#domestic au would be them NOT trying to beat the shit out of each other and frankly i just don't think that'd be true to their hearts

[thetooncrew]

the loopyzoop ... the loozennee ... for the ship bingo .... (luzeni)

do I win

[shotorozu]

attractive things you do a lot

[sorta milestone celebration, but also something i made during todo’s birthday]

character(s) : multiple; five or more.

legend : [Y/N = your name] they/them pronouns used, hinted to have a strong quirk but it’s not mentioned alot

post type : headcanons + scenario [fluff, the mildest of spice.] third year au! but it’s nothing nsfw, so no need to worry.

note(s) : i was planning on doing denki, tamaki, monoma, and 2 other characters— but my idea train stopped at shinsou so i’m sorry about that! just let me manifest some ideas rq, and i’ll make a part two.

»»————-　♡　————-««

todoroki shouto

eye contact is so attractive to him, he can’t explain it’s exact details

it’s definitely the way the both of you guys can practically read each other’s expressions just by staring into each other’s eyes it’s sorta telepathic?? im half joking

he absolutely loves the way you look away bashfully when you realize he’s staring at you— as you try to pretend he wasn’t just staring at you not so discreetly

and if you feel like it, you’ll stare back at him— totally teasing him with your eyes, as he slowly realizes that you’ve caught him staring

really adores your thinking face for some reason, you could be plotting about giving bakugou a knuckle sandwich, and shouto would just stare like “my s/o’s so attractive :))”

another thing he really likes is when you hold onto his hand, dragging his left side to your face whenever you feel colder than usual

you practically do the same thing when it’s too hot, and he doesn’t care if you’re sweaty or not. nope, not one bit.

he always found it attractive when he sees you bop your head to songs you really like. shouto just really likes seeing you enjoy yourself.

an extra to the cool/hot bit, he makes you run towards his direction by turning off the ac/heater.

last but not the least, his heart swoons when you kiss his scar. he has always been insecure about it, and you have helped him a lot!

mild spice here— whenever you bite your lip, his heart skips a beat

your lips are just so perfect to him, the shape, size, and color. so biting your lip does something alright. he doesn’t know what exactly though.

to conclude this, todoroki’s just whipped for you— it’s very noticable when he finds you extra attractive.

midoriya izuku

he loves seeing you hyped about something you’re really interested in.

like todoroki, seeing you enjoy yourself genuinely makes him content. his s/o having their own interests is really big for him

strength is something he admires (but he’s not power hungry like end*avor, don’t get confused).

so no, it doesn’t just reflect on your strong and capable quirk—

no. it’s so much deeper than that to him, seeing that you can overcome challenges makes his heart swoon

when you tilt your head when listening to him- omg. he might just short circuit from the way you’re looking at him intensely. 

he likes it a lot when you reach for his hand, enveloping your hand against his

an extra point if you pay extra attention to the callouses and scars on his hands— purposely rubbing a thumb across his scars

fixing his tie.

like.. [SIMP SCREAMS] he doesn’t really know how to fix it properly, but if you do it for him— he’ll start imagining a rather domestic life so BWNDNWNS warn him

mild spice here— but he loves seeing you fix your hero costume?? there’s something about it that makes him refuse to look away. he thinks you’re very hot btw

but the top tier? it’s when you get along with his mom, and children

like.. you don’t have to be good with them, but you should at least be nice to them! midoriya’s deal breaker is if you don’t get along with his mom so.. you really have to in this relationship

bakugou katsuki

when you put him back in his place- well.. let me explain this one

people are so easily intimidated by him, so people don’t talk at him when he says some shit

so he’ll be genuinely surprised if you talk back at him, because it shows him that you're not afraid of him (and that’s important in a relationship with bakugou) 

when you put his face in his palms. he’ll scowl and tell you off, but he actually likes holding your face in his palms

his hands are naturally clammy, so he’s secretly so insecure about them, and if you show him that you really don’t care- then.. that’ll keep him up at night. 

same thing with shouto, but if you run to him for warm in colder weathers, that’ll give him an ego boost. 

knowing that you’ll only look for him, whenever you feel cold makes him feel all “mushy” inside. again, like how bakugou is- he’ll pretend he absolutely despises it but he’ll actually love it.

mild spice here- but seeing you all worn out, panting under him when he spars with you is something that’ll leave him speechless for the rest of the day. man can’t stop thinking about it, and he has to restrain himself. 

last but not the least- it’s when you touch/play with his hair. 

YUUUP. 

so unexpected because he never lets anyone touch it, sometimes not even his own mother. 

but the only hands that are touching the ash blond mesh that is his hair is you. 

do whatever with them. create small braids, comb it, tie it with a scrunchy, straighten it. really- he has trust in you

he’s just so whipped when you do it, and it calms him down. 

kirishima eijirou

when you call him manly 🤠

and when you do things he considers as ‘manly’ like going out of your way to train your quirk— and helping him study for something he doesn’t quite get and when you succeed

another ‘manly’ thing is when you manage to encourage him— because he himself had confidence issues

so if you do that, he’ll be planning the wedding asap

whenever you just make grabby hands at his hair— wanting to style his hair

oh and if you wanted to redo his roots (if they grow back) then he’ll let you <3 because he absolutely adores it

when you start tracing his jawline when you’re staring at him. he was very caught off guard when you did this for the first time

but he absolutely loves the sensation.

stretching before any exercise! just the way you twist yourself with ease.. he’s mesmerized

he stares a little too much, to the point he gets called out by bakugou multiple times

a little spicy here — he likes your teeth. normal teeth, canine teeth, fangs, whatever!

doesn’t matter if you’re bite your lip, or runnig your tongue along the edge of a tooth. are you trying to seduce him?

he will be seduced 💀 face practically rivalling his faux red hair, trying to avert his gaze— thinking about how pretty you just looked like.

last but not the least!

back hugs. he’s such a fan of them, regardless if you’re taller than him, or shorter

surprise him, and he’ll turn around with this big dopey smile— and he’ll trap you in his arms

shinsou hitoshi

okay, if you randomly send him pictures of yourself (either your prettiest pictures, or the weirdest pictures) he’ll be so in love

like— just look at you! you’re gorgeous to him (saves every singe candid photo you’ve send him)

this is a really weird one but.. when you pick up things with your feet (bonus points if you do it with ease.)

when you start fixing your hair, doing whatever to it— he’s just in awe. (have you hypnotized him with your beauty?)

get him things for his hair like headbands, scrunchies, little barretts and pigtails

he’ll keep it in for as long as he can— since his hair is a little wild, a little braid or ponytail wouldn’t hurt, right?

spice warning (?) whispering into his ear makes his heart pound 10x faster like.. are you trying to kill him?

his quirk gave him a habit of listening to someone’s voice.. a little too much.

SO IF YOU WHISPER IN HIS EAR, HE’LL STOP FUNCTIONING :) do whatever with that info tbh

last but never the least— when you support him, and his journey to becoming a hero

because people have told him that he’ll never be a hero because his quirk was too villainy

nope. you think differently, and that’s what he thinks is most attractive about you.

the ability to support and believe him, even if his quirk seems a little misleading.

»»————-　♡　————-««

likes and reblogs are appreciated, thanks for reading!

i do not own bnha/mha and it’s characters. boku no hero academia/my hero academia belongs to horikoshi kohei. i only own the writing.

do not plagiarize my work :))

[lambden]

first foray into letho/gaetan for a flash fic challenge! i've wanted to do an AU like this for a while and i had a lot of fun with it <3 enjoy!

Safehouse T, 4.2K, spies/secret agents AU with some injuries and questionable medical practices, domestic fluff. Also on AO3!

If the bullet in his gut won’t get him, the gravel on this backroad certainly will. The wide wheels of Letho’s bike should prevent any bumps from bothering him but his engine is running on fumes, just like him. He drives one-handed, other palm pressed to his chest.

The bullet isn’t really in his gut; he knows this, because he was able to make it away from the scene of the crime without collapsing in ten minutes. Neither his stomach nor his lungs were punctured, so at least he can be thankful for his good luck there. It’s hard to feel lucky when the stab wound in his shoulder still aches, new agony bubbling up at every turn in the lane. By the time he sees the range road sign for the address he’d been given, Letho’s jacket is so thoroughly soaked that it’s hard to guess exactly where he’d been hit.

He swore he’d never come here. When Geralt’s little shit of a brother had given him the burner phone containing the location for this place, Letho had laughed in his face. The Wolves operate too close for comfort, as do the Cats. You would never catch a Viper handing off the address to someone’s safehouse just because… what? Because Letho and Gaetan had worked together, nearly seven years ago now?

They hadn’t even liked each other, snarking back and forth at every opportunity. Gaetan was impulsive, quick to kill first and ask questions later. Letho likes waiting until the best moment to strike, hunting the mark for as long as he can before taking them out efficiently. Other operatives teased the unlikely duo for their matching penchants for murder, but Letho hated the way Gaetan worked, with his boss breathing down his back half the time. He had been pleasantly surprised to hear of Gaetan’s retirement, and when Lambert handed over the burner phone, rage had flared up in Letho’s chest.

“Why,” he’d demanded, flat and angry. “I don’t need this.” Back then, he had other places he could go in a pinch. The gift of Gaetan’s current location was something that Letho neither wanted nor needed; if he were tortured, it would instantly make him a liability for the Cat.

Lambert had been soft back then, try as he might to hide it. Domestic affection suited him. He pushed the phone across the table between them, smiling behind his wide sunglasses. “Aiden said he’d want you to have it.” The sincerity in his voice made Letho’s stomach flip.

That had been thirty-six months ago, long before Aiden had been killed in action. When Letho had heard the news from a trusted contact, he had briefly thought of his old partner, wondering how Gaetan was handling his brother’s death. He had thought that Gaetan must have blamed himself for retiring, and had probably beat himself up over something more he could have done.

When Letho imagined Gaetan, he had imagined him somewhere warm and entirely off the grid. Perhaps an island where he could walk around topless and practice throwing knives to knock coconuts down from tall palms. He had imagined the man sun-kissed, sand between his toes and other appendages.

The truth is that while Gaetan does live off the grid, he lives in a postcard, with coniferous trees so tall that even a passing helicopter might struggle to track him down. Letho parks his motorcycle badly, wincing as he takes in the size of the property. At this rate he’s going to bleed out on Gaetan’s front lawn. He stumbles forward, one hand pressed to his shoulder and the other to his lower chest, just above his stomach. He’s lucky he isn’t dead yet. He’d be luckier if he got to see Gaetan one last time.

There’s a light on in the front room of the cabin, but no sign of life. Letho valiantly moves towards the house even as his boots sink through the snow. His toe catches on some buried ice and he stumbles, crashing down onto his knees. The blanket of snow muffles his fall, but a moment later the cold sets in and he curses Gaetan for retiring so far north.

So this is how the so-called Kingslayer meets his end. Not at the hands of an enemy squadron, nor eased into death with Auckes and Serrit by his side. Letho will bleed out here, in the picturesque front yard of a man he hasn’t seen in six years. He wonders if Gaetan will recognize his body immediately or panic, calling Guxart to come and deal with the strange corpse outside his door.

Someone bounds towards him through the snow, but they’re much smaller than Gaetan. They are, in fact, not a Cat but a dog— Letho squints, his focus blurring as he tries to make sense of the apparition. The creature is an Australian cattle dog in a thick, red scarf, panting as it approaches. The dog has the good sense to stop a few metres short of coming close, but it doesn’t back away or even bark, just tilting its head curiously at the stranger.

Letho hates dogs. Always has. He hates guard dogs worst of all, and hates having to take them out on jobs, but this one doesn’t seem particularly protective of the property, so he just stares. Even if he wanted to defend himself he couldn’t, so he sways on his knees, blinking at the dog as he drifts into a stupor.

Finally the dog raises its nose skyward and howls, and Letho collapses.

-

“He ponders the Schumann Concerto’s tall willow hit By lightning, and stays put. When he surmises   Through one of Bach’s eternal boxwood mazes   The oboe pungent as a bitch in heat,

“Or when the calypso decants its raw bay rum Or the moon in Wozzeck reddens ripe for murder,   He doesn’t sneeze or howl; just listens harder.   Adamant needles bear down on him from

“Whirling of outer space, too black, too near— But he was taught as a puppy not to flinch,   Much less to imitate his bête noire Blanche   Who barked, fat foolish creature, at King Lear.

“Still others fought in the road’s filth over Jezebel,   Slavered on hearths of horned and pelted barons.   His forebears lacked, to say the least, forbearance.   Can nature change in him? Nothing’s impossible…”

Gaetan drifts off in thought, the last few lines of the poem lingering in his throat even after recitation. He only comes back to himself when Teigr tugs on the end of his house robe, whining insistently. As much as Gaetan would like to believe that his pet is begging to hear the rest of the verse about another, long-gone dog, he knows better. He dog-ears the page and closes the book, putting the collection down on his coffee table and rising from his couch. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Hold on, darling.”

He walks to the front door and Teigr eagerly circles him, nearly tripping him a few times. But after three years of near-isolation the two of them have developed a perfect rhythm of co-existence. Gaetan avoids stepping on his tail and in turn the hound waits patiently for his owner to bumble along. He wraps one of his scarves loosely around Teigr’s neck, covering the spot where he had to shave him last fall for a routine veterinary operation. Then he opens the door.

The dog bounds out into the snow without looking back, and Gaetan stands in the doorway, surveying the beautiful but empty yard. His garden and walkway are covered in a heavy white blanket, undisturbed except for where Teigr has wandered out for his business. A small puff of snow twinkles down from his roof, dusting the porch, but Gaetan just wrinkles his nose and draws his sleeves closer around himself.

Without warning, the harsh and inhuman computerized voice that has become so familiar to Gaetan calls, “Front door open. Security update?”

“No threat,” Gaetan replies out of habit. There’s been no threat since he moved in, not even when Aiden sought refuge here after his near-brush with death and subsequent disappearance. Gaetan hadn’t slept at all the first week, terrified by nightmares of his brother’s pursuers tracking them down. But no one had come, and eventually Gaetan grew comfortable enough to stop triple-locking the door and sleeping with a dagger under his pillow. He turns away from the cold afternoon, calling to the security system: “Teigr’s out in the yard. Turn off all alarms for fifteen minutes, yeah?”

“Yes, Gaetan,” the voice echoes from the speakers installed in every hallway. Then the noise cuts out, leaving the house silent and peaceful as ever. A run-of-the-mill visitor would hardly know that anyone of note lived here; the crackling fire in the hearth and warm scent of hot apple oolong aren’t exactly red flags.

Gaetan likes it that way— after all, he hadn’t travelled to the middle of nowhere so that he could constantly relive the trauma of his old life. The most action he sees these days is in the letters that Kiyan, Aiden, and Dragonfly will occasionally send. They often ask if he’s bored maintaining a small garden and living off the land and caring (perhaps too much) for his dog, but Gaetan isn’t bored so much as content. After a lifetime wasted as a pawn for others, his own wellbeing thrust aside as he became a killing weapon, he can’t say he misses his old life.

Then, right as he’s about to return to his tea, Teigr starts howling fiercely in the yard. It isn’t the howl of a squirrel chase or a moon sighting, but the howl of a dog in mourning. Gaetan rushes back to the front door and throws it open without thinking, and then he sees Teigr pawing at a figure, face down in the snow.

Without changing out of his housecoat or slippers, Gaetan reaches for the 9mm he keeps right next to the door. He makes a beeline for the person, praying they aren’t a corpse and wincing as the thick, sick stench of blood hits his nose. In Teigr’s desperate attempts to rouse the downed figure by nosing at their head, he has managed to dip the red scarf in their dark blood and spread it everywhere, painting wide circles on the snow.

Gaetan shoves his dog out of the way, hurrying to lift the bloodied stranger up into his arms— or try to, anyway. His heart sinks as he thinks that this must be a corpse, because no living human would weigh this fucking much. Then, with great effort, he turns the cold dead body and gasps as he recognizes the bruised face of a long-forgotten ally.

-

When Letho wakes up, he’s astonished by the total absence of pain. His eyelids are heavy so he quickly attributes the blissful numbness to drugs, and even though someone in his profession getting drugged is a very bad thing, he can’t help but thank whoever thought they’d ease the way for him with medication.

With herculean effort, he finally manages to open his eyes to take in the room around him, which is when he experiences the second great surprise. He’s not in a hospital, but in someone’s bedroom. On the nightstand is a small lamp and a bowl of water with a rag, as well as, bafflingly, a James Bond book. There’s a quilt folded over half his body and a thin blanket covering the rest, and Letho can’t see or feel the damage but he imagines it isn’t good. But there’s no IV in sight, and when he very experimentally tests his shoulder, the place he’d been stabbed doesn’t ache at all.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing,” someone snaps harshly, and Letho startles. He sluggishly swings his head around to see Gaetan baring his teeth, beautiful and furious as Letho remembers him. The man is only in sweatpants and a loose grey shirt that hangs off his shoulders, a far cry from the tight leather armour most Cats don. He also lacks any sign of a weapon, rising from his chair beside Letho’s bed with only his bare hands outstretched.

Those hands push Letho back down onto the bed gently, and Letho groans without meaning to. As he climbs up to sit on the bed, Gaetan grumbles, “You’re going to undo all my hard work, you gigantic moron. Is this how you treat all your nurses? It’s a wonder you’ve made it this far in life!”

Exhausted and hazy from the medication, Letho just blinks back. Gaetan is even more handsome than he used to be, with a thick layer of scruff shaved just under his jaw. He’s wearing half rim glasses with a black frame. Letho tries to reach up to run his hand along Gaetan’s scratchy beard, and the Cat actually growls, grabbing his hand and shoving it back down into the pillows. “Stop. Moving. You’ve been out for twenty-six hours, you can’t just hop up and run right back into the fray, you fucking idiot.”

So gentle that it’s barely audible, Letho murmurs, “Gaetan.”

Gaetan’s grip on his palm softens and he doesn’t move at all, chest lifting and falling silently. When he finally replies, his voice is more tender. “Yeah. Glad you know where you are, at least.”

Heaven, Letho thinks, confused about many things but certain about this. Gaetan pulls away from him and rises from the bed, and Letho watches him settle back into the chair before sleep claims him again.

-

“I need a shipment of O-negative blood,” Gaetan says as soon as the call connects. His old boss and mentor has never appreciated small talk, and right now Gaetan is glad for it. “As soon as possible,” he tacks on.

The line is live but silent, and Gaetan wonders, annoyed, if Guxart is alone or if Vesemir is privy to this phone call. Finally, the elder Cat replies, “Am I allowed to ask why?”

Biting back his initial, very rude response, Gaetan tells him, “It’s better if you don’t know.” True, even if it’s dramatic— the different branches of Witcher agents have tenuous relationships at best, and he doesn’t need Guxart wondering why a Viper would come to Gaetan for sanctuary. Especially not when Gaetan is still wondering that himself. “How soon can it arrive?”

“I already placed the order,” says Guxart, and Gaetan finally sags in relief. “But— and forgive me for prying, young one… why not just donate it yourself? It says in your file that your type is O-. Are you in good health, Gaetan?”

“I’m fine,” Gaetan hisses, toying with the edge of the bandage on his inner elbow. He’s a universal donor, not a universal recipient, which means that while he can easily provide for Letho, it doesn’t work both ways. Besides, Letho needs all the blood he can get right now, so… “As soon as you possibly can,” he repeats insistently, before ending the call.

-

The next time Letho awakens, he knows better. He looks over at the chair first, and he isn’t surprised to see Gaetan there, snoring gently and slumped forward over the side of the mattress. Whatever cocktail the Cat made him has started to wear off so it aches slightly as Letho sits up and reaches for him, but he does it anyway, curiously placing his hand on the Cat’s shoulder.

Before he can get a word out Gaetan jumps, scrambling away from Letho’s touch. Letho tries not to laugh, or cry, at the sudden jerkiness in his movement even though he’d been fast asleep only ago. You can take the Witcher out of the game… He mumbles, voice hoarse from disuse, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t,” huffs Gaetan, cross. Then as he looks at Letho his gaze softens, so the Viper must really look fucking awful. Letho has never been a pretty boy like the other Witchers but recovering from the brink of death would do a number on anyone, and despite his superhuman strength, he is only just human. “It’s alright, I gotta… gotta let the dog out anyway, so it’s good.”

Sure enough, a scratching starts up on the other side of the door. Gaetan must have shut it to keep the animal out of the room, and while Letho appreciates it, he suddenly feels terrible for both the dog and his owner. Gaetan didn’t invite Letho to crawl into his life and take over his early retirement. When he supplied the number he had probably done it as a fucking joke, not… not for any of this.

Gaetan stands, stretching out an obvious kink in his back. Letho stares, unabashed, at the gap of skin revealed by his sweater rising up over his stomach. He looks so comfortable and vulnerable here, and Letho brought death and terror to his door when he wasn’t expecting it. Letho owes him a thousand apologies, but he can’t bring himself to deliver any of them, not when he’s not sure exactly where the two of them stand.

As the Cat goes to exit the room, Letho asks, sounding pathetic even to his own ears, “Can I come?”

“Oh!” Gaetan turns back to stare, slightly bewildered, hand still lingering on the doorknob. The scratching from the other side gets more eager and intense. “... Don’t see why not.”

-

Moving Letho out of bed is a two-man job, but thankfully for both of them the Viper seems to be regaining his strength more and more with every day. Gaetan has him on a steady diet that mainly consists of broth, not wanting to risk upsetting anything because he doesn’t know Letho’s nutritional needs. He knows very, very little about Letho, which has never been an issue before. But here, with Gaetan’s entire life on open display, he feels a little nervous hosting the other man.

Letho takes everything in stride— or, at least, if he has any comments on the state of the house, he keeps them to himself. Teigr is very interested in the stranger he found in the yard but Gaetan firmly keeps the dog out of arm’s reach, not wanting Teigr to try to jump on his new friend and accidentally toppling a giant in the process.

The giant stares back at Teigr, much less friendly than Aiden had been. Gaetan wants to ask him a hundred questions, ranging from his opinion on dogs to his opinion on Gaetan’s situation to why the fuck he showed up here. But he doesn’t want to ask for too much too soon; he only knew Letho for a short time but the man had been very open about his policy on friendship.

After letting a very relieved Teigr loose into the yard, Gaetan returns to the living room and settles down next to Letho. The bigger man has taken up residence in one of Gaetan’s favourite armchairs, and he’s wearing the baggiest clothing that Gaetan could find in the house. The bandages around his shoulder are visible under his shirt collar, and while Gaetan can’t actually see the gauze around his stomach he can see every time the stitches twinge in pain, because Letho winces, blinking hard.

Out in the yard, Teigr plays with a ball. Letho watches through the window, staring at the space where he’d left his motorcycle; Gaetan had had no idea how to drive the damn thing so moving it into the garage had been a slow process. Before the Viper can ask about a getaway route, Gaetan asks nervously, “Are your stitches alright?”

Turning a look of consideration first on his own hulking body and then onto Gaetan, Letho hums. The noise makes him sound like a Wolf, but his low voice is unmistakable when he answers, “I’m fine. Whatever you gave me has been working like a charm.”

“Good!” Gaetan reaches for his mug of wine, draining it. He hadn’t offered Letho a drink but now he wonders if he should; when he licks his lips afterwards, Letho’s clever gaze follows the motion. “You thirsty? Hungry at all?”

“No,” mumbles Letho.

He doesn’t tear his eyes away from Gaetan, who ignores the flush of heat blooming across his chest as Letho watches him. “Don’t give me some spiel about wanting to get right back out there,” he suddenly snarls. “I don’t give a shit if you’re bored, you haven’t even been here for a week. You were shot and stabbed in two very nearly vital places. Surely whoever hired you can find another Witcher to finish the job!”

But Letho just keeps watching him, dark eyes holding more secrets than Gaetan could possibly hope to ever find out. “I’m not bored,” he says. “And I did finish the job. Nearly killed myself in the fucking process, but…” The Viper smirks in morbid amusement. “You should see the other guys.”

Gaetan leans back in his chair, interest stirring despite himself. “Are you at liberty to share the story, or will that bring Ivar himself to my door?”

“Ivar doesn’t know where you live,” Letho snorts quietly. “Didn’t tell anyone. Didn’t even know myself until I needed it, and then I checked the burner. Pretty stupid invitation, by the way; anyone could have taken that phone off my body and come right here.”

“Unless a great deal has changed in seven years, I find it hard to believe that anyone could rob you,” Gaetan huffs. Letho’s smirk widens and as he flashes his teeth, Gaetan’s heart flutters in a way it hasn’t in years. “So, tell me. Who got the jump on the Kingslayer himself?”

-

This evening feels different than all the others, and not just because he’s conscious and upright for it. They dine together in the kitchen, swapping stories about jobs both recent and ancient. Over red wine and risotto, Letho tells Gaetan about his most recent near-brush with death, and more, going into detail about the smugglers and how he’d been tracking this gang for months. In return Gaetan tells Letho about the truth of an old assassination that was famously carried out by the cabinet minister’s mistress.

Letho’s side begins aching long before he finally tells the Cat he needs to go to sleep, prolonging the conversation for as long as he can hold out. He missed Gaetan, although he doesn’t tell him that; back in the day they’d been at each other’s throats all the time and they never had the opportunity to talk like this. Letho enjoys it more than he thought he would have.

When he does finally relent, Gaetan hurries to help him into bed, walking alongside him in the hall just to ensure that he doesn’t slip or anything. The door to Letho’s room is slightly ajar and when he pushes it open he’s surprised to see the cattle dog curled up on the mattress, soundly asleep. Gaetan scowls, quickly calling his pet away, but Letho silences him with a hand on his arm. “You remember what they say about sleeping dogs, right?”

The reference is to a fight they’d had as much younger men, in a very different context. It’s difficult to rectify the hair-trigger temper Gaetan had had back then with the peaceful man standing before Letho now. But judging by the light in Gaetan’s eyes, he remembers that fight well too. Grinning, he mumbles, “Fuck off.”

“We can just sleep in your room,” Letho tells him, and when Gaetan’s jaw drops he sighs. “I mean, unless you have a better idea?”

“No, uh— that’s, no, that’s fine,” stammers Gaetan. “It’s just down the hall, I’ll go get one of the chairs from the living room!”

But Letho, still holding his arm, pulls him back until they’re face to face again. “Aren’t you tired of sleeping in a chair? You’re not likely to make it worse if you just share the bed with me… unless you still sleep with a knife in your hand.”

Gaetan fidgets, and for a moment Letho panics that he’s ruined this whole uncertain thing between them. He’s on the verge of walking it back when the Cat reaches up to touch Letho’s palm where it’s wrapped around his forearm. He takes Letho’s hand into his, tracing the lines on his palm thoughtfully. “If this is what you want, then yes,” Gaetan says, eyes shining. “Yes, I could do with a night in a real bed.”

-

As dawn breaks, Teigr comes into Gaetan’s room, sniffing around for his owner. He knows better than to jump up onto the bed with two grown men there— especially when one is gigantic— so he just stands on Gaetan’s side. He taps his paw against the side of the bedframe, whining quietly until the giant man rises up from the covers and smiles at him with surprising tenderness. “Gaetan’s still asleep,” he murmurs. “You’ll have to wait a bit to go out, alright?”

Teigr settles back onto his haunches, staring at Letho. The man stares right back, chewing his lip pensively as he watches the dog. “You know, I never liked dogs,” he confesses. Teigr tilts his head curiously. “They always freaked me out. But you saved my life… so you’re alright, I suppose. Kind of cute.” Letho smiles again. “Just like your owner.”

Ducking down to kiss the top of Gaetan’s head, Letho snuggles back under the covers. “Five more minutes, Teigr.”

Teigr huffs, exasperated but glad to see his owner in such good hands. He curls up on the carpet at the end of Gaetan’s bed, falling back asleep to the sound of the two Witchers snoring.

[joonlaksme]

Touché

Pair: Namjoon x reader

Type: Fluff, smut, barely any angst, domestic au

Warnings: Husband!Namjoon, Pregnant!Reader, fingering (f reviving), stretch marks kink, soft sex, unprotected sex (it's okay because she's pregnant already but you should know to stay safe!), dirty talking, slight praising, barely any cum play/eating, fluffy aftercare

Word count: 1.5k

"Shit babe." Namjoon groans, his head between your thighs while his fingers press up to the rough place inside you.

You moan softly to the slow movements of his two digits. You're sure you're dripping down his fingers by now but it's just not enough. He's being careful with you since you haven't properly had sex since he found out you were pregnant. You're 5 months into it now and he treats you like a princess made out of fragile glass. Don't get it twisted, you still love how he's so precious with you but in a time like this, you're always on ten and need him to knock you down a few pegs. You woke him up at 3 in the morning so he could take care of you and it isn't even the first time. After he would reach you to your orgasm, he would take care of himself in the bathroom instead of letting you help him.

"Baby, come on. Fuck me." You whine, squirming around in his hold.

"I don't wanna hurt her." He rubs your tummy and presses his lips to the stretch marks that color your hips. His eyes prolong on them for a while and he kisses them again before holding himself back and taking himself to the joined bathroom.

Even now, it's the same pattern. His slow and torturous movement that you're day by day, getting tired of. It's so sickeningly sweet that you're beginning to want to jump his bones when he's sleeping. You want to go back to when you guys were having sex more than you are now. When you'd be off on your experiments to find out what you guys like with each other. How when Namjoon told you he was pretty much up to everything, it was set a fire in your belly and a shiver up your spine. Now, you haven't properly felt him in what feels like years when it's actually been 4 months.

So, you do what you should've done those 4 months ago. You feel yourself brimming on the edge of your orgasm but you bite your lip to stop the flow of noise and pull his fingers out. You could barely reach with the joined weight but you managed. It's slick and just like expected, you feel your wetness all over his fingers. Namjoon is shocked to begin with. He felt how tight you were around him. How close you were from years of being with you. The feeling he could never get used to. He looks up at you while your darker eyes pierce into his.

"Why'd you stop me. Fuck..." He lightly leans his head on your thigh, not even trying anymore to hide himself at grinding on the bed.

"Give it to me, Joonie." You pull him closer. He can't exactly lean on you with your stomach blocking him and he most definitely doesn't want to crush you and his child so he settles for holding your thighs and pulling them up on his knees. Your legs wrap around his back and you feel his clothed cock against your drenched mound. Feeling him right at your swollen clit. He doesn't try to resist this time but now, it's hard to boggle his head so he can find a reason to stop himself. To control himself. You beat him to it.

"I'm your wife right?"

He nods, "But..."

"But nothing. When I need you so badly, shit. Please." You, yourself lose sense of what you want to say. Either way, he gets the point and pulls his sweatpants off as quickly as he can. Of course, that isn't the best choice since he does it clumsily, his long legs making it harder for him to completely take it off in one go but he manages. "Wanna feel your cock deep inside of me." You say in your most seductive voice. He looks like he's in a daze when he lines himself up to your entrance and slowly moves in. Your back arches almost instantly.

"Tell me if I ever need to stop-"

"Just shut up and fuck me." You cut him off. His eyes widen at your blatant request. He's never heard you this demanding before and he thinks he's harder than he's ever been. With your wider hips and how needy you look in his hands when he raises your waist and places a pillow under it. With a line down your stomach, stretch marks on your hips and your boobs. The very sight makes him go crazy.

It was 2 years into dating when you both discovered this kink. After living in the same house for 3 months, you got comfortable instantly and to be honest, you started gaining a couple of pounds. However, your weight went to your ass and he spent that day with you on your hands and knees. His fingers slapping your ass cheeks until they were a darker shade and his fingers tracing the lines. You came more times than you could count that day.

Now, it was like heaven to him. His girth stretched you out deliciously. You're so wet that it only takes a few seconds before he's buried to the hilt. You almost forgot how good it felt to have him inside of you. Your hand reaching out for his and he immediately takes it, intertwining your fingers and pressing it beside your hips. You hit your head back at the pillow that supports it and let out a choked out moan.

"F-fuck..." Namjoon hisses when he's fully seated inside you. He's trying to hold himself back from going rough but it's hard with every inch of your intoxicating body luring him. With the smell and the feel of your walls encasing him. The heat and the tightness leading him to cumming right then and there. Slowly, he rocks his hips. His length presses on your g-spot as you writhe. His free hand presses on your thigh to hold you still, every inch of him taking you over. It's so carelessly sweet how much he cares for you. How he look at you in your eyes with so much love. When he moves your joined hands and softly lays in on your stomach.

You move your free hand and caress on of your breast, rubbing your finger gently against your nipple. That alone sends a surge of electricity through your body. Your saliva gets thicker with every breath, Namjoon's eyes widening at you getting even more tighter which he thought wasn't possible. He pulls out in a makeshift escape. You whine when you immediately lose his warmth.

"Fuckfuckfuck." He holds the base of his cock, the tip a deep shade of red with his breath heavy even when he barely moved. "I almost came."

You still whine for him though, not minding if he came but not being able to join those words together so they could make sense instead of a whole bunch of gibberish. He gets it though. He takes a deep breath and pushes in again, this time a little harder. It's what you want though. You clench around him once again. He starts moving in and out this time, speeding up gradually.

"Gonna cum. Deep inside this cunt." He starts his dirty talk. He knows how much you love it. How it's just teasing for you, and you're so close you could cry. He moves fast but not too fast. Even with his mind still clouded with lust, he holds you as close as he can. He makes sure you're comfortable before he is. "You like that?" He groans close to your ear, your legs closing around him tighter.

"Yes, f-fuck, keep doing that!" You yelp after him.

"So perfect for me. So tight and perfect." He hums. His thumb brushes against your clit and right there is the money shot. Hot tears pinching at the edge of your eyelids and you shake and he fucks you through the waves of your orgasm. "Shit-" He pulls your legs higher to get in deeper. "Want me fill your pussy with my cum?" He asks again. You nearly scoff.

"Yes, I want it. I want to feel you so deep inside me that I feel it in the morning." You reply, the sensitivity taking over your senses after your intense orgasm.

"God, you're so damn sexy." He groans and with two final thrust, he fills you up with his seed. With some lazy thrusts to guide himself through it, he pulls out when he finishes, laying back beside you with heavy breaths. You feel just as exhausted. He pulls your sweaty body close to him, finally kissing you like he's been wanting to for the past few moments. You kiss him back just as needy. Then, he pulls back and walks to the bathroom. He comes back with a towel and goes back down to clean between your legs.

Well, it's not before he presses some back in and pushes it back in when some drips out. He licks his thumb and then cleans it up, ensuring that you are comfortable. You're already half asleep though and he climbs back up, pulling the covers over the both of you.

"You should do that more often." He whispers.

"You should stop worrying about everything more often." You reply sluggishly, but still smug.

"...Touché, Y/N. Touché."

[heybeybey]

Royal AU : King Levi x domestic Petra bestie pls ??

Thanks for this @himebee-5! I needed a break from all the smut I've been drafting 😭

Word count: 1,155

Genre: Fluff, Romance

- - -

"I'm sorry... what?" Petra utters out, hand freezing on top of the young lamb whose fur she was brushing.

"I need a wife." He repeats to her, voice steady but his eyes reveal a tinge of fear at being rejected.

He'd long since discarded his crown, not even fond of the thing to begin with and Levi now stands before her in his casual black clothing. "My cousin ran off with a soldier. Tch. Brat didn't even choose a sane one."

Seeing that Petra is still reeling from the news he just dropped, Levi decides to continue.

"Now, because of Mikasa's smart decision, I don't have an heir to pass on the stupid crown. The court is pressuring me to get married as soon as possible."

"I-I heard that, my lord but-"

"Petra, drop the title," Levi said, stepping closer to her. "I thought we're way past that."

Petra can still recall the moment when Levi first visited two years ago to meet all the nobles and peasants that live throughout his domain. He was freshly crowned after the Ackerman line's matriarch and queen had died of a disease.

She recalls thinking that the new king was quite short and cold, a frown never leaving his face despite the purpose of these visits is to build relationships with his countrymen. He'd never spoken even once and mostly kept to himself while his taller, blonde general takes over the pleasantries on his behalf.

She personally found it endearing, how he'd awkwardly wave at the cheering masses, despite hearing the whispers from other townspeople how rude it was for a king to greet his people that way.

Petra was currently in the stables, taking care of the horses of their town's newest visitors. She'd often be back at her farm house and attending to the sheep, but with her father's death bleeding her savings dry, she needed some extra income other than what she could sell from her family's farm.

She'd been alone for a few hours now and the arrival of a new person made her jump a little in surprise. She was even more at a loss when she sees that it's just not anyone. It was the new king.

"My lord," she drops in a sorry attempt of a curtsy. She'd only ever seen the higher-class ladies do this. As a farm girl, she'd never seen any purpose in practicing such protocols.

Until today.

"What's your name?" He had said, eyeing her in amusement as her hand clenches her skirt. "You can stand up now."

"Petra Ral, my lord," Petra answered.

He silently nods in acknowledgement. "Care to show me around, Petra? Those nobles had been dragging me around but I doubt they even know shit about this place."

Petra jumps slightly at the curse word, not expecting that such a word would even come from a man bred in royalty. She finally offers him a small smile before gesturing him to follow her outside the stables with her own personal horse in tow.

"Well, you can't consider yourself an official visitor of our town unless you've seen the sunflower farm," she said. "My father used to offer tours. I can try to show you, but I'm not really as charismatic and charming as he was." She giggles at the thought of a stoic king amidst a field of bright flowers.

"I doubt that." He said. Petra's giggles stopped, and she found her face heating up fast as he tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

"My lor- I mean, Levi..." Petra whispers, head looking down as her heart skips a beat, both from the intense gaze he's currently giving her and the memory of how that first night ended with them in between bedsheets at her almost dilapidated farm house. "I don't think I'm qualified for such a title."

"Petra, we've been seeing each other for almost two years now." He said, voice taking on a softer tone when he sees the insecurity starting to settle on her face. "You're all I think about every time I go to war. I ride to this farm every week, and you don't know how many times I wished I could stay."

He finally takes her hand in his, lifting it up to place a soft kiss on her knuckles before continuing, "I'm tired of you remaining a secret when I know the future I want is with you."

But this special thing they have in private doesn't mean it would work in public.

What does she know of being royalty? Of dazzling, expensive dresses when all she had ever worn her whole life are peasant skirts and headdresses that she had to sew and re-stitch herself every few years.

"I doubt your people will approve my lord," She replies in a shaky voice, emphasising his title so that he would be reminded that what they have isn't normal. "That you're planning to marry a farm girl. I'm sure there are other candidates out there."

"There are." Petra's chest clenches at his answer, remembering the noblewomen in her small town who always tried to drape themselves on him. "But I don't want any of them. You're the only one, Petra."

In the two years that she'd been secretly with Levi, her heart always felt full at the knowledge that he'd never given in to their seduction and whims. Two years in and she can't believe that she's still smitten every time she finds him waiting outside her door in the wee hours of a Saturday morning.

Sighing, Petra makes a final attempt to convince him otherwise and make him see reason. But she can feel her own resolve wavering.

"I've never even been to the capital."

"I'll show you around." He replies, lighting up a bit when he hears from her voice that she's trying to convince herself as much as she's trying to convince him.

"People will talk. They'll say I seduced you for your money and power and-"

"Who gives a shit." He starts to pepper kisses against her cheek, hands trailing gentle patterns against her hips.

Her breath hitches when his lips reaches her neck. "I don't know a single thing about being royalty. I'll just embarrass you."

"I don't care." With that, he lifts her up in his arms while she finds her own hands settling on his cheek and undercut. Levi gives her a hard and almost bruising kiss before he starts to carry her towards the cozy haven that is her farm house.

"I want a lot of children." Her own yes to his proposal.

"We'll raise an army." Levi replies against her lips, kicking the door to her bedroom open.

[alfredolover119]

zukka fic rec list (post-canon)

howdy! i’ve been collecting zukka fics i like since uhhh june and now i am sharing my lists with the world. i’m splitting it into three posts so it hopefully wont be too long. this is the second one: post-canon fics! the other two will be canon era and modern au. [side note!! if youd like a specific type of rec list,, i.e. soulmate au, fake dating, ambassador sokka,, hmu and i’ll post a list !!]

within this post, the fics are in word count order! also, if you’d like a soundtrack for your reading, i might recommend my zukka playlist :^) happy reading!

speak ill by @moonsongdotmp3

-4111 words, teen

-developing/established relationship, ozai hate <3

"I hate your dad so much,” Sokka considers for a second. He tries to mix it up as often as he can when they play this game. “That I have considered starting an official petition begging Aang to reconsider his commitment to nonviolence.” // It’s quiet for a beat. He’s afraid he’s miscalculated, but Zuko laughs, broken and sincere. // (Or: 5, 8, 15 years after the war, Sokka talks shit about Ozai.)

Friends Don’t Let Friends Fake Date Each Other by @d-naggeluide

-5349 words, general

-fake dating, coming out, kinda crackfic

Toph demands that Zuko fake date her. This goes just about as well as can be expected. Sokka steps in to show them how it's done, and this goes a bit better than expected.

Oh, How We Find Our Way by @donvex

-6043 words, teen

-bed sharing, hurt/comfort, domestic fluff

In which Zuko doesn’t sleep nearly enough once he takes up the throne, and Sokka isn’t having it. And maybe they get to fall in love on the way, as a treat.

(let me be) there for you by @bisexuallsokka

-8471 words, teen

-friends/idiots to lovers, mutual pining, getting together

Sokka pulls out a clean piece of parchment and starts to write: Reasons Why Sokka Would Be A Great Bodyguard for Lord Zuko // He smiles in satisfaction at the title. Seeing it in writing only makes him feel more confident in this brilliant, two-minute-old idea of his. Zuko is one of his closest friends, and Sokka is a great fighter, he would be the perfect bodyguard! He has the entirety of his trip in the Fire Nation to prove it to Zuko. This is going to be a piece of cake.

This Isn’t My Idea of Fun by @khaleeseas​

-8921 words, explicit

-royalty/moon spirit!sokka, childhood friends to lovers, no war au, mutual pining, fluff and angst

If you asked Zuko, he and Azula saw far too much of Chief Hakoda of the Northern Water Tribe’s children growing up. It wasn’t until they were older, and Azula pointed out that - duh - their families were trying to set them all up, that he realized why. // He was told by his mother to be polite. These people were their friends and allies, and though their nations were as different as they came, harmony between nations was the most important thing. // It wasn’t his fault the Chief’s children were so annoying.

the thing about dancing by anodymalion

-9713 words, teen

-trans sokka, family angst

The first time a attendant spills Zuko’s tea and doesn’t immediately fall to her knees, begging the Fire Lord’s forgiveness, it is not anger but a resounding warmth that fills his chest.

Will You Fake Date Me (But This Time For Real)? by AlyssiaInWonderland

-10520 words, not rated (teen, i think)

-fake dating, mutual pining, idiots to lovers

Zuko is determined to convince his Uncle that he is not, in fact, pining after Sokka. // Sokka is desperate to convince Katara and Aang that he is not, in fact, pining after Suki. // When Sokka's scheme to avoid pity means Zuko and him must fake date for an entire diplomatic event, shenanigans, realisations and confessions ensue.

i could (never) give you peace by @zukkababey​

-10540 words, mature

-ambassador!sokka, friends to fwb to lovers, angst with a happy ending, miscommunication

Zuko almost said it. He almost said the words I think I’m in love with you, but he choked them back down at the last second. // Zuko would never be able to be what Sokka wanted. They might have needed each other during the summer, when two boys with too much weight on their shoulders found comfort in each other in the only way they knew how. // But now Zuko was Fire Lord, and Sokka was leaving.

Operation: Get the Fire Lord a Boyfriend by @rejectscanon 

-10679 words, teen

-established relationship, attempted matchmaking, fluff, hurt/comfort, 5+1

5 times the people of the Fire Nation tried to get Zuko and Sokka together, and 1 time they realized they already were.

a study in matchmaking by @verdanthoney​

-12218 words, general

-friends to lovers, mutual pining, idiots in love, bg bakoda and kataang

Zuko and Sokka try to play matchmaker, but things don’t go exactly as planned.

Always read Your Peace Treaties Carefully by preciousbunnynoiz

-14039 words, teen

-arranged marriage, miscommunication, found family, fluff, non-linear narrative, angst with a happy ending

Zuko and Sokka have been engaged to be married since the peace talks. Only they were the only ones who didn't know. // Everyone else thought they not only knew but that they had already been dating the entire time. // This is also news to Zuko and Sokka who have definitely NOT been dating but maybe they aren't as uninterested as they are protesting.

this love burns so yellow (becoming orange and in its time, exploding) by @meliebee​

-18767 words, teen, major character death (NOT ZUKO OR SOKKA OR ANY OF THE GAANG)

-found family, slowburn, fluff and angst, hurt/comfort, mutual pining

Ten months after Zuko is crowned at seventeen, he faces his first coup.

All the Little Things by @voidcenturyscholar and @romancedawning

-23575 words, general

-fake dating, friends to lovers, mutual pining, bed sharing, fluff, miscommunication

Sokka receives an offer of an arranged marriage from the Northern Water Tribe. On the one hand, accepting would strengthen ties between their tribes. On the other hand, Chief Arnook has suggested Hahn as a potential match, and Hahn sucks. But with the future of the Southern Water Tribe Reconstruction project relying heavily on the good will of the North, Sokka doesn’t know how to say no. // (Katara doesn’t have to deal with this. Katara is dating the Avatar.) // Zuko has a solution. Sokka just wishes he’d realized he was in love with the Fire Lord before he agreed to pretend to date him.

isn’t this the vision that you wanted by @goldrushzukka​

-34633 words, teen

-pining, matchmaking, coming out, friends to lovers, bed sharing, internalized homophobia

Firelord Zuko - ender of the Hundred Year War, ruler of the Fire Nation, payer of respects and reparations - takes advice and counsel from representatives of every nation, division, and specialty. // But teenage boy Zuko - friend of turtleducks, wielder of fun looking swords, stumbler over words and feet in the presence of cute boys - only listens to two people, and they are conspiring together to ruin him.

(do you take this jerk to be) your one and only by @jatersade​

-55855 words, teen

-enemies to friends to lovers, (not actually) unrequited love, slowburn, sharing a bed, alternate universe, arranged marriage, huddling for warmth, fluff

Under the leadership of Fire Lord Iroh, the Fire Nation has made every attempt to restore peace and make amends for the harm they inflicted during the Seventy-Year War. Their newest proposal is a literal proposal: a marriage to unite the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes. // The Fire Nation offers Prince Zuko’s hand. // The Water Tribes offer Princess Yue’s. // Sokka is apparently the only person in the world who has a problem with any of this.

Wooing the Water Tribe by @dameferre​

-56839 words, teen

-didn’t know they were dating, i mean IDIOT idiots to lovers, ambassador!sokka, mutual pining, himbos istg

Zuko is courting Katara, and with every passing day finds new and insane ways of showing that he would quite literally move the spirit world and earth to make her happy. // In hindsight, it probably would've been better if Sokka had realised he was in love with Zuko at literally any time before this. Or preferably, never fallen for his best friend in the first place.

In the Soft Light by @voidcenturyscholar and @romancedawning​

-83901 words, teen, graphic depictions of violence

-moon spirit!sokka, ambassador zuko kinda, hurt/comfort, slowburn, pining, canon divergence, miscommunication, sickfic, huddling for warmth, angst with a happy ending, enemies to lovers, underage drinking

As the newly appointed cultural liaison to Northern Water Tribe, Zuko is the first Fire Nation Citizen to step foot inside the city's walls in nearly a century. He's determined to prove himself—to the Fire Lord and to his father—even if the Water Tribe's spirit-touched prince seems to want nothing to do with him.

[uwuwriting]

Breaking in pt.2 w/ Aizawa, Shinsou and Bakugou

Request: Hi!! SoooOO I recently found your stuff and it's safe to say I am ✨obsessed✨ I LOVED the post you did of the BNHA reacting to someone breaking in with Hawks, Dabi and Todoroki. I was wondering if you could do another one with like Shinsou, Bakugou and Aizawa. I feel like Baku would throw mad HANDS. love your work stay stuff and have a good day x - anonymous

Okay I too love rescue fics and being kidnapped or held hostage is one of my favorite tropes. Throwing your kids in the mix is immaculat at least for me because I’m a die hard fan of domestic AUs. So of course I’m gonna write this trope again with these three idiots. I enjoyed writing the previous one so hehheehehehhe. Love ya. 💖💖💖

masterlist II rules

warnings: some descriptions of violence, some crying but fluff/comfort in the end. 

Aizawa Shota II a son (Kaito)

-He was running late. 

-He hated running late.

-Today the class had extra training hours and it lasted longer than he expected, so much so that he had to call for someone to fill in his spot on patrol tonight. 

-In reality he really wanted to spend the night at home with you and your 2 year old son, canceling his patrol because the kids didn’t finish training was just an excuse. 

-He had shot you a text informing you that he would be home tonight but a little later than usual. 

-You had just picked up Kaito from his aunt when you got Aizawa’s message. 

-You were excited to spend some time with your husband. 

-Between your time teaching and his midnight patrols, the only moments you truly got to spend with him were in between the classes or when he came home for dinner and then immediately left. 

-You knew he felt bad leaving the two of you alone for so long and you knew he beat himself up for missing precious time with his son. 

-Opening your apartment door you were met with complete silence which was odd. 

-Usually your three cats, Mochi, Mocha and Coco would meet you at the door, mewing and purring at your feet, Kaito always wanting to be put down so he could pet them. 

-Now though none of them came and you immediately knew something was up. 

-Your spidey senses were tingling. 

-Setting your stuff down you held Kaito closer to you as you slowly walked around your living room and kitchen. 

-Nothing seemed amiss.

-Kaito let out a small whimper and shifted in your grip as something moved behind you.

-Just because you retired from being a hero doesn’t mean your skills have disappeared. 

-Oh no, as a new mom you were hyper aware of your surroundings and you easily dodged the blow that was aimed at your head. 

-Whipping around you came face to face with a hooded figure that seemed more like a burglar than a villain. 

-The dude's eyes quickly landed on Kaito and he let out a shaky breath. 

-They definitely weren’t villains.

-People were aware of Aizawa’s family and any villain who tried to get to him through you would have known about Kaito’s existence. 

- “Shit…. Yo she has a kid!” 

-Another one came pounding from the hallway, eyes quickly landing on the baby you had clutched to your chest. 

-Letting out an exasperated sigh the second intruder rolled his eyes, grabbing an umbrella from the hanger and slowly making his way towards you. 

-  “Just knock her out and tie her up, put the kid in a crib or something.” 

-You weren’t about to let them touch your son, they wouldn’t even be able to come remotely near him. 

-Activating your quirk, thrumming filled the air as you were prepared to fight them, to keep them away from the crying child in your arms and that’s when you saw him. 

-He is always so silent, his footsteps so gentle on the marble floor of your apartment that you have convinced yourself that he is indeed half cat at this point. 

-Aizawa was burning holes at the back of their heads, hair up as he activated his quirk, cancelling theirs. 

-You kissed Kaito as Shota let his capture tool fly across the room successfully trapping the two burglars. 

-In six strides you were next to him, checking for injuries on each other while simultaneously trying *and failing mostly* to calm your 2 year old down. 

-The police were called, naming this whole incident as a random burglary and not a scheduled attack, relieving both of you; you didn’t wanna move again. 

-That night Kaito slept in your room, cuddled on Aizawa’s chest as you were nestled under his arm. 

-Three fur balls were curled at the foot of your shared bed, purring away lulling you to sleep. 

-You found those three locked in your bathroom.

-Apparently Mocha had scratched the living hell out of one of the burglars and they had locked all of them in the bathroom for safe measure.

- “I’m sorry for this.”

- “Burglaries happen Shota, it wasn’t your fault. I’m glad you came when you did, fighting while holding Kaito would have been kinda difficult. I think I might be getting kinda rusty.”

-He stroked Kaito’s plush cheek before letting out a sigh. 

- “I have never seen him cry like that. When he sees me he always calms down but now-”

- “He was scared, Shota. He saw them before I did and the whole situation shook him up. But he’ll be fine, he’s got us.” 

-Giving you a kiss and then placing another one on his son’s forehead, he closed his eyes, arms tightening around the both of you a little. 

Shinsou Hitoshi II a daughter (Kei)

-Hitoshi had been to every single pharmacy in the area searching for Kei’s medication. 

-She had gotten sick and you had asked him to fetch some antibiotics your pediatrician had suggested you give her if her fever didn’t go down.

-Now, Hitoshi was getting desperate. 

-It was the flu season and almost all the pharmacies had emptied their shelves from this particular antibiotic. 

-He was ready to pull his hair out. 

-Apart from that, he also hated leaving you alone like this. 

-You both needed him at the moment and he wasn’t helping at all. 

-Kei was suffering from her fever while you were about 7 weeks pregnant and he was out here running around like a maniac. 

-In one last desperate attempt he entered another pharmacy and to his surprise they had what he was looking for and he was out the door in a flash, leaving the store without giving the clerk enough time to say a single ‘thank you, come again.’ 

-Sprinting home, he dashed into your apartment complex and up the stairs, fumbling for his keys as he neared your door only to find it already ajar. 

-Slowing down he looked at the open entryway; he was sure he closed it on the way out. 

-Why hadn’t you closed it? 

-Pushing it open he came face to face with a disheveled living room, Kei’s toys scattered everywhere while one of your armchairs was knocked over. 

-A small whimper suddenly pierced the air and Hitoshi would recognize his daughter’s cries from anywhere. 

-A deep voice told her to shut up which was answered by your angry voice threatening to beat the living shit out of them if they touched her. 

-With silent steps, Hitoshi tiptoed to your daughter’s room where he could hear the talking only to stop dead in his tracks when shuffling came from your bedroom. 

-Another figure emerged from your bedroom halting once they saw Shinsou. 

- “What th-”

- “Sleep.” 

-Without bothering to check if the intruder passed out, Hitoshi pushed open the door, his anger radiating all around him at the very thought that someone had touched his family. 

-The second person whipped around at the sound of the door opening, eyes wide as they met Hitoshi’s, fumbling to activate their quirk. 

-They made the fatal mistake of speaking though and soon they were unconscious just like their friend, laying on the pastel carpet of Kei’s room. 

-In one swift motion he had Kei in his arms and untied your wrists, rubbing the irritated skin and checking for injuries. 

-Kei wouldn’t calm down, her grip on his shirt turned to iron once the police dragged them out of your house. 

- “I wish I could beat their ass.” 

- “You know you can’t use your quirk right now kitten.” 

- “Yeah but they pissed me off.” 

-Your doctor had forbidden quirk use during the pregnancy and that’s why those two morons had managed to catch you. 

-The scowl on your face had become almost permanent and Shinsou couldn’t decide if he should find it cute or terrifying.

-Kei became attached to Hitoshi’s chest.  

-Hitoshi refused to let her go just like she refused to let him go, staying in his embrace for the rest of the day, any attempt to get her away from him resulting in tears. 

-You are kinda salty but some ice cream will fix that. 

Bakugou Katsuki II A son (Tatsuo)

- “Okay kids, you have a nice weekend and don’t forget to finish your family portraits for Monday. Tatsuo and I would love to see them.” 

-A multitude of goodbyes came through the screen as your kindergarten class, some of your students even opened their cameras to wave at you and your son who was sitting on your lap. 

-Tatsuo babbled back at them, little byes leaving his lips as he too waved back at your laptop. 

-Being in quarantine wasn’t that bad for a kindergarten teacher. 

-Your online classes weren’t difficult to manage and you got to spend more time with your two year old son. 

-The class loved seeing him and would ask if he was joining them each morning. 

-Closing your laptop, you hugged your mini Katsuki as you started heating up his milk. 

-You were humming, gently rocking him as you waited for the milk, giving him stray kisses here and there just to see his little nose scrunch up reminding you of Katsuki more and more everyday. 

-Checking your phone for any new messages, you let out a sigh at your husband’s message saying he was coming home; that was thirty minutes ago. 

-Hero work didn’t let up despite the quarantine. 

-Bakugou was as busy as ever, leaving first thing in the morning and most of the time returning home late in the afternoon sometimes staying out even after midnight. 

-Today though he had managed to get off earlier than usual, promising to cook for both of you tonight. 

-You knew he wanted to spend more time with Tatsuo and the fact that he was gone for the majority of the day was eating him up. 

-He was so worried that he was neglecting his son; he even convinced himself that Tatsuo would soon come to hate him. 

-Your son on the other hand was attached to Katsuki’s hip, always searching for his dad in the morning and beaming when Katsu came home. 

-He could never hate him. 

-The sound of the door opening snapped you out of your little Katsuki infused dream state. 

-Turning around you expected to see your husband in the living room, arms stretched out as he smiled at the two of you. 

-But you were met with three strangers; three hooded strangers holding a crowbar and two bags. 

-It was a staring contest for a solid five minutes before either of you moved. 

-One of them noticed Tatsuo and nudged his “coworker” who then informed the leader of the trio. 

- “Better not make a sound sweetheart, I’d hate hurting that pretty little face of yours.” 

-He took a step forward only for you to take a step back, until your back hit the cupboard. 

-He let out a chuckle and motioned for his rookies to search the place as he continued walking towards you. 

-Tastuo was gripping your shirt, eyes trained on the man, his brows downcast in anger. 

-Your phone lit up on the counter and in one swift move you grabbed it, pressing your emergency call button as the intruder rounded the counter. 

-You sprinted for the front door just as Katsuki picked up only to be grabbed by one of the other two and dragged back inside the house, Katsuki’s yells echoing through the phone. 

-Now you are aware that your husband is one of the top pro heroes. 

-You know that in order to rise to the top charts in this industry you need to have certain attributes like strength, tactical thinking ….speed. 

-You felt him more than saw him. 

-You were wrestling to get the hands of the intruder off of you when you felt the windows rattle. 

-And before you knew it, your husband had tackled the man holding you to the floor, knocking him unconscious with a single punch before pouncing on the other two. 

-Tatsuo was letting out small hiccups as tears rolled down his cheeks, his grip on your shirt never wavering but he refused to sob. 

-He had his father’s pride okay? Even at the age of two. 

-Katsuki had you both in his arms in a flash, calling the police before checking both of you over for injuries and what not. 

- “Did they hurt you? I swear I’ll kill them if they did.” 

-  “We are fine Katsu, just a little shaken.” 

-The moment Tatsuo was in Katsuki’s arms he began to cry, burying his face in his dad’s chest still holding on to your shirt. 

-It took an eternity to calm him down and even longer to put him to sleep, even though he was sleeping in your bed. 

-The next morning Katsuki was on the news for marching to the police station and beating the living hell out of the burglars. 

TAG TEAM AY:

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[willgrahymn]

Two Love

I’m not gonna lie, this is probably some of the gayest shit I’ve ever written.

Summary: In the silence of the night, it feels like there's nothing but them. Loving oneself is not an easy task, and loving another takes work. If we can't love ourselves now though, we can at least love each other. Maybe then we will realize our own worth. Virgil and Roman know this well.

Word count: 2019

Tags: romantic prinxiety, (domestic) fluff, light angst, human au, living together, non-sexual intimacy, cuddling, communication, and marriage proposal ✨

As always, I’ll reblog with a link to this on ao3 :]!

-

“I wish you knew how lovable you are,” Virgil whispered into the silence.

Roman didn’t respond, biting his lower lip and not once opening his eyes. Virgil frowned, lightly tracing the tattoos on the other man’s chest, stopping to place his palm against the beating of his heart.

The room was quiet besides the sound of the heat coming through the vents and the occasional car passing by outside. Virgil sighed, laying his head against his love. He was warm, too, and he wished he never had to get out of bed again. It wasn’t like the way he wished during a depressive episode though. This was different; it was cozier, and more like home. He closed his eyes as he felt a hand begin to play with the hair at the base of his neck, and made a mental note to trim it later.

“I love you,” he mumbled, his lips ghosting against his boyfriend’s skin. He thought watching the rise and fall of his stomach, breathing in and out, was what made him want to say it.

“I know you do,” Roman responded, and Virgil could hear the tired smile in his voice, “I love you too. You’re perfect.”

“I’m anything but.”

“Then you’re perfect for me.”

Virgil decided he was happy to settle for that.

Roman continued to play with the dark strands before kissing the long magenta bangs that normally covered his boyfriend’s eyes. And he smiled because his hair smelled like the same raspberry-scented shampoo that he washed his hair with not long ago. If there was anything Roman believed he could do well, it was making his boyfriend feel cared for. He deserved it, and the way Virgil always leaned into his touch like a cat receiving ear scratches whenever he rubbed the shampoo into his scalp was something he simply couldn’t pass up when the opportunity arose.

He was beautiful now in Roman’s arms, and he would be beautiful when he woke up in the morning with his hair messed up going every which way. He would be beautiful when black makeup stained his face in tear tracks and he asked Roman if they could go home after a failed night out. There would not be a time when he was not beautiful, because he never gave Roman a reason to see him as anything less than that. He was a work of art. Frayed at the edges, sure, but he remained invaluable nonetheless.

Blinking slowly, Roman watched as his love shifted to meet his gaze. Dark eyes shining in the moonlight that seeped in through their window blinds. They were as gorgeous as the rest of him, he thought.

“What is it, my Night Light?”

“Oh, nothing,” he smirked, “I was just admiring.”

Roman rolled his eyes, a mix of fondness and instinctual doubt settling in his gut. “You see me every day, you’ll tire of me eventually.” He tried.

“We already went through the phase of being sick of each other when we first met, you’re not getting rid of me now.” Virgil teased, and before Roman could think of something else to say to distract from his statement, he started to speak again softer this time. “I meant what I said earlier, about how you’re so much more lovable than you know. I care about you.”

Virgil took a deep breath. He didn’t consider himself good at this sort of thing, but the weight of Roman’s fingers lacing between his own and pulling him closer was reassurance enough.

“I love you, Roman, and I… I just hope that one day, you’ll fall in love with yourself in the same way I did. You deserve to feel like you’re worth it.”

Roman stared at him, his mouth barely open as he replayed the words in his head. He knew Virgil, knew that he was always more on the pessimistic side, and didn’t try to get his hopes up about things to come. Still, he hoped for him. A hand rested against his cheek, thumb brushing lightly against his lips. Virgil smiled, and his heart felt full.

“Thank you,” he said. “I hope that one day you’ll wake up and face yourself in the mirror, and be able to value yourself as much as I do. It’s only fair.”

He took his partner’s hand, kissing his palm. Even in the darkness of their room, he could still see Virgil’s eyes go wide before hiding his face against his chest. It was cute, but he could tease him about that later. For now, though, he just felt lucky that he was allowed to see him like this. No walls up, and no fake dark persona to make sure others would leave him alone. He was just honest, authentic Virgil, and that was all that Roman wanted.

“I could spend a thousand lifetimes with you and it still wouldn’t be enough.” He admitted. “I would relive all the bad days where we didn’t get along, all the bad days where we doubted ourselves, as long as I knew it would bring me back here just like this with you.”

Virgil stared at him, curious and adoring. “You’re a madman.”

“Nothing compared to my brother,” Roman laughed, “but I guess you might be right. If I didn’t think straight before I certainly don’t now.”

Virgil rolled his eyes, a fond smile on his lips. He pulled himself up, face to face with the hopelessly romantic man he’d fallen in love with, dark eyes staring through thick lashes.

With some hesitance, Roman asked. “Have you ever thought about wanting to get married someday? It’s okay if not, I know right now might not be the perfect time to bring it up, but… it came to mind, I guess.”

He held his breath as Virgil considered. He didn’t want to be pushy. All he knew was that if asked, he would accept that commitment, and not dream of another. Because Virgil wasn’t like any of the partners he had known before. He was gentle and rough, sweet and sour, and Roman loved his contradictions. He loved to be loved in a way he could understand.

“Maybe not right now,” Virgil finally replied, “but I’d be happy with that. With you.”

Roman nodded, kissing him on the nose and appreciating the way Virgil’s eyes crinkled when he did.

“That’s okay,” he smiled, and it was the truth. “I just need you to know that if you’re ever ready for that, I’ll be here. I’d love to call you my husband if you’d let me. One of us can surprise the other with a proposal someday, but before that, I want us both to be ready.”

Virgil blinked, slow like a cat. Maybe these kinds of conversations were better left until morning.

“Thank you. I’d uh, I’d like that though, eventually.”

Smiling, Roman closed his eyes. He always dreamed of grand fairytale weddings and proposals, but this, this was good too. Fitting for them. It wasn’t Disney, but they made it work.

Pulling the blanket further over them, Virgil kissed his prince’s cheek only to be pulled into a proper one right after. Soft and slow, Virgil felt Roman’s lips quirk as his hand grazed the rose tattooed at his hip.

Then, he asked. “Of all the people you could choose to love, why me?”

“I think you’re the only one who really gets me,” Roman said, nuzzling into his lover’s shoulder and breathing in the faint scent of lavender. “You smell good.”

Virgil laughed silently, and Roman felt his body shake against him. He could feel that same butterfly-like sensation in his stomach from when he first started thinking of him as more than a friend.

“I think you’re the only person who can understand me though… not in an edgy teenager way, but like with my issues. People see me, but not in the way you do. You’re the one who drove halfway across town to drag my sorry ass out of bed after my ex dumped me and helped me realize it was a good thing. You helped me get out of my comfort zone and experiment with makeup too. I guess in a way, you make me better. And if you can love me with all the flaws that I have, then I can love yours too.”

“Oh,” he whispered, “I didn’t know that.”

“Well, you deserve to. You may be as dark and gloomy as a live-action Batman movie, but you still make my world a little brighter.”

“You’re a dork.”

Roman gasped, pulling back and holding his hand to his chest as if he had just touched a hot stove. “You’re so mean!”

Virgil shrugged, and Roman could practically hear the unspoken ‘it’s what I do best.’ It seemed that in all the years he had known him, he figured out how to decipher the mystery of a man hidden under all that black and purple emo attire.

It was 12:27 AM, at least that’s what the clock sitting on their bedside table told them. Virgil was used to being up late, insomnia and all, but since they started living together Roman insisted he come to bed at the same time every night. He appreciated it though. He liked getting ready for bed together and the weight of Roman falling asleep against him. He didn’t want to admit it, but it helped.

The room was nearly silent, the heat turned off long ago. The quiet sounds of rustling pillows and blankets were the only thing to be heard. Warm breaths lingered on Roman’s skin making his hair rise as soft lips met his jaw. He wondered if Virgil remembered watching him scrub violet lipstick off his face in the theater's dressing room while he giggled like a kid at a carnival. If he asked, Virgil would have told him there was a reason he preferred darker shades.

“Do you think we’ll have kids someday?”

“Don’t push it, Princey. You haven’t even decided if you want to adopt a cat or a dog yet.”

“Still! Could you imagine us as dads? We could have Disney movie nights. We already do that, I know, but we could do it with our kid. I’m perfectly fine with just being pet parents, but could you imagine?”

“I can, actually, and now I’m going to be worrying about our non-existent child and their not yet existing future until I fall asleep.”

Roman glared at him before rolling onto his side. All too familiar with the silly things he did, Virgil waited in anticipation and was pleasantly surprised when Roman finally lunged back over, attacking him with a kiss and laughing against his lips.

“You said not yet existing,” he grinned, “which implies that there will be one eventually.”

Virgil sighed, running his fingers through his partner’s hair. “You’re not getting me to agree to adopt a child in the middle of the night, Ro.”

Humming, Roman nodded an ‘okay’ and let the subject go for now. Virgil didn’t even think before he spoke again.

“I want a future with you, Roman, you know that.”

The softness in his eyes was one Virgil would do anything to protect, and he smiled as Roman snuggled into his chest. He loved him, and with the sound of his heart beating in his ears he was sure that he would do anything it took to keep him safe.

“Get some rest, Sleepy Beauty,” he whispered. “You deserve it.”

In the morning, they would both wake up with their legs intertwined, knowing that they could stay in bed all morning because neither had work that day. Roman would get up first, and Virgil would admire him as he stretched. When Virgil finally did pull himself out of bed and found his future-husband in the kitchen making french toast, he would slump against his back and leave a kiss between his shoulders.

And maybe life was never going to be easy, but that could be okay. Step by step, stroke by stroke, they’d make it through as each other’s sword and shield.

[glitxhwayventeen]

Lonely Together

Jihoon: Chapter 1 (Perfect)

Characters: Jihoon x female reader

Genre/Warnings: multi-member au (different scenarios), werewolf au, fantasy, smut, angst, fluff, potential blood mentions, genocide, runaways, domestic violence, child abuse, abandonment, homelessness, hunger, violence. Any others will be put as warnings when future chapters are thought up/written.

Author’s Note: I recommend listening to Perfect by Ed Sheeran before reading this. That’s the song I thought of while writing this because it makes me feel some type of way you know?

Please remember that all of these chapters and the content within them are a work of fiction! They’re just for fun/entertainment!

Bold= Dialogue Italics= Thoughts

🥀 & ☁️

Lonely Together Master List

Chapter 1: Perfect

It had been so long since you’d been around so many people. It made you antsy. You didn’t understand a lot of what was going on in the house. The constant noise scared you. It had you on such an edge that you nearly screamed everytime one of them coughed.

To be fair, before you had met them, you’d honestly jump at footsteps. Because footsteps meant humans, and humans meant danger. Not to mention that you were still not used to being in your human form. You preferred to stay a wolf, you were stronger when you walked on all four legs, and you weren’t as noticeable.

Your human appearance was… striking to most people to say the least. Your bright eyes and darker skin with salt and pepper curly hair made everyone around you always stare at you. You understood it somewhat, you didn’t match everyone else’s looks in Korea. But that didn’t mean you liked people watching you all the time, you hated being the center of attention. So to say you were still adjusting to being around people after having lived alone for centuries was a bit of an understatement. It was all so new to you. You had a new feeling now too. You just weren’t sure what it was…

At first, you thought maybe it was hope. You hadn’t hoped in such a long time, it would bring tears to even the most hardened criminal’s eyes. But you weren’t that good at trusting that human part of you. So you decided to go off of what you knew. And, even though you hadn’t been there long, two weeks at the most you thought, you learned a lot of things about them. You knew all but one of the wolves had a mate. You knew that two of the alphas butted heads on how to lead the pack a lot and that one just watched from the side and did everything behind the scenes without causing too much distress to the others. You knew they all loved each other, no matter what they said or how much they fought. You also knew that, being around them made you feel more alone than you’ve felt in decades.

When you were younger, you didn’t mind being alone. It meant that you didn’t have to rely on anyone, it meant you only had to look out for yourself. And as you got older, it just felt… right. But being around this house full to the brim with people, you started to realize just how much you missed being part of a big family. They treated you like you were one of them. Which was weird to you… because they didn’t really know you. I mean sure they saved you from imminent death, but they didn’t know you from Adam.

The more you thought about your current situation, the weirder the feeling got. The closer you got to each one of them, the stronger the feeling got. And when you got close to one of the quiet ones in particular, you swore it felt like your heart was singing to you. It was something you weren’t sure you’d ever get used to, but it wasn’t something you necessarily hated either. Whatever the feeling was, you’d figure it out eventually or it would go away on its own… right?

Still, You got to eat first with the other mates, well the mates minus Soonyoung. He may have been Seungcheol’s mate but 1.) he was a wolf unlike the other mates and 2.) he was a male wolf so he ate just as much as the other boys did. So they didn’t think it fair that he get to eat with all of you. Or them…. Or-whatever. You didn’t know, you just knew they offered you and the other girls food first and, considering you used to have to hunt for your food or you didn’t get to eat, you were definitely NOT complaining. Soonyoung though, you learned, had a tendency to whine about any and everything that he didn’t like.

“Aww come on again! No fair! (Y/N)’s just as much of a wolf as I am! Why does SHE get to eat first when I don’t??” Soonyoung decided to voice aloud, grabbing his plate with both hands and semi-patiently waiting for his turn to grab food.

You didn’t mind of course. You did think he had a point. It didn’t seem fair to him. Either he should be eating with the other mates, or you should be eating with the other wolves. So you agreed.

“He’s got a point. I should be eating with the other wolves. I eat more than the other girls after all” you shrugged matter of factly to the lead alpha, who was also his mate, who was hunched over the stove making said breakfast.

The thing is, Seungcheol did understand the argument. And he personally saw merit to the concerns, whether it was because it was a genuine point or whether it was just from months of his mate complaining about it, he didn’t know. Still, he saw it’s reasonings and thought they could be sound.

BUUUT, he also knew that SOMEBODY would definitely NOT be happy if you had to wait and fight the boys for food. It seemed everyone, wolves and mates alike, but you understood that Jihoon had imprinted on you already. Maybe you just didn’t know much about it, or maybe you knew and just decided you didn’t want to know, either way, it wasn’t for him to decide or judge.

So, as he looked over to the table of boys who were ACTUALLY patiently waiting their turn to dig in, his eyes landed on Jihoon, who shook his head and narrowed his eyes at the older wolf in return. Of course you didn’t notice this action, you were always more in your own head than you were in conversations.

“Sucks to suck kids. I make the rules and I say you eat with the mates. End of story. Sorry love!” he declared, once again moving his eyes ever so slightly to Jihoon, who nodded his head slightly as he smiled triumphantly.

He was NOT about to let his newfound mate eat the other mates leftovers with the other wolves. No. That was absolutely NOT happening. He may not have “officially” expressed that you were his mate, but he’d be damned if he wasn’t gonna do everything in his power to make sure you were happy, healthy, and well fed.

“But-” you argued, trying to bring your point’s validity up to him again.

“But nothing (Y/N). Sure you eat more than the other girls. But you DEFINITELY don’t eat as much as the boys do. Even if you are a wolf. Besides you’re one of-” he trailed off just as someone around the room hit the table slightly and coughed. Everyone but you realized where he was going with that sentence, and Jihoon wasn’t ready to face that just yet.

“-One of our guests.” Seungcheol thought after a moment, clearly lying his ass off but hoping he did a good enough job that you didn’t notice. Luckily for him, you weren’t all that great at social cues. “Therefore you shall not be eating whatever’s left, you’ll get first dibs with the other girls.” He said as he sat one of the plates of remaining food left from what the mates couldn’t eat down on the table, kissing his pouting mates forehead in the process.

“Don’t worry about Soonyoung. He’s just a baby. He’ll get over it. You deserve to be eating with the mates.” Spoke the smallest boy of the pack with a smile that seemed to light up as bright as a bonfire whenever you looked him in the eyes. He was the one that had your heart singing whenever you were in the same room. His little declaration made your cheeks heat up.

“O-Okay, I guess. I still don’t think I’ve done anything to deserve the special treatment… but thank you” you resolved with a polite smile back, doing your best to hide the pink covering your face. His heart rate sped up to jackrabbit speed as his inner wolf seemed to beamed at your answer.

“No (Y/N). Thank YOU.” Hansol retorted with a shit eating grin on his face. What he wanted to say was “thanks for helping one of the assholes in the group become juuuuust a little less of an asshole by being his mate,” but obviously he couldn’t do that without getting his ass beat.

“Thank me? Thank me for what?” You questioned, genuinely curious as to what he was thanking you for. You hadn’t done anything to warrant a thank you… had you?

“Oh nothing. Don’t worry about it. You’ll find out… eventually” He let out, looking at Jihoon, earning a smack from the older wolf and a small growl. Though he whined for a second, Hansol still began to laugh at his actions.

“…Okaaaay…” you said, trying your best to forget the conversation as a whole so you could eat the remains of your pancakes. Man these guys are weird.

-

Jihoon wasn’t sure exactly what he should do. He knew he couldn’t deny his instincts forever. But he wasn’t so sure about this whole “mate” thing. I mean, who was he kidding, he got along better on his own. He survived on his own for his entire life, at the orphanage, at school, even in his pack. For the most part, he kept to himself. He was SEVERELY independent, and he liked it that way. People just always managed to bring attachments and strings. Even still, He couldn’t cut off his pack. I mean don’t get him wrong, he loved those idiots and would do anything for them, but fuck, if they didn’t have the dumbest ideas and get themselves into the stupidest shit sometimes.

He knew his survival instinct told him to just ignore the feelings he had for you and act like nothing happened to protect himself. It’s not like you had noticed anyways. But the wolf part of him loved the idea of having a mate. For the longest time, he had to sit around and watch his brothers find their mates and fall in deep love. He watched Seungcheol find Soonyoung first a few months after he had met him. Then Joshua found his mate, Mina, after a few weeks of knowing him. Even little Channie imprinted on his mate, Somi, after just two days of Jihoon being acquainted with him.

Before he knew it, it was just him left without one. They always seemed so… happy and he just… wasn’t. He didn’t mind of course. He was glad his brothers found happiness. But he soon came to realize how lonely being alone truly was. He’d see his pack and their mates do cute things and, his heart was struck with a dull pain that never seemed to lessen, and at the time he didn’t understand why that was. But when he saw you, he knew the whole time he was yearning for you. When he saw you, for once he didn’t completely loathe the idea of taking care of or protecting another person. Even if it meant becoming one of the “lovey people.” He saw you and, one bat of your beautiful eyelashes and he knew, he would gladly lay his life down for you. How could he not?

You were caring and kind, even if you didn’t like to show it. You held yourself high, even if you were small. You were little, but you were mighty. You were smart, yet funny. You hardly spoke, but when you did, it was always something memorable. You never seemed to hold your true self back. He already knew that you were Perfect for him, even if he’d hardly spoken to you. He just couldn’t help the sane part of him that was very weary of the whole situation.

As Jihoon debated his true feelings for you over his breakfast, the other wolves went and conversed with each other. They tried to speak to you too, but you never really had a lot to say. You preferred to listen, which they weren’t all that surprised at. Jihoon was the quiet, calm, smart wolf, so it’s no surprise that his mate was the same way. You’d both always seem to get lost in thought almost simultaneously. You’d both come back to Earth at the same time too, always with very similar excuses.

Though everytime your eyes met, you’d both look away, trying your best to hide the blushes that spread across both your cheeks. It was kind of cute and the pack loved that their brother wouldn’t have to be all alone any longer. He’d no longer have to just sit on the side lines while they all had the time of their lives. He now had you, even if you didn’t realize it yet. You could both be Lonely Together.

Another Author’s Note: I know this chapter is relatively short compared to the others I’ve written so far, but honestly, your girls tired as fuck. I work a full time job, go to school full time, and take care of a lot of my family’s household. Let’s just be lucky I can write at all. Plus, I wrote Wonwoo’s story earlier today too. So let’s just call it a success and I’ll write a better chapter for him next time!

(Updated 9/6)

[navyhyuck]

aphrodite.

pairing | na jaemin x reader (female)

genre | fluff, suggestive, domestic!au, friends-to-lovers!au (sort of??)

synopsis | all you need is a pretty boy and a quiet song to take your breath away.

warnings | swearing, like really suggestive, jaem’s kinda turned but not quite let’s keep it pg-13 folks, uh innocent-ish (?) reader, clothing is removed sort of more like skin is exposed, lots of kissing (uh jaemin??? am i right??)

word count | 2.4k

notes from vee | happy birthday to the babe himself!! this is based off aphrodite by rini that uh, i can’t get out of my head. leave feedback if you like this, please! ♡

you’re that goddess

aphrodite

well known for her love and beauty

“Your music taste is impeccable,” you note with an inward giggle as Jaemin finally sets down his phone, a quiet smile growing across his face watching you covered up by the safety of your sheets. The last song is still in his mind: lyrics and melody—and it gives him a brief idea—one that has your eyes widening as he suddenly crawls towards you.

You can feel your heart already jumping to your throat when his eyes pour into yours, sending a shiver down your spine that you hope he doesn’t realize. He does, but he refrains from voicing it aloud, only basking in the silence that had suddenly overcome the two of you. “Y/N, can I ask you something?”

Jaemin’s voice is low, and it would have been daunting if you didn’t know the soft boy that hid behind a persona as strong as his. The closeness between the two of you is increasing with everything move he seems to make—or perhaps it’s just your heart playing tricks on you—but you subconsciously push your head back into against the pillow in attempt to keep away.

You swear you see your best friend glance down at your lips, just for a moment, but it’s enough to have your heart racing at a ridiculous pace that makes you think that he can hear it too. It almost felt lethal to be so attracted to him, and you hate it, right?

He’s just a friend. You know that, Jaemin was always a loyal, loving friend to you—and you were grateful for him—though you would be outright lying if you were to say that you didn’t at least have the tiniest crush on him. Well, who wouldn’t?

You’re snapped out of your thoughts when he calls your name again, throwing you out of your fantasy back into the reality where he actually was, still looking down at you with something unidentifiable in his eyes. Quickly, you give him a short nod.

“Have you ever been kissed before?”

you took me in, you bathe me

your waters, your fountain

left me yearning for more, for more

and i can’t take it anymore  

Your heart skips a beat—you can feel it—and time stops, the only breath continuing on with yours being Jaemin, whose eyes have still not averted from yours. And you will yourself to take a simple breath as you remain unable to tear your eyes away from his gaze. “Uh, n-no?”

He blinks, the trance being broken as he does it again, the expression on his face turning into slight—disbelief? “Not once? Never?” He sounds incredulous, but you only nod, bathing even farther into your embarrassment when you feel your cheeks heat up. “No way.”

“Yes way,” is the only response you can think of, and he all but looks down at you fondly, something appearing in his eyes that wasn’t present before. “I-” you start, pursing your lips before starting again. “You know I’ve never dated before.” The sentence leaves your mouth in a mumble, and Jaemin curses softly, making you look up at him in shock.

“So you’re saying,” he starts slowly, “that you’ve never been touched before.” It’s not a question, but he’s correct even with the way he puts the words together. You’re not sure where he’s going with this, but the indirect mention is already making you flame up with sheer embarrassment. “You mean never?”

“No,” you say again, your voice barely a mumble at this point. “Like never, I’m completely virgin and pure and all that good shit. No need to rub it in my face.” You’re about to cover your face with your hands but your best friend’s hands wrap around your wrists first, pulling them away. His face is so close, so close that you think he might just pull away from you and start laughing—but he doesn’t, only leaning in closer until he’s staring even deeper into your eyes.

“Do you want to kiss me?”

if i can have this dance tonight

i promise that you won’t forget

You open your mouth as if you want to speak, but your lips accidentally brush against his, making you jolt. You’re already out of breath, gasping for more when nothing’s even happened yet—perhaps that’s what Jaemin does to you. But you’re so infatuated with the thought of him, the feel of him, the touch he gives and you nod again.

“Say it,” he whispers, and there’s a hand brushing your hair away from your eyes, caressing your cheek carefully. “Tell me what you want.”

“I want you to kiss me,” you say at once, feeling like you were already drunk off the lips you hadn’t gotten a taste of just yet. It seems to take him by surprise—how easily you agree—but how could you refuse when he looked so young and inviting in front of you? When he doesn’t move, you try again. “Please, Jaemin? Kiss me?”

His minty breath fans over your face as he exhales deeply, closing his eyes as he chastely presses his lips to yours; it’s quick, and he pulls away almost as fast as he got there. They’re warm, making you crave for a second taste when you unknowingly chase his lips, stopping when you realize he’s smiling down fondly at you. “Want more?”

You don’t say anything in response—knowing that your words would fail you anyway—and you nod, letting your eyes flutter shut in anticipation. His hand moves from your cheek to your jaw, trailing until he grasps your chin gently. A low chuckle leaves him when you gasp, almost sinful, but before you can respond, his lips are back on yours.

But it’s nothing innocent this time, not with a hand guiding your jaw into the right position and definitely not from the way his mouth molds against yours. He sucks on your bottom lip for a second, eliciting a sound out of you that makes your cheeks flare up again, but he only continues further. You’re kissing him back sloppily, not completely sure what you were doing but also trying to gulp down the nervousness that was growing from the bottom of your stomach when he pulls away—only to lick into your parted lips—sending your hands diving into the sheets.

You suppose you should stop it where it is now, this is your best friend since forever, though when he mumbles under his breath and loops your arms around his neck—you know you’re too far. You rake a hand up to his hair, grasping lightly when he sucks on your tongue and you whine, making him pull back immediately.

“Sorry,” you say softly, searching his eyes to see if you had done something wrong but he shakes his head.

“Don’t be sorry. Are you sure you’ve never kissed anyone before?” He asks, licking his lips slowly. You nod again, feeling small under his gaze. “Because you’re good at it.”

i’ve been searching all my life

for something that i won’t regret

could it be that you’re the one i’m looking for?

“Oh,” is the only thing that leaves your lips, disappearing into the air. Jaemin shifts from above you, but his eyes are still locked on yours, focusing on you like you’re the only thing on earth that matters. “Thank you?” You let out a breathy laugh, and it seems to startle your friend—whose pupils are dilated to practically the fullest point. “Why-why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?” He challenges softly, eyes darting from one to the other in a way that makes you want to sink further into the bed. But he’s so captivating, so inviting that you bite down on your lip.

“Like you want to—” you trail off, not knowing exactly how to phrase what you felt, but also not feeling confident enough to say it. “—wreck me.” Even you’re surprised at your own words, and your eyes widen as he leans down again, moving back to your lips—but he averts them, brushing past your ear instead.

“Because I want to,” he whispers, and you visibly shiver at how ridiculously attractive he sounded. You feel his hot breath on your neck now, blowing air down until he meets your collarbone. “But only if you’ll let me. Will you?”

It’s a simple question: an answer that required a yes or no but you don’t register anything, not when he lands his plump lips against your skin. It’s warm and sensitive, each kiss moving up your throat and he’s back at square one—looking at you for permission with his mouth barely touching your own. “I can show you what you’ve been missing out on.”

He sounds sickeningly sweet, you think, but that’s exactly how you fall in even further; perhaps it’s wrong, because friends don’t kiss each other and they certainly don’t do anything more than that, but it doesn’t seem to be something you care about. You inhale, and nod.

“Use your words,” he insists, a thumb swiping across your lips to leave them parted. His knees are caging your hips, and he’s hovering over you with ease when he taps your cheek. “Y/N?”

“Yes,” you say, almost too quietly for him to hear, but he does. “I want you to—yes.”

ah, let me tell you one thing for sure

you’re the only one i want more of

‘cause every time, you strip away my pride

“Are you sure?” The softness of his voice contrasts from the way he’s looking at you—almost with so much desire in his eyes that it scares you a little—but he stays put. You nod again, but you catch yourself, giving a verbal reply as well. “Okay. Can I move this?”

His fingers curl around the edge of the sheets, brushing past your skin as he looks up at you again—you nod—and he pushes the barrier away from between the two of you. Jaemin sits back on his heels for a moment, contemplating something before he’s back over you, tapping your lips for a silent affirmation. You give him the go, and he gets to it, stealing your breath away from you.

His hands wander this time, travelling from the crooks of your neck down your sides, brushing up soothingly. You take in a sharp breath as he does it, the feeling being foreign but likable. Jaemin pulls back again, only to thumb at the hem of your shirt, looking up into your eyes again. “Can I take this off, princess?”

You’re not sure if he notices, but you melt at the name—almost missing his question until you’re nodding again—his fingers quietly pulling the buttons one by one, eyes locked on yours until they’re all undone. You practically jolt when you feel his warm fingers splaying across your abdomen, though he sighs, only running his hands all over your skin.

humble me down to my knees

you’re exactly what i need, you’re exactly

“Beautiful,” Jaemin says under his breath, not daring to speak even a decibel louder, feeling as if anything louder than that would ruin the moment. You gasp as his lips reattach to the sensitive area on your neck, biting the flesh ever-so-softly to elicit yet another sound from you. “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?”

It’s a rhetorical question, he knows he’s not the first one to say so—he can’t be—not when your eyes are fluttering shut with your lips swollen to the point that he can’t help but meet them again. You kiss him back, soft and sweet enough for you to make your head fly up into the clouds. Mind going blank when he continues his trail of wet kisses down to your chest, you grab onto his arm, steadying yourself as he nuzzles his nose just under the band of your bra.

“You are,” he continues, though he thinks you can’t hear him, muffled against your skin. But you can, only inhaling deeply when you feel a kiss press against you again. “Like a fucking—goddess.” Maybe it’s going overboard, off the ship and sinking into the deep waters, it’s too much for you. But you don’t care, your fingers are tangling into the his hair, holding him closer to you.

if i can have this dance tonight

i promise that you won’t forget

i’ve been searching all my life

for something that i won’t regret

could it be that you’re the one i’m looking for?

Best friends definitely don’t kiss, you’re reminded of it when Jaemin rests his head against your stomach, the warmth of his cheek matching the slowly dissipating pang to your chest. He still has his hands on your sides, holding you in his grasp when he speaks again. “Sleep with me?”

You’re not sure what it is that wills you to hum in agreement, perhaps it’s the longing need of affection from the boy you loved so much, or even the memory of the heated instance not too long ago.

ah, won’t you take me away

bring me to your sacred place

won’t you, oh

Jaemin lays down beside you, drawing the covers over your body until his eyes fall down to your exposed torso—and he smiles, following back into your eyes—you might think he’s crazy if he confesses in that moment. So he doesn’t, only admiring the serene look you give him when you find purchase to his chest.

He thinks, maybe, just maybe, you’re too beautiful for this world.

if i can have this dance tonight

i promise that you won’t forget

i’ve been searching all my life

for something that i won’t regret

You realize—a second too late when sleep was calling your way—that your best friend hadn’t quite shown you much; but you’re content with where you are now, not wanting to leave the comfort of his arms tonight. You’re hopeful that in the morning, there would better words passed, a guide to where you were now. Maybe it’ll be more than title of ‘friend.’

Though for now, Jaemin’s hand caresses your head and you imagine it’s enough.

could it be that you’re the one i’m looking for?

all rights reserved © navyhyuck 2020.

[demenior]

Dem’s Big Post About The Spn Fics Part 1/2

aka The Wrap Up to celebrate To Exist Again and To Become a Man now being finished!

(This will be a long post. This is your only warning.)

Admittedly this is a bit of a weird thing to be doing, but I wanted to try it out for 3 reasons: 

I love talking about my own work and 

It functions really well as a self-reflective tool for me to improve on, and 

I can answer some big questions people might have because there was a LOT of worldbuilding in these stories. 

We’ll start off with reflective stuff, and move into the juicier world-building focused stuff later into the post. There will be major spoilers for both fics to come!

To begin with a funny anecdote, Why Did I Write These Stories?

I was beginning to write and work out the story that I wanted to write for Spn (what will now be To Destroy a Man. As I was writing the scene, I realized I had a LOT of ideas and while I was trying to avoid as much exposition as I could, it became quickly apparent that I was needing to create my own au (this scene eventually became chapter 34 of To Become a Man). A short prequel seemed like a good idea, to quickly hash out the ‘prior’ events that I needed to go through so all the readers could be on the same page. While plotting out prequel points, I realized Sam and Dean were going to have drastically different experiences during the same time period, and I was trying to figure out who’s pov would be better for which scenes, and how to keep momentum when they’re going through such radically different types of changes. Ultimately I decided to split their povs, which I also thought would be a fun project! And I naively assumed each pov would take about 2 chapters each, rounding out to maybe 15k total.

I had my ending points: Dean n Cas soul-merged and (basically) married, Cas on the lam from heaven and a complete anomaly, and Sam juiced up full of powers and a weird mix of archangel and antichrist but still 100% human and ready to fight God. 

Now I needed to add weight to these changes, so I wrote 200k of build-up.

Am I proud of these fics?

OF COURSE I AM!!! These are the longest fics I’ve ever written AND finished AND in the fastest freakin turnaround ever (both were finished writing, barring edits, in like 6 months holy shit)

I didn’t write a single scene that I “didn’t” want to write. If I had trouble writing it, as in it was fighting me, I scrapped it. Most obviously was the scene in Dean’s pov where he and Sam were intended to meet some other hunters and Dean declines working with them because he’s nervous about being outed as queer. It was meant to be a good scene! I wanted to introduce some new characters! But it just wasn’t working so I said ‘thank you, next!’. 

But it means this story was an absolute joy to write. Because for a while all I was doing was ‘if I wanted to write one scene into supernatural, what would I write?’ and then just DID that!! It’s why there’s a lot of ‘Salmondean do dumb shit or have really dumb heartfelt conversations’ scenes.

Would I change anything?

If I’d been less eager to start sharing, I might have planned out the story beats a little tighter so there were less ‘soft’ chapters and a draw/pull for people to come back and keep reading. I felt Dean’s story specifically lagged at points and could have used some tighter editing (there was a noticeable lull in directed movement between Dean n Cas getting together, until Sam corrupts Amy).

I also probably would have held Sam’s story until I’d finished Dean’s so I could make the two line up better! Probably could have inserted more scenes into Sam’s fic that way, and made sure things were a little more consistent. In an ideal world one concept I had was to release 1 chapter from each pov every week that would correspond to the same time frame so we’d be getting real-time SalmonDean pov narrative. Unfortunately that didn’t work!

The biggest takeaway overall is for me to focus more on what moves the plot, and to make my scenes do more than 1 thing so I can cut down on wordcount and increase my efficiency. 

Of course every writer will find things they want to fix in anything they’ve ever written, so these are minor “mistakes” at best. I’m so dang proud of these fics. 

Onto more interesting things!

How Did I Put These Fics Together (because it’s different than anything I’ve ever done before)

Normally when I write a story, I plan out the beats I need to hit, see where I need to insert any kind of foreshadowing/buildup, and then write from A to B to C and so on and so forth. Hence, this is why I can normally post things as I complete chapters, because it’s all a linear progression. 

For these two stories, rather than linear plot/a normal story structure, I just sat and free-wrote any and every scene that came to mind and then pieced them into a kinda-linear form like putting a quilt together. You’ll note that this is why there’s not a lot of internal callback or a feeling of sense of time flowing within the fic (save for points where I went back and specifically edited it in). How long does the story take place over? Hard to say! Your author has the barest grasp on linear time even on a good day (how many times did I say ‘see you on [wrong day]’ at the end of chapters lmaaoooo)

This also meant EXTENSIVE editing on the back end once I decided in what order I wanted my ‘quilt pieces’ to be. Hard to say if this is a bonus or a negative!

But I did want to try and capture the vibe of the lives they lead, as a bit of a ‘slice of life’-style story, when the slice of life is the profound weirdness of the Winchester roaming life, and how things are status quo- until everyone almost dies oh shit!! And then they have to keep living because no therapy we die/undie like Winchesters. Do I think I captured this effectively? Hmm. Good question. 

Dem where the FUCK did the inspiration for a lot of the magic and creature weirdness even come from?

Honestly? Music, primarily. And completely mishearing lyrics!

Nightwish ‘Ever Dream’: the line is ‘my song can but borrow you grace’ and because my brain is scrambled eggs on a good day, I heard ‘grace’ ‘song’ and ‘borrow’ in that order and have had, for YEARS, the mental image of Cas borrowing Dean’s soul to power himself up for battle.

From there I’ve always been enamored with the ‘wavelength of celestial intent’ descriptor that Cas drops in s6 for “what he is”. 

I also really like ocean metaphors mostly because I’ve been obsessed with the ocean and things in it since I was like… 5??? So really this was me just rolling with what I know lmao. I love using (somewhat) accurate scientific metaphors for very intangible things!

I was also finishing my degree in biology/ecology while writing these fics and I think it shows

Stars ‘The Night Starts Here’ gives us the series title and the fic titles. Except for ‘To Exist Again’. TEA was almost titled ‘The Upwards Fall’ because I wanted all 3 of the Main Stories to have titles from this song, but I couldn’t make anything else work in tandem with the series name ‘The Love It Takes’ while also working for Sam’s personal story. So Sam, as always, is the rebel <3

Stars ‘Up In Our Bedroom, After The War’ is basically the vibes of the whole story. TFW has been, literally, to hell and back!!! There’s a bit of melancholy and sadness, a lingering dark, but the chance of a bright new tomorrow and a soft start.

Let’s Talk About Themes in The Story! What were you looking to accomplish? 

My earliest notes for TFW are, as follows:

Dean’s journey of self-discovery (who am I when I’m not trying to be Dad?)

Dean wants to settle down! He wants a big family! He wants to be domestic!

Basically: Dean doesn’t want to have a short life of hunting. He wants to live!

Dean’s journey of realizing he’s bi, and him accepting that

Dean’s relationship to Sam is both older brother/parent 

And continuing Dean balancing these roles while also letting Sam be an adult 

Dean’s Big Issues/Fears about never being good enough for people to want to stay with him (these are effectively highlighted in that Cas thinks he’s not useful enough to be wanted)

Sub Plot:

Castiel’s autonomy

Cas’ fall from grace, to trying to restore Heaven, to wrecking it further

He’s majorly depressed by the end of s7 (before purgatory)

Wants to stay in Purgatory but doesn’t tell Dean

Remains depressed after leaving, but resolved to keep living on because he’s clearly meant for something

After the seraphim reveal: does he have free will?! How does he grapple with this? How does he live in a way he can be proud of?

And lastly

Sam gets his powers back CAUSE THATS HOT

where tf did they go????

he got them from Lucifer?????

sleeper agent??????

Sam is The Chosen One

Accepts that he is More Than Human and to celebrate all parts of him

Lucifer and Sam friends?? Work together????

Sam needs autonomy in his choices/his life

If you compare these to the overall arc of TFW within the two stories, I think I got a lot of them! But you’ll also note a lot of these things aren’t concrete goals that are easily measurable (ex: Dean wants to learn to bake pie. In chapter 1 he starts a fire in the kitchen. By the end of the story he finally makes A Good Pie.) part of the lack of concrete milestones was why I felt it was important to tell Dean (and Cas’) story by going back to the point they meet, in s4! Dean’s gradual change towards his feelings for Cas, his relationship to Sam (heavily influenced by the s7 events of this fic) and then his own relationship with himself were such slow burns that I felt it would be a disservice to try and cram a change like that into a timeline like “1 year”.

I felt like these subtle changes and adjustments actually felt a lot truer to life-- people often change in very small, gradual ways over time, even without realizing it and often times not consistently! If only we could all gain skills like the sims, where we can easily level up and remain at that high level of performance! 

So the Guy Who Ate Satan, A Celestial Nuke that Developed Sentience, and Dean walk into a bar…

Sam’s story in Spn The Show has always been a ‘chosen one’ kind of narrative. Sam is living with one foot in the realm of the monsters, and I wanted to bring that back full force! It really makes sense for him that he should only continue to grow in power, might, and magic!! As the story progresses.

Cas also got a power up! I do desperately love in the show that he was kind of a grunt/nothing angel, and so even when he defected to TFW he was a huge help for them, but in the scale of things he was an annoying fly to most other angels. It really worked for the underdog story of s4/5. In this I wanted to give him a power up, and originally it was actually going to be close contact with Sam that eventually changed Cas into something unknown (you can still see traces of this in ch34 of TBAM, where Death remarks ‘Castiel could be [Sam’s] first creation’. But for a combo of reasons: how Sam’s magic needed to have intent, the entire concept of free will and consent, and how much I wanted Dean and Cas to have their effect on each other, I decided to go with the route that Cas has actually always been something angel-adjacent rather than becoming something new. TFW/Supernatural has always been about free will and making your own story, so I amplified that with Cas.

Dean has always been A Normal Guy, which is part of the appeal of him and Sam (2 normal dudes!) taking on the Very Not Normal. As explained above, Sam’s story is ‘normal guy finds out he’s the chosen one’ and so, in a story about very large concepts and huge monsters and acts of magic, I felt it was very important to keep Dean as normal as possible. To the point it became a running gag to me, personally, in that ‘no matter what cool shit happens around him, Dean has to stay as Just A Guy’. And it’s a very humanizing role that allows the story to have the scale it does!

What were the most important themes in your story?

Sam’s Autonomy

I wasn’t even going to include the plot about Lucifer’s death in this story— that was going to come up in a later story, actually! And rather than Sam having ate Lucifer, the original idea was that they’d become a SamandLucifer entity (this harkens back to a concept I wanted to write when Swan Song first aired). 

That storyline would have involved a lot of mental ‘Sam and Lucifer discuss what it means to live, which one of them is more worthy of life and if they do deserve to destroy the world for the pain they’ve been forced to go through, just to create the dichotomy of good and evil for everyone else’ discussions. There would be a lot of talk about how Sam hates and fears Lucifer for the pain Lucifer put on Sam, how Lucifer hates Sam because he and Sam are the same but Sam’s brother loves him anyways, etc. 

Ultimately that was scrapped because Sam’s entire story in the show is always about how the world and everyone around him manipulates him and that he never actually gets to make choices about his own life or body that aren’t influenced or part of someone elses’ design. And that always bothered me that Sam was never allowed to be himself without having to be ashamed of it, and I wanted to make sure that Sam’s triumph of being proud of himself/proudly choosing to exist (again) was evident in his story

In the end I needed Sam to have this visceral win over his tormentor. As the story shows, in this case Lucifer was abused and put into a position where he was incapable of empathy and could only express himself in violence. Sam even understands this! But it doesn’t change the fact that Lucifer tortured Sam in unimaginable ways for thousands of years. 

With that in mind I didn’t like the idea of Lucifer and Sam having “co-ownership” of their new identity, so I made the choice that Sam had to be the survivor. This tied in well with Sam’s new crusade to restore free will to the universe, because he’s breaking the narrative of his own story!

While Castiel wasn’t a pov character, his own autonomy and free will was equally as important. You’ll note that many, many paragraphs and conversations revolved around that theme and that in the end Cas followed himself (and love!) which ensured his freedom of self <3

The Brothers are WEIRD PEOPLE!!!! And Codependent to a Worrying Degree, but It’s Also How They Survive

It’s very hard to show “unusual” relationships when you’re writing from the pov of the two people who don’t think there’s anything weird about their relationship. Sure, they say ‘yeah it’s probably weird that we still share a bed’ but that’s kinda more in line with ‘I had a nightmare and I want to be close to the person who makes me feel safe’. Hashtag normalize co-sleeping when you need it!!!

From there I did try to point out how the boys have a weird perception of lifestyle in the little things they did. 

From thrifting everything from clothes to appliances to books (thrifting is a valid lifestyle! It’s incredibly handy when you’re on a budget.) 

To never actually having condiments or knowing how to use a dishwasher cause they’ve lived in a car, a motel room, or squatted in old houses their whole life.

I tried to have them wear each others’ clothes or casually swap things as much as possible. They live out of each others’ pockets!

Also the brothers are just weird people!! It’s hard to show from their pov, cause they don’t know how far off from normal they are, but like…

Everything about Sam and Amelia was NOT right like holy shit those two were wilding in their grief. They are very lucky things worked out for them and that they got to be hashtag Weird Girls together

Dean explicitly, in the story, gets horny after killing stuff!! Violence has done a number on his psyche and he’s gotten some wires crossed that maybe shouldn’t have been, or maybe could be worked out in a safe space but… uh… how likely do we think Dean is gonna go find a safe space to deal with any of his shit???

LOVE!!! Love is truly what this whole story is all about

If you’ve read the stories, you know how much emphasis I put on love. Love is the strongest force in the Spn Universe! It’s what averted the apocalypse and saved the world (Swan Song), it’s what created free will (Cas’ entire arc!) I love love!!!!

I went out of my way to not put any definitions on platonic love vs romantic love because I think love is love is love and how you express that is the difference. Neither is more powerful than the other because LOVE is powerful!! Sam and Cas are the most important people in Dean’s life and he loves them equally! He shows this by giving Cas kisses and stealing Sam’s socks.

It’s a personal pet peeve of mine when I have to hear explanations like ‘I love you, like a brother’ or ‘I love you, but like, as a friend because I’m a lesbian and you’re a man’ etc etc in media. If you have to continuously define how your characters love each other, then I don’t think you’re doing a good job of portraying their relationship. So you’ll see that I never put those parameters in any conversation. Dean DOES muse that he loves Cas differently than he loves Sam or Bobby, specifically because there is a romantic and sexual tone that his feelings for Cas takes, but not because he loves Cas more or less than he loves Sam or Bobby.

Which means, if you haven’t realized it yet, the Series + Fic Titles are meant to be a complete sentence because the power of love IS the thesis of this series:

The Love It Takes To Exist Again (Sam’s journey!)

The Love It Takes To Become a Man (Dean’s journey!)

The Love It Takes To Destroy a Man (TBA)

And now for fun stuff. Behind the scenes!!

What’s Something People Probably Don’t Know?

The demonic fungal/hydrothermal vent growth on Sam’s arm was thrown in literally as I was posting the chapter because I had just finished a 48 hour cram session of writing a report on tube worms for an ecology class (I was chanting my tube worm song as I wrote it) and it ended up being a HUGE hit with both readers and myself. But it was so last minute I had trouble fitting it in more throughout the rest of Sam’s story!

Cas’ orders? That may or may not have bound him to Dean and removed his free will? Were written into Sam’s story and I went ‘oh SHIT that’s compelling’ and then left them there as a ‘guess I’ll figure that out when I get to Dean’s story lol’

Originally Dean and Cas were supposed to get together after having their souls bonded, and have been in a UST limbo the entire time before that. Mostly because I think the entire concept of ‘we just got married of the soul I guess we should try dating?’ is very funny. CLEARLY the two of them were way more eager to fall in love than I anticipated (thank you Cas for your honesty) but you can still see shades of this original idea here and there (especially in ch35 of TBAM)

I never intended Dean and Benny to connect so well!! Benny was going to reunite with Andrea, she was going to live, and they were going to go off into the world and leave the story. And, uh, here we are. I’m still debating if I need to adjust the relationship tag or not haha. Polyamory is fun, especially when I was planning for Sam to be the polyamorous brother...

Speaking of, I can’t believe I forgot about Sam and his sexuality! If I rewrote TEA I would have had Sam contemplate more on his lack of sexual appetite due to trauma, up until he meets Benny and he gets to rediscover how he wants to be a sexual person

Many of Sam and Dean’s absolutely stupid sibling conversations were lifted near-verbatim from conversations I’ve had with my siblings

And lastly...

Dem where’s Kevin????????????? Where is our sweet baby boy????????

He’s SAFE!! He’s in the Hunter pipeline somewhere cause Sam handed him off to Bobby’s people. He and his mom are safe and at some point they probably got rib sigils like SalmonDean did against angels, but for demons. I didn’t have room in this story for him!!! But my baby boy is SAFE and I want to get him back to university because it’s WHAT HE DESERVES!!!!

To that point: god there were/are SO many characters that I just didn’t include in the story so far because I didn’t feel comfortable including them without stalling the story for them. To that point: pretty much everyone who is alive/dead in s8 is that way in this story, except Bobby who gets to live.

[Check Out Part 2 for reader questions!]

[fallout-drabbles-n-stuff]

Hi! I love your writing! Can you maybe write companions reacting to Shaun calling them mom/dad, maybe when theyre in trouble (like raiders attacking their settlement/home)? Have a good day!

Cait:

“Yeah! Get them mama!”

Had she not been any better with her reflexes, the little boy’s words may have ended up landing her missing a few teeth. There just so happened to be a raider dumb enough to try to break into your little home, so naturally..Cait goes in for the swinging once she made sure they didn’t have a gun on them.

With one final swift punch to the invaders head, Cait seized victory once again- and yet..all she could think about was the way that the child calling her that made her feel. She probably wouldn’t even outwardly acknowledge it- but once it was just the two of you in your own privacy, she’d confess that she was terrified.

Curie:

“Hey mom, do you need any help with the labs today? It looks really neat- I bet you could teach me all kinds of stuff.”

The second she heard what the little boy said, her heart swelled 10x in size just from pure joy. “Well of course you can, just make sure to wear the proper safety equipment, sweetheart.” She’d respond, giving Shaun a pair of safety glasses and wearing one of the sweetest, most proudest grins ever imaginable upon her face.

Danse:

Even though he wasn’t really a light sleeper, Danse had the ability to wake up as soon as someone entered the room. This was of course true when your son nudged the door open, his blanket slung messily over his shoulder and his eyes wide.

Once he realized who it was, Danse relaxed the slightest bit. “What’s wrong, Shaun?” He’d ask with a voice ladened with a hefty sleepiness.

“I-I’m scared, Dad. I had a nightmare and it- it just seemed..*sniffle*..it seemed so real.”

Suddenly the sleep would be knocked right of Paladin when his mind caught on to what the small child just said. Him? Dad?

Blinking away the shock, Danse tilted his head toward your peacefully sleeping body. “Here, come see son.” He’d urge with a yawn, waiting for the little boy to climb between you and him. Once snug, he’d then wrap his arm around the both of you.

Just when had he become so lucky?

Deacon:

“You’re really the best, Dad.”

Upon hearing such a bold assertion from the child, Deacon would stand in pause for just a mere moment. Chills would race up and down his spine as he stared down at the wondrously kind eyes lovingly peering back up at him. As much as he desired to keep looking back, a smirk would ghost his lips- thankfully he was able to concoct a little bullshit response on the fly.

“Yeah, ya ain’t too bad yourself either kiddo. You take after your dad.” He’d affectionately tease back, patting the child on the shoulder.

Gage:

If there was one thing that kids were, Gage learned that they were inquisitive little shits. Your own child was a testament to that statement. Just when Gage thought he could relax, up comes Shaun with an array of questions ready to shoot.

“Pa, why do you wear an eyepatch? Did something happen or are you just saving that eye’s strength?”

Gage coughed whenever he realized what Shaun used as his opener. Nuka-cola spurted from the raider’s nose, causing him to sputter as he wiped it away with the back of his hand.

“Come again?” He’d ask with one huge green eye, trying not to cough a lung up in the process.

He was happy though, even if he might’ve killed himself choking on nuka-cola.

Hancock:

It was honestly alerting to see how shocked he was that this happened. He knew goodneighbor was no place for his son but..he never expected this to happen. While down at the third rail, some deranged man came down demanding money- pulling out a gun as he spoke.

“Papa, please...are we going to be okay?” Shaun’s terrified eyes bore straight into the ghoul’s very soul, making his heart break despite how happy he should’ve felt after hearing those words.

Putting a hand atop the boy’s shoulder, Hancock made sure to keep both of their bodies below the table. “Of course we are kiddo, you just sit here and don’t make a sound.”

And with that, Hancock would spring up and shoot his way to safety- he had to. His son was there after all.

Macready:

Having two little boys in the house was already bad enough. Having two of them similar in age and just as troublesome as each other? Whew, it was an understatement to say that you and Mac had your plates full.

Luckily with his experience, things weren’t entirely hectic. Just like now..

You had managed to come home right on time to catch Mac mid-scolding. His hat nearly falling from his head as he cashed his gaze down at the pouting children in front of him .

“I don’t care how much fun it is, you two can’t go around spooking the neighbors. That’s the best way to get shot, for fu-..for Pete’s sake.” You couldn’t barely hold in your chuckle at your lover’s choice of words, since when had he become so dramatic?

“Sheesh, chill dad..” Shaun spoke, dismissing his adoptive father with a wave of his hand before he and Duncan promptly ran off- leaving a completely dumbfounded Mac to sit and process what just happened.

Did his two sons really just dismiss him like that? Did Shaun...did Shaun just call him dad?

Maxson:

It was all Maxson had wanted. This feeling of belonging..it was amazing. It was something that even the brotherhood and all it’s devoted members couldn’t provide him.

“Hey Dad, you alright?” Shaun’s little voice pierced through Arthur in a way that wasn’t at all painful, yet somehow hit him like a freight train.

It was then that Maxson realized he had been staring, jaw hanging. “W-what? No, I mean..yes, yes I’m alright Shaun. Is everything okay?” Real smooth, don’t worry, Arthur promptly begins to beat himself up over it.

Though confused, Arthur was so, so very happy.

Nick:

“Da, are you coming or what?”

Immediately, Nick assumed he had overheated. Surely there was no possible way Shaun was calling him...no. Blinking a few times, one could even hear the low whir of his servos fire up as he tried to process what just happened. Once he finally realized that yes, that was indeed reality- a huge smile would grace the synth’s face in response. In an attempt not to “lose his cool”, Nick would just simply nod and follow along- replaying the entire thing in his head over and over again.

Old Longfellow:

He had expected “Grandpa” before he got a “dad” out of the little boy, if he even got that! Honestly he didn’t expect much, he loved the kid but..come on, he’s some old man kissing up on the child’s mama/papa. With that being said, for the first time in quite a while, joy like sparklers- erupted all throughout the old man’s body whenever Shaun tugged his coat one rainy day and-

“Can I please come with you, pa? I’ll need to learn how to fix those condensers up one day anyways!”

Piper:

Piper, of all people, didn’t really think she’d be so happy being so..so domestic. Not a single article written, not a single story hunted down for the day or anything- just family time. Just you, her, Nat, and Shaun.

Much like your day, the night also consisted of this calmness. Only coming to an end whenever it was officially bed time.

“I love you ma, good night.” Shaun sleepily muttered, turning around in the process so he could get comfortable and ready to sleep.

That was probably for the best, for as soon as she heard those magical little words, Piper’s eyes welled with tears without warning- only spilling whenever she was back in the comfort of her own room with you at her side.

Preston:

“Pa, are you sure you and mom won’t be gone for too long?”

The words stopped Preston dead in his tracks. Yes, it was his duty as your lieutenant- and your own as General, to respond to distress calls whenever they were made..so that unfortunately left your poor son in the care of your other companions more often than you’d like- more so, more than Preston would care for.

It was things like this that made him consider retiring all together.

Turning around, Preston would kneel down in front of the child, happiness shining in a luminous way within his dark eyes. “I..I promise you that we’ll be back before you even miss us, son.”

“Impossible, I miss you and mama already.”

Sturges:

“Dad, I’m scared..”

The very second he heard the little boy trembling in his arms whisper, the synth man felt cold fear flow through his veins. Raiders, always fucking raiders.

It was normal at this point for them to show up every now and then, usually you’d just chase them off with your flashy guns and whatnot- and you were doing that- but while you were out being the hero, it was Sturges prime duty to ensure shaun’s safety. As such, he’d take the little boy to their usual hiding spot and try to get him to be quiet...but that? That was enough to make him want to personally go out there and rip a raiders head off. How dare they scare his..his son?

“Shhh, I’ve gotcha little buddy..you just hang in tight.”

X6-88:

(I honestly don’t see how this could happen with Shaun in particular- even with the whole au I use with Maxson and Shaun dynamics- Shaun would still know X6 as that cool dude that teleported him back and forth.)

-sorry this took so long, hope you liked it.

[btsslowburnfic]

The Arrangement Chapter 4

Series Summary: Desperately in need of money, you answered the questionable ad. AKA-Arranged marriage AU featuring Y/N and Yoongi.

Chapter Summary: The job interview continues, and Yoongi finally takes an interest

Author’s Note: I wrote a massive amount of this story last weekend and I am super happy with it. I can’t wait to share the rest of the chapters with you guys each Thursday <3 

Previous chapter here  ---------------------------------

You left Grindhouse feeling better about the job. Mostly. It was clear that Kim Namjoon, you resolved to try and use his real name in case you ended up working together, wasn’t your biggest fan but he did respect that you had researched the position. 

Parts of the job were definitely strange. The strangest part? Agreeing to get married if the client decided “he wanted to.” No pressure. Totally a normal thing.  You thought back to the interview

--------

“I’m sorry. So this is like a mail-order bride type thing?” You wrinkled your brow in confusion.

“Technically internet-order bride, and don’t make that face, it will give you wrinkles,” Namjoon replied waving his hand in front of his face.

“Ok fine. Walk me through a day in this job.”

“Huh. This is usually where half the girls laugh at me and leave.”

You awkwardly shrugged your shoulders and waited for him to answer your question.

“Wake up, check the itinerary for the day. A work schedule will be emailed to you every morning by 7 am. Ensure the client makes it to their appointments on time, accompany the client to events both domestic and international, organize small social events. Any and all of these things. Whatever the client asks for. I’m sure he’ll have work for you to do. You are also responsible for posting appropriately to social media about your burgeoning love story,” Namjoon looks boredly over at the door, surprised that Yoongi never came back.

You wrote down some notes. “ Will I be provided social media accounts? I don’t really want to use my own. “

“Yes, they would be monitored and managed by BigHit behind the scenes.”

“Ok.” You jotted a few things down. “I saw that I would be living on-premise. Would I still be able to see my family and how far away is the location?”

“Yes. The apartment is actually at BigHit Headquarters. Several floors are dedicated to staff apartments. You may see your siblings if you put in appropriate time off requests and mark yourself out. You may not skip important company events. You must also sign a nondisclosure agreement upon the beginning of the contract. Your family and everyone else can’t know you are being compensated for your role outside of personal assistant. As you can imagine, it would look bad for the company.”

“Ok. That makes sense.”

“One last question [Y/N]: Why are you so nonchalant about this job? The marriage stipulation had most of the girls running off. And I can’t tell you how many cards I handed out that never signed in.”

You pouted, “ And here I thought I was special.” You laughed dryly as he rolled his eyes. “Dude, I’m not getting any younger. Dating sucks. I might as well get paid to do it.” You flipped your hair behind your shoulders. “This is a lot of money. If I end up getting married, it’s just a piece of paper. As long as the guy’s not a total asshole I really don’t care.”

“Oh yeah?” Namjoon clicks his pen a few times, “What if he’s really ugly? Is the money good enough to make up for that?”

You don’t miss a beat, “I’m more of a personality gal myself. Which may explain why you and I aren’t exactly hitting it off,” you mused and he just laughed at you, beginning to acclimate to your dry sense of humor.

“Yeah. That’s why.” He rolled his eyes. “All  right. We’re done here. If you make it to the next round you’ll receive an email within the next few days.

----

Well that was a fucking disaster, Namjoon thought as he walked back over to the office. Three. He had started with 50 cards distributed. 20 returns. And three candidates that showed an interest after finding out more about the job. He groaned. Why had BPD thought this was a good idea? He took his phone out as he entered the lobby and to Namjoon’s absolute shock he saw that Yoongi had scheduled a meeting for the two of them that afternoon. 

Two things were extremely out of character: one that Yoongi had even scheduled a meeting at all; most of the time Yoongi had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to the meetings. Two, that he actually took the time to put it in the agenda. He most often showed up when he felt like, walked into Namjoon’s office, bypassed a yelling Jimin, and then complained about something. 

Namjoon rode the elevator up to his floor. He didn’t get a chance to eat since the interviews had taken all of his lunch hour. He exited and walked over to Jimin. “Order me lunch. Surprise me.” 

“Of course Sir,” Jimin dutifully replied and pulled up the food ordering App. 

“Thank you. When Yoongi gets here send him on in.”

Jimin straightened up a few items on his desk, “Usually I have trouble keeping him out sir, but I understand.” Jimin was dying to know what was going on. Yoongi and Namjoon usually avoided each other but had interacted thrice now within the week. He resolved to make a coffee delivery mid-meeting. Yes. Excellent. Jimin smirked as he placed the food order and sent it. 

Namjoon took out the three remaining folders and placed them on his desk. Hopefully this meeting meant Yoongi had stopped being a little shit and decided to go along with it. He took out the paperwork he had prepared for Yoongi, a similar NDA to the one he had discussed with [Y/N].

An hour passed where he ate his lunch and caught up on emails.

Yoongi exited the elevator and lazily walked over to Jimin. “Is Namjoon ready?”

Jimin raised his delicate eyebrows. “You’re actually stopping to ask? Well that’s a first.”

Yoongi stuffed his hands into his pockets and rolled his eyes. “I’ll just head in then.”

Jimin sat there, utterly confused but also strangely excited. He ordered two coffees in preparation for his eavesdropping. Yoongi had never, ever stopped at the reception desk. Or made an appointment. Since when was he playing nice?

Jimin: GUYS. Yoongi and Namjooon are meeting for the third time this week. And Yoongi actually made an appointment.

JK: Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

V: Are you serious?

Jimin: Yes. I’m sneaking in there in half an hour. I’ll report back.

Jimin didn’t know why he cared so much. It was just that Yoongi was such a mystery compared to the rest of the guys. He was good looking, talented, but kept to himself and seemed to resent everything and everyone else that worked there.

Yoongi opened the door to the office. Namjoon looked up from his desk, “Yoongi. You left the interviews early, I’m surprised to see you made an appointment this afternoon.”

Yoongi walked closer to the desk, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah well I had seen everything I needed to see, and heard everything I needed to hear.” He looked down at the desk. “Are those all the candidates that are left?” 

“Yes. Unsurprisingly it was difficult to explain the situation without sounding like we are running an escort service, as you can imagine.”

Yoongi had been practicing the conversation he wanted to have since he got back to the building earlier after the girl returned his headphones. “Are there any headshots included in these?” He asked, feigning nonchalance.

“Nope,” Namjoon replied, looking over the NDA. “You said you didn’t want to be, and I quote, unduly influenced by physical appearance.” 

“Huh. Ok.” Yoongi responded. He didn’t want Namjoon to know that he had met one of the women who had applied for the job. Wait. She had said she worked somewhere nearby. “Can I see the resumes?”

“Knock yourself out.” He said, pushing the papers toward the edge of the desk.

He flipped through them. The first one was a model. Nope. The second one was an office worker. The third one listed two jobs, including Club Tokki. That was the woman he had met earlier. She had gone back and completed the interview. Despite trying to school his face, he let a small smile creep across his face.

“Find something you like there?” Namjoon asked. 

“These two sound interesting.” He handed two of the folders back to Namjoon. 

Namjoon looked at the two he had kept, “Of course you dumped the model. Here we have Lisa. She’s nice. Boring but Nice. And [Y/N]. You know what? I’m not even going to tell you anything. She’s something. Let’s invite her just to see what happens.” 

Yoongi stood there for a moment, swiping his lips with his tongue. Really? It had been that easy? 

“Here. You need to sign this. It’s an NDA about the situation. As far as anybody else knows, the girl we hire is your assistant. None of this was arranged before time. Additionally, you are to tell her that you want this, not that Big Hit is forcing you to do this.”

Yoongi puffed out his cheeks, “Why does that matter if she’s in on it?”

“Plausible deniability on the company’s part I’m sure. I didn't write the contract, BPD and the attorneys did.”

Yoongi sat down and started to read through the document.

Jimin knocked lightly on the door before entering. “Coffee gentleman? I have two iced Americanos right here.” He walked towards the desk.

“Thanks Jimin, put them on the desk.” Namjoon said, standing with the files in his hand.

“Ooo am I getting a new coworker?” Jimin tried to ask casually.

“Yoongi’s getting an assistant.” Namjoon responded.

“Good maybe someone will actually answer when I call down to the studio.” Jimin quipped.

Yoongi snorted, “As if I would let her in MY studio.”

“Enjoy your coffee, Sugar,” Jimin said, purposefully pronouncing his alias incorrectly.

“It’s Suga. Thanks for the coffee.”

Jimin blinked slowly, not sure how to respond to Yoongi saying something half-nice to him and slowly exited the room.

Yoongi picked up the coffee, sipping it while he finished reading the document. “Alright. Give me the pen.”

Namjoon was excited to be moving forward on this stupid project. If it actually worked, he hoped he would have to babysit Yoongi way less. “Here you go. You need to come to the next round of interviews. I think it’s important for you to meet each other.”

“Yeah, ok.” Yoongi signed the paperwork and stood up. “Put it on the calendar. See you.”

NEXT CHAPTER

Taglist:  @lidda​ @anpanman-sonyeondan​ @firefairy1​

[atruththatyoudeny]

Monthly Reads | November 2020

Happy 28th! Here are all the fics I read this month and the one I’m (still) currently reading - a whooping 365k fic! And as always: all my love for all the amazingly talented authors this fandom has ♥

❖ Hang there like fruit, my soul/Till the tree die | louloubaby92 | a/b/o - past sexual abuse - angst - 111k ''You still want me?'' he asks, voice thick. ''Yes,'' Harry's answer is absolute, almost defiant. ''But my hands are empty,'' Louis shakes his head. ''I've got nothing to offer you.'' ''I don't care about that. Do you see my hands?'' Harry asks before he cups Louis' face. His touch is gentle. He's always gentle when it comes to Louis. ''When I'm not holding you, I feel empty, but like this,'' he presses closer until their faces are inches apart. He caresses the apple of Louis' cheeks and that's when Louis realizes that he's spilled tears and Harry's wiping them. He didn't even notice; too busy looking into Harry's kind, kind, kind alpha eyes. ''I feel like I'm holding the world and I don't feel empty anymore,'' Louis knows he's a defective omega. He knows its also not his fault but it is what it is. He takes the world head on even when the world is unkind to him. Not Harry though; stubborn as he is, he doesn't back down, not when it comes to Louis.

❖ an island without waves | tofiveohfive | getting back together - angst - post friends with benefits - 5k Louis feels unreasonable. Less than a month ago, his consciousness was clean, not a hitch in his step. However, since the day the smallest seed of doubt planted itself in his mind, Louis keeps second-guessing himself and his choices. Every time he turns a corner, there’s some variation of Harry’s essence waiting to haunt him. A smell, a sound, a flavor, a color. Something Harry had mindlessly left behind. Something Louis is certain Harry would love if he could show him. Harry is in everything. He’s everywhere. An AU inspired by Niall Horan's songs: Everywhere | San Francisco | Still

❖ can't believe i captured your heart | millsx | break up - implied/referenced charcater death - domestic fluff - toxic relationship - 22k Harry wants Louis to teach him how to ride a horse for a date. Louis wants Harry to break up with said date. Or, the one where Harry is in a toxic relationship and Louis is there to get him out of it.

❖ Want It Flowing Through My Streams | screwstyles | Tennis AU - a/b/o - strangers to friends to lovers - 30k Wimbledon ABO AU: Harry has just qualified for his first Grand Slam, and he’s prepared to make the most of it – that is, until his heat unexpectedly hits him only a few days before his first match. And it’s just his luck that Louis Tomlinson, the resident bad boy of British tennis, is the only person around to help him.

❖ pull me back together again (the way you cut me in half) | 28sunflowers | post-break up strangers to lovers to exes to lovers - cheating - angst - 26k When trying to figure out who the love of his life is, Harry’s brain brings back a specific name from his past. That’s why, a decade after a messy divorce, Louis opens his door to find his ex-husband standing on the other side, asking for a second chance. Or a This Is Us AU starring Harry as Kevin and Louis as Sophie, but I selectively choose to use only some parts of what's cannon on the show.

❖ Pride and Peace | BrklynVan | canon compliant - hurt/comfort - fluff - angst - The X Factor era - 4k Louis stays off of social media and mostly out of the public eye as much as he can. So, when his publicist calls him at 7 AM to tell him that Harry Styles is releasing a Rolling Stone article in which his name appears many times he doesn't know what he is supposed to feel. “I got an email from Harry Styles’ team today about a piece in Rolling Stone. You are mentioned a few times and Mr. Styles wants your approval.” Louis can feel his heart drop and sudden panic makes his head feel heavy. He is quick to calm himself down and realize it could just be about their time in One Direction. “Ah, like music-related and shit?” He asks in hopes she will confirm it’s only about One Direction and he can go back to sleep. “Some parts, yes. I have sent it over to your email. Just to get an idea, It’s a..- its dropping for Pride Month.”

❖ sunflowers, sunshine, and you | soldouthaz | enemies to lovers - slight angst - 28k Sunshine county is small but mighty and Harry takes pride in knowing nearly each and every person that lives inside of it. For nearly eleven years now he’s been sheriff, and not one of them he’s ever regretted settling down here. He knows the road names like the back of his hand, knows the people and the animals and the way the world works here. In all of the time he’s been here, not a thing has changed. So, all things considered, when he starts seeing a beat up pickup truck roaming through town with plates he’s never seen before, Harry, to be frank, jumps on that like a fly on fresh dog shit.

❖ wake the morn and greet the dawn (with hearts entwined and free) | mixedfandomfics | selkies - mysthical - scottish folklore - implied/referenced homophobia - attempted kidnapping - ableist language - 21k It was a great storm that sent Harry ashore. Grandmothers professed they had not seen its like in a generation, and fathers lost their sons to the sea.

❖ Gimme Some Sugar | nonsensedarling | mutual pining - fluff - humor - no smut - 14k Louis is scheduled to work an overnight shift with Harry, the hot new pastry chef, to complete a special order. Into the late hours of the night, they bond over music and the ability to make each other laugh like no one else... which makes it harder and harder for Louis to hide his crush. Maybe it won't be so bad if he can't. * Or an AU inspired entirely by a manip of Harry with highlights.

❖ Meant To Be (Arse First) | Anonymous | soulmates - soulmate-identifying marks - fluff - meet-cute - bad jokes - humor - 5k Zayn groans in response, and Louis can hear the slow rustle of his bed sheets in the background. “Is it another ‘you woke up in the back parking lot of a Tesco’s with no pants and I need to come get you before the cops do’ panic or more of a 'I can stay in my bed and lend you an ear’ kind of panic, because I drank a lot more than you did last night, Lou.” “Uhh,” Louis replies eloquently, “more like an 'I have two giant, blood red handprints on my naked arse, and no, they aren't from a good shag’ kind of panic.” ------ Or the one where your soulmate mark appears on your body where they first touch you and stays there until they touch you for the first time. Aka the one where Louis's soulmate must like bums.

♦ Hiding Place | alivingfire | friends to lovers - soulmates - soul bond - canon compliant - mutual pining - slow burn - slow build - The X Factor era - 365k Louis never wanted a soulmate, didn’t really care for the whole Bonding thing at all, really. Enter Harry Styles, who’s wanted to be Bonded for as long as he could remember. With one fateful meeting in an X Factor bathroom, Louis gets a dagger on his arm and the realization that just because Harry is his soulmate doesn’t mean it’s mutual. From the X Factor house to Madison Square Garden, from the Fountain Studios stage to stadiums across the world, Louis has to learn to love without losing himself completely, because someday his best friend will Bond to someone and replace Louis as the center of his universe. Meanwhile, Harry begins to think that maybe fate doesn’t actually know what it’s doing after all, because his other half has clearly been right in front of him the whole time. All he has to do now is convince Louis to give them a chance. Or, the canon compliant Harry and Louis love story from the very beginning, where the only difference is that the love between them is literally written on their skin, and there’s only so much they can hide.

[lochrannn]

Warnings: Sexual Content (M Rating)

Characters: Lila Pitts; Diego Hargreeves; Allison Hargreeves; Klaus Hargreeves; Hargreeves Siblings (background)

Relationship: Lila Pitts/Diego Hargreeves

Roommates AU; Fake Marriage; Slow Burn; Mutual Pining; Emotional H/C

Chapter 4/?

-

Of course it’s been something that, at the very back of her mind, has been causing her no small amount of stress, but Lila has been doing a very good job of just completely ignoring the topic. Only, when her co-worker Nandi, a med student from South Africa, asks Lila how much longer she’ll be staying in the country, now that she’s dropped out of her degree, does it fully register with her that her student visa has expired and she’s into the last three weeks of her grace period. After that, she’ll be in the country illegally.

Lila smiles at Nandi brightly and tells her that she’s not made a decision yet and that she’s looking at a couple of options.

On her break she goes out into the alley and bums a smoke off one of the teenage busboys who seems to be working at the restaurant that’s right next to her café, even though she’s not had a cigarette in years, and contemplates what to do.

And predictably she comes up short.

So after her shift ends, she heads to the public library and finds several volumes on immigration law for research, because she doesn’t want to ask one of the librarians.

After an hour of frustratedly thumbing through the books, the only short term solution she has found is to get married to a citizen.

She’s back at square one with no idea what to do, when she leaves her books on the collection cart and heads out into the rainy evening.

By the time she walks in through the door, she’s not sure if she’s just breezed straight through panic and worry or whether she’s just too numb to feel it, but at the smell of cooking food, she immediately follows the aromas to the kitchen and for a moment gets distracted at the door by the sight of Diego gently stirring something on the stove.

Apparently sensing her arrival, Diego twists around to look at her and says, “Oh hey, I didn’t hear you come in.”

Lila drags her eyes up to meet his and belatedly realises that she’s unabashedly been staring at his arse in a pair of perfectly fitted jeans.

“Uh…” she says dumbly.

Somehow she’s got so used to him not being around over the last few days that coming home to someone in the flat is completely throwing her for a loop.

“I’m making gorditas,” Diego says, having turned back to stirring and making idle conversation, “d’you want some?”

When she doesn’t answer right away, still dealing with the whiplash of her day, Diego turns back around and asks, “Hey, you ok?”

Lila scrambles for an answer and, trying to avoid telling Diego that the sight of him all sexily making food has made all the thoughts in her brain combust, she accidentally lands on the other truth and blurts, “Yeah, uh, fine… just dealing with some visa troubles!”

Diego’s expression turns into one of such genuine concern that Lila instantly regrets being the cause of that.

“Ah shit! That sucks,” he says. “Anything I can help you with?”

Lila snorts loudly, “Thanks, but I doubt there’s anything you could do… short of marrying me,” she adds in a sarcastic tone.

There’s a beat where Diego looks at her with a completely blank expression and she knows it’s not the cooking that suddenly makes the temperature in the small kitchen go up a couple of notches. Then he makes a face that’s half smirk and half shy smile and something behind Lila’s ribs cracks at the sight and she hopes she never has to see it again, because she hasn’t the foggiest idea how to respond to it.

“Ha! Yeah,” Diego says then, pointing at her with his spatula and then turns back to the stove again.

“So, uh, d’you want some?” he asks, with a strained kind of casualness, not actually looking at her, and this time Lila is quicker to answer, “Yeah… yes, thanks! I’ll just go get out of my work clothes!”

Lila hurries into her room and then leans against the closed door for a moment. What the fuck is wrong with her? Only a few days ago, she was accusing Diego of being weird and now she’s joking about getting married. This is ridiculous!

She pushes off from the door and begins taking off her work clothes to change into something more comfortable.

Lila’s only justification for her odd behaviour is that she really is stressed out by the idea of having to leave the country. It’s not like she couldn’t start out again somewhere else, Australia maybe, the main thing is, she knows she can’t go back to England, too many bad memories there, but she just doesn’t want to.

She’s been floating about her whole life, and even though what she has going on right now isn’t exactly conventional, to her it feels like a respite. Maybe it won’t be permanent, but here in this city, with her job, and her flat, she’s been feeling significantly more settled than she has in a while and she doesn’t want to have to give that up so soon.

If only she could just marry Diego…

Is that really such an insane solution? Lila thinks to herself, while pulling on a pair of leggings.

She would pay him, of course, and she knows he needs the money. It’s a terribly weird thing to ask your landlord/recent lover/friend but Lila just cannot conceptualise any other solution. And he’s been remarkably patient with her antics over the last few days, maybe he’s actually a lot more relaxed about this sort of thing than she thinks. She can at least make the offer, worst case scenario they go back to being awkward around each other for a few days and she’s sure they’ll be back to normal in no time at all.

Lila makes her way back towards the kitchen and finds Diego already in the process of piling food onto the small table that barely has any room in the first place.

There’s a plate with little flat and round doughy things and a few dishes with different steaming fillings in them. There’s a decidedly spicy smell in the air and Lila can’t help the way her mouth starts watering.

“Yo, don’t just stand there, take a seat!” Diego says with a chuckle and Lila heads straight for the table and says with a laugh of her own, “Don’t have to tell me twice! Fuck that smells amazing! Did you make all of this yourself?”

“Uh, some of the fillings are made up of leftover takeout from the last couple of days,” Diego answers with a bit of a bashful shrug as he sits down across from her and shuffles around some of the dishes so he can squeeze one more onto the table, “but I made the gorditas and added some shit to the fillings,” he amends a bit more confidently.

Lila takes one of the little dough pockets and immediately starts spooning in different salsas and pastes. She doesn’t ask what’s in them, just picks up the dishes and gives them a sniff to decide which ones she wants.

“Mmmm!” she hums almost desperately when she takes her first bite. She looks up at Diego who is looking back at her with a glint in his eyes and chewing delightedly on his own food.

“Fuck, this is good!” Lila says, rudely not even having swallowed all of her mouthful.

“I know, right!” Diego answers with a chuckle.

They fall into easy conversation. At one point Diego gets up to get two beers from the fridge to wash down the food and Lila tries to get comfortable on the hard kitchen chair by tucking one of her feet underneath herself and her knee up under her chin.

After they run out of gorditas, Diego uses some slightly stale bread to finish up the rest of the fillings and then gets up to pile the dishes into the sink.

“I can do the dishes!” Lila offers, seeing as she’s been mooching off of Diego’s labour all evening.

“Nah,” Diego says, “dinner’s on me!”

As he starts filling the sink with water, the sudden domesticity of the scene reminds Lila of her plan to actually ask Diego for help.

She excuses herself and heads back to her room and while she’s rummaging through her drawers looking for her cheque book, her pulse starts speeding up and she tries to calm her nerves.

If he says no, she thinks she can handle the fallout of that, though she’ll still be lost for a way to stay in the country. But right now, she’s almost more anxious about what happens if he agrees. But tonight has been one of the most pleasant evenings she’s had in months and probably the most fun she’s had with anyone – she’s strenuously not thinking about the amount of fun she had sleeping with him. Diego’s her only real friend in this city and if after everything they can manage to hang out like this, then, Lila tries to convince herself, they can be pretend married for a while without it being too awkward.

Diego’s drying his hands on a dishtowel when she comes back into the kitchen.

“Diego?” Lila asks, tentatively.

“Mh?” He doesn’t properly acknowledge her as he reaches up to put the clean plates back into the overhead cabinet.

“Earlier… you asked if you could help me with my visa troubles…” Lila feels ridiculous. She’s always been confident and able to ask for, occasionally even straight up demand things. She has a sneaking suspicion that if it were anybody else, she’d just slap the cheque down on the counter and inform them of her plan, but somehow here with Diego, she’s just so unsure of herself.

Diego turns around and leans against the stove top. “Yeah?”

“I… uh… I’d pay you of course! I have money. Turns out I don’t have the same sense of pride as you,” Lila says with a slightly wistful shrug, “I took my mother’s money when she died, felt like it was the least I deserved after the way she treated me my whole life…” she drifts off.

“What do you want to give me money for?” Diego asks, crossing his arms but there’s a peculiar expression on his face that Lila can’t quite read.

“Will you…” She cuts herself off, she can’t ask him like that, “Would you marry me? You know, for money, so I could get a visa?”

Diego’s eyes go really, really wide. Clearly he did not expect her to ask that question and Lila immediately decides to backtrack, “No, you’re right, that’s insane! Forget I asked, I’m sure I can work something out somehow. I just need to do a bit more research and then…”

“Yeah, ok!” Diego interrupts her firmly and Lila’s mouth snaps shut.

She stares back at him and Diego looks no less harassed than when she first asked but he also seems resolved.

Lila panics. “You really don’t have to, I’m sure there’s loads of options. And honestly, if I’m just careful about it I’m sure nobody’s going to find…”

“I’ll do it!” Diego interrupts her rambling again and Lila can’t quite believe her ears.

“Diego, it’s illegal!” She says almost desperately.

“Are you trying to talk me out of it now?” Diego asks with no small amount of exasperation. Then he laughs, but with very little humour in it, “To be honest, the United States government and I have a slightly different understanding of what illegal means in this context.”

That gives Lila pause and she raises her eyebrows, questioningly.

Diego looks down at where he starts scuffing the toe of his shoe into the grout between the tiles, his arms are still tightly crossed.

“I was born in Mexico. From what I can piece together my mother brought me over the border when I was only a few months old. She died soon after that. The only things I have my father to thank for are my siblings and my citizenship. So yeah, I’ll help you.”

-

They’ve agreed to go down to city hall the next day to apply for a marriage license. No point in delaying the process, this way they can start the visa proceedings before Lila is officially illegally in the country.

After agreeing to get married the ease with which they spent the evening flies out of the window again and they quickly retreat to their separate rooms.

Diego’s lying, still dressed, on top of his comforter waiting till he can’t hear Lila moving about anymore before he’ll head to the bathroom to get ready for bed himself.

He doesn’t regret agreeing to Lila’s plan, not really. It’s fucked up that she has to even resort to something like this to avoid getting thrown out of the country, and honestly, had she asked he would have said yes even if she hadn’t offered him money.

But it’s less messy this way, a clean business arrangement. He already feels just a little bit guilty, because he’s not sure he didn’t also agree out of some sudden selfish fear that she’d leave. He pushes that thought back down as well, because what should he have done, say no just because he can’t quite handle his feelings for her? That wasn’t really an option either.

He breathes out heavily when the light in the hall goes off and gets up from the bed to go brush his teeth.

[heybeybey]

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

Pairing: Rivetra | Levi x Petra

Summary: Forced to retire from the Scouts due to a major injury, Levi thinks he'll be spending the rest of his days in domestic solitude. Petra, however, has another idea.

Loosely based on The Way of the Househusband.

Or: Captain Petra x Househusband Levi canonverse AU

AO3 Link

A/N: Okay I've had this outlined for WEEKS (no ending in mind tho) but I never got around to actually drafting it. But....... I had some time this morning and the inspiration after seeing this post so yay.

Thanks to @sleeperswakewriting for introducing me to The Way of the Househusband. It's cute and funny and DEFINITELY RIVETRA in another universe.

This is going be a drabble series btw but no assurance on when I'll be updating each chapter (My Royalty AU draft is glaring at this fic rn tbh). Some chapters will be based on the Netflix show but Levi's condition is a bit different from Tatsu's so it'll probably be loosely based at best.

And yes, the title is from the song My Girl. But I like this version since I think it fits Petra the most :3

Also also, we all know deep down that Levi wants to be a househusband so here you go.

- - -

Chapter 1: The Ceremonies

There was a time when his mind wandered to how his career in the Scouts would end. Levi always thought he'd die on the battlefield, just as he witnessed among his comrades. He'd accepted that reality, sometimes even waiting for it despite his will to continue fighting on.

For some reason, retiring has never crossed his mind.

"Honorably discharged due to major leg injury, incomplete spinal cord injury, and loss of right eyesight."

He can still hear the pity and sadness from Erwin's voice from that day in the hospital when they talked over where he will go from there. The doctors mentioned that his spine will heal over time, but his leg is broken way beyond repair. It's worse enough that amputation was considered at one point. He'd be good as titan food should he retain his current position in the scouts.

At first, he wanted to scream. He wasn't the type to show some outwardly emotion (except for when he's beating down new recruits or the three males in his squad) but being a part of the Survey Corps is what gave this shit of a life some meaning after he was pulled out of the underground.

Frankly, he didn't know what's next.

"Hey, Captain." Petra's sweet voice snapped Levi out of his thoughts and he forces himself to get out of his bad mood. This was her day and he'd be damned if he ruins it for her.

Levi takes her in and the corner of his lip quirks up. He feels pride fill his chest as his eyes strays a bit on the insignia freshly pinned on her uniform.

"I think I should be the one calling you that, Ral." He replies. "Congratulations."

Wheelchair-bound for what may be the rest of his life, Levi and his squad had to sit down and talk over what's next for the Scout's elites. The obvious choice was Eld, but Levi and the rest of the team were surprised when the blonde man turned down the promotion. He says that while he had the leadership skills and the years of experience that makes him more than qualified, he knew that he didn't have the same burning dedication to the cause as much as he'd witnessed in others.

Eld said that he'd be glad to support the next team captain instead. Oluo, while skilled, had often been too focused on his kill count. Gunther has a strategic mind but didn't really have the charm to bring people together.

So they all turned their attention to Petra.

To be honest, Levi had always wanted to promote Petra as his second-in-command. However, Scout regulations demanded a certain number of years that she didn't have yet at the time he first chose his elite squad. He'd never had a problem with Eld, but his and Petra's ability to synchronise on the battlefield is the reason why he'd always turned to her when he needed a second hand.

It makes sense in his eyes and to the rest of the team, even when Erwin and the other soldiers were doubtful of his choice. They've seen how ferocious Petra is during expeditions, but still had the heart to cry alongside her dying comrades. She's kind and helpful, but knows when a hard decision is needed to be made. She'd pitched in her ideas and opinions every time she accidentally passed by the officers' meeting sessions (she always brought them tea so she sometimes hear the conversations). This was often met with a surprised look from her higher-ups but having worked with Petra for quite some time, Levi would just smirk at his fellow veterans.

She's still rough around the edges and she definitely still has more room to improve, but the potential is there. He wouldn't have chosen her as part of his team in the first place if he didn't see that fire.

He wasn't surprised that Eld, Gunther and Oluo supported her, even when Petra was terrified to accept such a responsibility. Levi was firm in his decision.

In the end, Erwin stamped on his approval.

Levi was the one who pinned the insignia on her signifying her new position during today's pinning-on ceremony.

- - -

"Hey, Captain!"

"I think you should stop calling me that, Petra."

"Sorry. Habit." The ginger blushes slightly as she steps closer inside the apartment, basket in hand. "I bought something for you."

She brings out a few fruits from the basket, laying it down on the dining table in his humble apartment. "The farmer's market was on sale today and I had the chance to pass by before they closed."

"You didn't have to buy me all these, Petra."

"I had to use my pay raise for something, Captain," she jests. He wheels himself towards her to assist her with unloading the basket and they both work in silent contentment.

"So, how's your first day?" Levi asks after washing the fruits. Petra's face lights up at his question and the whole room seems to come alive as she chatters on.

"Holy Maria, Captain. I didn't know the team can be this stupid. No wonder you had dark eyebags after training us for years!"

- - -

It's been three months since he resigned from the Scouts. The new captain never fails to come home to the apartment he's renting near the Scout HQ everyday.

Come home? Tch. How delusional can you get.

He'd welcome her back every expedition and every training day. A part of him feels a bit of guilt gnaw on him when he sees how tired Petra is whenever she comes home, thinking of the time when he was her direct commanding officer.

"Captain, can I sleep here tonight?"

Now, he sees the sorrow and fatigue in her eyes. "You're always welcome here, Petra."

He offers to give up his bed for the night but she declines, saying that she'll be fine on the couch. She's unnaturally quiet, but he knows that this is how she typically is after expeditions.

They're both on the couch right now and she snuggles closer to him. Levi motions for her to lay her head on his lap, their boundaries thinning with every single visit.

He's quiet when he sees the tears start to fall from her eyes. Soon, Petra's sobbing and she wraps her arms desperately around him. His hand starts to slowly run through her ginger locks, hoping it gives her some comfort.

"She was the last in my and Oluo's batch." She starts, voice shaking and he gives her space to talk and mourn her comrade. "I wanted to save her... but it was either her or compromise the mission. I had to give the order."

"I'm sorry." Because if someone understands her better, it's him.

- - -

"Levi?"

It's the scout's day off today and they're all allowed to leave the vicinity to visit friends and family, or simply just to fuck around if they wanted.

Petra, not surprisingly, decides to spend another weekend with him.

"Hmm?" He's currently preparing their lunch, wheeling himself around the kitchen area.

"Did you ever think about settling down when you were still in the scouts?"

He cocks an eyebrow at her question. "And leave a widow crying on my grave? I didn't even have the time to date, Petra."

And he didn't even want to date someone else. Not when he kept having wet dreams about his own subordinate at that time.

"Well, you have a chance now, right?" Petra starts to help with laying down the dishes on the table. He looks at her, eyes taking in her body language. She's doing that thing with her hands again where she tries to occupy it with things to do whenever she's nervous. She's too tense for this to be some absent chatter.

"Just spit it out, Petra."

"What I'm trying to say is that I'm always here. In this apartment. Whether I'm back from training or meetings or expeditions," she starts. Levi wheels himself forward to grab their food from the small kitchen but he attentively listens to each of her words. Seeing that he won't be replying, Petra decides to continue.

"I like coming home to you, Levi. And I'm still devoted to you." Petra nervously says, the redness on her cheeks intensifying. Levi feels his heart thump at her last sentence. He stops what he's doing and looks straight into her amber eyes, the same moment as she reaches out to delicately hold both of his hands. "I'd like to continue doing so... if you'll have me in another way."

Bold as ever is the first thing that fondly came to his mind. He feels emotion start to climb up his throat but he never wavers in staring back at her. The next thing that came to mind wasn't exactly a thought, and the answer leaves his mouth with a certainty he didn't know he had.

"Okay," he quietly replies. Not much of a talker, as usual. Still, his sure answer was quite a surprise to the both of them.

Was it loneliness? That fear that he'd most likely die alone because of his automatic ability to push people away? Maybe it's some deep hidden desire to live a domestic life with someone—something that he allowed himself to fleetingly dream of while he was still in that underground hellhole—that he has since accepted wouldn't be in his future.

Until now.

He and Petra decided to have a shotgun wedding that same afternoon.