruption, returning only a minute later. “It’s a delivery all right, but are you sure these aren’t yours? I’m seeing a lot of tropical species on the invoice. Combretum rotundifolium, Heliconia angusta, Myrciaria dubia-”

You mouth a swear as Namjoon carries on with his list. It’s obvious they are indeed the specimens of your expected batch. You're in the process of redesigning one of the tropical habitats. The lead director was adamant that the conservatory host a butterfly exhibition in the next coming year, and in order to support the grandiose endeavour you are required to introduce a vast amount of new flowering species over the next few months. “How many in total?”

“About two dozen. Looking pretty rough from the journey too.”

You’re not surprised by their current state. This summer is already one of the hottest and driest on record, and all the stock you had received this season was excessively wilted and near death because of it. “Do we have any holding houses with humidifiers available?”

“Not at the moment,” There’s a clatter in the background as Namjoon sorts through what must be the slack of clipboards. “But I’ve got the inspection chart here and your last delivery did just finish it’s quarantine. No signs of pests or illness, so they’re clear to plant. That should free up some space for you.”

“That’ll have to do. Thanks for checking.” Standing up from your desk with a sorrowful sigh. You mourn the loss or your afternoon off as you start to dress for a day of hard labour. Throwing on your work-issued overalls over your t-shirt and shorts. Unfortunately you can’t just leave the new stock to sit out under the beating sun. With little humidity outside and no protection they’ll be burnt to a crisp if you delay too long. But the worst part is that your planting staff isn’t scheduled until later in the week, and that volume of work will put you well into the middle of the night before you complete it. “I’ll be in soon to deal with it.”

“That’s a lot of planting to do on your own. I can help if you-”

“I can’t take you away from your trees, isn’t there a bonsai exhibition next week you have to prepare them for?” He’s been agonizing over this showcase for so long you couldn’t possibly inconvenience him now with your own troubles. “It’s fine, really. I’ll call to see if anyone else is willing to come in today.” You hang up letting Namjoon return to his tasks, and work your way down the contacts for the gardening staff as you prepare yourself to leave. Though as expected, all of those who answer have prior commitments and won’t be able to assist.

Grabbing your badge and plans for the updates to the garden you slip back out into the noon-day sun, so strong it’s turned your car into an oven on wheels. You’re just about to pull it into reverse when you spot the blinds shift in your neighbour’s window. Prompting you to recall the plans he had made for tonight.

With all the work you have, it’s doubtful you’ll be back home for seven. You return to Jungkook’s door to give him the news. He has it open before you can even knock, his usual smirk crawling across his face as he greets you.  

“About tonight... something has come up at work and I really don’t know how late I’ll be.”

His ears perk up. “You’re going into the conservatory?”

“Yeah,” you respond, somewhat shocked that he remembered where you work. It’s been a couple months since you mentioned it while introducing yourself to him and his caretaker. “An order came in earlier than expected. I’ll likely be planting all day and night.”

“I can help,” he offers, already stepping out to join you, and locking the door behind him.

“You want to help?”

“Of course, isn’t that the neighbourly thing to do?”

“Yes, but I wouldn’t want it or expect it from someone who terrorizes my own garden.”

“Allegedly,” Jungkook corrects. “And wouldn’t you rather have me with you, under your supervision, than here, all alone with only a measly fence between me and your impressive bell pepper harvest?”

“Stay away from my peppers!” You scold, pointing your finger at him. “Even if I wanted to take you, what about your caretaker? Don’t you need his permission to leave and work?”

“He’s never paid attention to my whereabouts before, and it’s not work if you don’t pay me. I’ll just be a volunteer. You have people volunteer all the time right?”

“Yes but-”  

“I’ll be on my best behaviour.”

“Alright, fine.” You finally agree though with a heavy dose of reluctance. Namjoon often brings his own hybrid in so it shouldn’t be a problem. “But if I see you nibble on even a single leaf, you’re coming straight back here.”

“Deal.” He rushes past you straight to your passenger seat and buckles himself in. Practically bouncing with excitement beside you as you pull out and head towards the conservatory.

The minutes pass and you try your best to focus on the road but you’ve never been so close to Jungkook in such a small space. And with his built frame taking up most of the car, he’s hard for you to ignore. His ears folded against the roof and his shoulders so wide they brush repeatedly against yours.

“Ever been to the conservatory before?” You ask, trying to divert your mind from the battle which builds inside you. A wavering war between frustration and attraction, with the former trying it’s best to pin down the latter, a move which only arouses the latter more...

“No, I’ve wanted to go ever since you mentioned it but my caretaker hasn’t had the time.”

“Oh.” A sense of pity joins the ranks of your emotions, nudging at you as you pull into the lot. “Sorry, I didn’t-”

“Why are you sorry?” Jungkook asks in a low whisper, snapping back to his flirtatious behaviours. His mouth turns up at the corner as he leans into you, so close that his drooping ears graze the top of your head.  “Would you have taken me earlier if I had mentioned it?”

“N-no,” you choke out. Placing your hand on his solid chest, you push him back and away. As tempting as his advance might be to accept, you know his forwardness to be nothing more than an act to make a fool of you. Why else would he try to both seduce you, and steal from right under your nose?  “You’re only here today because I am in desperate need of help, and I can’t trust you to be alone.”

...

You lead him through the unoccupied greenhouses. The conservation is closed to the public today (as it is every Monday and Tuesday); which usually allows for some time off, but at least now it’ll give you a chance to work unimpeded by visitors. Your own curated section is located in the most humid of all the houses, set in such a way to mimic the tropical environment you are attempting to represent.

The first stop is the holding house where the carts of new stock wait just outside.  Grabbing an empty trolly you enter and start to load up those that are ready to plant. Jungkook following your actions does the same, easily lifting the heavy planters that you yourself struggle with. “Thanks,” you whisper as he relieves you of a particularly burdensome tree. To which he smiles in return.

After making the switch, by placing the recent delivery in the house for it’s quarantine, you lead him to the supply closet. Where you collect a couple shovels, trowels, and two pairs of gloves. As you continue to scan for anything else you might require, Jungkook pops in behind looking at the shelves with a sense of curiosity. He reaches up and over you to a spray bottle labeled ‘slug repellent.’

“We won’t need that, it’s for the outdoor gardens,” You explain. “It’s just a mixture of ca-”

“Caffeine and water?”

You snap your gaze to him. “How do you know that?”

He bites his lip as a snicker starts to escape. “Just a bit of morning reading. I found an interesting article with that particular tidbit. One which also happened to reference the exploits of a long-eared menace.”

“Y-you read the conservatory blog? You read my post? No one reads that, there can’t have been more than ten views!”

“Which is such a shame.” He goads you. “I’ve found your work to be both informative and comical. You really have me rooting for you in your quest to catch your thief.”

You groan in utter fury. “Why must you be so-so-”

“Handsome? Funny? Caring?”

“Antagonizing!”

“Because you seem to take more notice when I am.” Jungkook answers, with a turn of his heel, his tail poking out from under his shirt as he starts to walk away with the cart. “And I like seeing that perplexed look of yours. Your nose is cute when you scrunch it up like that.”

You remain in the shed, your traitorous heart beating erratically over the fact that he called a part of you cute. While your more sensible side grabs your nose and smooths out the wrinkles he referenced.

“Should we get to work?” He calls out after you. “The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go home and expose that bandit of yours.”

You roll your eyes and follow him out, before taking the lead to your tropical glasshouse. The air sticks to your skin the moment you enter. Jungkook lets out a long exhale behind you tugging on the collar of his shirt. “Is it always like this in here?”

“It’s a bit warmer today, but not by much. Are you already regretting your decision to help?” You tease him.

“Nope,” he answers, slinging a shovel over his shoulder. “Show me where to dig, and I’ll get to it.”

Pulling out your plans for the new exhibit arrangement, you select a couple species placing them on the empty plots of garden as directed, careful to allow for future growth. Jungkook follows behind digging out their new homes faster than at least three of your staff members combined.

You stare at him for a second, unable to believe the pace at which he’s going. “Something wrong?” He asks, pausing to lock eyes with you.

“No, I just didn’t think you’d be so quick at digging.”

“I’m part rabbit, what did you expect?” Jungkook boasts with a chuckle and a raised brow. “I share their strengths. Especially when it comes to burrowing and fu-”      

His words are cut short when a fresh breeze from the outside washes over the both of you, a  sure sign that someone must have entered the greenhouse. Your neighbour goes rigid, his nose lifts into the air and his ears fall back flat against his head. “Jungkook what’s-” Leaping up he closes the gap and grabs you. Tucking you into him with his chin resting on your head, where a  warm and earthy scent envelopes you.  His breaths are quick and deep, causing his chest to rapidly rise and fall against your back.

Namjoon’s voice calls out to you. “... are you in here?”

“Over here!” You yell out in reply, before turning back to the hybrid who still has you locked in his clutches. “What the hell Jungkook? Let me go! Now’s not the time for your games.” Sure it might feel nice to be wrapped in his arms, to get lost amidst his aroma. At any other time you might even consider taking a moment before chastising his boldness. But here? Now? And with Namjoon coming to greet you? No, this is too much.

You try to push him away like you have before, but this time it’s as if he’s set in stone, and not registering you at all. He focuses only on the direction your coworker's voice hailed from. “That scent, he smells like-”

“There you are.” Namjoon interrupts stepping around a flowering bush and into view, looking surprised by your guest. “Oh, hello there.”

The point of Jungkook's chin rubs against your head as he grips you even tighter. Embarrassed and confused by the hybrids embrace. “Jungkook, this is Namjoon.” You introduce your coworker while delivering an elbow to Jungkook’s gut. He finally snaps out of his trace and lets you go though he continues to hover behind. “He works with the bonsai of the conservatory.”

“You must be the neighbour I’ve heard so much about, it’s nice to finally meet you.” Namjoon extends his hand to the hybrid, but Jungkook ignores the gesture, choosing to glare instead, with his nostrils flared and his ears pinned back.

“Jungkook?” You whisper trying to chase him from his mood.

Namjoon gives him a nervous smile. “You probably smell my hybrid, on me don’t you?”

“A hybrid?” Jungkook confirms, his eyes narrowed at Namjoon.

“Yeah, sorry, I didn’t intend to scare you. I’m sure the scent of a predator, especially a tiger, is a bit of a shock. He’s harmless, I promise.”

“Is Taehyung here?” You ask, hoping to see his affectionate part-feline companion.  

“Nah, he’s with a friend today. I needed to get some work done and he’d be more of a distraction than a help... but it would seem that didn’t stop him from scenting my shirt before I left.” Namjoon explains, and then turns to your neighbour again. “Jungkook would you mind if I borrow her for a second? I need help with one of my tropical species.”

Jungkook gives a solemn nod. For the first time since you’ve known him, he looks frightened, and somewhat hesitant to release you over to your coworker.

Worried by his current disposition, you reassure him with a squeeze on his arm. “Just keep digging where I’ve placed those pots and I’ll be right back.”

Namjoon leads you into the adjacent greenhouse where you can continue to keep watch of Jungkook through the pains of glass. But the instant the doors close between you, Namjoon starts bombarding you with questions. “Why didn’t you tell me? How long has it been going on? ”

You take a step back having been caught off guard. “Tell you what?”

“About you and Jungkook! Is the feuding neighbours just a cover story?” Namjoon’s eyes are wide and hopeful as he carries on, not letting you fit a single word in. “Don’t worry, I won’t inform anyone you're together. I know it’s not easy having a human-hybrid relationship out in the open. But I think you should be careful about going out into public because he’s far too obvious about it.”

“We’re not- we’re not a couple. Why would you think such a thing?”

“Because the way held you, he looked like he was marking you with his own scent. That’s what rabbits do isn’t it? They rub their chins on what they want to claim as their own.”

“They do what?” You ask, stunned by the possibility, before the realism settles back in. It must just be Jungkook’s idea of a joke. “No, that’s not what he’s doing, our connection is nothing remotely like that. Don’t get me wrong he’s very attractive, and he knows it.” You mutter the last part under your breath. “But-”

“But you really are having trouble with him. It's not a cover?”

“You think I would keep something like that from you?” Namjoon over the years has come to be your closest confidant. A good friend and coworker, you would never dream of hiding something like that from him.

“I suppose not.”

“Is that why you brought me back here, to question my relationship status?”

“Not entirely.” Namjoon shakes his head with a small dimpled smile and changes the subject. “I do actually want to get your help with one of my new acquisitions.” He points out an unusual tree on his work bench, much too big for the pot it’s currently situated in. It’s extensive roots spill out over the top and threaten to swallow the pot whole. “A Ficus microcarpa, far from the most sought after species when it comes to reputable bonsai, but I couldn’t pass this one up. It has such good character.”

“What made it grow in such a way?” You examine the plant and it’s container with care, prying between the roots and taking note of cracks starting to form in the terracotta.

“The last owner neglected it for far too long. It sat hidden in the back of a commercial greenhouse, still under the watering and fertilizing system, but since it was confined to such a small space it tried to root it’s way out. If I were to guess, it probably hasn’t seen a new pot for at least five years.”

“It’s a miracle it survived.” You nod impressed by the tree’s determination. “What’s your plan for it?”

“Give it what it wants, let it leach out. I doubt I would be able to pry it out entirely without causing significant damage to the roots that are gripping the sides, so instead I want to put another bellow to catch it and give it the fresh soil and room it needs.” Namjoon lays the tree and pot down on the table, and asks you to hold and support the trunk, while he taps and pokes at the bottom of the vessel with a metal trowel.  Enlarging the cracks, but not breaking the pot fully. It’s a tedious process. The small chunks of clay are removed piece by piece, giving him access to see and free some of the tightly bound roots inside.

While your coworker continues his task, your eyes are free to wonder. You check on Jungkook through the glass, as he kneels in front of the garden bed digging even faster than before.

Namjoon appears to notice your distracted state. “How's he doing?”

“Fine I guess.” You whisper. “He’s acting stranger than usual today though. He stole from my garden again. Invited himself over to my house, then here, and you saw what he did back there.”

“Huh...” Namjoon mutters, trailing off the same way he did on the phone.

“What is this ‘huh’ you keep giving me? You know I don’t like games Namjoon. If you have something you want to say, say it.”

“It’s about what you said earlier, how his caretaker leaves for extended periods of time. Usually if an animal is alone for too long they look for ways to stimulate themselves and resort to their natural instincts, scavenging and such. But he’s a hybrid and therefore part human, so if you were isolated and restricted to your house what would you do?”

“Probably look for the closest person I could find. So he’s acting out in my garden and teasing me, because he’s lonely?”

“I think so.” Namjoon responds as he extracts another root, freeing it from its confines.

“But why?” You ask, worried for the answer to come. “Why wouldn’t he just say something?”

“There could be a number of reasons. He might not understand what he’s doing on a conscious level, or he might be afraid to show any sign of weakness to you or anyone else. Jungkook is part prey animal, and humans are all too often predators.”

“If that’s the case...” You curse yourself for not realizing it sooner. The fury you held for him slowly fades away as you replay every encounter in your mind. He was literally jumping at the chance to spend time with you, to help you with your work, and you were to blind to see it. Your anger over your missing vegetables is so trivial in comparison to what he must have been going through. The loneliness he must have felt, and the inability to admit it, you can’t imagine how he suffered through it alone. “What can I do to help him? I have no legal claim to him Namjoon. What can I do within such limitations?”

He looks down at his work in progress. “The way I see it  you and he, like this small tree, have three options. You could maintain the status quo, leave him be, but how long will he be able to survive like he is? Creeping over the edge but grasping on to nothingness?”

You shake your head vehemently rejecting the idea while Namjoon continues.

“You could report his caretaker for neglect, breaking the container entirely, but that too could be very damaging to him, tearing him away entirely could put him in a state of shock, and in a home that is no better for him, while the legal battle is decided. Or...” Namjoon grabs another container, slightly wider than the one in which the plant is seated. Filling it with substrate he takes the tree clinging to it’s partial pot and places it on top. Pressing the newly freed roots down into the soil.

“You could support him, give him a better home just outside of his own where he can be himself and access what he needs. I personally think it’s your safest option for now.” Namjoon leads over inspecting the bonsai and lowers his voice to an almost inaudible whisper. “Until the day, when it is possible to fully cast the pot aside.”

You nod, though now left to grapple with what you could possibly have to offer the hybrid.  “I’m not sure I would be the best person to care for him.”

“I think Jungkook would disagree. He was already trying to scent you. That to me, implies his desire for something more in the realm of an intimate relationship.” You choke on your breath as Namjoon comes to an additional conclusion. Upon seeing your distress he makes a suggestion. “Of course you could keep it strictly to friendship between the two of you and I’m sure that will improve his situation, but his other needs will need to be met for him to feel completely at home...”

“His other needs? You think he wants to be with me? Intimately?! No! Surely he would have acted differently if that was his intent! He’s done nothing but tease me when he catches me even remotely looking in his direction.”

“So you have been looking at him!” Namjoon taunts you with a massive grin. Apologizing a second later when you proceed to glare at him. “But to answer your question, no, not necessarily. You have to remember most of society deems him a lesser being. He could be feeling a lot of guilt and pressure not to engage with you in that way. Though he might not outright say it, I bet his instincts will continue to shine through. I’ll even prove it to you.” Namjoon takes off a glove and rubs your head. “I bet this rabbit of yours will take less than a minute before he tries to replace the smell of my hand with his own again... trust me.”

You shake your head in disbelief. “I should probably get back to him.” You are just about to step away when your thoughts return to the long neglected plant. “Where do you plan to house that when you’re finished? Ficuses naturally belong in a more tropical location don’t they?”

“They do, especially if I want to give it a better chance. It’s going to need a place far more humid than this space.”

“Was this all your calculated way of guilting me to store it in my greenhouse too?”

“The thought might have crossed my mind.” Namjoon gives you a sly grin.  “But my logic is still sound in regards to Jungkook. He needs someone, he needs a better home... and it would seem he’s chosen you.”

...

You wander back to your greenhouse, still full of doubt. Finding Jungkook to have finished most of the required digging.

“Sorry for leaving you.”

“You-you okay?” He asks, upon seeing the dazed look on your face and then scowling in the direction that Namjoon led you.

“Fine, he just needed help with one of his plants. Sorry about earlier, I didn’t think you’d be affected by the scent of his hybrid, Taehyung is rather sweet though, you’d like him.”

“You trust him then?” Jungkook grumbles as he pierces his shovel into the ground. “You trust Namjoon and his hybrid?”

“Of course, why shouldn’t I?”

“Because it wasn’t just a tiger that I smelled. He’s been around a lot of hybrids. Every scent on him told me to run, all of them put there by dangerous predators.”

“Oh,” you shoot back in surprise. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Taehyung is rather popular, he has a lot of friends and Namjoon often caters them at his place. You don’t need to worry, you're safe here.”

“It’s not myself I’m worried about.”

Jungkook inches closer as you crouch to place the plants in the holes he dug. His nose twitches as he takes a deep breath, his eyes watching while you bury the root ball in the warm soil, firmly securing the trunk of the young tree.

While you are leaning down, Jungkook reaches across to the other side of you. Grabbing the trowel to your right despite the fact that the same tool can be found on his left. The bottom of his chin grazes the top of your head and lingers for a spell. Your heart stops in that moment while questioning his motives. Though Namjoon said he’d do just this, you still can’t be entirely sure that it proves him correct; Jungkook might just not have seen the other option available to him, and he’s never bothered about invading your space. This could be nothing, though there’s a small growing part of you that wants it more and more to be something.

“He’s a good guy,” you promise, returning to the conversation so as to not dwell on his actions. “He even suggested that I should bring you along more often, if you’re interested in spending some of your days here.”

“He did?”

You nod.  A small white lie, but not entirely incorrect, and if it gets him to accept Namjoon easier you’ll all be better for it. “I wouldn’t expect you to work, but you're more than welcome to just hang around. The staff here could always use some company and I’m sure it would beat staying at home alone all day.”

“I would like that. I would like that a lot, but would you want me to keep you company too?”

“If that’s what you want to do.”

“No, I need to know if that’s what you want.” He looks over to you pinning you down in his line of sight.  

“I suppose I would....” You answer and turn your head, unable to bear the nerves that his gaze brings. The both of you fall quiet. Knowing what you know now, being free of your anger for him leaves you vulnerable, open to his persuasion, and now you are no longer certain of how to act. So you start to rely on what has made him comfortable in the past, and interject with a new condition to bring an end to the awkward silence. “As long as you treat this garden better than mine back home.”

Jungkook lets out a long laugh. “I have nothing but the highest respect for your garden.”

...

When planting is finished your clothes are entirely saturated in sweat and your muscles aching from use. It’s hard to believe how much you’ve both done in such a short amount of time. While carting up the supplies, Jungkook’s eyes catch on something behind you. You look around spotting the newly potted bonsai on a back table. Namjoon must have dropped it off while you both were busy.

Looking at it now you can’t help but notice how even the shape of its leaves remind you of the hybrid’s ears, long, pointed, and reaching up to the sky. You consider your friend's words one more time and while Jungkook leans over to inspect the tree. Reaching out to his back, your hand shakes with hesitation before setting down on a spot just below his shoulder. He softens under your touch, a low hum leaving his lips. His attention turns from the plant to you. With your hand still in place, your arm is now wrapped around him, leaving only an inch between the two of you. You stand there fixed and unmoving, but content in the knowledge, that you seem to have left him speechless this time. His eyes darting away from yours, to your lips, your neck, and finally the hand you place upon his chest.  

Only to have the moment broken when you can hear and feel the rumble from his stomach. His nervous laugh follows as he reaches up to scratch behind his ear.

“Hungry?”

He nods in response, his eyes wide as he remains unusually silent.

“Come on, I’ll buy you dinner.” You offer as you turn him around to head to the car.

...

You both settle on a take out spot, and return home to wash up and eat.

After finishing your meal and tearing off your overalls, you both settle down on the hammock in your yard. With Jungkook’s legs long enough to touch the ground, he slowly rocks the seat back and forth.  He’s been near silent since that close moment together. He’s never had a problem with banter and flirtation, but now you’ve come to notice that any attention which can’t be passed off as a joke causes him to flounder.

Laying back in the hammock, both full and content, your eyes threaten to close after the long day as Jungkook continues to sit beside you. The sound of crickets lulling you to sleep. “Keep an eye out for that thief of mine will you?” You may not like games but if it makes him comfortable, and keeps him talking, you’ll continue to play this ruse with him.

“You trust me to keep watch without your supervision?”

“Are you suggesting I shouldn’t?”

“No, it’s just a lot more credit than you usually give me.”

“I think you’ve earned it.” You whisper as you finally drift off.

It feels like only a few minutes of rest before the sun sets and the air turns cool. Jungkook’s chin comes to rest on the top of your head like it did back in the greenhouse. He shifts his weight, burrowing his arms around and behind to cover you as he takes deep breaths. You lean into him seeking the warmth of his chest. No longer restricted by your childish anger to enjoy his company is a welcome relief, you only wish you could relinquish him of any of his own troubles and doubts.  And then, you feel it, a drop of cold rain hitting your neck. The hammock moves again as he adjusts, the back of his fingers running across the damp spot. Another finds your cheek and he wipes that away too, your skin shivering in response.

But when a speck lands your mouth he stops. You wait, a second, then two. Your anticipation grows with face heating up and your chest tightening as you continue to crave his touch. You want him to wipe it away, to touch you, to act on whatever desires he might be keeping. You part your lips with the desperate hope that he will take the hint. Rejoicing when the warm pad of his thumb spreads the drop across the delicate skin.

He comes down on to you, his mouth catching any and all remains of the droplet as he encases your lips. Jungkook places a hand on your neck while the other grabs the ropes of the hammock, his legs straddle your hips. The scattered rain turns to a downpour as he remains fixed to your mouth, even his form isn’t enough to shield you from the current washing down from the sky.

As your hands reach up to his own damp and curling locks entwining your fingers in the strands he moans and nips. But as quickly as it started, so too does it end. When Jungkook snaps up as though jolted from a dream. His ears point back as an apology flows from him. “I-I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Jungkook,” you call out to him but he ignores you as he tries to detangle himself. When one foot hits the ground. You grab his waist and try again. “Jungkook, you don’t have to be sorry.” But instead of stopping he merely pulls you off and along with him, sending you both to the muddy ground, but this time with you on top of him.

“Are you okay?” He asks the loud pouring of the rain forcing him to raise the volume of his voice.

You chuckle at his concern considering he’s the one flat on his back. “I think I should be asking you that question instead.” You pause as he mirrors your grin. “Why did you stop? Did I do something wrong?”

“No.” He looks up at you, his brow furrowing. “You did nothing wrong. It was me. I was the one acting on my instincts. I shouldn’t have done that when I know how much you hate me.”

“I don’t hate you...” You explain, trying your best not to be drowned out by the water cascading down. “The things you did might have annoyed me, but I get it now. I’m just sorry it took me so long to notice.”

“Notice what?”

“How fucked up your situation is. For not realizing how alone you must have been. How caged you must have felt. I’ve been so focused on my own little world that I didn’t realize what was happening or why you were acting the way you were. I like you, a lot, but I was too wrapped up in my frustration to say how I felt...”

“It’s not your fault.”

You shake your head. “I am not innocent in this. I should have been paying more attention.”

“Then pay attention to me now.” He begs with his round eyes shining up at you.  

“But in what way? As a neighbour, as a friend, or maybe something more?" Your voice cracks in desperation, trying to find his needs while also hoping they are the same as yours. “Is that why you were always teasing me the way you did? You wanted something more?”

“You really want to know?” Jungkook’s tone is low as it grips on to his every word. “I did it because it was the only thing that could distract me from my incessant need for you. Seeing your reactions and having your attention kept me in check. I’m very different from you and I’m aware it could cause a problem. I wasn’t sure if you could ever fully want me because of that.” He reaches to rub around the base of his ears. “But every day that I looked over I wanted to hold you, to claim you, to take you right here on this very spot. So often I dreamed of jumping the fence and coming for you instead of...”

You smile down at him, noting his near admission. “Instead of?”

“Instead of watching from a distance.” He smirks, catching and narrowly fixing his statement. Pleading guilty only to his longing for you.

“Then do it.” You demand of him.

He groans from his position beneath you. “Don’t tease me like that.”

“I’m not. You weren’t the only one peeking through the fence Jungkook.” Reaching up to your collar you tug off your shirt. He follows your lead with his own to reveal his sculpted chest he’s taunted you with so many times. “I don’t care if we’re different from each other. I don’t care if it causes a problem.” You shift back on his body traveling from your seat near his stomach down to his hips, his clothed dick firm and pressing against you. A moan escapes his lips, confirming that you’ve made your point. “There’s no one else nearby, so if you want me so much that you’re willing to fuck me out here, in the rain and mud-”  

His hands come to grip your waist, and in one swift motion, he lifts you off, maneuvering out from underneath, to fall into place behind you. From there he pushes you down to your hands and knees, his body bent over yours. “You have no idea how much I want to.” He whispers with a kiss to your bare shoulder damp from the rain that continues to pour.

He takes off your bra before his face moves down your back, nose trailing against your skin and pausing at your shorts. Unfastening the button he pulls them down, freeing you of your underwear too before they are both cast aside. “I want to smell you, and taste you.” Jungkook takes in a deep breath, wrapping an arm around your legs, and barring your thighs. He buries his face between your legs, his tongue reaching out to deliver a long lick to your folds pausing after every lap.

Your palms dig into the ground, the cool mud coming to the surface to meet them. You buck against his tongue but the forearm holding you remains firm, sending your squirming downward to bury your elbows in the soggy grass too.

Jungkook chuckles as you inadvertently give him a better angle. From behind you can hear the zipper of his own shorts. Rubbing the head of his cock against your damp folds, he covers it with the slick of your slit, and with a long groan he eases it inside. He’s slow at first, letting you savor the girth and warmth of him. So you start to edge back and forward on his cock. Taking the time to enjoy every inch, along with the sounds that leave him. But when he returns to take control, the first thrust is so powerful, his thighs hit your ass with a loud clap, and every jolt of his hips after, drives you further down each time.

A stuttering groan escapes him as he fills you. Thinking he’s finished you lean forwards and until his cock pulls out, but in response he grabs your waist. Turning you over, back to the ground on top of the discarded clothes and facing him.

He lowers himself pressing his chest against yours. His fingers reach to grab your chin and take a kiss. His cock, despite having come only moments before, is hard once more and poised to enter once again.

“How are you-” You manage to squeeze a few words in the gaps between his kisses as he draws breath. “Ready for more-” Another pass of his tongue. “Already?”

“You have my hybrid traits to thank for that.” He moves to nibble on the side of your throat. “I have more to give you, if you want it.”

You nod unable to emit any noise other than a gasp as his mouth finds a sensitive spot on your neck. His dick forges in again, your slick and his cum dripping out of you as he fills you with himself instead.

You’ve avoided touching him with your own hands as they are patched with mud, but as his thrusts grow more powerful than even before, you’re forced to grab on his arms and chest. Leaving behind streaks of dirt which display the path of your grip. Jungkook doesn’t seem to mind though, in fact looks rather encouraged by your touch, and the marks you leave him.

“What a dirty woman you are, and getting me all messy too.” He scoffs while admiring your handiwork. “Can I return the favour?”

“Help me come first and you can do whatever the fuck you want.” You gasp on the brink of your climax.  

His ears perk up and a grin streaks across his face. “Close are you?” He grabs your calf and wraps your leg around his back, the other follows suit and his hand comes to rest on your lower back pushing you up and into him effectively grinding your mount against him.

You gasp and flinch with the sudden pressure, but he holds you firm as your back arches to meet him.

His hips beat on at a rapid pace, a small whimper escapes him as you reach the peak, tipping you over the edge. The chilling rain can in no way can douse the searing heat that spreads through you. You're still gasping when his jaw clamps down hard, his teeth poised upon your skin. The first pulse of his cock comes inside, but on the second he pulls out to splatter your chest and stomach with the rest. His hand comes to clutch his shaft, spilling more out and on to you with each stroke.

After every remaining drop has been cast on you he smiles, dragging his fingers across the rain drenched mess of mud and cum on your skin. “Never thought I’d ever see you so thoroughly soiled.”

You giggle at his remarks through your deep breaths. “And now that you do, what do you think?”

“I think it suits you, the dirt, the rain, and me...” He lowers himself down onto you, with his head now resting upon your shoulder. “It’s too bad though. Now I just want more, but we’re both far too filthy to carry on like this.”  

You turn to whisper at the base of his ear. “Who says we can’t continue in the shower...”

...

You wake early the next morning with the sun spilling into the room, lighting up your bed, and the hybrid sleeping next to you. His ears and nose twitching as he continues to rest. Slipping out from the covers, and into a set of clean gardening clothes, you exit the room with as little sound as possible.

On the tile floor of your hall, muddy footprints trail from your backdoor to your bathroom.  A smile pulls at your lips as you recall the events which brought them there. Jungkook had been so excited to keep going he picked you up and rushed you inside.

The feeling from the warm water and hands in contrast to the cool rain was enough to bring back the waves of pleasure. He was so thorough in washing you down, you might have to ask him to join you for another this morning and repay the favour.  

Outside in the garden you find all your harvest from the day before present and untouched. You’re pleased by this new development, but it’s not the fact that your crops are intact which makes you happy, it’s the comfort in knowing that Jungkook didn’t feel the need to take them.

A few minutes later the hybrid in question comes up behind you wrapping his arms around your waist pulling with him a blanket he took from the bed to cover the both of you. “Morning.” He mumbles, as his nose finds the crook of your neck where he exhales with a deep and relaxed sigh.

“Morning.” You respond, enjoying the tickle of his breath before you turn around to better see him. “It seems the thief didn’t strike last night. ”

“I guess they found a new garden to plunder and devour?” Jungkook suggests, giving you a sly grin, before he opens his mouth again. It’s easy to see that he’s getting ready to confess, his face shifts to a stern expression as he looks down at the ground, the guilt weighing heavily upon his brow. Placing your index to his lips you stop him. No longer needing to hear those words of admission, you offer a new proposal instead.

“Maybe, but that was just one night. The thief might still come back. So if it’s alright with you I would like you to stay here. Until we can be sure they won’t return.”

Jungkook lets out a satisfied chuckle, pushing aside your finger and pulling you tighter into his warm embrace. “You’re right, I suppose it would be safer if I stayed.” His lips plant a kiss on the top of your head where he then rests his chin. “A temptation as enticing as this, shouldn’t be left alone and unattended.”

...

[sinner-as-saint]

I Am Your Fall.

Mob!Bucky x Ex-Spy!Reader

Run-through: You’re hiding from your past, in Madripoor. You did nothing wrong, other than mix dangerous business with a lot of pleasure. You couldn’t go home because... he would find you and Madripoor was the only place he didn’t do business, or had any allies or friends. But little did you know that the mob boss had finally found you after obsessively looking for you ever since you left, and left him in pieces. He didn’t want revenge, he just wanted the one thing he had hopelessly fallen in love with; who also happened to be the one who had betrayed him and hurt him more than anyone or any bullet ever did before - you. 

Themes: mob!bucky, smut, angst, fluff, Ex-Spy!Reader, slight daddy kink, guns

“The usual?” 

You nodded at the man in front of you with a faint smile as you took a seat at the bar. You kept the hood of your jacket up as you let out a quiet sigh. Moments later the bartender placed a glass half filled with whiskey and ice in front of you.

You whispered a ‘thank you’ and swirled the drink around in the glass before lifting it up to your lips and taking just the tiniest sip. You often came into this bar after work, just to feel normal again. You worked at a diner right around the corner; it was lowkey and shabby and didn’t attract many customers, neither did it pay well but you weren’t there for the money. 

Your last job, the one you had before ending up in Lowtown Madripoor, paid really well. So much so that you wouldn’t have to worry about money for a long, long time but you still had to blend in and pretend to be as normal as you could; hence the job at the diner. 

You thought of home as you took your second sip. You grew up in a nice family before joining the organization you worked for, as a spy. You let out a quiet little chuckle as you thought of how ever since you were a kid you wanted to grow up and catch bad guys. Which is exactly what you did as a spy. And you were great at your job, your organization couldn’t be prouder of your work. 

You took another sip. Everything was going great for you, until the day you were assigned to infiltrate the life of and take down the infamous mob boss, James Buchanan Barnes. The day you heard that you were being sent to him, you were excited because James was notorious for a lot of bad things. You couldn’t wait to step inside his evil lair and take him down. What you didn’t know was that you would end up finding love right where it wasn’t supposed to be. 

You felt a strange knot in your gut as you thought of him. Bucky… 

Oh you had loved him despite his mean, dark demeanor. He was a cold-hearted man to the rest of the world, but only you got to see the warmer side of him. And you fell in love, harder, faster and deeper than you ever thought you could. It got to a point where you had to choose between either betraying your organization or betraying the man who shouldn’t have fallen in love with. That’s when you ran away, far from home. Far from your work which you loved so much, and far from him. 

You couldn’t bring yourself to betray him, nor did you have the courage to tell your people that you failed in an important mission all because you fell in love with the enemy. You knew what happened to people who betrayed Bucky, you had seen it. And you also knew what happened to spies and agents who betrayed the organization you worked for. Both of those situations weren’t ones you wished to find yourself in, so in order to save yourself, you ran. 

And now here you were. 

As you took another sip of your drink, you felt the hair at the back of your neck stand up out of nowhere as a shiver ran down your spine. You were being watched. During your training you were taught to absolutely trust your gut, and if you ever got the feeling that you were being watched it meant that there was a high chance that you actually were. 

Shit. 

You set your glass down and placed the money down beside it before slowly sliding off the stool and casually walking out of the bar. You made sure your hood was still up, and you tucked your hands in your pockets. Your fingertips gently felt the hand gun you always kept with you, just in case, secured at your waist under your jacket. 

You looked around, and so far no one was following you. The streets were busy given that it was a Friday night and you were sure that you could make it home safe because no one would attack you or anything in a crowd like this. 

You lived in a modest, 2-bedroom apartment. And you always took the fire escape at the back to get into your apartment because you didn’t trust the rusty elevator at the front, nor did you ever want to run into a neighbor or anyone by taking the stairs inside the building. The fire escape was discreet and lowkey. 

You entered your living room shortly and sensed that something was off. The air was colder somehow, and you never left any windows open. Ever. You shut the door behind you, not locking it. You gently took out your gun and held it out in front of you, at the ready. You moved stealthily, quietly. You knew which spots on the wooden flooring made the most noise so you avoided those. 

Someone was in here, you could tell. The air… it smelt different the further you walked into your apartment. You didn’t switch on any lights, you checked the kitchen first. Clear. The living room. Clear. The spare room. Clear. And your heart raced as you went into your bedroom. The door which normally always remained closed, was wide open. 

You couldn’t even run. Whatever it was, whoever it was you were gonna have to face it. You stepped into your room and with whatever little light was coming through the windows, you tried to scan the room. 

“Lower your gun, babygirl. You don’t need it. I’m not gonna hurt you, and I know you don’t wanna hurt me.” 

The sound of his voice had you frozen in the spot where you stood, a few feet away from your bed. The voice came from behind you. You slowly turned around, not lowering your gun and keeping it aimed right at him. It took you a few seconds to process everything. 

You could make out his silhouette as he stood in front of one of your bedroom windows. Tall, built, his metal arm glistening. He was here. You let out a shaky breath. He was here, he found you. 

You didn’t move from the spot that you were standing on. There was a time when whenever you saw him you’d run into his arms, and despite wanting to do just that even now, you knew you couldn’t. That was back then, this was different, wasn’t it? 

He sighed before moving, walking to the other side of the room to light a table lamp. The soft, golden light illuminated the room just enough. Your heart burned as you took in his appearance; dark suit as always, shorter hair, his metal arm just as intimidating and mean as always and his pretty blue eyes - the same ones you loved, belonging to a man who eventually became the reason why you had to leave your old life behind. 

Bucky was still; calm and composed as always. He was the kind of man who had mastered the art of looking completely steady even when he wasn’t. He could have a storm inside of him, or raging flames of anger but on the outside it would never show. He was as devious and subtle as a predator, moving with the grace and elegance of a ferocious but calculated animal. 

“You seriously thought that moving across the globe and changing your hair color would keep me away from you?” He sounded like he was mocking you. “Took me about almost a year, but I found you.” He walked towards you, making you envy the way he could move so effortlessly. You couldn’t read him. His face was… blank. Void of any emotion. 

He spoke again once he stood right in front of you. “Now, you’re gonna tell me why you ran away.” 

You remained quiet. He could tell you were thinking. He could always tell, he knew you too well. You made a makeshift plan in your head. If you were to shoot him in his arm, just to injure him enough to make him lose his focus, you could grab the emergency bag you always kept under your bed and run. But you didn’t want to hurt him. 

Also, how far would you go? Knowing Bucky, if he had made it to Madripoor he probably had his men surrounding this apartment building right now; all armed and ready to fight. He probably even had people from here all the way to Hightown; which meant that even if you ran from here right now you wouldn’t be able to make it out of Madripoor. 

Like you said earlier, he had found you. There was no way to run anymore. 

“I know you’re thinking about running again.” He teased, shoving his hands in his pockets, letting you know that he had his guard down; which meant that he had thought this through. “Maybe you have an emergency bag somewhere, or you plan on shooting at me to distract me and make a run for it.” He chuckled. “Trust me, you wouldn’t make it out of this apartment, babygirl. And even if by some miracle you did, I will burn this island to the ground to find you again.” 

Despite his tone being all calm, and almost monotonous you could hear the bitterness and the evil promise in his words. He was probably angry, he felt betrayed for sure, he was also frustrated given that he mentioned having searched for you for a year, he was also probably hungry for answers. 

You still remembered that night you left. Your people at work had been pestering you to hand over information and sending you all sorts of threats if you didn’t, but you also could no longer lie and manipulate Bucky, because you loved him. So you left in the middle of the night, leaving your old life, your job, the man you loved, your family, everything behind. 

No notes, no messages, nothing. You and him had been together for a little over a year at that point. And you just snuck out of a one year relationship with no explanation. It was wrong you’d admit, and Bucky had every right to be hurt and angry. 

“Answer me. Why did you run? Why did you leave out of nowhere? And didn’t you go back to your people like the good little spy you are? Why Madripoor?” 

So he knew about your past. You could only imagine what he did to the organization you used to work for when he found them. 

“How did you find me?” You knew how much he hated it when people answered a question with another question. You were surprised when he answered instead of being even more pissed off. 

“It took a lot of people, a lot of bullets and a lot of patience to track you down.” He chuckled. “I must say, you’re good at whatever games you play. But I’m gonna need you to stop for a moment, and give me the answers I need.” He took a small step forward, reducing the distance between you and him. “Why?” 

Such a broad question, why. 

“I had to.” You gave him the most vague answer ever. 

He scoffed. “Okay, let me make this easier for you. Let’s start with, what’s your real name?” 

You almost rolled your eyes, but you couldn’t afford to let your guard down at the moment. Not when you couldn’t even figure out what he was here for. 

“You know my name.” 

Of course he did, he had moaned it so many times in bed. 

He gave you his signature smirk, the one who captured the hearts of many including yours. “I’m assuming that since you’re a spy everything which comes out of your pretty mouth is a lie. So what is your name?” 

You corrected him. “I used to be a spy. I don’t do that anymore. And I didn’t lie about my name. I didn’t lie about many things.” You looked him dead in the eyes when you said so. You wondered if he thought that you lied when you said you loved him. That was real. 

He scoffed. “I’d beg to differ.” 

“You plan on killing me?” You asked, thinking that now would be a good time to know whether or not you would be dying tonight. 

“No.” 

“Then why are you here, Bucky? Why did you look for me for a year, why are you halfway across the globe right now if you don’t plan on killing me for betraying you? What do you want?” 

“You.” 

You rolled your eyes, finally lowering your weapon. You still couldn’t read him. 

He spoke up again, “Why didn’t you lead your people to me? Why didn’t you finish your job?” 

“You might have actually done just that yourself. If you were able to find me, so could they. They probably have eyes on right now. By coming here you just-,”

He cut you off. “They don’t have eyes on you. No one does.” He answered confidently. 

“You don’t know that. You-,” 

He cut you off yet again, he smirked, “Oh I do know, babygirl. I know because I… dealt with each and every last one of them. The people you used to work for, the whole organization, it doesn’t exist anymore I made sure of that. You see, I’ve been quite busy this past year. Between dealing with your people, dealing with my own and playing hide and seek with you.” 

You froze again. Dealt with? “And how exactly did you deal with the organization?” 

“I watched it burn.” He answered, proudly. 

Oh. “You plan on doing the same with me? After your little Q and A, you’re gonna just… deal with me?” 

He fake gasped and placed his metal hand over his chest as though surprised. “I would never do that to you. You see, unlike you I didn’t lie when I said I loved you.” 

That caught you by surprise. You said nothing, pretending like that confession didn’t make your heart race. 

“I’m gonna ask one more time, why did you run?” His tone was cold. 

You scoffed. “I didn’t think you’d be understanding regarding the whole situation. If you ever found out who I was, let’s be real, you’d kill me right where I stood. And I could no longer go back to my people because they would force me to lead them to you.” 

He raised his eyebrows, then chuckled. “You protected me? What for?” 

I didn’t lie when I said I loved you either. “I didn’t want to manipulate or lie. I didn’t want to infiltrate lives and be dishonest. I didn’t want to have to live a double life any longer. I needed freedom, I needed a way out. So I came here.” You paused. “I’m not proud of what I did to you.” You added. 

You lowered your eyes once you finished talking. Bucky moved closer to you, he reached out and grabbed your chin with his metal hand, tilting your head back gently until you looked into his stormy, ocean blue eyes. You hated how you still couldn’t read him. Was he angry or no? 

“Are you lying right now?” He whispered, and smirked knowing it would piss you off. You pushed his hand away. He chuckled, leaning into your ear, his lips brushing against your skin as he spoke and it sent shivers down your spine, “Let’s play a game.” He pulled away and took a few steps back. “You love games, don’t you babygirl?” 

Your heart raced. Oh this can’t be good… 

He took some more steps back and then pulled out his gun; the shiny golden one he loved the most out of the arsenal he owned. He aimed it at you, smirking. “I’m gonna ask you some questions and as long as you answer truthfully, I won’t shoot.” 

You remained very still. You hated to admit it, but there was something so immorally powerful about him when he handled his guns. You remember back when you two were together, you could spend hours watching him clean his guns; his favorite toys he called them. Bucky always told you that he believed that weapons shouldn’t be intimidating, but the person handling them should. 

In his case, it was true. Just looking at him made your body throb for a moment. You tried not to let it show but judging by the smug look on his face you could tell that he knew exactly how you felt. 

You knew he would never shoot you.

Bucky Barnes was, afterall, a cunning man who knew how to toy with one’s head. He could have easily taken your gun away from you, could have tied you down on a chair and interrogated you until you gave in. But no, by doing this he was letting you think that you still had some control over this. He knew he had given you the chance, you could’ve easily shot him the moment you walked into the room. But you didn’t. You chose not to. And he knew that. 

You almost smirked when you put it all together. He wasn’t here for answers, because he already had them. He just wanted to hear it from you. He wanted you to verbally say it. He was here for this dark, twisted game of his. 

“Fine.” You agreed. 

He cocked his gun, the sound rang in your ears and it reminded you of the times you pretended not to know shit about guns and had him teach you how to aim. He had done so with a lot of patience and a lot of kisses. 

“How much did you tell your people about me?” He asked. 

You could tell he was easing into it. “I stopped feeding them information after the first six months. I told them it would be risky to keep meeting up with them in secrecy, and that I would soon come back with everything I can gather about you. But I never did.” 

He seemed pleased with that answer. “Of course you didn’t. Instead you ran away.” He watched you cautiously, “How many people know you’re here?” 

“No one does, except for you.” 

That was true. You couldn’t risk going back to your family, not when you were certain that the moment you stepped foot outside of Madripoor your people would find you. 

“Why Madripoor?” He asked, tilting his head to the side. “You could’ve easily hid in the country itself given your… skills.” He knew just where to poke you to make it hurt. “Then why here?” 

“Anonymity. No one knows or cares about who you are or where you come from here. Also because I knew that neither the organization nor you had any connections here whatsoever.” You paused. “Clearly I was wrong.” 

He got really serious, clenching and unclenching his jaw. “Why didn’t you just tell me the truth then? If you couldn’t trust your people at the time, why not turn to me?” 

His question made you chuckle. “I already told you, you would’ve killed me.” 

“And I already told you that I-,” he cut himself off and took a breath. “Why didn’t you trust me?” 

You stared into his eyes, looking. Searching for something you once saw in them. Love, for you. There was a time when he would look at you with nothing but adoration and love. Now he was angry, hurt, frustrated, his power challenged. 

“Because I’ve seen what you do to people who betray you. I knew how much loyalty mattered to you. And I… I couldn’t have possibly looked you in the eyes and tell you that I’ve been lying and manipulating you for a whole year, and that I was sent to take you down.” 

It hurt to say it out loud. 

“You ran because you were scared of me? Of what I would do to you if I found out?” He didn’t bother hiding the hurt. He wasn’t calm and composed anymore, he was visibly troubled. Jaws clenched, fingers tightening around his gun, eyes shooting daggers at you. “Answer me!” He raised his voice out of nowhere and you jumped. 

You lowered your gaze to the floor. In all those years, be it during training or even while on missions, you had never succumbed in any way when a weapon, no matter the size, was aimed at you. Yet now, you could feel your hands starting to shake just a little. 

“Yes. I ran because I was scared of you.” You answered, not having the courage to look up at him. 

He was quiet for four seconds - you know because you counted them - before he lowered his gun and shot at the wooden floor, several feet away from your legs. The sound made you flinch and groan, not in fear but in annoyance. He was breaking you, he was getting everything he wanted out of you. You were giving in, too easily. You hated it. 

“Liar!” He growled and walked right over to you, quickly. His eyes reflected the anger and frustration he felt inside. He placed the barrel of his gun right under your chin. The cold metal made you shiver, mainly because you still remembered that his metal arm felt the same way against your warm skin. “I said no lies.” 

He used the gun to tilt your head back, making you look up into his eyes. He spoke up again, “You ran because you love me, and you couldn’t live with yourself after betraying me. You chose not to lead your people to me, because how could you? How could you do that when you fell in love with the enemy?” Bucky chuckled, removing his gun from your chin and replacing it with his metal hand. 

He leaned in so close that when he spoke next, his lips brushed against yours. “You chose to run away rather than give them what they wanted, because they wanted my fall. You ran from me because you couldn’t admit, nor accept that you cared too much about me.” He chuckled. “You did all of this not because you were scared of me, but because you were scared of them since you had failed in a mission.” He shrugged. “That’s understandable, given you fell in love with the one they sent you to ruin.” 

Your eyes watered. He broke you, finally. He said everything you’ve been avoiding to tell yourself over this past year. And he was right about everything. You were quiet. You didn’t have anything to say to him. 

He spoke up again. “I know for a fact that you knew I would never, ever hurt you. Betrayal or no betrayal.” 

“Buck…” You whispered, your voice cracked as you held back a sob. You felt a single tear slide down your cheek. 

His hand moved from your chin, down to your waist. He pulled you closer, pressing his body to yours. The feeling of his built, taut body against yours brought back memories you weren’t sure you could ever forget. 

“Say it.” He demanded, looking down at your lips, then back into your eyes. His scent filled your senses. He was all you could, and wanted, to focus on. “Tell me I’m right. Tell me the truth you’ve been running from.” He leaned in, as though he was going for a kiss. “Tell me you love me.”

“Bucky, I…” you almost choked on another sob you couldn’t let out. You wanted to tell that you loved him. But the words wouldn’t come out. Something was stopping you; worry or fear or just guilt. 

It was guilt. 

He scoffed. “Too proud? Too self-righteous to admit that the good little spy fell in love with the bad guy?” He pressed his forehead to yours as he walked the two of you back, towards your bed. You knew what he was doing, and you didn’t stop him. “Admit it, babygirl,” he leaned in to whisper in your ear and you felt goosebumps all over your body, “Or maybe I should remind you…” 

Bucky pushed you down on your bed, and he hovered over you supporting himself with one hand while the metal one held his gun right above your face. “You’ve been a bad, bad girl lately.” He murmured, gently lowering his gun and brushing the barrel against your lips, then slowly dragged it down your skin. “Did you think you could hide from me forever?” 

He dragged the tip of his gun all the way down till your thighs, making you tremble. His eyes stared down into yours as he carelessly tossed his gun aside and brought his metal hand over to your mouth again. 

“Do you know how bad I’ve missed you?” He mumbled, tracing your mouth with his cold fingers. For a moment he forgot why he was here in the first place. 

You shivered under his touch. “I’m sorry, Bucky. I never meant to-,” 

He scoffed, cutting you off. “Shut up, babygirl.” He had a mean smirk on his face. “You’ve been bad. And what did daddy tell you about babygirls who misbehave?” His calm demeanor could fool anyone. Anyone but you. 

You knew him too well. You could tell he was burning inside, agitated. Like a wounded predator, planning his next attack. There was no escaping him now. Not that you truly wanted to. 

“They get punished.” You whispered quietly as he tugged on your bottom lip with his thumb. The simple gesture reminded you of all those times spent with him; the nights you spent in his bed, in his arms… 

He chuckled. “Exactly. Now come on, you have a lot to make up for.” He pulled away, and stood up straight at the end of your bed. “Take your clothes off. All of it.” 

The sound of his authoritative voice had your thighs clenching together to try and alleviate the sweet pain in between your legs. That tone of his was a weakness of yours, and he knew it. 

You hesitated only for a moment, but the longer he stared into your eyes the warmer your body felt, and all you wanted to do was to get rid of all that you were wearing. You took your jacket off first, followed by the long sleeved shirt underneath it. You scooted forward, sitting on the edge of the bed to take the rest of your clothes off; shoes, skirt, stockings which left you in your matching set of black underwear. 

You looked up at him, waiting for further instructions. 

“I said, all of it.” He let his eyes roam your body for a moment and then he spoke up again, “Don’t be shy baby, I’ve seen it all before, haven’t I?” 

He had done so much more than just seeing it all. You held his stare as you took your underwear off and had to fight the urge to throw it at his face just for the hell of it. 

“Good girl.” He whispered. “Now lie down, spread those legs for me. Show me what’s mine.” 

The crudeness of his words would’ve surely made you blush if you didn’t know just how vulgar and dirty he could really get, this was nothing. 

You did just as he asked. You held yourself up on your elbows, still holding his stare. Bucky eyed you like you were a warm meal and he was a starving man. There was nothing but lust and mischief in his eyes. 

“Touch yourself for me.” 

You felt your face get really hot for a moment as your heartbeats rang in your ears. “What?” The question just slipped out before you could stop yourself. 

Bucky smirked. “You heard me. Use your pretty fingers and touch yourself. I assume you thought of me each time you… tended to your needs over these past many, many months. I’m sure you missed me,” he chuckled, just as cocky as you expected him to be, “Or at least you missed having my cock buried deep inside of you. Hmm?”  

You studied his face for a moment. Your emotions were shifting; from guilt to annoyance to shame to lust. And you hated how well he had you figured out. “How do you know I haven’t had someone else tending to my needs instead?” You asked, quickly realizing that this wasn’t an ideal situation to be the brat you used to be back then. 

Bucky let out a little laugh; a hot and evil laugh. “No one will ever satisfy you like I do.” He shoved both of his hands in his pockets. “Even if you did, for some reason, fool around with someone here I assure you they won't be breathing for long.” He responded with a straight face. “You are mine. Nobody touches what’s mine and lives.” 

That speech shouldn’t have turned you on as much as it did. 

“Now come on, be a good girl and do as you’re told.” He spoke softly. “Show me how you touched yourself when I wasn’t here to take care of you.” 

Your hands moved on their own; caressing your inner thighs before placing your fingers right over your clit. The look in his eyes made your walls clench around nothing. Your lips parted and you let out a shaky breath as you toyed with your clit, smearing your wetness around before slowly rubbing down your folds and slipping past your entrance with ease given that you were dripping already. Your other hand toyed with your nipple, twisting and tugging. 

Needless to say, Bucky was hard just looking at you. 

You stared into his eyes as you gasped in pleasure as your fingers effortlessly slipped in and out of you. You whined as you fingered yourself, thinking about the last time he touched you – all those months back, on the same night that you left him. And how lovely his mouth felt against your body. Whining in need and frustration, the palm of your hands rubbed against your sensitive clit over and over again as your middle finger slipped in and out of you. 

“Bucky…” you whimpered. 

He just stood there and smirked. “Faster. And don’t you dare cum.” 

You whined, slipping your finger in and out of your wet hole rapidly. “Fuck…” Your own touch took you higher, and higher, and you were on the edge. 

“Stop.” He ordered, moving closer to you but not touching you yet. “Add another finger.” He waited until you did, whimpering as you pushed another finger in. “Good girl, now fuck your little cunt faster for me.” He leaned over and traced your lips with his cold, metal finger, his touch was agonizingly slow. He was so close, but he still wasn’t touching you like you desperately needed him to. 

You took your bottom lip in between your teeth to keep yourself from moaning too loudly. Bucky smirked when he saw how you were struggling to keep quiet. He noticed the way your body squirmed, and he knew you too well so he could tell that you were so close to coming undone. 

“Poor baby,” he cooed, “Is it hard?” he taunted, his fake concern morphing into an evil, handsome and sly smile. “Is it frustrating to not be allowed to have something you so desperately want? Hmm?” 

“Buck… please,” you whined, releasing your swollen lip from your teeth. Your body felt hot, and you needed to just let go and come undone. 

“Stop.” He ordered, shamelessly ignoring your pleas. You stopped, and pulled your hand away from in between your legs. He knelt on your bed, in between your legs. You tried to look away but he grabbed your chin before you could turn your face to the side. He stared into your eyes for a few seconds, not saying anything. Eventually he spoke up, “What do I do with you?” 

You stared at him, a thousand thoughts in your head. “You’re crazy.” You spat, hoping to rile him up. 

He just chuckled softly. “You did this to me.” He sounded bitter, and hurt. He leaned in to brush his lips against yours, making your heart race, “Thoughts of you were messing with my head for the past year.” He confessed, and you felt your heart hurt. “People think I’m cruel, clearly they haven’t had their heart broken by you.” 

You opened your mouth to say something, or maybe apologize, or perhaps you’d say something which would piss him off even more but before you could, his mouth was on yours. He kissed you with passion, but also pent up anger and frustration. He was conflicted, so were you. Both of your pride were hurt, egos bruised but your hearts still yearned for each other. Nothing could change that. 

Before you could process anything, Bucky was kissing down your body; you were a whimpering mess by the time he kissed along your inner thighs. He chuckled darkly when you let out a loud moan as he kissed your throbbing clit ever so gently. Like he used to when he was madly in love with you. 

“Your body remembers me, babygirl.” He seemed proud of that. 

You hated how you couldn’t resist him. You hated how you didn’t even try to. You melted right under his touch as his tongue gently licked down your folds. His hand found yours and he laced his metal fingers with yours while his other hand rubbed up and down your thigh as he pushed his face further into your wet core. 

You couldn’t bring yourself to look down at him, but you were sure he looked enticing with his plump, pink lips on your wet heat; your arousal dripping down his chin and coating his lips as he devoured you. You heard him growl before he bit down on the soft skin at your inner thighs to get your attention. 

“Look at me.” He mumbled. And when you didn’t obey him right away, you earned yourself a gentle smack on your thigh, which only made you squirm even more; causing you to accidentally grind against his mouth. He chuckled again. “Impatient, are we?” 

You supported yourself up on your elbows finally, and looked down at him. His handsome face in between your thighs was a sight you weren’t sure you would ever get used to. You could feel his warm breath fanning your wet skin occasionally as he stared into your eyes until you couldn’t handle the intensity of his stare. 

Bucky held your stare as he attached his lips to your core again, making you whimper in pleasure. He wasn’t planning on stopping until you beg him to. He had missed you, your taste. He had missed this; your warmth and your soft whimpers as he teased you with his tongue. 

“Do you wanna cum for me, babygirl?” He asked, before pressing his lips back against your wet folds. 

You nodded, quickly. “Yes, please…” your legs had begun shaking just a little as he took his time and dragged his tongue up and down your slit. But the way his lips lifted into a smirk gave away that his answer would only disappoint you. 

“No, you’re not allowed to cum.” He cooed, playfully. “Not so easily.” He whispered before he got back to teasing your sensitive spot with his warm and wet tongue; relishing your taste and humming in pleasure as he ate you out. He let out a little laugh, “I forgot how good you taste.” 

You moaned out loud as your back arched off the bed for just a moment, your eyes closing and your head leaning back as you felt a wave of intense pleasure wash over you. You weren’t sure how long you could take this sweet torture. Your fingers tightened around his and he chuckled against your skin. 

“What is it baby, you can’t take it? Hmm? All that sass, all those mind games and now you can’t even handle my tongue?” 

He taunted you before getting back to teasing your entrance with the tip of his tongue. Your body tingled and you felt a sweet pressure forming in between your legs. You were sure he could see the tears of frustration escaping your eyes, falling down your warm cheeks. 

“Please…” you moaned pathetically. 

He licked around your clit one last time before pulling away and kissing his way up your body again. The twisted side of him loved the way you whined when you realized he wasn’t gonna let you cum so easily. He leaned in to kiss your open mouth eventually, making you gasp and moan and forget how to breathe with just one kiss. 

When he pulled away to look at you he smiled at the mess you were. Lips swollen, and bruised with how many times you or him bit down on it. Red marks all over your neck, bite marks along your inner thigh, and your arousal dripping out of you. He quickly placed his fingers where his mouth had been earlier, teasing your clit before shoving two fingers inside of you and stroking your walls so slowly that you were losing your mind. 

“Why won’t you admit it?” he kissed along your cheek and reached your ear where he whispered, “Are you that proud? That heartless?” Judging by his tone you could tell that his emotions were wavering as well. “I searched the whole world to find you.” His fingers sped up as he spoke, your moans got more frequent and holding them back became much more difficult. “And now you’re still gonna be a stubborn, disrespectful brat?” 

The bitterness in his tone woke something inside of you. Did he not realize that you’re not exactly pleased with what you had to do? Did he not understand? Pissed, your annoyance mirroring his, you pushed his hand away and pushed him down on the bed. He wasn’t expecting it so he went down rather easily. You got on top of him, straddling his waist, ignoring the nudity, and stared down at him. 

“Enough! You can’t just walk in here and do or say whatever the fuck you want.” Your sudden outburst took him by surprise. Part of him had always loved it when you got a little aggressive. “I’m not proud of what I did. That’s why I left, the guilt was killing me. It still kills me, every single day. I haven’t had the best year of my life since I left you either. I had to leave my homeland, my family, and I… I had to leave you.” 

He remained quiet. 

“I moved to a place where I knew no one. I’ve been alone for the past year, living amongst strangers, no friends, no family, nothing! All because I couldn’t let them get to me. You were right, because if my people found me they would somehow find a way to get the information they needed and they would’ve surely taken you down. You would’ve never seen it coming.” You sniffled, realizing that you were tearing up again. 

Bucky had, surprisingly, nothing to say. You went on. 

“You want answers? There you have it then. I couldn’t just stay and watch myself become that reason for your fall. I couldn’t let that happen to you, because I love you too much. When I realized I loved you, I panicked. I ran because I didn’t know what else to do, or how to keep them away from you. And I am so sorry for what I did. I understand if you-,”

He cut your long speech off by sitting up and grabbing you just in time before you lost your balance, pressing his lips to yours. You immediately wrapped your arms around his neck and let him hold you, kiss you like he wanted to for so long. His kiss was gentle this time, careful, loving. His metal hand ran up and down your spine slowly as his other hand grabbed you and pulled you close to him by your butt.  

He slowly pulled away and his heart felt like it tore in half at the sight of your teary face. He had been so busy being heartbroken after you left that he didn’t even take a minute to consider this perspective. He was too hurt to even think properly. 

“You could’ve just told me the truth. I would’ve handled them. I would’ve done anything for you, I… I would’ve done whatever it took to keep you safe. You know that, right?” Bucky finally spoke up, sounding much more emotional than he thought he ever could. 

Truth is, before meeting you he always thought that he was incapable of love. But then you walked into his life and everything changed for the better. So when he lost you, without any explanation, he went insane. 

You sighed. “I was scared. I didn’t understand, I thought I was doing the right thing. I was hurting too. You think disappearing out of your life and leaving you behind without saying a proper goodbye was easy?” Your voice cracked as you fought back a sob. “How many times do I have to-,” 

He cut you off. Once he saw the tears accumulating along your water line again. “Okay, okay shh. I just got you back, I don’t wanna fight.” He mumbled, pressing his forehead to yours. 

You sniffled, your heart skipping a beat as his body heat wrapped around you. “I’ve missed you. Every day. I missed you so much. I couldn’t risk reaching out to you to even apologize, I was so scared. I… I didn’t…,” your sentence ended in a whisper, you didn’t know how to articulate your thoughts too well. 

He tightened his arms around you. “It’s okay, baby. Everything is fine now, I found you.” 

You were quiet for a while, enjoying his calming touch and processing all that happened since you stepped inside your apartment tonight. “Are you mad at me?” you asked, seeking to find some sort of sense in all that just happened. 

He sighed, and kissed your forehead. “I was. When I woke up the next morning after you left, I was confused, hurt. Then you didn’t show up for a couple more days and I had my people look you up, and I was told that you were a spy.” His words made you feel uneasy and ashamed of your past. “I was broken, but I never knew what a heartbreak feels like so instead all I felt was anger. But despite all of it, all I wanted was to have you back. Then I found the organization you worked for, and I made sure to destroy it. Since then I’ve been looking for you like a madman.” 

He pulled away to look at you. You managed to look up into his eyes without tearing up again. “I’m sorry.” You whispered. 

He pulled you closer. “I’m sorry too.” 

“I love you.” 

Bucky smiled at you. “Say it again.” 

You reached up and cupped his face in your hands. “I love you. I love you so much and I’m sorry. For everything. I just… I just want you back, please.” 

He leaned in for a kiss, whispering against your lips, “I’m right here, babygirl.” He gently turned to the side and laid you back down on the bed. “I’ve got you now,” he mumbled, pulling away to take his suit jacket off, then his shirt. He tossed both somewhere on the floor and bent down to kiss you again. He kissed down your neck, leisurely; taking his time on you as he unzipped his pants. 

“Buck…” you groaned as he teased you with the soft, feathery touch of his lips. He had been teasing you for so long now, you couldn’t take anymore. Your body felt burning hot again, you needed him. Bad. You needed him like you needed air. 

“Yes, baby?” He asked, kissing down your cleavage; pretending he doesn’t know that you were practically shaking in need. 

You whined, sliding your finger into his dark, soft hair. “I need you. Please, I need you. Now.” You spoke through gritted teeth by the end, tugging at the roots of his hair. 

He chuckled. “So aggressive.” He murmured, kissing up your neck until he reached your mouth. He noticed the way you had unintentionally, gradually parted your legs to accommodate him; your naked body squirming under him, your bare chest pressing up against his, your body heat mixing with his. “I’m gonna take care of you, baby…” he whispered as he lowered his underwear just enough to free his cock. He was rock hard.

You were a whimpering mess by the time he aligned his erected cock to your entrance. You instinctively spread your legs further apart to give him more room. With a slow, steady push, he inserted his length into you. You shuddered, moaning as you felt all of him filling you up. You heard his ragged breaths as he seated himself completely inside you and waited, giving your body time to adjust to him. 

He could still make you tremble in pleasure just like the first time he touched you. Bucky held back his moans and growls as he felt your warmth wrap around him so perfectly. He clenched his jaw as he relished the feeling of being inside of you, finally. 

“Is this what you needed, babygirl?” he asked, looking down at you, and gently grabbing your face, causing you to look up at him. 

You couldn’t talk given how full you were. You just stared at him with parted lips, breathing heavily. Bucky smirked, pulling out just a little before pushing back into you again. You closed your eyes and moaned, arching your back off the surface of the bed again. 

He smirked as he looked down at you. “You waited, didn’t you? You waited only for daddy to stretch you out like this. I know you didn’t let anyone touch you while I wasn’t here.” He remained still as he leaned into your ear, whispering, “The way you’re clenching around my cock right now gives it away.” He chuckled, proud. 

Your face burned. He knew you too well. 

Bucky leaned in to kiss your open mouth, shamelessly shoving his tongue past your parted lips and stroking the inside of your mouth while he began moving in and out of you. He sped up gradually, rocking his hips against yours; his hand reached up to grab your chin gently. He stared into your eyes, speeding up into you again. You gripped the bed sheets as he pounded into you. 

He stretched you out deliciously, perfectly. Filling you up and reaching all the right places as he went. He couldn’t hold back any longer, so he moaned and growled right against your mouth, clenching his jaw or occasionally biting down on your lip as he pounded into you relentlessly. 

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” He spoke as he sped up into you again. You could whine senselessly, overwhelmed by how good he felt deep inside you. 

He leaned down to push his face into your neck as he lifted one of your legs and hooked it to his waist, pushing himself deeper inside you. “Fuck…” he moaned as you clenched hard around him. He down for a moment just to hear you moan wantonly before he sped up again, fucking you relentlessly. “You’re mine. Only mine, you hear me?” 

You nodded, or at least tried to.  

The louder you got, the closer he felt his release coming and the filthier his mouth got. “Your little cunt is mine. Only mine.” He spoke through messy kisses; growling and causing goosebumps to erupt all over your body. “Only I can fuck you like this, you hear me?” Bucky quickened his pace and pounded into you harder than before; the sounds of your skin slapping one another resonated around the modest room. 

Bucky was all you could focus on. The sound of his voice. His body pressing down on yours. His cock inside you. Your walls began to clench tighter around him. His moans, his hot breath against your cheek, his messy kisses. Just him. You had missed him so terribly, and only now did you wonder how in the world did you survive so long without him? 

He took you higher, and higher, and higher until you felt more tears escape your eyes. “Please, Buck…” you whined, begging pathetically and unable to arrange your words or your thoughts any better. “Please…” 

Your eyes were droopy in lust. His eyes were too as he stared down at you with a handsome and arrogant smirk on his face. “Please what, babygirl?” 

His pretty blue eyes put you under a trance. “Please, can I cum?” 

Bucky caressed your cheek with his knuckles, his metal hand holding him up above you. He didn’t know how he managed to survive without you all these months. He was barely living without you. He looked down at you with nothing but love and adoration in his eyes. 

“Go on, baby. Cum for me.” 

You let the pressure build inside you, before simply letting go. He didn’t slow down as you felt your orgasm wash over you, Bucky kept pounding into you as your eyes rolled back and you moaned out loud as you came. You whimpered at how he kept slamming into you even as you came, and your face burned as you felt a familiar knot forming again right at your core.

He fucked into you relentlessly. “Fuck…” He panted and groaned at how good you felt around him; wet and warm all for him. Your walls clenched around him violently and your body arched off the bed. 

You felt your second release approaching even before you could recover from the first one. Your leg around his waist was numb but you still wanted more of what he had to give. You would take whatever he gave you in that moment, given you had gone so long without him. 

You felt your mind getting foggy again. His large frame hovering above you as he fucked deeper into you, just a little more. “Cum for me again, baby.” He growled, his lips dangerously close to yours as you whined and whimpered under him. Your body trembled as you came for the second time, walls tightening around his length, gushing out around his cock while he still pounded relentlessly into you until he came as well.

You felt his thrust getting sloppy and irregular until he came to a stop and just groaned as he came violently. His warm cum filled you up and some of it trickled out of you when he carefully removed his cock from your entrance.

He collapsed on the bed beside you, catching his breath before pulling you into him. You were slightly shaking as he wrapped his arms around you, kissing your skin wherever he could, murmuring sweet nothings. 

“You okay, babe?” he asked after a few minutes of just holding you in his arms, in silence; both of you just enjoying each other’s warmth and presence. 

You nodded, placing your arm over his chest and scooting closer to him, pressing up against his side. 

You both remained quiet for a while longer. Thinking about the past, and the future. 

“Are you sure you’re not mad at me?” You asked, your brain starting to overthink again. 

Bucky sighed. “Baby I couldn’t stay mad at you even if you intentionally stabbed me through the heart and watched me bleed to death.” 

You took a second to process what he just spoke of, and you made a face at him, showing your horror and concern, which then made him laugh out loud. “You’re sick.” You muttered, placing a gentle kiss to his metal arm. The cold metal against your lips reminded of somewhere you desperately wanted to be - home. 

He shrugged, pulling you closer. “Yeah. Also cruel, devious and pure evil. But you love me nonetheless.” He teased. 

You smiled, your worn out body snuggled up against him. You felt your eyelids drooping as sleep slowly took over you. Today has been a lot. “I do.” You spoke softly. 

Bucky looked down and saw that you were slowly drifting off to sleep. He adjusted the covers so that you were well covered with the warm blankets. He tucked you in and wrapped his arms around you protectively, as though you might slip away from his grasp again. 

“I love you, babygirl. Sleep tight, we’re going home soon.” 

You didn’t respond so he figured you must have fallen asleep. While he hugged your sleeping figure, he thought back on everything you said tonight. Your biggest fear was that you might end up being the reason for his fall. But little did you know that ultimately, you had been the only reason he knew what truly falling in love was like.

[urstruly-ghst]

happy birthday, azul ashengrotto!

note : sorry for the delay, i am training for competitions, so i am pretty beat! do enjoy our dear azul's bday!

azul ashengrotto

Azul was a hard shell to crack, and he was bashful of who he was in the past. He only wishes to be the best version of himself, so he improves and improves for himself. The Overblot was proof of his pain to be better.

He was very career pursuing in his past birthdays, not stepping down to be a playful octopus. He was always a serious person, so pushing him to enjoy something outside of work was a difficult task.

What if you pushed him to show a side of fun?

The corals are bright; they are full of life and color. Azul envied the colors surrounding the corals; his dark jet-black body makes him feel insecure, he stands out quickly with the colors. He was bleak. The almost silver hair and blue eyes basically go invisible to the bright-colored coral bed he lives in.

He envies those who were born to stand out, and he berates himself as they did to him. Azul makes it his mission always to stand out, but he struggles even to enter or step up his game. It was difficult reaching his goal, yet, the twins helped him. In his difficult time, they stood as supporters, and Azul couldn’t thank them enough.

However, during his rise to the top, someone managed to drag him back down. You.

No one knew how a magicless person could be able to drag him down to where he was, a pathetic bleak octopus who was relentlessly put down even with the natural success that he brought. Maybe it was because of the way they had the colors of their world in their hands, or perhaps it was because he underestimated the amount of care they held for someone.

Being bleak in your light, Azul frowns in distaste as he observes you in many ways; it feels odd just to be too extraordinary yet so plain. You stir up so much trouble, yet you bring the calm to the raging storm. He witnessed such, and it happened twice before his own storm.

The plain appearance of yours still did a multitude of colors than Azul, no matter how many Unique Magics he stole. He still never felt the spark of joy and rush, yet that changed when the fantastic colors came rapidly to him.

It was sudden. Being your companion to journeys made a euphoric rush of colors. The struggles head-on were no longer the blue colors he greets himself with; it was like an explosion of shards and rays of colors that invaded him.

During his climb, Azul convinced himself that the strong greys and blues were just the only colors that could be his during his rise. Azul embraced the bleak life, even if he yearned to bring the colors to hug him, The same colors he sees you in every waking moment.

Slow was the melancholic tides of success when he recovered, overblotting to took a toll on his lounge. Everyone heard the rumors and horrid deeds; it made them scared to enter the once lively lounge. Those times were his lowest, bleakest, and saddest turn. Almost bound to drown him in confusion, a rock he gripped weakly was your eyes that held concern.

Slow tugging on the fabric of Azul’s uniform was more than enough to make him reach the surface and start anew. Granted, he was still the cunning and sharp merman, but Azul still has the charm to stand again, albeit shaky.

He made it, you note, and came back with a stronger gusto than any encounter you had. Granted, he was the timid man you knew, but he didn’t hide that scarred man from you anymore. He allowed the bleak man he is to be a blank canvas to you.

The moment he did, Mostro Lounge reached a height he never dreamed of. Though there were reluctant customers, it was better than the quiet lounge. You even lured them in. Your charm exceeds a certain level since it brought a lot of people. Some of the scared regulars even came back!

The day of his birth came, the colors were growing onto him. Azul grew out of his shell long ago, and he understood that because of your efforts to love him as the bleak and amazingly strong octopus amidst the corals.

The Leech twins saw this; they saw how the once strict octopus was radiating in a new style. Granted, his allure of being cunning never left him, but it was a particular shine they never saw.

“Nee, shrimpy, have you seen the way Azul dresses? It seems to be Azul likes to see more color!” Floyd cheered as he noticed that Octavinelle was now filled with the colors found in the Coral Sea. It brings him back to a simpler time, and he fondly remembers the event of bumping into the tiny chubby jet-black merman.

“Indeed, Azul had this sheen, and I even mistook it as slime!” Jade teased as he saw the smile etched onto Azul’s face while everyone conversed with the flamboyant man. He may have been a strict contract person, but he can be a fantastic friend.

You look at him, it has been a long progressing journey to bring Azul out of his shell, but it was worth the wait. Azul finally became who he dreamed of being: the best version of himself.

[obeymeoasis]

Demon Bros React: MC Is Insecure

Warnings: mentions of insecurity surrounding body image, physical appearance, self-worth.

Lucifer

It was the day after a party Diavolo had thrown at his castle. You had had fun for the most part, dancing with the brothers and eating delicious foods prepared by Barbatos. 

But you also remembered how it had felt to look around the room and realize you were surrounded by gorgeous demons, not a single flaw on anyone’s face. Doubt and insecurity had begun to creep into your mind, and that feeling had carried over into the next day.

You had only talked briefly with Lucifer at the party because he was too busy interacting with Diavolo’s guests. Every time you tried to catch his eye, you noticed how beautiful whoever he was talking to was and found yourself swallowing down your greeting.

Currently Lucifer was at his desk like always, scribbling down notes and shuffling through papers. You brought him afternoon tea and sat reading in one of his armchairs to keep him company.

You had been telling yourself that you were going to ask him the question that was burning in your mind, but an hour had already passed since you first came in. You tried to distract yourself with your book but the words were fuzzy on the page. Finally, you spoke. “Luci?”

He didn’t look up from his desk when he answered, “Yes, love?”

“Do you... do you ever wish I was more beautiful?”

The scratching of his pen stopped immediately and Lucifer lowered the papers he was holding to show his face, a carefully blank expression revealing nothing. “What exactly do you mean by that question?”

“I mean exactly what I asked. Do you ever wish I was more beautiful? More attractive? As the Avatar of Pride have you ever been... embarrassed to be seen with me?”

At this Lucifer’s expression grew cold and furious. “Has someone... made you feel this way? Has someone made you feel as if you are inadequate?” You shook your head sadly and whispered, “No, just my own brain.”

“Ah, I see. Well pet, I don’t ever wish you were more beautiful because you are the most beautiful being I’ve ever seen. So it would be physically impossible for you to be more beautiful than you are now.”

You snorted. “Luci, that was so cheesy. Your brothers would throw up if they heard what you just said.” Lucifer’s lips quirked up in amusement. “Well, I’m glad I was able to make you laugh. And I do mean what I said. I’ve never once felt embarrassed to be with you; you are my pride, the source of my happiness. If anyone were to suggest otherwise, I would gladly kill them.”

“Luci, we’ve been over this. You can’t just kill everyone who is mildly rude to me.”

Lucifer went back to working on his papers but there was a gentle smile on his face. “Darling, you’ll find that I definitely can. I have a permit.”

Mammon

You were regretting tagging along to one of Mammon’s photo shoots. At first, it seemed like a fun idea getting to look at all the clothes, makeup, and jewelry. Plus, you really wanted to see what Mammon was like when he was working professionally. 

It was fun at first, you cooing over how handsome Mammon looked in his outfit and watching him get all flustered and blushy. But then the actual photoshoot started and you watched as Mammon posed with a stunning model.

You tried to not let your insecurities get the best of you. You were here to support Mammon! But as the shoot progressed you couldn’t help but start to compare yourself, keeping track of how they were more beautiful and you more flawed. 

The photographer stopped to take a break and Mammon immediately bounced over to you. “MC, did you see me? How does it feel to watch the Great Mammon in his natural element? I look good, don’t I?”

You caressed Mammon’s cheek and feigned a bright smile. “You were amazing Mammon! You look so handsome. And this is such a cool outfit!” But Mammon was somehow always able to tell when you were faking a good mood and he frowned. “MC, is something wrong? You look sad. Did something happen?”

You opened your mouth, an excuse ready on your lips, but found you couldn’t lie right to Mammon’s face. You gestured toward the model who was talking to their manager in the corner. “Do you ever wish I looked like that?”

Mammon cocked his head, confused. “Do I ever wish you had blue hair? Not particularly? Although now that I think about it, blue hair would look cool on you too.”

You sighed. “No, I mean do you ever wish I looked like a model? Sexier? Or prettier?” Mammon thought for a moment, processing your question, and then frowned. “Oh no no no. Treasure, what’s this all about? What happened?”

“Sorry Mams, I didn’t want to distract you while you’re working. I just got really low and insecure all of a sudden. Started thinking about how you should be with someone really beautiful, you know? And sometimes I feel like that’s not me.”

Clearly upset, Mammon rushed to give you a crushing hug, tucking your head underneath his chin. “MC I- I wish I could beam my thoughts into your head. That way you’d really believe me when I say that you’re so precious to me. Every day I wake up and think about how lucky I am to be with you.”

You chuckled a little. “I do put up a lot with you, don’t I.” Mammon gently smacked you on your back. “Hey! I’ve been good lately! But seriously MC, you are stunning. You are gorgeous. And it’s okay if you don’t believe me right now because- because I’ll tell you as many times as you need me to! I’ll tell you a thousand times a day! A million times!”

You tried to blink away the tears in your eyes and held onto Mammon even tighter. “Thanks Mams, I love you so much.”

“Love you too treasure. Your first man’s gonna take care of you, don’t you worry about a thing.”

Leviathan

Usually you liked watching anime with Levi; it was one of your favorite things to do together. Levi was always more happy and lively when watching with you because he was able to express his opinions freely without judgment. And you thought it was adorable how excited Levi got over his favorite characters and storylines.

Today, you were snuggled together on some cushions re-watching an episode of “The Magical Ruri Hanai: Demon Girl”. At first you were enjoying the episode, laughing as Ruri got used to the oddities of the human world. But Levi’s repeated comments about how cute Ruri-chan was, which you usually never minded, started to bother you a bit.

You took a quick glance around the room, noting Levi’s enormous collection of Ruri-chan posters, figurines, and other merch. Levi tapped you on the knee, interrupting your thoughts. “MC, you’re missing the best part! What are you looking at?”

You sighed a little, struggling to act nonchalant. “Sorry Levi, it’s nothing. I’m still watching.” Frowning, Levi paused the episode and turned to look at you. “Hey, what’s up?”

Taking a deep breath, you said “Levi, I’m not Ruri-chan.” He narrowed his eyes in confusion. “Yes... I know?”

You continued, “I don’t look like Ruri-chan. Does that bother you?”

“Does it bother me... that you don’t look like an anime character?” He repeated the question slowly, as if you had asked him the strangest question in the world.

Frustrated, you blurted out “I don’t look like Ruri-chan! I’m never going to be as cute as her!”

Levi looked completely bewildered, his eyes wide and staring at you in confusion. “B-But you are cute! MC, w-what are you even talking about?” 

Embarrassed at your outburst you looked down at the floor silently. Levi scooted over toward you so that your knees were touching and he waited until you broke the silence. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m good enough. I think maybe you’d like it if I looked cuter or acted cuter, like the characters in anime.”

Levi hesitated for a moment before quickly grabbing onto your hand, blushing furiously as he did so. "MC, I-I already think you're c-cute. Really really cute. So don't say things like that. And also, I like you because you're you! Not because you're like someone else."

"And you make me really happy. I'm just a gross otaku. I never thought I'd be able to... to find someone like you. Someone who accepts me."

He tried to lock eyes with you but blushed even harder and stared at your joined hands. "Plus, I couldn't to-touch an anime character. But I can touch you. I can hold your hand or give you hugs whenever you need it, o-okay?"

You leaned your head onto Levi's shoulder and closed your eyes, letting the peaceful silence wash over you.

Satan

You were accompanying Satan on a trip to one of his favorite stores: an antique shop that sold all manner of rare books and artifacts. The owner, Ms. Sparrow, was a friend of Satan’s and she welcomed the two of you wholeheartedly.

Today, she looked as gorgeous as she always did. Her chic pearl dress and matching silk gloves shone against her dark skin. Not a curl in her hair was out of place and even the click-clack of her heels on the floor seemed melodious somehow.

You left Satan to look at the books and went wandering off into the various aisles of the store, marveling at all the bits and bobs. In one of the over-stuffed corners you happened to find a glittering silver key on a red velvet ribbon. Taking it in your hand, you went back through to show it off to Satan, wanting to ask him what he thought it opened.

But Satan was busy chatting and laughing with Ms. Sparrow. You watched the two of them for a moment and noticed how well they complimented each other. Both had a certain poise, a kind of confidence and certainty in their movements.

On your walk back to the dorms, you were unusually quiet and Satan noticed. “Pet, is something the matter?”

You hesitated, wondering if Satan was going to find your insecurity childish. “Satan, I’m not very....elegant.”

“Yes, I know. You choked on a piece of bread yesterday. The day before that you tripped over absolutely nothing and fell down.” He smiled, expecting for you to get riled up, but it fell when he saw that you looked dejected. “Love, what is the matter? Have I upset you?”

You avoided his gaze. “Sometimes... sometimes I wonder if I bring you down by being with you. I feel like you deserve someone elegant and sophisticated. Someone who matches you. But I’m not. I’m clumsy and messy and not perfect, like Ms. Sparrow.”

Satan’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Ms. Sparrow? What does she have anything to with this?” He turned you around so that you were facing him. “Pet, please look at me. I love you. And I’m not with you in spite of you being clumsy or messy. I love you because you’re clumsy and messy, because those are parts of you and I love all of you.”

He leaned down to press his forehead against yours. “And why would I need someone perfect? Am I perfect? Yesterday you saw me screaming at my cup because I accidentally spilled some tea and burned my finger.”

You shrugged while giggling, “I thought it was a perfectly reasonable response.” You wrapped your arms around his and buried your face into his shoulder. “Thanks, Satan. You always know how to make me feel better.”

He reached down to give you a gentle kiss. “Anytime, love. I’m always here for you.”

Asmodeus

Asmo has a lot of fans across all his social media accounts. That was made perfectly clear the first time you went on a date with him outside. Sitting in the trendy coffeeshop, several people had come up to ask him for a picture or an autograph. He was never shy about you and always introduced you as his sweetheart, cooing about how beautiful you were. 

Some days it was okay. You loved seeing the bubbly social-butterfly side of Asmo. He was always so sweet to everyone who came up to him and genuinely enjoyed meeting new people. But other days, your insecurity rose up like a huge wave and dampened everything.

This particular day you were shopping with Asmo in a new boutique that had opened up. You were aimlessly flicking through the racks of clothes when you heard a large squealing.

Two demons ran up to Asmo, talking and gesturing excitedly. You could make out that they followed him on Devilgram and were asking if he was willing to take a picture with them. These demons were some of the most attractive beings you had ever seen. Their clothes were incredibly stylish and their hair and makeup were done flawlessly.

Looking around the shop, in all of the full length mirrors you could see the reflection of Asmo and his beautiful fans. And you looked out of place, like a puzzle piece that didn’t fit in at all. 

Tearing up, you grabbed a random pair of jeans off the rack and ran into a changing room. You turned away from the mirror, not wanting to look at yourself, and took deep breaths to try and keep from bursting into sobs. After a few moments Asmo began looking for you, having finished taking pictures. “Sweetheart, are you changing? Let me see what you’re wearing when you’re done!”

At the sound of his voice you burst into tears and your attempts to muffle the noise were futile. Outside the door, Asmo’s voice sounded panicked. “Darling, are you okay? What’s the matter? Please come outside, whatever it is please let me help you!” You hesitated, not wanting to face him, but this made him even more frantic. He started jiggling the doorknob and knocking on the door.

You opened it, afraid that he would accidentally break the doorknob leaving you trapped inside. As soon as he saw you he gathered you in his arms and began making shushing noises while smoothing your hair. “Sweetheart, why are you crying? Please talk to me, please tell me what’s wrong.”

You tried to get the words out in between sobs and hiccups. “A-Asmo, don’t you want someone m-more beautiful? Someone who-who looks g-good with you?” Asmo paused for a moment, processing your words, and then his eyes burned with anger. “Sweetheart, did one of my fans say something mean to you? Did someone make you feel like this?”

You shook your head vigorously. “No, just me.” Asmo breathed a sigh of relief at hearing no one had harrassed you and resumed smoothing your hair. “Oh, darling. You ARE beautiful. You’re stunning, sweetheart. I wish you could see the way I saw you, how adorable and gorgeous you are. And I understand that there are going to be days when you don’t believe me, when you feel like you’re not. But at least don’t go through those days alone, okay?”

You nodded, not trusting yourself to speak without tearing up again.

"Now, let's go get some ice cream. We can eat it while taking a bubble bath."

Beelzebub

You weren’t really sure why Beel liked you coming with him to the gym all the time, even if you didn’t exercise. He said your presence was calming and that it made him focus better, which was odd because a lot of the time you just sat on an unoccupied machine and scrolled through your D.D.D.

Today was much the same, with Beel running on the treadmill and you watching some videos. The gym was pretty empty, just a few students exercising here and there.

Your eyes drifted to Beel who was running without even breaking a sweat. His body was all solid muscle: his arms, legs, and abs looked perfectly chiseled and toned. Last week you accidentally ran into Beel in the hallway and it felt like you had smashed into a brick wall. Beel, on the other hand, was completely fine.

You began to wonder what Beel thought about your body. He could be pretty handsy at times and he wasn’t shy in his affections. But what if there was something he didn’t like? Something that he thought needed changing?

He’s never mentioned anything about exercising to you before. But you thought back to the students you had seen in this gym: all of them were extremely fit with incredible bodies. You couldn’t help but start to compare yourself to them and think that maybe you were lacking.

Just then, Beel finished his run and walked over to you. You weren’t sure what kind of facial expression you were making but it seemed enough to concern him because he asked, “MC, is everything okay?”

“Hey Beel... do you ever wish I had a nicer body?”

He squinted in confusion. “What do you mean by ‘a nicer body’?”

“I don’t know... just better. Whatever nicer looks like for you.”

Beel was quiet for a moment, thinking. “No, I've never wished for that before. I still don't know what you mean by 'nicer'. I love you. And I love your body because its yours. The only thing that matters to me is whether you’re happy. And as long as I'm still allowed to touch you, then I'm happy.”

He looked at you nervously then, biting his lip. "Am I... still allowed to touch you?"

You laughed and reached to give him a hug, loving how safe it felt in his arms. "Of course, big guy. Thanks for making me feel better. You always know what to say."

Beel flushed with pride and closed his eyes in happiness, leaning into your hand as you patted him on the head.

Belphegor

You knew you were dreaming because you were sitting in a R.A.D classroom surrounded by fellow students, but you couldn’t focus on any of their faces. They were blurry, as if someone had smudged them like an artist had smudged some charcoal.

You were at your desk, looking around the classroom, when as if on cue all of the students began to slowly gather around you. They stood there silently for a moment, unmoving, and you felt a shiver go up your spine. 

And then one by one the students began to hurl insults at you.

“You’re not good enough. Not good enough for Belphegor.” “You’re ugly, you’re hideous. “You’re unwanted, go back to where you came from.” “You don’t deserve what you have, don’t deserve good.” “You’re weak.” “You ruin others, you ruin everything.”

As they insulted you the students began to draw themselves closer, pushing and shoving to reach you. They almost made a cover over your desk as if to block out all the light. You hunched over your desk, shaking and panicking, trying to curl up to protect yourself.

One of the demons began shaking your shoulder roughly, you yelping in pain. He began yelling in your ear, “Wake up! Wake up!”

“MC! Wake up!”

You startled awake and looked around the room in fear. You were in Belphie’s bed, your pajamas sticking to you with sweat. Belphie was looking at you with concern, one hand still on your shoulder.

“MC, you’re okay. It’s just me. It was just a nightmare.” You let out a sob and buried yourself in his arms while he patted you on the back until your breaths evened out.

“D-Did you see my dream?” you asked. You were nervous about showing Belphie that weak side of you, the insecurities that had been brewing since the two of you had begun a relationship. He looked apologetic. “I did. You were whimpering and shaking in your sleep. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

He reached over, one hand smoothing your hair, the fingers of his other hand interlaced with yours. “None of what they said was true, you know.” You looked down, embarrassed. “I mean it, MC. You are good enough. You’re beautiful, you’re wanted, you deserve all the nice and beautiful things in the world, you’re strong. And most importantly, you lift others up. You lift me up everyday.”

He lifted up your hand and pressed a kiss against it. “You lifted me out of darkness. I love you so much. And I’ll gladly stay by your side, for as long as you’ll have me.”

You grabbed the front of his sweater to draw him into a rough kiss, lips bruising. “Forever, Belphie. Forever.”