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slasher-catcher · 2 years

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Spider Rings - Ch.1

Art the Clown x Reader

(Originally posted on AO3 by Frothy-Frowns -- relax, that’s my NotSFW username, I’m not ripping someone else’s work, lol)

Summary: In cute, playful banter, you accidentally marry a strange monochromatic clown with cold eyes. Congrats! Best of luck to you on your honeymoon~

First chapter is SFW. The next one is NSFW and has two versions for either genitalia, depending on the reader’s preference. Absolutely NO minors, please.

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18 Pages/ 8,561 Words ... so, uh, a pretty lengthy read.

Warnings: ... none in this chapter really, other than Art being Art. So like.. mild stalking? General creepy vibes? Some good ol’ fluff. Accidental marriage. Maybe hinted unhealthy obsession. Swearing. This closely follows the beginning of Terrifier.

I completely threw away the whole bathroom scene because that man will NOT be getting any ass if he’s been rolling around like a dung beetle. We have SOME standards, damn. (Reader’s description isn’t enclosed, but I sorta wrote this with them being plus sized in mind, so do with that information what you will. Also Reader uses they/them pronouns.)

“I think I just twisted my ankle!”

“Dawn, really?” Tara laughed in exasperation, propping the stumbling scarecrow girl up on her left, tucking her shoulder underneath her arm for support. Reader took to her right, snickering along with their drunken giggling. The little group had just left a rather rowdy Halloween party just down the street, slowly making their way towards Dawn’s car parked to the curb, a ways further than the line of cars of the fellow partygoers.

The outing sure was… something, as far as Reader could say. Parties weren’t particularly their scene, but Dawn was pretty persistent when she wanted to be (which was often, unfortunately), and Tara may or may not have bribed them with the promise of Halloween treats that were sure to be there. Reader could still taste the sweet icing of the orange and black cupcakes on their tongue. The sugary confection was certainly more welcoming than the aftertaste of a poorly made candy corn jell-o shot, anyhow.

The feverish night seemed to slowly simmer down to a chilly crawl the further the trio walked into the night, their chatter and clicking steps being the only sound in the hushed dark. Streetlights overhead lit the stretch of asphalt, concrete and their hair a mix of blinding white and cold orange, making their wriggling shadows seem a lot taller than what they really were. “Maybe ya wouldn’t have twisted it if you hadn’t gotten on top of that table,” Reader sighed, shaking their head and readjusting Dawn’s weight on their side. Dawn only shrugged her shoulders in dismissal, blonde hair bouncing with the movement. “And dance with clearance-isle Gru and his cluster-fuck of minions on the floor?? Hard pass, babe.”

Tara groaned in mock irritation, rolling her eyes.The print of her ribcage-designed top flashed a smidge in the cool lights every time she twisted a certain way. “Thanks a lot, by the way.”

“For what?” Dawn laughed.

“For promising you weren’t gonna get shit faced tonight.”

The girl pulled an innocent face that neither Reader nor Tara believed. “Guys kept buying me drinks. I can’t help it if people find me interesting!” “Yeah, it was definitely your mind that they were after,” Reader snarked sarcastically, earning them a swift pinch on their shoulder before Dawn fully pulled her arm off of them, retrieving her phone from her patchwork pockets. Tara easily caught sight of the cell phone’s glow and twisted her head, trying to sneak a better peek. “Who’re you texting?” Dawn raised her nose high into the air and tucked the screen against her shoulder, hiding it away from her prying eyes. “None of your business!”

Reader’s eyebrow raised as Tara pulled away from under Dawn’s arm, leaving her to fully walk without both of their support. “You gave that asshole your number, didn’t you?” Tara asked accusingly, nearly scoffing in disbelief. In hindsight, she really shouldn’t be so surprised. This was Dawn they were talking about. The girl has zero restraint for most everything that comes her way.

Dawn wagged a finger in her face back and forth mockingly. “Oh my god, you’re SO jealous.”

“Of what? That kid was talking to like, five other girls!”

Reader rolled their eyes and gave their head another shake. They could hardly believe that anyone would want to give their number to the meatheaded viking guy that kept purposely spilling his sticky, watered down witches brew punch on nearly all the girls at the party for a chance to chat, but Dawn was just a different breed, they reckoned. It wasn’t too long until they finally reached their designated curb, slowing down their pace when the car came into view.

“Oh, stop being such a bitch, just get in the car.” Dawn scooted past the both of them to round the vehicle, only to be stopped mid stride by Tara taking hold of her wrist. “Oh, you are not driving.”

Dawn dangled her car keys in her hand, letting them clink and clack, as if the gesture alone proved her sobriety. “I’m fine.” Tara wasn’t having any of it. The girl herself had thrown back the odd drink or three too, but at least she could walk a decently straight line without any assistance. Well… not much, anyway. Although, those Jekyll & Gins were beginning to talk back to her.

Nevertheless, she held her hand out to Dawn expectantly. “Give me the keys,” she demanded.

Reader nudged past them to lean against the side of the car, arms folded across their chest as they watched the two throw a minor fight over the keys, patiently waiting for them to finish. The ends of their long, billowy black sleeves fluttered from the chilly breeze that flew past. Their fingers tippy-tapped against their arms, tongue idly prodding at the little extensions they stuck onto their canines. In all honesty they were pretty impressed that the fangs had stayed intact all throughout the night – they were certain when they were sticking them on that they would pop right off in the middle of the party. Hooray for little victories! While the little group hovered around the car, across the way were a man dressed from head to toe in a clown costume, trudging along. The steps he took in his rather large black shoes padded louder the closer he walked towards them. The black trash bag that was slung over his back crinkled when his gloved grip tightened around it. After what felt like an hour – but what was definitely only a few heavy seconds – Dawn finally caved, letting Tara take the keys from her hand and slumping back into the cool metal of the car. Reader frowned in disapproval, arms crossing a little tighter against their chest when Tara gave a little stumble of her own. “Really don’t think that’s such a good idea either, girly. You smell pretty flammable yourself.” “Then why don't you drive us, Reader?” Dawn released a long, drawn out groan, beginning to lean her weight more and more on the hood of her car. It seemed like all those poison apple martinis were finally dragging her down into a full stupor. Oh boy. They sighed and scratched awkwardly at the back of their neck, fingers catching on the black lace, jeweled choker wrapped snugly around it. They sure did hope they didn’t accidentally rub off the two little fang bite marks they dotted right above it with red marker. “You already know I can’t drive. Besides, my place is nearby. Can’t very well drive you home and make it back, D.”

The blonde scarecrow only gave an unintelligible drunken grumble under her breath at that.

Tara groaned and stuffed the keys into her pocket. “Yeah you’re right, Reads. I’m fucking lit. But if I get something to eat, I can drive us, okay?”

Footsteps stopped more than a few meters away from the trio, crunching leaves silencing. The clown paused when their squabbling finally reached his ears, snapping him out of the set daze he had been in. With a frown he watched them from the shadows, as silent as the night around them. Pitch black eyes studied the three persons closely, as if memorizing their images for later.

“Did you say food?? Is there even a place that’s open late?” Dawn sat up a little from her perch on the hood, a light cringe stretched across her face. Reader nodded, sticking their thumb out and pointing it in one direction. “Well there’s a pizza place just ‘round here. Could give that a go, yeah? I can stay with you guys a tick longer until you get your bearings.”

Tara gave a short nod at the suggestion. “Yeah, that’ll work fine. Come on D, let’s-”

“Okayokayokay. Just give me… one minute.” Dawn mumbled, holding up a hand as her eyes fell closed. Reader hummed with a little concern, biting their lip until just a little fang poked out over their black painted lips. As aggravating and nerve-wracking as Dawn could be, they certainly didn’t take much pleasure in seeing her aching like this. “Fuck me,” Tara groaned, throwing her head back in annoyance, black hair spilling across her face. “Like, one minute, for real.” Dawn pleaded softly before falling silent, needing a moment.

The skeleton gave a sigh, shifting her weight until she stood comfortable enough to wait ‘one minute’ out. Her eyes began wandering around to take in the not-so-interesting scenery before they caught sight of someone in the shadows. Her brows furrowed as she stared at the tall, thin clown standing stock still, a rotten toothed grin stretched across his face and accented with heavy black grease paint as he stared right back at her. A chill shot down her spine.

“Take all the time you need, it’s okay.” Reader pulled their cross body bag a little closer, digging into it until they retrieved an unopened bottle of water and of ibuprofen, handing both it and the pills over to Dawn. The scarecrow didn’t hesitate to toss the medicine into her mouth and wash it down with heavy gulps of water, nodding a silent thank you towards them.

The vampire raised an eyebrow, snorting in amusement. “Y’know, I could have just handed you a couple of fentanyl and you took them without even looking at them. For shame, Dawn. For shame.” The water bottle crunched loudly as Dawn drained it empty, gasping when she finally pulled it away from her lips. “At this point I’m willing to suck twelve dicks if it meant my head would stop spinning.” Reader choked, barking out a surprised laugh. “Jesus christ you’re a hazard to society! Your mother must be proud.”

Dawn grinned, tossing the plastic bottle into her car carelessly. “Who do ya think taught me, Reads?”

And just like that, Reader’s laugh turned into a thread of strained wheezes, leaving them to clutch their stomach.

Neither friend noticed Tara’s stiff stance as she continued to lock eyes with the clown nervously. Her shoulders fully tensed up when the clown’s dark eyes released their grip onto Tara and darted swiftly over to land on Reader as soon as they began laughing at whatever they and Dawn were talking about.. A bead of sweat began to form on her brow from her rising anxiety. Just what was this guy's damage? “.. D. D, Reads, look.”

Prompted by her urgent hissing, they both turned their heads towards where she was staring.

“Holy. Shit.” Dawn began laughing at the stranger in the shadows. Reader blinked, taken quite aback when their gaze fell onto the man in the shadows of the buildings, who already had such a piercing stare settled onto them. Not a shred of light seemed to reflect in his gaze.

Did.. did he recognize them from somewhere?? He couldn’t have been at the party they just left, he was coming from the wrong direction. That, and Reader was pretty sure that they’d remember a unique face like his. The sharp, protruded cheekbones with an equally sharp chin that jutted out, a large hooked nose with a little black dot on the tip and heavy makeup lined around his eyes and mouth sure did stand out, even in the dark. They could tell that he certainly put a lot of work into his costume, and it definitely showed.

They raised a hand and gave a polite little wave, their sleeve swaying with the movement. “Uh, hey there! Lovely night, isn’t it?”

“Reader!!” Tara hissed and grabbed their waving wrist, tugging them back and making them give a little squeak in surprise. “That is not funny. I’m about to scream.”

Reader turned to look at Tara, face twisted in confusion as they rubbed at their wrist. “I.. I wasn’t jok-”

“Heeeey, handsome!!” Dawn called out, waving widely to him, laughing loudly. “My friend wants your number!” “Dawn, cut it out,” Tara grimaced, looking back and forth between her heckling friend and the menacing stranger. “I’m gonna fucking kill you.”

Dawn disregarded her friend’s demand, always looking for a way to further stir the pot of trouble. “Come buy us dinner!!”

As the two quarreled, never did the clown’s piercing stare leave their vampire-dressed friend. A little trickle of worry began filling Reader when they realized that he never blinked once. Their hands slowly closed into one another, twisting with concern. Aw man, was he needing something? He seemed so unnaturally still. They took a short step towards him, tilting their head to the side. “Hey, um.. do you need help with something? Is it … your bag? I could help carr-” “Oh my god you guys, stop!” Tara’s breath got momentarily caught in her throat when Reader took a step closer towards that.. thing. Her hand shot out to once again grapple their friend and yank them closer, keeping her hand around their wrist. “Just shut the fuck up.” Their eyebrow twitched in annoyance with their friend, yanking their wrist out of her grip with a silent huff. Heaven forbid they manage to get one word in without her interrupting. “T, please. I was just saying hello. That’s not a crime.” “Maybe he’ll drive us home,” Dawn snarked at Tara, swiping the keys from her to dangle in front of her face.

“Seriously you guys, I wanna leave. Now.” Tara deliberately looked away from the stranger, not being able to handle those ice cold eyes peering at them from the dark. Of a clown, of all things, a fucking clown. They gained some weird creeping Peeping Tom and he just HAD to be a clown.

Reader pinched their brow in frustration before calling out to the lingering clown once again. “I’m sorry for my friends, sir, we…” When they had glanced back towards where he had been located, the shadows were bare. Their face creased with confusion and gave the whole street a quick look around, frowning lightly. “... where did he go??”

At their ominous words, Tara whipped back and glanced around as they had, feeling her anxiety increase tenfold. A sticky ball of dread began growing inside Tara’s belly, forcing her to nudge Dawn awake from her slouched, lethargic fog. “Let’s go. Come on, let’s just go.” She tugged her off the car’s hood, pulling her along. Reader trudged along right behind them, arms beginning to hug around their center. The encounter succeeded in throwing them off their kilter a bit. The guy hadn’t even said a word and the girls had treated him so awkwardly. Oh, they could already tell that this will eat away at them for at least the next few nights.

●・○・●・○・● ●・○・●・○・●

The large, brightly glowing sign that read PIZZA, WINES & LIQUOR buzzed over the pizza shop with a hum. Inside the shop, rock music accompanied both Tara and Reader as they sat together in one of the few booths provided in the small closure. Reader lightly swung their feet, keeping themself occupied by sipping on the drinks that were provided and carefully folding the napkins they plucked out of the table's dispenser. They hummed along with the overhead guitar solo as they slowly created a little origami creature.

Tara leaned against the pale bricked wall of the inner booth, thumb sliding across her screen every couple of seconds. She was going through the reel of selfies that were taken at the party, many of the three friends laughing along and having fun.

"Oh yeah? You dressed up?" At the main counter, the owner stood with a telephone pressed to the side of his face, rapping his knuckles against the counter as he spoke. "Oh, you sick fuck… where am I gonna go, back to my wife?" He replied as if whatever notion the person on the receiver had said was incredulous.

Tara’s eyes pulled away from her screen and glanced over her shoulder at the pizza man, unimpressed with the one sided conversation. Out of curiosity she looked back at Reader to see if they too were listening in, but they seemed to be completely into their own little world.

The man's chatter went on and Tara decided to sink herself back into the photo reel, until a brightly flashing red battery icon took over the screen, before it completely turned black. Her tired face reflected back at her. "Great."

Almost as if summoned by the dying battery, Dawn’s heels clacked loudly on the tiled floor as she made her way back from the bathrooms, the toilet still running loudly in her wake. The restaurant phone began to ring once again in the background as she slid into the empty side of the booth, groaning in relief.

"That was the longest piss I have ever taken."

Tara placed her phone back into her pocket, sarcasm dripping off her reply. "Thank you for sharing that."

Reader snickered under their breath, fangs poking out from their lip as a smile tugged on the corners of their mouth. "Charming as always, D."

Dawn made a face at them before pulling her own phone out, scrolling through her notifications. "This guy wants me to meet him at his apartment right now."

"What a shocker," Tara replied easily, taking a peek across the table at her phone, as if to read the message herself.

Reader glanced up from their napkin, giving Dawn a raised eyebrow before returning to their folding and creasing. "Are you gonna do it?"

The scarecrow shrugged, a mischievous smirk pulling at her lips. "I told him I would."

That made Tara’s eyes snap back to their friend. "What??"

Dawn pulled up from her phone with a roll of her eyes. Jesus, sometimes Tara’s nagging really grinded on her nerves. “I’m kidding. I have a little more self respect than that.”

“If only you had a brain.” The skeleton replied, side eyeing their friend with a smirk, folding her thin arms and propping them on the table. Dawn sent a snarky face at her in response. “I’ve been wanting to use that one all night.”

“Congratulations,” she sneered saucily before tucking back into her phone screen. Just as the word had left her mouth, the door of the shop was tugged open with a clatter, doorbell tolling with a ding of the new arrival. The monochromatic clown that they had unofficially met in the street pulled his way through the door, trash bag sitting heavily over his back.

Neither the scarecrow nor the vampire looked up, too preoccupied with their activities to take notice, but the skeleton sure did. The bell caught her ear and had her looking over, only to feel her heart drop hard at the sight of the clown. Her chest began hurting with rising anxiety when she saw that his seemingly soulless eyes instantly targeted and locked onto Reader as he made his way to the booth parallel to their own. He stuffed the trash bag in first, pushing it against the wall and sliding in after it. His gloved hands folded together and were placed onto the table before him, settling into a comfy position. His gaze never faltered.

Tara took a slow, shuddery breath before nudging Reader’s side. “R.. Reader…”

Reader’s eyebrow twitched, a little stamp of tongue sticking out from between their lips in concentration. After making one final crease, Reader finally sat back against their seat in triumph, lifting the folded napkin up off the table. In their hands sat a little bat, its wings stretched out wide. “Look! It’s a little baby! A stinky sky puppy!” They grinned, little fangs flashing. They turned towards Tara, holding the creation out in front of her. “Tadaa!”

Tara shook her head, lazily swatting the napkin off their palm before taking their shoulder into her hand, pulling them closer to her. She tucked her face low, whispering into their ear. “That guy is back.”

Reader blinked, frowning when she had slapped the origami creature out of their hand. Rude.

It took a second longer for her words to register in their brain. “..Guy??” Prompted now, their head swiveled to the left and gave a surprised little jolt when the previously empty booth beside them was now preoccupied by the mystery man from the shadows. A shiver rolled down their back. Had he been staring at them the whole time?

.. They found it a little concerning that they found that a little exciting.

The bat had smacked into Dawn, making her sputter and swat it away from her, looking up to make a comment on it, but paused when she noticed that both Tara and Reader were looking off to the side. She followed their gaze, and laughed. “Look, it’s your boyfriend~” She winked at the vampire before returning to her phone.

Reader’s cheeks warmed a little at the teasing, but otherwise hadn’t looked away. They seemed to have entered a staring contest with the clown man. The rock music overhead still strummed along as their eyes stayed locked. They could already feel their own eyes beginning to sting. How could he go this long without blinking?? Honestly they were beginning to feel pretty impressed. Reader’s ears twitched as the sound of the shop owner’s voice sounded in the background, him talking to a new caller. “I told you this a week ago.” He spoke, tone irritable. “We’ll go to your mother’s…. I don’t know, six weeks from now.”

The clown didn’t seem to notice anything else in his environment, fully focused on the vampire sitting across from him. Slowly, his head tilted to the side, gaze never breaking. Almost instantly, Reader did the same, head slowly tilting to the side, mirroring the stranger. Something about the exchange felt so … intimate. In a way that Reader could neither comprehend nor explain. A smile broke across their face.

The clown stayed absolutely stationary, but Reader didn’t miss the way the black corner of his mouth twitched upward.

The pizza man seemed to have finally taken notice of his newest customer and tugged the phone away from his face. “Ey I’ll be right with ya, buddy!” Not a second later he was mumbling back into the receiver, scoffing under his breath. “You gotta see the shape of this fuckin’ guy that just walked in.”

If the stranger had heard any of the man’s words, he didn’t give any indication that he had. He stayed, frozen in time, as still as a professional New Yorker statue performer. Which is why it made Reader jolt again in surprise when suddenly he sat rod straight in his seat, shoulders pulling back and flashing a bright grin at Reader. Were his teeth that red before?

The goofy face and the absurdity of the situation had Reader finally snapping. Their face cracked into a wide grin, fangs flashing brightly as they released a sudden burst of laughter, lifting a hand up to cover their teeth. The clown’s head tilted again, their odd reaction seeming to catch him off guard. His grin faltered for a moment, eyes searching the giggling vampire trying desperately to muffle their noise. Slowly, his red and black toothed grin stretched even wider, dark eyes crinkling as an actual authentic smile took over his face. Oh, he liked that reaction… he liked that a lot.

Tara had been keeping her eye set on the stranger as well, not trusting anything about him. Something was off about him, she just knew it. Reader’s sudden outburst of giggles made her damn near leap out of her skin in surprise, snapping to look their way. Did they not see it too? Even with the way he’s been just oogling them??

She dropped her hand back onto their shoulder, swiftly pulling them back to facing her. She lowered her head to them, aggravation etched heavily in both her expression and voice as she hissed to them. “Reads, stop it. He’s fucking creepy. You’re only making it worse!”

The vampire only shook their head in dismissal, waving her off with a lighthearted smile. “Oh it’s fine, T. He’s just playing around.”

“It’s creepy.” She repeated, not relenting.

“I think it’s pretty charming, really. Look!” When they both turned to look at the clown again, his position changed once again. His elbows were planted into his table, gloved hands had their fingers laced together for his pointed chin to settle right on top of them, smiling brightly at Reader as if he had been waiting for them to look at him again. Their pleased reaction made his grin widen just that much. Reader returned the toothy smile, cheeks warming under the heavy attention. It wasn’t something they were used to, and in most circumstances made them uncomfortable, but the way the monochromatic stranger looked at them so warmly had their chest doing.. something. Something they couldn’t quite put their finger on, but it sure did feel fluttery. Exciting. They easily fell back into another eye lock with the stranger, enjoying the silly faces he pulled, and the rather cute toothy smile.

Tara gulped silently, painted lips twitching into a harder frown. Something was wrong about this. He was wrong. Everything about him was wrong. She didn’t like how his eyes bore so deeply into Reader. She shook her head, short black hair gently fluttering along with the movement. Reader’s second burst of giggling after the clown made yet another weird face – this time, he lifted a knuckle up to his large hooked nose and gave it a little cranking motion, sticking his nasty tongue out, face scrunched – made her shudder, arms wrapping around her middle.

Almost miraculously, The scarecrow finally pulled her nose out from her phone screen again. Her brow furrowed as she took in Tara’s tense posture. “Are you okay?” She received no answer, and turned her head to follow their gaze to, surprise surprise, see that the clown was still upsetting her. Reader seemed fine enough, so why couldn’t she be?

Tara slowly pulled her eyes off of him to finally look back at her friend across the table, gaze hard. “I think we should get our food to go.”

“Why?” Dawn frowned back, not at all pleased with the idea of leaving after they’ve just got settled down. She followed the skeleton’s stiff gaze as it flicked back across Reader and landed on the clown man once again. “Him?”

As far as Dawn could see, the guy was just a fucked up looking weirdo. Reader seemed into it enough, so what was the deal? She didn’t want to get up just because some ugly guy had the hots for their friend. She knew Tara could be a little protective of them – and her, on occasion – but jesus, sometimes too far was too far.

“Seriously, I wanna leave.”

An annoyance dripped off Dawn as she yanked her phone off the table and pulled out from the booth. “Jesus christ.”

Tara’s heart dropped again that night, feeling a cold sweat forming as Dawn made her way to the clown. “D, stop.”

She took no heed of Tara’s empty words as she stood in front of the guy. Despite her being literally right there in front of him, he seemed completely zeroed in on Reader, eyes not wavering for a millisecond off of them. God, this freak had it bad, huh. “Um, excuse me. Excuse me.” Dawn batted his arm. It was like she was just a gust of wind, because he didn’t acknowledge her existence. Or anything, for that matter, outside of Reader.

Reader blinked when Dawn scooted herself in front of the clown, brow raised in curiosity. What was she planning to do? They certainly hoped that she wasn’t planning to bully or embarrass him, as she was pretty known to do every so often. It’s not like he was doing anything wrong, so what was the problem?

The man didn’t seem to see a problem. Hell, his dark gaze stayed absolutely locked onto them, even with Dawn lowering her hand to hover right in his face and beginning to snap loudly not two inches away from his face. He didn’t even blink, painted lips tilted upward and eyes lidded lightly as he stared deep into their soul. It… made a shiver crawl down their body, though definitely not an unwelcome one. They swallowed, feeling the air between them become more and more intimate the longer his lidded eyes glued to them. Hoh boy.

“Can I get a picture with you??” Dawn persisted, head tilting until it completely covered his eye’s path, golden hair falling from her shoulders and down in a curtain, further blocking his way. Reader suddenly took in a breath of air, not realizing that they had been holding it for the majority of their locked gazes. Had their heart been pounding in their chest this whole time?? Slowly they placed a hand over their chest, as if to steady the beating muscle.

Dawn’s light irritation grew when the clown’s gaze seemed to stare right through her, as if she were just air. You’ve got to be fucking kidding.

“Dawn, come on.” Tara urged, hugging herself tighter.

“Shut up.” She waved her off like a pesky fly, trying to grab the clown’s attention again. “Hello? Helloooo??” She blinked in annoyance. Finally she reached out and grasped his closest arm, lifting it out of the way and dropping it over the back of his booth seat. “Okay, I’m gonna take that as a ‘yes.’” She surged forward, plopping herself right onto his thigh, moving to press her faux straw covered chest against his, making herself comfortable. Reader blinked in surprise at Dawn’s sudden invasion. They frowned at her, suddenly feeling heavily shameful at her intrusion of his personal space, as if they made her do it. “Jesus, Dawn! Sir I-I’m sorry, she’s..” Their words tapered off when his deep, dark eyes once again met theirs when Dawn took her seat on him, moving out of the way. They became flustered once again. Even with their rambunctious, personal-bubble-popping friend making herself cozy on his lap, his attention never faltered, never waned, never blinked. Reader felt their face beginning to heat up once again. Why did that make them feel so warm??

The scarecrow wiggled, making herself comfortable and preparing him for their photo shoot. She reached up and began tugging on the little black hat that sat on top of his head, purposely pulling until the string that held it in place around his head snapped against his face, hat dropping from her hold and tumbling to the floor. The pop from the string seemed to finally, finally break him of his concentrated gaze, slowly turning to look at the blonde who invaded his personal space. The lidded, pleased stare from before fell into something cold and unreadable, mouth falling flat. Tara shuddered at how quick his expression fell.

“Uh, oh.” Dawn reached a hand up, tapping a finger on the tip of his hooked nose, right on the little black dot that sat there. “Sorry.” She batted her golden lashes at him innocently, not at all registering the cold, unimpressed glare he laid on her as she bent over, swiping the little hat off of the tiled floor and setting it right back onto his head. His head slowly lowered, glare seeming to get icier when she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and arch her chest up, pressing it right against his own as she posed. Her arm stretched out with her phone in hand, clicking as she began taking pictures with him. Her hair effectively covered half of his face, sticking to the white and black makeup.

Tara couldn’t believe Dawn, shaking her head in disapproval, hand reaching up to rub at her neck anxiously. Of course the outgoing brat would pull some shit like this, just to rub Tara’s fears and concerns right in her face. It was times like these that seriously made her question their friendship.

Dawn pulled away from the camera to look back over to the clown, suddenly snatching his chin in her hand, squishing his prominent cheeks inward until his black painted lips puckered outward. Pleased, she turned back to the screen and puckered her own lips into a duck face, pressing the side of her face against his and taking two more pictures with him. He stared coldly into the camera. When the scarecrow decided that she’s had enough, she released his chin from her grasp, a fake smile flashing as she tapped his nose once again. “Thanks.”

She pulled herself out of his lap without another word, returning to their booth. The man stayed frozen in the spot she maneuvered him in, arm still slung over the back of the booth, frown prominent. Reader frowned with concern. They knew Dawn could be a bit much, especially to people who weren’t already used to her antics. They hoped that the stranger wasn’t too upset with her forwardness.

Tara fixed Dawn with an icy glare when she slid back into her seat. “What the hell is wrong with you??”

Dawn grinned, already beginning to post the pictures onto her media. Her followers will definitely get a kick out of this weirdo. “What, didya think he was gonna hack me up into little pieces or something?” She scoffed, as if the very notion was ridiculous, thumbs tapping away.

Reader sighed, raising a hand to rub their nose bridge. “D, really. Silence doesn't equal consent. You shouldn’t have done that, and you know it.” She rolled her eyes and sent a short sneer Reader’s way before burying back into her Instagram. “Not you too, now. Relax, it’s not like I fucked your little boyfriend or whatever.”

Both Tara and they cringed and Dawn’s crude words. Jesus, she really had a way to make people uncomfortable.

By the time the pizza man had hung up on his call and made his way over to the clown, the mystery man had shifted back to his previous objective of fixing Reader with a rather smoldering stare, hands clasped together again and settled on the table. “What can I get for ya, buddy?”

To nobody’s surprise, the clown didn’t answer or even acknowledge the shop keep, only keeping his eyes locked on Reader. They tilted their head once again, feeling warm under his gaze. Was it getting a little hot in here?? It was beginning to feel so bizarre, how his eyes could go from iceberg cold to blazing warm with just a mere glance.

The pizza man’s patience seemed to already be thinned by the previous calls, making his tone snap a little when he pressed further. “Hey. Hello?? If you don’t order anything, you’re gonna have to leave.”

“You already have eight liiiikes~” Dawn tapped her phone screen with her nail, making a light clack, clack noise as she called over to the clown in a singsong voice. Her comments were already beginning to flood, asking about the creep.

“Can you hear me in there?” The man pressed further, lowering himself until his face was eye to eye with the clown, trying to grasp his attention like Dawn had. But just like he had the scarecrow, his dark eyes zeroed right past the shop keep, as if locked into tunnel vision and Reader was the only focus. They shifted a little in their seat, biting their lip and studying the clown. Seconds later, the pizza man gave up, standing up straight and dropping his hands in exasperation. “Oh god, it’s gonna be a long night,” he grumbled, walking back into the kitchen.

Reader’s eyes trailed after the shop keep as he walked off, before flicking back to the clown. They fumbled with their fingers a little, brows furrowed in concern. The poor guy must be so uncomfortable now, making them feel for him. They shuffled in their seat again, as if working themself up to talk to him. Finally, they found their nerves and opened their black painted lips. “Hey, um.. are you alright? Dawn can delete those pictures, if they make you uncomfortable. I’m sorry about all that.”

“Tch, like hell I will,” the girl injected, scoffing. She tossed her hair over her shoulder with a flick of her head, not bothering to pull up from her cellphone. “Everyone’s eating this shit up.” Reader’s eyebrow twitched in mild irritation, fingers tapping hard on the table before them in an attempt to relax themself. Maybe if their fingers wiggled around, they’d lose the sudden urge to wrap them around her throat.

The clown’s head tilted slightly to the side, eyes boring into theirs for a moment or two longer, before suddenly sliding out of his booth, standing up tall. They leaned back slightly, taken aback. They didn’t expect him to be so tall. Tara tensed beside them as they both watched the man approach one of the other empty booths. The table still had paper plates with crumbs and pizza crusts on it. In the middle lay a small pile of money, a dollar bill and coins for a tip. The clown looked over his shoulder at Reader and back at the table, as if making sure that they were watching him. And watch him they did, both confusion and curiosity painting their face.

His dirty fingertips that were uncovered by the rest of his gloves reached down, pinchin the quarter off the table, and lifted it up. The overhead lights caught on its face, making the coin shine a little as he held it up for them to see. He then made a show of turning on his heel until they were facing his back, taking a knee in front of the toy capsule vending machine slots that sat right next to the entrance to the little shop. Reader leaned to the side, trying to see what he was doing. Tara only shook her head, squeezing her thin arms around herself as if for protection, sinking lower into the booth seat.

The sound of the quarter slotting into the machine and the loud cranking of the knob made their eyebrows raise higher. Was he getting himself a toy??

The clown took a moment to crack open the capsule, plucking the item out of its container, before swiftly pulling himself up from the tiled floor. With a giddy smile, he nearly skipped his way back over to the trio’s booth before once again taking a knee, kneeling in front of Reader. Tara pressed herself against the pale brick wall in agitation. The man’s movements caught Dawn’s attention and she looked up from her screen, wanting to see what would happen next.

He raised the toy up for Reader to see, other hand waving at it in a silent ‘tadaa!’ Between his index and thumb fingers rested a little ring, metal with two hearts stuck side by side. He grinned expectantly at Reader, gesturing to the ring.

Reader leaned further back into their booth seat, blinking in surprise. Was.. was this for them?? Oh, that was rather cute. Their face began warming again as their eyes flickered between the ring and the clown’s face, lips parted in silent question. From across the table Dawn snickered, not believing what she was seeing. “Aww.”

“I-is that for me?” They asked shyly, lips beginning to quirk upward.

The clown nodded gleefully, showing off the ring once more, before holding up a finger in a ‘hold on’ gesture. Before they knew it, the mysterious man was reaching out and taking their hand in his, making Reader’s breath catch in their throat.

Tara’s shoulders lifted up, putting her own hands on top of the table’s surface. “What are you doing??”

The clown paid no mind to her as he lifted up Reader’s hand with care. Another shiver ran down their spine when they realized just how much bigger his hand was compared to their own. Slowly, the clown slid the double hearted ring onto their ring finger, until it finally rested at the base of their digit. He held their hands a moment longer, as if admiring the metal adjourning their finger, rubbing his large thumb over it. With flourish he released their hand and waved his own around it, as if showcasing the little thing with pride. His head tilted to the side, smiling almost bashfully as his hands came down to clasp over his chest in adoration, eyes lidding.

Reader’s face burned hot through the whole transaction, mouth fallen open. Oh, oh that was just precious. A bright, toothy smile stretched across their heated face, lifting their other hand to cover over their mouth, bashful. “Oh, oh my. This is so sudden. I do!” They giggled, eager to play along with the silly, silly man. Their words had him shimmying his shoulders almost shyly, red teeth glinting brightly under the lights.

Suddenly Reader’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh, just a sec!”

They pulled their cross body bag up into their lap, sticking their tongue out as they dug around for what they were looking for. The clown watched curiously, hands still pressed to his chest in endearment. Once they finally caught hold of what they were searching for, they smiled wider, pulling it out and holding it up for him to observe.

In their hold was a little plastic spider ring, one that they had collected off of the cupcakes they scarfed down at the party. They loved it when the treats had little garnish toys and picks, especially when they were silly little rings. Apparently holding onto the thing was a good decision, because the way the clown’s dark eyes lit up at the sight of it had their chest feeling that certain little fluttery warmth from before.

“Reads-” Tara began nervously from beside them, not liking this one bit. It was bad enough that the creep came over to initiate the act, but they didn’t have to encourage him! Reader paid her no mind as they carefully took hold of the clown’s hand, much like he had theirs. With a soft smile, they slid the ring onto his much larger finger. They couldn’t push it up very far, what with the rest of his glove stopping them, but it was on nonetheless. “See? Now we match!”

Dawn was pressing her hands over her mouth, trying desperately to stifle her loud laughter and the absurd act that was taking place in front of her. The clown slowly retracted his hand to hold it up to his face, expression soft as he turned his hand in different angles, admiring the little plastic spider as if it were a three carat diamond ring.

Reader smiled, pleased with the soft expression of happiness he held. “I know it’s not as fancy as mine, but I hope it’ll suffice?”

Their words seemed to snap the stranger out of his haze, blinking for the first time that night as he’s brought back from whatever he had been thinking. With flourish, he took hold of their hand once more, lowering himself further to press a kiss to their ring. Tara felt like she was about to be sick as the clown pressed kiss upon kiss on the little metal hearts, moving onto pressing his lips to their much smaller knuckles.

The vampire choked, sputtering at the sweet little kisses. Oh my god, oh my god that’s so cute??! Their face burned an entirely new shade of red and they began giggling in both bashfulness and disbelief, laughing harder when the clown began kissing up their hand and slowly making his way up their arm.

He never ceased and didn’t seem like he would, lacing his fingers with theirs and trailing his lips up their sleeved arm to their shoulder, trying not to smile too hard as he did so. Their laughter cracked into a gasp at the feeling of his lips landing on their uncovered collar bone, lips leaving a black smudge in his wake. Oh shit, oh fuck, when did it get so damn HOT in here???

“Hey, you can’t-!” Tara sat up straight, wrapping her hands around Reader’s arm closest to her and yanking them towards her, pulling them away from his creepy attacks. They gave a surprised yelp at the sudden interruption, whipping back to look at Tara. The clown’s curved eyebrows shot up high when they were pulled away from his grasp, parted lips suddenly pulling into a snarl. He slowly pulled up from his knees and stood ramrod straight, staring over Reader’s head at Tara, fixing her with the chilliest, most hateful glare she had ever been given. Her eyes widened in fear.

“Oh shit??” Dawn choked, fumbling with her phone in her hands, quickly swiping until her camera was pulled up. If any drama was going to go down, she’d be damned if she didn’t record it!

“Ey, what seems to be the problem ov-” The pizza man returned, hands holding paper plates of large slices of pizza. The clown’s threatening, towering stance and nasty bearing teeth had him pausing. “Oh hell no, I don’t think so, pal!”

The shopkeeper plopped the plates onto the booth table behind them before gripping onto the clown, grabbing fistfulls of the back of his black and white costume and forcefully shoving him towards the front of the restaurant. “Fuckin’ FREAK! Get outta here!”

The trio all watched, wide eyed as the much shorter man shoved the clown out of the door, bell dinging as the clown stumbled into the street, whipping around in anger. The man quickly stepped back to snatch up the black trash bag that had sat in the booth, tossing it out with the clown. “Take your shit and don’t come back!”

Tara felt immensely better without having the creep hovering around them, but Reader stared through the glass door at their silly clown, hands clutching onto the front of their chest. What had happened?? They just looked away for a moment, what could the clown have possibly done to warrant such a forced leave?? They were just playing around, that wasn’t bad, was it? Their shoulders fell, unsure of what to even think.

The clown stood fuming, fists clenched tightly into balls at his side. His head snapped back to glare through the glass, but fell short when Reader’s crestfallen face caught his eye. His shoulders and hands slowly released their tension as he met their searching eyes.

Slowly he lifted both of his gloved hands up, pressing them against the cool glass and leaned his face in. Reader watched, brows beginning to knit together, lips parting. Just what was he planning to do? He couldn’t come back in.

Reader’s mental question was quickly answered as the clown’s tongue fell out of his opened maw, and slowly dragged it up the glass, hot breath fogging around the muscle’s path. His wide eyes stayed locked onto theirs the whole time, pulling back only to repeat, running his tongue slowly up the glass.

Their jaw fell completely open, face feeling so hot that the color was surely spreading to their ears and down their chest. Not once did they look away. They couldn’t. Not with how heavy his gaze had gotten. Not with the way his chest seemed to heave up and down as he breathed heavily. Not with the way his fingers gripped hard against the glass, as if struggling hard not to just rip the thing open to enter again. Not with the way he licked the glass like he wanted to do it to them.

They swallowed thickly, lifting their hand up to attempt to cover their flustered face, but it was much too late. The clown’s mouth twisted into a hungry grin. He already saw it.

And boy did he seem to like it.

“I said GET! GET OUTTA HERE!!” The man whipped back around when he noticed the trio still staring at the door. The man’s face grew a ruddy color as he grew angry. “I’ll call the police, freak!”

Slowly, oh so slowly, the clown removed his fingertips from the glass, pulling himself away from the door. He momentarily broke eye contact to haul the hefty black bag over his shoulders. When he looked back at Reader, he gave a toothy smirk and a saucy wink, fingers wiggling in a wave goodbye as he slowly left their eyesight.

“... Holy shit,” The scarecrow bursted out laughing, smacking the table. “Oh my GOD, that guy was obviously turned on by you!”

Tara finally sat up properly in the booth for the first time in what felt like hours, releasing a long breath and glaring heatedly at Dawn. “You’re fucking sick, you know that? That was insane. Insane! Right, Reads?”

Reader didn’t reply, staring at the wet strip on the door. They rubbed their cheeks bashfully, looking off to the side. Wow, what a night.

“You three okay?” The pizza man grabbed the paper plates from the other table, placing them in front of the trio. Dawn wasn’t hesitant to swipe her plate, beginning to fold her piece. “Oh, he’s harmless.”

Tara paused, but eventually gave a short nod, beginning to pick at her pizza’s toppings.

The man placed his hands on his hips, looking down at the vampire. “You okay?”

Reader fingered the little double hearted ring that still sat on their finger, nodding absentmindedly. That seemed to please the man well enough as he patted the back of their booth comfortingly. “Don’t worry ‘bout him, he won’t be comin’ back. I’ll make sure of that.”

The vampire hummed emptily at his words, not really feeling much comfort from them. They.. they really liked the silly clown guy. It was a shame that they couldn’t get to know him a little better. Now they’d probably never see him again. That thought alone had them sighing silently, propping their head up in their hand, leaning on the table disheartenedly. Tara side eyed them curiously, picking off bits of her slices and chewing them.

●・○・●・○・● ●・○・●・○・●

“And you’re sure you’ll be fine heading back by yourself?” Tara asked persistently, giving Reader a searching look, as if looking for any reason to walk them home. Lord knows they didn’t need another Halloween freak tailing after them like a lovesick dog.

Reader laughed quietly, patting her arm reassuringly. “Yes, mom. Seriously, I’m solid. My place is just a block away. You should worry about getting home yourselves.”

Dawn tucked her phone back into her patchwork pocket, stretching her arms high above her arms. “We’ll be fiiiiine. We’ll even text ya when we get there.” “That might be a little tough, considering my phone died a couple minutes ago,” they winced, smiling strainely. “I’ll put it on charge when I get home. G’night, guys!”

“See ya, babes.” Tara and Dawn parted, beginning their trek back to their ride. Reader let out a tired sigh and turned the opposite direction, walking down the sidewalk. The walk back wasn’t very difficult, but it did sting a bit from being in their pinching shoes all night. A bad decision on their end, really.

They climbed the steps to their apartment and paused at the door, sliding their hand into their bag to fish for their keys. They blinked in surprise when their fingers clacked against something.. rectangular??

Curiously, they grabbed hold of the thing and pulled it out, baffled.

When the hell did a VHS tape end up in their bag??

The next chapter(s) are still being worked on. I’m unsure when they’ll finally be finished, but just know that they ARE being worked on. I’m just trying to make it a nice, long read. I haven’t seen Terrifier 2, so if I write something in the next chapter that seems off with the new info, that’s why. I’m too short on muns right now from moving into my new apartment to go see the movie. (And boy lemme tell you just how SAD I am about it ;;;; )

#x reader #reader x character #slasher x reader #clown #art the clown x reader #coulrophilia #terrifier #all hallows eve #long post #ao3 #clown x reader #minors dni

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ms--lobotomy · 4 months

Note

Welcome to the community! Love your style - haven’t had a laugh as good as while reading the worm post in a while.

How about a slice of life piece with Perturabo? I always thought anyone who he considers as a s/o must have a pretty strong personality lol

howdy, anon! first of all, thank you so much! second, im going to take "slice of life" as a slice of life in our universe, not wh40k canon. this means that i can diverge even more from canon than normal! fun!

enough yapping, here's your fic bestie

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summary: you decide to do something nice for perturabo and he doesn't know how to take it because he is so emotionally constipated

word count: 989

content warnings: perty's a rude lil shit but you can take it, right? also implication of diddlin'

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Beams of light found their way through the tree in your front yard into the window at the front of your house and onto the fake-wood floor. It wasn't much as far as houses went, it was small and ratty and some of the lights didn't work. But it was a place to live, and you and your lover had to take what you could get.

Clad in a t-shirt that was many sizes too big for you, you buttered up the old pan that you had and broke three eggs into it. One for you, two for him. They began to bubble from the bottom after a while, and you smiled. You weren't normally the cook in this relationship; he preferred to do the things like cooking himself. But sometimes he would bury himself in his work and forget to eat or otherwise take care of himself. Today was one of those days. When you woke up, you saw him already hard at work on another painting.

As you were getting the bacon from the fridge, you heard the booming footsteps that could only belong to your lover. Perturabo. Your heart stopped in your chest for a split second--this was supposed to be a surprise! Soon enough, he stood in the doorway, almost too tall for it. There was paint on both his shirt and his shorts. He began to speak, his voice booming.

"I thought I was going to be making breakfast today," he said curtly.

"Tough luck," you replied, putting a few strips of bacon on the griddle. The crackle it made was quite satisfying to the ear. "You had your chance and you didn't do it."

He walked over to you, putting his free arm around your waist. His arms were quite large He leaned over you, surveying your handiwork. "You let them cook for too long," he pouted, nestling his head in the crook of your neck. He wrapped his arms around you as you began to separate egg white from egg white.

"I barely cooked these," you said. "Do you want salmonella?"

He chuckled, rocking you back and forth. You couldn't see it, but a slight smile dusted his lips. "Even if I could get it from this," he took a hand away from you quickly to gesture to the food, "it'd be worth it."

"If you're sure," you replied, breaking away from his warm embrace to put his allotted two eggs onto one of the plates that you had pulled out.

While you waited for the rest of it to finish, you grappled for his hand. There were a few paint stains on it, and you had no doubt you'd be getting paint on your hands as well. It's not like you were going anywhere today. He looked... stumped at this development. Almost as if he couldn't process what was going on.

"What, you can't handle some good ol' Christian hand-holding?" you asked, using the broken plastic spatula in your free hand to move the rest of your meal to your plates. "Even after last night?"

The color drained from his face. You got him. You smirked, giving that stupidly warm hand that enveloped yours a squeeze. "No, but really. I promise you that you're just as worthy of affection as..." you trailed off. The people around him? That wouldn't be very worthy in his eyes. Unless it was someone like...

"You're just as worthy of affection as I am." You looked up at him, and the smile on your face was genuine.

You didn't know how a man of his size could let out such a little "Oh...", but he did. He sheepishly let go of your hand and grabbed his plate, the meal looking pathetically small next to him. You could see the wheels turning in his head as he thought of what to say next. Something genuine? Something flippant? Something somehow both?!?

"I wanted to show you something," he finally blurted out. There was still this flustered look on his face as he sat at the table.

You finished your meal soon enough, and as you put your dish in the sink, you felt a hand at the bottom of your jaw. You felt your neck turn at an awkward angle to look up at your lover, and he had a smug grin on his face.

"Close your eyes, dear," he said.

Oh. He said dear. This was serious. As you closed your eyes, you could feel the hand move from your neck to your eyes, enveloping them in darkness. You didn't know why he told you to close your eyes in the first place, but you weren't going to press further. He put his free hand on your shoulder and led you through the small house. You didn't get very far before you got to your bedroom, a small thing with just enough room for an easel and some art supplies.

He removed his hand. The painting faced you, clear as day. It was a beautiful rendition of him holding a worm. If it weren't for the clear brush strokes, it would have looked like a photograph taken of him.

"It's beautiful," you started, "but I don't get it."

"Remember when you asked me if I would love you if you were a worm?" he asked with a chuckle. "This is me. With my beautiful worm partner."

"Oh!" you exclaimed. You remembered asking in the dead of night, while you were nothing but a lump in his arms. He'd dodged the question at the time, but he'd clearly been thinking about it. "So you would love me if I were a worm!" you laughed. "I knew it!"

You threw your arms around him. Despite the difference in size between you two, he recoiled a little bit. He wrapped his arms around you and rested his head on top of yours. And in this little house, you were content.

#perturabo x reader #primarch x reader #warhammer 40k x reader #reader insert #perturabo #warhammer lobotomy #god we're all stupid for him on this hellsite #wheres his tumblr sexyman page

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fanficsforheartandsoul · 4 months

Text

Happy Ending | Simon "Ghost" Riley x Fem!Reader

Note: This has been ghosting around in my head for some time now because of the song "Wallpaper" by Megan Cromwell. I noticed that whenever I don't have the pressure of a request in the back of my head for a story it's much easier to write. That's why I wrote this rather easily and quickly. I just wanted to post something again lol. So yeah, have some good ol' super dramatic angst. I'll be more active again hopefully.

Fandom: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)

Warnings: Angst, Heartbreak, Unrequited Love, Mentions of NSFW Stuff, Trauma, Reader has some Issues

Summary: Ghost wants a happy ending but not with you.

Word Count: ~2k

If you want to be tagged in my stories send me a pm with the fandom/character name! Or comment on the fic :)

Masterlist

Call sign: Vigil

"We can't do this anymore."

You had known from the start that sleeping with him was a bad idea.

Generally, people advise you against sleeping with a co-worker. Because it makes things complicated. Even more complicated when you're both in the military.

Because technically you’re not allowed to fuck, your actions could be clouded by emotions, potentially risking not only your but the lives of your fellow operators as well. But that little clause in your contract was printed in that tiny font, and so you decided to ignore it.

It didn’t stop you from getting involved with your lieutenant. You were never a big fan of rules after all. Your rank as a sergeant after so many years of service in the military said enough about that.

But at the start, you truly believed that a physical relationship with him wouldn't cause trouble to you or anyone else.

You thought you had it under control. At least in the beginning.

Yes, you had been attracted to him since your first meeting when you had signed your contract with Taskforce 141. Mysterious men were your thing, and he embodied such a man with his skull mask.

So yeah, you did allow yourself to daydream about him, and have some dirty thoughts every once in a while. It wasn’t like you were the only one.

You were attracted to him and you knew he was attracted to you. It was mutual and actually pretty obvious.

You could feel his searing gaze on you just a few days after you had joined the taskforce; the way his eyes trailed up and down your body. The looks he gave you were charged with want.

But attraction doesn't necessarily lead to a romantic relationship, right?

He was a good-looking man in your opinion; tall, rugged, buff, with muscles and fat in the right places, just the way you liked it.

His face couldn't be considered conveniently attractive yet that made it so much better for you. The arch in his brows, the dark eyebags, the scars on his cheeks, his cheekbones. He was your type. And his rough appearance fuelled the fire in your lower stomach and your imagination.

What was the harm in joining him in the sheets and having a bit of fun? It wasn't like you loved him.

That’s what you had asked yourself.

It was much better to get rid of your pent-up frustration with him instead of a toy or a rare one-night stand when you were off-duty. And damn, was he good in bed.

Rough, fast-paced, keen to try out every possible position, and not shy of pleasing you. You could've expected it. He was a man who wasn't afraid to get down and dirty. Dirt, blood, sweat, and other fluids... It didn't matter.

Short summary: It was pure ecstasy every time.

You two had lots of fun together in lots of different positions and locations, and that was all it was. Just some fun.

No strings attached, as you both declared at the start. Just fuckbuddies.

"I'm not a relationship kind of guy, Y/N" he had told you after you had spent your first time together.

You had snorted because shit, you weren't either. Both of you were too broken and bruised by the baggage of your pasts. Your traumas would probably weigh you both down in the long run. So you were fine with the line he had drawn between you.

It was okay. No emotions, no obligations, no lovey-dovey shit, just a means to an end.

Just a meeting in your room after a mission, a phone call on your days off, then a quick meet-up in a hotel. Just pleasure. Not love.

Until it wasn't just that anymore.

You two had settled into a routine where he would join you in your room late every other night.

After you had pleasured each other enough, he would leave soon after, and somehow - with time, you began to miss the warmth next to you on your bed.

The feeling came slowly creeping, and it took you by surprise.

You never asked him to stay; you didn't dare cross the line. To ask for a bit more affection. But you wished.

That he held you just a bit closer during the act. That he remained next to you just for a few more minutes after it. That he kissed your scars, your lips. That he touched you as if you were something, someone precious to him. Someone important.

Sure, you liked it when he treated you like an unbreakable object when his grip left bruises on your body - in a way, they satisfied your need for more. They marked you as his. But just for once, you wanted to be treasured by him. To feel that you meant something more to him.

You didn't know when your feelings for him had turned into a fluttering mess in your chest. He wasn't just a means to an end anymore. You valued him. Not just as a soldier who had your back. Not just as a friend. But as a man, a partner. A man you wanted close to you. For the rest of your life. No matter how long that would be.

Because Simon had done something no one else had been able to do before.

He made you wish. For a future. A future with him.

He made you wish to be better, to be a little less broken. To pick up the pieces that had once made you whole. You wanted to be better. A better version of yourself. For him. To have a chance to be truly happy. To get that fairy tale life others dream about – you once had dreamed about when you were younger, your shoulders lighter.

His attention made you excel, it made you stronger, faster, harder. You were just better when he was around. A better soldier, a better woman, a happier person.

And you thought, no, believed that he understood that. That he helped you to be better. That you needed him. Not just in your bed, but by your side. As your other half.

You both were people of few words, so you thought that through your actions, your eagerness during missions, and your gentle touches during your time together, you conveyed all these feelings. That he got it, saw how you felt about him.

But you never spelled it out. Never said; I've come to love you.

Just let these feelings simmer under your heart, hoping that one day he'd get what you felt for him.

"We can't do this anymore, Vigil."

You'd love to say that it came as a surprise when he, one day, called you to meet up and told you these words.

But you knew subconsciously. Felt it. Long before he actually said the words, they were coming.

His calls had been less frequent, his visits rarer, and to your confusion, his eyes began to look different whenever you saw him. They looked clearer, and happier.

Only after you saw him at the party after your successful operation in Chicago did you understand. He did look happier.

But not because of you.

And only then did you realize that your brain had played a trick on you. You were so consumed by your feelings for him that you didn't realize how big the rift between you two had gotten.

He laughed.

Simon Riley laughed heartily for the first time since you knew him. Not just one of his usual chuckles that he reserved for your or Soap's jokes.

No, true deep laughter that came from deep within his chest.

And all because of a joke that the woman next to him had told him.

You didn't know her; you had never even seen her face before. She was a complete stranger to you, and yet Ghost rested a hand on her hip as if she belonged to him. As if she was his fucking girlfriend.

Soap looked at you, then who you were staring at.

"That's Ghost's new lass, I heard. Can't believe that guy found someone before us, eh? Surprised me too, I tell ya."

His words were like poison, and you tasted bile in your mouth. So much made sense to you now.

"Why not? I thought you liked it?! I enjoy it every time."

"That's not relevant anymore. I'm just telling you, Y/N. This thing is done. I won't come here anymore."

"But-"

"Let's just forget this happened, alright?"

"...."

"Okay."

You hadn't even been able to argue. Or tell him your feelings.

After all, you were the one who said you could never be in a relationship with him or fall in love with him. It was pathetic to get back on your words and admit it in front of him.

So you just shut your mouth and accepted his words for the time being.

A tiny voice in your head whispered that you could tell him your feelings later when he calmed down a bit. When he started to miss you.

You knew the whole situation with Hassan was getting to him and the others, so you cut him some slack. You thought he would change his mind. Believed it. Blindly.

But now, here you were. Looking like a fool. Feeling like one. Being one.

And the thing was, you couldn't even say anything to him.

He was the one who made you happy. Who made you want to be better. Less traumatized, more whole.

You could see in his eyes that she was that to him. Not you.

So, what right did you have to intervene?

You wanted him to be happy, after all.

How could you deny him that? You both had gone through so much.

She seemed to be the complete opposite of you. She basically glowed in the room, her smile radiant, and her aura was light as if the world had blessed her to never know hardship.

Her frame was soft, and her skin unblemished, untainted by the cruelty and darkness that existed in the world.

You couldn't help but compare yourself to her.

Your cracks, the marks of your trauma, made themselves known through various scars on your body. Your hands were rough, covered with old blisters; so unlike hers, and you were all jagged and sharp edges, while she looked so cute and bubbly.

You could see her appeal, and it hurt to think that way, but in another world, in different circumstances, you could see her as your potential friend. She just had the appearance and aura of someone who people gravitated toward. A soothing soul.

In that sense, you could understand Ghost. Why he searched her side. But you fucking hated it.

As lovely as she seemed, right now in this bar; you couldn't help but despise her.

She took him from you.

A voice whispered in your head. The ugliness of that thought made you want to throw up, because didn't it prove that you weren't completely right in the head?

Ghost wasn't your property. He had his own free will, and just because she appeared didn't mean she stole him away.

After all, he never belonged to you anyway.

This was probably why Ghost didn't chose you, you thought to yourself. Your ugly jealousy and possessiveness were rearing their heads.

I wouldn't choose myself either.

You felt like crying, but you couldn't even do that.

You hadn't cried for years now, and although the pain in your heart was worse than any of the bullet wounds you had received during your career, not a single tear welled up in your eyes.

You were truly broken. And the man who could fix you wasn't at your side. He would never be.

You looked at the two of them once more. An ugly thing clawed at your chest, begging to get out. Your vision turned red. You clenched your fists.

You had to get out of here. Now.

"You okay, Vigil?" Soap asked next to you, noticing that you seemed a bit off.

"Yeah. I just- think I didn't turn my stove off. I got to go."

You mumbled before you turned around and hurried to the exit of the bar. Soap tried to protest, but you were out the door before he could even finish his sentence:

"But you just arrived- Damn... off she goes."

He sighed and looked towards that woman and Ghost. They made eye contact. As if Simon was already looking at him. Or you.

#call of duty #call of duty modern warfare ii #modern warfare II #modern warfare 2022 #simon riley #simon riley x fem reader #x fem reader #ghost x fem reader #ghost x female reader #ghost #soap #john soap mctavish #simon ghost riley #soldier reader #141!reader #special forces reader #fem reader #fanficsforheartandsouls

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doubledyke · 1 month

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What do you think would happen immediately after BPS? How would all the parents personaly react to their disappeared and returning children? The kids would really ever throw a party, or just have to fix all the wrecks and be grounded? And Edd and Eddy would even have a face-to-face good conversation about their adventure and what they learned?

I think Eddy would need a validation from Edd more than ever, and the fear they could have lost each other would let them even more attached.

i had detailed ass theories written out for each kid as to what lies they could tell their parents and what the likelihood was that they'd be believed, etc. and then i realized that it could all be solved with a simple phone call from one parent to another lmao. and lbr, the chances that someone's kid is gonna be gone all night and they're not gonna flip the fuck out are slim to none. outside of a couple exceptions of course. i felt like a moron so i didn't include it here. i guess i like to pick and choose when to adhere to cartoon logic 😂

anyway i do think the non-ed kids would get into trouble and be grounded for varying lengths of time. they might have just enough time to have a little kiki in the lane before heading home and getting dragged inside by the ear/bear hugged/further ignored.

one exception might be rolf, because i don't think it'd be entirely out of the norm for him to be gone all night on occasion. maybe he had an urban ranger camping trip that his nana forgot to tell his parents about, or had to chase down an escaped animal into the wee hours of the morning. he enters the house, clearly disheveled and sweating nervously, but probably gets nothing but a fine howdy do from everyone inside.

eddy would be grounded for a comically short period of time because he's a spoiled brat. a couple of days tops. it's really only an attempt by his parents to appease the angry mob. all the other parents know he's the little shit stirring ring leader and berate his guardians accordingly. regarding his absence, he tells them he and the boys rode out the storm in the van and that they were fine. he accepts his punishment because telling them what really happened means telling them he visited his brother and that WOULD get his ass in big trouble. legal stuff, you know. as far as any takeaway he might have... let's be real here, eddy's still the same ole eddy at this point. i don't think the full weight of what just happened has hit him quite yet. he's still reeling about being invited to kev's for jawbreakers and whatever else preteens who don't really like each other do for funsies. i do think that while he's spending aaaaaall that time alone (again, 2 days max), in between trying on outfits for that party at kevin's, the image of edd standing up to his brother does cross his mind. edd, the coward. edd the wimp, stood up to his tormentor. and got swiftly beaten into the ground for it. yet still ran over to make sure he was okay after ed essentially saved his life. ed the dolt. ed the idiot was the one to think of pulling out the pin (literally), and blasting his abuser with a face full of door. i think the guilt, shame and embarrassment would hit him hard, along with a lot of weird mushy stuff that he doesn't really know what to do with. so he doesn't do anything with it. not immediately anyway. but i've already talked about post bps eddy a bit so i'll leave it at that.

i've seen people say that edd's parents wouldn't even notice that he was gone overnight, because... so were they. and yall know i'm the #1 hater of edd's parents so of course i agree lol. if word gets back to them somehow though, i imagine them being very passive aggressive about it. shocking, i know. i feel like they'd go their usual route and punish him by not talking to him - as in not even leaving sticky notes around the house. except for one that says something along the lines of "dear eddward, you are not to leave the house today, as you are hereby grounded until further notice." along with a scroll of chores of course. but yeah they make him wait around and wonder when he'll be able to see his friends again. probably a good few weeks or so. i've always had the headcanon that eddy would be banned from edd's house and maybe this is when that happens as well. if word doesn't get back to them- which is more likely imo because they're so elusive that no one knows how to contact them - i think edd could likely have a bit of a meltdown over their indifference. not to mention the guilt he feels in either scenario. for starters, he feels like he simply must tell someone what he's just witnessed- especially as a future mandated reporter... nah i'm kidding but i do think he'd want to tell an adult what happened to his dearest friend. but he knows it would only compound eddy's grief. outside of that, there's the fact that he feels that he never received a comeuppance of his own. eddy got thrashed by his so-called "hero" in front of his peers, and if his previous punishments are any indication, ed is very likely enduring what can only be described as suburban confinement for the foreseeable future. he, on the other hand, has gotten away with a horrible deed, with more than a year's worth of horrible deeds without so much as a scowl from his parents. he has to fight tooth and nail to resist his compulsion to confess his wrong doing, directly this time. cuz the confessional he wrote at the beginning of this ordeal is still on his desk when he gets home. it's kind of like when people say "at least if you're angry, i know you care", but magnified 100x for his entire life. i think this is when the switch kinda flips for him and he has to come to terms with the fact that his parents are at best, extremely cold and aloof. and at worst, knowingly neglectful. either will be hard for him to accept of course, because he's got an image in his mind already of what "true" neglect looks like:

ed's going in the hole, man. it's the cliche where his parents fawn over sarah and are so thankful that she's okay and "you had us worried sick, missy". only to turn to their other child who was also missing for 24 hours and proceed with the finger wagging and reprimanding. i don't think sarah would rat him out though. in fact at this point she might even try to stick up for her now suddenly not so bad older brother. but to no avail. in fact, it makes his mom angrier - she must have hit her head if she's sticking up for her troublemaking brother. "you see, edward? your erratic behavior has finally landed your little sister in the hospital. hope it was worth it." as far as they're concerned, ed put sarah in grave danger by running away. he was a terrible influence, and for that he's gotta be made an example of... to himself? i'm gonna venture a guess here that dad'll be taking the stairs again. he also boards up the basement window. they take his tv, his tapes, his comics, and all his model making supplies. his mom wanted to take his gravy tub but dad insisted it was too much of a hassle. luckily for him though, they can't take that vivid imagination of his. he spends the next two weeks staring at the ceiling, coming up with a storyline for his own comic, which he starts working on as soon as his belongings are returned. it ends up being sooner than he anticipated. he was told it'd be a month, but his mom is sick of looking at the box of his crap in their bedroom closet, so he's off the hook early. lucky feller. next time he runs away though, he's making extra sure sarah doesn't follow.

obviously i think edd and eddy, really all three eds are going to be even closer than they were before their little excursion. but i think it takes time for eddy to mature enough to truly grasp how meaningful it all was. like he knows, but admitting it is corny af. edd is probably gonna be so preoccupied with deconstructing his relationship with his parents that he's a somewhat aloof for a period. there's also a rumbling within ed, especially after seeing sarah's attempt at defending him. i don't really know what conclusion he comes to except that if he wants even a chance at having a good relationship with his sister, he's gotta get the fuck out of there asap. i do think he'd start "running away" more often, possibly staying with eddward during his burgeoning rebellion, or from time to time, eddy. maybe even rolf. he might also sleep in the van when the weather allows. anything to be away from that hell hole. i wrote in my fic that he'd move out and live with may at age like, 17 i think? literally as soon as possible lol.

#i know it seems like i make ed and edd's parents overly terrible but parents really can be overly terrible as i'm sure many of you guys know #if you don't agree that's cool but yknow i'm just answering an ask i got #a long ass time ago btw sorry for not getting to it sooner anon #thanks for asking though #text

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unholyverse · 2 months

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awtto toronto is my ryden seattle: a rambling

yeah yeah ik ryden seattle has been debunked but this is similar enough to that and seems more plausible so. bear with me here. thanks to my good friend @filthyjanuary for actually watching all of this go down and having pics so i can be insane about it and write stuff like this lol.

also disclaimer before anyone tries calling me out. i don't actually know anyone in the band and this is all speculation for the sake of good ol fashioned real person fiction meaning don't take this too seriously and don't show this to the band or anyone connected to them. cool? cool.

night one: september 4, 2022

waterparks were on their final opening spots (if you don't count la night 4) of their leg of mcr's return tour in toronto at scotiabank arena.

this was already a strenuous tour despite the short length because not only would this mark parx's first time playing arenas, but it directly followed their run on the sad summer tour that year, putting some extra strain on them. in some of my mutuals' words, awsten was annoying and sounded like shit.

up to this point, waterparks had been doing free meet & greets after shows. however, this would be the only show (besides la) they would not do m&g because awsten posted this on his story at roughly 11:21 pm.

however, he was seen leaving the venue with otto roughly around 10:50 pm. a fan had caught them outside the venue by the buses and tweeted about the experience.

(note: the tweet embeds have timestamps in UST; these tweets were posted on the 4th at 10-11pm EST and the UST version is equivalent to that)

not anything too weird. they just left the set earlier than the rest of the band and crew since awsten was feeling out of it; lucas and geoff were seen leaving during the last song anyway.

the weird stuff starts with the fact that otto flooded the showers backstage (audio taken from this interview).

otto estimates that around 2:00 am, he was scrambling to find custodial staff to help him clean up his shower mess (literally a situation only he of all people would get in lol).

weird though, right? if otto was so concerned with cleaning up that mess, why would he leave with awsten long before he even tried? and even then, why would otto leave the set of his favorite band ever to go with awsten?

also let's shift to the day after: supposedly an anon of mine had met awsten in a starbucks the next day and said he was wearing the same clothes he had wore onstage on the 4th.

they also said he smelled good but he always does

this would align with a couple of things i already thought were likely. there are a couple of starbucks locations in the area, but if awsten and otto had walked out on their own instead of with the crew, they were likely within a short distance of the arena to do so. as you can see there is not only a hotel within walking distance of the arena, but there is also a starbucks within the vicinity of the hotel.

there's no proper way to put this and this is just rpf madness anyway but my theory is: they were sucking and fucking that night and awsten was tired enough after he slept in his stage clothes and sprayed a bunch of cologne on him for his coffee run the next day. end of story.

night two: september 5, 2022

this show would mark parx's last opening slot for mcr before la night 4. my friend said awsten sounded better that night. can you sound better a night after getting dicked down? who knows that's an answer for science.

also after their set, parx were caught watching the show on the floor and awsten was sitting down with otto's hand on his shoulder and it was very cute.

anyway, parx were able to do once final free m&g that night. one thing to note though was otto and awsten's change of clothes between their set and the m&g.

(terrible cropping and sorry to the fan i cropped out)

as you can (kinda) see, awsten is wearing a red tank top and otto is wearing a yellow shirt during the show. however, once their set was over, awsten and otto decided to wear matching mcr merch (and not tell geoff because he's still wearing the same shirt from onstage).

what would make these two do this who knows. they're no strangers to sharing or matching clothes anyway but it is sorta funny to me how they're matching like a couple and leaving their own bandmate to third wheel that lol.

was something in the air between awsten and otto in toronto? maybe, but it's not like we'll ever know. i can only imagine what they could've done.....

#awtto #rpf #welcome to my twisted mind

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the-really-lonely-mountain · 22 days

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Along for the ride, to Erebor - Part 4

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Summary: Transported to Middle Earth, you must Join Thorin Oakenshield's Company as they travel to reclaim Erebor! OR: My take on the classic 'modern girl in Middle Earth' troupe. This is the second installment, so we are following the second movie of The Hobbit trilogy, and falling deeper in love with Kili on the way! This is the first part for the second movie.

Tags: Kili / Reader, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, Modern Character in Middle Earth, During The Hobbit, How Do I Tag, Canon-Typical Violence, Kíli Is a Little Shit (Tolkien), implied soulmates, Dwarf Culture & Customs, Freeform, light smut, it's really just a brief description nothing too detailed, Holding Hands, Cuddling & Snuggling, Sleepy Cuddles, Protective Thorin Oakenshield Company Members, Dwalin & Thorin Oakenshield Friendship, Fluff and Humor, Domestic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Where In Middle-Earth Is Gandalf?, Hair Braiding, Dwarf Courting, My First Tumblr Fic, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Fíli & Kíli & Thorin Live, Thorin Oakenshield Lives, Fíli Lives (Tolkien), Kíli Lives (Tolkien), this chapter is domestic as hell, sword fight training, kili is a big ole softy and i love him so much for it

Word Count: 4,977

A/N: Hey y'all!! It's been a crazy couple of months let me tell ya! good god! I've decided to finally post the next part of the story to tumblr despite it not having been beta read. I'll use you guys as my guinea pigs lol so if you see anything that doesn't make sense or is spelled wrong, I'm begging you to please tell me. I can't wait to hear what you think about my pride and joy! <3

Image credit: @iamjaynaemarie

Divider credit: @cafekitsune

The company climbed down the tall rock into the forest below. Having rested on the long flight over, everyone was prepared for a day of walking. Nothing notable happened except innocent conversation to pass the time and the forging of grapes with Bilbo for a snack.

The sun dipped closer to the horizon, casting long shadows through the trees. Thorin found a small river to make camp nearby. Gloin made the fire then Bombur started cooking the food. While the stew was being made, Fili and Kili practiced their swordsmanship under the watchful eyes of Thorin and Dwalin to provide guidance. The dwarves had found a log and brought it over beside the fire. You knelt in the grass on the fire’s side parallel to the log. The others were leaning against it on the opposite side, smoking pipes and making jokes and commentary about the training. You pulled out your thread spools and measured out the first color. You realized you didn’t have scissors and asked the merry gathering in front of you if they did.

“Nah lass,” Dori said, “Our weapons aren’t sharp enough to cut thread, they’ll only fray it” He kicked Nori to quiet him when he started to protest the quality of his weapons, “You’ll want to ask Thorin to borrow his sword.”

You swallowed thickly and looked over at the man in question where he stood with his arms crossed next to Dwalin. He always intimated you but approaching him alone to ask a favor made anxiety spike straight through you.

They were several feet away, but the clanging of metal was still quite loud. The brothers had removed their shirts, as men often did, to escape the insulated heat it provided. Not that you were complaining, eye candy is always welcome in a world of forests and furs.

You timidly approached the taller man as he instructed the brothers. You waited till they started fighting again to say in a shy voice: “Um Thorin?”

He glanced at you to acknowledge your inquisition, “Yes, what is it?” He sounded impatient.

“May I please borrow your sword?” You pointed to the weapon strapped to his side, “I need it to cut some thread” You tried not to sound as scared and skittish as you felt. He looked at you blankly for a moment, surprised by your question.

Kili threw his brother back several feet, allowing him a few seconds to turn to you with a confident smile.

“Hey Y/N,” Kili said, making you and Thorin look at him. You couldn’t help but smile and sheepishly blush as you tried not to ogle his ripped upper body dripping in sweat.

“Hi Kili” you swayed back and forth a little without realizing it. Thorin took note of your fond reaction to his nephew.

Fili let out a mighty roar as he jumped on the back of his brother, taking advantage of his distraction. The dwarves on the log laughed and you giggled at them as they goaded each other on.

“I’ve got you now brother!” Fili triumphantly exclaimed.

“I think not!” Kili replied with a strong thrusting attack.

Thorin sighed, “Very well” He untied his sheathed sword from his belt and handed it to you. You thanked him and began walking back to your previous spot. He looked at the line of dwarves who were still chuckling lightly against the log, “Make sure she doesn’t kill herself” he said to them. They all nodded, including Balin who found this ironic remembering their conversation about leaving you in Rivendell. It would seem the dwarf king was taking a liking to you.

You kneeled, unsheathed the great Goblin Cleaver a few inches, and positioned the hilt between your knees, so it stayed standing on its spine. You measured 7 lengths of thread at about three feet and rubbed them against the fine elfin blade which cut them in one pass to make makeshift embroidery thread. You repeated that 5 times to end up with two groups of pink, two groups of blue, and one group of black thread. You did your best to keep them separated as you bunched them together to fold them in half and tie a loop at the end that you could hook onto a button of your coat. You sheathed the sword and returned it to Thorin knowing he wouldn’t like being without his weapon. You sat on the side of the log with everyone else and secured your coat in your lap so you could pull taught against the threads. You separated the threads and began knotting them over and across each other like how you learned to make friendship bracelets at summer camp. It gave your hands something to do as you sat idly watching the boys trash talk then turn serious and start fighting again.

“What are ya makin’ Y/N?” Ori asked as he watched you.

“I’m making a bracelet” You replied, pleased to see the others taking an interest in your crafting.

“Why’s that lass?” Bifur leaned over to see what you were doing exactly.

“So I can eventually make one for everyone else” You explained how it’s a tradition of sorts in your world to make bracelets for those you care about as a show of kinship and the enduring strength of your friendship and bond. “Since I can’t fight beside you all on the battlefield yet, I thought this could be another way I show my commitment to the company” You smiled at the group. You’d grown very fond of them during your travels and hoped they enjoyed your company as much as you did theirs.

“That’s a very sweet tradition, Y/N,” Balin said, “We look forward to receiving your gifts” The rest of the dwarves confirmed it with ‘Aye’s and a strong nod of the head.

“Supper!” Bombur called while stirring the pot. Everyone got in line except the training group who was going one last round. You all sat down in your previous spots along the log to see the finale of the night’s training.

You finished your dinner quickly so you could take advantage of the distracted troublemakers as well as the river on the other side of the hill. You grabbed your bag and told Gandalf you were going to the river to wash up. You knew he’d keep an eye on the dwarf who often followed you like a puppy and missed you when you weren’t by his side.

You see, Kili had to share most of his things with his brother; toys, motherly attention, food, and this included the women he was interested in. They usually fell for Fili because he was more mature, older, and looked more dwarfish than Kili who had very fine features for a dwarf and was five years younger than his brother. He initially assumed it would happen again with you, so when you didn’t show any interest in his brother, only in him, he couldn’t put into words how happy it made him.

At the river’s edge, you placed your bag and makeshift towel (your shirt from your old world) on a rock and took off your clothes. The water was chilly but nothing a sit by the fire couldn’t fix. You washed your hair and body with the elfish soap you got in Rivendell. As you rinsed in the steady current of the water your thoughts began to wander to what Gandalf said about your predicament.

You felt pulled to Kili, he brought comfort and calmness to a feeling you didn’t even know was in need. His smile and his laugh, every memory and moment you made and shared with the handsome prince of Erebor begged you to stay in Middle Earth.

It was decided then.

When you stood to squeeze the water from your hair you noticed the sun was beginning to set. The others would want to bathe too, or at the very least wash their hands. You dried off and dressed and took a deep breath to enjoy the welcomed privacy one last time.

You reappeared beside the wizard, “Thank you, Gandalf, that was very much needed” You sat next to him on the ground in front of the fire to warm up. “I may be traveling with brutes, but I needn’t smell like one” You joked. He chuckled over his pipe at this.

“I’ve decided to stay here Gandalf.” You informed him. “Something about this place is calling me to stay.” You needn’t tell him about the intense pull to Kili, right?

“Splendid my dear,” He smiled fondly at your decision. “I’m sure you’ll find Middle earth rather agreeable.”

You smiled up at him, happy to have his support.

The boys were still going at it. Kili was making a great effort, but Fili got the upper hand, making Kili’s sword fly out of his hand and sail through the air to stick in the ground. Kili kept fighting though, trying to get Fili’s sword from him. Fili had to force him to the ground with his arms pinned before Kili surrendered.

“Good job lads, good work,” Thorin said as he helped them up. Coins were exchanged against the log from the bets the company members made. The boys started walking towards their bags, but Kili swerved at the last moment to approach you. Your hair was still slightly damp from the river, so it was obvious you’d just bathed. Being the mischievous sweaty dirt-covered mess he was, Kili held his arms out to you for a hug. You watched him in horror as he continued to walk towards you.

“Ew, no Kili stop!” You held your hand up to stop him but to no avail.

“Awe Y/N, just one hug?” Kili pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

You quickly stood and laugh a little at his persistence, “Don’t you fucking dare!” you said and dashed away.

“Come on Y/N, no need to play hard to get!” Kili strained as he chased you around the log and back toward your bags.

“Aaahh!” You made a sharp turn to narrowly avoid a grimy Fili, who stepped in your path, the little shit. This closed the gap so Kili could grab your arm and pull you toward him.

“Nonononononono!” you pleaded as he wrapped his beefy arms around your shoulders, making sure to rub his sweaty dirty face against your hair and pet the side of your face with his equally dirty hand. “Kili!” you drew out the last syllable in complaint.

“You smell so good” He had the nerve to say.

“You smell like Ori’s unwashed socks!” You pushed at his chest still trying to get away. Everyone chuckled at this. “Get off me, ya big olaf” you managed to wriggle out of his grasp, “I’m not coming anywhere near you till you bathe,” you said dead serious, and pointed to the river.

“As you wish” Kili bowed with a smirk, he grabbed his bag on his way to the river to join his brother. You sat in your by the fire with a small smile that seemed permanent whenever you were around him.

You were working on your bracelet when the brothers returned. The sun had dipped below the horizon making darkness seep into the crevasses of the world. Kili sat behind you on the same long stone Gandalf was perched on and touched the ends of your miraculously dry hair (the elvish soap is magic idk). You stiffened at the unexpected but not necessarily unwelcome contact.

“Can I braid your hair Y/N?” he asked innocently as pink dusted his cheeks. You whipped around aggressively, pulling your hair out of his hand in the process.

“No cause you’re just going to get it all tangled and I’m going to have to spend all night brushing it out!” You weren’t looking forward to that, you thought he was just trying to prank you. Kili’s pout was as cute as ever.

“My dear,” Gandalf budded in before Kili could sulk away, “Braiding hair in dwarfish culture is similar to your tradition of making bracelets for friends, but they take it much more seriously.”

“How much more seriously?” You asked, intrigued about the nature of Kili proposition.

“It’s like…” The wizard took a draw from his pipe while he thought of the words to properly explain it to you, “asking someone to dance, it’s special and a more intimate way of getting to know someone.”

“So, like a date?” You tilted your head in question. You understood his analogy; braiding allows both people to show their level of craftsmanship and commitment, with the added benefit of practicality and looking very nice in the end when done with love and care.

“A bit” Gandalf smiled at your naiveite, “Just know our dear Kili is not trying to prank you when he asks to braid your hair, quite the opposite” He took another draw from his pipe and looked back at the fire.

“In that case, you may braid my hair Kee” You flipped your hair back over your shoulder. You couldn’t see the beaming smile that grew on his handsome face. You dug through your bag to find the hairbrush and other trinkets from Rivendell which you handed to Kili. He kept them in his lap while he brushed your hair. If he came across a knot, he was sure to be incredibly gentle. You enjoyed the physical contact and attention very much.

“Any requests?” He asked sounding confident in his abilities.

“Whatever you think would look best” You couldn’t help but smile a little.

He used your brush to part your hair down the middle. He started braiding at your nape closest to the part. After that you didn’t pay very much attention to what he was doing, instead just relished the experience.

He finished one side and secured it with a bead from your stash, “How’s that feel, too tight?”, he asked and adjusted pieces here and there to make it lay perfectly.

“It feels great!” You chirped happily. You reached a hand to feel what he’d done so far but he shooed it away.

“Not yet, you’ll ruin the surprise!” He started working on the other side.

By the time he was done, you were so relaxed you’d almost fallen asleep on his leg.

“Done!” he said, you could tell he was very pleased with his work, “How do you like it?” He sounded a bit nervous.

You ran your fingers over the braids, feeling how they turned and curved at certain points and went straight in others.

“Kili this is amazing!” You said, very happy with the state of your hair. He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Thank you!” You looked back at him with a smile that was as big as his.

“I’m afraid I can't properly reciprocate though, I don’t know how to braid hair like this, I can only do normal braids.” You regretted never having learned how to French braid now more than ever. “If that’s how this works” You quickly corrected in a slight panic.

He was elated you wanted to return his deed at all, “That’s fine!” He tried not to sound too excited and be cool about it, “I can teach you if you want” he offered.

“I’d appreciate that!” You smiled.

You switched places, so he was sitting between your legs facing the fire. The position was innocent, but his thoughts were anything but. Images of your face beautifully contorted in pleasure from his tongue exploring your most private and intimate parts were most welcomed.

“May I take this out?” you lightly touched the silver clip that held his hair out of his face.

“Sure” He happily shrugged. You dug through his brown hair where the clasp was supposed to be, but your trembling hands couldn’t find it in all his hair.

After he heard you huffing and puffing and hadn’t felt his hair fall from the clip he asked in a soft voice, “Do you need help?”

“Yes,” you sighed, embarrassed you couldn’t even get a damn clip undone. He reached back, and struggled for a few seconds but undid the clasp, and handed it to you.

While you brushed his hair you thought of what you should do to it, or more what you could do with his hair given your limited abilities. You brushed through a few knots if any.

“I think I know what I want to try to do,” You touched the sides of his head just above his temple, “I want to do two small braids on the sides of your head, but I want the topmost part of your hair not to be braided.”

“Let’s try it!” He explained how you needed to part the hair and how to get started. You had his head lying against your thigh in an admittedly awkward and uncomfortable position, but he was quite the trooper. You had to restart the first braid three times but, in the end, he talked you through it and you tied it off with a bead.

“How did you learn to braid so well” you asked, struggling to grip all the pieces of the second braid properly and not pull the strands out of his head.

“My mother was insistent I learned. She knew my brother would have no trouble learning this facet of courting, but she feared I would spend all my time shooting arrows and never learn how to properly court girls.” He talked fondly of the memories, “So one summer when I was about to come of age, I came home from running amuck every day and she’d sit me down at her tapestry’s and make me braid the tassels that ran around the border.”

“Were you any good?” You asked curiously.

“Oh yes, I was very good! For a while, I was even better than Fili!” He was very proud of that.

“Why did he get better than you? Lean forward please,” you politely asked.

“He’s quite the lady’s man, so he had plenty of girls to practice on,” Kili sounded like that brought up memories that weren’t very pleasant. You finished the second braid with a bead like the first.

“Lay your head down for me again” You softly asked, gingerly guiding his head to lay against your other thigh, “Awe, baby Kili didn’t get any coochie did he” You fake pouted to tease him, gently scratching his scalp absentmindedly while you rested your neck for a moment. He liked it, more than he’d care to admit. “I’m in the same boat I’m afraid” You parted the other side of his hair.

“Oh? How so?” He was very surprised by this, “I’d have thought men were practically throwing themselves at you.” This made you laugh and blush.

“I’m awfully flattered you think that highly of me…” You took a moment to focus on a particularly difficult part, “But men from my world didn’t talk to me.”

“I find that completely unbelievable.” He was floored by this.

“I’m serious! I was never asked out on a date and the few times I asked for someone’s number they turned out to be self-centered losers with a ton of issues” You hated how much time you’d wasted on them. He couldn’t wrap his head around that and had to hold his tongue from proclaiming his thoughts of your perfection.

He turned to look at you despite your protests, “Then they are truly blind,” He couldn’t have been more sincere. His eyes blazed in the firelight with a mix of ferocity and sadness on your behalf.

“Thank you, Kee,” You smiled at him. He assumed his previous position so you could end the braid with a bead like the two before and then started on the last one, “And those silly girls are truly blind as well.” You wanted to kiss his slightly flushed cheek.

You were both in your own little world, where the troubles of the outside couldn’t get to you…or the onlookers and peanut gallery for that matter. Gandalf had moved to sit with the company who had been watching from across the fire on the other side of the log since Kili finished your first braid. They couldn’t quite hear your conversation, but they knew their beloved Kili was having the time of his life.

Fili was very proud of his brother. He talked about you all the time, was looking at you all the time; the man was whipped. Fili had to hear about you the entire time he was bathing, poor thing, and he finally got fed up with his brother not making a move.

“Kili, just ask to braid her hair for god’s sake” Fili huffed while he waited for his brother to finish in the river. Kili’s eyes lit up like a forge with the breath from bellows, and his face flushed like he did when he hammered out a new blade.

“I think I will,” Kili nodded, distracted by thoughts of engaging in such an informal and somewhat intimate act.

Thorin was very pleased you were trying to repay his nephew’s advances in equal measure. He’d seen the poor boy flounder with crushes in the past as he tended to be immature, and girls mistook that for uncaring and unable to provide. Something about you brought out the best in his nephew though, he’d never seen him act so mature, for this Thorin was willing to stay some of his distrust and pessimistic opinions about outsiders, at the very least about you.

By the time you finished the last braid, Kili had made himself very comfortable against your leg, with his arm wrapped around your calf, fidgeting with the laces of your boot. He looked so tranquil you hesitated to tell him you’d finished, not ready to leave the sanctuary you were in. You leaned back against your hand while you stared into the fire and gently scratched the nape of his neck.

He hummed half asleep, “Mmm that feels good,” His words were a little slurred, but it made him all the cuter.

You stayed like that till your bottom began to protest the hard rock beneath you. He was right on the cusp of sleep when you shook your leg beneath him, gentle with guilt.

“Kili, I gotta get up,” You softly tried to rouse him. He hummed in protest. “Besides, don’t you want to know how the braids turned out?” You admired your work with pride.

He sat up and stretched to wake his muscles then ran a hand over his new braids, “Wow Y/N! These are so good!” He looked back at you impressed, “You picked up on that fast!”

“Thanks, Kee!” You blushed as you ran a hand over the intricate lines in your hair, “They aren’t half as good as yours, but I think I did great for my first time” You smiled, pleased with yourself.

“Come show us!” someone from the log called, followed by various iterations of the same thing from others. Ever supportive, they were eager to see what you’d both made.

Kili stood and you followed him to the log. You turned so he could show off his creation. The dwarves were very impressed, a few coming up to inspect closer. When Kili turned to show your work, the company was even more impressed given it was your first time.

“Next time you’ll have to make beads for her, Kee” Fili teased making him and Bofur laugh at how Kili blushed.

“Make beads? What does that mean?” You asked the group in confusion.

“You’ll understand when the time comes,” Thorin said in an uncharacteristically happy tone. “For now, we shall rest” With that everyone began prepping their bedding for the night.

You laid your bed roll beside Kili’s like usual, but Bombur reminded you to clean the dishes before they were put away. Gandalf accompanied you so you could see with the light of his staff. Everyone was asleep when you returned to camp, except Thorin who was on watch.

When you sat on your bedroll, which was naturally next to Kili’s, he looked up at you, barely awake with a dopey smile.

“You look so pretty,” he said quietly, drawing out the last syllable of pretty. Red bloomed over your cheeks and down your neck. He loved your hair like that, he loved it even more that he was the one who did it.

“Go to sleep, Kee,” You whispered so you didn’t wake the others, but couldn’t help but smile as you lay on your bedroll next to him.

“But then I can’t look at you” He pouted, quite distraught about this revelation in his sleepy daze.

“Well, no, I suppose you can’t…” You nibbled your bottom lip as you thought of a solution, “Would holding hands appease you, sleepy prince?” you asked and held out the hand that wasn’t cuddling your coat to your chest. He was too out of it to catch your nickname for him. He nodded and held your hand in his, making both your hearts beat just a little faster.

You closed your eyes and rubbed your face against your coat to find a comfortable position. You could feel his eyes on you.

You opened your eyes to see him staring directly at you, “Good night, Kili” you said in a strong nonnegotiable tone.

He hummed and smiled and closed his eyes, “Good night, Y/N.”

~~~

Kili felt your hand grow tighter around his, drawing him from sleep. Then he felt you pulling against it like you were trying to alert him to danger in the camp without making a sound. He opened his eyes ready for war and saw no danger. He looked at you confused but realized you weren’t awake. You were whimpering and mumbling as your head thrashed from side to side.

‘She’s having a nightmare’ he quickly thought. He squeezed your hand and gently shook it.

“Y/N” He tried not to let his worry raise the volume of his voice, “Wake up.”

You didn’t respond, your mumbles turned into clear pleas for help, making him fret even more.

“Y/N!” He shook your shoulder vehemently, “You need to wake up” He had an urgency in his voice. You feebly fought against his hold on your shoulder.

“Please!” you gasped, still breaking from the nightmare when you opened your eyes, “No, please let go!” You begged and continued to push against his hand with tears in your eyes, not knowing who he was while sleep still clouded your vision and mind.

“Y/N, Y/N look at me” he moved his hand from your shoulder to the side of your neck and cheek to call your attention to him, “It was just a dream, you’re safe now.” When you met his eyes, he recognized just how rattled you were.

You were breathing rapidly, and tears were making your eyelashes sparkle in the firelight. He could feel your rapid heartbeat where his hand laid over your pulse point. He could tell you were beginning to wake up because you softly uttered his name and the hand that was fighting his on your neck gently wrapped around his wrist.

“You’re safe, I promise,” His eyebrows were pinched together in worry. You nodded and took a deep breath to try to keep the tears away. It’d been a very long time since you’d had a nightmare that bad.

Kili pulled your bedroll closer to his, “Come here,” He gave you a hug to comfort you, “Do you want to tell me about it?” he asked when you pulled back from the hug too look at him. You laid your head on his upper arm and kept your cuddle coat close to your chest.

“I-I was in a forest at night and there were goblins and orcs and Wargs coming to attack me and-” You were talking quickly, the bad dream still too real, “and I was all alone and I couldn’t defend myself…” You trailed off, the waver in your voice making it hard to talk. “I was so scared, Kili,” You tried to curl into yourself.

“Hey hey hey, look at me” He held the side of your face again, “You’re safe,” he said. You took a deep breath and nodded. “I’d never let anything happen to you, aye?” He promoted you to get you out of your head. You took another deep breath and nodded.

“I’m ok” you repeated “I’m ok.”

“Yes, there ya go!” He nodded, relieved you were coming around. His thumb swept over your cheek to wipe a tear. You took a few minutes to calm down. Kili was falling asleep, but he needed to know you were going to be ok.

“Thank you, Kee,” you said, your whispered voice no longer shaking with fear, he gave a hearty nod in reply before he yawned. His arm was going numb where your head was lying on it, but it was worth it when you rubbed your face against it to get comfortable as you did in that way, which he found utterly adorable. You appreciated the physical comfort you would have never had in your world.

“I’ll teach you how to fight tomorrow” he whispered over a yawn, his eyelids getting heavy again. He moved his hand from your neck to hang over your waist. He wanted to pull you into him, so you’d feel protected on all sides, not for any other selfish deeply personal reasons of course, but he didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.

“I’d like that very much,” you smiled and watched as he fell back asleep, not snoring but breathing heavily in that way which you found so adorable. You felt safe with his hand on your waist and fell asleep not long after him with thoughts of training together dancing behind your eyes.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

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