#hey mate i found this kid on the street

[hoshigray]

Alright, y'all, here's the plan: you're not quite aware of what Toji does for work, yet you keep quiet. But one night, the man comes home bleeding, and you can't keep your worries to yourself anymore. However, for your protection, Toji isn't ready to reveal his assassin business to you. And, in the heat of the moment, ends up saying something that hurts you instead...

A/n: (Reuploaded bc I forgot smthn) This prompt was picked from a poll to celebrate the 300+ followers milestone (pssst tysm for 450+ you lovelies :D) two weeks back. Truthfully, I don't think this is my best work after proofreading, but I did my best. Probably bc 1) it's longer than I intended, and 2) I procrastinated waaaaay too much with this. I don't even think I made sense halfway through, lol, but fuck it, we ball. Anyways, like last time, there is art drawn by me (@hoshigaby) but it'll be found deep in the fic :33

I hope you enjoy the ride and reblogs + replies are much appreciated!! Also, don't be alarmed that Y/n in the drawing looks of a dark complexion, feel free to use your imagination if it doesn't suit you. But do not edit it; be an adult and ignore it if it's not your taste.

Cw: Toji x fem!reader - arguing/yelling - fingering (fem! receiving) - mating press - Daddy kink - first Toji is sour, then he's sweet bc he's whipped for you :) - clitoral play (pressing down and a pinch) - praise - breast fondling + nipple play - pet names (angel, baby, darlin', honey, kid, mama/ma, princess, sweetheart/sweetie) - Megumi mean-mugging his father while Tsumiki and Shiu Kong tell him to do better lol - mentions of blood and stab wound; isn't fully healed so reopens.

Wc: 5.8k

"Uhh, are you sleeping on the couch?"

"Yes. Yes, I am."

"...Why??"

You scrunch your brow at your phone, looking at the two people you're talking to through the screen. "I know you're not about to get on my case over where I'm sleeping."

On the L-shaped couch lay you, cuddled up with a fluffy blanket and memory foam pillow, one hand holding your phone while another wrapped around a stuffed plushy. You were on a video call with your best friends: Utahime and Mei Mei.

Utahime, lying on her bed with a face mask, replied to you. "Oh, I'm definitely getting on your case because it's supposed to be the other way around!"

"True, but I like the couch anyways." You puff at the woman who's not satisfied with your answer. "Plus, I'm on the L-part of the couch, so it's practically like a bed!"

Your other friend, Mei Mei, chuckles at her screen. Icy blue hair pulled up in a bun with reading glasses positioned atop her forehead, probably counting her tips on her desk like she always does before bed. "My my, this is the fourth night this week. What did your man say to make you this upset?"

Memories of what happened before come back to you, and so does the exhausting irritation you've been trying to keep at bay.

It was a quiet night like this one as the rain fell hard on the silent streets. You've just put Tsumiki and Megumi to sleep and waited in the living room, watching a movie to pass the time. It was pretty late into the night when you heard the door open as drowsiness settled in. Nevertheless, you got up to greet the man you'd been waiting for coming from the entrance, but you weren't prepared for the sight that instantly woke you up.

Toji Fushiguro, groaning and leaning against the wall with his black jean jacket drenched from the rain. A hand was clenched on the left side of his torso, deep red tarnishing his plain white shirt. He was heaving in an attempt to even his breathing, but when he caught a glimpse of you standing before him, he was quick to try and play it off with a worn-out grin. "Hey, baby." His familiar deep voice was strained in subtle agony.

Worry bubbles within, and you rush towards him. "Oh my God, Toji, what happened!?" You remind yourself to not be too loud as the children are still asleep, so you rely on whisper yellings while walking him up to your shared bedroom.

Even in the room, Toji doesn't explain himself. Just silent hushes and cajoles that he's alright. "I'm fine, honey. Just tell me where's the first aid box." Pointing at the bathroom cabinet, you watch him leave your side to grab the kit. The crimson spilling from him is caused by a stab wound he reveals when he sits on the bathtub, lifting his shirt. You can feel your eyes water, imagining the pain he's going through when he hisses from putting on rubbing alcohol on the gash.

The words you want to say feel so forbidden. Your fingers fidget amongst themselves with the irregular beat of your chest. Don't say it, Y/n. Keep your mouth shut. Don't—

"Is this from work?"

Green eyes shoot back in your direction, and you immediately feel yourself sinking into a pool of regret.

Talk of Toji's occupation wasn't something you brought up much. Even at the beginning of your relationship, he didn't indulge in any insights about what he does, so you eventually quit after a few failed attempts. However, with all the nights he's come home while you sleep or the new scars you point out yet are brushed off, your anxiousness for him keeps festering. And seeing him with his own blood on his hands made you wonder how many nights he has pulled off doing such without your knowledge.

Toji's eyes go back to his wound. "Don't worry 'bout it." The stern tone of his voice has your blood turn cold. He didn't want to entertain this, especially in the wee hours of the night.

And yet you still persist. "No, Toji, I'm serious." You can see him glare at you through the raven bangs shading his forehead. A warning. But it doesn't stop you. "I'm getting worried about you."

From there was when the argument came. Every point you've made to him was shut down at once. His cold responses pierced you. Usually, you'd do what you can to avoid this type of confrontation. But now, it hurts even more when he doesn't cooperate with you, your concerns disregarded like rubbish.

"Damn it, Y/n!" Toji barks at you, seething through the physical pain as a fist bangs hard on the bathroom cabinet. "Why's it so hard for you to stay out of this?"

"Well, if you would tell me things instead of pushing me out the way, then maybe I wouldn't have to!" At this point, you're fighting the tears from falling. Your face hot with frustration, but you still speak. "Toji, I've done so much for you and the kids, and I—"

"No one told you to do—"

"Yet I STILL do!" It's your turn to yell. "I care about you deeply, same with Tsumiki and Megumi. I don't ask for much, Toji. But I want you to open your life to me just a little, even when you're hurt like this!"

His emerald eyes remain rigid despite your pleas to him. And what he said next had you still to the core. You can recall the beat of your heart corrupting your senses while the tears stride down.

"If you were goin' to be a thorn on my side like this, I wouldn't have let you be in it in the first place."

"He said WHAT!!??" Utahime shrieks after you retell the situation to your friends.

You nod your head. "I just looked at him, and he looked at me. Then I turned, picked my pillow up, and headed downstairs to this couch."

To say the dark-haired woman was livid was an understatement. "And tell me WHY this fucker isn't the one sleeping on this couch, again??"

"Even if I did tell him to sleep on the couch, he probably would say something like, 'Tch, why should I? I pay bills for this damn house,' and yadda, yadda." This is true, apart from the man being injured, so having him move would've been immoral. "Plus, I just really wanted to get outta the room, so I went ahead and moved myself out."

"So? You pay bills too, what the hell!? Good God, Y/n," Utahime shakes her head. "You sure we can't pummel this dude?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Besides, I'm getting used to ignoring him when I see him around the house. But, oh my God, guys, his kids," the phone panned down to the plush toy and the pink, fluffy blanket. "Miki saw me sleeping here the other morning and gave me this blanket. And Gumi — he's such a sweetie. He gave me his favorite froggy toy to sleep with to scare off his dad from 'bothering me in my dreams.' "

"Hmm, how adorable." Mei Mei comments. "Funny how such darlings can come from a guy like that."

Utahime nods rapidly and throws in her opinion. "Listen, Y/n, you shouldn't think you outta be in every part of that man's life. Even so, he should at least know how to compromise. I mean, come on, you take care of him, the kids, the house, and go to work with us. All of that just for you to sleep on a couch!?"

"You're not gonna let this couch thing go, aren't you?" The pale blue-haired woman chuckles again, and Utahime sighs. "But she's right, Y/n. It takes a certain kind of person to have the patience to do what you do in a relationship with a single father and two children. I'm sure Utahime would've left with all her hair out."

The dark-haired one gets up from her bed and takes her device with her, heading to the bathroom to finish her skin care. "Now, why am I the one used as an example?"

"Because you're the most vocal about a relationship that isn't yours." A sly smile is painted on Mei Mei's face after she hears a 'hmph!' from the other as Utahime removes the mask and washes her face. "My point is that you like this man — love him even. But that love shouldn't cost you to be so emotionally drained. Perhaps he understands this, except it wasn't the perfect moment for you two to express yourselves. Maybe talk to him when you two stop the silent treatment."

All you do is hum aimlessly, too wrapped in what your friend said to give a proper response. Then you yawn, your body signaling you to finally rest. "I'll sleep on that thought. Night, girlies~~" You wave and send kisses to the other two. They do the same as you leave the video call, placing the phone on the coffee table and snuggling up with the blanket and plush toy.

You try to distract yourself by thinking of what you'll do tomorrow. You gotta get up and make breakfast for Tsumiki and Megumi before waking them up, then head to the station and take the bus to work. Maybe you can finally try that new café close by with Mei Mei and Utahime for lunch. And when you return home, you should whip up something fun for the kids to eat.

Perhaps, make something for Toji since he sometimes forgets to feed himself when you're not around. Or if he's leaving for work, wish him a safe trip back home like always. And...if he's down for it...you can find the right time......to talk...about......

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The moment you closed your eyes, it felt as though you were sleeping on your own bed again. When you turn to your side, your body descends into the feeling of cold sheets beneath you. It was pretty comfy! Plus, the blanket—

Wait...Sheets?

Your eyes slowly open to the sight of bedsheets underneath you. Navigating out of the sleepy stupor, you make out parts of your surroundings to know that you're not in the living room anymore. You slowly rise up to face the door of the bedroom. Your shared bedroom.

A sudden cough alerts you, forced as if to grab your attention. A chill crawls up your spine. Oh God, no. You turn to the side to see the man accompanying his side of the bed. And there he was, Toji, lying on his side with his head resting on a hand, looking dead at you. His raven hair looked damp from a recent shower, sporting only a grey wifebeater and dark sweatpants.

"Hey," is all he says to you. No smirk and no nickname followed with the greeting. Just a simple address to you with his green eyes softly watching yours. You almost fall into their inviting spell the more you look at them.

Nonetheless, it's not compelling enough since you remember he's the man you fought with four days ago — the same man you weren't prepared to see right now. You quickly turn away from him and lift the comforter to exit the room. However, Toji grabbed your wrist before your feet could touch the floor, his grip too strong for you to pull away from him.

You avoid eye contact with him, your back facing him. "Toji, let me go. I'm going to sleep."

"Then sleep."

"On the couch, Toji." You try and pull again. Nothing.

"Fuck that, just sleep here. I didn't carry you up here for nothin'."

You shake your head as you exhale through your nose. Of course, he carried me here. "Whatever happened to you not wanting me to be a part of your life?"

The words that left your lips surprised you and the grip around your wrist tightens. You didn't mean to say them, but it was the truth because they were his own words. Or did you?

Still facing away from Toji, you're unable to see his reaction. Oh shit, is he angry? Is he going to let me go after that?

"Darlin', please..." His deep voice hushed for only you to hear. "I just really need you with me here. Just for tonight...." His hold lessens, leaving you to decide whether you should stay.

The silence is uncomfortable for both of you — especially for Toji, who has you where he wants you to be, where you're supposed to be. As seconds pass when he doesn't hear from you, the nervousness that used to exist before your relationship rises back into the pit of his stomach. And his soul drops down when you remove your wrist from his hand.

Though, to his surprise, your hand lifts the comforter up while your legs move back on top of the mattress. You lay back down with a sigh, your back still facing Toji. "Did you give Miki back her blanket?"

Toji exhales quietly, situating himself back on his side of the bed. "Yeah, and Megumi with his toy."

You hum, and the silence fills the room once more.

Toji looks at nothing but your figure next to him, watching the rise and fall of your shoulder as you breathe silently, your face nestled comfortably on the pillow. To think it's been half a week since he last saw you in this room is hard to believe.

That night when you left him really stuck with him. The image of your face covered in tears was all he envisioned, the same with you grabbing your pillow and exiting the room. After tending his stab wound, he went down to talk it out. Yet when Toji saw you sleeping soundly on the couch with dried tears painting your pretty face, he didn't dare wake you up and just went to bed.

And it was worse the following days. Not only did he have you avoiding him at every chance, but he had to deal with the judgmental looks of his children. Never in his life has he seen Megumi give him glares that meant business. If looks could kill, Toji would be finished. And Tsumiki, his sweet little girl, now pesters him about being nice to Y/n, saying he should think about their feelings and apologize.

But what about his feelings? Does no one understand that he was just trying to keep you out of business that you didn't need to fret over? He's very aware that his job is not a normal one. It's dangerous, and anyone around him can get hurt or worse. Hence, keeping you away from this part of his life keeps you and his family safe. If not knowing he's an assassin keeps you from harm's way, why change that.

At least...that's what he thought, not what he said.

Even Shiu Kong, his handler, had something to say after telling him what had happened during lunch today. "Wow. I knew you were trash, but I didn't know you were that dumb, too." The man snickers when Toji shoves a middle finger his way. Shiu lights another cigarette after discarding the one he finishes. "Well, how were they supposed to know you were watching out for them? If someone you love comes to your front door bloody and sick, whose safety are you worrying about?"

Toji says nothing to that, letting the other man resume speaking some sense into him after taking a long sig from his cigarette.

"Look. I can't promise that this angel of yours wants to stay with you after what you said. That's all up to them. But until they decide that, I hope your dumbass realizes when someone sticks with you literally through blood and pain, that's someone who cares for you to the Moon and back. Not saying you should tell them what you do, but a nice word or two of comfort is all they need. If you're not that big of an idiot, reconcile and let them know you care about them."

"...Reconcile and let them know you care about them..."

If there's one thing that Toji has trouble with, it's knowing how to use his words. It was a tiny problem in the earlier stages of your relationship, but as time flew, you could guess how much the tall man cherishes you by his actions rather than words.

The older man knows that you know he loves you. But now, when he's pushed into a position where words are necessary to portray his real feelings for you, he feels stumped.

"If you were goin' to be a thorn on my side like this, I wouldn't have let you be in it in the first place."

Toji grimaces at his own words replaying in his head. Why the fuck did I say that?

"Whatever happened to you not wanting me to be a part of your life?"

Your words ring in his mind. Why did I fuckin' say that for? What the hell is wrong with me? What did—

"Toji?"

He returns to reality, eyes moving back to your still silhouette.

"I know you're still awake, so I'm gonna ask this." Toji braces himself for whatever your soft voice muttered. "Whatever job you're doing, is it a dangerous one?"

Shit. The dreaded talk is here, and Toji cannot escape it.

"Yeah."

"Are you good at your job?"

"It's the only thing I'm good at."

You nod your head aimlessly to his answer. Then you turn around to face the anxious older man. The moonlight peaking through the window blinds illuminates your face beautifully while Toji's breathing slows.

"I don't think that's true," you continue to answer. "You're good at being a father to Tsumiki and Megumi. Not the best, but a decent one nonetheless. You're also good at caring for me; letting me live with you and your family proves that. And lastly," Toji gulps with a dry throat.

"You're good at loving. You say you're lousy at it, but there's love in everything you do for me. It's there when you look at me whenever you think I'm unaware. Or when you silently grab my hand when in crowded areas. Or," a small chuckle exits from you. "When you carry me up from downstairs to the bedroom."

Toji's jade eyes lock in with yours, waiting for you to avert your gaze away from him. But you don't. You keep looking at him. You keep spoiling him. This type of recognition is something Toji never thought he deserved, so you giving it to him so effortlessly makes his growing guilt eat him alive.

"I care about you so much, Toji." You shift closer to Toji and bring a hand to his cheek, causing the man to lift his brows. Your face is only a few inches away from his. "What happened yesterday really scared me. All I could think about was the wound and all the scars you have. Where they all came from and how deep they are. Or......you never coming back."

"Baby..." Toji absently refers to you with a sweet name, placing his big hand on top of yours on his cheek. He lets you finish.

"I know you can't guarantee coming back to me unscathed, but I just want you to promise me something: please let me know you'll be okay. When you're gone, I can only hope you make it back home safely. So, just promise to not get yourself killed." A sheepish smile is used to ease the serious tone. "Even if I'm not in your life, I'm sure Tsumiki and Megumi would be pretty upset to not have you around."

Toji scoffs. "Trust me, I'm sure they'd leave me the moment you step out the door." That makes you laugh, and it has the man swooning hearing it. His hand moves to your cheek, and you allow him to stroke it with a thumb. "And I wouldn't blame 'em. Havin' such a beautiful and loving angel slip through my fingers?"

"Toji..."

"I'm sorry for what I said and scarin' you like that. If you aren't here with me, as part of my life and all, then I don't think I can't make a promise like that. You're too good fr' me, and I'm sorry if I didn't seem to appreciate you until now."

And you know he's genuine with his plea, his green eyes gauging your reaction to see if he's worth another chance. All you do is sigh and lift yourself up, wipe his wet bangs from his forehead, and kiss it. "Not the best apology, but I accept it."

He drones, relishing the feeling of your lips on him again. "So, are we cool, kid?"

"Yeah," you peer down at him with a smile, and he does the same. "We're cool. However, if you ever yell at me again, don't be surprised when I pack my bags."

"Oh yeah?" Toji raises a brow. "I'll be careful, then."

"You better." Hushed chuckles are shared to comfort the silence, enjoying the closeness between you two that felt like forever to have again. Just the two of you with you giggling above him and the light from the window cascading an ethereal glow to your features. Your teeth shied behind pretty lips, lips he wanted to kiss.

And you catch him looking. You notice him wanting you, needing you. Just as much as you need him. You slowly lean down to his face, planting your soft lips on his rigid pair.

Toji's surprised by the action for a moment, but he moans into your mouth and pulls you into him closer. The kiss starts off nice and slow yet quickly changes to one filled with passion and desire. Teeth clashing, tongues exchanging, sweet moans paired with aroused groans.

As you two are lost in each other's lips, Toji carefully maneuvers you on your back with him on top of you. Your legs find purchase around his waist as he rocks into your core, rocking your hips together in a steady rhythm by the second.

His hand snakes down to your lower region, fingers brushing past your pajamas and onto your panty-covered vulva. The intrusion has you breaking the kiss with heavy breaths filling the silent, moonlit room. He busses your chin down to your neck as shaky mewls slip out your mouth.

"Haaah, Toji, we shouldn't. It's late—Hmmm..." Your whimpers don't stop him from pulling your pajamas and undergarments off.

"It's okay, sweetheart, lemme make it up to you." He says in-between kisses on your clavicle, pulling up your shirt to reveal your bare chest. His free hand fondles a breast before his mouth goes for the other. "Let Daddy take care of you..."

The sudden combination of his thick fingers intruding between your nether folds and his mouth sucking and licking your sensitive nipple has you whining in bliss, your hand gripping his wet raven hair resulting in a satisfied groan from the older man. Toji missed this — missed you — close to him, under him on this bed.

One finger plays with your wet chasm for a few moments before it's inserted inside. A shriek is let out as your cunt adjusts to the digit. "Mmmph! Oh God, Daddy, your fingers...Ahhh!"

A soft 'pop' leaves from Toji's mouth when pulled back from sucking on your nipple, his tongue lapping around the sensitive nob. "What's that, mama? My fingers feelin' good?" You nod rapidly, but that's not the answer Toji's looking for, so he bites on your nipple gingerly yet hard enough for you to jolt. "Daddy wants your words, angel."

"Yesss, yes, your fingers feel soo good," You mewl to him, and Toji chuckles dangerously low while rewarding you with another digit in your slick-coated hole. His abrupt middle finger joins his forefinger in attacking your velvety walls, and your voice shifts higher in ecstasy.

The sounds of Toji's tongue licking around your nipple coincide with the squelches between his fingers and your gushy slit. Your brain starts to short-circuit.

"Ahh! Ahhh! Daddy, I can feel—I'm gonna," Toji's fingers pick up the pace. You're so close to release, you can feel it.

"Gonna be good and cum on Daddy's fingers, right, baby?"

"Mhmmm, I wanna co—Oh, Jesus, I wanna come. Hoooooh..."

"Then go ahead, princess. Mess 'em up." Toji comes up to kiss your forehead as his fingers go irrationally fast, and a thumb sneaks to press down on your unattended clit. With a choked cry, you spasm and cream on his thick digits. He watches you finish, loving the image of your head pushed back on pillows and your body arching towards him.

He dismisses himself from you once you're done, licking his fingers of your essence and taking off his wifebeater and pants. The image of his free cock has you biting your lower lip in anticipation as you discard your shirt to the bedroom floor as well. When you look at Toji, you notice the bandaged patch on his left side. He sees you glimpsing, quick to ease your concerns. "I'll be fine, darlin'. Won't go too crazy." Looking at his scarred body in a new light, you nod and follow his lead.

Toji carries your legs up to move to the right of his shoulder, situating you two into a mating press. His dick aligns with your glossy cunt. Precum meets slick and lubricates the two sexes pushing into each other. Toji coaxes you. "Too tense, ma. Relax fr' me." You prepare yourself with even breaths, and the man pushes into you with each exhale.

The head of his cock enters, a cry departs from your lips, and Toji hisses with the tightness of your slit. His hips go slow, making sure your walls accommodate every vein and dent of his dick as it ventures deep within you. Hits to your G-spot have you babbling incoherent prayers, gripping the sheets under you.

When his cockhead finally meets your cervix, you sob his name in rapture. Toji smirks, dialing the pace of his thrusts up. "Mmmm, Christ, yr' tight pussy. So fuckin' perfect fr' me."

Every stroke prompts a euphoric moan from you, drool escaping your lips as your mind turns into putty. The noises of his pelvis smacking on your ass feel so wrong to hear, yet you can't help but grip around Toji's girthy length. It gets worse when he presses his entire body weight on you, forcing you to take his cock and abusing your tender cervix with every deep rut.

As for Toji, he's enjoying seeing you writhe and pant under his bow. The corner of your eyes sprinkled with tears, your mouth wailing in euphoric chants, the way your cunt clamps around his dick when he grinds his hips deep onto your come-covered folds. He can never get enough of this, enough of you, driving him so fucking crazy.

"Daddyyy, I'm gonna—Ahhaaaa!!" Toji's now going at an erratic cadence, his cock churning your insides as his heavy balls slapping your folds being the only things you can listen to. Your whines get higher and higher while chasing your climax. "Cu-cumming, I'm gonna cumm—Ohhh!!"

"Hnngh! Oh, shit, fuck, fuck. Me too, kid, me too," Toji groans into your ear. God, his deep voice makes your brain mush. "Oooooh, want me to fill you up, mama?"

Your head nods frantically, tears now staining your face. "Yessss, please, Daddy!! I want it!" Toji hears your pleas and smashes his mouth into yours, moans swapped between lips with tongues daubed in saliva. A hand is moved down to your clit, pinching the spot between Toji's forefinger and thumb. And your pussy tightens around his cock one last time before you peak onto him.

The fluttery spasms of your walls clenching around Toji have him finish in three deep strokes, spurting his seed inside you before he relaxes his heaving body on yours. The kiss breaks with you two huffing and panting, the final moments of your high finally depleting out of your nude bodies.

His green eyes take in your dazed expression, calloused fingers wiping your tears away. "How's that for an apology?"

"You pervy old man," You chuckle to yourself, so out of breath. "You're more of a man of action anyway, so you pulled through. "

"Hehe, I'll take it." He cups your jaw with his big hand, your eyes locked in with his. "I love you so fuckin' much, baby. Sorry for ever making you think otherwise."

You blink once. Twice. Your hands come up to his face, and a finger swipes away black bangs stuck to his sweaty forehead. "I love you too, Toji. I would've left your ass if you weren't."

Toji smiles and leans in to kiss your swollen lips with his scared ones; however, a sharp pain stops him, prompting the big man to yell out. Worried, you try to assess what's wrong. Then you see it: the blood-stained bandage on his left side.

A gasp catches his attention, and Toji turns to what you're gawking at. His body freezes, seeing the trail of blood exit from his reopened wound.

"Ahhhh shit..."

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"Well, well, well," Utahime smirks at you through the screen. "I see you're not on the couch anymore."

You smile sheepishly as you lie on the pillows and headboard of your shared bed. Tsumiki and Megumi huddle beside you, napping blissfully around your presence under Tsumiki's pink blanket.

"Yeah, we made up last night." To avoid disturbing the children, you reply in whispers.

Mei Mei hums. "I see that. I assume you two had a nice talk about it?" You open your mouth, but no words come out. The two women quirk up a brow.

"Oh? I take it that there was more than just talking." Utahime chimes in, her smile going ear to ear while your eyes avoid the screen. "No wonder we didn't see you at work today. The dick so good it saved your relationship, huh?" She laughs at you hushing her up for using crude language while the children sleep. "Well, happy you two figured it out. But don't think I won't come over there and beat his ass the next time I see you on that couch."

"I second that," Mei Mei agrees. "But Uta can do the beatdown; I'm more interested in what he has in his wallet."

"Not much, I'll tell you that." you correct your friend. "I'm the one who takes care of his finances for safe-keeping."

"Well, that makes things easier for me."

The three of you laugh through your devices. Then you hear heavy footsteps drawing closer from the stairs. "Oop, he's back now. I'll talk to you guys later!" You hurriedly wave and kiss your friends goodbye before ending the video call. The bedroom door opens, and there he is.

Toji flashes a quick smile at you before it vanishes once he sees his kids nestled around you. "I was hopin' to get some alone time with you."

You giggle as you brush Tsumik's hair away from her pretty face. "You're back early. Is your wound okay now?"

"Hmph, yeah, thanks to you pushin' me out the way and grabbin' for the first aid kit." Toji pokes fun at you for the event from last night, where you immediately pushed the brawny man off of you and ran for the tools necessary to treat his open injury the moment you saw blood. You chuckle and watch the tall man climb into bed. "Doc said it should fully heal within a week or two. Why the squirts here?"

"They were happy to find me back in the room for a nap, so they joined me and kept me company." Megumi snuggles close to you for warmth, and you pick him up to your chest.

"Well, they're takin' my spot."

"I don't think they care."

Toji pinches your nose for your snarky remark, and you wriggle out of his fingers with quiet chuckles. His hand then cups your face and pulls you to face him, his emerald eyes softly gazing into you.

"You know I love the hell outta you, right?" His deep voice sounds sweet to the ears. You purr into his hand. "And I hope you know I'm the same for you." He nods. You smile.

He hesitates for a split second, but Toji leans close to kiss your tender lips. Only for a tiny hand to come smacking him in the face, halting him from further movement. To the shock of you both, Megumi was back awake, sending a mean look at his father.

Toji groans in annoyance. "What was that for, brat?"

"For making Y/n sad." Megumi keeps his hold on you secure as he and Toji mean-mug each other. Queuing Tsumiki from her slumber, defending you from her father. "Apologize or stay away!" The little girl warns the older man.

You're quick to break up the mini-fight amongst the Fushiguros. "Alright, kids, no need to worry about me. Your dad already apologized to me by promising to take us out for dinner tonight." Childish faces beam in delight while Toji shifts to instant puzzlement. "Now go get ready and put on your shoes!" Tsumiki and Megumi do just that, rushing out of your shared room and to their own.

When you can't hear the pitter-patter of little feet anymore, you feel big strong arms haul you into Toji's embrace, attacking you with tickles. You try to squirm your way out, but it's no use when he uses his body to cage you in. "Who told you to make promises on my name, huh? You tryna be bratty with me, kid?" He grins at your ticklish suffering.

"Then don't you—Oh God, stop!" It's difficult finishing your statement while fighting back laughter and screams. "Don't you ever yell at me again!"

He stops tickling you, thank God. You catch your breath as Toji looks at you under him with a proud smile. "I don't plan on it, sweetie. Now c'mere."

Toji finally has his lips placed on your soft ones, and you happily return the favor by wrapping your arms around his neck to pepper him with delicate kisses. But the romantic atmosphere vanishes when the children come and dogpile on Toji after hearing your ticklish screams, forcing the older Fushiguro off of you to deal with his kids with tickles of their own.

Observing the children laugh and squirm under Toji's merciless fingers, a soft smile adorns your face watching the domestic display before you and thinking how lucky you are to witness such a thing. Well, that's before all three of them turn to you and bring you another ticklish horror.

And despite the torture, your screams and giggles are filled with pure joy and contentment, and you wouldn't have it any other way.

[azrielslightintheshadows]

Oops

Azriel x f!Reader

Masterlist.

Summary; Azriel finally meets his mate but quickly regrets it when he finds out how energetic, excited and clumsy she is.

Warnings; mentions of injury. Swearing. Traumatized Cassian.

Just a quick thought I had last night.

Azriel was obsessed with finding his mate so when he finally found you he was ecstatic and then… horrified. He really started to believe that the cauldron was probably caring for his well-being by keeping you hidden. It probably wanted him to live for some years because now that he met you he doubted he would survive long. You were unbearable, insufferable and the reason he had at least one heart attack every day. He couldn’t understand how you could be so naive, energetic and excited every damn minute. Add clumsy to that recipe and there you have it… disaster. He had to remove all his weapons from the rooms you used too, then simple objects like a table lamp became an issue so he got rid of them too. He wondered if he had to remove all the furniture from his room and just leave a mattress on the floor. His shadows were sticking on his side every night exhausted from keeping an eye on you, they looked so desperate that he pitied them. 

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Azriel was on a mission and you were feeling bored, so you decided to see if Cassian wanted to hang out. You knocked on his bedroom door and waited, bouncing up and down from the anticipation. You heard some rustling and then the door opened. 

“Hey sweetie what’s up?” Cassian smiled when he saw you.

“Az went on a mission and I’m bored” you pouted “wanna hang out?” 

“Yes give me a second to get my shoes” he said and walked back into his room. 

When he came back you decided to go to the city and stroll around.

It was a busy day so the streets were filled with people, you watched as everyone walked around and a burst of energy hit you like a wave. 

“I’ll race you to the square” you yelled and took off. Cassian hot on your heels as he screamed “oh it’s on” 

Everyone jumped out of your way, their eyes wide and their jaws open. Usually you had to push your way through crowd but now that you had an Illyrian giant running behind you they were horrified. 

Just as you were reaching the square you tripped and landed face-first on the ground with a scream. Cassian tried to jump over you since he wasn’t able to stop but he couldn’t so he fell on top of you with a grunt. You felt the air leaving your lungs and groaned.

“Oh no, sweetie are you okay?” Cassian’s voice was soft as he rolled to the ground next to you, his expression panicked.

“Yeah I just…need…a moment…. to catch… my breath” you said between pants.

The general smiled and rubbed your back. 

After a while you pushed yourself up, a grin appearing on your face as you cheered “what’s next?” 

Cassian frowned and stared.

“What?” You asked.

“You want more?” He choked.

“Of course” you giggled and grabbed his arm pulling him with you. 

You guided him in an abandoned building that had been destroyed when the Hybern army attacked the city. You climbed to the roof and sat there.

“The view here is incredible” you said and stared the people passing by the street beneath you.

“You live in the house of wind where the view is a million times better” Cassian snorted.

“Yes but I can’t see the expressions on their faces” you shrugged and pointed at the people beneath you.

You were kicking your legs as you explained to Cassian that you liked to sit here and make stories about the passing by faeries.

“See that kid there? Well he has a crush on the store owner’s daughter so every day he goes there and buys an ice cream just to see her” 

“You can’t know that” Cassian exclaimed.

“No but that’s the fun part of the game… you can make your own stories” 

So you spent the rest of the day there, Cassian’s stories were hilarious and you were in tears, your abdomen aching from laughing so hard.

“Okay okay look at her” he pointed at a female who was running down the street “she had an awful first date with a stingy male and he took her to an old and cheap restaurant and now she has explosive diarrhea and she’s rushing home”

You burst into laughter and leaned forward, you couldn’t breathe and suddenly you lost your balance slipping from the roof and falling into the void. Cassian gasped and jumped, his wings flaring behind him but he wasn’t quick enough and with a groan you landed on your back and darkness engulfed you.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

When you opened your eyes again you were met with the familiar sight of the ceiling in your shared room with Azriel. 

“You’re awake” a feminine voice said.

You snapped your head in the direction of the voice and felt dizzy by the sudden move.

“Easy y/n… you were hurt” you squinted and saw Madja by your side.

“How are you feeling sweetheart?” She smiled.

“Everything hurts” you croaked.

“I know you are completely bruised and you have a few broken ribs” she caressed your head “I left a tonic here it should help with the pain… if you need something ask someone to come get me” 

“Okay…” you mumbled and she left. You closed your eyes and let sleep take over.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

“Where the fuck is she?” Someone’s deep voice boomed through the house and you could swear the floor trembled. 

You opened your eyes and tried to listen.

“I don’t give a fuck Cassian, I will handle you when I’m sure that she is okay” it wasn’t just someone’s deep voice but your favorite one, your mate’s. 

You heard loud footsteps getting closer and you tried to sit up, a groan leaving you. The door burst open and Azriel ran to you.

“Are you okay?” He looked like a mess, his eyes were red with black circles beneath them, his hair tangled and his lips looked dry and chapped.

“Are YOU okay?” You asked and grabbed his jaw, hissing at the pain when you lifted your arm.

“I’m okay just tired, I flew as fast as I could to get here” he sighed “where does it hurt? What did Madja say? Do you need something?” He asked in one breath.

“Az calm down I’m okay, just bruised and a few broken ribs. Nothing I can’t handle… I’ve had worse” you smiled.

He snorted at the statement and pressed his forehead against yours.

“Yeah I know you had worse… you are going to be the death of me” he whispered and grabbed your hand placing it on his chest. His heart was beating so fast and hard that you thought it would explode.

“I’m sorry” you mumbled.

“It’s okay… I love your clumsy annoying self” he smiled.

He crawled into bed but kept some distance between the two of you afraid that he was going to hurt you. He was facing you with a longing expression and he draped a protective wing over you. 

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Morning came and you woke up with Azriel by your side staring at you. 

“Good morning angel” he smiled when you opened your eyes.

“Morning handsome” you mumbled and leaned closer to him. 

“How are you feeling?” He asked and brushed his palm over your cheek. 

“Better, I think with a little help I can get up” you smiled and he groaned earning a confused look from you.

“Here we go again… You were safe here in bed now I have to chase you around all day” he sighed and you giggled.

“I want to go to Cassian and tell him that I’m okay. I don’t want him to feel sad and guilty” you confessed and Azriel growled.

“Come on Az it’s not his fault. I’ve been hurt multiple times around you and I don’t blame you” you pleaded.

“Okay but I think that he is terrified of you, I heard him say that you are not normal” he murmured and got up. 

He helped you get up and guided you to Cassian’s room, you knocked and waited. 

Rustling and then silence.

“Come on Cassie it’s me” you shouted 

Then you heard a gasp and the door locked. And then a high pitched scream 

“Be gone demon” 

Azriel’s lips were a tight line as he nodded and then said “yup traumatized” 

I have some things to do today so I won't be able to post. Requests are open but delayed!

[insomniac4000]

could you write a fic for willne maybe about him and y/n maybe something about finally confessing their love for eachother?? xx love your writing!

Third Times A Charm- WillNE 1417 Words

The bright afternoon sun was out in full force, casting long, golden rays over London as the couple made they way down the bustling streets. Will glanced over at y/n, who was animatedly talking about the latest video she’d watched. Her eyes lit up when she got excited, and he couldn’t help but smile at the sight. They’d been dating for about a six months now, and every moment with her was a reminder of how lucky he was. But today, something else was on Will's mind, there was something he had been wanting to say for a while but hadn’t yet found the right moment, he was determined to find it today.

“Will, are you even listening?” she teased, playfully nudging him in the side.

“Of course I am!” He replied with a grin, though he knew she could see through it. Will's mind was racing, trying to figure out how to say the words that had been on the tip of his tongue for weeks now. He wanted it to be perfect, but it felt like every time he tried to bring it up, something got in the way.

The couple turned a corner, and suddenly, the busy street opened up into a small park a little oasis in the middle of the city. The grass was lush and green, dotted with families having picnics and couples lounging on blankets. A few kids chased each other around, their laughter ringing through the air. Will couldn’t help but think how perfect this spot would be to finally tell y/n what he had been holding in.

“Hey, y/n,” Will started, his voice a little shakier than he intended. She turned to him, her smile softening into something more intimate. The way she looked at him, like he was the only person in the world that mattered, it gave Will a surge of confidence. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you…”

Her eyes widened slightly, and she tilted her head in that adorable way she did when she was curious. Will opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get the words out, a voice interrupted him.

“OMG you are WillNE!!!?"

The couple both turned to see a young guy, probably in his late teens/early twenties, rushing over. He had a wide grin on his face and was clutching his phone like it was the most precious thing in the world.

“I’m a huge fan! Can I get a picture?”

Will blinked, he had considered telling the boy to fuck off but the moment had now gone.

“Yeah, mate, sure,” He said, forcing a smile as Will took the phone and posed for the photo.

Y/n stepped back slightly, giving the boys some space. She was great like that never getting annoyed or jealous when her and Will were interrupted. But as the fan left, practically bouncing with excitement, Will couldn’t help but feel a bit deflated.

“Sorry about that,” He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Don’t be silly, Will,” y/n said with a laugh. “You have fans. It’s part of the job, right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” They continued walking through the park, but the moment felt lost. Will tried to shake off the disappointment, telling himself that there’d be other opportunities. Maybe somewhere more private would be better, anyway.

The second time Will tried to tell y/n he loved her, they were back at Will's flat, lounging around after a lazy Sunday brunch. The sun streamed through the windows, filling the room with a warm, golden glow. They’d been lying on the couch together, her head resting on his chest while they scrolled through their phones. It was the kind of comfortable silence they'd grown to love, where words weren’t always necessary.

But Will knew he couldn’t keep holding it in. The feeling had been building up inside him, more so after the attempt at the park. He needed her to know.

“Y/n,” Will said softly, setting his phone down on the coffee table. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

She looked up at Will, her eyes filled with curiosity. “What is it, Will?”

He swallowed, my heart pounding in my chest. This was it. I just needed to say the words. “I—”

Before he could finish however, y/n suddenly gasped, her hand flying up to her nose. “Oh no, I think I’m getting a nosebleed.”

Will blinked, the words freezing in my throat as she scrambled off the couch and rushed toward the bathroom. Will sat there for a moment, dumbfounded, before reality kicked in and to his best judgement followed her.

“Are you alright?” He asked, hovering awkwardly in the doorway as she leaned over the sink, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied, her voice muffled by the tissue she was holding to her nose. Will looked at the tissue and on seeing the tiniest red spot started to go green.

"Oh no Will, you don't like the sight of blood do you?" y/n remembered suddenly.

“I'll be fine. Do you need anything?” Will asked trying to be stoic but feeling a bit useless.

“No, I’ll be fine in a minute,” she assured him, her voice already sounding steadier. “Don’t worry about it, go back into the living I'll be done in a minute.”

Will nodded and retreated back to the living room, sinking onto the couch with a sigh. Will started thinking, maybe he was going about this all wrong. He had been trying to make it a big moment, but maybe what he needed was just…to be honest. He loved her plain and simple. Did it really need to be this grand declaration?

That thought stayed with Will for the rest of the day. The couple didn’t do much after the nosebleed incident just hung out around the flat, watched a few movies, and generally enjoyed each other’s company. As the evening wore on, Will found himself more and more determined to tell her how he felt. No more interruptions, no more waiting for the perfect moment. he was just going to say it.

As the credits rolled on the film they had been watching, Will turned his head slightly to look at y/n. Her eyes were half-closed, and he wondered if she was on the verge of falling asleep.

“Y/n,” Will said softly, not wanting to startle her. She hummed in response, snuggling a little closer to him. Will smiled at that, feeling his heart swell with affection. “I love you.”

The words were out before he even realized it, and for a second, Will held his breath, waiting for her reaction. She froze for a moment, then slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him. There was a beat of silence, and he could see the surprise in her eyes, followed by something that looked a lot like happiness. well Will hoped it was anyway.

“Will…you love me?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Will nodded, feeling more sure of myself now that the words were out in the open. “Yeah, I do. I’ve been trying to tell you all day, but…well, things kept getting in the way.”

She stared at him for another moment, and then, to his relief, she broke into a wide, beautiful smile. “I love you too, Will.”

Hearing those words from her made everything worth it—the failed attempts, the nerves, all of it. Will felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest, and all he could do was pull her closer, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“I’m so glad you finally said it,” she murmured, resting her head back on Will's shoulder.

“Me too,” he admitted. “I was starting to think it was never going to happen.” He added with a laugh. She laughed softly, and the sound was like music to Will's ears. “I’m just happy you feel the same way I do.”

The couple sat there in silence for a while, the TV still playing in the background, but they really weren't paying attention to it anymore. All Will could think about was how right this felt—being here with her, finally having told her how he felt.

The moment wasn’t perfect, but maybe that was the point. Love wasn’t about grand gestures or perfect timing. It was about the everyday moments, the little things that made up a life together. And now that they'd finally confessed their love they couldn’t wait to keep building that life together.

[quitealotofsodapop]

more Cicada Lily au details:

Sequel to this LMK AU post where Bai He is raised by Tang and Pigsy alongside MK.

Going by MK's rough size as a babu (a little awkward cus Lego designs) when he showed up at Pigsy's, we can assume he's like at least two or three years old.

Then again it's also likely that he's *just been "born" aka sculpted* so no matter what his apparent physical age is, he has the mental age of a newborn.

Add in some monkey-demon traits, and Pigsy and Tang have their hands full with a super-mobile baby who likes to shove whatever he can find into his mouth.

Now onto Bai He...

*A couple of years later...*

LBD: (*manifests a baby*) "Take this child. And protect her until she comes to an acceptable age. Once I return to this world, I will require a suitable host."

Macaque, just revived: "Huh!? What!? Why!? Where did this baby come from!?"

LBD: "See to it."

Macaque: (*is now suddenly alive on earth holding a newborn baby human(?) and a skeleton key*) "UHHH..."

Baby!Bai He: *starts crying*

Macaque pretty much panics and tries to find *somewhere* the little cub can stay and be safe away from LBD (cus he sure as hell ain't releasing the bone demon anytime soon).

He then senses *The Monk*.

Well more specifically, he senses the Tang Monk's soul resting inside the body of a nerdy, very tired-looking, man struggling to wrangle a fussy toddler into a winter jacket. The shadow monkey snickers to himself, guess the "Great" Monk didn't escape the cycle of rebirth after all- hey he's actually pretty good at taking care of his kid...

Macaque watches the Not-Monk and his cub carefully over the next day or so. He quickly learns that the Pig has reincarnated as well, and is the Not-Monk's mate. And that they're adoring and protective parents to their messy (possibly demonic) adopted cub.

Macaque makes a tough decision that he knows Wukong would mock him for if he knew.

He puts his trust in the Tang Monk he so despised in his previous life.

So on a rainy nighy, as Tang was trying to make it home from University - Macaque strategically places LBD's sacrificial host inside a box where he knew she'd be found.

Macaque doesn't just let Tang find the baby out of selfishness/lack of options though; the Golden Cicada has the pure opposite magical energy from LBD. The protective holy magic acting as a smokescreen in case dark forces sought the child out.

Tang rushes home that very night holding a soaked newborn. Lots of Deja Vu occurs over the next couple of weeks as the couple have to make a bunch of phone calls to CPS and file adoption paperwork. Xiaotian/"MK" bounces around happily the whole time, glad that his wish for a baby sibling had been granted.

Macaque watches on for the next dozen or so years, telling himself that he's just "keeping an eye on things". Even as he transforms himself into a friendly street cat to give the little girl company.

Wukong and Macaque collide into eachother at some point and their visits to their respective wards gets awkward fast.

[starlightandsouls]

Hi, I had this idea and maybe you could write something around it… if you don't want to, that's fine!

Azriel and reader are in a relationship, reader already has a daughter who adores Az, maybe one night the little girl ask him to read her a bedtime story and she says something like "I love you daddy, goodnight" and that was the first time she said those to him and he goes tell reader

I love your writing!

My Angel

Azriel POV...

He should have known better than to be roped into one of Morrigan's plans, but his family had the annoying habit of dragging him into whatever they were doing. Morrigan and Feyre had the idea that things were getting a bit too ‘boring’ so had consequently decided to throw a party at the River House. And that was all good enough. The problem was that they had recruited him to run all their errands.

So now, albeit unwillingly, he found himself with a list in hand, standing in the Rainbow centre, frowning at everything he had to get. Honestly he believed that as the Spymaster of his court, he had much more important things to do. And he had voiced as such to Rhysand, but in the end the High Lord had been unable to deny his mate. Sap.

He had just left a winery after purchasing Cassian and Mor’s long list of demands, face buried in the damn list, when he had stumbled into something. Or someone as it seemed. Grunting, he looked down and found a small girl staring up at him, scowling.

Now Azriel was not good with kids, had never known how to dealt with them. The closest had been his nephew, Nyx. And even with him, Azriel had been terrified at first, too scared that he would do something wrong, would somehow hurt the little boy. For some time, he had downright refused to hold Nyx, consumed by his fear and doubt. It wasn’t until that Rhysand had almost shoved the boy into his arms, slapping him across the head for his ‘stupidity’ as his brother put it, that he had started bonding with the boy more.

Now, however, he was pulled back reality as the girl before him snapped at him,

“Hey! You dropped my ice cream, mister.”

Azriel was taken aback. Usually kids, parents included, shied away from him. They were all too intimidated by him; by his title, his shadows... his scars. So Azriel stopped bothering about them altogether. So for this little girl to be so unabashedly reprimanding him for causing her to drop her ice cream, definitely took him by surprise.

“I’m sorry?” Azriel asked, still not grasping the situation at hand.

“You should really watch where you’re going. That was my favourite flavour and its gone because of you.”

Azriel looked around, trying to locate either of the child’s parents, not wanting to abandon her in the middle of the busy street. Just as he was about to ask her where they were, a woman exited one of the shops and frantically ran over to them. And Azriel’s heart stopped. Before him now was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. The golden light of the Summer sun made you glow as you rushed over. And Azriel was once again speechless, this time by your breath-taking beauty.

“Aria! How many times have I told you to stay close to me. You know you’re not allowed to wander off,” you reprimanded, not even noticing him standing there, watching you, enamoured.

“Mama, I was just waiting for you outside. Its so stuffy in there. And I was just having my ice cream when this man pushed me!”

The blatantly untrue accusation broke him out of his reverie. Azriel made an incredulous sound and shot back,

“I did not! You were in my way.”

The woman then, finally, turned to take him in. Her eyes wide, obviously realising who he was. She started to apologise when her daughter interrupted her again,

“Well you should keep your eyes open while walking, mister. You have to buy me a new ice cream now.”

“Aria!” you started, horror etched across her face, then turning to him she continued, “I’m so sorry. She’s not usually like this, I don’t know what has gotten into her...”

“Please, no need to apologise. I mean, she’s not wrong. I was a bit preoccupied. I should have noticed her,” Azriel agreed all of a sudden, overcome by a need to appease you, wanting to ease the frown marring her beautiful face. Woah. Where did that come from? You had a daughter, so you must have a husband. Therefore he shouldn’t be finding you anything... let alone beautiful.

‘She’s alone, master.’

His shadows, ever the busy bodies, whispered to him. Well that certainly wasn’t any excuse. If she was alone right now, that didn’t mean she didn’t have someone waiting for her somewhere. Although, looking down he notices the stark absence of a ring on her left hand. Strange...

“Exactly. You were in the wrong. So now you have to buy me a new ice cream,” Aria stated, matter of fairly. Azriel laughed at her dedication to her ice cream before asking,

“Well I have to run right now. I was running some errands for my family. Can I get a rain check?”

“Mama what’s a rain check? It’s not going to rain today, the weather so hot, I’m boiling,” Aria inquired, her brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of the word.

“A rain check is when you postpone something and ask for a later date,” you explained.

“Oh. Then when will you buy me ice cream then, mister?” Aria rambled on, unfazed completely.

Both of you laughed at her dedication to her ice cream. Turning to each other you both exchanged names. After some back and forth, the two of you decided to meet at an ice cream parlour that had just opened in town. Azriel had heard nothing but praises of the place from Nesta and the Valkyries who frequented the place often in their book buying sprees.

Several years later, Azriel would remember to thank Morrigan for sending him out that day. As Azriel flew back home, smiling to himself at the ice cream date he now somehow had with the two of you, he was oblivious to the fact that he had just met the love of his life.

...............................................................................

The ice cream date had been just the beginning of the beautiful journey the three of them would embark on together. The very first thing Azriel had learned about you was that you and Aria were all by yourselves. Aria’s dad, the fucking prick, had taken off just as you had gotten pregnant and had never looked back. The fact shouldn’t have made him as glad as it did. Yes, Azriel was enraged on your behalf and had half the mind of asking you his name just so he could hunt the bastard down. But he was happy because it meant you weren’t off limits. It meant he could maybe, just maybe, convince you to give him a chance.

Although as time passed, Azriel realised it wasn’t you who needed convincing; it was Aria. The eight year old girl was so much more smarter than he had given her credit for. She seemed protective of you in a way. Overtime she put Azriel through so many of, what he later realised, were tests to see if he would stay for the two of them, if he wasn’t just playing around. This continued for some time even after the two of you had officially started dating.

One day, he had been in the middle of going through reports for Rhys, when one his shadows who he always left with the two of you appeared by his side and frantically pulled him up. He had immediately winnowed to your house, knowing his shadow would only leave the two of you if it was an emergency. To say he had been scared would be an understatement. His heart had dropped as he arrived, mind instantly assuming the worst possible scenarios. Was Aria hurt? Were you? What if one of his enemies had gotten to the two of you? If anyone had hurt a single hair on your head, he would-

Storming into the kitchen, Azriel was met by a site of absolute chaos. He was relieved to find the two of you safe and sound. But his relief was short lived, and was replaced by confusion at the state of the usually meticulous kitchen.

Not a single inch of the counter top was empty. Dishes and flour and sugar (was that maple syrup?) were thrown around haphazardly.

You were wiping down the spilled flour when you noticed his presence. Looking up, you exclaimed,

“Oh, Az. When did you get here?”

“Just now. What... what happened here, love?” he inquired, slowly making his way over as he tried to navigate through the mess strewn on the floor.

“Well, I had thought since today was Saturday I could get some more sleep in. But this little miss decided to take it upon herself to make breakfast today,” you answered as you turned to Aria, levelling her with a glare. Azriel was glad he wasn’t on the receiving end. While you were usually the most kind hearted, amicable person he had ever met, he knew you could be firm when you wanted to. Whether that was with Aria whenever she wouldn’t cooperate or some stranger trying to mess with her.

Speaking of Aria, the shadow that had alerted him in the first place, was now playfully slinking around at her feet, like a goddamn pet dog. Ah, the power the two of you had. You, with your endless love and adoration, had reduced Azriel to a love sick puppy within a few months of being together. And little Aria had trained his shadows, the source of his power, the bringer of death and pain for many, to eager puppies. Ah, how love changes a person.

Aria turned to him with a cheeky grin and said,

“I just wanted to do something nice for Mama.”

“Is that so?”

“Mhmm. I don’t know how it got so messy. That’s why i called you here, Azzy. So you can help her clean up,” Aria answered. Another habit the little girl had was giving him the strangest of nicknames.

“Darling, I don’t think that’s why I left my shadows here. You scared me, you know. I thought something happened,” Azriel admonished. While he was always joking around with her, he felt it was important to teach her some responsibility from time to time.

“Aria!” you remarked as you overheard what your daughter had done.

“What? It’s just so much! And Azzy doesn’t mind. Do you, Azzy?”

“No, no I don’t,” Azriel said as he huffed a laugh. He would do anything for the two of you.

Azriel rolled up his sleeves and started gathering up all the dishes to move to the sink. You were dusting off the spilled flour while Aria observed from the corner. The two of you had forbidden her from entering the kitchen while they cleaned. The little devil would surely have created an even bigger mess.

With all the dishes piled up, Azriel was just about to start washing them when Aria slowly tip toed over to him. With her hands behind her back, an innocent smile on her face, she made it impossible for him to scold her anymore.

“Azzy. I have to tell you something,” Aria whispered. He gestured for her to continue but she shook her head,

“No, no. Come here. Its a secret.”

Azriel sighed and leaned down, knowing the little girl would not relent until she got her way. As Azriel leaned closer so she could say whatever she had to, he was met by her palm smacking across his right cheek. Erupting in giggles, Aria ran away before either of them could say anything.

Standing up, Azriel simply stared at you as your hand flew to your mouth to stop your own laughter. If only his brothers could see him now; standing in a kitchen, doing dishes in a house not his own, cheek covered in a hand print of flour. They would surely think he had been replaced by some clone.

Laughing, you walked over to him. You wiped off the flour covering his face, then wrapped your arms around his waist.

“I’m sorry darling. I hope she didn’t interrupt anything important,” you said as you leaned closer.

“Nonsense. Nothing’s more important to me than you. I’d do anything for my girls,” he replied firmly, hoping you understood how much the two of you meant to him.

“I love you Azriel.”

“I love you too,” Azriel replied, with his own smirk. Before you could have the chance to move away, he had grabbed some flour from a stray bowl and blown it all across your face.

Azriel erupted in laughter, at your expression, at your now completely white face.

“Oh you little shit,” you snapped as you reached over for some flour of your own.

The sight was truly comical; the two of you running around like maniacs, chucking flour at each other. The house filled with sounds of laughter and joy.

.....................................................

Several months later, Azriel was staying over at your place for the night. Having been gone to the Winter Court for some recon, Azriel had been away from his girls long enough that he had jumped at the offer.

You were already in bed, waiting for him. Knowing you had a long day at work, Azriel had offered to put away the dishes after dinner and put Aria to bed as well. You had refused at first, knowing he had just returned home and surely must be exhausted as well. But Azriel had heard none of it and had sent you off with your favourite novel and a warm cup of tea.

With everything else done, Azriel now lay in bed with Aria, reading her a story as she slowly dozed off. One thing about Aria was that whenever she was with Azriel, whether that was while he was reading her a bed time story, or sitting on his lap for dinner, or while she rambled about her school to him, she always took his hand. And that always took his breath away.

Just like right now, Aria had his right hand clutched in both of hers. Her soft hands rubbing shapes into his hand, smoothing over the rough scars. When the two of you had started getting closer, he had been hesitant in initiating any contact with Aria, had always kept his distance, since he thought his scars might scare her. You, however had interpreted it as not wanting anything to do with your daughter. And you had expressed this to him with tears in your eyes. Tears that had almost killed him, to think that he had been the cause of your distress. It was then that he had told you of his own insecurities, how he was afraid that his scars might bother the innocent little girl. You had immediately tried to ease his doubt, assuring him that they had never thought any different of him because of his scarred hands.

Looking down, he saw Aria had gone to sleep. He put away the book and slowly eased his hand from hers. He had pulled up the blanket around her, making sure she was properly tucked in. He was just about to get up and leave, when Aria roused. Internally cursing himself for waking her up, Azriel made to run his hands through her hair, knowing it always puts her straight to sleep.

Aria, however, sat up on the bed and threw her arms around his neck whispering,

“I love you, papa. Goodnight.”

And then just as quick got back in bed and went to sleep. Azriel was frozen in place. Tears rolled freely down his face. Aria had never called him that before. Always referring to him through her silly nicknames. And to think... she trusted him enough to consider him her father... it was more than anything Azriel could ever ask for in life.

Leaning down, he kissed the top of her head and slowly said,

“I love you too, my angel.”

Azriel tip toed his way to the door and closed it silently behind him, not wanting to wake the child again.

He moved away from the door quietly for a moment, before practically running down the hallway to tell you what had inspired.

Later that night, as he lay with you in his arms, Azriel couldn’t believe any of this was real. He had a girlfriend, who he loved more than the stars in the sky, who he would give and take a life for. He had a... daughter. He had a family of his own. Each night, he would say a silent prayer to the Mother. Thanking her for bestowing this gift upon him. Azriel knew an eternity would not be enough to express his gratitude, his devotion, to the two of you. His two angels.

[satansapostle6]

Kids | Rodrick Heffley

Spotify Playlist Link

Rodrick Heffley becomes obsessed when he finally meets his thirty-five year old band mate, Bill Walter’s, younger sister.

Warnings: Mature themes/language. Drug use. Sexual content. Violence.

“10 Things I Hate About You”

“The Perks of Being A Disappointment”

Rodrick found that he very much liked holding hands. Especially Sara’s. He felt he looked better than ever that Monday morning, because her hand was in his.

“Ew. Look,” Heather Hills whispered, staring with her friends as they watched Rodrick and Sara coming down the hall. “The emus are dating.”

Sara just chuckled as Rodrick stood tall beside her, completely unaware. But he wouldn’t have had it any other way. His only focus was Sara, and the way her smile was something reserved mostly for him.

“Alright. I guess I gotta get to class,” Rodrick sighed, fully aware that he and Sara were already fifteen minutes late.

“Okay,” she sighed unenthusiastically, smiling as he gave her a quick peck on the lips as he leaned in the doorframe.

“Be good,” he teased.

“You first.”

“Never,” Rodrick promised, chuckling as he just stood there for a moment, admiring what was his.

“Sara, are we joining us for first period?” Mr. Emerson called in annoyance.

“In a minute, you old fart!” Rodrick yelled impatiently, peeved that someone had interrupted his state of bliss.

“Mr. Heffley, do I need to call administration?” the history teacher asked.

“No, Mr. Emerson,” Rodrick said quickly, looking back at Sara as he awkwardly scratched at his shaggy dark hair. “Go to the bathroom in ten minutes,” he mouthed.

Sara just smirked back at him as she entered the classroom, taking her seat by Lauren. Class that day went by faster than she’d anticipated, and before she knew it, Rodrick was walking her out, with his arm lazily thrown around her.

He had deemed it chivalrous to take care in walking Sara to and from all of her classes, conveniently giving him a reason to miss the first and last ten minutes or so of each of his own classes. Sara had just barely sat down in her elective psychology class before receiving a slip of paper from the office on her desk.

Sara squinted in confusion as she read it. Apparently, she had been checked out of school right at the beginning of second period by someone listed as “brother”. She didn’t question why Bill would check her out of school without telling her, so she collected her things and headed to the front office, not sure what to expect.

Sure enough, there was Bill Walter.

“Hey, Sar Bear,” her older brother smiled.

“Hey,” she nodded. “What’s up? Is everything okay?”

“More than okay,” he promised her as they walked out of the school together.

“What’s going on?”

“You’ll see,” he promised her excitedly.

Bill walked Sara down the street to where Rodrick’s van was parked, not saying a word. Sara was confused for a moment as she saw Rodrick leaning against the van, arms crossed before he hopped up.

“Hey, baby,” he said casually.

“What’s up?” Sara asked, not understanding.

“I’ll leave you two to it,” Bill smiled, walking off to where his own car was parked.

She just looked at Rodrick, waiting for an explanation.

“I got Bill to check you out of school, so I could take you on our first date,” he smiled happily, seeming satisfied with himself.

“But, we’ve been on a date,” Sara pointed out. “And we go to the mall together.”

“This is something a lot better than the mall,” Rodrick promised her, making a point of it as he put on a dark pair of Ray Bans. “We’re going to the boardwalk.”

“Really?” she asked, surprised by the spontaneous gesture. “You’re cutting school? Again?”

“Yeah,” he scoffed nonchalantly, “I blocked the school on my mom’s phone. She’ll never know anyway.”

“Okay,” Sara grinned, throwing her arms around him as he smiled down at her. “So I have you for the whole day?”

“Definitely,” he said in a low tone, hands situated on her hips. “I’m all yours, beautiful,” he said in a cocky manner.

“Good,” she mumbled, kissing him on the lips.

He held her in arms as tightly as he could, making sure to wrap his arms all the way around her in a way that always made her feel safe.

“Hop in, sweetheart,” Rodrick teased her. “I’ll let you pick the music.”

Rodrick drove off as Sara sat blissfully in the front seat next to him, flipping through CD’s for a few minutes.

“Limp Bizkit?” she asked, holding up one of his CD’s.

“Whatever you want, princess. Today’s about you,” he responded affectionately as she popped it in.

The drive to Oceanside Pier would take about an hour, but Sara almost wished it would take longer just so she could sit in the passenger seat while Rodrick drove and talked to her. She felt like his world was centered around her whenever he would find special places to take her.

“You look really good sitting there like that, you know that?” Rodrick said a he watched her.

Her fair skin glowed golden like moonlight with the way sunlight poured in through the window.

“I think you forget how handsome you are,” she pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

She loved his shaggy hair and crooked smile like nothing else. Rodrick Heffley didn’t completely show it, but her words had an impact on him he couldn’t find the words to fully describe.

“You know, you have more personality than anybody I know. And it even shows on your face, and the way you look,” he stared in amazement. “Everything about you is just perfect. Just right,” he thought.

Sara thought for a moment, finding the compliment had a certain novelty to it. Her nose wrinkled in surprise as she tried to place her reaction.

“I always thought there was a lot wrong with my face,” she said softly.

This fact seemed appalling to Rodrick.

“What idiot made you think that?” he demanded.

“I don’t know. I just kind of accepted it as a fact. My teeth are kind of fucked. My eyes are hooded and uneven, and they have bags underneath. And my eyes are kind of droopy and dead,” she thought, seeming physically overwhelmed by the details as she spoke, as if not quite understanding.

“I think your eyes are one of the best things about you,” he said honestly. “And your smile’s the cutest thing ever.”

“Well. I think you feel about me the way I feel about you,” she stated.

“I hope so,” Rodrick expressed. “Because… I want you to be my girlfriend,” he concluded.

“You do?” Sara looked up at him.

“I do,” he nodded, completely serious. “Do you want that too?”

“Yes, I do,” she said without a second thought. “I think that would be perfect.”

He smiled at her, genuinely content with the world. When Rodrick and Sara frolicked around on the beach, after having bought swimsuits on the pier, he saw the whole world in her eyes. They were just brown, but to him, they reflected so much more.

In her eyes, he saw the same darkness he had in his own heart, and the same golden light he imagined pouring into his home through the windows ten years from then. Rodrick had never given growing up much thought, mostly because he thought he never wanted to do it.

But as he ran along the beach with Sara, and carried her in his arms in the water, he so badly wanted to fast forward and see if this, the lunacy of this dream, stood the test of time.

“Nobody has a voice like you,” Sara Walter said softly, as Rodrick heard their second joint in her voice.

They were sitting on a towel close to the water, but the few people who’d been somewhat close to them had cleared out because of the aromatic smoke. Rodrick chuckled lightly as he hit the joint with his sunglasses on, charmed by the sight of his girlfriend in her matching two-piece black and pink bikini.

“You think I could really sing if I wanted to?” Rodrick asked her.

The truth was, he heavily valued her opinion more than anyone else’s.

“Not necessarily sing. Scream, maybe,” she reasoned. “I think you have a voice that really rocks. You just have to find your style.”

“I think I want you onstage with me,” he expressed, passing the joint to her. “Like, background vocals, or something. I think someone like you could really take the band to a whole ‘nother level. Like, Amy Lee, or Lacey Sturm.”

“Please don’t compare me to Lacey Sturm,” Sara grimaced, taking a deep hit off the joint, “I don’t wanna fuck Jesus.”

“I have sandals on right now,” Rodrick pointed out in amusement. “Would that work?”

“Very funny,” she said to him with sarcastic approval.

“Do you ever think about dying?” Rodrick asked as she smoked while processing.

“What about it?” she questioned.

“Like, how you would wanna do it?” he asked awkwardly. “Or why you would wanna do it?”

“All the time,” Sara nodded. “I used to think about it a lot… I always thought I’d just OD, or something. Die young,” she offered her sentiments.

“Really?” Rodrick asked, seeming sad despite having the conversation on the sunny beach.

“Yeah… My family has a history of suicide,” she confessed. “My mom’s grandpa committed suicide. And my grandma; my dad’s mom. And my cousin, too.”

“Your cousin?” Rodrick said softly.

“Yeah. Bryan,” she nodded. “He was like my best friend growing up.”

“You told me about him,” he thought, remembering all the different stories. “You never told me he died.”

“Yeah. Shot himself a few years back,” Sara remembered. “He was seventeen.”

“I’m sorry,” Rodrick offered. “That… really, really sucks.”

“It does,” she agreed. “I didn’t understand it. I always thought, out of the two of us, it would’ve been me. He only smoked a little weed. I was the one who did all the drugs, even then… I wanted to go out like him. Young, and smarter than everybody. I wanted to go out on my own terms.”

“I think I know what you mean,” Rodrick thought. “I don’t…” he paused for a moment, seeming genuinely perturbed.

Sara watched him, wondering what was going on his mind.

“I don’t know what my life is for. I’m not smart, I’m not a good person. I’m not good at anything that matters.”

“Music matters,” she offered, not even able to process the inaccuracy of the other claims.

“Mine doesn’t,” Rodrick said spitefully. “I mean, my dad’s right; it’s not real music. We just bang on our instruments and scream about blood and shit, like, literal shit.”

“But that is real music,” Sara promised, sitting up in front of him. “If it means something, it’s real music. You think music has to be serious all the time? Look at Jim Morrison. Half of the time, he had no idea what the fuck he was talking about.

“And you saw what happened when Fred Durst and Jonathan Davis got together and recorded a song. That was the least serious shit I’ve ever heard. Think about the people that made you wanna make music; did their music not make you feel something? Did it not make you feel good?”

“You’re right, you know that?” he said after a moment.

“How many times have you turned on the radio and heard a piece of industry-planted garbage that’s full of buzzwords and bullshit just to appeal to as many people as possible? ‘Baby’, ‘love’, ‘girl’, ‘party’, ‘boy’, ‘beach’. That’s the shit that doesn’t deserve to be called music.”

“You’re so smart,” Rodrick sighed, overwhelmed by his feelings for her.

“You’re really something, Rodrick. You have passion, and talent, and you really are driven when you actually put your mind to something,” Sara remarked. “Anyone who really sees who you are could tell you that.”

“But, I don’t know what I even wanna do with my life,” he confessed. “Mom and Dad both say I gotta go to college, but what the fuck am I gonna do at college? I don’t read, I can’t pass tests, and I definitely don’t know how to be an adult.”

“I think once you find something, it’ll all fall into place,” she told him.

“But what am I gonna do?” he asked. “I’m not good at anything.”

“That’s not true. No one who really knows you would let you think that,” she frowned.

“Well, what do you think I’m good at?”

“You are good with music. Specifically working out the beat and music of a song… Like the composition. And, you don’t think you are, but you’re good at finding ways to look at things so that you can understand them,” she offered. “I saw you explaining stuff to Chris during practice.”

“See, this is why I love talking to you about stuff,” Rodrick sighed. “You really get me, and you really wanna help me.”

“I hope so,” she thought, looking him in the eyes as she hoped he would see what she saw in him.

“I think my mom would really like you,” he remarked.

“I don’t know,” she sighed, exhaling a heavy puff of smoke. “I’m just different than what she wants for you.”

“She wants someone who cares about me, and is a good influence on me,” he stated confidently. “That’s you.”

That evening, a while after had Sara went off to work, and Rodrick had returned home, the Heffley family was seated around their dinner table for a family meal. Frank’s day at work and Greg’s day at school had already been discussed, and Susan was rambling on about different people they knew, before Rodrick decided he had something to share with them.

“Hey, Mom?” he said as he got himself a second helping of mashed potatoes.

“Yes, Rodrick?” Susan looked up at him, pleasantly surprised to find that he was willingly speaking up during a family gathering.

“I, uh… I have a girlfriend now,” Rodrick smiled smugly.

“Huh. That’s my boy,” Frank offered him an extremely paternal smile, for once finding a reason to be proud of his eldest son.

“What?” she finally looked up at him through her glasses, eyes widened.

“Whoa, look outside!” Greg interrupted loudly, pointing out the window. “There’s pigs flying!”

“Shut it, smart ass!”

“After you, dumb ass,” Greg muttered.

“I’m sorry, what did you say, Rodrick?” Susan asked after a moment.”

“I said, I’m a changed man. I have a girlfriend now,” Rodrick grinned, proud of the one he had ended up with.

“Oh, that’s nice, who’s the lucky girl?” his mother asked pleasantly, seeming thrilled.

“Sara,” Rodrick told her, expecting that to be obvious.

“Sara, Bill’s sister, Sara?” she asked incredulously.

“Sara?” Frank Heffley blurted out, almost sounding startled. “The blonde girl?” his eyes widened as a smile spread across his face.

He was quickly met with a sharp nudge from his wife, who seemed less than enthusiastic about the new development now.

“Yeah,” Rodrick nodded, not understanding the reaction. “I’m with Sara.”

“But, why?” Susan asked him. “She’s so…”

She failed to come up with something acceptable.

“‘So’ what?” he asked defensively, seeming upset. “Sara’s what?”

“She’s just… not who I would’ve pictured you with, is all,” she tried to soften her demeanor.

“Mom, do you even know me at all?” Rodrick demanded, seeing the disappointed frown on her face. “I’m serious. Like, do you know what I like, or how I think?”

“Of course I know you! I gave birth to you! You’re my oldest son!” she exclaimed in shock. “That’s why I don’t want you to end up with someone you’d regret being with, is all.”

“How do you even know I’d regret it? You don’t know anything about her!” he cried. “You’ve met her once.”

“And I’m not assuming anything!” Susan assured him. “I just… want you to be careful, that’s all.”

“Yeah. Your mother doesn’t mean anything by it,” Frank attempted to mediate the situation.

“Okay,” Rodrick tested her, a suspicious look on his face. “Then, can I invite her to dinner tomorrow?”

Susan nearly choked on her food.

“But, the Bensons are coming over for dinner tomorrow,” she reminded him, her face even looking pale.

“You said I could have a friend over for dinner whenever I want,” he pointed out.

“No, I said you seem to have friends over for dinner whenever you want,” she chuckled as patiently as she could, patience clearly thinning.

“Honey, Sara seems like a nice girl. Sure, she’s Bill’s sister, and she looks a little edgy, but she seems nice enough,” Frank reasoned, stepping in. “She’s polite, and she says ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. That’s more than we can say for most of the other kids he’s had over. I’m just glad he found a girl he likes that doesn’t sell pot in an alley,” he justified simply.

“I don’t know…” Susan considered skeptically.

“Come on, Mom,” Rodrick sighed. “You don’t change your mind with Greg’s friends.”

“That’s because Greg’s friends don’t come from families with more teen pregnancies and suicides than college degrees,” she mumbled.

“Susan,” Frank looked at her in shock.

“Mom!”

Everyone realized that he seemed genuinely hurt.

“I’m sorry, honey, I didn’t mean it like that,” she sighed, realizing her mistake.

“What other way is there to mean it?!” Rodrick snapped at her. “You don’t say shit like that!”

His father remained completely silent for a moment, not sure at all how to deal with the topic. Even Manny started to seem uncomfortable at the dinner table, as Greg was also surprised to find he was on his brother’s side.

“That’s dark, Mom.”

“I’m sorry, okay?” Susan gave in, “I didn’t mean it like that. I was just getting stressed out, with all this… It was a horrible thing, and I shouldn’t have said it. I take it back.”

“How did you even know that?” Rodrick questioned her, disregarding the apology.

Even he seemed to be just finding out about it.

“People talk,” she sighed, “One of the PTA moms has a sister who used to work with Bill and Sara’s mom. People talk about that family, and the things you hear aren’t exactly good. I just didn’t know if I wanted you hanging around a girl like that.”

“Why would people talk about that? It’s fucked,”Rodrick said in disgust.

“I know. And I shouldn’t encourage it,” Susan agreed.

“So, are you actually willing to give Sara a chance?”

“Yes, honey, of course,” she promised, mostly out of obligation and guilt.

“Congratulations, son,” Frank beamed, shifting the direction of the conversation, “On finally getting a girl.”

It seems that was all they really could’ve hoped for. Rodrick just smiled in more of an awkward grimace, not really feeling as good as he thought he would after their conversation.

-

Meet the Fuckers

[yuusishi]

Hello! Since requests are open, may I request a fic of Ace with a s/o who has a major sweet tooth? Something fluffy and cute! Thank you :)

. . . A TREAT OR TWO

pairings : Ace Trappola x gn!reader

genre : fluff

cws/tws : none

a/n : sorry if this is ass I'm losing interest in twst

Ace Trappola !!

“Hey—!! Dude, wait up!” Ace yelled as you dashed through the streets to check out the new candy shop that opened up recently. You hurriedly stopped in front of the display window outside the shop and looked on in awe, this shop basically had the largest collection you've ever seen. All brands of lollipops, chocolates, and even pastries, they've got it all!

Ace finally caught up with you and was left panting, he looked up at you already clutching your wallet ready to spend your allowance on enough candy to look up you were stocking up for Halloween in the middle of August.

He already knew that you had a major sweet tooth, the first time he met you you had a grape flavored lollipop in your mouth for goodness sake, and he's gotten used to it and even found it in himself to find it slightly adorable. He'd never admit it, but it makes him feel like a kid again running around his neighborhood in the Queendom of Roses whenever you drag him through the streets to go to cafes and dessert shops when you both could go out of campus.

"Sheesh, [name], wait for me would you?" he said and you just gave him a cheeky smile back. It always made his heart flutter. You grabbed his hand and dragged him again inside the bright shop, pastels booming everywhere making all the colorful candy pop out more.

--

Three hours later, here you both sat in Ace's dorm room, you needed to wait for a few more hours before all of his dorm mates left so they wouldn't be able to ask for any of the candy ("especially Deuce", Ace said). Ace already felt a tooth ache setting in while you continued taste testing your purchases from the shop without a care in the world. Seriously, he wonders how many times you have to visit the dentist each month.

"Y'know we still have tomorrow to continue eating these, right? It's a weekend anyways"

"And you sort of did make sure we both finished our homework before the weekend so that we could have as much free time for this as possible." Ace mumbled. A satisfied giggle left you as you started packing the unopened candies back into the plastic bag, popping another ball of chocolate in your mouth beforehand, "Alright, alright, the blame's on you if you forget to brush your teeth later and you get a toothache in the morning though" you teased,

"And who's the person who made me eat a pack of candy in the first place?!".

[i-am-beckyu]

Just out of Reach, but Never out of Sight

AWWWWW YEAH! HERE SHE IS BOIS!!! THE LOOOONG AWAITED CHAPTER 3!!!! I have reread and changed this so many times but finally I’m happy with it and ready to move onto the next part!!! (there are so many bits I’ve written and cut and pasted into different parts for future chaps it’s not funny lol) As always, thank you to @a-xyz-s for beta reading and your feedback! (love you!/p)  And thanks to Brick and Squishy for help on some earlier chapter issues! Thanks besties ❤️ Anyways, ENJOY!

Chapter 3

chapter 1, chapter 2 cw: general fear, panic and anxiety, fear of death, child abuse/neglect, comfort and allllll the fluff!!!! word count: 3692

Disclaimer! This story is based on the characters of the Dream SMP and not the real life content creators. Anything that occurs in this story is purely fiction and should be treated as such. Thank you.

Phil smiled fondly from his place in the bedroom doorway, as he watched his eldest give Tommy the small cow plushie. 

How could one little boy be so endearing? 

He thought back to that afternoon when he’d first found the young boy. It had been a simple day at the office. Nothing out of the ordinary, just the usual paperwork and filing he couldn’t do at home. It should’ve been a simple walk home too, but when the sound of heavy breathing had caught his ear, he hadn’t expected to turn and see a kid with messy blonde hair running straight towards a street light. “Hey kid, slow down!” He had tried to warn, but the kid seemed too lost in thought and charged forward anyways. “Hey wait, stop!! You’re going to hit the-“ 

He didn’t even get to finish the sentence before a loud thunk echoed into the air, as the kid crashed into the pole, causing them to backpedal from the impact, and down to the ground. He rushed forward crouching down to be eye level with the kid and quickly began to look them over.

“Are you alright mate?”

The kid's head snapped up, blue eyes meeting his own, widening at the acknowledgment of his presence. 

 “Ah, mate? You with me?”

As if a switch was flicked, the kid frantically scrambled back with a loud scream, a look of pure terror painted across their face. 

Phil’s heart ached at the sight.

 “Hey, hey it’s alright. I’m not going to hurt you.” He said, hands up placatingly so the kid could see he meant no harm. 

The kid curled in on themselves as their breathing began to grow irregular and shallow.

“Shhhh shhh it’s okay! I need you to take deep, slow breaths for me. Can you do that?” Phil asked, coming closer. 

 The kid took a few sharp breaths in, presumably trying to do as he had asked.

“In for 3, out for 3.” he instructed, as he began to rub the kids back up and down to help time their breathing.

The kid flinched at the initial contact, but didn’t shy away.

“There you go. You’re doing so well mate.”

 Slowly, the kids' breathing began to even out and as they focused on regulating their breathing.

“My name’s Philza, but you can call me Phil. What’s your name?”

 The kid tensed slightly at the question, but immediately melted back into Phil’s touch as he continued to rub their back. How adorable.

“T-Tommy.” The kid –Tommy said shakily.

It took a few minutes to fully calm Tommy down, but eventually he settled enough to find out why he had been so focused on running. That had been a mission in itself to get them to open up about it, but he had managed to find out that Tommy was lost and was concerned about losing something important. 

 What that thing was, Tommy wouldn’t say and had started to hyperventilate at the mention. He had quickly reassured him that he was okay and that he just wanted to help, inviting him to come back to his place where he could better do so. 

 It was slightly worrying how quickly the kid had agreed to coming home with him though... 

 Tommy even almost seemed eager to go when Phil mentioned that he lived only a street over from where they were. From terrified to willingly to follow a stranger was uh, interesting to say the least. 

 And the way they acted coming home; staring at objects with so much wonder and intrigue while adorable was concerning.

 Who knew where this kid had come from to act like that? 

 He would have to worry about contacting Tommy’s guardians if he had any later. Kid had been through enough and needed the rest. He smiled as Wilbur closed the door quietly to the Guest room, noticing the fondness in his gaze as he turned and made his way back to his own room. In the morning, he’d introduce Technoblade to Tommy and hopefully get him to open up some more. Then they’d be able to get a better run down on the kid and what the best course of action would be.

At least that’s what he thought they’d do…

        (๑•́o•̀๑)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Tommy felt different when he woke up. 

 The last thing he remembered was falling asleep on something really soft, holding something really fluffy.

 Huh, Strange. 

 He doesn’t remember his bed being this nice.

 Slowly, he peaked an eye open to find himself in what appeared to be a plush cave. 

 Well this was the weirdest dream he’d ever had.

 Figuring it was a dream (because what else would this be), Tommy began to search for an exit. Might as well explore whatever dreamworld he was in while it lasted. 

 It took a bit, but eventually he spotted a sliver of light creeping in from a crevice above and made his way across the weird, uneven surface. It was far too soft to try and walk across properly, as his feets just kept sinking down with his weight. Not to say he didn’t like it, it was just strange to be on so much uneven ground.

 Geez dreams are weird. 

When Tommy reached the crevice, he began to climb up finding the side wall was actually some kind of nice fabric. Pity he couldn’t have fabric like this in reality. A bed made from this would be heaven! 

 But upon breaching the surface, it was only then that he realised where he was.

 He glanced around at the ‘not cave’, realisation hitting him with the sight of the light green bedding from the guest room bed. But what really grabbed his attention was the cow plushie resting in the middle of the messed up pile of sheets. All the memories of the day prior came rushing back full force.

Oh.

So that part hadn’t been a dream. He really had talked to the Human Beans. 

But then that would mean…..

Tommy patted himself over, up and down, even pinching himself to check that he was in fact awake. 

 He was back to his normal size. 

3 whole glorious inches of pure normal TommyInnit.

But how? 

 He was sure that he was going to be stuck Bean size forever, but here he was. 

 Tommy’s head spun with a million questions. 

 What if growing in size was a dream and I’m just waking up? But I have the cow plush which means I was given it. But maybe I did succeed in getting it, and I just left it in the guest room? But the bed sheets are messed up so clearly someone has slept in here so why would I be here now?

 Trying to shake the growing list of questions in his head, Tommy tried to focus on the things at hand. He would worry about what had happened later. Right now he needed to get back home.

 He made his way to the side of the bed closest to the wall, and stared down. 

 Hidden in the corner behind the bed leg, was a tunnel entrance. The tunnel itself led to his home, just tucked within the corner wall of Wilbur’s bedroom right next door. It would be difficult without his equipment, but he could get down in mostly one piece. 

 Maybe… Steeling himself, he turned around and began to slowly descend down the side of the bed, before momentarily stopping and climbing back up. 

 Well he couldn’t just leave the cow plush behind! Not after all the trouble it had caused from his maybe real-not real dream. 

 It really needs a name. Henry sounds nice. 

 After ‘gently’ dropping Henry down to the floor, Tommy was about to resume his descent down before suddenly the sound of someone approaching made their way to the guest room door. 

 Tommy knew those pretentious footsteps anywhere.

‘Knock’

‘Knock’

‘Knock'

“Tommy, are you up? Dad’s made breakfast.” The muffled voice of Wilbur drifted through the closed doorway.

Well that answered it then. 

 Definitely NOT a dream.

“Tommy? Are you awake?”

Tommys’ heart pounded against his chest. 

Oh Prime. They knew he existed. They actually knew!!!

“Tommy?” Wilbur knocked again, concern lacing their voice.

They can’t know. You’re dead if they know.

“Tommy? You okay in there?”

Get back to the walls.

“Tommy?”

Run Tommy. He’s going to enter and then he’ll see what you are. 

“Tommy, I’m going to come in on the count of 3 okay?”

Please…

“1”

Don’t,

“2’

Come,

  “3”

 Tommy dropped to the floor behind the bed leg just as the door opened, his heart pounding in his chest as he gripped his shirt to try and ground himself.

 “Tommy? Tommy where- Tommy are you in here?” 

 With bated breath, Tommy slowly peaked his head out to get a better look at his situation. Of course all he could see was Wilbur's stupid fancy shoes (seriously? It’s like 9am and he’s wearing those pretentious shoes at home?) but more importantly, he could hear the panic rising in Wilbur’s voice at his sudden disappearance.

 “Dad- Dad, the kid’s gone!” 

 Tommy watched as Wilbur frantically ran out of the room to find Phil. 

Oh Prime he’d made him worried. He’d F***** made Wilbur worried about him…

No. No this was for the best. 

 He needed to leave while he still could. Especially now that he’s small again. Him staying would be nothing but more trouble for the Crafts. 

 “What do you mean he’s gone?” Phil’s voice trailed to Tommy from the kitchen. 

 “He can’t have just disappeared.”

Oh f***. Now he’d made Phil worried too.

“Wilbur, did you check all the rooms? He couldn’t have just left?”

The panicked footsteps of Wilbur returned and Tommy watched with guilt rising from his gut as Phil’s green slippers walked past with Wilbur's shoes by the guest room door.

 “But what if he left during the night Dad? It’s not like he can’t unlock the window with the keys still in the lock?”

 “I doubt we would have slept through that mate. If not us, definitely not Techno.” The concern in Phil’s voice seemed to increase with every word.

 He- he was, making them more worried. 

 Like really REALLY worried about him. 

 But, they just met? They shouldn’t care like that? 

 Not for him anyways… right? 

 He’s just some dirty street kid in their eyes, which isn’t entirely wrong but surely Beans don’t just care for people like that? Well maybe they would for other Beans but for Tommy? He’s not even the right size for that to be even slightly true right now. 

 If they found him in his weak, small helpless Borrower form, he’d be done for!

And if things couldn’t get worse for the Borrower, that's when Tommy felt it. His entire body began to tingle with an unfamiliar sensation and suddenly, he felt himself growing. 

“S***, S***, S***!” 

 Tommy was sprinting to get out from under the bed as he felt himself growing in the cramped up space. He’d barely stumbled forward before hitting his head with a thump beneath the bed's wooden frame. 

 “What was that?” 

 Tommy’s blood froze as the set of footsteps thundered down the hallway towards him. He scrambled back as far as he could, cupping his hands over his mouth to muffle any unwanted noises escaping himself as the green slippers reappeared in his vision; exasperated breathing filling the eerie silence. 

 He remained completely still, as Phil presumably scanned the room before the elder let out a sigh and moved towards the door. 

 Tommy let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding, as he watched the retreating shoes leave. 

 That had been close. 

 Too close…

 ‘It’s okay, Phil didn’t find you. I’ll just stay here and wait till they all leave and work out how to shrink again and then-’

“Hi mate.”

Tommy shrieked in surprise, hitting his head on the bed frame in the process. 

 Phil was down on the floor looking straight at him with concerned bright blue eyes, a hand up in surrender and an amused smile. 

How had he not noticed him get down on the floor?! 

 He’d just watched him leave for Primes sake!

 “Woah woah, it's alright Tommy just breathe.” 

 Tommy scrambled back as far as he could. Even though it was cramped, he was still small enough Bean size to put a little distance between them. 

 “Stay away from me.” He growled, trying to mask his fear in attempts to make the blonde leave. 

 Even though he had meant to leave, in the Beans' eyes, it had appeared like he’d tried to run away. If he came out now, he’d probably be punished for trying to pull such a stunt. He didn’t want that…

Not from Phil.

“Tommy shh, shh. It’s alright. I’m not going to hurt you.” Phil tried to soothe, crawling ever so slightly closer.

 “Stay back.” Tommy spat, pushing further against the wall. 

He could feel where Henry was squashed against him and his enlarged limbs with the wall. He felt bad for the little plushie, but that was far from his concerns right now.

  “Why didn’t you respond when we were calling for you? We were so worried you’d left.”

Worried, he’d left? Really?

“Normally when you help someone out, they respond when someone knocks to let them know breakfast is ready. Not have the host worry about their guests' whereabouts and find them hiding beneath the bed.”

 Tommy kept pushing himself further into the corner and his wall entrance. 

 He knew it. 

 He’d f***** up. 

 Phil shouldn’t have even found him! He didn’t mean to grow again, he just wanted to get back in the walls. But then they’d have been worried anyway and now Phil was pissed at him for not responding and being under the bed and now-

“Tommy- Tommy breathe. It’s alright. You’re not in trouble.”

 The confused look on Tommy’s face must have said it all, because Phil explained.

 “Tommy, it's okay. You’re not in trouble for doing any of that. I was just worried, okay? Wil and I both were. We thought something might have happened to you and we wanted to check you were okay.”

 Tommy took a shaky breath in and stared at Phil. There was a chance he was lying, but it was hard to believe from the gentle smile the older man was pointing his way.

“Would you mind if I join you?” Phil asked timidly. “I can stay here if you prefer, I’d just like to talk.”

 “Dad! Dad! Dad! He’s not anywhere in the house he’s- uh… why are you on the floor?” 

Wilbur. Right. 

 He’d managed to worry him too hadn’t he? 

“Wilbur, could I get you to wait outside for me? Kinda in the middle of something here.” The man said, turning his head awkwardly to presumably look at his son. 

 “Is he - under the bed?” 

 Tommy could only imagine Wilbur was pointing down at him from where he stood with a stupid look of confusion on his face. He rolled his eyes at the thought.

 “Yeah he’s fine. Just, can you give us a minute?”

 Without another word, Tommy watched as the obnoxious brown shoes retreated from the guest room, the door slowly closing after with a soft click. 

“So about joining you under the bed?” 

Tommy drew his attention back to Phil. 

 Phil really didn’t seem like he was going to grab him and pull him out and punish him or hurt him if he came under. Not that it mattered even if he didn’t. 

He wouldn’t be escaping any time soon as it was in his current state…

  With a timid nod, Phil’s smile brightened ever so slightly and he crawled his way under the bed. There certainly wasn’t enough space for the grown man to do so, but regardless he stuffed himself under, joining the boy in the cramped space.

“You know, Wilbur and Techno used to play hide and seek in here all the time.” Phil said as he tried to get situated.

 “This used to be one of their favourite hiding spaces until they got too big to hide under here. I’m surprised I actually made it under here at all.” he said with a chuckle.

 Tommy bit his lip. 

 The sight of Phil was rather funny. If anyone were to look at the scene from beyond the bed, it would be a rather silly sight to see the grown man attempting to fit, but Tommy couldn’t help but linger on the thought of the twins playing hide and seek. 

 He’d never been allowed to join in such games with the other Borrower children. Or when they had let him, he’d always hide, but never be found. It got to a point where he wouldn’t even try to hide to just have someone find him.

 It became pretty clear they had no intentions to do so.

“You alright?” Phil said, breaking his thoughts. “Something you want to talk about?”

 “Uh no no I’m fine. Just thinking about something unimportant.” 

Me, he thought bitterly.

“Okay well I was coming to invite you to breakfast but if you’d prefer to stay here we can. I’d just like to get a better idea of helping you get home and find that thing you were after is all.” 

 Phil watched how Tommy’s face perked up at the mention of food but deflated when it came to home or talking about what he was after. Maybe he’d run away from home, trying to get away from a bad situation? But then again he was after something, so that could mean anything. 

At least food seemed like an in with Tommy.

“How about we start with where your parents are, yeah? I’m sure they’re worried about you.” 

 “Ain’t got any.” Tommy stated flatly. 

 “They abandoned me when I was a baby.”

 “Oh.” 

Phil didn’t miss how blank Tommy’s face was at the statement.

“Are you staying with anyone else at the moment?” 

Surely someone had been looking after this child? 

“I had some people looking after me for a while, but they kicked me out when I was 13. Been looking after myself ever since.” Tommy finished with a shrug, as if the information shouldn’t be surprising. 

 But judging by the horrified look on Phil’s face, that clearly hadn’t been the answer he’d been after so he was quick to add,

 “I don’t need anyone! I’m a Big man and waaay more capable than you can imagine Big Man. Been looking after myself for the past 3 years, easy peasy.”

“You’re 16?” 

 Tommy shifted nervously under Phil's disbelieving gaze.

3 years. 

For 3 years this child had been on his own. Tommy didn’t look anywhere close to 16 years old. He knew he was skinny and malnourished based on appearance alone, but for 16 he was way worse than what he first thought. Maybe he was lying about his age? He looked like he could be 13, maybe 14 at most now, but clearly he had not been doing okay if he could see his ribs poking through his shirt. Perhaps not eating stunted his growth?

“Do you- have you had somewhere to stay?” Phil asked hesitantly. He didn’t want Tommy to run off if the reason he was on his own was because of past potential abuse.

 “I do. I’ve switched houses a few times and I’m currently in this nice place at the moment.”

 Tommy paused, looking away almost shamefully before continuing.

 “Though I’m not sure y- um my, uh- neighbours will want me around when I go back. They probably think I’m a pest like you do right now; wasting your time under the bed.”

 “Oh no no Tommy! I don’t think that at all!” Phil was quick to reassure. 

 “You’re not a pest! Who the f*** ever told you you were?”

 Tommy looks away in shame.

 “Tommy look, you just got spooked waking up in an unfamiliar setting right? We didn’t mean to frighten you. We just got concerned when you didn’t respond. I don’t mind being under the bed if you feel safer here.”

 Phil watched as Tommy took what he said in, the gears turning in the blonde boy's head. Phil had to suspect that something had to have happened to him more than just getting kicked out of home if his first instinct was to hide.

 “You’re not mad that I hid?” Tommy asked timidly.

 “No, not at all. We just want to help you get back home and find that thing you were trying to find yesterday.”

 Tommy relaxed a little at this but not completely. There was still some uncertainty in his gaze but Phil didn’t want to overstep.

Baby steps Phil. Baby steps.

“I’m sure whatever it is we can help you find it. Maybe if we call your neighbours they could come-”

“NO.” the boy snapped, eyes wide, but just as quickly reeled back as he realised his outburst, instead reiterating himself.

“Uh I mean, no. No, there's no point calling them. I don't have their uh- names to call.”

Phill blinked at him.

“...sure mate, it’s fine.”

“Besides,” Tommy continued.

 “I know my way back to them once I get to um the- the park.” 

“Oh that’s not far from here. We can take you back there after breakfast if you like?” Phil offered with a small smile and something sad behind his gaze. Not that Tommy noticed as he mentally slapped himself. 

“Oh um, thank you.” 

Did Tommy feel bad about lying through his teeth? 

 Yes. Yes he did. 

 But he couldn’t exactly tell Phil that he lived in his walls and that he, Wilbur and Techno were his neighbours. But lying and saying he can get home once he’s taken to the park? 

TOMMY YOU FLIPPEN DUMBA** DON’T SAY THAT!! 

Now he’s going to be taken to the park, AWAY from his actual home! That’s exactly what he doesn't want to happen!!!

“Well how do you feel about some breakfast then? I made waffles.” 

 “That would be nice, thanks.”

How does he keep getting into these situations?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ANNNNNNNNNND! THAT’S A WRAP ON CH 3!!! LETS GOOOO Thanks for reading to the end if you did. I really appreciate it and hope you enjoyed <3 I used so many italics..... but even though this took ages to get out, I’m really happy I took the extra time to get it just right. No idea when I will update it next but keep your eyes peeled for meme snippets. This is now going to be a thing thanks to @rosewriting-ao3 (I’m stealing your idea ❤️❤️❤️)

TAGLIST: @local-squishmallow @brick-a-doodle-do @justarandomsloth @veryfunkycheesecake @munchkin1156 @kayla-crazy-stuffs @da3dm @eiscreme135 @orchid-harmony @the-tiny-lurker @colossal-red  @giant-tinygoodtimes 

Tag list post here if you want to be tagged for future updates <3

[givethemsmut]

The Pack | Chapter Two

Characters: Dylan O’Brien, fem!reader

Pairing: Dylan O’Brien, Dylan x You

After Brody left I texted Alex, my best friend, filling her in on what happened. I can’t believe he was still pushing me for more.

Waiting for her text back I logged onto Instagram and saw a message from Tyler Posey himself. I was shocked and startled he found me from just my first name. We didn’t have any mutual friends that I knew of other than my dad.

I read the message: Hey, I met you on set today, I’m having a house party. Come through. Text me for the address.

I texted Alex the screenshot of his message and got nothing but an explosion of emojis. She was semi obsessed with Tyler Posey and Teen Wolf. I told her I’d get dressed and to pick me up in 20 minuets. A party sounded like the perfect way to forget Brody and probably the end of our friendship.

He was my best friend and we had crossed a line we couldn’t come back from.

I threw on some converse, jeans and a crop top with a cute bra peaking through. I pulled my hair out of the loose bun and made sure my mascara was perfect. I looked at myself in the mirror wondering if I was some kind of freak for not having sex yet before grabbing my clutch before heading outside.

Texting my dad so he wouldn’t worry I made sure to leave my location out. He wasn’t going to willingly let me party with a cast of actors my age.

Alex was beyond excited, “Is Tyler into you? Are you into him? Is he free game?”

I laughed knowing her obsession, “Alex, have him. He’s not my type. All serious, brooding, adventures. All yours.”

Alex laughed, “He isn’t the kind of guy to wait for sex either. He seems like a ladies man!”

We pulled up Tyler’s Hollywood house which was more modest than I thought. We rang the doorbell waiting outside when the oversized door flung open with Tyler holding a cold beer. “Come on in! Hey! Glad you could make it. Who’s your friend? I’m Tyler.”

Alex was a blonde bombshell so I wasn’t surprised he was checking her out. I introduced them to each other as we came inside and Tyler immediately showed us around.

“This is my place. Dyl and myself live here when we aren’t filming. Upstairs is off limits. Drinks are in the kitchen. The rest of the cast is here too.” He turned to Alex, “Can I make you a drink?”

He offered out his hand and she gladly followed, turning her head back at me in excitement. I followed along as the third wheel knowing beer was close by and I much needed one.

As I walked by the living room I noticed a giant fake Christmas tree and it was July. Close by the guy I bumped into was dancing with a beer in his hand. I figured he must have been part of the cast, he just looked MTV, yet I couldn’t help but smile at his happiness.

Tyler made both of our drinks with vodka, sliding it over to me and I slammed it back like I was a pro when really I wasn’t at all. I was a light weight on a mission to feel a buzz ASAP.

I let them flirt as I wondered around with another drink in my hand. I made my way past the people laughing and drinking down a hallway. They had art on the walls representing street art, tattoos and tribal work. I was surprised and inspired by the raw art.

Stumbling into a room that had the door cracked and wasn’t upstairs so that must of meant it wasn’t off limits. It was filled with awards, plaques and mile markers of their careers and lives. I saw a photo hanging of Tyler and the kid I ran into. He must be the room mate, Dylan.

I turned around and he was standing in the door way just watching me smiling. “Hey, you’re the girl I ran into. So what were you doing on set? Stalking Posey?”

My non-existent amusement was obvious, “So you live here too?”

He came inside the room and leaned against the desk, “I’m Dylan. You know Posey is talking to some blonde, right? You might wanna actually try flirting if you want his attention.”

I laughed knowing far too well he wasn’t my type, “Not interested in him. I have – had – it’s complicated and not really your business.”

He smirked, “You a fan of Teen Wolf?”

I walked out of the room down the hallway more, “Never seen it. Can you get me a refill? Thirsty.” He was trying very hard to gain any kind of information he could but it wasn’t working. He almost laughed, looked down and took my cup anyways.

He turned around reaching out, “Stay here. I’ll be back.” I was between another door way leaning against the frame as I nodded. “Use a heavier hand than your roommate.” I added as he walked away.

I was feeling buzzed and the drink he was getting me would be my 3rd. The room was empty, blank. I slide down the wall to sit on the floor when he came back with my empty cup and a bottle of Jack Daniels. “How’s this? I don’t know about you but I need a personal bartender tonight.”

I held up my cup silently as he poured and sat down too. I gave him a bone, “So Dylan, where’s your girlfriend or you a ladies man like your bestie?”

He signed and downed his drink, “Well we were in the middle of fucking and her phone went off-“ he paused unsure if he should say anymore. “It was whoever she’s been fucking behind my back.”

I felt awful for asking. “That’s never fun. Sorry dude.”

He leaned in pouring us more, “What’s complicated about your shit?”

Drinking my whole cup before going into it, “My best friend wanted to have sex and I didn’t. It’s complicated. We treated each other like a romantic relationship but it wasn’t.”

Dylan laughed, “So he was your friend with benefits?”

“Not exactly.” I stood up bored with the blank white walls, “You gonna give me the upstairs tour?” I was tipsy. I felt like I couldn’t stand straight up and he wasn’t any better as he got up.

“Hell yeah! Let’s go!” I followed him holding the bottle of whiskey as we snuck past the living room filled with the cast and their close friends. I didn’t see Alex in the crowd but the kitchen was out of view so I wasn’t worried. We went through a dark hallway past a bedroom with the door not closed all the way as Dylan peeked in and closed the door. He turned laughing, “Sorry. Ignore that.”

I only got a glimpse of the R-rated version of their own private party with a slender female riding someone I could only guess was Posey since the upstairs was off limits. Alex was the only blonde at the party I saw so I now knew where she went.

Dylan pushed open the door at the end of the hallway, “Welcome to my room.” I went inside immediately sitting on his bed taking my shoes off and as I took the room in I noticed the panties on the bed next to me. Looking down not moving I said, “Can you get rid of these? Kind of a bad juju.”

He noticed my vibe and lunged for the panties, “Shit! Sorry! Fuck.” He threw them away in his bathroom and sat down next to me offering me the bottle in which we beginning drinking out of now. His room was white, navy blue bedding, clean, some albums and what looked to be items from movie sets.

“You weren’t kidding about the almost sex…” I tried to fill the silence and that was the only thing I was thinking.

“Yeah, sorry. You want a pair of sweat pants? Get comfy.” I let my body lay back in some failed effort to feel less dizzy, “boxers sound better.”

He walked over to his draws and pulled out a black pair of boxer briefs and tossed them over to me. I stood up slowly as I unbuttoned my jeans and pushed them down my legs. Dylan didn’t take his eyes off me and I forgot how comfortable I was.

He coughed when my panties were revealed, “Um… I should leave the room… privacy.”

He didn’t attempted to move, stuttered and I simply laughed, “Why? It’s just panties… We’re adults, aren’t we?”

He changed the subject quickly, “You hungry? I’ve got the munchies. I’m gonna get us food. My laptop is there is you wanna put on something to watch.” I laughed as I pulled up his boxer briefs that felt like bike shorts but comfy.

He left the door open some as I decided to stand on his bed, I had a sudden urge to jump so I did. The alcohol was setting in and I wasn’t sober enough to watch a movie. I undid my bra under my shirt and tossed it to the floor with my jeans. I kept jumping til he returned with pizza bites, hot pockets and chips. He wasn’t kidding when he had the munchies.

He laughed and jumped up on the bed after setting the food down. I stopped suddenly and laid down, “Too much jumping. I have class early tomorrow. Save me, I don’t wanna go.”

He laid down too, “Well, you’ll be too hung over for classes.”

I had never felt this comfortable, not even with Brody. With the help of alcohol I sat up and removed my shirt, “Do you wanna kiss me?” His mouth opened without any words. He leaned in kissing me gently with his hands on the side of my face. He felt warm, soft.

The rest was a blur. I lost some memories but I still couldn’t find the will to regret it.

I felt more myself with Dylan than I had with Brody, my own father, my friends and Dylan got the one part of me I had been toting around like a prize.

[teakookssi]

Before I Leave You [Eren/Levi x Reader FF]

[ full story can be found here or here ] [Overview & prologue] ➺ pairing: levi ackerman/eren jeager x fem!reader  ➺content: mafia au, crime, arranged marriage, enemies to lovers, angst, lol so much angst ➺warnings: violence, blood, strong language, guns/weapons, and illegal activities are all mentioned but hey, that’s aot for you, so if you can handle that, you can handle this (: 

chapter 13: one way ticket to hell pt 2

When you finally arrive at the Karanes station half an hour later, you exit the train with Eren following closely behind. Bear back in your bag.

The Northlake Garden Park is a short ten minute walk from the train station and though you hardly come across anyone during that time, the streets are poorly lit and unfamiliar that it has Eren looking around nervously and flinching at any sudden movement over his shoulder.

By the time you reach the park’s entrance, Eren’s completely on edge.

He shakes his head beside you. “I don’t like this, Anya.”

But you ignore him and move along with haste, cutting through the open grass towards the area you know Cas frequents.

There’s still people out for evening strolls, and for the most part they never get close enough to interact. It’s only when Eren has to steer you out of a joggers path after Eren notices him approaching you far too closely than he’s comfortable with that his anxiety hits its peak.

“What are we doing here?” he hisses angrily through gritted teeth after the jogger runs past.

“I’m meeting a friend,” you answer simply.

“What kind of friend?”

“A very important one,” is all you offer him before ultimately coming to a complete stop.

Cas and his nanny stand in the middle of the kid’s favorite bridge looking out over the lake. The two undercover cops assigned to him linger at the bottom of the bridge a respectful distance away.

Eren doesn’t miss the faint curve of a smile on your face as he follows your line of sight to see what’s got your attention, but Cas is too far away for Eren to make sense of things. For all he knows, he thinks you’re meeting some crime lord, not a lonely eight-year-old child.

You slide your gaze to Eren beside you and extend a hand out in front of him. “Give me the bag.”

Eren studies your open hand for a moment before he does as you say with great wariness. “What are you going to do?”

You nod to the paved pathway behind him. “I suggest you take a walk now.”

You start for the bridge, not waiting to find out if he does as you say, but before you can take a step Eren hastily grabs you by the wrist, holding you back.

“No!” he argues back. “Not until you tell me what’s going on. You can’t just—“

Before he can finish his sentence, you break out of his hold and swiftly twist his arm behind his back. He cries out in a mix of pain and surprise, but your hold does not let up as you hastily shove him forward to pin him behind the closest tree to avoid the attention of Cas’ guards.

“You forget yourself, mate,“ you hiss dangerously into his ear, beyond annoyed. You’ve lost enough time as it is. You’re not about to let this night go to waste because of him.

Eren tries to resist you, using his free hand to push against the bark of the giant oak tree, but you twist his arm further and press his face and chest deeper against the tree to keep him in place.

“There’s a reason people fear me,” you continue with a growl. A reason they call you a messenger of Death. “Don’t make me have to remind you.”

You release him soon after — though none too gently — and leave him behind you to recover behind the oak tree without sparing him a second glance, unwilling to see the kind of expression written on his face after attacking him in such a way.

Once close enough to the bridge, you wave to the blond hair boy before you with Bear prominently in your arms to get his attention. When Cas spots you, his face lights up with joy and quickly rushes over to greet you; his trust in you undeniable.

—

After Cas leaves the park a little while later, Bear is ready for a well deserved nap after entertaining the boy for you without pause. Nestled in your arms, you transfer him over to your canvas bag for him to sleep as you make your way back to where you left Eren last. He waits for you by the oak tree with a sullen look on his face, a hand on the shoulder belonging to the arm you twisted. But you know that’s not the main reason for the grim expression on his face.

From this distance, Eren stood close enough to watch you interact with the boy, so it wasn’t hard for him to put two and two together. He’s seen Erwin Smith before. And his son is the spitting image of him. Yet you don’t say a word to him as you walk past him out of the park in the direction leading back to the train station.

For a while Eren trails wordlessly behind you, but his silence is deafening, and you know he’s too upset to hold himself back for long. So you move with haste and maintain your distance, hoping to be out of town before he causes a scene in the middle of the street.

Reaching the train station some few minutes later, you send Eren away to get a pair of tickets from the ticket booth for the both of you.

But Eren doesn’t move.

When you turn to him, you find him glaring at you with a clenched jaw, clearly hating how casual you’re being despite the wicked plan he now knows you’re planning to execute. And for a split second you think this is the moment where he’s going to turn on you.

But then he lowers his gaze and turns away to do as you’ve instructed. Albeit, tense, and with hands curled into fists at his side.

When he returns, he looks far more wretched than when he left as he stares at the train tickets in his hands. The moment he takes too long to hand over yours, you anticipate his outburst.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t have picked the worst time to do so.

Over Eren’s shoulder, stepping onto the platform a few feet away is a forest-green uniformed copper making his rounds. Knowing they never go on duty alone, you subtly glance behind you to your left where another copper has made an appearance onto the platform.

“Why are you doing this?” you hear Eren demand in front of you, his voice trembling with outrage and completely oblivious to your newfound company. “What are you trying to accomplish?”

Though Eren speaks in an angry tone, his voice does not rise. Still, the copper behind Eren turns to you both in attention.

Shit.

“That’s really none of your concern,” you answer Eren tightly under your breath while trying to calculate all the ways this can play out for you if the train doesn’t get here soon.

As you subtly remove your bag from across your chest, you notice from the corner of your eye the copper behind Eren closing in with heedful steps, watching you with wary suspicion.

You try not to make any sudden moves. The cop is too far away for him to recognize your features. But when you glance back over to your left in search of the second cop, you find you’ve lost track of him. He’s nowhere in sight and you fear he’s run off to call for backup even though he’s most likely scouting the area on the opposite side of the train station.

Despite your lack of attention, Eren continues his ranting. “He’s just a child!” he argues angrily. “He’s innocent! You can’t possibly be capable of something so —”

Just then, a strong gust of wind cuts through the night, blowing through the platform and knocking your hat off your head without warning, revealing your face under the bright lights of the train station.

The main cop recognizes you the moment you lock eyes with him. But the second he reaches for his gun, you hastily shove Eren to the ground and draw out your own, simultaneously dropping your bag with Bear in it onto Eren’s lap.

You shoot before the cop does, but the bastard dodges your bullet in the nick of time.

Refusing to give him time to recover, you continue shooting in the direction he sought cover behind a pillar to keep him in place.

“Stay down!” you shout at Eren over your shoulder before making a run for the other side of the platform to take cover behind a similar pillar.

Once out of the copper’s visible shooting range, you release another round of bullets in his direction. You manage to hit him square in the shoulder, but the cop refuses to go down and continues shooting at you, trying to hold out until backup arrives.

Except, the train to the Founding Sector arrives first, and you curse everything to hell.

The roaring of the train’s engine clashes with the sound of gunshots ricocheting across the station as it comes to a stop at its designated platform. But your attention immediately goes to the front of the train where the conductor resides. The second he looks out and sees what’s going on out here he’s going to cut the time the train waits on the platform and take off, not wanting to get caught in the middle of a gunfight.

Your hold on your gun tightens as you watch from across the platform as the doors open for passengers to board or exit, and you glower back at the cop keeping it out of reach from you.

You need to finish off the bastard now or you’ll never make it back on the train alive.

But as you reach for a magazine from the holster belt at your waist to reload your glock pistol, your hand comes up empty. That’s when you realize: in your haste to keep Eren out of the copper’s line of fire, you left your bag with him and forgot to take the extra set of magazines you’d packed in your bag with you.

Worst yet, the conductor has now realized what’s happening and has hastily begun to move the train out of the station. Eren—who obediently remains crouched on the ground as you instructed, taking cover behind a lamp post across the platform—notices too and he looks to you helplessly, unsure of what you want him to do.

He knows as well as you do this is the last train scheduled for the night. You can not miss this train. Problem is, you’ve already gone through your spare gun; all you have left are the handful of bullets you carry in your revolver.

You glance over at the green uniformed copper taking shelter from behind the pillar across the platform.

It’ll have to do.

Swapping your empty pistol for your revolver, you make sure there’s no other threats around you before rushing into the open clearing, your eyes zeroed in on the cop’s location.

Once he sees you making your way across the platform back to Eren, he wastes no time in attacking. But in doing so, he’s left himself just as vulnerable.

The moment you get a clear shot of him, you trust your natural instincts to keep you out of range from the series of bullets he sends your way, and let Death guide your hand as you release your own set of bullets.

True to your name as Messenger of Death, your bullets aim true—two to the chest and one to the copper’s head. Yet despite neutralizing the threat, you know better than to let your guard down.

A second cop—the one that had disappeared earlier—reappears before you across the station.

With Eren as his target.

“EREN!” you shout in warning just as the cop races towards him and opens fire.

Eren flinches at the gunshot and folds in on himself even further to protect himself, unaware of the threat that had been approaching behind him until the metal bullets started bouncing against the lamppost.

Ignoring the burning sensation in your legs, you quicken your speed to cut across the platform in time to reach Eren. You try shooting at the cop amidst your running, but your revolver draws empty. You’ve run out of bullets.

All the same, you remain undeterred.

Before the copper can turn his gun in your direction, you unsheathe a few blades from under your sleeves and throw them across the station with skilled accuracy. Two of them hit him across the chest while the third pierces his neck.

The cop instantly drops his gun and falls to his knees just a few feet before reaching Eren.

Eyes wide in panic, the cop reaches for the blade protruding from his neck with shaking hands, knowing that if he pulls it out he’ll only bleed to death faster.

Eren stares at him in horror, oblivious to the train in front of him that has begun to pick up speed out of the station.

“Eren, go!” you command sharply to snap his attention away from the dying cop before him. “Get on the train! Now!” But Eren is still stricken with shock and fear. He’s far too disturbed to move or acknowledge anything else happening around him.

So you force him to react to something else.

The cop your blades have pierced remains alive. Coughing up blood and on the floor, but still alive. You cannot leave him like this at the off chance he survives. These cops were on duty making their rounds, and though they may not have been the guards hired to protect Erwin Smith’s son, they recognized you the second they saw your face. If they were to spread word to Erwin that you’d been spotted this close to his son, you’d lose your leverage over him.

Reaching the cop first, you yank him by the back of the hair towards you, eliciting from him a panicked cry as you motion to retrieve the dagger from his neck. His attempts to stop you are weak and futile—the blood stains he leaves on your hands and coat the only signs of his struggle. Eren also realizes what you’re about to do and moves to stop you.

“No! Don’t!” he cries out desperately, a hand extended out towards you to stop. But your eyes are cold and ruthless as you twist the blade sideways on the cop’s neck, and in one clean sweep slit the man’s throat.

Eren flinches as blood splatters on the floor in front of him. Yet your expression remains unfazed as you pull out the two other daggers from his chest and let the cop’s body fall to the ground in front of you with a heavy thump. You then take a spare handkerchief from your coat and wipe them clean before securing them back in their holsters.

Eren stares at the unmoving figure before him in aghast before his expression slowly changes. When he looks up at you again, his eyes are reproachful and unforgiving. As if you’ve committed the worst crime imaginable. As if you haven’t done this hundreds of times before.

You step over the cop lying dead on the floor to cut the space between you and Eren, a hard scowl lining your features. You just saved his goddamn life! How can he have any sympathy for the cop when he had been seconds away from killing him?

“You have yet to see me at my worst, Eren Yeager,” you remind him darkly. You then lean in to roughly take back your bag from him. “If you can’t handle me now, don’t bother coming back.”

Throwing the bag over your shoulder, you turn your back on him and make a run for the train before it can gain anymore speed and disappear completely off the platform.

You make it onboard with ease and start digging for some coins to bribe the conductor with since Eren never actually got to hand you your train ticket. You consider this an excuse to linger by the opening of the door, and not a sign of weakness.

But there’s no one around here to fool except yourself.

The true reason you keep glancing over your shoulder is not because you’re on the lookout for the conductor. You’re on the lookout for Eren, waiting for him to appear in front of the door you just jumped in from.

He doesn’t, of course.

Eren is not meant to follow you into the darkness. Your violent and vindictive nature is not something anyone can control.

Nor do you want it to be.

Refraining from looking back any further, you keep your attention forward.

Bear proves to be a good distraction as he pops out of your bag the second you take a seat in one of the many vacant chairs within the passenger car. He starts meowing at you incessantly, as if reprimanding you for all the noise and rough handling he’s had to endure while traveling inside your bag.

You smile down at him in amusement and nod to his every meow like you understand what he’s saying.

“I know,” you coo at him in agreement, sounding like a mother soothing her weary child. “You’ve had quite the adventure.”

To compensate him for his troubles, you reward him with a generous amount of treats while you pet him in all his favorite spots. In return he purrs loudly against your touch, letting you know you’re forgiven.

A figure approaches from the passenger car connected next to yours a few minutes later, and at first you think its the conductor making his rounds, checking for tickets. But then you do a double take and you’re surprised to find its not the conductor, or any other wayward passenger in search of a seat.

A mixture of emotions run through you at the sight of him before you, but you keep your features composed and try not to overthink what his presence here means.

Sliding the cabin door open to your passenger car, Eren steps inside your compartment.

You regard him warily with narrowed eyes from across the cabin as he makes his way inside, unsure of what he’ll do next since he always seems to end up doing that which you least expect him to do. But his eyes are downcast and he wears a dejected expression on his face that you’re undoubtedly responsible for putting there.

Without directing a word to you, he sits down a few seats opposite you.

The longer he goes without speaking to you, the more anxious you become. Still, you refuse to be the one to break the silence first so you ignore him for the duration of the ride as he does with you.

Reverting your focus back to Bear, you play with him until the feline grows tired and falls asleep in your lap. With the way he’s curled in on himself, completely at ease by your warmth and presence, you almost don’t want to disturb him.

But alas, your weapons need reloading.

Careful not to startle him awake, you scoop Bear up and gently settle him on the seat next to you before you draw out your weapons. Your hands move with skill and precision as you reload your firearms with the magazines in your bag, enjoying the satisfying click they make at the end when they’re fully armed and ready. Leaving your revolver for last, you slide its corresponding bullets inside the silver cylinder until all six chambers are loaded.

You sense Eren watching you from where he sits across from you as you do this, seemingly on edge by the noises your guns are making.

Which only confuses you all the more. If he’s so bothered by all this, why did he even come back?

After what seems like forever, Eren finally breaks the silence.

“Who is Erwin to you?” he demands as calmly as he can muster, but given the scowl still branding his features, he is still very much upset. And you have to refrain from flinching by how uneven his voice sounds.

You snap the cartridge to your revolver shut and return it to its holster.

“A dead man walking,” you answer flatly.

Eren’s hands curl into fists at his lap but he forces himself to ask, “Why do you and Levi hate him so much? What did he do to you?”

Images of your home being invaded, your mother dead at your feet, you standing over her grave as they bury her underground, flash before you.

“He ruined me.”

You spin your two remaining firearms on both of your index fingers before crossing your arms across your chest to place them back in the holsters under your arms.

You lock eyes with Eren. “I plan on returning the favor.”

He throws you a scathing look. “By spilling innocent blood?”

“Blood is all I want,” you reply back mildly. “I will fill rivers with it if it means getting the justice I am owed.”

Eren’s frown deepens, appalled. “Justice?” His body turns towards you, eyes ablaze. “Justice is working with the police. With the law. To try and change the system. To end things peacefully. What you want is revenge. That is not the same thing.”

“It is in my world.” You settle back against your chair with your arms crossed over your chest, but though you appear to be reclining, you are wound tight. Your eyes are sharp as daggers as you then add haughtily, “But I don’t expect you to understand that.”

Eren stares at you with a clenched jaw, annoyed and frustrated by your stubbornness. But the determined look in his eyes tells you he refuses to give up on you. So he changes tactics. With a heavy sigh, his shoulders sag and his features soften. His tone, pleading.

“I know you’re angry,” he says in a low voice. “I know you’ve been hurt. But—”

“Then you know why the commander must die,” you cut him off irritably. Eren may have a sense of what Erwin had done to you and your family but he did not know the details. If he did, he wouldn’t be saying any of this.

Eren shakes his head. “Not like this.” He rises from his seat and takes ginger steps across the moving train to move closer to you. “Please. You can choose to forgive him. To show him mercy.”

“Mercy?” you repeat with a snarl, leaning forward in your seat. “You think Erwin Smith deserves my mercy?”

“No,” he clarifies hastily, stopping in his tracks. “But you deserve peace. And forgiving him is the only way you can start to heal.”

“It is not in my nature to forgive. Perhaps it had been, once,” you admit with a hint of lament that you are unable to mask from him. “But when my mother died, she took along with her whatever goodness there had ever been in me. I have nothing left.”

Eren shakes his head and takes a step towards you. “You don’t believe that. You can’t—You can’t seriously think this is what your mother would have wanted for you? To live your life solely for vengeance?”

Your siren eyes flash up to him in warning, but Eren presses on. “You think she would be proud of the person you’ve become? I may not have known your mother, but I know for a fact if she saw you now, she would be devastated to see her daughter capable of so much evil.”

“Evil?” You laugh wryly. “Despite what you’re always preaching, mate, I am not the villain in this story.”

Eren narrows his eyes, the desperation visible in his gaze and tone. “If you’re not the villain, then stop acting like one.”

Your eyes crystalize into something dark and dangerous as you regard him with a tilt of the head. “You accuse me of committing atrocities.” You stand and take a threatening step towards him, and Eren—noticing this dark shift in you—wisely steps back. “But nothing I have done can ever measure up to what that bastard did.”

You draw Eren into a corner until the back of his knees hit the seats of the train behind him. With nowhere to move, he unwillingly falls into the seat as you lean forward and raise an arm to grip the back of his seat, not once breaking eye contact with him as you continue.

“Under his leadership, a specialized police force was sent to my family’s home with a search warrant thinking they would find incriminating evidence against both my father and Levi’s father. In their attempt to taking them down, they raided my home. Killing anyone within sight. Innocent lives were caught in the crossfire. Including my mother’s.”

Eren visibly flinches at the hatred in your tone and he starts to turn away, wanting to look away from the intense fierceness in your eyes. But you keep his face in place with a thumb and index finger against his jaw, forcing him to keep his eyes on you. He’s close enough for you to see the shade of green in his eyes glisten against the light of the train like summer leaves in sunlight— bright, bold, and beautiful. But you refuse to let the sight of them warm your heart.

“You still think my wrath misplaced?” you demand icily. “You think it fair for a child of only six to have to watch her mother bleed out to death in front of her?”

Eren works his jaw, hating the direction this conversation was taking, but he says nothing, knowing your question is rhetorical.

“When my father found me covered in my mother’s blood afterwards, shaking with fear… He saw my pain, my grief. And he promised to make things right again. He said he would make everyone responsible to suffer the same way they made us suffer. And he did.”

Eren shakes his head and closes his eyes in a grimace.

“Stop,” he whispers, so softly that if you weren’t as close as you were you wouldn’t have heard him. He tries to move away. “I don’t want to hear this.”

You press a hand over his shoulder, shoving him back down. “What’s wrong?” you ask mockingly. “Is the truth too hard for you to swallow?”

He knocks your arm away and shoves you aside, walking away from you to create some space from you across the passenger car. “You’ve proved your point. You can stop now.”

“Stop? But you haven’t heard the best part! Don’t you want to hear how he did it? How my father hunted down every single one of Erwin’s men that had been sent in to raid our home that day? Don’t you want to hear of all the ways he tortured each and every one of them in the comfort of their own homes and slaughtered their families like they did mine?”

Eren moves for the door with a shake of the head, having heard enough.

“He saved my mother’s killer for last,” you drawl behind him in a sinister tone.

Eren pauses at the door, a hand frozen over the handle as you continue.

“By then, the cop knew what my father was doing, and that it was only a matter of time before he got to him. But when he least expected it, my father made his move and invaded his home, just like he did with us. And oh, did my father take his time with him.”

Eren’s grip on the door handle tightens until his knuckles turn white as a ghost.

“Hours my father spent with him, keeping him just barely alive for him to give my father the information he wanted on Erwin. Then, while his seven-year-old son watched, my father murdered his wife in front of him the same way it was done to me. In the end, knowing the cop would not survive for much longer, my father let the cop live out the last moments of his life wallowing in guilt for all the pain and misfortune he brought onto his family for his actions. When my father left, he said he saw his son crawl to his dying father’s side, but who knows if the kid survived on his own after all that.”

Eren bristles at the mention of the son and turns to you reproachfully.

“Do you even know their names?” he demands, seething. “Do you know the names of any of the people he killed?” His eyes narrow at you accusingly. “Of the people you’ve killed?”

You scowl back and growl through your teeth, “They do not deserve to be remembered.”

Eren looks appalled and turns away to sit at the nearest seat from him, looking defeated and out of strength. Even the look in his eyes has grown dull as he stares at an invisible spot in front of him with a distant, unfocused gaze. You think he’s probably regretting following you back now after all you’ve said to him.

Either way, you leave him to his own thoughts and try to keep him out of yours as you make your way back to Bear who is still curled up asleep where you left him last.

As the train arrives at the Founding Sector’s train station moments later, you glimpse over at Eren who is leaning forward in his seat with his elbows on his knees and his head in between his hands.

It shouldn’t bother you that he looks so miserable, but it does. And you hate it. But you refrain from going to him.

This is what you wanted, you remind yourself. This was the whole point of letting him come along, to show him who you really are. For him to see that you’re really not worth saving and that he’s better off giving up on you.

While you collect your cat inside your bag and move for the door, Eren struggles to his feet. As you get closer you notice how pale he is.

“Oi,” you say coolly, intercepting him at the door. “You don’t look so good.”

But he ignores you and brushes past you, forcing you to watch him go as he stumbles off the train into the deserted platform.

You instinctively reach out to grab him by the arm before he can hit the floor as his legs give out on him, but he slaps your hand away.

“Don’t!” he shouts vehemently, hastily stepping back from you.

Your eyebrows shoot up, startled for a second by the strange look in his eyes, but then he blinks and it vanishes. Before you can question it further, he points an accusatory finger at you.

“You let me come here with you,” he growls at you with reproach. “To witness—” He presses his lips together, his expression pained, as he looks in the direction of where the train just came from. “To push me away.”

Your jaw tightens, but your features remain aloof. Neither acknowledging nor denying anything.

Not that Eren needs you to.

He’s clearly seen right through you, and that’s what has him most upset.

He shakes his head at you when you say nothing, and you hate the disappointment glistening in his eyes when he does.

“You want to go down this path?” he questions with disdain. “Fine. But if you wish to destroy yourself in the process, know that I made an oath to your father. And I plan on honoring it—with my life if I have to.”

He turns and staggers off in the direction of the canals that lead back home without another word.

Your nails dig deep into the palm of your hands, trying to swallow down your rage. But there is no hiding the burning frustration from your eyes. The way you watch after Eren is similar to the way a monster is forced to watch its victim walk away after escaping from its clutches.

This is not the way you imagined this night to go. But quite honestly, when has anything gone according to plan when Eren is involved?

And yet, all throughout the walk back home as you follow closely behind in Eren’s footsteps, you can’t stop thinking about the strange look Eren threw at you when you tried to steady him off the train. It had only been there for a second, but it had been enough for you to recognize the same pure, undiluted loathing that you saw on the faces of your enemies every time they looked your way.

It surprised you then because you would have considered such an intense, hateful gaze out of place in the eyes of someone like him. But when you locked eyes with him, in that brief moment you saw that dark look manifest in those kind, hopeful and passionate eyes you were so used to looking back at you, it did not seem misplaced at all. Rather, these raw emotions of his reflected so deeply within him, it made you believe they had always been there. Hidden behind a curtain that was never meant to be unveiled.

But it has. And now he’s got alarms going off inside your head, telling you to be wary of him even more than before. Because even if you can’t fully read Eren’s true intentions, of one thing you’re absolutely certain of: Eren is hiding something.

A dark secret he’s buried so deep within that even the brightness in his emerald eyes dimmed when you’d caught a glimpse of it trying to break out from its confinement…

Ahead of you, Eren disappears from view as he turns the corner leading down the backstreets of Trost Lane. You proceed after him with an air of casual indifference despite your senses warning you to not lose track of him, to keep him close. Secrets are dangerous—they become a liability, and sometimes, if left unsupervised, can ultimately destroy you.

But you also know that in the underworld knowledge is power. And what Eren doesn’t realize is that in this line of work, secrets are never kept secret for long. One way or another, all hidden truths come to surface.

And his will be no different.

[george-weasleys-girl]

Impervious

Chapter 2

Summary: Y/N is a unique individual. She's immune to magic. She can neither wield it nor be affected by it.

Start here:

~•~

Y/N had been reluctant to return to the hidden magical world for fear of running into the giant again. He seemed nice enough, but if he found out she was a muggle? Would he sound the alarm? Would she be arrested? Did they even arrest people there? There was so much she didn't know, that she craved to know. And it was that insatiable curiosity that eventually drew her back through The Leaky Cauldron and into the throes of Diagon Alley during Christmas.

~•~

George occasionally wondered about the girl he'd run into on Diagon Alley. At the time, he didn't give her much thought. He and Fred were in a hurry, and he'd just wanted to make sure she wasn't hurt.

It wasn't until a few weeks later that he remembered her after running into Hermione while they were racing out of the common room when she was coming in.

"Hey Freddie, you remember that girl I ran into on Diagon Alley?"

Fred didn't look up from the prototype he was fiddling with. "Don't think so," he mumbled.

"You know, on the day before school started. We were trying to get to Sugarplum's and back before mum noticed. I'd stopped to make sure she was okay.

"Oh yeah, kinda. Didn't really get a good look at her."

"Well, I've been thinking. She looked about our age, but she's never attended Hogwarts."

Fred shrugged. "There's like 150 students here. Maybe you just haven't noticed her."

"A hundred and fifty is not that many Fred, especially when you count the fact that we pretty much live here most of the year. We eventually run into everybody at some point. And I definitely would've noticed her."

"Cute, was she?" Fred grinned.

George's cheeks tinged pink, and he took a sudden, keen interest in the object he was holding. "She was alright," he gave a half shrug.

Fred snickered but let the subject drop. "Maybe she's homeschooled? Not everybody sends their kids here."

George leaned back, a thoughtful look on his face. "Huh, I hadn't thought about that. You're probably right." And with that, he promptly put the mystery girl out of his mind.

~•~

From the twinkling trees to the sparkling storefronts and the crowds of holiday shoppers, Diagon Alley was no less festive than regular London during the Christmas season. Y/N wandered down the cobblestone street, trying to soak in every detail. She passed by a candy store where someone was standing outside, giving out samples of hot cocoa and something called Butterbeer. She got one of each and started to make her way into the shop, when the sound of music drew her attention to a small stage upon which a woman belted out holiday songs, the likes of which Y/N had never heard. Forgetting the sweet shop entirely, she wandered over to the gathered crowd.

"Don't you just love Celestina Warbeck?" A woman beside her spoke. Y/N turned to find a slightly plump, kindly-looking woman with bright ginger hair smiling at her.

"I've never heard anything like her," Y/N responded, amazement clear in her voice.

"It's so refreshing to meet a young person who appreciates proper music," the ginger haired woman continued. "All my children want to listen to is that ridiculous rock music. I can't understand a word they're saying."

Y/N simply smiled. I guess parents are all the same everywhere, she thought.

Once the woman's attention returned to the stage, Y/N, not wanting to attract too much attention, slipped out of the enraptured crowd and back into the main thoroughfare. With no destination in mind, she wandered in and out of stores at random, marveling at all the cauldrons and potions and supplies for something called Quidditch.

~•~

George and Fred were sitting outside Sugarplum's going through their haul when he spied Y/N exiting Dervish and Bangs.

"I'll be right back, mate." George jumped up and sprinted away.

"Oi! Where are you going?" Fred called after him, but George was already out of earshot.

"Hey!" George ran up beside her. She turned to look at him with a mix of startlement and confusion. "Remember me?" He asked. "I almost knocked you down last time we met."

She stared at him for a few more seconds and then realization dawned. "Ohh yeah, you ran into me the fir...err...last time I was here."

"That was me," George grinned. "George Weasley at your service." He gave a flourishing bow. "Over there is my brother Fred," he said, pointing to the other red-haired boy, before leaning in close to Y/N's ear. "He's the ugly twin."

Y/N couldn't help but giggle at the boy's antics.

George bounced in place, delighted that he could make her laugh. "So, um, Fred and I just got a bunch of candy," he explained. "Do you maybe want to join us? You can have some of mine."

"I... well..." Y/N stammered. She'd not intended to make friends or really talk to anyone at all, figuring it was the best way to keep herself safe. "I don't know..."

Y/N chewed on her lip, weighing the possibilities. The guy did seem pretty cool. And she was getting hungry. If she didn't give too much away about herself, she should be fine.

"I promise we won't bite," George said, hoping to reassure her. There was just something about this girl that was different, something that drew him to her, and he had to know why.

"Ok, then," Y/N nodded.

"Yeah?" The red-haired boy grinned wide.

"Why not?" She smiled.

~•~

Y/N wasn't sure what gave her away. Maybe it was her inability to hide her awe and amazement at literally EVERYTHING or perhaps it was her lack of knowledge concerning apparently basic magical skills or it could've been her inconsistent and non-committal answers to their homeschooling questions.

Or maybe it was all of the above.

Whatever it was that tipped the boys off, they very quickly determined that all was not as it seemed. After spending over an hour at Gambol and Japes joke shop, Fred suggested they head back to the bench and indulge in some more sweets.

~•~

As soon as they got settled, Fred turned and looked Y/N dead in the eyes. "Ok, level with us. Who are you really?"

@milivanili99 @fancy-pantaloons @turvi @zvummyummy @xmjthewitchx @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @georgie-weasley @samberriejams @nighttimemoonlover @jsjcue @wzrd-wheezes @mrsgweasley @hufflepuffie @morally-grey-obsessed @fredweasleyyyyy @anvaaryn @lastwandastan @samshifts @asuperconfusedgirl @hmisa11 @superduckmilkshake @mysticsheepsoul @gemofthenight @1lellykins @junerprsh @sierraluvz @wolfkill16 @kaysau2510 @qmylovexoxo @planetkt @costheticbabe @drama-queen-fromthevault @thatonepersonwhocantwrite @smallsweetvanillabean

[themultifandomgal]

Michael Gray- Return Pt1

Writing this I had no destination in mind so I literally wrote it as it came to mind. Hope it's ok

"YN where the bloody hell 'ave you been?" Arthur shouts as you walk into the Shelbys privet room in the Garrison

"About" you shrug sitting next to John, stealing his cigarette and inhaling

"It's been months since we've see you" Polly comments pouring you a glass of whiskey

"Yeah, well needed to get away for a bit" you sigh thinking of your boyfriend who you walked in on fucking your best friend "anyway, how's everyone?"

"Could 'ave fucking told us where you were instead of leaving that bloody note with Isaiah. Fucking hell YN we were bloody worried"

"Well I can handle myself" you reply to Arthur

"Don't we know it" Tommy mutters. The door to the room opens and in walks a man you've not see before

"Sorry mate, family only in here"  you smirk at the guy while looking him up and down

"Yeah and you are?"

"This here Michael is YN" John places an arm around your shoulders

"And? she said family only in here so what's my relation to her?"

"She's not blood related to us, family nonetheless" Polly tells him

"Im bloody confused"

"Figures" you comment "my sister was Martha Shelby, Johns late wife. Now who the fuck are you?"

"Unlike you I'm actually blood related. Micheal Gray" he places both of his hands in his pockets

"Ahhh Polly's long lost son. So Tommy did find you in the end"

"You knew Tommy was looking for him?" Polly ask sitting down next to you

"Yeah. He told me the day before I found Alex and Marie, bloody backstabbing bitch" you cross your arms in anger

"Hey, they've gone, left. Don't need to worry about them now eh?" Tommy says taking a sip of his drink.

The evening is full of drinks, laughter and card games. When you leave Michael is adamant that he has to walk with you 'be a gentleman' he said to which the Shelby brothers all start laughing knowing you are more than capable of handling yourself

"You cold?" Micheal starts to take off his blazer

"I'm fine, it's actually warm out" you laugh

"Oh, it's just I've seen the others do it for girls they walk home"

"Ah they walk the women home do they?" you stop in the middle of the street

"Yeah they erm..."

"Your still quite naive aren't you pretty boy" you pat his face while smiling

"What do you...."

"They aren't just walking them home. They're getting some action for their troubles"

"Oh"

"The taking off of the blazer is their 'let's have sex tonight' move" you continue to walk down the street towards your house

"I see. Does my mum know?"

"Of course she does" you clear your throat "if you boys insist on fucking these woman at least be somewhat of a gentleman" you put on your best Polly Gray voice making both you and Micheal laugh

"How did you get mixed up with that lot? I know you said you're Martha's sister, but why are you still..."

"Why am I still involved?" Micheal nods his head "well, John married Martha young because she fell pregnant and our parents kicked her out. She was 17 I was 12. I wasn't allowed to see my big sister, but then they caught the Spanish flu. They both died so I moved in with John and Martha. A year later she was pregnant, this time things went bad and she died. I stayed with John but then he went to war so me and the kids moved in with Polly"

"How old are you now?"

"17 nearly 18. You?"

"18"

"Good to know"

"So where have you been?" Micheal asks he actually seems interested

"Stayed with a Ada in London. Told her to stay quiet, couldn't deal with the Shelby boys"

"Wait" Micheal stops me again "you said you moved in with my mum, so where are you living now?"

"With your mum"

"So why are we at the other end of town" he asks face laced with confusion

"Never said I was going home" you smirk

"Your a minx" he points making you laugh.

This time you actually are on your way home after having a nice walk and chat with Micheal. Unfortunately some men approach you

"Hey YN!"

"Here we go" you sigh

"You know them?"

"Alex's friends. Just, let me deal with them"

"And you called Marie the whore" you roll your eyes

"The Shelbys not enough for you?"

"Fuck off James" you try to move past him but he places his hands on your arm

"Get your hands off her"

"Micheal it's fine I can handle myself"

"We're just having a bit of fun aren't we YN" James moves a piece of hair from your face

"I'm going to make this very clear. Fuck off and leave me alone or else you'll be joining Alex and Marie"

"You wouldn't" he laughs

"You know I would"

"I'd like to see you try" James grabs your face with his hands but you take a gun that you had hidden under your dress and point it to the side of his head "I suggest you fuck off" James let's go of you and runs off with his friends leaving just you and Micheal

"Bloody hell woman" Micheal breathes out "why do you have a fucking gun? and what did you mean by they'd join Marie and Alex?"

"Have you met the Shelbys?" you chuckle putting the gun back under your dress "Arthur taught me how to use a gun to protect myself when alone. They worry and I haven't got the Shelby name to protect me so the gun is the best I've got, though I've never actually had to use it thank god"

"You're not what I was expecting" you frown a little as you walk back to Polly's place "they talked about you, well John and Arthur kept asking to find you. Tommy said you'd be back when you were ready"

"He knows me pretty well huh?"

"Seems it"

You finally arrive home

"You want a cup of tea?" Micheal asks you

"Maybe something stronger?" you sit at the table. Micheal takes two glasses and pours a drink in each

"I enjoyed our walk this evening"

"Me to" you smile "thanks" you say as he places a glass in front of you "so how are you adjusting to Peaky Blinders life?"

"Weird. For years I didn't have a family except for mother. Then Tommy found me and now I've got another mum and cousins who argue a lot"

"You get used to it. I'm sorry about your sister"

"Sorry about yours" you both sit in silence while finishing your drink

"I'm going to head off to bed. I guess I'll see you in morning"

"Good night"

"Night" you put your cup in the sink and head off up to bed.

[theravenphoenix26]

Hey I love your writing could you maybe do a part where the reader and Jordan meets for the first time and them falling in love and maybe their wedding and them having children and making a life together and then Jordan’s pov where he meets azriel for the first time

Another bonus from leaving, all you Jordan lovers are going to adore it...I hope.

~~~

She wouldn't stop crying. Hanna had always been quiet. Then Ari had left, he mother had left her, and now she barely stopped crying.

Jordan was nothing short of exhausted. His mate had left him, and work was kicking his ass. Not that he'd even been able to work for weeks because nobody would watch Hanna.

"It's okay Han. I've got you." He whispered. They'd needed groceries and he was walking down the street, holding his wailing daughter. People were giving him dirty looks, and he didn't know what to do.

There was a bookstore to his left. It was painted a soft olive green, little stars painted on the white window sills. It was calming and he felt drawn to it. So he went in.

The little brass bell above the door jingled as he entered. He looked around, the walls were lined with towering shelves. Dark hardwood floors perfectly contrasted the lighter seats.

It was cozy, and he was immediately calmed. A soft singing was coming from the counter to his left, he looked up and saw her. She was stunning.

Red hair, cut at her shoulders. A soft voice that sang gentle words. Tanned skin that just looked incredibly soft.

He would never forget that moment. He would never forget the sight of her in black jeans and a lavender shirt. Her lags crossed beneath her as she perched delicately on a stool behind the counter, reading.

That was the moment his life changed.

Hanna was still crying and you could see the moment she noticed. She looked up, taking in him and the child. And she stood. Walking over and gently pulling Hanna out of his arms.

He watched as his daughter slowly stopped crying. He watched her reach up and pull the woman's red hair. He watched the smile that broke out on her face as she turned towards him.

"I hope you don't mind," she said, her voice even softer when she wasn't singing, "I'm quite good with kids and you looked panicked."

He nodded, not even able to say anything.

She looked at him, waiting for him to speak. "Was there something you came in for?"

"No, it just looked calm in here." He muttered.

"Oh, well I'm glad, that's the vibe I was going for. I'm Y/N by the way." She reached out the hand that wasn't holding his daughter.

Y/N, the name suited her. "A beautiful name. I'm Jordan. Thanks for taking her."

"No problem, Jordan." She said his name like it was an experiment. He loved it. Maybe this was what he needed. A new person, someone that would help him out of this place.

~~~

It turned out they had a lot in common. Her mate had cheated on her, and she'd left. He'd threatened to killed the male. Tried to encourage her to let him. She hadn't budged.

When she found out about Ari she'd been far worse than he was over Azriel. She was enraged, and it didn't help that she could easily find Ari.

Once, they'd been walking down the street and they saw her. He'd had to physically hold Y/N back. Ari was walking down the street, holding the hand of the man he'd considered a best friend.

It wasn't something Jordan had expected. He'd cut ties with Aaron, the man Ari was with. He had needed space after the breakup.

The breakup it was now looking like Aaron had caused. He didn't know how he hadn't noticed it. And he was a mess when he saw them. Y/N had wanted to kill them both. The only rational thought he had was that he couldn't let Y/N be hurt. She would be if she did anything.

Plus, how could he blame Ari for moving on. He already was.

Y/N quickly became his best friend. They could talk about anything and Hanna adored her. She was the best thing in his life, second to only his daughter.

He didn't know when he fell in love with her. She just woke up one day and realized he had.

It took him over a year to say anything.

That day had been one of the scariest of his life. He'd dressed nicely. An olive green shirt tucked into black slacks. He began walking to her shop, holding Hanna's hand, running over ten thousand things he could say.

They'd had to stop on the way to grab flowers. Carnations, every color he could find; peach, blue, purple, red, orange, yellow. They were her favorite flower. And she didn't have a steady favorite color so he'd grabbed them all.

He knocked on the shop door, she lived in the apartment above. It was the first time he'd ever knocked at that door.

She answered in a dress. A green that perfectly matched both his shirt and the shop walls. She looked stunning.

"Jordan," she sounded surprised he was there.

"Y/N, you look beautiful." He stumbled over the words. It was a difficult thing, to move this relationship into another. It was a difficult thing to even think about.

"Yeah, I've got to get going soon though."

He smirked, he needed to be confident in this moment. He needed to not be a wreck. "Oh yeah, you got a hot date or something."

"Yeah I do."

He could feel the smile melt off his face. This would be the first date she'd been on after she'd arrived in Dawn. He had waited too long.

"Please don't," he whispered, "stay here with me, there's something I want to talk about."

She looked shocked, but open the door a bit wider. "Only for a minute," she said.

He walked in, picking up Hanna and taking her to what had become her room. Jordan walked back into the loving room, and watched Y/N. She perched calmly at the end of an armchair, the exact opposite of what he was feeling.

"Okay this is a lot so just bear with me. I love you Y/N. You know I do. But I've finally realized I'm in love with you. I love everything about you, I always have. And we're each others people. You and Hanna are my everything. There is nothing I love more than you, and I would do anything for you. Just give me a chance, Y/N, because I'm in love with you and it's not going to change."

He watched the confusion cross her face. This was it, he'd blown it. He was going to lose his best friend.

He shut his eyes, he couldn't watch her reject him. Jordan felt her hands on his face, she was always warm. He assumed it was because of her Autumn heritage.

"Jordan, open your eyes."

He listened, he always did. He waited for her to reject him.

"Jordan, listen to me," She spoke softly, "I love you too."

~~~

They were married a year later, and shortly after they had James.

Jordan was surprised when Y/N said she wanted to return to night. But he went along with it. She was his wife and if she was ready, he had no issue with it.

He watched her walk out the door that day, dread settling into his stomach. He knew Y/N would never cheat. He knew she was the most loyal being on the planet.

But this was her mate. He knew the pain that came from a mate leaving. And he knew the joy that could come from seeing them again.

Maybe that was why he'd lost his focus on Hanna. He'd watched his daughter tumble through the leaves. Jordan had diven after her, and when he'd finally reached her she was on the ground.

He checked her for injury, and when he found she was fine he laughed. Hanna was pissed. But truly it was funny, she'd been flying for years. Never once had she made a mistake.

The fact that she'd fallen was hilarious. She refused to talk to him all the way to the Night Court.

When they got there she walked off, and he had to go get Y/N with just James by his side.

His son had ran to her and told her every crazy thing he could. She went out to get Hanna and he made stupid small talk.

Jordan could see the Shadowsinger brooding next to a blonde woman. He figured that was Elain, she was pretty. But he couldn't see the appeal of her over Y/N.

Y/N was beautiful and strong. This woman, she seemed the opposite. She clung to Azriel like she'd drop dead if she let go.

Jordan didn't envy him.

Soon Y/N came back and left again, taking the nicest ones with her. The interrogation started the minute they left the room. It wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He'd been prepared for this, he'd known there would be questions.

He could listen to it all. Then the Shadowsinger himself spoke up.

It was such a simple question: "Why have we never heard of you?"

It was rude and offensive. And the tone it was asked in was awful.

So he snapped, "I don't respond to cheaters."

And Jordan felt like a badass. He had everything, a beautiful wife, a loving family. It was perfect.

Taglist:

@moonfawnx, @highlady-ofillyria, @positivewitch, @theofficialmadman, @sv0430, @pentowrite-wingstofly, @fo-cus, @azzydaddy, @starswholistenanddreamsanswered, @khaleesihavilliard, @marigold-morelli, @kennedy-brooke, @brekkershadowsinger, @sydneyhasdepression33, @kindaslightlyacidic, @owllover123, @supersoilderswhxre, @user1727381919, @mulansaucey, @piceous21, @teenwolfstansstuff, @esposadomd, @cityofidek, @highladyofillyria.

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - September 25th

 Hey fam got a request for y’all this week--I spent several hours searching for a Stevetony Great British Bake Off fic the other night and I haven’t found it. I know it exists because I read it--if you happen to know what I’m talking about, would you drop a link? 

Ok, here’s what I’ve read recently. 

***Marks my recent favorites 

~*~ 

***The Foodieverse by copperbadge, scifigrl47 

It's an AU where everyone works in the food industry. That makes total sense and is definitely not wildly irrational on any axis.

Care and Comfort by MusicalLuna

Tony offers to preen Steve's wings.

It's been a long time since anyone did something so intimate for Steve.

As You Wish by Heartithateyou

Its the weekly game night for the Avengers, so what happens when a game of charades turns into Steve and Tony having to act out love scenes?

Getting Your Betty Crocker On by thehoyden

He knows it’s not wartime anymore, but he can’t quite suppress the twinge of guilt he feels at measuring out two entire cups of white sugar.

Second Hand Mate by Morethancupcake 

"The bandages had been his idea. The long sleeves too. Tony traces it with the tip of his fingers, before securing the tape, keeping the words away, safe, buried with the first man who ever showed him love and support.

'Second hand mate.' "

The first words his mate will use to talk about him.

Tony waits for it to happen.

Dazed and Confused by tsukinofaerii 

Captain America has a great many duties that need careful attention. He has to... uh... That thing where... Wow, Tony's pants are awfully tight, aren't they?

call the teen sadness hotline! by arypls

They get in the elevator and come out at the kitchen floor, ready to give their son a light scolding and send him back to bed with a proper, healthy — "Absolutely not. The kid already went through all this trouble, let him eat some junk food and make bad choices for once." — tasty snack.

Yet, both men freeze at the entrance; they expected to find a mess and they did, pans and cooking ingredients scattered on the counter. But they didn't expect the young man to be standing behind it in his pajamas, face down on a bowl of... batter?

"Peter?" says Steve, blinking just as Tony mutters under his breath, What the fuck?

Steve and Tony are awakened to an intruder in the tower but they definitely weren't expecting it to be their teenage son having a mental breakdown over his (unapproved) trouble-making best friend/crush. At least that's what they think it is.

the bruising of unfinished business by theappleppielifestyle

"Close friend," Tony says, and Pepper looks older, so much older than those nine years that Tony’s lost.

"Maybe a little more than that," she says, and then allows: "Maybe a lot."

The room goes quiet, and over the beep of the machines, Tony can hear the muffled sounds of Steve breaking down in the hallway.

Morning Wood by avengersincamphalfbloodstardis

Steve wakes up on Clint's farm, with his arms around Tony, and a problem in his pants.

the privilege of loving you by starklystar

“Why won’t you let me touch you?”

It’s a desperate plea, half-shouted and half-whispered, Steve’s voice cracking at the end. Tony stops in his tracks, halfway to the stairs. He doesn’t dare to turn back, and he really doesn’t want to fight, or to leave, to spend the last month of his life away from his husband and their son. But Steve can’t know, can he?

-x-

Or: Tony has palladium poisoning, but he doesn't tell Steve and Peter

Please do shut up, Miss Stark by sheepybaa

In which your soulmate's first words to you appear somewhere on your body, and, predictably, Tony's big mouth gets her everywhere. And by everywhere, she means Captain America.

A decent good night by endlesstwanted

They have to share a bed, but don't worry, Steve always has a plan.

Officer America by Renai_chan

Saving the world is much rarer than it used to be back in WW2. Bored during Avenger downtime, Steve decides to put himself to better use keeping the streets of New York clean as the newest member of the NYPD.

Tony, meanwhile, is all about his uniform.

Please don’t make the sacrifice play by LenkaVittoriaElisse16

When Tony falls ill inside the suit after a mission and sleeps, Steve fears for the worst.

The Only Way Out by Captain_Panda

is Through.

As Captain America: The First Avenger fades to black, Steve Rogers is Not Okay.

Questioning Reality by Captain_Panda

"Nothing's been the same since New York."

Nightmares. It's the nightmares that are eating away at Tony the most.

A post-Chitauri fic where Steve Rogers fills a much-needed void in Tony Stark's life, and both of them confront their own demons.

Darkest Hours by Captain_Panda 

Sometimes, the hardest thing about being a hero is dealing with the demons you can't take down with one hit.

Ergo: Steve has a nightmare; Tony helps.

Aesthetic Appreciation by theappleppielifestyle

“Nice shirt, Stark.”

It’s Natasha, sounding strangely- smug, maybe?- for reasons Tony doesn’t much care to know.

“I know,” Tony says, not opening his eyes. He tilts his head back, lets out a satisfied sigh and rearranges himself on the chair. The sun climbs another inch of his abs when his shirt rides up with the motion.

Today’s a good day, Tony thinks contentedly, and continues sucking lazily on the popsicle.

(Or, Tony wears a crop top. Steve, among other people, notices.)

[the-woild-is-y-erster]

pssst

hey @crutchie-69

a lil gift

except it has shoe in it because i have no self restraint <3

oh btw you never really gave an age for socks so hes 17 in this <3

shoe knew he wasn't lost, that much was obvious. he knew the streets like the back of his hand, and the map of the city he had memorized last winter hadn't changed as far as he knew.

so he wasn't lost.

just...in an unfamiliar situation.

he knew he was somewhere near the manhattan lodging house, and he knew it wouldn't be hard to get home once he found it, but for now he had no clue where he was, as he had gotten distracted and forgotten to look at street signs he passed.

as he looked into an alley to his left, he saw a stocky redheaded teen sitting on the stoop of a building, a cigarette hanging from his fingers, suspenders off his shoulders and pooled around his hips on the top step; he looked relaxed, but a second look told shoe he was well muscled and built like an ox, and could put up a good fight, even if he was a good deal shorter than shoe.

he looked for a minute before deciding to keep walking, when a stange voice piped up from the alley.

"oi, you! ya stare fa' that long, ya think a guy ain't gettin' s'picious?" the boy shouted, his odd way of speaking making shoe whip around to face him again. the other boy flicked the ash off his cigarette and stood up, slowly walking towards shoe.

"uh- i- sorry, i swears i didnt mean nothin, i-" shoe fumbled, still surprised.

"kiddin, bucko. ya looks a lit'tle lost, s'all." the mystery boy took a pull from his cigarette and took another step closer, his other hand in his pocket as he stepped forward again.

shoe swallowed. "i-uh, do you- I-" he stuttered. he silently cursed himself and stopped, collecting his thoughts. whenever this happened, there was always the reassuring weight of eel's hand on the small of his back, a whisper of "take ya time, love," and a kiss on his shoulder blade.

but eel wasn't here, so he took a deep breath, and tried again. the redhead looked unconcerned, just watching with dark green eyes fixed on some point to the left of shoe's face, not quite looking at him. shoe was glad. he hated it when people looked him in the eyes.

"do youse knows- uh, where i can find uhm. a newsie by the name of racetrack? i-i'm a newsie too," he rushed, gesturing to his cap and bag. the boy nodded.

"i know racer real well, we sell together sometimes." he stomped out his cigarette butt and offered a handshake to the taller boy. "names' socks, on account'a the fact my mates are asses an i wears these every day." he tugs up the leg of his pants with his other hand to show his colourful mismatched socks.

shoe shook his hand gratefully, glad to be able to name the mystery redhead. "'m shoe, ise queens' second, my- eel's the king, we're...we's best friends."

an eyebrow raises slightly, but socks has the decency to keep his trap shut.

"i can take ya to racer if ya wants...?" he offers, shifting his weight onto one foot awkwardly.

shoe nods vigorously. "please, that'd be swell. i normally know whereabouts i am vaguely, but i must'a gotten turned around." socks nods and gestures for the taller boy to follow him down the alley, past where he had been sitting before.

"so ya wanna speak to racer, huh? what gives? guy owe ya money?" socks grinned, a crooked smile with gleaming white teeth.

shoe barked a laugh. "not me personally, but i think he owes at least half'a queens' newsies a fair amount. dimes especially, damn can that kid gamble." socks looked surprised.

"a kid beat racer? the racetrack higgins, beat at the one thing he's good at, by a kid?" he whistled. "i gotta meet the lad, bring 'im over sometime."

shoe nodded, and looked around. "oh, well now i know where i am." he turned to the redhead beside him, spitting in his hand and holding it out. "think i can find m'way from here, thanks."

socks spat in his hand and gave him a firm shake and with a toss of his fiery head, he turned on his heel and left.

shoe hurried on through the alley towards the statue of horace greely where he knew race would be, stopping short when he saw two figures close together up ahead, partially hidden by the dumpster.

not wanting to sneak up on anyone, he glanced around quickly, and spotted a can.

he kicked it, hard, and the silhouettes snapped apart at the loud resounding clang.

now that the two had separated, the two figures were extremely recognizable. shoe snorted, and started walking towards them. "if ya wanted privacy, the middle of an alley ain't exactly the best place to..." his lips quirked upward as he drew nearer and saw the expressions on the two boys' faces.

"tell that to eel and y'self," spot grumbled, his ears practically glowing with how red they were. "you know how many times i seen ya 'sharin a smoke' in an alley somewheres in queens?" he made sarcastic quotations with one hand, the other still firmly on race's waist. shoe gaped, flustered, before turning to the other boy, the entire reason he was in manhattan anyway.

the latter had turned pink, fiddling with the chain of his pocket watch.

"race, ignoring the inconsiderate jabs of your personal midget here-" spot spluttered indignantly. "the reason ise is here," shoe continued, mirth gleaming in his eyes.

"eel says he has someone he wants youse to meet, so if spot an y'self could come back with me to queens that'd be swell." race nodded, still pink.

the three set off, shoe making teasing jabs the entire walk back.

anywhizzle :)))))))

hope youse likes this riff <3 lmk if i got socks' accent wrong at any point lmao

bonus: tjis is what socks looks like in my head <3

my brain just went 'hngghghnggh hes just a little guy' and this is what came out of it <3

[casspurrjoybell-18]

Worthless - Chapter 16 - Part 2

*Warning Adult Content*

Asher

Rage bubbled in my chest as, once again, Kade said nothing, letting her walk away. I didn't even look at him, glaring down at my plate which still had the majority of my meal on it. I didn't feel like eating it even though I'd been excited. I felt like I'd just throw it up.

"Baby, please talk to me."

"Fuck you, Kade."

My head snapped up to see Rory glaring dangers at him.

"How dare you let that slut practically shove herself at you in front of your mate. You didn't do a damn thing. Do you know how bad that hurts? You didn't even think about Asher's feelings."

His face became pained.

"To see your mate being flirted with and not being able to do anything is the worst."

Kade's guilty expression turned into surprise.

"Rory, did you find your mate?"

Rory's eyes hardened, masking his emotions.

"No and even if I did I wouldn't tell you."

Kade grimaced, turning to look at me but I avoided his eyes.

"I'm sorry Asher. I should've stopped her the first time."

I pretended not to hear him. He opened his mouth to say something else but then the woman came back. I could feel my hackles raise as my jaw clenched painfully.

"Hey, cutie. Ya done with that?"

I glared as she looked at me with scorn.

"Guess I'll get the kid a to-go-box." 

My cheeks heated up but then I was being pulled into Kade's lap, his lips against mine. When he pulled back he glared at the woman.

"I don't know what 'kid' you're talking about but my boyfriend will need one. It'll be great to have some leftovers after what we have planned tonight."

He winked before nipping my earlobe. The woman looked horrified before turning away in anger, her heels clicking as she stormed off. Kade pecked my nose before setting me back in my seat. His hand stayed on my lap, gently rubbing my thigh.

"Sorry, love."

I nodded, a smile on my lips as I reached to touch them, still tingling from the kiss. My smile only grew as the woman came back with the to-go-box, practically throwing it down before storming off once more. We just laughed as we gathered our things, paying before we left. It seemed the smile was permanently stuck on my face as we drove, taking a short cut through a small neighborhood to get back home. Or it was until I caught sight of an oddly familiar house, already reaching for the door handle before the thought could process.

Kade

I slammed my foot on the breaks as soon as I heard the door open. I was out a moment later, looking frantically for Asher. I spotted him sprinting towards a small, abandoned home. He was already inside by the time I took off after him, Rory right behind me. I skid to a halt as I entered, stopping to see which way he went. The smell of burnt wood clogged my senses but I found his trail, rushing through the rooms and leaping up the only flight of stairs. I slowed as I reached the only open door, black with soot. Pushing it fully open, I easily spotted Asher on his knees, his back to me as he faced the only window that looked out onto the street.

"Asher? Baby?"

He jerked away from me, clutching a small box to his chest. After a moment, he calmed down enough for me to get close. I saw that he was crying, immediately wrapping my arms around him. I rocked him back and forth, my shirt quickly becoming wet with his tears. Rory just stood in the doorway, unsure how to help. Asher's sobs became sniffles until they ceased entirely.

"Can you tell me what's wrong, baby?" I whispered as I rubbed his back.

'H-he let her burn.'

"I don't understand, baby."

'M-my mother... this was our house a-and he... h-he burned her.'

My body grew cold, knowing what he meant but I still asked...

"Who?"

'M-my f-father.'

It was then that the images came.

********

A young boy, younger than the first vision, being dragged out of a smoking house, his cries drowned out by the fire. The man, who I knew to be his father, dragged him into the yard. The boy struggled, crying, begging for them to go back for his mother but the man only laughed.

"That whore deserves what she gets."

And then a scream rang out. The boys head whipped around, zeroing to the figure banging against the window on the second floor. Tears streamed down his face as, a second later, flames exploded from the window, engulfing who he knew to be his mother. He crumpled, the fight leaving him as the man dragged him into a car. He sat numbly, listening to his father's laughter as they drove away from the only home he's ever known.

********

"Gods," I breathed, hugging Asher close.

"Baby I'm so sorry."

He let out a single sob before pulling back, looking sadly at the small box in his hands. Opening it, a picture was revealed. A woman holding a newborn baby smiled at the camera. A man, with a face different than the visions and just as happy as the woman, kissed the top of the child's head, his eyes full of love. I stared at it for a moment, when a realization hit me. I opened my mouth but Rory beat me to it, having caught sight of the picture.

"Why is there a picture of Liam and Rowan's brother in there?"