#honestly though I’m aware of how tough it is - especially the training !! but

[petalsandpurity]

So I’m going to be training to be a teacher soon (!!) and all the internet is supplying me (literally every social media site, the news etc) is how no one should get into teaching 🧍‍♀️

[bronx-bomber87]

Saturday afternoon review. Another glorious episode. The intro of their fur child. Kojo-Chen-Bradford baha A pup we all know and love. Also that we hope to get to see in S6. This is a very solid Tim backstory ep I’m excited. I’ll delve little more into the actual ep than normal. Just because it’s so tied into everything in this ep. Especially Tim’s past. I always love delving into his past. As I always tell my friend D, When I get into Tim's past I go off a lot haha I can't help it I relate so much to him. So bear with me while I rant off about him in this one. He is a subject I am very passionate about. But let’s get this ep started.

2x14 Casualties

We start our episode with our fav canine. Destroyer of chew toys Mr. Kojo. He really is a beautiful dog. The dog lover in me adores him so much. Jackson is awoken by this sweet boy and honestly handles it better than expected haha Lucy clearly has gotten him for post DOD reasons. Smart on her end. I know my dog has helped me a ton emotionally. I totally understand why she did this.

I think Jackson is very aware of reasoning and doesn’t push it. Look how cute this dog is I can not. Also how happy Lucy is to have him. She’s literally beaming and so adorable with him. Another reason I don’t think Jackson says anything to Lucy. He isn’t happy about it but won’t fight her on it either. Such a good friend putting her ahead of his discomfort about this. He knows how much she has been through so he's not going to tell her no...Oh the power Lucy Chen holds over the men her life ha

Lucy tells Tim about Kojo and he instantly thinks it’s a mistake. Discouraging her owning him. (Of course he does). Lucy is her sassy self and tells him she didn’t remember asking him. LOL Tim tells her tough. He’s there to teach her how to succeed. That adding a dog into the mix is only going to distract her. Lucy shows him a picture of Kojo. Says what if he is cute and snuggly?

You can see Tim also thinks he’s cute and snuggly when she shows him the pic haha but says that’s not the point he’s trying to make. Can tell he loves Kojo but isn’t going to give her that satisfaction right now. Lucy is too damn happy about her new pup to let Tim ruin it. He continues his interrogation and asks who’s watching him while she’s at work? Lucy replies she paid a neighbor let him out. Then asks if Jackson is ok with it? Lucy being clueless (which is a rarity for her as we all know) replies 'Why wouldn’t he be?'

First off I always love when we get tall and smol shots. They make my soul so very happy. Their height difference always gets me in the feels in a way I can not describe. This whole scene cracks me up though. Both trying so hard to top the other with who's right. It’s what they do and they do it so damn well.

It’s so cute how Tim defends himself about dogs when Lucy says he doesn't like them. ‘Wrong. I love dogs.’ LOL He is definitely not wrong about the responsibility part. They are a lot especially for a rookie trying to survive her training. Lucy mocks him and says he’s about to go off on a ‘But you were when you were my age?’ rant. Tim then does just that haha Our marriage moment of the episode.

Telling her all he’s done at her age. How he already did 2 tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, Second in charge of his squad of ten soldiers. Lucy is not indulging him this time, scoffs loudly and calls him a show off haha You know he heard her but says ‘What was that?‘ Her face in those two last gifs. Be more married you two please.

They knock on the door of their call. Someone has reported a peeping Tom. They head back with the husband to their pool area. He says his wife likes to tan in the morning. A drone has been watching her the last few mornings. Tim says they can put out an alert but they’re tricky to track down.

The wife comes in and and is instantly checking Tim out. I can’t say I blame her. The man is sinfully delicious especially in uniform. She shamelessly flirty with him. He could not be cuter being embarrassed about it. That smile of his as his reaction. He’s always so caught off guard when women hit on him. Lucy’s face during the whole thing is hilarious. She’s so awkward and uncomfortable as this goes down. His polite ‘ma’am ‘ and shyness we rarely see in him. *fans self* Can’t blame a girl for trying LMAO

Lucy gets a call from her apt about Kojo shortly after they return to the station. Tim says they’re not going unless it’s a crime scene. It kinda is...One of her apt. Lucy opens the door and we see the destruction the poor boy has caused. Lucy clearly has no control over this sweet angel. He just jumps up on her when she arrives. Clearly so stressed being alone. He wants her attention. Kojo won’t get down until Tim shouts a firm command at him to sit and he does…Oh my...

Tim barking out orders like that shouldn’t be so hot and yet here we are. I am a puddle. This man does things to me I can't properly put into words haha Also his sexy and confident ‘Come on.’ afterwards. Lucy girl, it’s a miracle you get any work done around this man LOL Kojo you just met your dad and you have no idea. They go through the destruction that is her apt. Tim basically beaming with an ‘I told you so.’ energy as they explore the wreckage.

He is so pleased with himself. They enter Jackson's room and it is trashed. He is at the height of his smugness at this point. He starts taking pics of her and the damage to Jackson's room. These two and their pics of one another I love it so much. Tim says ‘I don’t have to say anything do I?’ Poor Lucy.. ‘I rather you didn’t…’ Already feeling the massive guilt for Kojo destroying Jackson's room the most.

After they leave their fur baby, Lucy and Tim join in on a suspect Nolan is chasing. He was sharing a shady SRO with the man who was found killed earlier. He took off and they end up catching him in an ally. It’s here we find out he and Tim have a history. The shock on Tim’s face gets me. There’s so much going on in that look that we don’t understand right now. Eric is conveying so much in just this small window.

We rejoin them at the station booking him. Tim looks like he's in a state of shock. Thought Mitch's life was going well post-service. Definitely wasn't expecting him to be living on the streets. Knowing he's not in a good place is bringing back all his guilt in waves. There is so much Tim is carrying in these interactions with Mitch. He asks what he's even being charged with? Lucy tells him resisting arrest to begin with. The DA will sort out the rest.

Mitch is all over Tim about what’s going on. He tells him he can’t violate the victims privacy. Mitch then pieces together his friend Joe is dead. Tim refuses to give him anymore info. Says detectives will be by shortly to talk to him. He looks so damn distraught walking away from the holding cell. Lucy points out the obvious tension between them. Tim lets her know exactly what their history is. I’m so proud of him for not brushing her off or being angry with her for asking. He’s just defeated and tells her why.

Like he wants to share this emotional burden with her instead of holding onto it solo. How far we've come. Truly. When just Isabel's name would set him off for most of their shift. Now he just tells her when she asks him. Telling Lucy things is a safe place for him at this point in their relationship. It’s a beautiful thing to watch him not even fight that. To let her know with no pretense. Allowing her to know something from his military past is huge. Something he keeps quite guarded. Watching him feeling comfortable enough to share with her. My heart. I'm not crying. You are.

Tim watches Armstrong and Nolan interrogate Mitch. The emotions in his eyes as he does is killing me. You can feel his guilt through the screen. There seems to be more than just Mitch's guilt there to me. But we will touch on that later....Nolan lets him know Joe had his neck snapped. It seemed like a professional. Mitch tells them he didn’t kill him. That Joe came to him about finding a lot of money. Pallets of cash in the millions. Found it in a building with a bunch of weaponry. Being guarded by heavy duty guys. Lots of machinery too.

Mitch says he and Joe were tight cause they were both vets. That’s why he shared the cash. But he begged him not to go back there for any more. Mitch says he feel guilty. Wishing he would’ve gone with him, because Joe would’ve gone with him. We go back to Tim and see more guilt flitting across his handsome face. The weight of what he is carrying is so evident. Kills me to watch it him bearing it alone. Harper comes in and tells them all that money is counterfeit. Really good but fake none the less. They figure out the machinery could’ve been printers from Mitch. Armstrong decides to get a search warrant and go to the building Joe found.

Naturally when they make it to the warehouse it’s empty. They ask Tim if he still believes his army buddies story? He says yes. That they must’ve cleared out of here after they killed Joe. Nolan finds some evidence. It’s linking them back to a security guy who was “fixing” a camera at their crime scene. They were about to run his face off his body cam when Grey calls them back to the station. Says they are to leave that area immediately.

Once they’re back Grey says their search warrant sent an alarm all the way up the food chain. Telling them to stop. That the path they’re on isn’t allowed for their investigation any longer. Tim asks what if it’s the path that leads them to his killer? Grey looks conflicted. Harper asks what they’re really into? He says he doesn’t know and tried to push to find out. All he knows is it’s non-negotiable. They all look very frustrated especially Tim. Grey tells them to take the night to reset. Tim goes off saying this isn't right. Armstrong says no it's not but it's a direct order.

Harper looks at Tim and he knows what he needs to do. Earlier in the episode we learned about LA Clear. Used to prevent blue on blue situations. It’s the best way for them to find out who is behind all this. What higher up agency is preventing them from investigating further. Only higher up officers can use it. i.e. Tim. They were told at the beginning of the ep the feds were in town for something. Sounds like this could be it. Harper asks what Tim thinks. He says this is clearly a federal operation and they don’t have enough information to proceed.

Tim asks Lucy how they get more clarity on a federal operation? She proudly produces the right answer and says LA Clear. He tries to get them all to step outside while he calls. Lucy being her sassy self says not a chance. Her wifey look is so cute I can not. You know he loves it when she’s fresh with him. Tim having to answer his personal security questions is too damn funny. Lucy is enjoying the hell out of this. His answers are so sporadic and funny. 'Lady Marmalade' and 'Xanadu' LOL He gets off the phone says they’ll get back to them within an hour.

Tim goes to see Mitch. Tells him he’s free to go. Naturally he wants more info on the case. Tim tells him they haven’t found anything yet. The money is gone. They’re working late on it though. Lets him know he just needs to go home. Then realizes how insensitive that is. Mitch tells him just to find his killer. That he served his country with honor. He deserves as much. You know that's hitting Tim right in the gut.

The ever present guilt on his face with Mitch hurts to watch. There’s an undercurrent of something else going on with this whole thing for Tim. More than just what happened with Mitch coming to the surface. It’s coloring everything he’s doing and saying in this episode since Mitch showed up. He gets the call from LA Clear and tells Mitch to take care of himself.

They find out it’s a defense intelligence agency OP. Harper says that’s national security. Nolan asks if they told him anything else? Tim says just a contact name. Colonel Norman Jangus. Nolan asks what a National security agency is doing printing counterfeit money for? Harper chimes in and says this is bigger than they thought. That they should take the night like Grey said. Tim says an off the books op isn’t great on a good day and today definitely isn't that.

Nolan gets a visitor. It’s Colonel Jangus. Tells him he is DIA, but his team works in the shadows. Does things people don’t want to admit to. John asks why he came to him? This is a great part and accurate. Says he’s the weak link. Lists why above. He’s not wrong those three are certified bad asses and John is well John LOL sorry dude. I'm so mean to Nolan I know ha I do like him but he is the weak link out of the four of them.

Tells him you always push on the weak link. Wants him to relay something to the other three. That it was a mistake to call LA Clear, to leave it alone. Nolan tells him they just want Joe’s murderer that’s it. He leaves with telling him every war has its casualties. That if they don’t stop he’ll end up being their next one.

Harper, Tim and Lucy show up lurking in the shadows. They were expecting him to show at Nolan’s. Do love them all in black street clothes. Looking ever bit the bad asses they were just explained as earlier. Tim was able to get a tracker on his car while Jangus rambled on. Tim says now they can follow him wherever he goes. Lucy is ready to go when Tim tries to stop her. (Why he think's he'll win this fight I do not know) No way in hell she was going to let him do this alone. She’s his partner through and through.

Harper telling them they’re more likely to survive the storm if this goes wrong than her and Nolan. She has a golden ticket and Tim has unblemished record. Says they don’t even need a reason to fire them as rookies. Lucy replies like the BAMF she is ‘ I’ve been buried alive by a serial killer. This rabbit hole doesn’t scare me.’ God I love her. Her resolve is rock solid. Nolan’s reply pales in comparison tbh LOL That unshakeable drive is one of the reasons why Tim falls for her. He doesn’t fight her any further. He's just hopes Jangus leads them to the money.

Now comes one of my favorite parts of the entire episode. Also another iconic OTP line stemming from it. They pull up together in Tim’s truck (LOVE them riding together) Lucy wastes zero time asking about Mitch’s leg. Just like earlier he doesn’t fight her on it. Doesn’t shut her out like he used to. Not even a little. I can not emphasize enough how huge this is for him. The beautiful place he has gotten to with her. This is confession time right now for him. He'd been letting it build up all day. Now he was letting the damn loose with her. Makes me so happy to watch his growth. I never tire of watching her chip at his wall one section at a time. It’s about to have another piece break off and shatter to the ground.

There is so much to love about this scene. I love her challenging him to open about this. It’s been so obviously eating at him all day. I'm just like him where I need my anxiety off loaded by someone I trust or I'll self destruct. It's clear he needs it off his chest. Lucy knows this. Knows him and it's why it's the first thing she asks when they're parked. They have a moment alone. She is going to take advantage of that. Lucy reads Tim like a book and knows he needs to talk about it. I've said this a lot but I am a lot like Tim. The more I analyze him the more that fact becomes true. I get his mentality towards things.

Where you think everything is your responsibility or your fault when things go wrong. Because when you grow up in a volatile household like he did (As did I) it was. A mistake was the worst thing you could do. So it's beaten into you that its your fault and you're given no grace by those around you. It's almost like a reflexive shame you feel when you make a mistake. It's how it is for me. I know it is for him too. So why would you give yourself any grace even when its warranted? When you are like this you need that 'Lucy' to unburden you. To have that safe space to off load that burden. To let you know not everything is your fault.

Lucy is that person for Tim and has been for quite some time. He confesses his sin to her. Like it’s a dark part of his soul he’s expecting to repel her. News flash it does not. She loves every part of this man especially the damaged parts. What he finds as absolutely shameful Lucy sees as something redeeming and wonderful. You can see above how much he is beating himself up over it. Even as he speaks the words he's chiding himself. The way his eyes dart around and how can't face her. He'a so ashamed of himself for not being by the book. To him he slipped up and it cost Mitch his leg. That's unforgivable in his book. He's so hard on himself. I relate so much it makes me wanna cry for him. Because I know that moral pressure.

I love her little smile before she tells him 'It's the most Tim Bradford thing she’s ever heard.' Because it really is. She just knows him so well. Lucy wants desperately for him to cut himself a break. To lower his high standards of himself just a bit. He won't but damn if she won't try to to change his POV on this. The reason she says that line is she KNOWS the depth of which he beats himself up for things. This is the type of situation where he is going to fault himself and flog himself mentally over it until someone stops him. i.e. Lucy.

I empathize with this on a deep level. I know that guilt driven anxiety you get when you feel you’ve wronged someone. It consumes you and feels like that feeling is bottomless. Lucy is very aware he will destroy himself over this. The reaction on his face below when she tells him it wasn't his fault. That he showed humility. Gets me right in the gut. Telling him that it’s nothing to feel guilty about is everything to him. Tim can't believe she's absolving him for this. Not only doing that but commending him for what he did. By praising him for that humility he showed Mitch.

I want to delve into his reaction above a little more for a couple reasons. One. Once again what Tim sees as weakness Lucy views as a strength. Knowing he is wracked with guilt over this. Trying to give him absolution for it. His sunshine human is striving to let him know not EVERYTHING is his fault. As much as he would like to think so. Beautiful thing is Lucy being in his life has lightened that emotional load he carries. Whether he realizes it or not she's shouldering part of it now.

Two. I said earlier there was an undercurrent of something else coloring Tim’s guilt in this episode. Something unspoken in the way he was carrying that guilt. Like it was more than just Mitch's guilt he was lugging around. I know he’s comparing what happened to Mitch to what happened with Lucy. By not being by the book he put Lucy in danger. The guilt about Mitch has also brought up the burden he still inflicts upon himself. Which is what happened to her in 2x11. There is some deep subtext in this scene. The way he looks at her when she says he doesn’t need to feel guilty. It's very telling to me.

In a way she is absolving him of what happened with Caleb. Because the situations are similar, in the fact that Tim wasn't by the book and something bad came of it. Lucy does this without even knowing she is doing so. Because in her mind she never blamed him. Doesn't even know he's added that to his emotional load. For Tim her acceptance of what happened with Mitch is hitting close to home with him. It feels like she is also absolving him of his immense amount of guilt he still feels about Caleb. It’s not something they’ve talked about yet. It’s coming but I felt this scene was a good precursor to that. Lucy reminding him not everything is on him like he thinks it is.

Even though it seems to him he's been absolved of both things he still defaults to being a stickler. That is his default mode. He just can't help himself. Letting her know ‘Rules matter boot. ‘ You can see the glimmer of tears in his eyes when he says this. Still feeling unworthy of her kindness and understanding of what he thinks he’s done not only to Mitch but to her. Lucy once again having that sassy smile asking him ‘Then what the hell are you doing out here? Sweetly calling him out for being a living and breathing contradiction.

The way he looks at her and says ‘Some things matter more.’ *heart clutch* Eric and his wonderfully expressive face. We are lucky to have him everyone. He is a blessing to have as our Tim Bradford. By saying this he is saying she matters more. That what they're currently doing matters more. Tim showing Lucy his moral compass for Mitch and Joe means more. I’ve said this before but I feel Lucy is never more attracted to Tim than when his moral compass is on fire.

It’s a raging inferno in this episode to find Joe’s killer. That bending the rules a bit to do the right thing means more. to him. That doing the right thing and the easy thing are rarely the same. Her respect and honestly love for him grows for him in this scene. As his does for hers with the previous moment. It's a slow climb to the top with them but what a view it is when we get there. It's so worth the wait.

I friggin love this shot of them. Forever adore how in sync they are in the field. All dressed in their black ops gear. Sexy Af watching them be poetry in motion together. The aesthetic is very pleasing to the eye. Watching them doing an off the book ops together. It ticks a box for me I love. They decide they need to make sure those pallets are actually the money first. Once they do that they can get Joe’s killer during the arrest. Harper asks how they’re gonna do this? Tim says no idea. LOL

Tim goes off to check it by himself. He’s so tall and you can see that as he ducks under a semi to check the container. Sexy af how tall he is to me. I would say I’m sorry but let’s not lie shall we? Ha Tim gets caught confirming the pallet has the money and sees the rest have been caught too .You can see the panic on his face when he sees Lucy has been caught. Jangus rants that he warned them and they didn’t listen. Harper then signals Angela with her sniper rifle. Trained right on Norman.

They’re at a stalemate with this. Tim wants to negotiate a settlement. I love how Tim takes control of this whole situation. Sexy af. Saying all they want is Joe’s Killer. If they give him up they walk away. Norman considers this. Then asks about the money. Tim says 'Not our problem.' Lucy pipes up and Tim looks right at her and repeats himself. Now that she’s in danger he’s not taking any more risks. That game is over. He’s gonna break one more rule tonight to keep her safe. Letting the money go.

I love him so much. If bailing on the money keeps her safe and gets them their killer it’s a win win for him. The way he stares the Colonel down as he decides. *Oh my lord* Causing me repeated ovary explosion in this one. Protective Tim is one of my fav Tim flavors haha He’s got me going more in this episode than normal. I would say I’m sorry but I’m very much not. LOL

It works and they give up one of their men as the killer. The plan worked for the most part...They didn't get everything they wanted but getting Joe's killer was the most important. It gets back to Grey and he does some rule breaking of his own. Just accepting their wild unrealistic story of how they found Joe’s killer just walking the docks. Says the paper work better be spotless on this. Harper smiles and says yes sir. This is an excellent episode all around.

Next morning Jackson wakes up and notices Kojo is gone. Lucy says she’s really not ready for a dog yet. (Or his new owner heh) That he is gone. Lucy continues on to apologize for getting him without asking his input. That she was going to pay to replace all his things. How sorry she was about all his stuff. Jackson quickly breaks and is sweet and says he did like Kojo but hopes he went to a good home. Lucy smiles and says he did.

I want to talk a little bit about Tim taking Kojo. The amount this man cares about not only Lucy but animals is prominent in this moment. He knew how much this dog meant to Lucy therefore he was important to Tim. Also taking him so she could come visit him and have access whenever she wanted. The depth of caring this man shows for her in his actions are unreal. They legit became co-parents to this dog in this episode and we all loved it. They own a dog together long before they were together. Makes me so happy I can not.

We then get this GLORIOUS shot of Tim walking Kojo. Tim looking fine as hell walking his new fur baby. Basically a model walking down the street. That sweet smile on his face as he looks down at him. He loves this dog so much already. Tim meets up with Mitch and does something I know Lucy would be beaming over. He put in a good word to get him a live in guard job. Tells him it’s not a handout. That it’s a job and a roof over his head. Mitch thanks him and he hugs Tim. He looks like he’s gonna cry. My boy. Mitch can still see the lingering guilt in his eyes.

Tells Tim ‘It’s not your fault you know?’ That what happened to him is nobodies fault. Tim is grateful for his words. Getting forgiveness for a weight he’s been carrying around for far too long. Such a good way to end the episode. Tim wipes a tear from his eye and looks down at Kojo. Tells him ‘Not a word’ LOL I love this man so much and how much he’s grown. Makes me want to cry. Damn good episode holy moly.

As always thank you to everyone who like/comment/reblog. You all make my whole day with them. I enjoy doing these so much and you make it all worth while :)

No non chenford notes this ep was pretty intertwined. See you all in 2x15 :)

[certifiedskywalker]

Breathing Room - Bucky Barnes

Thanks to Sharon’s new profession, you have a chance to catch your breath in Madripoor. Though, Bucky never fails at stealing it away.

WARNINGS: drinking (?) and tensiooooonnn

“I’ve never seen him look at anyone like how he looks at you. Except for Steve.”

“It’s not like that,” you persisted as you shook your head.

Ready to prove your counterpoint, you traced the path of Sharon’s pointed gaze. It landed on Bucky who, amidst the party of stiff art connoisseurs and writhing criminals, looked strangely at ease. When you let your gaze linger, you saw him shift against the far wall he was leaned on. His eyes found yours in an instant as if he had been glancing in your direction before. As if he already knew where you were stood.

Under the colored lights that seemed to flash in tune with the music, Bucky’s eyes, once bright and blue, were dark as he focused on you. Despite the heat of all those that danced, you found yourself frozen. A chill rolled up your spine and threatened to overtake you, thrust you in the depths of Bucky’s stare. Only the sound of a knowing, humming sigh freed you.

“Uh-huh, sure. It’s not like that,” Sharon echoed sarcastically. You glared at her as she moved out from behind the bar. She passed a glass of dark liquor over to you with a grin. Gently, you nudged the drink back across the counter and shook your head.

“I’m on a mission.”

“So is he,” Sharon quipped as she tipped her head towards Bucky. Steaming embarrassment rose along your skin as you glanced back over towards the super-soldier. He was no longer fixed on you. He instead squinted at Zemo as the Baron broke it down in the most awkward, display of dance you had ever seen.

“Yeah, and I’m not it.”

“You are, you just won’t admit it,” Sharon sipped at her drink before she continued. “The way he watches you...he’s ready to take a bullet for you.”

“He already has,” you sighed, gesturing to your left arm. “Vibranium, remember? He’s covered me more than once.”

“Couldn’t forget it.”

“Also, he stares at everyone.”

Sharon scoffed, a light laugh slipping from her lips. “Sure, but not like that.”

“Do you really think...he’s hard to read. I don’t know if he really means to…”

“You’re right, he might not mean to look at you like you’re his lifeline, but it doesn’t change the fact that he does.” Sharon downed the rest of her drink and rested the empty glass on the counter. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m on a mission too: to sell some art and information.”

With a wink, she sauntered away, towards a group of individuals clad in formal wear. You watched her go for a moment longer before you shifted your gaze to sneak a glance at Bucky. When you did, you found he was already looking at you, dark eyes fixed on your face. It was tough to tell in the red tones that shone down on him, but you thought you saw Bucky’s mouth quirk the slightest bit upward. Though, you did not stare long enough to see if it morphed into a full-fledged smile.

You were too aware of how your chest tightened to let yourself linger on him. Especially with Sharon’s teasing, her insights, you could not find it in yourself to stare back. Not then, not when there was a chance Bucky felt the same as you had for years, which meant both of you were too stubborn, or too wary, to say anything about it. Even the thought of it knocked the air from your lungs. You eyed the liquor Sharon had poured out for you, considered downing it to distract yourself from the new wave of nerves that washed over you. Before you stretched your fingers out towards the glass, a sudden warmth brushed against your left shoulder.

“You gonna drink that?”

You turned and saw Bucky, his side nearly pressed against yours. The scent of the cologne Sharon had forcibly sprayed on him before the party filled your nose. Fragrant balsam and clove: warm, welcoming, and enough to numb your racing thoughts. When you didn’t respond to his question, Bucky leaned in closer to you with furrowed brows.

“Y/N?” Up close, you noticed just how clear his eyes were, how wholly focused on you he was. Silently you hoped he didn’t detect the shuddering breath you took.

“Yeah,” you said as tipped your head towards the drink, “it’s all yours.”

Bucky nodded at you as he reached for the glass. As he moved, his gaze remained fixed on you and you could not tear your eyes away. The moment the lights flashed an almost natural white, you swore you saw hints of pink on Bucky’s cheeks; but before you could truly tell, the fixtures flickered between blue and red. As Bucky brought the glass to his lips, you forced your eyes to the granite countertop.

To busy your mind, distract yourself from the lure of Bucky’s presence, you traced your fingertips along some of the natural patterns on the stone’s smoothed surface. It was only when you heard the clinking of glass against the countertop over the music that you felt enough courage to face the man stood at your side. Bucky’s eyes were still trained on you when you looked back up at him, full of that same attention Sharon had noted earlier.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drink before,” you remarked, “or relaxed.”

“I’m not relaxed,” Bucky said, shouting slightly to be heard over the music. You smiled as he leaned in closer to add, “I don’t think I’ve ever been. Not since….”

“The forties?”

Bucky averted his eyes from you at your teasing question and turned his gaze to the floor. “Well, yeah, honestly.”

The smallness of his voice made your heart ache. Without a moment’s thought, you reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder. At your touch, Bucky met your eyes again, and then you saw it. It must have been the glint that Sharon picked up on before. A ferocity, but not one that frightened you. It was a ferocity born of passion, the same, deeply rooted feeling that forced the air from your lungs when you let yourself stare at Bucky for too long.

The passion that you had kept bottled in your chest since you met him, the real Bucky, not the Winter Soldier. It had taken so long for you to truly see him and he was just finally seeing himself. Until the party and Sharon’s observations, you hadn’t realized that maybe he was seeing you too. How long had you been blind to each other, giving each other breathing room when all you wanted was to be close?

“Honestly, I think you look good,” you said, with a confidence that surprised you.

Bucky cocked his head to the side slightly, with the faintest hints of a smile on his lips. “Really? I don’t...it’s been...I haven’t been to a party since the forties. I haven’t danced…”

“You look great, Bucky,” you pressed as you let your hand fall from his shoulder. Bucky blinked at you a few times as if trying to compute your compliments. You gave him a soft smile, an expression that he, shockingly, returned.

“So do you, Y/N.”

The way he said your name sent another chilling shiver down your spine and tightened your chest. Your breath grew ragged and you became suddenly self-conscious about the volume of your breathing. Though, when you noticed how Bucky’s chest rose and fell a bit more rapidly than before, your worries faded. They melted into the music and the smell of his, Sharon’s, cologne until all you felt was warmth and light.

“Do you want to danc-”

Before Bucky could ask his question in full, a drunken party-goer knocked into your back and sent you leaning off your stool. As you tipped forward into him, Bucky opened his arms to catch you. The cool metal of his left arm dug into your waist as your hands braced against his chest. Once you found your footing, you glanced up at Bucky.

“Are you alright?” His eyes scanned over your face as he asked. Yet, all you really heard was Sharon’s voice: he’s ready to take a bullet for you. Ready to fight for you too.

“I’m fine.”

Despite your assertion, Bucky looked past you and towards the person that had nearly knocked you over. For a moment, you saw the man that Zemo had ordered around in the Power Broker’s bar. He wasn’t your Bucky. The passion had turned to anger in his eyes. Quickly, you trailed your hands up from his chest to cup the sides of his face.

“Hey, hey, look at me,” you forced Bucky’s face to turn until his eyes found yours. “I’m fine. Are you fine?”

Bucky didn’t respond. Instead, he just stared down at you, his eyes flickered from your eyes to your lips and back again. Gently, you rubbed the pads of your thumbs along the peaks of his cheekbones. At the contact, eyes glinted and you knew he was the Bucky you loved again. The scruff that lined his jaw and grew up the sides of his face prickled and tickled the skin of your palm as he drew in closer.

Suddenly, there was no more breathing room; but you were so wonderfully okay with that. Each breath you each took mingled between you until there was no space at all. Bucky’s lips brushed softly against yours, a tentative ask for permission before you closed the gap. He tasted like whiskey as you kissed and, when his arms tightened around your waist, you felt that you might drown in him.

You were prepared to do just that when you heard someone loudly clear their throat. With a small gasp for air, you and Bucky parted and turned your attention away from the other. Sam, clad in Sharon’s spare turtle neck, stood with his arms crossed over his chest and a knowing grin on his lips. Your hands slipped from Bucky’s face and the super soldier’s arms went a little more slack around your waist.

“So, if you two are done, Sharon found Nagel.”

“Y-yeah,” you stammered, “we’ll...follow you.”

Sam glanced at you then Bucky and back again. “You really gotta work on your timing. We’re on a mission, guys. Seriously.”

Before you or Bucky could comment, Sam started off towards Zemo and Sharon. You glanced up at Bucky who seemingly sensed your eyes and looked back at you.

“He’s not wrong.”

“Don’t tell him that.”

[luminnara]

It’s Been a Long, Long Time | Ch 8 NSFW 18+ ONLY

Summary:  When HYDRA had their prized asset, the Winter Soldier, they did something no one ever thought was possible: they gave super soldier serum to an omega. With the sole purpose of tending to him during his ruts, she spends decades living in HYDRA facilities, denied her humanity and her life. Now, years later, Bucky Barnes has his mind and his own life back...and the last thing he ever expects is to see a familiar omega again. Bucky/OC, a little angsty but mostly smutty/fluffy/romantic!

Part One | .... | Part Nine

Warnings: A/b/o, knotting, nsfw, sexy stuff, some weight related talk

Tags:  @kyrah-williams @oceanmermaidwitch @shawnie--jo @super-cape @ferxaniti @namjoonwatcheshentai @fandomsstolemylife00 @youngblood199456 @nightlygiggless @darlingely @ bluemoon-icecream @kaz11283 @jenjen8675309 @dollfacev8 @witchinpractice @mystical-b3ar @sukeraa @momc95 @book-lover-2006 @rebekkah119 @lupinpetersclearwaterodairparker

“I never got the chance to do this back in the day, you know.”

“Oh yeah?” Bucky grunted. 

“Mhm. You were always more the…’turn around, I’m mounting you here and now’ type.”

“Can’t imagine why.” He mumbled. 

Bucky was on his back, his wrists tied to the bedposts. It was something he would consider a compromising position, all of his decades of training and his own instincts telling him that he was too exposed and therefore in danger. 

He trusted her, though, and because of that, he liked it. There was something sexy about being bound with your own leather belt, especially when a cute little omega was the one doing the tying. 

“The big, scary Winter Soldier, on his back? For me?” Amoretta teased, as if she hadn't been the one who put him there. 

“Don’t get used to it,” he growled. 

“Unless you decide you love it,” She purred, ghosting a hand over his abs. 

He tensed and then flexed. “I love anything involving you, doll.”

She let out a light, twinkling laugh. “Flexing? You’re such a show off. You don’t have to prove how tough you are to me, I already know.”

“Can’t help it.” He growled again.

She hummed quietly, sliding her hand up to his chest. “You’re just a big teddy bear.”

“I’m not a bear,” Bucky huffed, looking at her incredulously, as if the thought was absolutely ridiculous. 

“No?” Amoretta asked. “Then what are you? A big pussycat?”

“The Wakandans call me White Wolf.”

“A wolf, huh? Nonna always used to say you can never tame a wolf.” She laid on his chest, looking up at him. “I don’t think I want to, though. I want you wild and free.”

“...you flipped me over and tried to hogtie me.”

“Well...yeah. But I wanna try being on top!”

Her little whine was just too cute for him to argue with.

“Then why don’t you get up and fuckin’ ride me?” He snapped, trying to encourage her to actually get a move on.

“Because I want to make you wait,” Amoretta purred, stretching up to nip at his earlobe while one of her hands drifted down his stomach. “I’ve never gotten to be with you when you aren’t all rut-crazy. I want to play with you…”

“Then do it faster!” He let his head fall back onto the pillows with a frustrated groan as her fingers brushed over his pelvis. 

He was hard again, and all he wanted to do was bury himself inside of her and knot her again and again and again. He ached for her, impatient, breathy huffs and growls leaving his throat as he squeezed his eyes shut. She was a tease. Of course she was a fucking tease. At the rate things were going, she would be able to get him to do absolutely anything by the time the night was over, as long as it meant that he could feel the way her pussy milked his cock.

“The more impatient you are, the slower I’ll go,” she cooed, ghosting her nails around the base of his shaft. 

Bucky snorted angrily, picking his head up again to look at her. “At least use your mouth. I’m dyin’ here.”

“Hey, I’m in charge right now,” she reminded him. 

She slid down the bed anyways. 

There was already a big bead of precum on the tip of his cock, and when she swept her tongue over it, he let out the loudest, deepest, filthiest moan she had ever heard. The sound had her pressing her thighs together, desperately trying to ignore the slick that was pooling onto the sheets beneath her as she gave him another taste. She wanted to be in charge for once, and at the moment, that meant trying to control her own urges while she teased her alpha. 

His groans and growls were reverberating through his whole body as she wrapped her lips around his cock. He wanted to grab her hair and guide her head, but every time he tried to move, he was reminded that his wrists were bound and he had nowhere to go.

It was frustrating. 

“Fuck,” he moaned, defeated. “Take it all...c’mon, doll, please…I know you can…”

His encouragement made her hum happily as her head bobbed up and down. Each time, she took more and more of him into her throat, until her nose was pressing against his pelvis and drool was running down her chin. 

Bucky was trying his hardest to stay still. He wanted to enjoy the moment, not fuck it up, but god, did he want to absolutely rail her throat. With his hands literally tied, though, all he could do was try to roll his hips up towards her, desperately trying to thrust in and out of her mouth and maintain some semblance of control. 

Amoretta was taking it in stride, relaxing her throat and holding onto his thighs to steady herself. Her tongue was slipping around his cock, her spit dripping down onto his balls as he let out a symphony of dirty sounds that ranged from needy to furious. 

“Please,” he whined. “Fuck, baby, please...untie my hands, let me cum….”

She looked up at him with those big doe eyes, and it was enough to make him unravel. Seeing her there between his legs, her perfect lips wrapped around his cock, was probably the sexiest thing he had ever seen. 

And it was just for him. 

“Fuck…” he moaned, his voice low as he came into her throat. His hips pressed forward with each wave that passed through him, the feeling of her throat tightening and swallowing only urging him to give her every last drop he had. 

Amoretta had never gotten to swallow with him before. When he was rutting, he never wanted her to waste even a bit of his seed, but for her first time, she felt like she did pretty well. It helped that she was addicted to the taste and the smell of his cock at this point, his musky scent filling her nose and practically making her purr. She wanted to drown in it, or at least roll around until she was completely drenched. 

“You better get up here.” Bucky growled as she let his cock pop out of her mouth, a little string of saliva following behind. 

“Or what?” She licked her lips, savoring the taste of him. 

He answered with a dangerously low snarl as she crawled over him. “Just sit on my fuckin’ face already.”

She bit her lip in anticipation as she made her way up to his head. He was quick to reach up for her, his tongue finding her cunt and encouraging her to sink down onto him with lap after lap. He went at it like he didn’t know when he’d get the chance to again, eagerly licking up the fresh slick coating her inner thighs and pausing for the occasional nip here and there.

Amoretta gasped and huffed, grabbing hold of his hair as she started rocking her hips. She didn’t know where he had learned to give such good head, but she wasn’t about to complain, not when his tongue was dipping in and out of her like that. 

“I-I didn’t know alphas ever did this,” she laughed breathlessly, grinding herself down against his mouth. 

He answered with a deep moan of appreciation. Honestly, if he could stay there like that forever, he would be a happy man. Her taste was absolutely intoxicating, and as he sucked at her clit, the sounds she let out were no less incredible. 

“Fuck,” She sighed, leaning her head back as she felt her stomach flutter. “I wanna cum…”

Bucky growled, the sound vibrating through her. His tongue found her clit one more, teasing it, flicking it, chasing it whenever her hips bucked away from him. He could taste more and more slick as it ran into his mouth, and judging by the whines and moans above him, he was doing a damn good job of eating her out.

“Fuck, Fuck, Fuck…” She whispered, desperately rolling her hips against him. 

He was ready, eagerly anticipating a flood of slick, but just as Amoretta felt herself getting close, she forced herself up and off of his face. 

“N-not yet,” she panted, shuffling back down to straddle his waist.

His cock was already hard again, his hips flexing as he desperately tried to thrust into her. Bucky watched, licking slick off his lips, as his omega slowly guided him into her, his cock slipping inside of her dripping cunt effortlessly. 

She was so warm and so fucking perfect, and as she rose up and then sank down on him again, Bucky thrust upwards. He matched her, letting her choose her pace, and as she rode him, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her face. 

Her mouth was open, gasps and moans falling from her lips. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes closed, and as he pushed up even further into her, she bit her lip to silence a cry. 

“Don’t be quiet, doll,” he panted. “I want this whole damn tower to hear you.”

“James,” she moaned, leaning down to kiss him. “James, Alpha…”

He used her change in angle to his advantage, taking the opportunity to fuck up into her hard. 

“Come on, baby…” he panted against her mouth. “Drain my cock, lemme breed you…”

“Y-yes, Alpha,” She moaned, burying her face against his neck. He was so deep, the head of his cock pressing against her cervix in a way she couldn’t manage to describe. He was just filling her, completely, until he was the only thing she could think about. His scent, the taste of the sweat on his skin, his growls and moans...he was everything. 

Amoretta was completely wrapped up in him, surrounded by him, drunk on the musky, heady scent he was giving off. She was vaguely aware of the way he chanted her name, his voice low and husky as he huffed and panted. 

“Let go, baby,” he mumbled. He was getting close, he could tell, but he was trying to hold out for her. “Cum for me, cum for your alpha…”

She whined, pleasure coiling in her belly. “I—I wanna, I’m—I’m so close—“

The sound of her voice was almost too much, his knot already beginning to swell. She could feel it catching on her and let out a loud wail, her pussy clamping down and squeezing his cock as she felt that delicious, tingling electricity spreading through her. 

“That’s it,” he moaned, his back arching. “Fuck, ‘m gonna…gonna breed ya, omega…”

She answered with breathy gasps, her thighs shaking as an orgasm wracked her body. His knot was swelling quickly, and a few thrusts later, he let out the lowest, most guttural groan she had heard yet. She tilted her head for him and he latched onto her throat, sucking and biting at her wherever he could, leaving a trail of sloppy hickeys behind. 

He came again, hips stuttering as he filled her. They shared a long, satisfied sigh, and as his knot locked them together, they finally had the chance to catch their breath. 

“Wow,” Amoretta breathed, smiling down at him as she sat up. 

“Yeah,” he pressed his head back against the pillows. “Wow…”

As Amoretta tried to situate herself and get comfortable, she suddenly laughed. “Oh no…”

“What?” Bucky picked his head up again. 

He saw her reaching forward, her hand a significant distance from his bound wrists. 

“...you’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Oops,” She laughed, letting her hand fall to his chest. “I didn’t think this through.”

“I cannot believe you got us stuck here like this.”

“You could just break them—“

“Absolutely not!” He growled. “I like this belt!”

“Then yeah, I got us stuck here like this.”

“Jesus Christ.” He groaned, head flopping back down. 

Amoretta settled down and got comfy, resting on his chest. “Soon as your knot goes down, I’ll free you. Promise.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He grumbled. “I, uh…liked it.”

She grinned. “I knew you would.”

“We can, uh...do more of this.” he cleared his throat. “If you want.”

“You look pretty good, all desperate on your back like that,” she teased. “You’re still bossy, though…” she clucked her tongue, chastising him. “You should try being more obedient for a change.”

“Don’t push your luck.” Bucky growled. 

“Why not?” she reached up to scratch at his chin. “You might like taking orders.”

“...Only from you.”

“See?”

“Maybe.” he huffed a laugh. “We’ll see.”

Amoretta hummed and nodded. Her heart was still pounding, but as they both calmed down, they sat in a peaceful silence. She could hear Bucky’s own heart hammering away in his chest, his skin covered in a sheen of sweat from his physical exertion. He wanted to go at it again when his knot went down, but he also wanted a shower, and maybe a snack. He wanted to make sure that Amoretta ate some real food, too, and as he looked down at her as she laid on his chest, he felt discontent rising. She was thinner than he remembered, not skin and bones but still not as healthily curvy as he wanted his omega. He needed to start providing for her, making sure she was well fed and happy. Besides, what better way was there to start courting a girl than by making her good food?

“What’re you thinking about?” she asked, pulling him away from his thoughts. 

“You.” he answered, his voice a low rumble. 

His lips spread into a wide smile, but when she spoke, she was practically whispering. “You sure?”

“Course I am. Why wouldn’t I be thinkin’ about my girl?” he tried to wrap his arms around her but scowled when he remembered he was still stuck. “You doubting me while my knot is stuck inside you?”

“No.” she shook her head, resting his cheek against him. 

“...You nervous?”

Amoretta bristled at the insinuation, then nodded hesitantly. “A little…”

“‘Bout what, doll?”

“Everything, I guess. This is a whole different world from the one I’ve been living in for so long. I mean, there’s a robot in the ceiling.”

“She’s actually an AI--”

“That might be worse.” Amoretta snorted. “It’s just a lot.”

“I know.” Bucky sighed. “Trust me, I know.”

She looked up at him. “You’re so much...softer, I guess, when you’re not rutting.”

“You never really met the real me back then.” He shifted his eyes away from her. “The Winter Soldier wasn’t...me.”

“I still liked him.” she inhaled deeply, filling her head with his scent. “And I like you.”

“Good,” he said, chest rumbling in a happy purr. “Because I’m not letting you go anytime soon.”

[vrisrezis]

My mcu favs w/ crush and relationship hcs (pt 2) (not proof read)

- gonna be honest she’s not familiar with romantic feelings, takes her awhile to even realize what she feels for you

- you make her heart all melty and soft, you make her face heat up, you make her question everything she does

- you make her feel even giddy and overly happy and it kinda annoys her tbh

- she thinks you’re out to get her or something and have casted some spell but when she asks thor he has no idea what she’s talking about until she describes what she’s feeling and he just laughs and thinks she’s joking

- she’s like no. I’m serious ?

- to which thor would tell her what it is, he has a bit of an idea because of Jane

- tbh loving somebody romantically, caring about somebody to this extent scares her

- she’s lost so many people and because of it became a raging alcoholic

- if she lost you she doesn’t know what could happen

- she tries to push you away but quickly realizes she doesn’t like doing that to herself or you

- asks you to go out drinking with her often if you’re up for that

- she’d find it funny how easily you get drunk but has no problem taking care of you, in fact she would probably drink with you more often so she can take care of you because it’s the closest to intimacy she feels she can have with you (no she is not taking advantage of you or anything, it’s more just the thought of taking care of you feels intimate to her)

- also you’re cute while you’re drunk

- trans with you so you can be tougher if you’re not that tough already

- tbh asks thor to do the same with you, whether it be cuz she’s not around or because you need the extra training

- eventually Thor’s at the point where he’s like you gotta tell em and she’s like no 🖕

- but she does eventually

- she’s kinda awkward about it but she tries to sound confident with it ^^

- dating you is very different than just being her friend tbh

- like you might’ve been surprised at her asking you out, even if it’s kinda obvious to anybody that knows her well

- to any stranger you just seemed like friends with a strange rivalry relationship but that’s really not the case

- she’s much more flirty in a relationship, since she’s confident you’re with her for a reason.. she’s not the type to doubt your relationship, you’re with her for a reason

- much more protective in battle though

- she doesn’t say she loves you enough, but she shows it through her actions

- asks thor about the romantic stuff but he has no idea really so she goes to Bruce who kinda has more of a grasp on it

- tries to take you to like normal restaurant dates... kinda awkward since she had no midgardian clothes at that point

- lotsa quick kisses on the cheek or forehead

- likes cuddling as she finds it just.. kinda intimate ?

- still likes to take care of a drunk you

- quick pecks on your lips are very often

- doesn’t like the idea of going on a lot of Thor’s saving the world shits unless you’re on board with it

- thor jokes about how she’s all badass and “I don’t give a fuck about saving the world or anyone else” until it comes to you

- she kicks his ass

- but he’s not wrong

- when she likes you she’s a bit like wtf

- like she doesn’t realize it for a moment until jane explains it

- before she was her usual talkative self but there was a lot of nervousness and stuttering at times, just unusual awkwardness that made Jane raise a brow

- it makes more sense now

- since she’s aware she likes you now she often asks you to hang out, to help her out, whatever it is

- the gal is clingy af what can she say

- lotsa hugs she loves giving you hugs often does them for a greeting

- just an excuse to hold you though tbh

- at times will get tongue tied

- she tries to flirt but it just makes you confused she’s not good at it you’re not even gonna know she’s flirting

- eventually grows impatient about it and is just like “I LIKE U DUMMY! DATE ME!”

- and now you date

- she gets into things a bit quickly so if it’s too fast tell her, hopefully not a dealbreaker

- dates are often because she’s got a lot of creative ideas for dates ^^

- still hugs you as a greeting but a lot longer and intimate and a kiss follows after

- speaking of kisses she LOVES to kiss you and she does so very often

- very needy

- big cuddler

- just like “CUDDLE ME”

- so demanding

- often talks about you and how much she loves you she can’t help it

- but if anybody did the same she like “shut up nobody cares”

- even with you though she’s blunt, but much nicer about it

- likes going on just good dates, restaurants , picnic, whatever

- she eats all the food

- tries to impress you so she might say she was best friends with thor at a point

- and that she’s helped him out before and .. yeah etc

- she likes buying you clothes tbh

- especially if you don’t dress good let her dress you up pls

- would be sad if you didn’t get along with Jane

- it would be a dealbreaker actually

- she knows she’s a bit much so she feels happy you love her anyways

- vision of course will not understand his feelings

- he understands you definitely make him feel something, that something being good

- for a moment he might think he feels like this is how best friends feel towards another, or even thinking he sees you in a familial light

- tony quickly tells him that is not the case

- once vision understands what he really feels he’s not sure how to go about it, he can be quite oblivious

- he’s aware of this but still .. what does he do?

- asks tony for advice, he tells him to flirt and see how it goes

- but tbh that doesn’t work, you don’t even realize he’s flirting gonna be honest

- he’s just bad at it

- so he tries to just simply state his affection, that doesn’t work because he doesn’t know how to word it without it sounding platonic, or getting too nervous about going too far

- he doesn’t wanna overstep boundaries

- tony is in pain watching this btw

- tony eventually is just like “he wants to know if you would like to go on a date” “w- I.. yes?”

- in a relationship he is very sweet

- kinda cliche though, since he doesn’t have a concept of romance at all

- looks up a lot of the things he should know about romance he doesn’t want to ask you that

- while he has no problem protecting you, he doesn’t feel the need to be overly protective unless needed

- he’s logical, reasonable, he only gets protective if he has to, even with how he feels towards you

- but do you distract him? Yes absolutely

- he’s okay with living comfortably and normally for once with you, unless it’s something you don’t want or are not ready for

- once you’re conditioned to a certain lifestyle, even if it isn’t a good one it can be uncomfortable to get out of and he understands that

- he loves to kiss you, often initiates kisses or forms of affection

- you were the first to kiss him, it made him so flustered but so happy and now he’s addicted to kissing you

- loves kissing your hands

- if you have any insecurity he will do anything in his power to prove you wrong and that he doesn’t see you in that light

- he understands he has responsibilities but other than that, loves spending his time with you

- he understands you’re a distraction so he tries not to fight with you, he wants to prioritize the people when it comes to this kinda thing

- which you of course understand

- once you teach him what dancing is, his love language is dancing with you

- you two just stay up talking about nothing and everything

- having kids with him isn’t an option, but he isn’t opposed to adopting children

- after all, all he’s ever wanted was to be a normal significant other to you

- do not have a huge concept on her character so forgive me 🙏

- she can be a bit flirty, not that you mind though right ?

- she just loves spending all her time with you

- probably met you before wandavision

- so you’re probably already together

- even then in wandavision you two were “roommates”

- doesn’t explain all the flirting girl .

- agathas fall would be letting Wanda find out she had a soft spot for you my god

- while she’s all confidence and flirty in general, she’s a bit softer with you

- like she genuinely means the things she says when it comes to you

- eventually asks you to date her, you don’t have much room for dates outside of wandavision

- you two are always together btw

- loves dancing with you

- she has a good grasp on romance so she has no issue with it

- she is full of confidence when it comes down to it tbh

- holds your hand often

- your relationship ain’t official till like the 70s probably

- might joke after wanda has kids that you both should have kids too

- while she’s causing her mischief you back her up to make her look less suspicious

- seriously in the mist of all this she’s grateful for you

- especially when you get her out of the hell that Wanda puts her in once again

- to which she will actually confess she loves you, and cares for you

- you aren’t just like.. some person to date

- she’s not the most vulnerable obviously

- so the fact she finally is.. it’s just a lot

- “idk I just love u a lot hun . Cant I show I love u 😊”

- she’s just so overly sweet with you

- she’s so awful to everyone else at times that she just likes being .. with you and being a softie

- likes you playing with her hair

- she loves a good cuddle

- cute nicknames like hon, or hun, or just teddy bear

- with a crush quill might try to act overly friendly

- and probably flirts a lot

- he’s very like obvious with the flirting so you’d have to be oblivious not to notice it

- he can be quite protective as well

- like not just in fighting but even with just others like even before dating he’s very jealous

- if he makes a joke you’re always in on it somehow

- he tries for form a close bond with you just cuz he likes you so much

- it’s likely he likes somebody that can easily protect themselves doe

- probably has some dumb handshake with you

- honestly he acts like a close friend to you

- people might mistake you for a sibling like relationship if it weren’t for his flirting and him staring at you like you’re his entire universe

- seriously Sam says Bucky has a staring problem, quill is fucking awful

- it’s constant and rocket is always like “you’re staring”

- and he’s like “nO” and then continues to stare

- has you listen to his favorite music of course

- especially the love songs ;D

- will just dance with you to the music he puts on

- one time you guys are dancing to the music he put on like normal but it’s a slow love song, so hes like let’s so dance bae

- and then he tells you how he feels for u

- now u date <3

- lots of forehead kisses

- cuddle bug absolutely

- still a jealous boyfriend though tbh he will try to seem all tough in front of any man he thinks might be better or something he will do anything to show off

- your relationship doesn’t change just lots of kisses and hugs now and I love yous

- you’re totally the relationship that’s like “I love you more” “nooo I love you more” and the guardians hate y’all so much

- he uses nicknames like hun, honey, love, sweetheart

- let’s just say you slow dance more often, and kiss while doing so ^^

- he flirts with you still but it’s a lot more sweet rather than before where he might’ve just flirted with you in terms of like it being kinda like calling you sexy and shit like that, now it’s more like wow u look beautiful I luv u 😊🙏

- would do anything for you, even if he wouldn’t like it

- doesn’t mean he wouldn’t hesitate tho

- going on separate dates isn’t really an option since you guys fight left and right and are always with the guardians, but he decided every once a couple months you guys go on a date together and have some fun

- Loki doesn’t get crushes, so this is a new thing for him

- and tbh he doesn’t know how to take it either, especially when he realizes how strong those feelings actually are

- he hates the idea of being vulnerable in general, especially when it comes to you

- over time it just... happens

- but if there’s any indication he likes spending time with you he will try to lie his way through it, he’s a good liar of course so it probably works

- however he shows he at the very least cares about you, he shows a sign of protectiveness when it comes to potential enemies.. enemies that happen to be dangerous for you

- plus he’s around you like constantly and claims he has nobody else to harass

- he claims he doesn’t care about you at all, but even thor can tell through this lie

- the way he looks at you makes it obvious

- the way he doesn’t try to get you involved in his more dangerous schemes

- and if you do, and you get hurt he feels guilty and tries to help you feel better

- he claims he just owes you one for getting you hurt though

- eventually thor bothers him enough to get him to confess feelings, which takes a lot for Loki to even go through with

- he acts confident, even moreso after you say yes, but deep down was extremely nervous

- the male is good at making you feel important, after trying so hard to hide his feelings he is tired of it and just wants to be more honest about how he feels about you

- no issue being vulnerable, he trusts you but sometimes it can be hard

- he goes to you for a lot of his problems, even if you cannot help, just venting and you listening helps

- he was already with you a lot but now there’s no excuses and it’s even moreso

- “what? I just wanted to visit my beautiful s/o” “we literally just saw eachother 5 minutes ago can I please go to bed”

- likes pressing your foreheads together, he finds it sweet

- jealous of thor? Absolutely. Pls comfort him and tell him you’d never leave him for thor

- he’s so used to just not being as good as him, he wants to be good enough for you

- deep down there’s just so many insecurities he has

- so it causes him to worry like all the time

- having a reassuring and patient s/o is so good for him ^^

- flirting becomes a thing in your relationship

- it makes him feel more confident pls give him this

- protective, he feels like he has to be tbh because he never gets anything good in his life and if he does he loses it, he’s scared to lose you too

- if for some reason he can’t see you he makes an illusion of you to talk to

- when he fake dies you’re the first he goes to see so you don’t think he’s dead, he loves you he wouldn’t want to do that to you =(

- finally

- gonna be honest bucky with a crush is cute

- first of all he smiles at you a lot, Steve is the first to notice how much he smiles around you, it’s the most he smiles like ever

- just has a lot of nice conversations with you about anything and everything

- also whenever you’re around even if other people are around you he’s just like “hey y/n :)”

- heart eyes for you, just can’t help but stare all the time

- he has a staring problem but with you? Yeah 10x over

- Sam always has something to say abt it also

- his idea of flirting with you is really just saying hi to you, just being overly friendly which is noticeable for a guy like Bucky

- eventually would ask you out, he tries to ease into it but he gets a bit impatient

- he was also nervous asking you out but yk

- when dating him he becomes very protective

- one of the most protective bitches on the list tbh

- he gets nightmares about you dying like all the time it breaks him everytime though

- lots of cuddles, whether it be from a rough day, he’s just tired, or had a nightmare

- he likes his hair being brushed by you and played with, even when he cuts it

- he’s scared of killing you and turning into the winter soldier again

- has dreams about when he’s hurt and fought you as the winter soldier, he keeps thinking about if Steve wasn’t there to help, he really could’ve killed you and that terrifies him

- even when you tell him it wasn’t him, he appreciates it but still feels horrible about it

- touch that metal arm, but like gently Yknow . Nobody’s ever touched that arm with such kindness and it makes him soft and feel lucky

- speaking of soft Bucky is very soft, there’s many soft moments with Bucky and vulnerability

- it’s easy to be vulnerable with you but not others

- lots of handholding

- he loves hugging you for long periods of time

- still has a staring problem but now Sam openly makes fun of him

- just big dumb smile on his face as he looks at you

- especially when you’re dealing with kids, seeing you be around them makes his heart warm

- maybe he does wanna be normal, settle down and have kids

- though the thought scares him it is something he desires

- we all know he calls you doll

[anime-academix]

Scars

Headcanon

Characters: Midoriya, Todoroki, Aizawa, Shigaraki, Dabi

Midoriya:

You know how hard he trains to become the number one hero and you’re his number one supporter!

But because of that, he usually ends up hurt as a result

You’ve lectured him several times that he needs to be more careful when training

He tries, he truly does, but he gets so into becoming stronger, a lot of the times he slips up

Whenever you’re made aware that he’s injured and in the infirmary, you almost always see a new scar forming on his body

Everytime he sees you, he can’t help but be ashamed of himself for getting himself hurt yet again

He gets kind of insecure of all the scars he’s accumulated over his time at UA already

It happens when you two are hanging out--after a major injury on his arm from the fight at the training camp--that you see the sleeve covering his right arm

You can’t help but trace the sleeve on his arm

He takes notice to where your eyes are and shifts uncomfortably, holding his arm with his opposite hand as he looks down

“Can I see it?” You question and he’s taken aback.

He hesitantly nods and lifts his arms up ever so slightly toward you.

Delicately, you pull off the sleeve only to reveal a huge scar, purple in colour, starting from the top of his shoulder to the bottom of his elbow

He will be on the verge of tears because he thinks his scars are ugly

You’ll put his hand in yours and plant kisses on the huge scar gently and work your way around to kiss the other scars on his arms

This boy will straight up start crying, which may even lead you to tear up a bit

You’ll ask him why he’s crying and attempt to wipe away a few of his tears

“My scars are so hideous...and I j-just have so many of them and--”

“Izu, listen to me. Sure, I don’t like the fact that you have scars because it’s a reminder of how much you get hurt. But that doesn’t mean they're hideous. They’re beautiful. Yeah, it’s a reminder of pain, but it’s an even bigger reminder of your strength and bravery. And I am so proud of how far you’ve come. I know I can’t heal them like Recovery Girl, but I will kiss every single one of them everyday if I have to. I love them and I love you.”

Hugs the life out of you while crying into your chest, repeatedly telling you how much he loves you

Todoroki:

Ever since you and Todoroki started dating, you knew he was insecure about the scar on his face

He’s only insecure about it because of the memory attached to the scar and it brings him great pain

You were the only person he could trust enough to talk about his past and this insecurity

Whenever the two of you are together, you can’t help but occasionally steal glances at it

You don't stare at it in disgust, it reminds you of the stories he’s told you of his past and you can’t help but feel a slight pain in your heart when you think of everything he’s gone through but also awe at how much strength and courage he has

He’s truly brilliant

He catches you staring at him

“What're you thinking about?”

He will immediately catch on that you’re looking at his scar and will subtly look away

“You...Shouto, will you look at me?”

He’s taken aback but hesitantly turns to you, exposing his scar again

“Can I touch it? Your scar?”

Doesn’t know how to respond to this unexpected question but nods his head slightly.

Trusts you with his whole entire heart

Your hand cups the side of his face as your thumb softly caresses the bottom of his scar

Instantly melts into your soft hand, finds comfort in your touch

Eventually you’ll find yourself sitting on his lap with his arms wrapped around you and your hand cupping his face

“You’re beautiful.”

A small smile appears on his lips as he looks up at you

“And your scar is beautiful” You added, pressing a soft kiss on his scar

The kiss will cause his cheeks to heat up which leads him to hug you tightly, his head against your chest.

“Thank you...I love you.”

“I love you too, Shouto.”

Aizawa:

It doesn’t bother him that much that he has an obvious scar under his right eye so he doesn’t think about it too much

He doesn’t think about it until he’s with you

But, it’s not a bad thing at all!

You’re a very affectionate person, especially when the two of you are alone

So when he comes home from doing hero work and/or teaching, he can almost always expect to come back to cuddles and kisses

It happens when the two of you are cuddling that you’re pressing kisses on him but stop when you get to his scar

Aizawa LOVES when you kiss his scar

No matter how many times you do, each time is always so special

You’ll trace his scar with the pads of your fingertips while his arms rest lazily around you

Your soft caresses are honestly enough to make him drowsy as his eyes close

You run your other hand through his long black hair, humming softly

A few soft kisses are placed on his scar

That’ll earn you a small smile from him as he opens his eyes

Will begin peppering soft kisses around your neck which will cause you to move your other hand and place it in his hair

He’ll remove his lips from your neck before passionately pressing them against your own lips

A hum of satisfaction will be heard from the two of you

You both adore these moments with each other. When the two of you are close, intimate, vulnerable but in each other’s arms. The moments where you both give and receive confirmation that you love and adore every single part of each other

Shigaraki:

Extremely shy when it comes to physical intimacy/affection

You're almost always the one to initiate it

Because you’re immune to his quirk, it’s a relief to him that he can touch you without having to worry about you turning into dust in his hands--that is WHEN he decides to be bold enough to touch you

Didn’t really care about his scars until you came into his life and he became self conscious about it

He honestly thought you’d think his scars were ugly so he would try to avoid moments of vulnerability with you

But you though the complete opposite

You can honestly see right through him

Happens when he gets severely injured after a failed mission that you have to patch him up

Kurogiri will bring him to your room where he’s in pretty bad shape

When it’s just the two of you, he’ll remove all of the hands from his body

Despite his injuries, he’s INSANELY nervous to be this vulnerable around you

No matter how many times you’ve seen him without the hands, he still gets anxious

Freaks out a little when you sit beside him to tend to his wounds

Becomes even more self conscious showing the scars on his face, especially the ones on his lips. He will shake his hair slightly to cover his face

At this point, you’re a little fed up with your own boyfriend avoiding you constantly

“Tenko…will you please look at me?”

The use of his real name will catch him COMPLETELY off guard 

Can’t help but turn to look at you, his head slightly tilted down

You’ll cup his face in your hands

“Will you stop hiding from me?”

“I have to...I need to.”

“No you don’t. Why are you saying that?”

“Because...I’m...not...I’m not attractive enough for you.”

“What? That’s bullshit. Why would you think that, my love? You’re beautiful, even more than that.”

Stares up at you, would honestly want to cry right then and there at your words

He was always so used to people calling him horrifying because of his skin and scars, therefore he became disinterested at what others thought of his looks because it was always the same. That is, until he met you

You’ll kiss the scar above and below his lips softly. You’ll brush the hair out of his face and place soft kisses on his cheek and below his eye

He didn’t mean for it to happen, but he’ll actually start crying. He will wrap his arms around your waist softly, moving his head to rest on your shoulder.

You'll wrap your arms around him, running your fingers through his hair softly as he sobs quietly

“Shh...I’m here. You’re safe.”

It was then he would know that no matter how many scars he had, you would love him and all of his imperfections

He would genuinely feel loved by you, a feeling he was not familiar with

Dabi:

I mean, Dabi’s scars are more than quite obvious (due to...A+ parenting, thank Endeavour!)

He honestly tries to act all tough, like his scars don’t bother him and pays no attention to it

Happens when he exits the bathroom from showering, shirtless and wearing a pair of sweatpants

He won’t say it aloud but you’ve observed that he’s more comfortable showing the entirety of his scars around you

You’ll wrap your arms around him from behind and begin kissing his scarred shoulder

Will genuinely think that you’re just being a little frisky, but that thought will be put to bed when you whisper that you think he’s beautiful

This will catch him entirely off guard

He’s never been called beautiful before

Turns around and looks down at you with soft eyes

“What are you talking about?” Will honestly try to laugh it off and pretend like it doesn’t mean everything to him that you just told him that

But you can read him almost too well so you know that actually has an affect on him

You’ll smile and gently cup the side of his face

You won’t say anything but kiss the scars on his face

He’ll roll his eyes, but you both know that he secretly loves your touches on his scars

[tsukishimas-shortcake]

That’s the point baby

↦ Character(s): (3rd year) Tsukishima Kei X fem!reader

↦ Warnings: dom!Tsukki, bratty!fem!reader, light overstimulation, creampie, a tiny tiny bit of degradation, oral (m. receiving), man handling, I don’t know what you would call it but there is a photo taken of the reader after sex, not proof read. 

↦ Word Count: 2.8k

↦ Your Order:  “hi momo, can i request a midnight special with tsukishima x fem!reader with overstimulation and creampie kink please 👉👈 and if it's not too much for you i wish u could make it fluff at the end 👉👈 thank you so much, i hope u always have an amazing day 💕💕” - anon   

↦ Your Momo’s Receipt: Of course, and I do apologize I completely forgot about the part where you asked for fluff at the end, I may write a part two or just post a Tsukki flavored fluffy cupcake if that’s okay with you lovely anon! Thank you so much for your order and I hope you enjoy your time here at Momo’s! If you feel like it leave comments for the chef and please come again! 

You were in a tough spot, maybe you could call it between a rock and a hard place, since technically you were pushed against a wall and Tsukishima’s chest. Now, how did you get here? Well let’s go back.

The day began as normal, the morning was humid and fog muddled your sight, making it unable to enjoy the normal scenery you would pass on the way to your destinations around town. However, it was supposed to be extremely hot today, and hot and humid was probably the worst thing for you, especially having to wear a school uniform that required a white shirt. 

This caused you to ditch the knee high socks you normally wore and decided to leave your blazer at home, making sure to wear your tie, if you were going to get in trouble for your uniform you wanted to make sure you didn’t get into too much trouble. On your way to school you would normally meet up with your boyfriend at the half way point and walk the remaining half mile or so, but sadly Kei was at school already for early morning practice.

By the time you got to school you had run into Yachi as she walked with some of the new managers-in training that would take over the volleyball activities coming graduation, when she saw you she immediately dismissed them to go finish errands and began walking to you, both of you walking to your class together while chatting.

“So, how was this morning?” You asked softly, playing with the handle of your bag, “um...” Yachi said and looked around, almost avoiding the answer to such a simple question making you a bit confused, “I heard Kei-kun is a bit... mad today... not mad but frustrated you know?” she said, rambling on trying to phrase it in a way that would seem nicer even though she wasn’t being rude. You just nodded and looked at her, “do you know why?” you inquired and she shook her head, apparently she hadn’t shown up until half way through morning practice and the ‘incident’ had happened before then. 

The scenarios and memories of frustrated Kei was something you loved, as long as he wasn’t being rude to people too much you found it kind of fun to mess with him. Walking into your class Kei was sitting at his desk by the window, his headphones on as he scrolled through his phone. You sat down at your desk, which thankfully was the one next to his and leaned to try and make your self known. 

“Kei~” you waved at him and he glanced at you, slowly scrolling a few more times before tapping his phone and taking his headphones off with a sigh as he pushed his glasses up and turned in his seat to look at you. “Morning.” He stated a bit harshly, causing you to pout at him ever so slightly, “you okay?” you asked him, trying to look at him with big cute eyes to see how easily he may be swayed, weighing your chances and how you should act around him today. 

“Yeah, just fine.” He said before turning in his seat to face forward, keeping his head looking at you though, “how are you? was the walk to school okay?” he said, to which you answered quickly, telling him about how you go there quicker than normal because you walked faster but sadly were lonely. The teacher walked in and began class, causing everyone to get quiet.

Throughout the day your goal was now to annoy Kei to the point of him taking out his frustration in the way you hoped, on you. The hot weather paired with the humidity caused the windows of the classroom to be opened, causing the air to become thicker thanks to said humidity. Sadly for Tsukishima your white shirt was beginning to turn see through on your sides where your arms laid against your sides, showing your bra underneath.

The skirt you were wearing also repeatedly being pulled up higher as your legs kept getting hotter against the chair, making you want to get as much air to touch your skin as possible. This caused his eyes to fixate on your thighs, going between both your thighs and your chest his thoughts continued to transition from his academics to you, specifically to things he wants to do to you.

Of course most of this was done on purpose, you wore a darker colored bra today knowing it would be hot, obviously not planning to sweat this much but definitely knowing it would be a bit noticeable if you really focused on your shirt. Now in order to make your plan work you also continued to pull up the skirt higher than necessary, knowing it would catch his attention more than the shirt.

By the time school had ended Kei was unbearably frustrated, basically forgetting this morning’s situation, which you still had no real information about, but rather he was frustrated knowing you chose to distract him all day today. Lucky for you, since there was a morning practice afternoon practice was optional, and you knew frustrated Kei would definitely opt to take you home. 

The bell rang throughout the building, people instantly running out while a few stayed and quietly packed their things. You packed your things slowly and normally Tsukki would’ve done the same, but instead you felt a hand on your arm and heard a ‘let’s go’, hands reaching around your desk and shoving your things haphazardly into your bag. You smirked as your stood, Kei grabbing both of your bags and grabbing your hand before he began taking long strides towards your route home. 

“Kei slow down~” You whined but he didn’t even reply, just continued to walk, eventually you reached his front door and Kei groaned as he dropped his keys while trying to unlock it. “I got it!” you cheered, bending down to grab them, honestly forgetting you had ended up rolling your skirt up, your position was now showing a bit too much and as soon as you grabbed the keys Kei unlocked and then slammed the door open.

He kicked his shoes off and didn’t give you time to fully pull yours off before pulling you roughly towards his room. “Baby...” you said, feigning ignorance to what was causing him to be so rough, “are we going to study for our science test? we need our bags if we are.” you said with a smirk, “you know damn well we aren’t going to be studying.” he said in a low tone, closing his bedroom door behind you both.

He threw off his school jacket and put everything else down at his desk. “I’m not too sure what you mean.” You said, still unable to hide your smirk and your excitement of seeing him frustrated, his jaw clenched and his glare sharper than normal. “I’m not in the mood today y/n, don’t play around and tease me more than you already have.” he said as he looked at you and began to move closer to you, backing you against the wall, “hm~ tease you?” you said with a smirk that you know he can now see since he wasn’t turned away from you this time. 

“Yes, tease me.” he said, moving one of his hands to run the tips of his fingers down the middle of your neck and down to the buttons of your shirt, too which his fingers began to open. “you know... I’m aware you know I was upset this morning, but the fact you decided to act like some dumb whore... that was a bit too much... how am I not supposed to voice that frustration when you purposely try to make me mad?” he said, his voice getting quieter as he leaned down until his voice was a whisper and his lips were almost touching your ear,

“Well, what are you going to do about it?” you said before moving so you can look up at him, his fingers now done unbuttoning your shirt and now reaching towards the zipper on your skirt, “fuck me?” you said a bit mockingly, his straight face slowly turned into a sinister smirk “yeah,” he said and looked you in the eye as he pulled the zipper so hard it would’ve ripped off if the material was any cheaper “that’s the plan baby.” he said and pushed your skirt down, it falling around your ankles.

This caused you to almost shudder in anticipation but you bottled it up, hoping that no reaction may cause him to be rougher. “then do it.” you said in a low tone, Kei grabbed your side roughly, pulling you from the wall so he can push your shirt off, it falling to the floor not even an inch away from your skirt. Since you weren’t moving Tsukki decided he would just lift you, killing two birds with one stone as he got the skirt off of your ankles and got you onto his bed in the same movement. 

He set you on the edge of his bed before looking at you, not saying a word as he began to take off his own clothes, everything except his pants. “take care of it.” he stated bluntly, making you immediately get onto your knees in front of him. As you reached up to unbuckle his belt you looked up to meet his eyes. 

The look in his eyes was a look that almost allowed you to read his mind, you took off the belt and quickly unzipped his pants and pulled them down. He kicked them off and you looked straight at his hard member through his briefs. His hand went to the back of your head as you kissed along his length over his briefs, the hand tangling in your hair and gripping a bit tighter as he began getting impatient. 

“Stop teasing me if you know what’s good for you.” he said and you quickly looked up at him “yes sir.” you said obediently and began to pull his briefs off and then moving to take just his tip into your mouth, swirling your tongue around it before hollowing out your cheeks. After a few seconds you let it out of your mouth with a small pop. 

As you take him down your throat, trying to only go half way, the pressure on the back of your head from his hand causes you to push even more of his length down. In your attempt not to gag you placed your hands on Tsukki’s thighs, lightly digging your thumbs into his skin. “Who said you could touch me with anything but that pretty mouth?” He mumbled, it partially coming out as a groan.

Before you could pull off of him to answer he pushes your head back down, holding you there until he felt you begin to gag and then pushing you back and pulling you from your knees to sit on the bed. You looked up at him as he stared you down, his hands moved inside your thighs and pulled them apart, your soaked panties now on full display. 

A scoff from Tsukki caused heat to rush to your cheeks in embarrassment “you really get this wet from acting like a whore and making me mad?” he laughed softly, very lightly dragging his finger tip up your clothed slit before hooking his fingers around the middle and pulling your panties off while his other hand unclasped your bra. 

“Mainly from making you mad.” You whispered in a slightly bratty tone, your voice wavering however due to your need, this caused Tsukki to smirk even more. “Well, then I guess I should give you what you want huh?” He said before basically throwing you onto your stomach, pulling your hips in order to make you sit on your knees with your elbows down on his mattress. 

“Color?” He growled as he pumped his own length with one hand and groped your ass and thighs with the other. “Green.” you said, your voice muffled against the pillow in front of you. “Good.” He said as he slid his length between your folds, using your wetness as lubricant before suddenly slamming into your entrance. 

What had originally started out as a whine due to what was previously him teasing your folds was now a full moan that was almost a scream due to the sudden pleasure that flooded over you when he began to thrust into you. 

His kept one hand on your hip, his grasp slowly getting tighter as his thrusts got rougher. His other hand was moving between your chest and you hair, only pulling at your hair when you had leaned too far forward. The noise you made when he grabbed your hair and pulled you back into the original position was music to his ears. 

After a few hard thrusts and his hips becoming sloppy he moved his hand down to your clit, knowing from the way your thighs were shaking from the strength you were exerting to hold yourself up he knew you were close. The rough pad of his fingers sent you over the edge, your orgasm washed over you as the heat in the pit of your stomach turned into pure pleasure, he smirked when he felt your walls clench around him repeatedly but continued to thrust. 

Once you had seemingly calmed down from your first release he began his assault once again, speeding up, but this time he pushed down on the small of your back, causing you to lay flat against the bed and he moved to lay on top of you. His head above yours and his breath now against his ear, “how does it feel baby? Do you still enjoy making me mad?” He asked breathlessly and you nodded your head in agreement causing him to bite at the space between your neck and shoulder. 

His voice began to come out of his mouth against your shoulder before he quickly stopped talking, his hands gripping you tighter and his nails digging into your skin slightly. As he continued to thrust you felt your self growing closer to your second orgasm thanks to not just to him continuing his assault so soon after your first orgasm but also the feeling of your clit being ground against the sheets you laid on.

“I’m gonna cum inside you okay sweetheart?” He questioned although it was more of a statement, you released for the second time from the feeling of his release shooting inside you. He continued to thrust into you, his own high seeming to not pass and your second already ending. 

He groaned lightly before he bit at your shoulder “one more time.” he said before he started thrusting harder, trying to make sure his second orgasm wouldn’t run away from him too quickly, trying desperately to cum for the second time as soon as possible. 

He slammed into your entrance a few more times, this time focusing more on the strength of his thrusts than the speed, the only thing on his mind being to get as deep inside you before releasing. Just as he came again you reached your third and hopefully final release, he ground his hips against yours, not pulling out but wanting to ride out his high.

After stilling completely he relaxed against you, his chest heavy against your back as he attempted to catch his breath. For the first time since he began fucking you he moved the hand that was on your hip, moving it up to fix his glasses before slowly pulling out of you. 

He smirked as he moved back, his stare looking like he was enjoying a view, you went to sit up but you heard him let out a small “don’t” before moving closer and grabbing your ankles to spread your legs back out.

He grabbed his phone and took a photo before turning his phone around for you to see the photo, the scene of your entrance leaking his cum, his lips basically touching your ear as he whispered “I’m going to keep this as a reminder for you when you want to be bad again.” He said and smirked before turning off his phone and standing back up fully.

As he moved to grab a drink from his bed side table you began to sit up, he almost choked on his water from a laugh when he quickly took a few more gulps and set it to the side.

“I don’t know where you’re planning on going. Get back on your hands and knees.” He said with his signature smirk, causing you to whine. 

“I’m not finished with you just yet baby.” He said as he moved back to the bed.

⸻

© This writing is owned by tsukishimas-shortcake. Do not share on other sites without permission and do not plagiarize!

[chudleycanonficfest]

Day 30, Post 1 by @blimeypeople

Hi! This is my first time writing a fiction story in English (I'm not a native english speaker) and it's unbetaed :(  If you have time to spot something wrong or if this story doesn't make any sense, just let me know, pretty please?

Thanks for hosting this fest. You're all so awesome!

---

Title: Don’t run, please.

Author: blimey,people

Pairing: Ron/Hermione

Prompt: Parenthood

Rating: G

Hermione Granger-Weasley really thought her life was perfect, that she had achieved everything she wanted and made her heart happy: she had a husband who loved her, a job she enjoyed, saw her friends and family whenever she could (well Sunday lunches at The Burrow were an unwritten rule but she enjoyed them a lot), but then what was she doing running through the corridors of the Ministry of Magic? Hiding from her husband, that's what she was doing. She turned on the corner of one of the corridors, she was no longer running, but she was walking hurriedly heading in the direction of the main library of the Ministry, so big and wide that not only was it difficult to locate the books you needed, but also the people that were inside. The best hiding place, Hermione thought and quickened her pace when she saw him: Ron, standing in front of the large wooden doors, staring at his shoes in his scarlet Auror team uniform, which was somewhat wrinkled. Probably coming back from training, Hermione barely had time to think when she turned around running to the opposite side. They were quite far apart, so it wouldn’t be that easy for him to reach her but he was faster.

  "Hermione!" She heard him scream, but she couldn't stop, she was scared, she was afraid of having a conversation with him. She accelerated her escape as she felt his footsteps getting closer.

  "Hermione! Don't run, please! " She had heard that voice a few times. Her memories took her to a particular occasion, when she was also hiding, but from evil forces who wanted to end their lives and the life of their best friend. She couldn’t resist his voice, she had resisted it countless times while he asked her for forgiveness inside the horrendous tent. It hurt her soul, it hurt her not being able to hug him telling him how much she loved him, but her pride won. Only months later, she was able to achieve what her heart and mind most wanted: to reveal her feelings and be reciprocated. Now her heart and mind told her this was far more important, that this could perhaps destroy the relationship that with so much love, time and dedication they had built, this could possibly end one of their most cherished dreams, burst the bubble of joy and emotion that had appeared inside them almost three months ago. This could take away their most precious gift: their future child.

  So she stopped, took a deep breath, and waited for him to catch up with her. It didn't take many seconds when she felt his long fingers capture her left wrist leading her towards a deserted office.

  I should’ve flooed home, Hermione thought as she walked alongside Ron. He would have found me there in an instant though, I should’ve gone to..., she tried to complete the thought, when she was struck by doubt. Her choices were limited in terms of places where she could just go to think without being seen, without being interrupted, no questions being asked by anyone. Her childhood room in her parents' house might have been a great option, but now recently her parents had semi-retired from their jobs (occasionally they went to the office in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, at times they took turns and one of them stayed home while the other went to work), thus Hermione didn't know for sure when the house was thoroughly empty. Besides if they found her in her old room on a Friday lunch, at the time in which she should still be at the Ministry plus they were aware that, due to her almost obsession with completing every unfinished task at the end of the week, Fridays were her most complicated days at work, it would potentially lead them to ask her thousands of questions and if she chose to answer truthfully, as she had done since she met them again in Australia two months after the war, tired of hiding things from them. This time, though, she was certain they wouldn’t be as understanding as they were back then. Now the situation wasn't just about her, it involved someone more important and vulnerable, someone they hadn't met yet but they already loved.

  Her parents, Jean and Hugo, were over the moon since the day they learned about the arrival of their first grandson or granddaughter. The imminent growth of their little family filled them with infinite joy. On countless moments, mainly when Hermione and Ron would give them the news about the birth of a new child in the ever growing Weasley family, the faces of Jean and Hugo gave away what they wanted: they were dying to ask her when she and Ron would finally decide to have one of their own. Therefore they were ecstatic. The decision to adapt a room on the first floor as a playroom for their future grandson or granddaughter came easily. Well, we don’t need a library anymore, do we, Hugo?, said her mom. It took them a week to disappear the shelves loaded with books that were once part of the room. Toys, kids books, little stuffed animals, big stuffed animals, a white cot and the largest most colorful collection of clothes Hermione had ever seen overflowed the rather large space. Apparently, her mother considered it was better to have more variety than later needing a neon green footie embroidered with dinosaurs and not having it on hand. Her father, more serene and restrained, but just as enthusiastic, had bought a beautiful memoir book for the baby, where he himself would be in charge of writing down every detail of his or her first year of life. However, Hermione was sure something was wrong with her for she hadn't been able to share the same level of enthusiasm of her parents or her husband hence she just smiled everytime they mentioned the baby. Therefore, she was certain Jean and Hugo would probably agree with Ron on this issue. So now he was being proven right, they would help him convince her to "do the right thing for the baby." Except she honestly couldn’t discern what was right anymore so the confusion and fear consumed her. She loved her job, enjoyed the responsibilities that came with it, rejoiced in every new challenge she encountered no matter the outcome, she was sure of it. Her newly discovered feelings for the little human being growing inside of her were what confused and scared her at the same time.

  Ron guided her to an old and solitary chair within the rather desolated office gently helping her to sit on it. Rather than sitting beside Hermione, he stood in front of her and crouched down. He took one of her hands, placed it on top of her knee, gently stroking it.

  “Hermione, the evidence is overwhelming. If they were able to send an object specifically charmed to harm you into your office, it is because they aren’t our most common enemies. It means they are doing their homework figuring out your routines. They’ve been following you for at least a few weeks. They knew that only us usually go there so you would open the package without a second thought,” Ron couldn't control the tone of sadness, anger and despair as he spoke.

  Minutes before lunch, Hermione received a small package wrapped in a black paper with little stars, the wrapping of Hermione's new favorite bookstore in Muggle London. She frequently went there alone and sometimes Ron accompanied her. She ran to get it, unwrapping it in an instant. She didn’t even have time to see the title of the literary work, when the book came to life and suspended in the air began to hit her repeatedly, increasingly hard on the chest, arms, legs. Her wand was on the handbag she regularly took to lunch. The book kept hitting her, in one moment heading for her belly. Hermione started to scream, moving as far as she could from the object. In seconds, the auror who was stationed outside her office managed to undo the spell. It wasn’t the first threat, that's why the auror guarded her office. Whoever was behind it, had tried to harm her on previous occasions but they had never been so close to actually hurting her. The spell was very powerful, the package was able to pass the rigorous inspection of the experienced auror. A mother who genuinely loved her child would already be home, protecting him or her by being away from danger, the thought stunned her. She began to run through the corridors of the Ministry even when she heard the auror screaming for her to stop. She didn’t want to see anyone, especially Ron, who a week ago had almost begged her to stay home for a few days while they determined who was threatening her.

  “Harry and I are very close to identifying who is doing this, Hermione. We just need you to get away from danger a bit… ” Ron started, looking her straight in the eyes.

  “I don't want to quit my job, Ron, not after working so hard for many years. I'm nearly there with the house-elf protection law… "

  “I know about all the work you've done, Hermione. I would never ask you to do it, if it weren't for… "

  "The baby," Hermione completed looking down, "I understand Ron, but I honestly don't think it's necessary ..."

  "Not putting our child at risk is more than necessary, Hermione, it will only be a few months," Ron interrupted quickly.

  "Ron, I can't. So many magical creatures trust in me..."

  "They will continue to trust in you when you return," said Ron.

  "We said having a child wouldn't alter our lives, that I would continue working, you know I don’t want to be a stay at home mum." Hermione felt Ron's hand tighten on top of hers.

  "It's not that. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if the situation wasn't like this," argued Ron, "Tough I must say you were the one saying having a child wouldn't alter our lives. I think you were trying to convince yourself. For my part, I believe that many things are going to change, things we won’t be able to control."

  "Ron…"

  "I reckon you're getting scared ..." Ron continued coming closer and reaching her shoulders to hug her.

  "I'm not…" Hermione tried to interrupt and wriggle out of the hug. But he knew her better than anyone. Hermione was sure he had noticed her doubts, insecurities and fears even before her.

  "I am scared too, I'm not just talking about the threats, because I can assure you that we are going to find out who is behind everything and he’s going to pay for putting you through this," his voice was harsh and he had struggled not to shout during the last sentence. "I’m positive you're scared for him or her too," his voice had taken a delicate, sweet tone, the tone he used when they fought and he wanted her to understand he was right without making her feel too bad.

  "You are doubting yourself, asking that brilliant mind of yours a ton of questions, not finding answers. You’re wondering if you’re going to do a good job or if you will love him or her enough. The fact is, Hermione, the love you will feel towards our child will never be enough, it will be infinite", he raised one of his hands caressing her cheek, “It's not about doing a good or bad job, love. It's about doing the best we can in our own way, making mistakes and learning together, because you do realize we're in this together, right?” Ron delicately squeezed her cheek, Hermione looked up, her beautiful blue eyes pierced through her with the deepest love, he lowered his hand placing it on her still small belly, “He or she deserves the world, I assure you we will give it to him or her when the time comes. What we can do now is protect our little one, we are not going to let anything happen to him or her. Okay, we should definitely find out if it’s a boy or a girl, I'm getting tired of this”, he grinned.

  In that instant, Hermione felt within her how the little life Ron and she had created began to move and the most profound love, love she only felt for the man in front of her, completely invaded her. Ron gave no sign of feeling it, but it wasn't necessary. She placed her hand on top of Ron's, looked him straight in the eye, and nodded. He smiled at her, hugging her tightly.

  At this precise moment in her life, despite her insecurities about her ability to love and protect her unborn child, the certainty of knowing Ron never made vain promises began to fill her with strength and hope. If he firmly believed everything would be fine, it would be. If he was by her side on this adventure, there was no doubt the next few years would be different, challenging, but wonderfully incredible.

[river-bottom-nightmare]

Damijon Secret Santa

@woahjaybird happy holidays ris!!!!!!!!!! i admit, i was a bit confused, bc you signed up for a ship fic exchange and requested platonic bros, but whatever. i hope you like it!

To be honest, it was something Damian said a lot. 

Jon heard those words practically every time Damian opened his mouth: in the middle of a mission, when they were baking pies with Ma Kent, during a stakeout, on a rooftop eating takeout. 

They used to be annoying. God, sometimes Jon just wanted to drop his restraint and punch Damian in the face, full-force. Especially when he said those words, again and again and again. Over time, though, Jon grew used to them, and after a while, they just began to amused him.

You should be afraid of me.

Because Jon never understood those words. What was there to be scared of?

The two of them were sitting on a rooftop in Metropolis, Jon with his long legs dangling over the side of the building, Damian cross-legged next to him. Taking a long slurp of his smoothie, Jon glanced over at Damian, who was outlining their plan of attack for tomorrow-- a mission to take down an arms dealer who had been working out of Metropolis for months. With Dad stretched thin over League, international, and intergalactic affairs, criminals were becoming a little less hesitant to step foot into the city. Superboy and Robin would be taking care of that soon.

Jon was listening, he really was. The battle plans were definitely lodging themselves somewhere in Jon’s subconsciousness. But he had to admit, most of his attention was fixed firmly on Damian himself.

Jon remembered the days the prickly young boy would throw his nose up haughtily in the air, state he’d been intelligent enough to have a doctorate at seven years old, and miff at anyone who insinuated otherwise. It was a far sight from when Damian had  curled himself up on Jon’s bed, and under the guise of watching a movie, told Jon about his acceptance into the most prestigious art schools in Gotham. 

And that was the reason behind Jon’s inattention, wasn’t it? Damian was eighteen, now. Their age difference didn’t seem like much when they were ten and thirteen and going against the world with all the confidence of a couple boys playing pretend. Now, Damian had a weariness in his shoulders, but lips that quirked up into a smile far too often, skin layered in scars but hands gentler than Jon ever thought he was capable of. Jon himself was a fumbling, awkward fifteen year old with jeans that were always too short, hair that was always too messy. And Jon used to think he was over feeling inferior to his best friend.

He’d miss him. Jon would miss Damian so much. Sure, Damian would probably try and keep their visits somewhat consistent, but work would pile up, and a curator would probably see Damian’s talents and whisk him away to the world of the famous artists, and Damian would forget he ever had a friend named Jon and would go on to become a household name while Jon spent the rest of his life living in his parents’ house and updating his mediocre blog that he started because of a dare.

No, he wasn’t being dramatic, thank you very much.

Unfortunately, Damian seemed to catch onto his lack of attention and snapped his fingers underneath Jon’s nose, startling him back to focus.

Never one to sugarcoat, Damian said, “You look miserable.”

“What? No, I’m fine!” Jon didn’t know why he even tried to play it off, he’d never been able to lie to Damian.

“Right. My mistake. Someone who was fine would definitely spend the past hour drinking out of a smoothie cup that’s already empty.”

Huh. Jon hadn’t even realized he’d finished the drink. He put it to the side and shook his head. “Really, it’s not a pro-oblem.” Oh, goddamnit.

“Your voice cracks are ridiculous,” Damian informed him. Why had Jon ever thought he’d changed? That smug voice was as irritating as ever.

“Yeah, they’re hilarious, thanks.”

“I don’t understand why you’re upset.” Apparently, this matter was serious enough for Damian to put his map down. Wasn’t that comforting?

But Jon had never liked to keep things from his best friend. “That. That’s what’s bothering me.”

“Your voice cracks?” Now Damian just sounded confused.

“Yes! No, I don’t know. I just don’t like them.” Jon crossed his arms in frustration.

When he looked over at Damian, the other boy’s eyes were wide, and in that stupidly deep and non-cracking voice, he said, “This conversation has gone well past the point of understanding and I’m going to continue with the plan now.”

Jon sighed. “No, Damian, it’s not that.”

“Then?”

Searching for the right words, Jon drummed his fingers together. “You...you’re going off to that fancy art school soon. You’re all grown up. And here I am with my stupid video games and voice cracks.”

Jon wasn’t exactly sure what he was expecting. Damian could never be called a master of social interaction, and his basic settings were sarcastic, condescending, or incredulous. Still, Jon expected something a bit kinder than:

“You’re such a moron, Jonathan.”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

Jon stared at Damian for a moment, blinking stupidly. “So I tell you about the problem that’s been eating me up for weeks, and all you say is that I’m a moron? Thank you so much for that.”

“I’m telling you you’re a moron because you’re worrying about something so inconsequential.”

“Oh please, do elaborate.”

Damian paused, then let out a tired sigh, turning to face Jon. This was going to be a serious conversation, then.

“Jonathan. I have told you time and time again. You should be scared of me-”

“Oh my god,” Jon interrupted. “This stuff, again?” He was laughing now. “I know, I know. You should be horrified, cower in terror underneath my ruthlessness, blah blah blah. You say it all the time, I get it. I should be scared of you.”

Damian stared at him. “Are you done?” he said with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m tired of you bringing up the same thing over and over, Damian.”

“And in saying that, you just proved my point.”

Jon frowned in confusion. “What?”

“I’ve always said that you should be afraid of me. But you never have been, not since the moment we met.”

“Like there’s anything to be scared of.”

“Yes, Jonathan. There is.” Damian looked Jon in the eye, his gaze sharp and serious.

Damian’s honesty was strange, something Jon wasn’t used to, so he tried to play it off with a laugh. “Yeah, yeah, assassin training’s tough-”

“When I was six years old, I murdered a man in front of his daughter.”

Jon fell silent.

“I used to command an entire legion in my grandfather’s army. We completely destroyed and took down three different countries.”

“Damian, I-” 

“Once, Grandfather put me in a straightjacket and wrapped me in chains, surrounded by trained guards, with no instruction other than to escape. And I did.”

Hesitantly, Jon said, “I never knew.”

“Because I never told you. That, and so much more, is why everybody I ever know has been scared of me.”

“Even Nightwing?”

“Nightwing grew out of it eventually,” Damian admitted. “But everyone else. The rest of the bats. Father. Even Mother. There’s fear in their eyes when they look at me.”

“Oh. Uh,” Jon shrugged. “That sucks.”

“That sucks?” Damian said, dry but amused.

“I didn’t know what else to say!” Jon defended.

“See? That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

Jon furrowed his eyebrows. “You’ve been trying to tell me it sucks? Because I already knew it sucks.”

“Jonathan…” Damian trailed off, then grabbed Jon’s wrists with his own hands.

“Hey!” Jon protested, though only out of surprise. Because Damain’s hands were warm and his thumb was pressing down on Jon’s pulse point and Jon could honestly say he had no objection to this.

Damian’s face showed nothing but piercing intensity: brows furred and eyes locked on Jon’s own. “Jon. Look me in the eyes, and tell me you’re scared of me.”

“But I’m not?”

“I just told you things that would have grown men running away from me in terror. Tell me at least some of that scares you.”

“No,” Jon shook his head and gripped the other’s boy’s wrists back. “No. I’m not scared of you.”

Letting out a breath, Damian moved away. For a moment, Jon found himself chasing that warmth.

“You are the only person who’s ever thought that.” Damian turned, shifting to mirror Jon’s position. Staring out over the city, a billboard washed colours over Damian’s face. He looked like a work of art, and Jon had no idea how anybody could ever fear him.

“You’re my best friend, Damian.” Jon shrugged, despite the fact that Damian couldn’t see him. “I’ve seen you scream at a machine for losing at Cheese Viking. I’ve seen you befriend a little squirrel you found on Ma’s farm. So how exactly am I supposed to be afraid of you?”

Damian nodded, as if that solidified something. “If you really think that I would leave the only person that isn’t scared of me, if you think that I would stop being friends with someone who has always thought of me as a human first and a weapon second just because I’m going to a university, then you are the biggest moron to ever walk the face of the earth.”

Stunned, Jon moved to sit next to Damian. “Oh.”

Jon had always been aware of their height difference, made plenty of jokes about it, but it really struck him how much smaller Damian was when the older boy turned to look up and smile at him. “So stop worrying, okay Kent? It’s unbecoming.”

“Whatever you say,” Jon acquiesced. 

Damian wasn’t leaving for good. Damian, with his burning green eyes and molten beauty, still wanted to be friends with him. 

With a smile on his face, Jon turned to look out at the city, letting the quiet wash over him. At his side, Damian did the same. A huge thank you to @iamwhelmed for organizing the secret santa this year!!

tag list: @woahjaybird @birdy-bat-writes @elles-shitposts-personified @subtleappreciation  @screennamealreadyused @pricetagofficial @catxsnow  @iconbicon

[transsexualhamlet]

sherlock holmes reactions part six (aka me losing my mind over the final problem)

Hi, I am once again reminding you all that I've formed a parasocial relationship with the crackhead detective 👍 This made me overly emotional for the fact that he didnt even die

But like

hhhmmmmmmmm those were certainly an interesting 14 pages

Yeah, I already made a post about how the final problem relates to yuumori's final problem and how incredibly sexy it is but yes now I'd just like to relay to you how absolutely heart brocken i am over this lol I will eventually get to reading the post hiatus stories i just. I haven't emotionally recovered from this yet

Yelling below the cut somehow this reaction feels longer than the story itself. but it's about half cracking jokes and half sobbing so be prepared

I mean, starting off strong with "well yknow since i got married my and sherlock's Very Intimate Relations had to be modified and all but we hadnt seen each other in a while so it was kind of jarring to see him crawling in my second story bedroom window clutching Wounds and closing the shutters absolutely fucking wasted losing his mind over some dude named moriarty"

We've been over this but. Oh my god why are they gay

I just like????? Imagine how fucking bizzare that would be to just see your old homie crawl into your window bleeding on your floor and asking to exit the other way in case he's followed like "hey bro can we Talk i hope you're not busy" WHAT IS HE SUPPOSED TO DO, SAY HE IS? Imagine watson just like "no dude I'm fucking busy go get killed"

But legitimately. That's certainly something. And like, I see a lot of books starting like this lmao but. Holmes's stuff usually starts off kind of easily with watson going "yeah so lately ive been Experiencing Sherlock Holmes" and spend 20 minutes on exposition with them having a Conversation but no. mans just fucking escaped a hitman and went directly to his boyfriend's house having apparently Never Before In His Goddamn Life mentioned his actual nemesis to this guy. How the FUCK has watson never heard of him before.

And how sherlock starts talking about it isn't any less funny he's just like "UHHH SO THERE'S THIS GUY. THIS ABSOLUTE MAN. AND HES REALLY IMPRESSIVE I MEAN HES LIKE SUPER FUCKING SMART AND HES LIKE DOING CRIMES????? SO I LIKE. I NOTICED AS I DO BUT HE NOTICED THAT I NOTICED AND I MIGHT HAVE MADE A LITTLE FUCKY WUCKY DUDE CAN YOU HELP ME LIKE. FLEE THE COUNTRY" and watson's like my dear sherlock What The Fuck

Im also loving how he calls moriarty a "mathematical celebrity" awhi;grih;oaewhhta;ioh;iaewh;ii;oewh;eh;rg mans just. ok lol hes a Math Celebrity that had to quit his math teacher job because EVERYONE JUST KNEW HE WAS A CRIME LORD LIKE THEY TOOK ONE LOOK AT HIM AND WENT MANS DEFINITELY HAS BODIES IN HIS BASEMENT I DONT WANT HIM TEACHING HERE

But yeah, it was interesting to see what the big deal about og moriarty was... especially since the deal simply did not deliver. There was not really a big deal. It's like reading the first chapter of a book and immediately skipping to the climax. Everything is so hyped up and clearly having been building for years and you just get like NO CONTEXT. I swear Moriarty wasn't goddamn mentioned any time before this. He's just suddenly the big guy and watson has just never fucking heard shit about this guy.

What's so funny about this whole situation is that I just. Cannot objectively know anything about Moriarty at all because sherlock just... does not go into what this dude's alleged crimes even were, other than. The fact that he like. Does them. He's just really involved in crimes. How? Why? For how long? In what way? For what purpose? NO FUCKING CLUE HE JUST. HE JUST DOES. And there's nothing to really suggest that Moriarty was honestly a really evil guy. They're all like trust me he was just. he was just really bad but show absolutely No examples of being such. The most evil thing we saw Moriarty do personally was call sherlock stupid for letting him get into the apartment. And even then he immediately followed it up with complimenting him lol

yeah, my impression of Moriarty was like. I expected him to be worse, honestly. I expected him to be like a cartoon villain because he was kind of made out to be one and then he's just honestly a really polite and refined guy?? Mans strolls the fuck into 221B like hi shawty and it is Not like yuumori obviously man's holding a gun but like. What the fuck they are just. They have never met before but They Clearly Have and it's. its so weird

Like honestly I don't dislike og moriarty. He's really what william tried to be (and fucking failed, but beside the point) but like. Dude's so powerful and for what. He just walks into the apartment with No Pretense like why sherlock holmes is that a revolver or are you just happy to see me oh my goodness you are a dolt why would you hold the gun that way. disgusting. disgraceful. dreadful. Oh my god. I love him I'm sorry

abngnahhghifeah;iewh and Why does sherlock describe him like that hes like "MANS A REALLY REFINED LIZARD /pos" HIEHIFEHW:HGIHOEWFEEW FOR WHAT. FOR W H A T

baaaaaaaaghhhhhh but likeeeee they went STRAIGHT to "you know what I'm here for" "you know how I'm going to respond" "well then" "yeah" "mhm" "damn well it really do be like that sometimes" "ur really smart by the way" "im fucking aware let's kill each other as we both Thought in our Minds" "yes lets" AHDHDHDHDFS WTF THIS IS INSANE

But damn uh. mutual destruction my beloved this is very different from sherliam but im not. im not. opposed to it tucks hair behind ear

I just. Holy shit they really went "if you destroy me I will ensure that we both go down hand in unlovable hand" "I wouldn't mind that"

Annnnd I just noticed that the actual lines for this part kind of. that kind of happened in chapter 31 when sherlock was like i would Gladly die to take down the lord of crime and william was like. hahahah yeahNO NO NO NO

BUT SERIOUSLY THO IM LOSING MY MIND OVER HOW SHERLOCK SAYS THIS WHOLE THING TO WATSON AND HES LIKE DAMN SHAWTY HES LIKE THE REASON FOR HALF THE CRIME IN THIS CITY BUT HES SO NICE THO??? LIKE I EXPECTED HIM TO BE TOUGH AND EVERTHING NO HES JUST SOME POLITE PROPER UNDERSTANDABLE MAN WHO JUST HAPPENS TO BE VERY DIABOLICAL shawty is having a Crisis

And then watson is like wowww that was cool you wanna spend the night and sherlock is like "UNFORTUNATELY BESTIE I AM BEING FUCKING TRACKED DOWN ID LIKE YOU TO NOT DIE WITH ME"

This bit gave me a Moment Moment because oh my god. Then watson is like "no shut up i'm coming with you i don't care" and i just had to Take A Minute because THEY SWITCHED PLACES AAH SHERLOCK IS TRYING TO KEEP WATSON SAFE NOW AND WATSON IS NOW MORE RECKLESS BC OF HIM AND. AHHHH

Completely random but. How sherlock still refers to 221B as "our rooms" to watson even though watson hasn't lived their in years........ shawty i am emotional.........

SO THEY GODDAMN FLEE THE COUNTRY TOGETHER BC WATSON SAYS THEY HAVE TO STICK TOGETHER AND SHERLOCK HAS A MOMENT WHERE HE'S LIKE YEAH NEVERMIND PLEASE GO HOME WATSON AND WATSON IS JUST LIKE. NO. AND HSERLOCK IS LIKE. DAMN OK I HAVE NEVER HEARD YOU SAY THAT BEFORE

But. Ok as funny as this is. They have this fucking Conversation on the train to switzerland where sherlock is like "I have not lived in vain" and watson is like "YOURE NOT DYING" and hes like "i have not lived in vain. like i said. this will not be a bad way to die" UHHHHHH DAMN SHAWTY

hhhhhh and it just Gets. it. it. it Gets. These fuckers get to switzerland and they stay in a hotel and then leave for reichenbach but watson gets this goddamn letter telling him that hes needed at the hotel to basically save this lady's life. And he doesn't. Like. he doesn't even want to go he's like FUCK IT SHE CAN DIE IM NOT LEAVING YOU but sherlock convinces him to go fULLY KNOWING THE LETTER WAS FUCKING FAKED BY MORIARTY JUST AS A PLOY TO GET HIM ALONE

AND THEN HE JUST. WENT ANYWAY AND WATSON HAD TO WATCH HIM JUST LIKE GODDAMN WALK OFF INTO THE SUNSET LIKE "LITTLE DID I KNOW THIS WOULD BE THE LAST TIME I WOULD SEE HIM BUT IT JUST. IT HAD THAT VIBE YKNOW"

God I just. Wow sherlock really did that huh. He really went and did that. And I went over it in the post about this compared to yuumori but it just RUINED me how watson just. Never saw what happened and there's just so little information about it that all they have is these assumptions and pieces that just suggest that these guys met up, walked up to the goddamn waterfall having a nice civil conversation about how talented and smart they both were at this and how they revealed their methods to each other and complimented them because of course they did

And they just sat up there talking to each other so long and Moriarty legit waited politely or even possibly was the one that suggested he write a letter to watson in which sherlock just went "damn lol moriarty's pretty nice actually anyway uhhhh sorry watson ily ✌" and just like. left it up there in his damn cigarette box

But just like. damn the insinuation that moriarty just sat there and watched while he wrote that entire goddamn letter, sealed it up, and then got up and went alright buddy let's go but it makes no goddamn sense if they wanted to actually kill each other and assure they themselves would survive I could name like 23 different ways they could have managed it so easily and they Didn't. they were really set on mutual destruction huh. There's no way they were even trying to do anything but Die Together at that point and that's Something huh

It absolutely baffles me how they could say that these guys had plummetted like, holding each other tho. Like. ok lol but How Do You Even Know

It was certainly a ride. But the fact that Watson had to actively try to think like Sherlock to figure out what happened in the scene was just. The cherry on top. Especially after they'd consciously started to switch roles in this i just. Damn.

In conclusion uhhhhhhhh gay people real I suppose

[jasontoddiefor]

Summary: Sequel to watch the time go. A/B/O AU in which Obi-Wan doesn’t realize Anakin claiming Ahsoka as his kid also means that she’s now his child. 

Obi-Wan was pacing. Anakin didn’t think his mate was even noticing it, marching from one end of the room to the other as he looked over the reports that had been sent in earlier, not even really reading them. He was nervous, agitated, and unfocused. Anakin watched as Obi-Wan rolled his shoulders and let out a low breath and then, as he had periodically the past hour already, he looked to the door before continuing.

He was definitely not aware of his behavior, unlike Anakin and just about every clone in the meeting room.

“Sir.”

Anakin looked away from Obi-Wan to see Rex standing in front of him. “General Kenobi, he is… stressed. It’s agitating the men.”

“I know,” Anakin sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. Just, give him a while. He hasn’t noticed yet.”

Rex blinked once, then he looked at Anakin in what could only be described as utter disbelief.

“He hasn’t noticed yet,” he repeated flatly. “Forgive me, General, but what. How hasn’t he noticed?”

Anakin shrugged. “It doesn’t really happen at the temple, at least never to that extent. I know what to look out for though so it’s kind of obvious from the outside perspective but….”

Anakin trailed off and turned to Obi-Wan just in time to see him look, once more, at the door through which Ahsoka had disappeared just one hour ago.

Truth be told, Anakin didn’t want to be here either. He wanted to return to his nest together with his mate and child, but they needed to get this battle plan ready so that when the repairs on the ship were done, they could leave Coruscant behind quickly and rush to the aid of yet another planet in need of Republic support. Anakin could put his own needs aside for a moment because he was quite aware of what he wanted and could calm his nerves by reminding himself that Obi-Wan was right here and Ahsoka safe at the temple. For once in his life, Anakin knew precisely why he was stressed and Obi-Wan did not.

This reversal of their roles was weird and Anakin privately vowed to remember to tease Obi-Wan about it in the future.

“Sir, I don’t think we’re going to get anything productive out of this meeting if he keeps this up,” Rex commented. “Could you please just tell him?”

Anakin grinned mischievously. “Now where would be the fun in that?”

Rex sent him a deadpan look. The fellow Omega was just a little annoyed with their antics and Anakin couldn’t fault him for it. Watching Obi-Wan was disconcerting, but from his perspective, it was also kind of hilarious. All that talk about our Padawan and Obi-Wan had no idea what exactly had shifted in their dynamics since the last time Anakin had felt the need to build a proper nest. The feeling hadn’t subdued much since then, curse his hormones and curse the Order for caring enough about their members to keep them away from shady suppressants, but it still spiked from time to time.

“Sir, please,” Rex almost begged. Anakin had never actually seen any of his men beg. They were much too proud for that and Anakin liked to think he was good enough of a General that they never felt the need to, but could simply ask him for whatever they needed. “Cody looks just about ready to take the General’s head off and we can’t afford to lose Kote to being court-martialed, so please?”

Cody’s eyes were indeed twitching and Anakin saw two troopers behind him exchanging a few credits, pointing at Obi-Wan. The Beta Commander was definitely a little irked by Obi-Wan’s behavior. Rex was a little more relaxed, but in the past months he had put up with Ahsoka and Anakin being more content than before while Cody had to deal with a jittery Alpha. That definitely wasn’t a fair trade.

“Alright, alright,” Anakin finally gave in and stood up. “I’ll talk to him. It’s almost time for our night rotation anyway. Meeting adjourned and we continue tomorrow after we got our hours? The ship should be ready then too and we’ll likely have our new assignment as well.”

Rex let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, sir. It will be done.”

Obi-Wan, meanwhile, was so lost in his thoughts, he didn’t even notice it when Anakin approached him as all the officers left the room.

“Obi-Wan?”

Obi-Wan’s turned his head away from the entrance and looked Anakin in confusion.

“Anakin.” Obi-Wan slowly returned to reality. “Sorry, I was lost in thought. Has something happened?” He stopped to look around the empty room. “And where is everyone?”

“Lost in thought,” Anakin repeated and snorted. “That’s one thing to call it. We decided to talk more tomorrow.”

Obi-Wan crossed his arms and tilted his head in confusion before his eyes darted to the door, again. Anakin was kind of charmed by it all.

“Why?”

“Because of your inability to concentrate and your Commander’s want to throw you into the brig. Let’s go home.”

Anakin took his mate’s hand and led him out of the room. Normally, Obi-Wan would have protested more, asked more questions, but instead he was silent and, perhaps, a little more affectionate than he usually would be out in the open. He walked a lot closer to Anakin, let him hold his hand. They tried to show at least a bit of professionalism when they weren’t in their quarters, especially Obi-Wan wanted to uphold that image, whereas Anakin couldn’t care less, but it was clear that wasn’t going to happen right now.

The trip back to the temple had never seemed as long as it had now, and Anakin recalled that time he was sixteen and Obi-Wan had gotten so sick on a mission, he had been worried he would lose his Master. When they did finally reach their home, Obi-Wan already looked a little better, though he was still far from the serene and calm Jedi Master. The few Jedi they passed on their walk through the halls gave Obi-Wan a curious look, though not as much as they would have towards the beginning of the war. There were more and more Master and Padawan pairs whose bonds had strengthened. Seeing a Master who slightly more protective than usual and hovered over their charge wasn’t a regular thing yet, but once the war ended, if it ever did-

There would be change.

Soon they were standing in front of the training salles where Ahsoka was sparring viciously. She had grown so much already since her apprenticeship had started, Anakin had to stop himself from purring with pride. Obi-Wan too watched her with pride, but his eyes were tracking the course of her opponent’s blade a little too closely.

“Ahsoka’s safe,” Anakin reassured him, but Obi-Wan only looked at him in confusion. “Of course, she is,” he replied and yet his voice was a little deeper, a little closer to worry and anger than it should be.

“Right.” Anakin watched Ahsoka do another spin over the head of Barriss and victoriously land on her feet. Smiling, he called out to her. “Ahsoka! It’s time to go!”

His Padawan turned around to him, first happy when she spotted the two of them, but then quickly began scowling in disappointment.

“But I only just started training,” she replied, but marched over to them regardless after bowing to Barriss.

She wasn’t stomping her feet, but it certainly felt similar enough to it from a Jedi’s perspective. Obi-Wan, who would usually cite Anakin’s past misbehavior at him at this time, was silent once more, carefully tracking Ahsoka’s every movement, checking her for any visible injuries.

It was hilarious really.

“Where do we have to go? Have we got a new assignment?” Ahsoka asked him.

“Nope, just our rooms,” Anakin only replied.

Ahsoka shot him a look of disbelief, then turned to Obi-Wan to check if this was some dumb joke they were playing on her. However, as soon as Ahsoka stood next to Obi-Wan tough, she too realized there wasn’t something quite right with him. And yet she wasn’t given even a chance to say another word, as Obi-Wan apparently decided that enough was enough and simply grabbed her waist to throw her over his shoulder.

“Hey!” Ahsoka protested. “Obi-Wan! Let me down.”

“You’re too slow, little one,” Obi-Wan replied, his voice definitely more of a growl than his normal speaking voice.

She pulled a face and then, after she contemplated protesting again, came to the conclusion that life would be much easier and kinder on her if she just went along with Obi-Wan’s behavior and let herself be carried.

Thankfully, the walk to their rooms was a quite short one. Anakin opened the door and let Obi-Wan direct them towards the bedroom. He waited until Anakin had made himself comfortable, then he dumped Ahsoka on his lap and marched straight out of the door again.

“Okay, so what’s going on,” Ahsoka asked as soon as he had disappeared.

“I’d say his instincts finally caught up to him, little one,” Anakin laughed.

Gently, he pushed Ahsoka off his lap to fix his nest. Not that there was anything wrong with it per se, it was just not perfect either. It had been a while since he had slept here and not on a ship. He puffed the pillows and rearranged the blankets until they had taken the shape he preferred. He glanced at Ahsoka, waiting for her to add to the nest. He knew the Jedi didn’t usually do this communally, but this was how he had grown up and it brought him peace to stick to this habit. Ahsoka had gotten used to Anakin’s habit and by now made her own corner in his nest. Once they were done, they crawled under the largest blanket and let its weight lie comfortably upon them.

“So, when is he going to be back to normal?” Ahsoka asked.

Anakin snorted. “I think you can say normal goodbye for a while, but I think he’ll calm down a little soon.” Anakin quietly counted the days and, oh yeah, his math matched up. “His rut would have been around now normally.”

Ahsoka elbowed him in the side all while complaining. “Eewww, gross, gross, gross, I did not need to know that about my grandmaster, thank you.”

“It’s just biology, Ahsoka, honestly.”

“Gross biology,” she replied in the spirit of a teenager.

Obi-Wan returned soon after, announcing his arrival with the sound of doors opening and closing. When he entered the bedroom, he was carrying a mountain of snacks. To Anakin’s delight, his favorite sweets and fruits had been stacked in there as well. Anakin didn’t know how Obi-Wan had managed to even find all of those in such a short time, never mind during the war when some of the more exotic treats had become harder to import. Their kitchen was definitely empty for sure.

“I brought food,” Obi-Wan said, his voice suddenly tinted with confusion while he gave Anakin a treat.

“Thank you,” Anakin said simply and accepted.

Eagerly, Ahsoka grabbed a chocolate bar out of the pile, opened the wrapping and devoured it like a starved man in the desert. Anakin himself really wasn’t all that hungry, but this was less about being sated and more of giving Obi-Wan some much-needed comfort and calm. It wasn’t like Anakin didn’t appreciate his Alpha taking care of them. They just didn’t often indulge in the comforts that came with their designation, there was no time for it, but Anakin definitely enjoyed the sweet joy that came with Obi-Wan paying attention to him.

“Come here,” Anakin told Obi-Wan and threw back the blanket so he could join them.

Dutifully, his mate left the food on the nearby table, kicked off his shoes, handed Anakin his outer robes to incorporate into the nest, and climbed onto the bed. It really wasn’t a surprise he reached to Ahsoka first. Anakin had been near him the entire day, he knew nothing had happened to him, but Ahsoka had been out of his grasp and not only that, but sparring. Lightly he scented her neck, frowned in disapproval at the places where her tunics smelled like fire, nothing unusual for the aftermath of spars, but Obi-Wan still radiated disapproval. To distract his mate, Anakin gently tugged at Obi-Wans robes to get his attention. When he turned his face to him, a question in his expression, Anakin gave him a soft kiss, trying to emphasize that they were all here and safe and nobody was hurt and that everything was alright.

“I know,” Obi-Wan muttered back against Anakin’s lips and slipped his fingers beneath Anakin’s collar just so he could trace the mark there. “I know, I just-“

He sighed in frustration and dropped his head on Anakin’s shoulder.

“I really am alright, Obi-Wan,” Ahsoka too spoke up, concern coloring her voice. “I promise, nothing’s hurting. I’d tell you.”

Young as she was, and small still too, not yet taller than Anakin or Obi-Wan as Anakin knew she’d be someday. Ahsoka moved until she was curled up in-between the two of them. She had no qualms whatsoever in pushing Anakin down onto the bed until she could lie her head down on Anakin’s chest.

“We’re all good, Master,” Ahsoka said and with a yawn, closed her eyes. All that energy of before seemed to have left her. Anakin wasn’t going to protest. He could use a nap as well. Obi-Wan studied the two of them with keen eyes, before he too submitted to their demands. He laid down and pulled Ahsoka and Anakin so close that he could put his arm around the both of them. Anakin felt like he was breathing in the scent of warmth, home and safety and soon drifted off.

X

When Anakin woke, Obi-Wan was already staring at him. He didn’t look the slightest bit tired or drowsy, he must have been awake for a while then. He still hand moved his hand away from Anakin’s waist either. Glancing towards Ahsoka, Anakin saw that she at least was still sleeping soundly, her chest rising and sinking steadily.

“Why were we sleeping?” Obi-Wan whispered as to not wake Ahsoka. Then, after a pause in which he probably reevaluated all his earlier actions, “Why did I-“

Anakin couldn’t help but grin. “Do you want the long or the short answer?”

“Should I be afraid of the long answer?”

“No, not really, it just involved a lot more teasing than the short answer.”

Obi-Wan let out a long-suffering sigh. “Lay it on me.”

Taking pity on the other, Anakin decided he didn’t have to tease it all out of him. “You do remember that usually not just one half of a mated pair adopts a child?”

“Yes, obviously- oh. Oh, Force.” Obi-Wan pinched his nose. “I have to apologize to Cody. I must have been driving the poor man up the walls these last weeks.”

Anakin laughed quietly, careful not to shake Ahsoka awake. “I think he took it quite well, it’s not like he didn’t realize your paternal instincts were running haywire. I doubt there is a single trooper in your company who didn’t know.”

“So it was really only me, I’m not sure if that makes it better or worse.” Obi-Wan used his unoccupied hand to gently run his fingers over Ahsoka’s face markings. “We have a daughter then,” Obi-Wan summarized.

“Congratulations, she’s a Togruta,” Anakin joked, but quickly sobered up again.

This wasn’t what he had expected when he became a Jedi. Family and battles for what was right, yes, but not a war and a child whose survival depended on him.

“I’m terrified.” It was somehow difficult and easy at the same time to admit this. He didn’t want to speak of his fears, he should be better than that, stronger, but he also didn’t want, couldn’t, keep this a secret from Obi-Wan. They were out there fighting the war side by side for months, Ahsoka following their every step, what if his silence was the reason she was injured?

“What if she gets hurt on a mission? What if I lose her? There were so many close calls already.”

“We won’t lose her,” Obi-Wan said. He sounded a little pained. “Even just imagining it is rather counterproductive right now, but- she won’t die in this war. She has us and we’ll keep her safe.”

“But-“

“No buts,” Obi-Wan interrupted.

It occurred to Anakin that it really wasn’t fair that even now, with half his mind occupied with ensuring his mate and his child were safe, Obi-Wan could still think so rationally. It had to be that his head had cleared up a little with awareness trickling in.

“We’ll make it through it and then we’ll take a long vacation somewhere far away where I don’t have to share you two with anybody else and we can just stay like this for hours without any interruptions.”

“Careful, careful, your alpha is showing,” Anakin teased, though he couldn’t claim that the thought didn’t also sound wonderful to him.

They should go somewhere green and warm, untouched by the war and all the bloodshed.

“I am an alpha,” Obi-Wan said. “Yours in fact.”

Anakin let himself disappear in the cadence of Obi-Wan’s voice, that slightly possessive tone he had longed to hear for so long and Obi-Wan usually reigned in.

“Mine indeed,” Anakin repeated, liking the way the words lingered on his tongue as if he were saying them for the first time and there was no mark on their necks proclaiming it to the entire world.

[vermillionflames]

part 2

nozel x oc

word count: >2k

warnings: language

I loved the beach. And the sun. I grew up in a dark castle and the sky was always grey, cloudy, and it was always fucking cold. I would sit in front of the fireplace dreaming about beaches and summer and anything else books would describe that was the opposite of winter. I also had a bangin’ body, and since my darling husband wasn’t vacationing with me, I ditched the conservative swimwear he purchased for me and threw on the smallest bikini I could find. 

 Noelle had joined me on the castle’s private beach. She had brought a book with her, though I could tell she was too busy feeling anxious to be reading. If this girl’s hair wasn’t already white as snow… 

“Noelle,” I sat up in my recliner, “Why don’t we work on your control?”

Her head snapped towards me.

“Why?”

“Because Nozel tells me you suck. And honestly, I like how you’re doing your own thing besides what your family says, but I cannot take anymore of his ranting. He’s annoying the hell out of me and since I can’t tell him to shut up I’m going to fix the problem at its root.”

She was absolutely dumbfounded.

“But nothing works. I’ve tried everything.”

“Ah, but you haven’t tried method a la House Grinberryall yet.”

“Grinberry… what’s that?”

“Nothing!” Oopsies. I move to her recliner, crossing my legs and facing her.

“Just sit like this, yes good. Keep your back straight, no one’s around here. Okay now, close your eyes. Put your hands on your knees or something to relax.”

“This seems foolish…” But she did what I said anyway.

“But it works. No concentrate on your mana and how it feels. Keep your breath steady. Good, do you feel it?”

“Feel what?”

Both our heads snapped towards the direction of the voice. A chill went down my spine. The aura was literally sucking out my energy and I was terrified for a split second before I realized I had to prepare to defend myself.

“What are you girls doing out here anyway? Planned a trip without me? I know neither of you could make it to my neck of the woods but surely you could have sent an owl.”

God dammit. Making her way over to us was Mereoleona. The one person we were hiding from. 

“Oh, well you see, this is a family trip…” I stood up in hopes to stop her from getting closer. It did not work.

“But you are the only two here?”

“No one else wanted to go?”

“Well, I’m here aren’t I,” she promptly took my spot next to Noelle and put her arm around her neck. “So, what were you feeling?”

“My mana…” Noelle looked to me for help. 

“Meditating isn’t going to work for someone like you; you need tough love training. Here, come with me,” She stood up dragging the poor girl by her arm, “I’ll throw you into a volcano and then you get out.”

“Actually,” I got in the middle of them, “Noelle is in my care right now and Nozel would be really, really mad if I let her out of my sight.”

“So you come with us. Easy.”

Why is she yelling?

“Um… I can’t do that. Volcanoes? Not a good idea for me right now.”

Mereoleona cocked her brow at me, Noelle’s jaw dropped. I can never escape it can I?

“Not like that! Ew!”

“Having babies is ew???”

“Noelle, sweetie, why don’t you go over there and practice what I taught you while I talk with Lady Mereoleona.”

“But I want to know about the baby!”

“There is no baby!”

“Noelle you should listen to your big sister… Having babies is ew. And, there is no way your brother would have given her one.”

“Nozel has to give you the baby?”

“Oh? Seraphina hasn’t taught you about this yet? I wanted to train you but this will also be worthy of my time.”

“Don’t you dare tell her anything.”

“Well, somebody has to~”

We spent the next few hours bickering. Eventually we all settled into our own thing. Mereoleona complained the water wasn’t hot enough. Noelle complained about the sand. I complained about the lioness finding us… and the lack of wine.

When the moon rose we moved into the castle's private bath house. Noelle left shortly to go to bed (but we all know she went to go practice what I taught her).

“So, did you bring her here to hide from me or is it because she got her grimoire?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mereoleona. We just both needed some sun.”

“Okay, say what you like… I won’t tell anyone your little secret.”

“I appreciate that,” I rolled my eyes.

“I’m going to head to bed. I have a long day of dealing with my family tomorrow.”

Well, I hope Kirsch is especially flamboyant and Leo is extra loud then.

“Goodnight!”

I glared at the other side of the pool. At least it was her, I guess. Nozel would have my neck for kidnapping his precious baby sister, training her, and letting Mereoleona tell her about “babies being ew.”

I made my way to my room too. Mereoleona was knocked out, I could feel, and Noelle had gone to sleep annoyed that meditating hadn’t made her strong. Well, maybe if you practice more… 

I got into bed and turned towards the window to watch the moon. I hope I don’t have any dreams tonight.

----

“Lady Seraphina,” I woke up to my name being called, “Ma’am breakfast will be ready soon. Do you need me to get your gown ready?”

I swatted my hand at the air.

“Leave me be. I’m fine.”

I could hear the door shut so I nuzzled into the covers more. Get my gown ready for me, what was I? A child? I will get dressed when I want to, by myself. For now I’m gonna lay in my bed, naked, and sleep. Wait- Why was there a servant here?! I specifically told Noelle… Maybe Mereoleona brought them. Okay back to sleep. Wait, she would not do that. Oh shi-

Before I have time to open my eyes and fully process my panic, a swoosh rips my blankets off my body. I curl into my body due to the cold air hitting my skin. Nozel throws the blanket onto the floor and crosses his arms, glaring at me. I gulp.

“Hi.” 

“Good morning, Seraphina.”

Maybe he’s not mad…

“So, what are the chances of getting that breakfast in bed?”

“Get up.”

Wishful thinking.

“Nozel-”

“I don’t want to hear it,” he turns away from me, “Put some clothes on.”

“Don’t punish Noelle for something I did.”

He turned around again.

“Mereoleona said it was her doing.”

Oh no. Oh god, what do I do now?

The door bursts open and in walks Mereoleona… with her brother behind her! I’m naked and very, very afraid. Thankfully Nozel is quick and makes a mercury wall around me. 

“Do you mind?”

“I’m just letting you know she’s innocent. And preventing her from saying anything dumb. She does that a lot, did she hit her head really hard?”

“Sister, we shouldn’t intrude on them and-”

“Aren’t you a little spurious about Nozel’s prize, Fueggy? He has the hot wife and you’re… boring. You might beat him at everything else, but your rival won with the marriage contest.”

“Because it was arranged.”

I rolled my eyes so far back I saw my brain. I felt Nozel get ready to argue.

“Oh my god, can you all just leave,” not that they could see me, but I was giving them the death glare. A bunch of adults acting like children arguing over a rivalry, I think rivalries are stupid. You would think grown men would let go of jealous feelings they had for each other when they were children, but noooo.

Once it was Nozel and I alone again he dropped the wall.

“That is why we wear pajamas. Honestly, how many nightgowns and robes do I have to buy you before you start wearing them?”

“I don’t see the problem with it, Noelle and Mereoleona saw me naked last night in the bath, the servants help me get dressed all the time, and it’s not my fault the Vermillions knocked down my door.”

“Get dressed.”

“No.”

“What did you say?”

“I’m staying here. I need to be away from you,” I hop back into bed, “Thanks for the concern though.”

“You’re coming back with me even if I have to drag you.”

Pfft, uh no.

“That would be too much work for you, husband.”

“Noelle isn’t being as ridiculous as you.”

“Probably because she’s better than me. You just have your head too far up your ass to see it.”

“I beg your pardon-”

“Honestly, what would Acier say if she saw you right now? Do you think she would be very proud of whatever it is you’re doing? I don’t think-”

He put his hands on my shoulders, his face inches from mine, I held my breath.

“Do not,” I probably went a step too far, “ever bring up my mother again.”

I am very aware of how naked I am, how little this man has been this close to me while I’m naked, and I am filled with guilt of bringing Acier into the argument.

“Nozel, I didn’t mean,” I gulp, “I just think you don't have to be so mean to Noelle.”

“And I think you should stick to what you’re good at, which is being Vice Captain and staying out of my family affairs,” He let me go and turned around, “Take your time, but you’ll be expected at the squad meeting at noon. I’ll make sure Noelle gets home.”

And with that he left, but the tension lingered. So Acier struck a nerve. Note to self, bring up something else during an argument. 

----

I hate meetings. I’m always expected to say something brilliant or encouraging. I always bull shit my way through them, but this time Nozel was sending me heavy energy. I had better do my best or he’ll be even more upset and god knows what he’ll do. Give me a shitty mission or make me go have tea with the Silva women, probably. God, did I conversing over tea.

Luckily it went by quickly and I seemed to have done a good enough job because I wasn’t bothered the rest of the day. I was supposed to be looking over mission requests and reports, but instead I was reading one of my old diaries. I did this as punishment to myself, because not only was I embarrassing, I was also stupid in love with Nozel and let this book know all about it. 

The first entries were about Lady Acier and my infatuation with her. I hung onto every word she said in those days. Then Nozel slowly became the center of my attention. Before he was cold, we would sit and talk about how we’d grow old together. I had a list of our children’s names we picked out together. There were sketches I made of the wedding dress I wanted, which I got, dried petals from flowers he had given me… What I would give to be the young again. Actually, I aged pretty nicely. I just want him to be warm again. And happy. 

A paper on my desk caught my eye. It was a list of potential new members of royal or high nobility. I scanned over it. Noelle’s name wasn’t listed. So he was serious about that too?

“Nozel, what will it take for you to stop keeping your emotions locked up?”

[vs-redemption]

Crime is Common. Logic is Rare. (Ch 5)

Chapter Five: His Agency (HawksxGN!Reader)

Plot summary: You thought your hands were full as a regular quirk geneticist, but then you meet Hawks and things get even more exciting!

Warnings:  

⚠️This story contains spoilers from the manga.

⚠️Some events and plot points have been altered from the original manga

Next Chapter : Chapter Guide

You hated being late to anything. You really REALLY hated it. But here you were, scrambling into Hawks’ agency three hours after the scheduled meeting time. Your five hour train ride had turned into eight due to a villain attack that had blocked part of the train tracks. In addition to that, you’d struggled to get a taxi after arriving in Kyushu, and now you and your bags were soaked from standing out in the rain. This wasn’t really how you expected the day to go.

“May I help you?” a young man in a hero costume greets you as soon as you walk through the big glass doors of the magnificent building. You tell him your name and reason for being there. He smiles, ready to assist you, but the number two hero himself shows up and steals the spotlight.

“Ah, you’re finally here,” He flies down from a balcony several stories above you. The agency was big and spacious on the inside, and now you understood why. It was a giant bird cage. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Hawks, I’m so sorry,” you tell him seriously. “I hope I didn’t inconvenience you too much by being this late.”

“Hey,” He scratches at the back of his feathery haired head and smiles. “Don’t worry about it. I know it wasn’t your fault.”

“Yeah but I hate to make a bad first impression,” you sigh, feeling lame in your wet clothes, especially next to Hawks who looked like he’d have a pretty lucrative modeling career if he ever gave up on hero work. “The last thing I want to do is slow down the fastest hero in Japan.” Hawks lets the comment sink in before waving his gloved hand to dismiss your words.

“This isn’t my first impression of you though,” He reminds you. “So there’s no need to worry about that. How about you get changed and then I give you the grand tour?” You agree and allow him to show you to a bathroom so you can throw on some dry clothes. After that, he shows you around the agency and introduces you to some of his sidekicks. Honestly, you were surprised that he was doing all of this himself. Surely there was an assistant or something that could get you settled in so that Hawks could attend to more important issues.

“The investigation and research center is in the basement,” Hawks explains while stepping into an elevator with you. It was pretty spacious inside, but it felt full due to Hawks’ wings and to Hawks himself. He wasn’t a big guy really, but he had a big presence.

Hawks introduced you to the head of the department who was a frazzled looking man with two sets of arms. Three of his hands were holding stacks of manila folders while the fourth was clutching a steaming cup of coffee. He gave you a brief description of the lab before hurrying off to get back to work.

“I was thinking you could spend a couple days getting acquainted with things down there,” Hawks tells you once you head back up into the main building. “I know my team is doing their best, but there’s a lot of room for improvement. The commission recruited some of the best minds in the country for me, but their efficiency leaves something to be desired. I’d like you to assess the situation and provide some feedback if that’s all right.”

“You think I can run you’re your team better than the best minds in the country?” you ask flatly.

“They’re the best minds academically,” Hawks lowers his voice so as not to offend anyone who might walk by. “Of course they are good at what they do… they’re just not fast at what they do.” You can’t help but laugh. This guy was something else. You agree to check out his team for a few days, but doubted you’d come up with any brilliant solutions.

“Great,” Hawks looked pleased. “Well, I didn’t really have anything else for you to do today. I figure you can really get into things tomorrow once you’re rested up. Do you have any plans for the rest of the evening?”

“Not really,” you admit.

“Ok,” Hawks raises his chin confidently and smiles. “Would you like to join me for dinner then?” You just stare at him blankly for a moment, trying to process the offer. “I have to make up for the hassle of bringing you out here somehow anyway,” He adds. “It’ll be my treat!”

“Don’t you have hero work to do?” you ask hesitantly.

“I’ve got people out on patrol right now,” he tells you with a shrug. “If anything happens they’ll contact me. I can be anywhere in the city pretty quickly.”

“Right,” you nod your head, not seeing a reason to refuse. “Yeah, sure, I could eat.” Hawks claps his hands once before asking the man who had greeted you to have your bags sent to your hotel. You wanted to protest, but the bird man was already ushering you out the door. Thankfully, the rain had stopped by now, so there was no need to worry about ruining a second set of clothes.

“I’m going to take you to one of my favorite places,” Hawks reveals. He seemed completely at ease walking down the street even though everyone was staring and whispering as he passed by. A few bold people called out and waved to him. He smiled and waved back. You felt a little out of place next to someone so popular and obviously adored by the public. “Oh! Careful there!” Hawks seemed to anticipate that the boy walking in front of you with his mom would trip before it had even happened. A bright red feather flies from his wings and catches the boy in the blink of an eye. The boy looked startled for a moment before laughing at the feather dancing in the air around him.

“I didn’t know you could do that,” you watch in awe as the feather comes and slides back into place in Hawks’ wings.

“I can control all my feathers telepathically,” he says with a shrug.

“I just thought your quirk was flying fast,” you admit.

“I can do a lot more than that,” He glances over at you as if being the fastest hero in the country wasn’t already impressive enough on its own. You can’t help but look at his wings and feathers with more intrigue now. Hawks lets out a chuckle. “Why do I get the feeling you want to experiment on me?”

“Just a little,” you admit with a teasing grin of your own.

“What about your quirk?” Hawks asks, expertly changing the conversation away from himself. You couldn’t tell if it was deliberate or not, but you did notice.

“Oh,” you hadn’t expected him to ask that. “You know Sherlock Holms?” He nods. “It’s kind of like that. I have a mind palace.”

“Mind palace?” he obviously wasn’t that familiar.

“Well, I have a lot more limitations,” You start off. “Basically, when I activate my quirk, I can take in and catalog my surroundings in extreme detail. The smells, the sounds, everything.”

“That sounds pretty cool,” Hawks looked genuinely intrigued. “You should’ve been a crime scene investigator or something.”

“Everyone always says that,” You laugh. “It’s tough though. I can only memorize up to five minutes of material, and the longest I can only hold the information in my mind is about 24 hours. It can be way less though if I fall asleep or lose consciousness. I can only remember information for as long as I’m awake.”

“It’s too bad that you lose all the information you gather that easily,” Hawks puts his hand to his chin in thought.

“That’s why I usually write as much down as I can after using my quirk,” you tell him. “Especially while doing research. I actually used my quirk quite a bit while in Tokyo. It was really draining, but it was worth it to get as much as I did from the experience.” You look over at him and smile. “Thanks again for getting me that lab pass.”

“It was my pleasure,” he tells you happily. “I’m so glad I could help you out.”

The rest of the evening flew by quickly. Hawks allowed you to question him about his agency and the parts of his job that were not confidential. He seemed very interested in you as well, asking not only about your career, but also your personal interests. You were very aware of how easy it was for him to get you to feel at ease and open up. He was way too charismatic for his own good, and you kept that in the back of your mind as you got to know him more. Spending a week with him at his agency was definitely going to be interesting.

[hanbereviews]

Okazaki Kei Route Review

After an (admittedly long) hiatus we’ve returned to continue this review series and hopefully finish it off! Our third character is Okazaki Kei, my second favorite character in the game. Kei’s a well meaning security specialist who was assigned to protect Yanagi’s team, but you soon learn pretty early on he’s a glorified spy meant to report their movements back to the police. While I loved him as a person, I have a few qualms with his route. Since it’ll be harder and harder to give my honest opinions on a route without putting in spoilers, this review will start to get fairly SPOILER HEAVY. So be aware if you’re looking to play this game and spoilers will diminish your enjoyment. 

Characterization

Okazaki Kei is an incredibly complex individual that is more than he seems from the get go. Considering the common advice is to play Enomoto, Sasazuka, then Okazaki’s route in that order you can view it as the game ramping up the stakes. He’s a seemingly easy going guy housing dark secrets and a host of issues that would probably be tough for a therapist to work through in real life. 

And I think the game does a very interesting job of portraying them! Kei balances a lot of charming moments with the more intense ones just enough to get you invested in him and wanting more. His infatuation with Ichika, and by consequence the issues of an insane martyr complex and a possessive streak crops up slowly enough and is properly explained enough that you don’t feel like it’s a case of her being a mary sue. Okazaki is insanely affectionate, and it feels natural to his character in such a way that you think he’d behave this way with anyone. Which makes genuinely becoming closer to him in the story so much more satisfying! 

Okay I know I’m seriously gushing about him and his route certainly has its flaws, but I honestly suspended a lot of my disbelief for those flaws. That is to say, the whole way he solves his martyr complex kind of does rest on the power of heterosexual love. But the average otome enjoyer isn’t coming to the genre to see a plotline happen where a man gets six months of therapy. 

Plot Relevance

Following up on Sasazuka dealing with a member of Adonis, Okazaki does the same thing. While a lot of his conflict is primarily focused inward, the game doesn’t deprive you of a glimpse into the greater narrative and in fact connects the two fairly easily. 

On Ichika’s end, I have to say she did a fair bit of detective work here, most of it actually. Kei is firmly categorized as the brawn, a security guard, so a lot of times Ichika is bouncing ideas off him and taking initiative in the case. A breath of fresh air after dealing with her kind of being made out to be a bumbling idiot in Sasazuka’s route. 

Now the greater plot, is um, a piece of work. Okazaki’s route connects his internal conflict with Adonis. We’re shown a flashback of an assassination attempt on the prime minister, and Okazaki mistakenly attempted to save someone instead of committing himself to the job. The consequences were drastic, his partner dying to keep him safe. Except he finds out soon after that same partner was a mole for Adonis, and had a big hand in the assassination attempt. Kei is so traumatized that he develops the martyr complex that I mentioned just a few paragraphs earlier! He latches onto Ichika, because he projects a standard that she’s worth dying for. The narrative makes it clear it’s not because it’s Ichika, but rather because she was in the right place at the right time. 

So you expect a lot of the plot to be devoted to this right? Well, yes! But also no. Kei’s Adonis pair is a man who’s part of organized crime and was a former police officer. He grew increasingly dissatisfied with his job, being abused by his superior and constantly having his accomplishments stolen from him by said superior. As a result he grew so discontent with the police force he turned to crime. This is a very touchy and nuanced subject don’t you think? Exposing that police as an institution is rife with the ability for cops to be crooked, combined with them lording their authority over others. 

Well the game handles that with all the gentleness of taking a bat to someone’s window. The greater plotline plays out like such a weird pro-cop PSA that I felt kind of disoriented over it. You obviously can’t easily forget that this game is about the police as much as it as about dating guys. But I felt like I was getting slapped in the face over and over with “You NEED cops to protect you. Cops must ALWAYS be there. Corruption is only a few bad apples. Cops are IMPORTANT.” Like, I thought I was playing an otome game. Not debating the police’s general usefulness. And its especially stupid because Kei isn’t even a sterotypical cop! He’s specifically trained in security detail, you know, GUARDING people. Not chasing down criminals! Why was I getting this force fed to me on his route of all places?!

Character Interaction

This is where no exaggeration, the route was saved for me. Kei was accompanied by a junior officer named Hideaki Yoshinari who is effectively his right hand man, and their interactions are as funny as they are endearing. This also gives Ichika a handy outside character to talk to. This, combined with her speaking to her friends in the police force means she gets a wealth of outside interaction until the narrative closes her off a bit. However there’s actually a good explanation this time! I mean, if you can take Kei effectively being the game’s yandere as a good explanation.

Kei and Ichika’s interactions evolve in such a way that are incredibly interesting and pretty well written to me. Kei starts out infatuated with the idea of her, and with the idea of dying for her. He flirts, he gets touchy feely, and he makes her heart flutter. But it’s all in service to himself, and his inner monologues don’t really shy away from that fact. I mean, eventually they do truly fall in love. But Ichika growing to like him and thus not checking out of their potential relationship when she does catch wind of his freaky martyr complex, instead helping him work through it is super nice. And just to mention, the CG below the plot relevance header is an awesome and tension filled moment. Definitely surprised me a little bit. 

This is a side note, since I have nowhere else to put this but Kei’s um. Incredibly horny. I don’t know how else to put it, but we ramped up from rather vague innuendos and CGs that didn’t amount to much, to Kei openly talking about having sex with Ichika before the route’s climax (joke completely unintentional I swear). I mean this game is for adults, and every character is in their mid to late 20s, but still with how strong he came on I was shocked. I don’t think it helped that I’ve played pretty much every popular game Yuki Kaji has been in, and hearing the voice of the quintessential guy you call when you want him to play either screaming asshole or normal dude talk about how much he wants to have straight sex with you is crazy.  

Final Thoughts

I am being completely serious when I say even though I am giving this route a low score that Kei is still perhaps one of my favorite characters in the game. It’s too bad that the greater plot that intersected with his internal conflict was 5+ hours of having copaganda shoved down my throat. I indicated when I started this review that I don’t have good opinions of the police due to the aforementioned issue of my being black, and police in every country have a very very dark history of abusing their power. So I’m not going to act like that didn’t severely lower my enjoyment. 

I’m giving this route a 6.5/10. 

But like I said, Kei’s an extremely compelling character. So if you include my completely loving him, maybe you can inflate that rating by about 2 points.

[jinmukangwrites]

Whumptober Day 11

Defiance | Struggling | Crying

Ao3

For @sassydefendorflower. I hope you like it!!!

Warnings: prolonged captivity, kidnapping, non consensual toughing / groping / drugging, gaslighting, Stockholm Syndrome, restraints, isolation, threats, panic attacks. Please keep warnings in mind, this is a VERY dark fic.

-o-o-o-o-

If there's one thing Dick can confidently say that he absolutely hates, it's being restrained. He's learnt to repress his hatred for the total and complete lack of movement and control of his own body over the years—because the last thing you should do while locked up or tied down is show the captor that you're uncomfortable. And yes, it did get  easier over the years. Waking up with his wrists above his head, locked in chains, or his back pressed to a metal chair with coarse rope hardly bothered him anymore. He's even experimented with bondage during sex, and while it wasn't the biggest kink of his, it was somewhat enjoyable with the right partners. 

But deep down, when it came down to it, losing control of his movements and senses rubbed him in all the wrong ways. 

Which is why when he wakes up on his sides his arms wrapped around his chest and hugged around towards his back by stiff sleeves he's instantly on edge. He shifts, and swallows down a grown when his legs keep connected together at the ankles by what feels like thick, padded shackles. Again, Feels like, because when he opens his eyes, he finds them bound by something soft and cloth-like. The cloth wraps around the entirety of his head and over his ears. And speaking of his ears, it almost feels like someone pushed extra cotton into the canals, making it exceptionally difficult to hear. 

He tries to shift, frustration crawling into his gut when the straps of what’s definitely a straight jacket presses harshly into multiple places of his body. There's no give. He can immediately tell that this is an honest to God straight jacket. Not a fake one with makeshift straps sewn on to simply look real or do the job. This is the kind of straight jacket the Joker would be put in. And Dick—while he's flexible and trained to escape binds like this—knows that something like this might be out of his league.

Now that he knows he's not getting out of this, at least not while laying on the ground, he takes stock of his memories. He doesn't feel groggy or drugged. Honestly, it feels like he's just woken up from a nap. Which is strange because he could have sworn the last thing he remembers is driving home from work, mentally planning out his night routine for patrol. 

Which brings up the question if he's Dick Grayson… or Nightwing. 

He shifts again and tries to pay attention to the fabric against his body—under the straight jacket and around his limbs.

He quickly becomes aware that the parts of skin all under his knees are bare, and when he tugs his arms and twists his fingers he can feel the straight jacket directly on his fingertips. The collar of the straight jacket lays loosely around the base of his neck, but the clothes he's wearing sits skin-tight just below his jaw. 

Okay, Nightwing then. Nightwing, but without his gloves and boots. Which is good and bad in a multitude of different ways. 

The on edge feeling inside his chest grows as he slowly begins to work himself up so he's sitting. The straps of the jacket rub raw against him, especially on his biceps and groin. His back hits a hard wall, and he leans against it while bringing his legs up so his knees are kissing his chest. He can't hear or see anything—which leaves him severely vulnerable, especially when you consider that he is restrained rather professionally. He tests the give between the shackles on his ankles, and he finds there's hardly any. Maybe just an inch of cord. Not enough to walk, hop, or shuffle. He needs his hands, or at least his eyes, to know more about the likelihood of him picking them. Right now though, the likelihood sits stubbornly at zero.

Okay. So not all of his senses are taken from him. His mouth isn't gagged, so he can speak and taste. He might be restrained, but leaning against the wall and placing his bare feet on the ground gives him a chance of at least feeling someone coming before they interact with him. 

Besides that… there's not much going for him. He doesn't know where he is, or even if there's someone in the room with him that would get upset if he begins to more seriously tug at the jacket. Abductions like this are always stressful in completely unique ways because of that. 

Okay. Okay, Nightwing. You got this. 

He rolls his shoulders, grunting at the pressure that immediately intensifies on his arms and sides. He tugs his arms and tugs again, shifting to try and alleviate the yanking straps on his nether regions, but it all is too well put together. Too tightly buckled. There's absolutely no give on any strap, and continuing to tug and struggle like this will just make him look like a pathetic, flopping fish trapped outside of the water. He's a good escapist. You don't go into his line of nightlife and not know how to slip your share of binds. But he's no Houdini. He's not getting out of this jacket any time soon. 

Suddenly, there's a heavy vibration under his feet, and he's just able to tense before a hand wraps itself around his chin, softer than what Dick was expecting, and forces his face to look slightly upwards. 

He just manages to repress a jump when the sound of static erupts in his ear. Unexpected. Interesting. The static shifts into words. Was… a small communication device stuffed into his bound ears? 

"Hello, Nightwing," says the voice. Male. Young, maybe Bruce's age. Calm. Gentle. Like he's making a genuine greeting. "Nod if you can hear me."

Dick doesn't nod. Maybe, if he pretends this rather clever idea for communication while he's deafened doesn't actually work, his captor will take the tape off from his face and Dick would be able to actually see where he is. 

His captor waits a second, then sighs. "I want to help you, and I can't if you don't cooperate."

Dick has to resist frowning or scowling. What is this guy playing at? Normally, by now, bad guys are beating him up and torturing him. 

The man hums and Dick jerks his chin away, curling up defensively when the man simply lets go. 

The static chirps in his ear. "I see you want to be stubborn. But that's okay. I'll be back later, with food too. Try to think about working with me next time."

Then the static leaves, as does the presence of the man. Dick doesn't hear any closing doors, or see anyone walking away, but he's pretty sure he's alone now.

He swallows. That was weird. 

He takes a second to calm his heart and quiet his head. He can't think about what his captor wants and what ploy they're playing at. He has to escape before something more happens. He tugs on the straight jacket sleeves, choking off his growls of frustration when he goes nowhere quickly.

-o-o-o-o-

Hours pass. Enough hours to where his lips feel chapped and his stomach growls. His tailbone aches, sitting against the wall like this, but he doesn't want to purposely place himself in a more vulnerable position. He can only be grateful that he doesn't need to use the restroom- and nevermind. Now that he's thinking about it he does kinda need to go. 

Great. This is just great. Now that strap growing right between his legs is going to be so much more fun to deal with. 

Just great. 

Loud static erupts in his ears suddenly, and he could hardly repress the flinch at the sudden noise within the hours of silence he's been stewing in for the past several hours. He grinds his jaw as the same voice as before speaks up, the tone way to smug and happy for Dick's tastes. 

"Ah, so you do hear me!" 

Dick wants to ignore him. But clearly this man is confident that Dick can hear him and Dick really needs to find out what's going on. 

"Who are you?" Dick growls, bunching his hands into fists within the sleeves of the straight jacket. "What do you want?"

"Oh, Nightwing," the man sighs, and Dick has to physically restrain himself from kicking out when a hand places itself on his knees. He tugs backwards though, not wanting to be touched. The man removes his hand and doesn't return it. "I don't want anything, I just need you to eat."

Dick's stomach growls at the mention of food and he hopes it wasn't loud enough to be heard. He's hungry. Thirsty. But Dick knows giving him food isn't the only reason he was captured. "No, there's more than that. Why am I here?"

The man hums. "How about, we make a deal. You eat some of this hot, homemade potato soup I've made and then I can answer some of your questions. How does that sound? Will you let me help you?"

What is up with this guy. He sounds... Genuine. And Dick hates that. He sounds like he really does just want to get Dick something to eat, and that he'll honestly answer some questions after hand. But… Dick can't play along. The soup could be drugged. Or these questions of his might not even be answered anyway. And what is this guy going to do? Take off the jacket to give him potato soup? No, he'll most likely attempt to spoon feed Dick and Dick's not a fan of that.

So, even though he's hungry, he sets his jaw. "I'm not hungry."

"Yes you are, sweetheart," the man coos, setting something twisting in Dick's gut. "I know you're hungry. Thirsty. And I want to help you." Dick flinches when a hand cups his left jaw, but this time the hand doesn't leave. "Please let me help you."

Dick presses his lips shut. 

The man sighs. 

"Okay, you're okay. I'll let you be for a little longer. The food can just be reheated later, alright?" 

Dick doesn't answer. The static shuts off, and Dick's pretty sure the man leaves. 

He's left alone to lick his lips; to ignore his grumbling stomach and the pooling weight in his bladder. He tugs on the jacket, and becomes even more irritated when it doesn't give like he didn't expect it to.

-o-o-o-o-

It's… several more hours by the time the man returns again, and within that time Dick has found himself barely keeping awake. If it wasn't for his hunger and thirst… if not for the added intense need to relieve himself… he would have fallen asleep out of pure boredom. This entire situation is tearing at his nerves. Fraying him at the core of his tolerance. He hates being rendered completely helpless like this. Starved and deprived. It chills him to the bone even though it's a comfortable temperature in the room. He wants to know what his captors game is—he hates not knowing.

But, even though he cannot help but desperately hate this entire everything, it felt almost like a relief when the static once again began in his ear, and the presence of the man returned. Dick stirred slightly, recognizing and almost feeling the man kneeling down to his side. He could easily smell the thick and hot potato soup that he was talking about earlier. He must have brought it down in a closed container or something last time, but left it open this time. 

It made him want to curl up just to lessen the stabbing pain in his empty gut. It's strange how he can be so hungry when he's sure not even 24 hours have passed yet. He's gone days without food before. Weeks with little nibbles here and there during his most intense depressive episodes. But there's something about being forcefully deprived of food that makes it so much more awful than if it was under his own will. 

He wants to eat. He should eat. He should keep up his strength. The soup smells so good. Like... Alfred level good. And he's not sure of that's because it might actually be as good as Alfred's famous steak and potato soup he liked to make around Christmas time while they were on a rare vacation at the ski house... or if he’s just so starved that anything would smell heavenly. 

He swallows. The man finally speaks.

"Are you ready to eat?" The man asks.

And why shouldn't he eat? If this guy wanted Dick poisoned or drugged, he could have done it easily hours ago. His stomach gurgles, which in turn puts pressure on his ballooned bladder, which makes him painfully aware of the strap still pressing between his legs. 

He has so many discomforts right now. If he could just ease one...

"If I eat..." Dick begins, and his voice sounds as tired and haggard as he feels. He licks his dry lips. "If I eat, you'll answer my questions?"

There's a moment of silence, then a small chuckle. "That was the deal last time, silly," the man replies, sounding like a parent gently scolding a rambunctious child. Dick didn't like that. "Right now, you just need to eat. If you eat, then we can maybe talk about the future. How does that sound, sweetheart?" 

It doesn't sound good. But Dick is so… hungry. He can either just let himself eat and maybe learn something or just let himself starve and sit alone for more hours until his captor decides to visit him again.

Dick bites his lip. Weighs his options. His rumbling stomach reminds him that he doesn't really have any.

"Okay," he breathes. "Okay."

"I'm happy that you're letting me help you, sweetheart," the man says, then settles down somewhere in front of Dick. "Open up!" 

And as embarrassing as it was, he opened his mouth and allowed the first spoonful of warm soup to enter. 

Now that he's tasted the heavenly smelling soup, he's not really sure if he can confidently say if it was the hunger that made it smell so good. It didn't taste awful… but it definitely tastes… alright? 

He eats the soup in generously small bites, and the man allows time between each bite to let the warmth settle in his gut before offering another spoonful. Soon enough, the soup is gone and the man is gently putting a bottle of water to Dick's chapped mouth with encouraging words that Dick tries not to listen too intently to. 

In a short matter of time, his stomach feels contently full. Thirst a far-off memory. Now… the only problem is his bladder, no doubt about to feel even more full considering he's just drunk down a sizable amount of distilled water. 

"Do you need to use the restroom, honey?" The man asks, and Dick almost flushes. He really, really needs to pee. 

"I need answers," he says instead, because he's complied with eating. Drinking too. He didn't fight or lash out during any of it. 

"Yes," the man says, which shocks Dick. "Yes I suppose you've earned it. One question, sweety. Then we can move on."

Dick took a deep breath. Okay. One question. He can work with this. 

"What do you want from me?"

The man hummed. "I've already answered that, sweetheart, remember? I don't want anything from you. I just want to take care of you. You need to be taken care of."

Dick shook his head. "No, I don't need taken care of. I can take care of myself. What's your plan? What's your endgame?"

"I believe I told you just one question, yes?" The man scolds, then exhales. "I know you're scared, sweetheart. But believe me, I have your best interests at heart-"

"Then untie me!" Dick snaps, tugging on the sleeves of the straight jacket. "Let me see you! If all you wanted to do was give me a meal, then you could have just invited me in."

"No," the man says, and for the first time he sounds… angry. Irritated. It almost gives Dick whiplash. "No. You're safer like this. The outside world… it just uses you. No one appreciates you out there. You're all on your own... getting hurt… and I can't watch it any longer. I'm going to take care of you. I'll untie you once you understand that."

Dick clenches his fists within the restraining sleeves. Of course. A complete psycho has taken him. This makes things difficult. 

"You're delusional."

A moment of silence. Then; the constant static in his ear suddenly cut out. Immediately, his anxiety level sparks. He's forgotten how quiet this was. How lonely. He's sat here for hours, and he's already latched onto the only person around to have company with. 

He represses gasp when a hand curls around the side of his head, the palm resting just besides his ear, fingers curling in his hair. 

Then, the hand leaves, and Dick is left sitting in the dark, his bladder swelling to the point of pain. 

"W-" he begins, about to demand a way to relieve his bladder, but he stops himself and let's the presence go. Asking for things will encourage this man's delusions. Which can be just as dangerous as defying. 

He takes a deep breath and forces himself to think of the meditation practices Bruce put him through as a kid. He'll find a way out of this. He always finds a way.

-o-o-o-o-

Just before Dick's bladder is about to explode, a hand falls on his shoulder. He jumps at the contact, almost letting go of his nether problem, but he manages to keep his dignity as the hand squeezes slightly. It must have been an hour, but somehow, he found himself looking forward to that little buzz of static that announced that he'll be able to hear for a little bit. 

It comes, and for the first time in a while, he feels like he can breathe.

"How about we get you to the bathroom, sweety?"

And Dick knows he shouldn't comply. He should ignore it. He shouldn't play into the man's fantasies. But it's either use the restroom or… or wet himself probably in the next five minutes. 

"Fine."

"Now that's not very polite," the man says, back in that scolding voice. "If you want to go, you have to say yes please!" 

Dick grinds his teeth. His bladder hurts. "Yes please."

"Well, we can work on your tone later…"

Then, unexpectedly, fingers fall to the padded shackles on his ankles. He fights the urge to lash out, but he naturally relaxes when he feels the shackles begin to loosen. 

This… this is good. This is really good. He's letting Dick's legs free so he can walk to wherever he needs to go. 

Dick's known how to fight blinded and deafened since he was a kid.

Dick's always known how to use his legs. 

Escape is a hair's breadth away. He can practically taste it. 

The man brings his hands up to Dick's chest, and Dick allows him to get that close. The man grunts as he helps Dick to his feet. It takes a moment for Dick to find his balance, especially with the straight jacket still tightly wrapped around his upper body, but eventually he manages to steady himself on his feet. 

Now or never. 

The strap between his legs pulls awfully as he brings his leg up to kick the man. His foot meets a gut, and he hears an oof before the sound in his ears cut out and silence replaces his world. But this is fine. He can work with this. It's a good thing his feet are bare, because it makes it easier to keep track of the man as he stumbles back a few steps.

Dick doesn't allow him to recover. He darts forward and brings his leg up, aiming for the man's head. 

He misses. Which is fine. This is all fine. He just needs to get in one good hit. One good hit and he get get out of this pl-

Suddenly, his entire world erupts in pain. A gurgled scream forces its way out of his throat as the familiar feeling of pure electricity sparks from his thigh up to the rest of his body. Everything becomes that. The agonizing sensation of bolts slicing their way through every nerve and cell he has. 

It lasts years. Or maybe moments. When the electricity stops and he's left breathless, choking on his strained breaths, crumpled on the floor. There's stabbing pain in his thigh, and he realizes he's just been tased with some sort of gun that can pierce through the kevlar of his suit. 

How the fuck did this guy manage to get something this high tech?!

However, he doesn't wonder that long, because he's suddenly hit with the mortifying feeling of wetness between his legs, dripping down the inside of his thighs. 

Shit. 

And he can't do anything about it besides groan and try to get his limbs to stop twitching with lingering effects of a taser. 

He doesn't get anywhere far, because hands fall onto his ankles and he's too weak to fight as the shackles are slipped back on with fast and practiced movements. In a matter of seconds, Dick's left on his stomach, his arms awkwardly curled around his chest and his legs now held back together. 

The static in his ear turns on. The man sounds breathless. "That was uncalled for. Apologise, and I'll help you clean up."

Dick feels a spike of anger crawl up his esophagus. Fuck. You."

There's a sigh. "I do not know why you insist on struggling. I'm trying to help you. If you don't apologise, then I'm going to be forced to leave you here to think about the kind of behavior expected from you."

Dick snarls. Doesn't say anything. Just snarls. He's so angry. And tired. And humiliated. 

The man huffs. "Alright then. It seems you need time to cool down. I'll be back, sweetheart. If you apologise when I return, then I'll have another warm meal for you. And I'll help you get clean."

"Fuck off," Dick snarls. "I don't know what you want-" the static shuts off and irrational panic swirls in his stomach. "Let me go! Fuck- let me go-" 

Pain stabs into his soaking thighs, but it's not electricity. He feels the stabbing pins of the taser gun leave the meat of his thigh. He swears and kicks, but he hits nothing. 

"Get back! Untie me! Shit-"

There's no answer. Only silence. Dick's pretty sure the man exited the room in the middle of Dick's irrational yelling. He takes a deep breath, swears, and curls up slightly, wrinkling his nose at the smell of his own urine that covers his aching thighs. 

The silence in his ears is deafening. The sudden loneliness crushing. 

He needs to figure out a way out of this. Before he goes completely insane.

-o-o-o-o-

Dick's unsure of how much time has passed. 

Enough for him to feel hungry and thirsty again though. Long enough for the dampness of his lower body to turn dry and irritating. The inside of his legs have been rubbed raw against the fabric of his suit. He hates to think of the kind of rash he probably has. 

But the hunger? The thirst? The discomfort? He can deal with that. That's all okay. It's nothing new, even if wetting himself is embarrassing beyond most comparisons. 

What's getting to him is that he's... completely alone. Rendered helpless to the point where he can barely wiggle around on the ground like a worm. He's tired. Exhausted. But terrified to sleep. He hates this… loneliness. The hours spent in isolation with no one to talk to. No one to hold him. 

He could really go for a hug right now.

He almost wishes the man would come back soon so Dick can have someone around. 

The hours tick on. And no one comes. Dick curls up tighter, because that's the only thing he can do. He curls up tighter and finds himself pretending the straight jacket was an actual person, holding him as he desperately fought to keep awake. 

-o-o-o-o-

"Oh dear, you poor thing."

Dick wakes to the half pitying, half cooed sentence. He hasn't… realized he's fallen asleep. He's still not sure if he's even awake. Everything… is so woozy. Groggy. A hand goes into his hair and he finds himself leaning into the soft touch. Bruce does this. Bruce does this whenever Dick got himself in trouble, and therefore into a medical cot. This is safe. Dick sighs.

"Are you ready to apologise?" The voice asks, and Dick frowns.

Apologise? What has he… 

Oh. Oh yeah. Dick flinches and tries to scramble back. His captor's hand leaves his hair and Dick tries not to hyperventilate. 

How… how could he seek comfort like that? How could he have let his guard get so low? So quickly? With a panicked, thumping heart he mentally lists everything he knew about Stockholm Syndrome. Could… could it be happening? Could his constant need for a physical comfort be causing this? Could the hours spent on end completely alone and helpless have triggered-

No. No Stockholm Syndrome doesn't work that quickly. He's just tired. And probably having some PTSD from his time spent captive with Deathstroke back when the mercenary was more determined to have him as an apprentice. 

Dick's definitely not about to gain any kind of false feelings for his captor any time soon. 

He needs to escape though, and quickly, before they can begin.

Because, no matter how strong you are, if you're forced into any kind of long term captivity like this, it's only a matter of time.

Dick still can't bring himself to truly fight Slade Wilson, and it's been over a decade. 

"Sweetheart?" His captor asks, sounding concerned, and Dick forces himself to keep his breaths even. 

Even though it felt like he couldn't breathe at all.

"W-what do you want?" Dick wheezes. 

The man sighs into his ear. "I have more soup. And some towels to clean you up. Remember the deal I told you?"

Oh. That's right. 

He wants Dick to apologise.

And Dick wants to. Just to get the burning soreness between his legs gone. 

But... He doesn't… want this man anywhere near him right now. Not when he's just come down from an internalized panic attack about the fucking Stockholm Syndrome. 

But he also doesn't want to be alone again. He's hungry and thirsty and tired despite his apparent nap he's still tired to his bones. 

And he doesn't want to be alone. 

And suddenly, the choice is so much harder to make. And maybe it really is just his PTSD with Slade acting up. He doesn't want the company of this man specifically. He just wants... Someone. Bruce. Barbara. Jason. Tim.  Cass. Steph. Damian. And Dick might now know him very well, but Duke would be appreciated too. All of them would be great. Fantastic actually. God, he really wants a hug from every single one of them.

But he doesn't have them. It's definitely been more than a day now. Maybe close to two. If they were searching for him… they would have found him by now. 

So he needs to save up his strength. He needs to eat. He can't fight to the fullest of his abilities to escape with an irritated rash between his legs. 

He takes a deep breath, tells himself he's okay, and nods. "I'm... sorry."

"For what?" The man asks and Dick wants to crawl into a hole and die. 

"For… trying to escape."

A sigh. A hand in his hair. Dick forces himself to believe that he didn't immediately flinch away because he's an expert actor. 

"For trying to run away," the man corrects. And man, that's manipulative. Gaslighting. "Say you're sorry for trying to run away."

Dick nods anyways. "I'm sorry for trying… to run away."

"There we go," the hand in his hair gently combs through the strands. "Was that so hard?"

Yes.

He doesn't answer. The man sounds too happy to care as the smell of potato soup erupts into the air with the pop of a lid. 

Dick allows himself to be fed without complaint. It takes less time than before. He's given more water this time too. 

The food is warm and the water soothing, that by the time they're done he's almost forgotten about the second half of the agreement and fallen into a state of almost unwitting sleep.

He remembers the moment hands land on his knees, going to spread his legs. Immediately, lightning fast thoughts of fight or flight invade his mind. 

Fuck. God. Shit. The rash. 

He didn't… he didn't even think of what it would mean to be cleaned up. His suit stretched enough to roll up his legs all the way to his crotch, but the thought of hands touching him in those places sent his heart haywire. 

"Wait-" he wheezes, scooting back and forcing his legs closed. Because know what? He can deal. He'll live. He doesn't need anyone fondling any sensitive parts of his lower body, even if it's to clean off any uncomfortable, dried, stench ridden messes. "Stop!"

"I know, it’s okay" the man tuts. "It's only going to hurt more, sweetheart. It has to get clean."

"Don't touch me!" Dick kicks out, panic flaring in a whole new way. A whole new way that he hasn't felt in a fucking long ass time. A whole new way that makes his skin feel wet with rain water. Warm with blood. Too cold with the wind. On fire with the trailing hands and body straddling him around his hips.

He tries to keep his legs closed, but the man digs his fingers into Dick's sore thigh where the puncture wounds of the taser gun were and soon Dick finds himself pinned on his back, foot on the tether between his ankle cuffs, a body between his knees, and hands tugging at the hemlines of his suit around his legs.

Dick chokes on his panic now, almost flashing back to the rain dripping on the roof of Blockbuster's building, the harsh yellow light of the roof entrance reflecting like melting stars. 

He takes a gasping breath, digging the nails of his fingers into his palms, focusing on the body between his spread legs and how easy it should be to bring his legs up and choke the life out of his captor. This guy wants to touch his thighs so much, he can touch them with his concave windpipe. 

He almost does so, but then the man tuts and presses something against his leg. "Please calm down, sweetie. I don't want to punish you again."

The taser. Of course he has the taser. 

A hiccup escapes his throat without his permission as he slowly forces himself to lay back. He could fight. He could move anyways and at least go down fighting. But, if he's tasered this whole experience will be so much worse and he… he just wants to go to sleep. He just wants to go home.

He doesn't know how to get out of this one. He doesn't know what he should do with this one. Nothing, no precautionary plan, no in-case-of's, no lesson that he's had stuffed in his brain since his suit was red, green, and yellow instead of black and blue has taught him how to deal with these kinds of villains. The kinds that did things not for any material gain, but because they genuinely felt like they needed to. 

Dick knew, as the material of his pants were finally bunched up to his groin, that if his knuckles were free he'd be biting teeth marks into them just to keep from screaming, especially as a warm, wet cloth begins to rub his now exposed skin. 

He hated this. He hated this. He hated this hated this hated this so fucking much. It was all he could focus on. How much he hated this. How much he hated the rough fibers of the cloth scraping against his sensitive thighs. How much he hated the water dripping down towards his crotch. How much he hated the bare hand on his other leg, keeping his legs spread. How much he hated being so helpless to a taser pressed into his side. 

He didn't want this. He thought he could get over it. The feeling of someone between his legs, him pressed on his back, hands where they shouldn't be. He thought that if he pretended it didn't bother him, that it didn't send him back, he could still have fun in bed. He could still enjoy the things he did with the people he came to love enough to intrust that side of himself to. 

Now, he's reminded of how much he never wants to be touched again. 

Which is entirely not a typical Dick Grayson thought. 

He's so focused on how much he absolutely loathes and hates everyone and everything and himself included that he hardly even notices that it’s done until he’s curled up on his side, the water on his thighs beginning to cool, tightened up in the smallest ball he could get into with the restraints. 

He gasps. It's stuttered. Wet. 

Wet. Why...?

"It's okay sweetheart," the man says, bringing his hand into Dick's hair and Dick wants to unravel. "I know it was scary. Don't cry. Let's calm down-"

Crying. Dick's crying. 

How…

How pathetic.

Has he already broken? Brought down to tears because of a little loneliness, homesickness, and unwelcome touches? And the thing is, he doesn't even think more than a day or two has passed. 

And he tries to tell himself everyone has an achilles heel. With Bruce, it's when his family is threatened. With Jason, it's crowbars. With Tim, it's being left behind. With Cass it's a morally compromising decision. With Duke it's the crazy unknown. With Damian, it's his past. 

Dick's always told himself his achilles heel was always baseball bats. Or a threatened circus. Or maybe even just tiny, white, powdery pills designed to paralyze the heart. 

But it's really always been being rendered helpless. 

Helpless to move. Helpless to see. Helpless to hear. Helpless to fight. 

Helpless to push the body on top of him off before they violate him.

And he's crying. He's sobbing. He's curled up and pathetically weeping as the man coos and hushes and whispers comforts as he brushes his hair like Bruce had always used to. 

He didn't even do anything bad to Dick. He didn't touch any private parts, he didn't linger in his touches. He had worked with a singular goal just to clean up the horrible, degrading mess between his legs and left it at that. 

And he knows triggers can be a finicky thing. The smallest, barely related item can set off the trauma that's been hiding deep under his skin for so long. 

But he still feels stupid. Childish. Impulsive and like he's overreacted. 

He feels like he'd rather sink into the ground and just… not exist. Not die. Never die. Just… stop.

He doesn't know how long he lays there, a hand in his hair and whispered comforts in his ear, tears streaming down his face. All he knows is that eventually his exhaustion wins over him. Sinks it's claws in. Grabs his lashes like they're curtains and drags them down. 

He doesn't notice when he eventually falls asleep. Only that everything blessedly… stops.

-o-o-o-o-

Dick doesn't know how much more time passes. Only that it does. It does and a whole lot of it ticks away. The man works Dick into a reluctant routine. Leaving him in deafness and darkness until it's time to eat—mostly that shockingly good but getting boring potato soup, replaced here and there with random other meals that the man must have had left overs of—or use the restroom. Using the restroom for the first time in this current captive episode was almost as traumatic as getting… cleaned. There’s apparently a bucket not too far from where Dick is normally laying, which digs at Dick's brain with the question of how big is the room anyway? The only issue is that, restrained as he was, he couldn't pull down his pants and… aim. 

But as the days definitely began to number, he didn't necessarily get used to it, but numb was a good synonym. 

He feels dirty. Abused. Used to the point of uselessness. 

And so very alone. So alone that every time the man leaves, Dick's more and more tempted to beg him to stay a little longer. 

And he can definitely tell that the beginnings of Stockholm Syndrome are showing in his psyche. Which is strange. To know you're being brainwashed. Fully aware of it. 

Yet being helpless to your own thoughts and feelings. Helpless to make it not matter. Trapped in your own body, watching helplessly as everything in your brain slowly begins to betray you. 

And Dick knows he doesn't care for his current captor. Not in the way Dick cared about Slade. Dick doesn't seek out his touch or his comforts like he used to with Slade; desperately do all that he could to get Slade to tell him he did a good job. He didn't realize how deep in that hole he was until it was made possible for Dick to finally escape and he was finally faced with the option that was fighting for his freedom. 

It took every cell in his body to fight Slade down towards the point Slade had to retreat. 

It still takes every cell in his body to treat the man like an actual villain, and not some could-have-been father. 

But his current captor? This unknown man who visits him after hours of isolation, insists he's "taking care" of him? Dick couldn't care less about him.

He's touched starved. That's all. 

That's all.

The time slips away like fine silk on dry skin. Dick doesn't cry again, not even when the man apologises before drugging him to the point he's barely conscious so he could safely strip him out of his suit and jacket to wash him in a tub of lukewarm water. He could barely hold onto his thoughts, let alone remember the entire experience. But he knows he didn't cry. 

Because he cries in his nightmares now. Cries in the quiet hours he's alone. 

Because, at least, when he's being bathed and touched in ways that send every fiber of his being reeling with the need to get away, he’s not alone.

He hates being alone. 

And yet, time ticks by. He's given food. Taken to the restroom. Bathed every so often. Filled with mind numbing hours and hours and hours of nothing in-between. 

This lasts forever. 

Though, he finds out, once the pounding of multiple pairs of feet erupts around him and hands grab at the tape around his eyes to return his vision and hearing, he finds it's been about two weeks.

The first face he sees is Tim. 

Then, he passes out from relief. He passes out from fear too, fear that it’s all a dream. 

But, the next time he wakes, he wakes in a bed at the hospital, in a medical gown and the lights dimmed low to not agitate his sensitive eyes. There's a hand in his hair, and for a moment he's terrified it's the man. But then he blinks his eyes and sees for the first time in forever, and what he sees is a snoring Bruce Wayne, leaning over the edge of the medical cot with his limp hand in his hair like he's always done. 

Dick doesn't close his eyes. He focuses on Bruce's breathing and the small beeps of his heart on the monitor besides him. He slides his gaze to his fingers. His thin fingers and bony wrists which are laying against his blanket covered legs, of which look thinner than what he remembered. 

He doesn't feel starved. But he's sure he looks it. 

He doesn't close his eyes. Because if he does, the hand in his hair will no longer be comforting. It will be vile.

The stay at the hospital isn't as long as it could have been. 

Physically, he's better than what he could have been.

Mentally though? Dick feels like he's taken one hit too many to his stability. Damian tries to hug him, and Dick almost falls over panicking because Damian's short and his arms wrap around his waist, his chest bumping into his hips, unknowingly pressing into places he doesn't want touched. 

He bought a nightlight. And a fan. Just to keep his room bright enough to see and loud enough to hear. Enough visual and noise to convince him he's alive. 

Sleep comes like the rabbit on Alice In Wonderland. 

Nightmares come fashionably on time.

And he doesn't feel himself getting better. Even when he's back to a healthy weight and has been out of captivity longer than he's been there. The man who tortured him is in jail, to be tried privately with judges the Justice League trusted. Dick's identity won't be exposed to the public, but it was only a matter of time before it got out that Nightwing was tortured, humiliated, and held captive.

Only a matter of time… 

But that… Dick can live with this. Because he's alive. And alive meant he can get better. And… and his family saved him. He’s not alone anymore.

He will get better. 

No matter how long it takes. This will all just become a story to be filed in the same folders as all the other times he's been tortured or kidnapped. 

He'll get over this. 

Dick always gets over these things. 

He just wishes it didn't sound so sad, no matter how true that statement is. 

[the-arcana-but-saucier]

OK But hear me out... Pirates of the Caribbean Arcana AU

WARNING: This post contains spoilers for both the Arcana and for the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, so read ahead at your own risk!

I've been thinking about this AU for a while, and although it's been difficult to wrangle some characters into roles that would work for them, I think I largely have it down. I have most of the characters put in the roles I feel fit them best, either as similar characters or due to their relationship with the other characters. I'm having a tough time trying to figure out who Muriel would be, as his personality and build don't really match up with any of the main or even supporting cast in PotC. I'm also missing someone to be Davy Jones, as considering his personality, occupation, and also his past with Tia Dalma, he's a tricky character to place. If anyone has any suggestions or amendments, let me know! I've done my best :)

MC as Will (or Billy as a female version) Turner. Thought about this a lot - Will seems to be the character who ends up getting dragged along for the ride in the first movie (not knowing about his past, incidentally), whilst also being sought after by the main villain of that film (in this case, Lucio), which fits MC's role in the game. He also forms relationships with most of the main cast in various ways, which makes sense versus MC's 'fit all' role in the game. Obviously, any character wouldn't be perfect for MC as they can be pretty much any character, but I felt that Will was both main character-y enough and also diverse enough to work.

Julian as Captain Jack Sparrow. How could I not? An often charming, quick-thinking, drink-loving guy with a penchant for adventure and dodging the law. These two fit pretty damn well!

Asra as Tia Dalma/Calypso. Asra and Tia Dalma both give off these great mysterious vibes, plus Tia Dalma dabbles in magic of a sort, making a darker version of Asra a perfect fit for her. I believe she owns a pet snake in the films as well (among an assortment of other animals, mind you), so bonus points! The PotC wiki states that 'it is implied that Tia Dalma and Jack Sparrow became lovers at some point in the latter's adult life', which fits Asra and Jules perfectly, especially as in the movie, Tia Dalma seems to have fallen out of love somewhat with Jack - she's a little flirty with him, but shuts down any actual moves made towards her by him.

Lucio as Captain Barbossa. Lucio made me think for a bit, as he could also fit the role of Norrington or Beckett with his soldierly feel - he'd make a great navyman. I went with Barbossa in the end due to his relationship with the other characters, namely kidnapping Elizabeth (played by Nadia in this case, mistaking her for MC) and making sexual advances towards her. He would also be actively hunting MC, which mirrors his plot in the Arcana largely, as in PotC Barbossa needs Will's blood to reverse his curse caused by his own greed, which sounds a lot like what happens with MC and Lucio in the Arcana. It's also nice as it gives him a chance to become a good character (Barbossa throughout the films remains largely neutral, and switches sides a couple of times depending on his mood and what he's getting out of the situation). He also fucks over Julian a couple of times in the game, which fits with Barbossa fucking over Jack in PotC. Finally, Jack (Julian) shoots him as Will (MC) breaks the curse, essentially killing him (although he is brought back later on) mirroring Julian's alleged murder of Lucio.

Portia as Anamaria. You may not remember Anamria from PotC, but I feel she was a more instrumental character than her screen time suggested. Jack stole her ship in the past and subsequently sank it, and after finding him and giving him a good slap (classic Portia/Julian interaction lmao), Will (MC) suggests she can have Jack's currently 'borrowed' ship, the Interceptor, in exchange for her help, as she's an excellent sailor. She may be a side character, but I think her relationship with Jack fits Portia and Julian's relationship pretty well, plus bonus points for strong female pirates! :D

Nadia as Elizabeth Swann - How could she not be? A noblewoman with a taste for sword-fighting, who eventually ends up as the pirate queen. Obviously her relationship with Will (MC) would likely be a little more nuanced in this AU if MC announced interest in another character, so this would require some thought, as within PotC Will and Elizabeth are essentially star-crossed lovers, so I'd have to figure out a way to steer them away from that a little perhaps, unless MC falls for Nadia, in which case, all good :)

James Norrington (Elizabeth's former fiance) - Honestly not a clue here, I'm coming up empty. I would have put Lucio into this role as it fits the relationship between himself and Nadia (Elizabeth) pretty well, but Lucio largely fits better as Barbossa and I've more or less run out of characters that could conceivably have been Nadia's ex-fiance. Taking suggestions for this one!

Valerius as Cutler Beckett. I am aware that Valerius isn't exactly a villain in his entirety, but I was struggling for characters with this one. His cold and egocentric demeanor works for Beckett's similar personality, and I can just picture him sipping a glass of wine aboard a navy ship, looking out to sea and plotting Julian's downfall... his disdain for Jack Sparrow works well with Valerius's disdain for Julian. This role could also be fit by Vulgora, possibly.

Davy Jones - MAYBE Muriel due to his relationship with Asra versus Davy's relationship with Tia Dalma, but that feels like doing him dirty. It would work as a tragic love story, but I just can't see Muriel as a villainous character in any way, really. could be Valdemar, although I don't believe Valdemar has... FEELINGS, let alone feelings for Asra (Tia Dalma). In an ideal world, though...

Muriel as Cotton. Muriel is the one character I basically couldn't place in the PotC universe. He could be Gibbs (Jack Sparrow's first mate), but their relationship in the Arcana doesn't fit with Jack/Gibbs' relationship at all. Eventually, I went with Cotton - a mute pirate belonging to Jack's crew who has trained his pet parrot to speak for him. What with Cotton's fondness for animals (or at least, for his parrot...) and his uh... quiet demeanor, it COULD work, although I'd feel sort of bad making Muriel entirely mute, even if he doesn't speak much regardless. Taking suggestions for Muriel as well!

Vlastomil and Volta as Pintel and Ragetti. This is that pair of comedy relief pirates, one of which has a wooden eye, which works well for Volta. Vlastomil perhaps doesn't quite fit Pintel's general personality and build, but it was the best I could do under the circumstances, and imagining these two getting up to mischief is pretty amusing.

Overall, I feel that some of these characters fit their counterparts almost perfectly, and others require a little imagination, but it could definitely be a fun AU to write within! Hope you liked this little dip into my procrastinating-uni-work brain ;)