#i am fine just feeling a bit down right now

[penkura]

You have no idea how happy I am to finally find someone who writes for penguin 😭 he’s so fucking handsome and I love him sm!

Anyways onto my request, could you write a scenario with Law, Penguin, Zoro, and whoever else you’d like, of reader being hit on and then protecting her?

Thank you so much I am obsessed with your writing 😭💛

Yesss more love for Penguin!! He deserves it so much, omg, he's so good!

I've never been hit on before to my knowledge, so I'm just winging it here, but aahhh protective men. <3 I decided to add Shachi to this since he's started working his way into my circle of blorbos, so this my first time writing him in a romantic light lol. I hope you like it!

I'm sorry this took me SO LONG TO DO AAHH. I got back from vacation and life took over again.

Law

Law understands fully that his crew needs time off the Polar Tang every now and then, and that most of the time, that leads to everyone taking over a tavern when you dock, drinking their cares away while he watches to ensure no one does anything stupid. After the one time a fight broke out because Penguin unknowingly hit on the bar owner’s wife was enough, your captain keeps a close watch to cut off anyone who needs to stop before they do something to get you all in another fight.

Still, he has no problems letting you all have some time to relax and unwind, enjoy some drinks and the bad karaoke some of your crewmates partake in, as long as he keeps an eye on you specifically, Law is totally fine with the bar crawls that happen. He isn’t watching you because he doesn’t trust you, it’s the opposite. He trusts you more than anyone else on the crew, that’s why he watches you so closely when you’re out, to make sure you stay safe. There’s too many people out there, men and women, that are willing to lie or take advantage of you to get to him, Law understands that very well.

None of it has to do with the tiny little secret crush your captain has on you, nope. Not at all.

It has nothing everything to do with the guy flirting with you at the bar, it’s definitely not the reason his grip on his glass is so tight to the point you could hear a slight crack. Law can tell you aren’t entirely comfortable, by the nervous smile you have on your face as you inch back a little at a time, but the guy doesn’t seem to get the hint, moving closer, with a drunk grin on his face. Law doesn’t step in right away, just watching to make sure you’re safe. The second you let on that you feel unsafe, or the guy makes the wrong move, he’ll intervene. He has to keep his crewmates safe, small crush or not.

It's not even a minute later when the man puts a hand on your thigh, causing you to stiffen up, that you see the familiar blue from Law’s Room, and suddenly you’re sat in his lap as the drunkard jumps up when you disappear. Law’s arm wraps around your waist as the other guy looks around for you, too drunk to notice where you’ve been placed before he downs his own drink and asks for another, your captain almost sighing relief that he seems to be ignoring your sudden disappearance now.

“Uh, captain…?”

It takes just a moment for Law to realize you’re still in his lap, but he doesn’t bother to push you off or anything, not when he catches the eyes of another patron on you, instead pulling you a bit closer.

“Just stay here. I can keep those drunk idiots off you.”

You feel a bit weird sitting on his lap, but still nod, thankful Law watches out for you all.

You may have to talk to him later though, based on how touchy he seems to be while he keeps you with him, but that can wait. You’ll enjoy it while you can.

~~

Penguin

Penguin trusts you, sometimes he thinks more than he trusts Law and Shachi. He knows that no matter how many people try to flirt with or hit on you, you aren’t leaving his side. You two have been through far too much for you to even think about leaving Penguin at this point, and he does recognize that.

It still doesn’t help the pang he feels in his chest when someone starts to flirt with you, even thought you never reciprocate and instead bring up your boyfriend in retaliation. Most of the time that makes people back off, usually with a dejected look at the fact you’re already taken, and appear to be happily so. Rarely do people try to push and tell you to just forget about him, and when they do, it makes you angry enough to start yelling at them about how awful they are for trying to make you give up the best thing to ever happen to you, it never fails to make Penguin blush and give you all the love and affection in the world later.

Still, this time, he feels like you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. An older man flirts with you at the bar, but you of course aren’t interested, making that apparent as you sit with her chin in your hand and barely respond. He doesn’t seem to get that you have no interest in him, even when you say you’ve got a wonderful boyfriend that you’re madly in love with. When you get up to leave, the guy grabs your arm and tells you to forget Penguin, which just makes you mad and your boyfriend quickly gets up to try and stop you from doing anything to get you thrown out.

“Excuse me?! I’m not gonna just ‘forget him’! He’s the love of my life, he’s been with me for years!! You’re insane if you think I’m going to just leave him because you think I’m easy or something! And another thing, I—”

“Okay, that’s enough!” Penguin hooks his arms under yours, lifting you up as you keep yelling and start kicking your legs, he gives a nervous smile to the man and the bartender, “Sorry about her! My girlfriend gets a little angry when she’s had too much to drink! Come on, sweetheart, let’s get back to the hotel~”

Even though you agree, the whole walk there you complain to Penguin about the man that was hitting on you, how he couldn’t take no for an answer, and it makes your boyfriend sigh with a smile.

He’s always the one to pull you from starting a fight, he doesn’t have to protect you most of the time, but he’s always glad to pull you away before you hurt someone.

~~

Shachi

Shachi knows, he knows, that you and Sanji are just friends. You’ve been friends since you were children, your moms were best friends, you and the blond were just very close and spent a lot of your time playing together back then. You’ve told him, multiple times, that Sanji’s flirting with you is a joke, he’s never had romantic feelings for you and vice versa, you’ve always viewed him as a brother.

He just can’t help it and ends up giving Sanji the slightest of glares every time your dear friend flirts with you, even as you laugh and shove his arm, it doesn’t really help your boyfriend in feeling less jealous about it. Does he feel bad about it? Most of the time, yes, but he still ends up putting an arm around your shoulders and either ignoring Sanji’s comments or glaring at him to the point your best friend feels a little awkward.

Shachi is just very protective of you, even about Sanji. He trusts you, but he doesn’t want someone to steal you away and you’re the best thing to happen to him in recent years. You notice it quickly, when Sanji takes glances from you to Shachi and back, so you smile and tell him that Nami could probably use his company, which always gets your friend to throw his flirting and heart eyes to the true object of his affection, and Sanji runs off to her. You feel Shachi physically relax, still keeping his arm around your shoulders though, as you look up at him.

“Shach. He’s my best friend.”

“I know, I just…I’m sorry…”

“No need to be sorry,” you give him a quick kiss that makes Shachi bury his face in your shoulder and wrap his other arm around your waist in a hug, “Just trust me, okay? I love Sanji like a brother, but I love you.”

Shachi nods, telling you he loves you too, and feeling so grateful he has such an understanding girlfriend. He doesn’t feel like he deserves you sometimes.

He tries to not let Sanji’s joking flirting get to him after that, but it can be hard for him at times. At least you know it’s just because he loves you and doesn’t want to lose you.

~~

Zoro

Zoro has never worried about you being hit on by others. You rarely ever reciprocate, only if you really are interested, and that’s only because your swordsman has yet to make a move on you.  Literally everyone around you can see the fact you both have feelings for each other, but neither of you wants to ruin your friendship, so you’ve not even tried to say or do anything to change your status.

So when he sees other bar patrons flirting with you, Zoro doesn’t do much apart from keep an eye on you. He knows he has no real right to, but he’s always ready to jump up and help you if needed, keeping his free hand on his swords just in case someone gets a little too friendly with you. There have been a few times he’s almost jumped up and helped you, but you’ve been able to shake off the people flirting with or touching you easily, normally saying you’d get them another drink but never going back. They’re normally too drunk to notice anyway as you sneak back to your crewmates.

That normally works, but tonight, it seems the man who’s attention you’ve grabbed is a little more stubborn than others. He sits closer than anyone else has, and keeps touching you, even as you remove his hands from you or shrug him off, he still does it. The man has no sense of personal space or your rejection of his touches, it makes Zoro grip his swords a little tighter as he watches. He really wishes he could just go over, tell the guy you’re his, and get you away from him. So at first he doesn’t, Zoro knows you can handle yourself well enough to stop anyone that make you feel uncomfortable, you’re not his partner either, you can do as you please.

But the second he sees the guy’s hand move further up your thigh and you almost seem to freeze, he’s up and by you in a second, pulling you out of your seat and behind him, sending a harsh glare to the patron that dared touch you without your consent.

“She pushed your hands off multiple times, how much does it take for you to get the hint?!”

“Hey man, she—”

“Leave my girl alone or you’re dealing with me next time.”

Zoro doesn’t wait for a response and takes your hand, leading you over to where the rest of your crew is still seated, placing you beside him and not letting go of your hand, even when you try to bring it up. None of them say anything either at first, until Sanji smirks just a bit.

“So…‘your girl’, huh?”

“Another word and I’ll tell Luffy the combination to the fridge lock.”

Even as they all laugh at the horrified look on Sanji’s face, you smile and look at Zoro, mouthing a ‘thank you’ when he looks back to you, before he holds your hand a little bit tighter with a nod.

You could’ve easily thrown the pervert that was touching you to the ground, Zoro even knows that, but he wouldn’t miss the chance to prove how important you are to him and that he can protect you from anything. Not like you needed him to show you that though.

[thornsnvultures]

18+ nsft pegging Eddie, oral, lots of bodily fluids and fluffy emotions, some performance anxiety, 1.6k words

afab!plus size!reader (no gendered nicknames or body descriptions beyond genitalia, r has chronic pain)

inspo by @raccoonboywrites 🖤 perv (affectionate)

"It's fine, I promise. You're doing great," Eddie smiled back at you over his shoulder. His hair, what of it wasn't twisted up in a messy bun, curled at his nape and forehead, slick with sweat. You wanted to swipe away one of the locks curled next to his twinkling eyes, feel his flushed skin beneath your fingertips, but Eddie was getting restless.

"It feels so good, baby. You're doing so good." He bit his lip and arched back against you some more, pressed into your hand gripping his backside. "Please don't stop."

Your breath caught in your chest and you nodded. Biting your lip as your fingers returned to his slicked up hole, you circled his rim with two fingers before pushing in slowly. Eddie relaxed against the intrusion, exhaling as he sucked you in. You'd tease him for how easy he was, how soft and open for your touch, if he didn't look so pretty while he did it. His eyes rolled back as they fluttered shut. A slight twinge at his brow when you pushed a little further, but only for a second before he was panting again. Light little puffs of wanting as you stroked a hand up his spine, slick with sweat.

"Is that good?" You asked when your fingers found a rhythm. The twist and push of Eddie's hips against your hand gave you your answer but you needed to hear it out loud.

"Yes, yes, yes. So good," Eddie groaned into the mattress. "Deeper, baby, fuck me."

You'd give him deeper, but for now you wanted him to beg for it. It was selfish, the way your fingers twisted as he pleaded with you for more, more, more. Your clit pulsed with every whine, stretching him out as you became wetter by the second. 

"Are you ready?" You whispered, your hand still and stuck inside as you leaned over to press a kiss to his spine.

"Ready. So, so ready. Please, angel."

Slowly, you slid your fingers free, watching as he clenched around nothing. Like his hole was begging you to come back. Eddie caught his breath as you got ready, silently willing himself not to come at just the sound of you tightening on your strap. You could tell by the way his dick kicked, hanging between his thighs, and his balls twitched and drew up tight that he was having a hard time.

A soothing hand stroked his flushed cheek as you poured a copious amount of lube on your bright purple appendage.

"You ready?" There was a slight hesitation to your voice. The two of you had done this once before and thoroughly enjoyed it, but there was still a twinge of doubt in your mind that this time would be different. This time you wouldn't do it right, would get the angle wrong, your back pain would flare up and you'd have to stop. Your mind raced as you stroked the lube over your thick, fake cock. Thoughts moving so fast you didn't hear Eddie respond at first.

"Angel, it's okay," Eddie grabbed your wrist and gave it a little shake. Those big, sweet brown eyes looking back at you lovingly. Trusting you. Letting you see this part of him, trusting you to take care of him. You wanted to make him feel good. So good.

You nodded and lined up, pressed slowly into his tight heat. Eddie groaned into the mattress again, longer and louder this time, panting with the sensation of being filled to the brim. You rubbed the base of his spine once you were in all the way and gave him a second to settle and adjust.

"This deep enough?," you teased.

"Fuck me," Eddie choked out.

"I am," you smiled softly, finally giving in to the urge to brush the curls from his face. Eddie's eyes fluttered open and he smiled back at you. You leaned down and kissed him slow, savoring the way he panted into your mouth as your hips ground down into his.

"Please, angel. Need you," Eddie whined against your lips.

"I've got you," you said as you pulled away. Eddie watched, dazed and red-faced as you pulled out slowly. Once you were almost all the way out you reapplied more lube, the squirting of the bottle almost obscene in his quiet room.

Snapping the bottle shut and tossing it aside, you gripped Eddie's hips and nudged back in slow. Your heart hammered in your chest as you watched his face for signs of discomfort, but there was nothing but aching bliss. Eddie's eyes lidded and heavy, his breath coming in short, sweet pants, mumbling his praise. How good you felt, how much he loved you, how lucky he was to have you inside him.

"Harder, please," he whined between punctuating slaps of skin against skin.

So you gripped his trim waist harder, pressing him into a deeper arch, angling his body how you wanted. Eddie loved you like this. Using him, tearing into him, finding that punishing spot deep inside that had him leaking all over his sheets. He cried out, eyes wet with unshed tears.

"Please, please, please. Gonna come, angel. Please let me come."

Eddie sobbed when you reached under him to grab his cock, giving it just a few sharp tugs before he came with a shout.

"That's it, baby. Come on my cock."

Eddie panted, shuddering out his release. He whined as you slid out slowly, staying up on his knees to avoid laying in his mess. He looked so pretty, presenting his sloppy hole for you like this. Cock covered in come, all loose and open, not caring how he looked in this moment.

It drove you insane. The trust he held in you. You loved him so fucking much and you told him so before bending over to press a kiss to his cheeks. Eddie twitched and moaned when your tongue explored his reddened flesh, swirling around his hole and trailing down his sensitive sac.

"Angel, fuck. Too much," he whined.

"Just a taste, Eddie," you whispered, trailing your tongue down the ridge on the underside of his softening cock. You opened your mouth to suck on his tip. Eddie shouted and tried to squirm away, but you held tight to his hip, lapping up the last of his release before letting go with a pop.

"You're evil. Pure fucking evil," Eddie groaned.

"What happened to 'angel'?," you laughed as Eddie turned over and pulled you with him, narrowly missing the wet spot. Your legs were jelly, your back starting to ache from exertion.

"A fallen angel then, a devil sent to ruin me," Eddie grinned, pressing a kiss to your sweaty forehead as he wrapped his arms around you.

"I'll take it," you hummed.

Eddie sat up and gave you a brief kiss. More of his curls were mussed up and free of his hair tie, framing his pretty face. He helped you slide your harness off and tossed it off the bed to be cleaned later.

"Not it," you giggled at his exasperated face when you touched the tip of your nose.

"So first you obliterate my asshole and now you won't even clean up the scene of the crime? Just cruel. Cruelest angel I've ever met," Eddie complained dramatically. His arms flexed as he tugged you down the bed, ignoring your peals of laughter as he settled you where he wanted you. Eddie shouldered his way between your legs.

"You're lucky I like it when you're mean to me," Eddie hummed against your soaked folds. He grabbed your hand, placing it on his head where you instinctively sunk your fingers into his sweaty locks. "Grab hard if it's too much," he said as he kissed and licked at your sensitive flesh, nosing his way to your clit. "Doesn't mean I'll stop, just wanna know if I'm doing a good job."

Eddie grinned at your slack jawed face and laughed when you smacked the side of his head. A second later you gripped his hair just like he said as he sucked your clit into his mouth, his tongue flicking fast and hard over the sensitive nub.

"Fuck, Eddie, right there," you shouted, your thighs shaking. You were already so close, gripping him tight. Eddie just moaned against you, humming the sweetest vibrations. His big hands gripped your thighs, calloused fingers digging into them as he buried his face deeper. Shaking his head back and forth as he nuzzled in close. You stared at each other, watching Eddie's eyes flutter as he tasted you, the same way they did when you filled him up with your cock. Pure fucking bliss. You tugged on his hair so hard you thought you'd pull the roots from his scalp, but Eddie kept going until you were screaming. Hips bucking and thighs trembling under his hands as you screamed through your release. Eddie didn't stop until your tremors did, licking you clean. His face was covered in your slick, chin and cheeks shiny like the mischievous sparkle in his eyes.

"So I did a good job?"

You laughed and pushed at his head, boneless and tired. "Yes, you dork."

"Good," Eddie kissed you and you kissed him back, not caring about the mess. "You were amazing too, angel. I love you."

"You're such a sap," you teased with no heat behind it. Eddie laid down on you, his head on your tummy. "I love you too, Eddie Munson."

"Ooh, full name. Should I write my vowels?"

"Like you don't have them written already," you scoffed. "How's your butt, dork?"

You ran your fingers lightly through his hair, scratching at his scalp.

"A little sore, but I'm fine," Eddie smiled at you and pressed a kiss to your tummy. Soon you'd both get up and clean sheets and shower, but all that could wait. You'd never felt more complete.

[verosikastrikerexcuser]

This episode holy hell is it just so mixed to me.

On the one hand, the concept of Verosika having a party to comfort others hurt by Blitz is whacky in that fun Helluva S1 way but also is really sweet. She is such a fun cool likable character, her little tail waggle while cutting the cake and her expressions all of it kills me. I love her so bad shes excellent. I'm so glad she wasn't just a bitch and is shown to have a caring side in such a unique way; shes vindictive but not only for her own sake. Thats so fun and cool!

Blitz apologizing to the exes hes genuinely wronged is great too, even if the amount of people at the party feels a bit crazy/OTT, I liked that his "We're all shit we're in hell who cares how I act!" stuff was shut down. Pushing others away all the time and constantly justifying shitty behaviors is shown as no way to live, as harmful to both others and oneself, and its shown in a fun way.

On the other hand, Shitlas fucking ruins it all and taints it. You have this funny premise and Verosika being cool but then Shitlas is portrayed as just another ex hurt by Blitz, which would be fine if he was. But he's not. He's a sexually extorting, sexually harassing, child neglecting asshole who was MORE in the wrong than Blitz ever fucking was by a landslide. The whole episode is just us the audience being lied to about S1 and Blitz being gaslit about his past treatment at the hands of Shitlas. It takes a premise that was good and turns it into twisted Blitz torture porn; him feeling fucked in the head and behaving weirdly after developing an unhealthy relationship towards sex and what he has with Shitlas after being sexually extorted for months = him being an asshole. Him not sweeping Shitlas off his feet and coddling his need for a romantic partner after Shitlas has harassed the everloving fuck out of him and set up a sexual exchange he didn't want is "another example of Blitz fucking a relationship up". Just WTH.

This episode should have been just about Verosika and Blitz. NOT that owl. Can you imagine how much more meaningful it would be if Blitz had found out about the party and decided to go on his own to make things right with her?

This episode also proves the whole "They BOTH fucked up!" thing was a fat fucking lie. Because this episode puts it all on ONLY Blitz to apologize for everything. Shitlas' wrongs and need to also apologize be damned I guess! Every day he is portrayed more and more like a sad little wooby baby, a teen, and not a grown man and father. And he is a weak, boring, nasty feeling character because of it. I'm tired of being lied to about what he really is, it feels so gross.

I am just so tired of this show only calling out Blitz, and never really its other main characters (since Stolas is arguably now a side protag even higher than Loon Mox and Mil which is ridiculous). Its now the Blitz torture porn show and I'm so sick of it. Blitz can be in the wrong because his angst is delicious, while every other main character must be woobied and coddled, and anyone who opposes them is a stinky mean.

[lottiies]

one of his many journal entries about you

arthur morgan x fem!reader and male!reader <33

i won’t lie…i have 45 hours on the game and i’m not even past chapter 2 (っ- ‸ – ς) why progress when i can save myself the pending heartbreak and instead admire this pretty man and his journal sketches?

anyways…love all you arthur morgan kissers ♡

“my body doesn’t feel right as of late. my hands are too rough, my face is all wrinkled up, and my voice isn’t all that pleasant. if only i could sound as smooth as i write.

never been the most confident of men, but well, this body’s what i’m stuck with. used to go months on end without shaving until i realized my beard looked like bills. how embarrassing. miss grimshaw, the strong-headed woman she is, knocked some sense into me too. well…more like slapped me.

shaving makes me look more approachable, and that’s not really a good thing with my reputation. but, i did it anyway and spent a pretty penny on the barber up in valentine’s…had to pay a bit extra because of the drunken ruckus lenny and i caused there last time.

if my heart hadn’t been captured, maybe these worries of mine wouldn’t even exist.

oh, the ridiculous things love does to a man…”

꒰ fem!reader ꒱

“about as beautiful as the stars above; a woman so otherworldly that sometimes I have to look away. she shines too brightly for these tired eyes of mine. i suppose that’s for the best, ain’t it? a man like me, the walking embodiment of sin, isn’t worthy of such a loving lady.

but that doesn’t keep her away. she often asks me to recount some of my adventures, and i hesitantly do so, fearful she’ll think me a bad man. craziest thing is, she looks more worried than anything else whenever i do as told. telling me to be more careful with that honey-like voice of hers. could listen to it all day. it’s like a balm to the soul.

can’t keep myself away from her either. doesn’t matter what she’s doing, i always find myself wandering over to her. i don’t usually have trouble sleeping, i’m like some rock when it comes to it. but she’s occupied my mind too much lately, falling asleep is difficult. like right now. should be sleeping, but i’m not. just up wondering about the ifs and hows.

i’ve been saving up some money so i can go get her something real nice, maybe a pretty dangly necklace. could just steal one, but i want to prove myself to her. she deserves the best, not something that belonged to some other stranger.

god knows i’d do whatever i can to keep her safe and sound. i’d die for her. funny thing is, i considered myself to be a selfish man before breathing the same air as her.

i can say with absolute certainty that i would give up everything for a future with her.

if she’d have me.

…

now, this fool’s about to try and sketch her.

not sure if i can encapsulate her beauty onto a page, though.”

꒰ male!reader ꒱

“i fear I’m going mad. i never thought i’d feel this way about a man before. then again, pursuit of romance has never been a priority in my life. he’s one of a kind, something about him makes my palms feel all clammy.

he never leaves my head, every inch of this brain of mine is consumed with thoughts of him. his grin, the way his hat perches on his head, the stories he shares ‘round the campfire.

i’ve come across many men on all my journeys, but his handsomeness is unmatched. and he’s different. doesn’t nag me like dutch or get on my nerves like micah, but he isn’t just a brother like some of the other folks here.

i’ve been a bit too scared to drink these days. you know me, i spill my guts out and say stupid things like a damn fool when i get like that. wouldn’t know what to do if i were to sputter out how fine of a fella i think he is, or how grateful i am for him. is this only a special friendship? no, i don’t know how to describe this.

well, yes i do, actually.

love.

my fingers trembled while writing that.

some may call this spark a sin, but going down an altar with him would be a taste of heaven itself. that wish is too far-fetched though.

all i ask for is a sign. just one. maybe i’m misreading the glimmer in his eye, or the way the bastard slings his arm over my shoulder and sings after he downs some moonshine.

weird how life works, isn’t it?”

[sophrosynesworld]

Community Service (pt.2)

Katsuki Bakugo + Dogs + A Water Fight + Protectiveness = ???

The door chimes as I pull it open, a blast of cool air rushing over me. I step inside, relishing the refreshing chill that instantly soothes my overheated skin. Behind the front desk, a woman looks up from her computer.

"Good morning! How can I help you?" she greets me cheerfully.

"Hi, I spoke to someone on the phone about completing my UA volunteer services here," I walk over to the counter and wiping the sweat from my forehead.

She nods, her smile widening. "Of course! You must be from U.A. High School. Let me check… You’re here with Katsuki Bakugo, right?"

"That's right," I confirm, feeling a mix of excitement and nerves.

"We’re excited to have two heroes working with us today," she carries on with some small talk while typing something into the computer.

"Katsuki is already here. If you want to head outside, you should see him by the kennels. It's through this door, down the hall, and out the blue door."

"Thank you," I reply feeling a bit more at ease. "I’ll head out there now."

As I walk through the shelter's cool interior and step outside towards the kennels, the commotion of barking dogs grows louder. Turning the corner, I spot Bakugo standing amidst a group of excited dogs, his expression a mix of irritation and frustration.

"Finally," he snaps as soon as he spots me. "Took you long enough."

"Good to see you too," I reply cautiously. "Having fun?"

He scowls, pushing a particularly enthusiastic golden retriever away from his leg. "These damn dogs won't leave me alone. How am I supposed to get anything done with them jumping all over me?"

I chuckle lightly, stepping closer. "They just need a bit of attention. Here, let me help." Kneeling down, I offer out some love. The dogs begin to settle down, licking my face in appreciation.

Bakugo crosses his arms, observing me skeptically. "I don't get how you can be so calm around these mutts."

"It's all about patience," I explain, scratching behind the ears of a happy beagle. "And a little bit of understanding. They can sense your energy."

"Yeah, well, my energy's telling them to back off," he mutters, though he seems to relax a little as the dogs start to settle down.

Standing up, I give him an encouraging smile. "We'll get through this together, okay? Let's just focus on helping and make the best of it."

Bakugo huffs but nods grudgingly. "Fine. But if one of them bites me, I'm blaming you."

"Fair enough," I laugh.

We move over towards the cleaning station, that's already set up with buckets of soapy water and hoses. Bakugo grumbles under his breath, but he follows my lead, keeping his complaints to a minimum. I grab towels from the bin and glance up to see Bakugo watching me.

"Alright, grab that hose." I instruct, trying to maintain a light tone. With a treat and leash in hand, I coax a large, muddy Labrador towards the wash area.

Bakugo picks up the hose, turning it on with more force than necessary. "Hold still, you mutt," he scolds, aiming the spray at the dog, who promptly shakes, splattering water everywhere.

"Easy there," I caution, wiping water off my face. "You'll scare them off like that."

He gives me an exasperated look but adjusts his grip. "Fine, you handle the soap, and I'll rinse."

I nod, squirting shampoo onto the Labrador's back and starting to scrub. The dog wags its tail happily, splashing water and soap suds around.

"They just need a woman's touch," I remark, smiling up at Bakugo.

He rolls his eyes but can't hide a small smirk. "Whatever."

We work in sync, and soon the Labrador is looking much cleaner. I move him into another playyard and make my way back over to grab the next one. A mischievous terrier that proves to be more of a challenge as it squirms and wiggles in my arms.

"Hold him still!" Bakugo barks at me while the terrier attempts an escape. Bakugo attempts to help me hold him still, but it's no use.

"I'm trying!" I protest, laughing as the terrier shakes, splattering us both with soapy water.

"Great," Bakugo mumbles, wiping soap off his face. "Now we’re as wet as the dogs."

I chuckle and flick some suds in his direction. "Part of the job."

He narrows his eyes. "You think this is funny?"

Before I can react, Bakugo turns the hose on me, spraying a jet of water. I yelp and throw my hands up to shield myself. "Hey!"

"Watch yourself," he says with a smug grin, eyes glinting with mischief.

I scramble for the other hose turn it on him, spraying him back. Water flies everywhere, and soon we're in a full-blown water fight, laughing and shouting. The dogs join in barking and chasing the spray, their fur getting soaked. Katsuki chases me around the yard attempting to not fall on the wet grass. The cold water feels refreshing in the warm sun, and our laughter echoes. Katsuki grabs my forearm and pulls me into his chest as he overestimates his speed and slips. His hands wrap around my head protecting me during the fall.

"Okay, okay, I give up!" I call out between giggles, trying to catch my breath.

Bakugo releases me slowly, breathing heavily but smiling wide. "That’s what I thought."

The terrier nudges Bakugo's shoulder, prompting him to pat its head gently. He smiles faintly. "Alright, alright, maybe later."

We lay there for a moment, still laughing, with the sun shining down on us. The yard is a mess, and the dogs are still running around, but we don’t care. It was worth it. Our clothes are drenched, and our shoes squish with every step. The dogs shake off water, spraying us even more, and we can't help but laugh again.

"You're not bad with that thing," Bakugo mutters, helping me stand up.

I glance at him, surprised by the compliment. "Useless at fighting but dangerous with a water gun, huh?"

Bakugo looks at me, puzzled. "Who said you're not good at fighting?"

My eyes widen, and I look away, trying to downplay it. "Oh, no one really."

His expression hardens as he steps closer. "Is someone bothering you?"

I shake my head quickly, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. "It's nothing, really."

Bakugo's jaw tightens, clearly not convinced. "Tell me who it is."

I hesitate, knowing how he can be when he's angry. "It's just... some people, you know, talking. It doesn't matter."

Katsuki's eyebrows knit together, clearly frustrated. "You're in our class, and they aren't. That's all the proof you need that you're better than those losers."

I remain quiet, and he lets the topic drop. We're able to finish up with the dogs, neither of us wanting to break the silence. I expected to see him leave before me, but to my surprise, he's slumped over in a chair in the lobby as I walk out of the office, my signed paperwork in hand.

"Everything okay?" I ask, my voice breaking the stillness that has settled between us.

Bakugo looks up, his eyes tired but alert. He just nods, a slight jerk of his head. "Waiting for you," he mutters.

I nod back, feeling a bit awkward. Bakugo can be harsh, but in his own odd way, he seems to care.

"Thanks," I thank him softly, unsure if he even hears me.

He stands up, stretching his shoulders before silently walking out of the front door.

I follow him towards the exit. The cool evening air hits us as we step outside, and for a moment, we both just stand there, taking it in.

"Bakugo," I start, "Thanks. For waiting."

He shrugs, not meeting my eyes. "Yea, whatever."

My mind races as I follow his lead towards campus. I thought we had a good time this afternoon, but his shortness doesn't reflect that.

I keep quiet as we travel, not wanting to bother him further. The evening sky casts long shadows on the path, and the sounds of our footsteps fill the silence between us. I steal glances at Bakugo, noticing the tension in his posture and how his fists occasionally clench.

When we arrive back on campus, I offer him a small smile. "Thanks again, Bakugo," I mumble as I head upstairs to shower and change.

He nods curtly, his eyes not leaving me until I round the corner of the stairs. His gaze lingering on me the entire time.

I have such bad writers block at the moment. Let me know if you guys like this or not!

[the-froschamethyst4]

The Hunted becomes the Hunter

𖤐Pairing: Vampire Hunter! Alex x Vampire! Reader

𖤐Pronouns: She/Her

𖤐Warnings: smut, angst, language, mention of blood, fighting, gore, and self-harming, reader has power of illusions, female masturbation, blowjob, P in V, manhandling, groping, nipple play, aggressive behavior, kind of toxic,

𖤐Summary: Alex was called in to help stop a Vampire from killing off people livestock, he sets up traps and everything to try and catch the beast, but he stumbles upon an abandoned castle and finds himself stuck with a vampire

————

————

“How many dead?”

“My whole livestock, Alex. I came out ready to feed them and I notice blood thinking maybe one of them probably got stuck in the barb wire but when I came around they’re all dead in the barn.” Farmer Dan shows Alex all of his livestock stacked on top of each other dead, blood drained from all of them.

“What the hell?”

“It’s getting worse Alex, Joni down the road lost all her hens and roosters, Mark a few houses down from her lost all his cows, you need to catch whatever this thing is.”

“It can’t be working alone, there has to be more. But I’ll see what I can do, do you anyone who might still have their livestock? That’ll probably be its next target.”

“Umm~ Jacob up the road, you might have passed him, he’s still got everything, go check with him.”

Alex loaded back into his truck and heads back down the road to see Farmer Jacob. Farmer's for the passed month have been losing their livestock left and right, and it's been getting worse, normally they would have lost 2 or 3 animals, but now it's a whole herd of animals.

To the people they thought Alex was a trapper they didn't question his methods or anything, he has caught a few beasts in his past but Alex is a Vampire hunter, it runs in his family, and after seeing the drained animals in Dan's barn. he knew he had a vampire on his hands.

The question is, how the hell is he going to trap possibly more than one vampire?

"Alex?"

"Jacob, I just came from Dan's farm, have you lost any animals last night?"

"Nope, none, I just came out to feed them and they all seem fine, why, what's going on?"

"Dan has lost all of his livestock, I have suspicions your farm might be next. Could I set up a trap here?"

"Sure, anything to stop whatever it is killing livestock."

"Thanks."

Alex has spent all day working on the trap making sure it was good and also making sure it was animal proof, he didn't want animals getting tangled up in his trap.

"There."

"And this will work?" Jacob asks.

"Hopefully."

"And if it doesn't?"

"You have every right to sue me or kill me," Alex says.

Alex hops back into his truck and notices the large woods behind Jacob's farm.

"Hey, Jacob, could I set up kind of a base in your woods?"

"Sure, by all means," he says as Alex followed a dirt path into the woods. He stops at the edge of the woods, getting out and finding a place he could pitch a tent and stay out there for the night, cause if he's right and it is a Vampire, he'll probably get to it first before the trap does.

----------

Night rolls around Alex sits by the campfire, gun at his side and he's been on edge since the sun went down and the moon came out. His mind was wondering when this vampire might show up.

"I need to take a leak," he says, placing his gun down and heading a bit deeper into the woods away from his camp. He finds a big oak and unzips his pants.

As he was mid stream he could hear the sounds of cracking branches, and leaves being crunched. He finishes up and looks around before making it straight to his camp.

He must have taken a wrong turn or something, because his camp wasn't out of his sight but when he turned his back, he couldn't see his camp and when he looks up into the sky, he couldn't see the smoke from his fire.

"Where in the hell am I?" He questions, he quickly placed his hand on his holster, empty. "Fuck," he left it at his camp. He placed his hand on the other side feeling a wooden steak, he pulls it out.

"I hope you know wooden steaks don't kill me? That's just some myth," he hears a voice say from the trees, he looks around but couldn't see anything.

"You're a coward, hiding in the trees so you won't face me."

"I'm not a coward hunter, but I would just like to let you know...you are now the hunted," as the voice was gone a murder of crows all launched themselves at Alex, he blocks his face and once the crowds were gone, he sees his campfire.

"An illusion?"

"ALEX!!"

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Alex curses as he runs out of the woods getting into his truck and heading to the farm. "Dammit, it fucking tricked me."

"All dead! YOUR TRAP DIDN'T WORK!!"

"I...I don't know what the hell happened? I was in the woods and then it was like an illusion or something?"

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"We're dealing with a vampire here."

"A vampire?" Jacob laughs at Alex. "No one...no one had dealt with vampires since the bubonic plague, they would be dead and oh they don't exist anymore?"

"They do exist, I promise they do."

"I'm hearing a bunch of bullshit, please get off my property-"

"Let me do one more thing."

"What?"

--------

Alex was at the woods again, whatever it was, he must have been close to it's domain. Alex had his gun on him and used a flashlight to guide his way to where he was.

"Come on, where was it?"

Alex looks for the tree which he soon did, touching it and looking around it, maybe he set off a trap of it's own which let it know who was near it's domain, but he couldn't find any wires or anything.

He walks a little farther into the woods, he looks around and didn't notice a sudden drop. Alex falls down rolling a few times before landing on his back on flat land.

"Motherfucker," Alex cusses holding his lower back and sitting up. "Fucking hell," he says as he slowly but surly gets up.

He clicks his flashlight, it wasn't working, he says a few more curses before stuffing his flashlight into his bag and walked blindly. He didn't know this part of the woods, it all looked the same to him. Where was this beast?

Alex bushed some bushes from his face and saw a big, tall castle, it looked abandoned or so he thought, he sees a few lights on in the castle.

"What the fuck is this?" He walks to the castle, the main door was cracked. He pushes it with making as little sound as possible. The lights in the main room flickered on and off, and he could hear humming for a room.

He tip-toes to the room, fire was lit in the fireplace, a chair sits in the room, he walks in drawing out his gun ready to fire at whatever it was in the chair.

"I figured you would find me sooner or later, hunter," a voice says from the chair and a loud caw from a crow. The crow swoops at Alex and lands on the chair facing him giving him one more caw.

"Face me."

"And if I don't?"

"Then I hope you like led between your eyes."

"Hmm~ what a threat, I've dealt with you humans long enough to know..." the figure stood up. "You will hesitate," the figure turns and faces Alex. She was gorgeous, piecing eyes, fangs on full display as her tongue grazed them.

"I will never hesitate when it comes to killing your kind."

"Wow, harsh," she sounded sarcastic but didn't care. "Then go on...do it...you have a clear shot, I'm not fighting back."

Alex points his gun in her face, he was hesitating, why the fuck was he hesitating.

"What a shame, my turn," she gives him a wicked smile and lunges at him, pushing him to the ground getting on top of him and her hands go around his neck as his try to go around hers.

"I haven't had human blood in ages, I usually stick to animals, they're getting boring, human blood is sweet, savory, and fucking delicious," Alex was starting to lose his breath, he tries to find his gun but it was out of his reach, so he digs around for his steak and soon got a hold of it, he brings it up and stabs her in the side.

She gets off of him, bleeding out, hot tears filled her eyes as she tries to pull it out of her side. Alex quickly stood up grabbing his gun and pointing it at her.

"Do it, hunter...FUCKING DO IT!!" She yells, the gun goes off but the bullet landed next to her into the wood flooring. "Who's the coward now?"

Alex doesn't say anything but glares at her, he may live by a life of code, but...something about her...intrigued him really. He bends down seeing the blood leak from her and immediately her wound was healed.

"I'm gonna go on a lime and say...you were turned...you weren't born like this..."

"Why the fuck does that matter?" She says.

"Because ones that were turned are still human inside...you only drink animal blood is because you actually hate human blood, all that bullshit you spat out was to make me afraid of you...but I'm not, I've dealt with vampires all my life to know who was born one and who was turned to one..."

"So what? You feel bad for me now?"

"I didn't say that-"

"But your actions say otherwise, you missed on purpose, you hesitated because you knew, so what? Just fucking kill me already. I've been waiting for the day someone did."

"You cause illusions because you want to be feared, but you fear yourself."

"Bullshit-"

"Is it?" Alex stood up and put his hand out for her to take. She swats it away.

"I don't need your help."

"That's fine, but when another hunter comes along, they won't be as nice to you," he says, walking out of the room.

"Wait," Alex smirks when she called for him. "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm bored, I guess. I live by a code, you are a vampire, I'm suppose to kill you, but there's something in you...that makes me feel bad for you."

"Great, a hunter taking pity on me, how nice," sarcasm again.

"So what if I am?" She stays quiet.

The vampire sat on the chair the crow swooping at Alex again.

"You live here alone?"

"And the skeletons in the basement..."

"Right," Alex walks to the fireplace and looks at the vampire, she looks at Alex. "could I help you?"

"With what?"

"You seem...lonely," he says.

"Because I am, my only friends are crows..."

----------

The vampire walks up the stairs Alex behind her, he was amazed by the castle, even though it was abandoned and lights could barely work, she's kept it pretty maintained.

"Tell me...when did you get turned?"

"When I was 14...I was a stupid little kid, played in the woods and didn't understand don't follow strangers, and I did. It was around 200 years ago, though."

"So how old are you?"

"214 years old...I think, I've lost count a few times, I could older, I don't know," she says as she pushes a door open. "I sleep here," it was like a normal bedroom.

No coffins, or anywhere she could hang upside down.

"I know what're thinking."

"Huh? You don't know-"

"You thought I slept in a coffin or hung upside down."

"Damn...maybe I was."

"Funny," she says, shutting the door. "You should be lucky I allowed you to stay."

"And you should be lucky I didn't stick a bullet between your eyes...I never caught your name?"

"It's Y/n...do you really think people won't know you're gone?"

"People don't know where I live, they call me when something is wrong, so no one will even notice," he says.

"This room hasn't been used in years, so make use of it."

"I'll try, Miss Vamp."

"Don't call me that."

-----------

Hours, weeks, months have gone by, Alex is still here at the castle with Y/n. She does everything in her power to avoid Alex, but sometimes she isn't lucky. It was already worse enough she's letting a vampire hunter stay with her.

Alex was outside chopping wood as Y/n looked at him through her bedroom window. She plops on the cushion looking at the shirtless Alex. Her thighs squeezed together like they had a mind of their own.

She started to feel wet, her fingers slide down her chest to be in between her thighs, she was being risky touching herself by the window where Alex could easily see her, all he had to do was look up and it was all over, but he didn't he was focused on the wood and piling them up.

Her breaths were shaky, as her fingers teased her wet folds, she moans as she keeps watching Alex. She hates the fact she's doing this, but he was...something else, a vampire hunter living with a vampire like it was nothing.

Like Alex wasn't ever told the vampires are dangerous and they all must be killed with no hesitation, he disappointed his ancestors, but they're dead, Alex doesn't care, it's time to start a new era.

She then gets off from the cushion and plops on her bed, her legs trembling like she was teasing herself and trying to hold back from touching herself. But she couldn't help it, she needed to do it.

She removes her shirt and pushes her skirt off her lower half, the cold air just touching her now. She sits up on her elbows and moves her fingers back between her folds, pushing them inside of her, moving them slowly at first. She moans and thinks about Alex and how her fingers were his, but they weren't the same.

She was getting frustrated with herself, moving them a faster now, but it was feeling the same.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Hey, I got the fire wood chopped," Alex says from the other side of the door, she groans and gets up from her bed.

She opens the door but used the door to also shield her bare body from him.

"Good, now leave me alone," she says.

"Hey," he puts his hand on the door. "The hell is wrong with you? You allow me to stay with you, but you avoid me, what's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit, tell me."

"N-No," her fingers were back between her folds as he was talking to her, she was just trying to hide her moans now. "F-Fine, I'm fine," she says.

Alex takes a deep breath and pushes the door open now, he watches Y/n fall to her knees, completely bare before his eyes, he swallows a lump in his throat.

"W-What?" She stutters. "Never seen someone touch themselves before," she asks looking at him through her sweaty hair.

"I-I have."

"I'm just frustrated, I can't reach it."

"Want help?"

"Now," she demands, Alex walks to her, picking her up like nothing and setting her on her bed, he started to unbuckle his pants, Y/n helping him, once he pushes his pants down she could see his soft dick through his boxers. She looks up at him and starts kissing him through his boxers.

"Hey now."

"You're soft..." she says.

"I know that, I can get it hard myself," he chuckles, but she doesn't listen. He takes a hold of her hair and makes a makeshift ponytail using an old ponytail holder he found.

After a few more seconds, Alex's dick was standing and impatient Y/n pulled his boxers down, his dick sprung out making her kiss his tip, he moans throwing his head back.

"Fucking hell."

"Am I doing okay? It's been so long since I've done something like this."

"You're doing just fine," he says, placing his hand under her chin. "Keep going," he says.

Her hands wrap around his dick, deep throating him a few times, his tip hitting the back of her throat. She hums around his dick, the vibration from her throat made him want to cum faster.

She moves her mouth and opened her month pumping him a few times as cum leaks from his tip and squirt a few times landing on her face, she smirks and licks the rest from his tip.

She moves to be on the bed, she lays on her stomach and lifts her ass up in the air slightly shaking her ass, he smirks, and lines himself at her entrance and pushes himself inside of her.

"AHH~!" Y/n moans, Alex looks down at her, his hands on her waist, he starts moving a bit quicker, his tip just barely hitting her spot, she moans when he did it. She couldn't reach it herself, so now when he does it, she feels amazing.

"Fuck," she moans again, tossing her head back, Alex leans down, hand under her chin and he starts kissing her temple and kissed her lips.

"God, you feel so good," he moans when feeling her gummy walls clench around his cock.

"A-Alex," she moans out his name, sitting up and wants to kiss his lips again, he smirks leaning down and kissed her lips. His hands then move to her chest gently squeezing her and pinching at her sensitive nipples.

He then sits back up, hands on her hips and he then pulls her wrists behind her back, she sits up and Alex takes her legs pushing them to her chest. He was starting to just become a bit rough with her. She moans when his tip was just hitting her, just right.

She throws her head back, cupping his chin and getting him to kiss her some more. He sits on his knees using everything he has from falling face first. Alex kisses Y/n's neck as he feels her starting to clench around him, they both gave a few more moans before Y/n ended up coming first.

Alex smirks as he keeps going, he hasn't cum yet, he starts to become rough with her, pinning her back on her stomach, pounding even harder and faster into her.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! A-Alex!"

"What? I haven't come yet," he growls near her ear and bites her earlobe, she moans when she feels cum shoot up inside of her. She collapsed on the bed and Alex fell next to her.

---------

Y/n was in her bed, silk sheets covering her bare body, she stayed asleep as Alex was up next to her, his back against the headboard of the bed. His finger moved some hair from her face. He moves under the covers with her, placing his hand on her waist and kissing her forehead.

He was always taught to kill the enemy and the enemy was vampires, but now he just had sex and is sleeping with the vampire. He didn't care, it was like a switch went off in him when seeing Y/n look so peaceful when sleeping.

"Alex?"

"Sorry, if I woke you."

"It's okay...could just hold me," she asks.

"Sure, little vamp."

"No, not that nickname," she says, pushing off him.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding, sure, I'll hold you darling."

"Better."

[neerons]

Some of Leon Dompteur's best quotes

"Leon Dompteur. My favorite food is meat and alcohol. Hmm? Alcohol isn't food? Haha, that's true."

"You can imagine I'm some fictional character you like if that works better."

"Never mind the roses—it feels like I'm the one wilting without you in my arms. What then? What if I shrivel up and die while you're gone?"

"(...) Well, I'd rather be liked by you than a bunch of random women."

"Do you want to sleep with me tonight? Hey, I just meant sleeping! What were you thinking?"

"I swear, you're the bravest woman I've ever met. (...) I promise, we'll bring you home. That's the one thing I'm not backing down on. And... Don't do anything reckless." (—Leon telling Emma he'll save her along with his brothers from Obsidian)

"If you're struggling, it's okay to show me. I'm not gonna think less of you for it. So don't force yourself to smile."

"No running, no hiding, no looking away. If you need to cry, look at me and cry."

"When I opened my eyes again, I gazed at the woman before me in awe. She was so stunning that I regretted closing my eyes and even blinking." (—Leon's thoughts)

"I've always wanted to see you in a dress that I picked out... then strip you."

"(...) I'll come duel with you as soon as I'm done here." (—Leon keeping his promise to Licht)

"Good girl."

"But... I've wanted this for so long. I've wanted you... for so long."

"A special skill of mine, huh...? Oh, there's one I can think of right away. I bet I could beat anyone at competitive eating."

"I don't blame him for being charmed, though. She's just that amazing. Emma, you have no idea how much your presence means to me." (—Leon's thoughts about Jin and Emma)

"Good work. Even if no one else is watching you work hard, I will. Okay?"

"You must have taken quite a liking to her to go warning her like that. It was nice of you." (—Leon talking about Emma to Chevalier)

"Why don't I save everyone a lot of trouble and cut the lot of you down right now?" (—Leon to drunken men)

"Ever since I met you... the me I thought I'd killed... the me I thought was gone... he can't stop shouting to the heavens how happy he is."

"Owwww! What the hell? (...) you could at least wake me up some other way." (—Leon being woken up by Chevalier)

"I think it's actually kind of cute. It's meant to look like a rabbit, right?" (—Leon talking about Clavis' food to Clavis, Emma and Nokto)

"I can finally tell you what I've always wanted to tell you. Emma... I love you."

"What matters is that you haven't become a victim for the kingdom. Just knowing that is enough to reassure me. (...) She knew none of you would welcome her, yet she came here as the emperor's representative, to find peace for us all. Is there any of you with more resolve than that?" (—Leon defending Emma during an official meeting)

"Accepting who you are, and being able to open your heart to the people you love—that's what makes us strong."

"(...) I want to flirt with you. Please?"

"I can't be the only one left with a one-track mind. I need you to be as crazy for me as I am for you." (—Leon's thoughts)

"Sorry, I know I sound like a broken record, but you look so fine in that beautiful dress. I wish I had a picture of you to frame."

"She's the silver lining in my clouds, my sun who makes my future bright. When I think about her, I'm filled with the courage to face whatever may come my way. She's truly an amazing woman and the light of my life." (—Leon talking about Emma)

"Maybe instead of the one doing the savoring, you'd prefer to be savored?"

"I adore you. Even if I were to make the entire world my enemy, I'll never let go of you."

"I want to melt you with my touch until you're left crying my name into the night." (—Leon's thoughts)

"I want you to be at my side just as you are, I want you to be my queen just as you are."

"There's only one thing that I can think of that would help stop me being so reckless. (...) Mmm... I don't know, it seems a bit too easy to just go ahead and tell you. Why don't you guess? (...) And every time you get it wrong, I get to kiss or touch you. How does that sound? (...) Can you even think coherently when you're this wet and needy?"

"Honestly, you can call for me even if nothing happens. I don't mind. I'd still gladly come running."

"Every time we touch, every time we kiss, every time we say we love each other, my feelings for you grow stronger."

"If we continue, you're going to see me possibly the horniest I've ever been in my life."

"Sorry, kid, but you were born way too late. Plus, she's already spoken for. But at least he has good taste." (—Leon's thoughts about a boy asking Emma to marry him)

"You're so beautiful that I don't know what to do with myself."

"I'm so harsh on you first thing in the morning, aren't I? (...) I ate my fill, but now I already want you again."

[phdmama]

Hey lovely, how about 43 from the smut dialogue list if you’re still looking for inspo - and maybe buddie as the ship? (I may have started reading a few fics and it might be about to become a problem…) but any ship that takes your fancy if you’re prefer!

Hello my dear pal!! I am so so excited you're reading some Buddie!! xox

I am so sorry this took this long to write (I've had some real rollercoaster ups and downs over the past few days with this silly broken leg bullshit). So anyway - here is where my brain went! (Keep in mind, I am lots of painkillers and have barely written in months!)

43. “Slowly, baby, I’m not going anywhere.”

Show My Mouth (Your Favorite Places)

Buddie, ~2300 words, Explicit tags: getting together, first time, Eddie Diaz has yet another close call, gratuitous use of italics, only lightly beta'd by me, set somewhere vaguely post season 7ish?

They’re barely through the door of Buck’s loft and Buck immediately has Eddie backed up against it, reaching out to run a hand over Eddie’s chest.

“I’m fine, Buck,” Eddie says again, and yeah, okay, it’s probably the tenth time he’s repeated the words but that was too close a call, and Buck says as much as Eddie tips his head back against the door, his eyes closed.

“Take your shirt off,” Buck says, reaching for the hem of Eddie’s t-shirt. It’s dirty and torn and Eddie doesn’t protest, doesn’t even open his eyes, just lifts his arms and lets Buck pull the rough fabric over his head.

“If you wanted to get me out of my clothes, all you had to do was ask,” Eddie says and Buck freezes.

“I just. I need to see you’re okay,” he says finally, and Eddie just smiles. 

“Help yourself. I told you, the thing barely grazed me.”

Buck doesn’t answer, just flips on the light and runs his hands lightly over Eddie’s chest. There are some scrapes, a few spots that will probably bruise, but Buck has to admit Eddie is probably right, the damage is superficial. Buck doesn’t really pay attention to what his hands are doing, caught in the memory of the way the tree had come down and for one, brief, terrifying moment he’d thought… He’d thought. That’s all.

He’s still thinking, lost in it when Eddie says, his voice rough, “Buck.”

“What?” Buck startles back to the moment and realizes he’s been, well. 

He’s been gently stroking Eddie’s bare chest, and Eddie’s eyes are open now, dark and intense, fixed on Buck’s face. His skin is slightly goosebumped and his nipples are tight buds on his broad chest. Buck rips his gaze away and swallows, his throat dry.

He’s worked so hard to just be chill, is the thing. After he and Tommy broke up (no real drama, just Tommy gently letting him down), Buck has been so, well. Aware of men, is the thing. Men in general and one man in particular. Buck knows he’s been weird about Eddie from the very beginning, and he knows Eddie is just as weird about him, and there have been moments where he’s thought… maybe… but he’s never been sure. Never seen a look on Eddie’s face like the one currently leveled at him.

“Are you, um. Are you cold?” he whispers and Eddie’s mouth curves.

“Not even a bit,” Eddie says, and his voice is so low and gravelly, it legitimately sends a shiver down Buck’s spine.

“Are you in pain?”

Eddie just shakes his head, not breaking his gaze. 

“I, just.” Buck’s heart is pounding. It feels like an avalanche in his chest, and under his hands, he can feel Eddie’s heart racing, just as fast. “Eddie,” Buck says, his voice pleading, although he doesn’t even know what it is he’s asking for. 

Eddie knows though, the way Eddie always knows.

Eddie simply replies, “Buck,” and then lays one hand over one of Buck’s where it’s still resting on his bare skin. 

For one brief, agonizing moment, Buck worries that Eddie is pushing his hand away, but it immediately becomes clear that's not what’s happening. Eddie is not pushing Buck’s hand away, he’s pushing it down. Eddie slides Buck’s hand down over his own toned abdomen, slowly enough that Buck can feel the expansion as Eddie takes a deep breath, and then, oh god. Then he shifts Buck’s hand even lower to where he’s hard in his LAFD sweats.

Buck stares at him as Eddie presses his hand to the hard length of him under the rough cotton. “Eddie,” he whispers.

“I’m not cold,” Eddie says quietly. “I’m not in pain. I don’t need you to fuss over me.”

“Then what,” Buck swallows. “What do you need?”

Eddie just grins, and he lifts the hand that’s not pressing Buck’s against his cock to curve it around Buck’s face. 

“I think you know,” is all he says and Buck breaks.

He surges forward, tightening his fingers around the hard shaft under his hand as he pushes forward, his mouth landing on Eddie’s. Buck is frantic, gasping as he lets himself go, lets himself take what he’s been longing for for so long. He’s afraid that this might be his only chance, that if he takes his time, Eddie will change his mind.

But Eddie doesn’t seem inclined that way. He meets Buck in the middle, strength for strength, passion for passion, kiss for kiss, until he begins to gentle things between them. 

Eddie pulls back, and whispers, “Slowly, baby, I’m not going anywhere.”

He leans back in and this time he sets the pace with deep, slow kisses, syrupy-sweet, until Buck thinks his knees might genuinely give out.

“Buck,” Eddie whispers and shifts, letting his mouth move over Buck’s face to his neck, a quick nip to the sensitive skin behind Buck’s ear that has Buck groaning and shaking. “Buck, baby. Let me take you to bed.”

“Too far,” Buck mumbles, turning his head to catch Eddie’s lips with his own. “Can’t wait.”

“Couch then,” Eddie insists and doesn’t stop kissing Buck, just gently herds him backwards through the apartment until Buck’s dropping onto his couch and pulling Eddie down with him.

For several moments, Buck doesn’t think about anything at all except the feel of Eddie’s chest against his own, the taste of Eddie’s mouth, Eddie’s hand in his hair as they kiss. He finally has to pull back to take a deep gasping breath, and just stares at Eddie over him.

“Is this… is this really happening?” Buck finds himself asking and Eddie grins, drops a quick kiss to the tip of his nose.

“It is if you want it to be.”

Buck just blinks at him. “I didn’t know. How did I not know you wanted this?”

Eddie shrugs, shifts his weight off of Buck so he can pull Buck up to sitting. “Let’s just say… when you started dating Tommy, I figured a few things out.”

“You didn’t say anything.”

Eddie shakes his head. “Of course not, Buck. You and Tommy, well. You were happy. Having fun. I didn’t think this was possible, but then when you guys broke up, and we were back to hanging out all the time. I started to think that maybe…” his voice trails off as he hooks his fingers under the hem of Buck’s t-shirt and starts to remove it. 

Buck automatically lifts his arms. “Have you ever… with a guy?”

Eddie just smiles, shakes his head. “Never let myself even think about it when I was young, and then. I guess it was just never the right time. Until now.” He lifts his hand, brushes his knuckles across Buck’s cheekbone, skates his hand down to curl it around Buck’s jaw. “I want to, though. With you, if you want that.”

Buck stares at him. “If I want that? Eddie. Of course I want that. I just. What does it mean?”

Eddie leans in, kisses him once and then again. He feels so good that Buck can’t help but groan as Eddie’s mouth moves to his collar bones as he slowly pushes Buck down onto his back, slides between his legs.

Eddie lifts his head after pressing one last kiss to Buck’s chest. “It means whatever you want,” he says finally.

“But,” Buck is compelled to ask, “what if it changes everything?”

Eddie laughs, low and rough. “Of course it’ll change everything, Buck, and I want that. I don’t think it’ll take anything away though. It’s just another way for me to love you, and I already do, so…”

He pauses and Buck grabs him by the shoulders. 

“Up, up, up here now,” he says frantically, suddenly sure that if he can’t kiss Eddie immediately, he may genuinely die.

Eddie snickers and Buck realizes he’s said that last part out loud. Then Eddie’s mouth is back on him, and Buck stops thinking at all.

He’s aware that this is Eddie’s first time with a guy (and holy hell, that’s a thought so hot that Buck’s brain might melt out of his ears) but there’s nothing in the way Eddie’s moving against him that suggests any hesitation about what they're doing. He lines them up, hard cocks pressed together, both of them still in their sweatpants, and sets up a slow, filthy grind. It’s good, so fucking good, that all Buck can do is wrap his legs around Eddie, grab onto his shoulders, and hold on.

Eddie’s kissing him again, those same deep, slow kisses, his tongue fucking into Buck’s mouth in counterpart to the way their bodies are moving together. Buck’s got his hands firmly planted on Eddie’s ass now, and it’s just as spectacular as Buck always thought it would be, especially with Eddie gasping into his mouth, sexy punched out groans that bring Buck closer and closer to the edge.

“How do you…” Buck starts and then shudders at a particularly innovative shift of Eddie’s hips. “Eddie, fuck, how…”

“How what, babe?” Eddie whispers against his lips, not letting up on the way he’s rolling his hips for even a moment.

“How do you want to come?” Buck finally grits out, holding on by sheer force of will now.

The question seems to surprise Eddie and he eases up now, rocking his hips so slowly as he considers Buck’s face.

“I mean,” Eddie says and then a wicked grin crosses his face. “You’re the expert here, Buckley. Walk me through it. What are the options?”

Buck stares up at Eddie and then can’t help himself, starts to laugh, deep belly laughs as his head drops back onto the couch cushions. “Not an expert,” he gasps finally, and sweeps his hands from where they’re resting on Eddie’s shoulders down his arms to his wrists and then back up again, to link his fingers behind Eddie’s head, pulling him in for a kiss. “Journeyman at best.”

Eddie is still grinning and rolls his eyes affectionately. “Fine. Journeyman. Whatever.”

Buck kisses him again, reaches down to grab Eddie’s hips and pulls them flush to his own, before working his way down Eddie’s neck.

“Lots of options,” he mumbles into Eddie’s collar bones. 

Eddie is grinding against Buck harder now, gasping, and Buck can taste the sweat on Eddie’s chest under his tongue. 

“We can keep doing this,” Buck manages to say and then groans at the way Eddie feels. “Fuck, that’s so. Oh my god, Eddie.”

“What else?” Eddie pants.

“I could… oh shit, Eddie, I could.” Buck swallows, his own breathing ragged in his ears. “I could suck you, jerk you off, whatever you want. You could fuck me,” and Eddie goes rigid above him, head thrown back, tendons in his neck standing out in stark relief as he lets out the sexiest sound Buck has ever heard, and Buck feels Eddie’s cock jerk as he starts to come.

For a long moment, the silence in the room is broken by the harsh sounds of Eddie’s breathing. Then Eddie opens his eyes, and the look on his face cracks Buck’s heart wide open. Eddie looks astonished, awed almost, as if his entire worldview has been shaken, and maybe it has, Buck thinks, remembering some of his own recent revelations. Maybe it has.

Eddie stares down at Buck as his breathing starts to settle, and the weight of him pressing Buck into the couch is as intoxicating as it is reassuring. There’s something so raw and honest about this moment — the way Eddie’s eyes are fixed on Buck’s face, the damp heat between them, the smell of sex intermingled with the scent of the peonies Buck bought at the Farmer’s Market the other day. Buck feels like every sense he has, and maybe some he didn’t even know about, are dialed all the way in.

“Buck,” Eddie breathes and his smile makes Buck’s throat tighten and his eyes prickle suspiciously. “My god, Buck.”

Eddie leans down and brushes a kiss across Buck’s lips, gentle and sweet, but as he does so, the extra pressure on Buck’s aching cock makes him hiss, his hips jerking up not of his volition.

“Oh fuck,” Eddie says, and without further ado, slides down Buck’s body and sticks his hand down Buck’s pants.

It doesn’t take long after that. Objectively, it’s nowhere near the best handjob Buck’s ever had — Eddie’s hand is dry, his grip a bit too tight, and his rhythm isn’t great, but none of that matters because it’s Eddie staring down at him, Eddie whispering things like “God, Buck, you’re so gorgeous, sweetheart, c’mon baby, give it to me,” and Buck is helpless to do anything but obey.

It feels to Buck like his orgasm is being drawn out from the very depths of his being, starting deep in his belly and rolling over him like the tide, inevitable and inexorable. Eddie keeps muttering words of encouragement, and when Buck’s head tilts back and his back arches, Eddie grins in satisfaction.

“There you go, sweetheart,” he murmurs. “Just like that.”

It turns out Eddie is mistaken. They clean up, make some dinner, collapse on the couch with their food and beers, and it’s no different than any other normal post-shift hangout. In the morning, Eddie good-naturedly submits to the ice packs Buck presses against his bruises, lets Buck make him coffee and bring it to him on the couch. No different from any other close call aftermath.

But Eddie’s never spent the night at Buck’s like that. Never brushed his teeth side by side with Buck before crawling into bed, wrapping himself around Buck like an octopus, the bare skin of his chest pressed to Buck’s back, his hand resting possessively on Buck’s hip. He’s never brushed a kiss to the sensitive skin at the nape of Buck’s neck. And he’s never said I love you quite like this before. So yeah, it turns out that he was also 100% correct. It changes everything.

And it’s amazing.

[ridiculousn3sswrites]

Lie to Me

*Dick Grayson (Nightwing) x Reader

*Summary: Reader can't ignore her boyfriend's weird behavior anymore. What she can do is delude herself into thinking everything is okay and still believe his lies.

*Warnings: Swearing, drinking, inferred cheating (no actual cheating), light angst. I think that's it, but let me know if I missed anything.

*A/N: So I listened to Lie to Me by Ne-Yo a lot while writing this. A bit of a life update here: I'm about to start my last year of law school! It's crazy to think I started writing fanfics when I was just about to start high school and now here I am. Anyways, hope you guys like this one!

Tip Jar

**********

There was something weird going on with your boyfriend. Sure, there had been his odd little quirks when you’d visited him before - like rushing to pick up only one bundle of clothes on the floor when you came in - but things really seemed to ramp up when you moved in with him. There were times when the two of you would be relaxing before bed, when he’d get a phone call and then be rushing out the door with a half-baked excuse. There would be times when you’d wake up to him leaving in the middle of the night, or coming back right before your alarm was supposed to go off for work. Maybe it was weird, but he was a cop, right? Maybe there were just emergencies he was needed for, maybe there were things he couldn’t talk about with you.

Maybe you were a fool.

You couldn’t exactly pin when the insecurity started really hitting you, but maybe it was the fact that you lived with him that made it really noticeable. When you brought it up to your friends, you got those knowing little pitying looks that you knew what they meant, but they didn’t want to say it out loud. The most you would get out of your friends was ‘talk to him’, but how could you talk to him when you were convinced you were making a big deal out of nothing?

The two of you were cuddled on the couch, watching a movie to round out a long awaited date night. You were enjoying the proximity, work really taking you through the wringer for the past week and you just needed this. About halfway through the movie, you could feel the vibrations from Dick’s phone ringing. He took a glance at the screen before sending it to voicemail. You looked up at him, but he just shook his head. “It’s not important.”

But apparently it was, because whoever it was called him three more times before he finally got up to answer the phone. That took you back a bit, because he normally was fine taking work calls in front of you. When he had been gone for a few minutes, you paused the movie and got up to go check on him. The door to your bedroom was cracked open, and you could hear Dick’s whispers to the person on the other side of the call. “Listen, I can’t go. I promised her I’d spend the night with her.”

You didn’t want to interrupt, so you just sat there, waiting for him. You felt a little weird listening in, but there was something in you telling you to stay. 

“Babs, you know I normally would, but-” Dick’s sentence was cut off, but after a few seconds he spoke again. “Alright, fine, I’ll be there. I’ll just make something up again.”

You could hear Dick’s groan of frustration, and that snapped you out of it before you could spiral. You made your way back to your spot on the couch, eyes unfocused on the movie in front of you. Dick’s footsteps were your cue to look up, trying to hide any signs of your heartache. “So what was that?”

“I’m sorry, baby, they just made an arrest for a case I’m on,” Dick apologized, leaning down to kiss the top of your head. It just broke you even more knowing how easily the lies spilled from his lips, not even needing time to think about it.

“They can’t handle it?” You slipped up, unable to hide your attitude for the second. You grimaced, realizing you should have waited until he was gone and you had room to process everything on your own. Instead, Dick was now moving in front of you, kneeling so he could be face-level with you. The concern was so quickly painted on his face that you couldn’t help but feel that little tug in you. You were the reason he was worried. You needed to fix it.

“I’m really sorry, I tried to get out of it but they really need me to come in.” You looked away from his intense gaze, trying to will away the tears that were threatening to build up. “Baby, c’mon, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. You should go before you get in trouble,” you told him in a small voice.

“Please look at me?” Dick practically pleaded, placing his hand on your knee. You forced yourself to meet his blue eyes, trying to soothe his worry. The sooner he was out of the apartment, the sooner you could let yourself fall apart.

“Sorry, it’s just been a while since we’ve been able to hang out and I was looking forward to it,” you told him, placing your hand over his. “I know your job’s important, you should get going.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay? I love you.”

“I love you too.” As soon as Dick was satisfied that you were okay, he went about grabbing his things for work. When the front door closed behind him, you let out a deep sigh. You knew who Barbara was, and you’d already gone through your fit of insecurity about her when you and Dick first got together. You knew her and Dick had been an item for a while before the two of you had met, and things ended when he moved to Blüdhaven.

Dick had been so good at soothing your worries, always letting you know if she was going to be at the same events as him (she normally was) or what they were chatting about since they were still friends. You weren’t personally friends with her, but when you finally met her, she had really eased all your worries. She just seemed like such a good person, and she immediately put you at ease. But now you couldn’t help but think it was all for show. 

It wasn’t unusual for Barbara to randomly call Dick, but why was she so insistent that he go to her right now? What did Dick mean by make something up again? Was every work emergency a lie? Your heart felt heavy in your chest, but you couldn’t find it in you to move or find something to distract yourself with. You laid on your side, the movie still playing on the television in front of you, but you didn’t care about it anymore. Eventually the movie ended, but you didn’t care enough to change it to something else. The recommended titles screen played trailers for movies you didn’t care about, but you didn’t need the apartment to be completely silent, so you didn’t bother to turn it off. 

You didn’t remember falling asleep, but you woke up the next morning with Dick’s arm around your waist, his deep breaths fanning over the back of your neck. He must have carried you back to the bed whenever he got back, and you felt the warmth creeping into your cheeks at his thoughtfulness. If you woke him up, you’d have to ask questions about what time he got in last night. Technically, all you had right now were suspicions. You could ignore them, turn a blind eye to his nights gone and enjoy when he was here, or you could confront him, and risk blowing up everything you’d come to love. If he continued lying to you, you could pretend you didn’t know. You felt his arm tighten around you, and you made your decision. You closed your eyes, trying to will yourself back to sleep. You would enjoy this while you had it, ignore what you knew. 

**********

It was nice to pretend nothing was wrong. Dick was still the nearly perfect boyfriend he had always been - bringing you little surprises after a rough day at work, showing you plenty of affection, never afraid to shower you with words of affirmation - and now you chose not to question the not-so-perfect parts. There was still the little ache when Dick would suddenly announce he was needed at work, but you just gave him a soft smile and a kiss on his way out the door, telling him to get home safely.

Things had gone like that for a couple months before a true challenge to your delusion appeared. Dick came home from work, letting you know that the two of you were invited to Bruce’s for (yet another) Wayne Foundation event. You had to admit that you were excited, it had been a while since you had seen everyone, and Dick’s brothers were just chaotic enough to keep you entertained for the whole night. Your excitement dipped a little when Dick told you Barbara would also be there. It was easy to pretend they didn’t have anything going on when she lived in a different city, but with the two of them in the same room, seeing the two of them together, you didn’t know just how long you’d be able to hold onto your delusion.

The first night you were there was nice. It was just you and the various Wayne children (though some of them weren’t necessarily children anymore), everyone joking around and just enjoying being in the same house. When you went to call it a night, tired from traveling and the general chaos of the Wayne household, Dick followed you up. 

“I forgot how wild you all are,” you joked, changing into your pajamas, which was just one of Dick’s shirts and a pair of shorts.

“Yeah, you know how it gets when all of us are together,” Dick laughed. “I’m glad you’re having fun, you’ve been kind of off for a while.”

That made you pause. You thought you’d been doing a good job at hiding what you knew, but maybe that was just more of your own delusions. “What?”

“Yeah, you’ve just been a bit off, but I figured you’d tell me when you’re ready,” Dick explained, taking you in his arms. “I’m here for you, you know. I’m not gonna make you tell me what’s wrong, but I’ll be here when you’re ready to talk about it.”

Your breath hitched at his reassurances, and you were sure that any other time it would have made you melt and just tell him what’s on your mind. But you couldn’t exactly share what was wrong when he was at the center of it. Without him confirming it, it didn’t have to be true, and you could pretend just a little longer. You stayed quiet, needing that peace for now.

Later that night, when Dick moved you out of his arms when he was sure you were asleep, you woke up the slightest bit. You didn’t say anything, and you didn’t say anything when you felt him leave the bed, or when you heard the door close behind him. It wasn’t until he’d been gone for a good while that you accepted he wasn’t going to come back until the early hours of the morning. When the tears built up, you didn’t stop them from falling, soaking the pillowcase beside you. 

You didn’t question where he’d gone when you woke up the next morning to him climbing back into bed. You didn’t move when he wrapped his arm around your waist, pulling you closer to him. But of course he noticed you were awake, and of course he couldn’t just stay quiet like you had. “Baby, it’s early. C’mon, let’s go back to sleep.”

Going through the motions was easy, but the others noticed something was off about you. You could tell it in the way they treated you like you were one wrong move from breaking, and they weren’t technically wrong. The only ones not handling you with caution were Damian and Jason, but they normally weren’t ones to handle you with too much care anyways. Luckily, there wasn’t much time to linger around the heavy weight in your heart with the time for the gala quickly approaching.

“Alright, what gives?” Jason asked, holding out a champagne glass to you. You jumped a little, startled out of your thoughts as you looked at Dick and Barbara across the room, laughing with each other.

“What?”

“You’re acting weird, what’s going on.” Jason didn’t give you any room to try to weasel your way out of the conversation, pinning you to the spot with his stare. Even though the two of you were decent enough friends, this whole issue was concerning his brother, so you’d rather not bring it up to him. Or anyone for that matter.

“It’s nothing, really-”

“Bullshit and we both know it. Now spill.” Damn Jason.

“I think I need to-”

“I think you need to tell me what’s going on. Spill.” Bastard.

“Okay, fine! Damn, you’re stubborn.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“Alright. So, uh, what can you tell me about Dick and Barbara?” You immediately took a sip of the champagne, trying to hide your face.

“What?”

“You heard me.” “Yeah, but I thought you and Dick already talked about all that.”

“Humor me.”

“They dated in high school, but she works with us so we’re all pretty close to her,” Jason explained.

“Like she works at Wayne Enterprises?”

“Wait, he hasn’t told you?”

“Hasn’t told me what, Jason? Listen, I overheard him on a call with her a bit ago and then he made an excuse to go meet her. Can you just tell me if you know anything or not?”

“Listen, Dick’s a fucking idiot for going this long without telling you, but he’s not cheating on you if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Then what isn’t he telling me?”

“He’s your boyfriend, why don’t you just ask him?”

“He’s your brother, why don’t you just tell me if you know?” Jason laughed, taking a drink.

“Trust me, if I tell you, you won’t believe me. Just ask him before you drive yourself insane.” And just as quickly as he appeared, the man made his way back into the crowd, leaving you with your half drunk champagne and more questions than answers. But one thing was for certain, you couldn’t put this off for much longer, and if that meant breaking your illusion of a happy, perfect relationship, then so be it.

There was a certain lightness to knowing that, by the end of the night, you would have your answers. The facade you’d been putting on would finally fade away, and maybe you’d be able to breathe a little easier. When Dick returned to your side later that night, asking for a dance, he held you like you were precious, but not like you were broken. You would miss this.

The time wasn’t right until the last of the absurdly rich people were ushered into their cars, and you and the rest of the Wayne clan were returning to your rooms upstairs. Dick helped you out of your dress, pressing a kiss to the skin that was revealed to him, and it was all so tender that it made you want to cry. He passed you one of his t shirts to sleep in, and once you were dressed and sitting on the edge of the bed, you took a deep breath.

“Hey, so uh, I think I’m ready to talk about what’s been going on,” you told him as he was about to turn off the light. Immediately he crossed the room, kneeling to look up at you.

“Okay, take all the time you need.”

“So, a while ago when we were watching a movie, you got up to take a call, and I kind of overheard it,” you started, trailing off. Dick squeezed your knee, encouraging you to continue. “I know you haven’t been leaving for work emergencies. If something’s wrong here, then could you at least tell me instead of running to Barbara in the middle of the night?”

You chanced a glance at your boyfriend’s face, and there was nothing there but confusion. Dick was a smart guy, but damn was he stupid.

“Could you please just tell me what’s going on?” you asked, pulling his hand from your knee and into your own. You could feel the tears building again, but ignored it for now. “I just can’t take anymore lies.”

“I should’ve told you sooner, but I didn’t know how you’d take it,” Dick started, pressing a kiss to your hand. “Please don’t cry, baby. I’m not cheating on you, not with Barbara, not with anyone.”

“Then why do you keep sneaking out? You’re gone all night, and it’s not work-”

“Get up, put on some pants. I wanna show you something.” The sudden decisiveness was jarring, especially with how Dick had been kneeling at your feet mere moments before.

“Like, real pants?” Dick just stared at you, and you had to blame it on the emotional whiplash you were currently going through. Not wanting to keep him waiting any longer, you opted to grab a pair of sweats from the top of your bag. 

As soon as your slippers were on, Dick took your hand and led you through the halls of the manor. The place seemed so much lonelier when Bruce wasn’t hosting something, your footsteps echoing through the halls. You didn’t know the house well enough to know where exactly Dick was taking you, but eventually he stopped in the main hall.

“Alright, so what do you want to show me?” You asked, still trying to process what exactly was going on here. Surely the explanation couldn’t be so complicated as to have you running around the Wayne Manor.

“Wait just a second, I promise.” Dick turned to the grandfather clock, opening the glass door on its body and messing with something. Before you could ask what he was doing, he closed the door again and held up a finger for you to wait. A panel behind the grandfather clock opened, revealing a sleek elevator with blue lights accenting it. Before you could question it further, Dick pulled you into the elevator and pressed the button to start the descent.

“Rich people are so fucking weird, I swear,” you mumbled as the elevator just kept going down. “Dick, where are you taking me?”

“You’ll see in just a second.”

“That’s what you keep saying!” As if the world wanted to prove you to be an ass, the doors opened to reveal what you could describe as nothing other than a cave. Well, if a cave had very high-tech capabilities and various platforms showing off expensive equipment. “What the actual fuck?”

“So, uh, I wanted to tell you, but I also didn’t because it’s kind of weird and a little unbelievable,” Dick explained, once again taking you by the hand. Of course you recognized what this was, it was a little hard not to recognize something like the Batmobile. Your mind immediately scrambled for answers, but you couldn’t really rationalize all this the way you wanted to. It wasn’t until Dick stopped in front of the display cases of different suits that it fully sunk in.

“No fucking way.”

“Yeah. First things first, not Batman. But I think you can put together the fact that we live in Blüdhaven and-”

“You’re Nightwing.”

“Yeah. Listen, I’m really sorry I lied to you for so long, but I honestly thought I was keeping you safe and-”

“You’re an idiot,” you cut him off, not really meaning it. Well, you still kind of meant it. “I should’ve known there was no way you got that beat up from being a detective.”

Dick laughed, relief flooding his features. “Yeah, I’m not that bad at my day job.”

“So, that call with Barbara…”

“I was really trying to take the night off, but then Barbara got some information about a meeting happening that night and I had to go. I promise, she’s our informant and kind of runs a lot of things around here,” Dick explained. “It kind of works that I did the big reveal here. Showing you that locked trunk I have in the closet just doesn’t hit the same as coming here.”

“Yeah, I bet it doesn’t,” you agreed, laughing. You really didn’t know how to process the flood of emotions running through you, try as hard as you might. Of course you were a little miffed about the fact that Dick had been lying to you for years, but you also understood this wasn’t exactly the kind of thing you could really be open about. You were still emotionally drained from all the turmoil you’d gone through lately, but mostly you were relieved. Your boyfriend hadn’t found someone else. You weren’t going to be left as an afterthought. Things were going to be (kind of) the same.

Except for the fact that now you knew your boyfriend wore spandex on a near nightly basis.

“I completely understand if you need some time to process all this, but if you still want me, I promise I’ll never hide something like this from you again.” Dick turned to face you fully, taking your hand in his and holding it to his chest. “I’ll do whatever I need to make it up to you, please, I love you.”

“Dick, the last thing I ever want to do is break up with you. That’s why it took me so long to say something in the first place. I was willing to look past it all if it meant that you stayed, and if that makes me stupid, then yeah, I’m stupid.” You were glad when Dick interrupted you by pulling you into him, pressing his lips to yours.

Just as you were taking the time to enjoy the kiss, you heard a wolf whistle coming from somewhere else in the cave. “It’s about damn time you told her, but could you not do that right in front of the suits?”

Fucking Jason. 

[tafeekafee]

💎🦌Day 22: "What's the bad news?"

Poison/Bed-Ridden/Cauterization

@juneofdoom

Summary: It was only a stomach flu…

CW: vomiting, seizure, hospital

Whumpee/Sickie: Joshua

Caretaker: S.Coups + Jeonghan

Day Zero

"I'm going to turn in for tonight”, Joshua whispered and lifted the blanket he had been sharing with Jeonghan off his legs. 

Jeonghan turned his attention away from the movie that was playing - it was voluntary movie night instigated by BooSeokSoon in Jeonghan’s dorm - towards his fellow 95liner. Joshua had seemed a bit off, a bit pale all day and now he winced as he moved to detangle himself from Seungkwan, who had fallen asleep on his lap. The youngest vocalist just turned in his sleep, mumbling something before becoming still again.

“You okay?”, Jeonghan whispered, not wanting to have the other’s attention on them. He doubted Joshua would appreciate that.

The other vocalist nodded. “I’m fine. Just a bit of a stomach ache. I think dinner might be having an issue with me.” His hand had moved to cradle his abdomen but other than that and his paleness he seemed good. Maybe an early night wouldn't hurt.

“Do you need anything? Meds, hot water bottle?”, Jeonghan questioned but received a shake of Joshua’s head as an answer.

“I’ll just lie down. If I need anything, Cheollie and Minghao-yah are at our dorm after all”, Joshua answered as he stood up and then said a bit louder, so that everybody awake could hear him: “I’m going to sleep. Good night.”

A chorus of “Good night”s followed him out.

Day One 

“Cheollie, it’s not even six am”, Jeonghan complained into his phone which’s ringing had disturbed his sleep, “why are you already up?”

“I haven’t turned in yet”, Seungcheol answered with a sigh. That had Jeonghan’s attention. “Shua is sick. He has been throwing up since he came back from yours and he’s running a decent temperature…”

He wanted to continue but Jeonghan, having rolled onto his stomach to actually be able to use his phone without the danger of falling back asleep, interrupted him: “He told me yesterday he had a stomach ache from dinner. Why didn’t he say he was nauseous?”

“He said it only really got bad when walking and in the elevator. Anyways, I already spoke to a manager - I’m staying home with Shua today. He’s asleep right now and hasn’t been throwing up every half hour since four but I don’t doubt he’ll feel awful when he wakes up. He’s also still at 38.3°C”, Seungcheol explained, “since I haven’t slept and was with him, the manager said that it’s best that I stay to catch up on some sleep and to stop the risk of contagion. So, congratulations, you’re in charge today.”

In the evening Jeonghan had convinced the manager that it didn’t matter if he went to see Joshua - he’d been cuddling with the sick member the whole past evening, if he was to get sick he’d get sick. 

“Hey”, he whispered as he entered his best friend’s bedroom. Joshua was sitting up with a pillow propping him up against the headboard. He was looking ashen-gray and the very definition of sick. There was a bucket sitting on the floor by his head, clean but still wet from the water used to clean it out. Joshua was reading a book though it seemed like he wasn’t taking much in.

“Hi, Han-ah”, Joshua greeted, looking up. He placed the book away without putting a bookmark - so he really hadn’t been paying attention to it. “What are you doing here? You didn’t sneak in, did you? It’s bad enough that I might have infected Cheollie already.”

“I came to see how you were, dumbass. I was worried and besides, we were cuddling. If I am destined to get sick, I already have been cursed”, Jeonghan answered and sat on the edge of Joshua’s bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Awful”, Joshua mumbled with a sigh, “my stomach feels like it’s been turned into lava. The cramps are terrible, the vomiting is worse. And I’m so cold from the fever.”

As if to make his point, he shivered.

“I’m sorry, baby”, Jeonghan said and brushed a sweat-soaked curl away from where it was stuck to Joshua’s equally sweaty forehead, “is there anything I can do to help?”

“Not really. Before he went to nap, Cheollie already gave me some fever reducers, pain meds and the anti-emetic”, Joshua mumbled before his voice turned bitter, “then I threw it all up and Wonwoo had to help me.”

“You know none of us mind”, Jeonghan comforted, “how long ago was that?”

“I don’t know. Forty-five minutes? Something like that”, Joshua replied, “no, don’t say it.”

Jeonghan smiled at him. “Why don’t we try some plain rice? Mingyu made it specifically for you and gave it his best.”

Joshua snorted, then seemed to regret that as the motion pulled at his aching stomach. “We’re an Asian household. I think we’d die if we didn’t have rice available at all times.”

“Fair enough. I’m actually scared for Jihoon-ah, just thinking about it”, Jeonghan joked. Then he turned serious: “You should really try eating. You need some strength.”

Joshua acquiesced. 

Five minutes after he’d had some rice, Joshua had to bury his face in the bucket again, choking up the few bites he had managed to swallow. As he managed to stop gagging and with trails of spit dangling from his lips, he rasped: “I told you.”

Seungcheol sent Jeonghan home to his dorm half an hour later, claiming Jeonghan needed his sleep - which was rich coming from the insomniac general leader but Jeonghan felt guilty enough about making Joshua eat that he just went quietly. 

Day Two

Jeonghan woke up to a text message.

Seungcheol (04:28): I’m staying home with Shua-yah again.

They all were worried, every single member not really focused on work that day. Joshua hadn’t been able to keep anything down for over twenty-four hours and his fever was steadily burning. Not even the hot water bottle seemed to be able to soothe the pain and sore muscles. He was basically bed-ridden by then, his strength not enough to drag himself to the bathroom even if he wanted to. Jeonghan received a picture from a manager during vocal practice - Seungcheol and Joshua curled up on the leader’s big bed together, both asleep and Joshua so tiny in the eldest’s arms. Nobody needed to know that Jeonghan put it in his folder of his favorite Seventeen pictures.

Jeonghan didn’t go to see them that day.

Day Three

They all had a day off. Jeonghan had forced himself into the other apartment. Seungcheol needed sleep. Joshua needed to get better. And Jeonghan was worried. 

“Go sleep, Cheollie”, Jeonghan whispered, so as not to wake the sleeping Joshua.

“But …”, Seungcheol protested, nervously biting his lip, eyebrows furrowed. “He’s so sick.”

“I know. But you need rest”, Jeonghan said, opening his arms for the exhausted leader. Immediately Seungcheol had thrown himself into the embrace, obviously overly tired and exhausted, overwhelmed by caring for a member so sick. If Joshua wasn’t better soon, they’d have to take him to the hospital. Already the company doctor had given him some IV fluids and meds but it seemed it had only helped make Joshua sleep. “I’ll take good care of him for you.”

Seungcheol nodded, rubbing his eyes and yawning. “Wake me if you need help. Anything.”

Jeonghan laughed softly and shoved him out of the door. “Rest, ddaddu.”

Then he was alone with Joshua. He made himself comfortable in the chair beside the bed, opening the book Joshua hadn't touched for days.

“Hey, Shua, baby, wake up for me”, Jeonghan whispered, stroking sweat-soaked hair plastered to Joshua’s forehead back. “You need to eat lunch.”

It took a good while for Jeonghan to get Joshua awake and even then his eyes kept falling shut. It was obvious just how exhausted he was, how ill he was. “Han?”, he rasped, voice nearly gone from repeated vomiting, “I’m so tired. I just want to sleep.”

“I’m sorry, baby, I know”, Jeonghan mumbled. He hated himself for disturbing Joshua’s rest like that but he hadn’t eaten in so long and he was growing weaker. If he didn’t manage to eat until that evening they had agreed to bring him to the hospital. “But you need nutrients and fluids. And we should take your temperature again.”

“I’ll just throw up again”, Joshua protested weakly, “I don’t want to eat.”

“If you don’t eat I’ll take you to the hospital now”, Jeonghan said softly. It wasn’t a threat. It was worry. 

“No. No hospital. Please.”

As Joshua protested, never having been a fan of hospitals and likely feeling too wretched for the trip, Jeonghan nearly wished Joshua had agreed. Except for Wonwoo’s gastroenteritis, he couldn’t remember seeing a member so sick before. Maybe they shouldn’t wait till evening for a hospital visit but getting Joshua to agree looked like an impossible task. Forcing him would be no good either. So Jeonghan sighed and pulled out the thermometer. 

Joshua kept his eyes closed, fingers entangled with Jeonghan’s as they waited for the results. “39.5°C”, Jeonghan read with worry, “Shua, it hasn’t gone down at all today. If anything, it’s up.”

“Just give me some painkillers for my stomach if I have to eat - they’ll help with the fever too”, Joshua muttered. Jeonghan nodded, running his fingers through his hair for a moment. 

“Give me a moment, I’ll get the meds and food.”

Joshua didn’t respond.

“How is he?”, Wonwoo asked from where he was perched on a kitchen chair, watching Mingyu cook. 

“Fever is still high. He doesn’t want to but I told him he needs to eat. I have half a mind to just pack him into a car and drive him to a hospital”, Jeonghan sighed and slumped down on the chair beside him. Wonwoo sighed.

“Do you think it could be what I had?”, he asked worriedly. 

Mingyu turned around from the stove at that moment. “Why aren’t you taking him to the hospital?”

“I don’t know”, Jeonghan said to both questions. “He really doesn’t want to go.”

“He also has a fever going through the roof - he isn’t thinking clearly”, Wonwoo pointed out, “but it’s your choice.”

“I just don’t want to force him. You know he hates hospitals. He doesn’t like needles. I want him to be comfortable”, Jeonghan said with doubt in his heart, “can you make him some soup, Mingyu-yah?”

“One step ahead of you, hyung”, Mingyu said, pointing to the stove, “it’s already done.”

“Oh, thanks.” Maybe Jeonghan shouldn’t have been surprised. They all were so close with each other and caring for each other in their own ways had easily become second nature to them.

When Jeonghan entered the bedroom again, carrying a steaming bowl of soup, Joshua was fast asleep again. There was a bit of bile in the bucket, Jeonghan saw, grimacing. Joshua had nothing left in himself to throw up.

Waking Joshua was hard. No matter what Jeonghan tried - whispering his name, gently shaking his shoulder, calling his name loudly, using the cool cloth to try to shock him into wakefulness - it didn’t work.

Jeonghan felt himself start to tremble when he realized that, no, Joshua wasn’t asleep. This was not sleep at all, it was unconsciousness. Fear was gripping Jeonghan’s heart as he stumbled a step back. Was his fever that high? As he lifted his hand to touch Joshua’s forehead he found it burning.

“Cheollie”, he yelled, panicked. He was so out of his depth. “Seungcheol! I need help!”

The door behind him crashed open, admitting Mingyu and Wonwoo first - having been the closest - followed by a half-asleep leader who suddenly looked wide-awake the moment he laid his eyes on Joshua and the trembling Jeonghan.

“What happened?”, he asked, pushing past the other two rappers.

“I went to get him some food but when I came back, he … Shua … he wouldn’t wake …”, Jeonghan started, trying to suppress his tears. He whirled around as Joshua made a sound, somewhere between a groan and a grunt. 

Jeonghan heard somebody start to sob when he took in the scene. Joshua’s body was tense on the bed, back arched as his eyes were rolling behind closed lids. Everyone of his appendages was trembling and then…

Then Joshua began to seize.

Jeonghan was helpless to watch, as Seungcheol ordered Mingyu to call an ambulance and told Wonwoo to time … it. His eyes were fixed on Joshua, who was groaning, making these awful sounds that didn’t even sound quite human as his body was thrown from side to side. Seungcheol ran to pull the blanket off Joshua, receiving a kick in the stomach by an uncoordinated limp, but he didn’t even seem fazed.

Two hours later the four of them, Seungcheol, Wonwoo, Mingyu and Jeonghan, were sitting in a waiting room in a random hospital. They hadn’t seen Joshua since the ambulance had sped off with him shortly after they had arrived. The paramedics had been mumbling about low blood pressure but a too high pulse, a fever burning over 40°C and bad dehydration. Joshua had looked so small, hooked up to so many machines.

Now, all they could do was wait. 

Seungcheol was pacing. Wonwoo was just staring at the opposite wall. Mingyu was trying to distract himself with his phone. Jeonghan hadn’t yet stopped crying.

They had let the other know, of course, leaving Jun, Hoshi and Woozi in charge. It would normally be a disaster waiting to happen but as far as Jeonghan knew they were all just gathered in the 8th floor dorm waiting for news and taking comfort in each other's presence.

Jeonghan startled badly as the door opened and a doctor walked in. Hopeful eyes turned up to her and she gave them a tight nod in greeting. 

“Joshua-ssi is asleep at the moment. Our fears of a burst appendix or other infected organs have been proven wrong and his fever has gone down a bit. He didn’t have another seizure”, she said. Mingyu breathed out in relief, leaning his head on Wonwoo’s shoulder, who pulled him close. Seungcheol had stopped pacing, instead listening intensely. 

“What’s the bad news?”, Jeonghan asked quietly. Why would the doctor start with telling them what it wasn’t? Why wasn’t she saying what was wrong with Joshua?

The doctor sighed. “It appears as if Joshua-ssi is suffering from Escherichia coli or in short E.Coli.”

Seungcheol frowned. “Food poisoning? Food poisoning can do that?”

“Basically, yes”, the doctor said, “E.Coli is food poisoning. But in Joshua-ssi’s case it has turned into bacteremia. It’s an infection or rather poisoning of the bloodstream caused by bacteria entering the blood due to a scrape or cut. We think that due to the excess vomiting Joshua-ssi’s esophagus was torn a bit, causing the bacteria he was throwing up to enter his blood. Due to this, he developed sepsis.”

“Oh, God”, Seungcheol mumbled and collapsed into the chair next to Jeonghan. The younger gently took his hand, needing the support as much as the leader did.

“How are you treating him?”, Wonwoo asked, as always able to keep a clear head.

“We put him into an artificial coma so his body can rest. He is receiving oxygen and antibiotics to treat the infection”, the doctor explained.

“Is … is he going to be okay?”, Jeonghan whispered, not daring to look up from where he was fiddling with Seungcheol’s team ring. 

“If the medication helps as much as we hope, yes. But we need to wait and see how it progresses before we promise anything”, she answered.

“Can we see him?”, Seuncgheol said.

“Not yet. We’re keeping him in isolation for now, so he can’t get into contact with any other germs. If he gets better in the next two days, you’ll be able to see him.”

Day One of Joshua being able to return to their schedules was likely one of the best the group had ever experienced. 

Two weeks after the initial hospitalization, including three days in coma, Joshua was allowed to return home to the dorm. He was still weak, pale and mostly sleeping the days away. Three days later the fever returned and he was bedridden in the hospital again. It was touch and go for a while.

But now, nearly two months later, Joshua was with them at the photo shoot scheduled for that day. All members, even those who were already finished with theirs and allowed to leave, stuck around to watch him together.

Joshua was really glowing under the flood lights.

Jeonghan couldn’t help but smile as Seungcheol pressed his hand.

“He’s okay, Han-ah. He’s okay.”

Masterlist link:  Tafee's Masterlist - June of Doom 2024

[writingroom21]

Sweet Escape

Pairing: Rafe x single mom reader

Summary: Moving to Kildare with your best friend and daughter was the perfect move. The little island is perfect, the people are nice, and you are finally at peace. Then Rafe comes in with his perfect smile and charm, sweeping you off your feet. The only issue is if you are ready to let someone else in.

Warnings: None

Wc: 5.1K

Chapter 2: Oh Baby

“What are you all mopy about?” Jo asks with a mouthful of her breakfast. “You got flirted with last night, you should be happy.”

You hum at her as you help Violet with the mess she’s making. All morning you’ve been in your head thinking about Rafe. Since you found out you were pregnant and the dad left you, the only thing on your mind was just Vi. So when a handsome, full of himself, sweet talker of a man made you want more of him it was a shock. 

It’s not like you haven’t had the attention of guys before or after having a kid, but none of it seemed important to you. So why are you so bothered about last night? Jo’s right you should be happy but all you feel is stressed. “I don’t know. I think I just need to focus on me and Vi right now.” Jo drops her fork and looks up at you. “Haven’t you been doing that the moment you found out about her? Can’t put your life on pause because you have a kid. Yeah it’s great that you want to focus on her, she should always be first, but think about yourself too.”

You are thinking about yourself. Last night you had alcohol in your system so you didn’t think properly. Drunk you was into him only because of the fact you were drunk and nothing else. He was rude when you had met him earlier and the sober you didn’t like him. So there’s no need to really dwell on it.

“He was just flirting, he probably just wanted me to give him that flower order. It didn’t mean anything.” You can feel Jo’s eyes staring you down, you look her in the eyes. “Plus I’m not looking for anything. I like things the way they are.” Violet shoves a piece of her pancake in her mouth. “Ywah.” She comments as if she knows what you are talking about.

Jo really doesn’t say anything else, only telling you that you shouldn’t shut something down before it even happens. After breakfast you got Vi and yourself ready. When the two of you were ready, you headed off to the shop. You had made sure to bring the toddler with you as a buffer. Jo and June could tell what you were doing, the duo whispering about how ridiculous you are being. Last night June waited up for the two of you and got the whole run down.

She basically told you the same thing her grand-daughter did. Rafe is super rich and has a history of violence with others and cops. It was shocking because he looks so well put together, guess looks really can be deceiving. June saw the look of disappointment on your face when she finished talking. “People can change so who am I to judge? The boy seemed to have changed after his dad died.”

You shake the words out your head, willing yourself to just forget about last night. Everything is fine because no man in their twenties wants to be with someone who has a kid. You’ve found out that every time you tell a guy you had a kid, they run away just like her dad. It’s something you’ve come to terms with and it doesn’t bother you.

Violet runs right into the shop once you open up the doors. You keep the close sign on so no one tries to come in like yesterday, he can just knock. For a little bit, you chase her around, avoiding the flowers so they don’t fall. For someone who didn’t get a lot of sleep last night she has a lot of energy this morning. June said that she had woken up once and took her a little to go back to bed. But after you checked in on her, she kept getting up and wouldn’t go back to sleep.

By the time Rafe is supposed to get there, the little girl is slugging around the store rubbing her eyes. You looked at the clock and saw that it’s almost twelve, he should be here soon. Looking at your daughter you can see her tiny yawns as she tries to keep playing with you. Vi usually has a nap around 1 but since she can barely keep her eyes open you take her to the office so she can nap on the couch. As soon as her body hits the cushions she’s out, her light snores making you smile.

It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen her sleep or put her to sleep, her snores are your favorite sound. You still remember the nights where you would just sit there and listen to them because they let you know she was fine. She looks so peaceful sleeping, your baby that needs to be protected at all costs. Closing the door to the office you made up your mind, no boys, even the really cute ones.

Right on queue, there’s a knock on the front door. You walk over and open it to let him in. “Hey. I didn’t know how you like your coffee but I just put some milk and sugar in it.” Sure enough when you look at the hand extended towards you there is a cup in it. “Hi. Thank you, that’s really sweet. You didn’t need to get me anything.” You lead him further into the store, to the back open room.

Most of it is empty since this is where you set up all of the flowers to display. “Think of it as my apology for running off on you last night.” Rafe watches as you fidget with some of the petals of a flower, avoiding the topic of the previous night. “I wanted to stay but I had to help my friend out with something.” His eyes track your movements, noting how tense you look in this moment. “It’s okay really. I figured you had somewhere to be.”

Rafe is getting ready to say something to you and changes his mind. He must have read things wrong last night, he thought you were into him. Setting his own coffee down he walks closer to you, leaning on the bench where you are looking at some flowers. “I’m being straightforward here aren’t I? Sorry I just thought you were also into it last night.”

Your eyes scan his body, gliding up his chest and his face to see his eyes. “I was. It’s just.” There’s no need to finish your sentence, he moves away from you to put some distance. “Don’t have to explain, You woke up and realized it was a mistake, no worries.” The way he says it makes you feel guilty, an undertone of something you can’t place. He won’t look at you know, the rejection feeling raw to him. Sure he’s been rejected before but he really thought there was something more.

It’s crazy to think that a person he just met can make him feel this way. His whole life he’s been rejected, every chance of happiness ripped away. For heaven's sake even his own mom left him with someone who hated him. Even at the young of eight his parents knew he would be a failure. That’s the reason why his mom up and left all of them, he’s heard Ward yell it at him plenty of times. Then right when he feels like he got Ward's approval he ran off with Sarah and died just to get away from him.

So yeah, being upset about some random girl rejecting him is crazy. He wishes he could go back to when he was giving you a hard time about the flowers, maybe if he was nicer you would have given him a shot. Everyone on the island has written him off already and just a few days of moving here so have you. “What flowers do you have? Rose said I need to get Lily’s and maybe another flower. So what would go well with that?”

Rose? 

He was flirting with you when he was already seeing someone? This is exactly why you need to focus on yourself. The slight hurt feelings you are feeling right now shouldn’t even exist but here they were. “Pansy’s are always a good choice and even roses, It’s up to you honestly.” It was a little awkward showing him the ropes of what he needs to do. It was like the two of you didn’t know how to act around the other once flirting was off the table. Another crazy concept because you just met.

For an hour, you two work on the center pieces. The first few Rafe made weren’t the best, he couldn’t seem to get the right number of flowers in each. They were over crowded but after your help they looked good. “You need to add more greenery to break up the flowers. Also try not to add too many, it takes away their beauty.” Rafe just nodded along taking notes.

After a while he got the hang of it and you didn’t need to help him. If he wasn’t super rich you might have offered him a job that you couldn’t pay him for. It was good he got the hang of it because that meant you could focus on making more. You were so focused you didn’t hear the bang in the office door.

“What was that?” Rafe asked, looking around as he holds scissors and a flower stem. You look up to question him and hear the bang this time. “Momma.” Rafe gives you a puzzling look and you get up to let Violet out of the room. “Sorry it’s my daughter.” His look just gets deeper. “You have a daughter?”

You ignore him and keep walking. When you open the door Vi’s arms automatically wrap around your legs. “Did you have a good nap baby?” Your hand brushes the back of her head, taming the rouge pieces. “Mhm.” She rubs her head on your thigh. It was something she picked up over the years. You would nuzzle into her when you would wake her up, you guess after some time she decided she wanted to do it too. 

She grips your hand as you walk her to the backroom. Rafe’s been watching the door like a hawk after you left. What do you mean daughter? Does this mean you have a boyfriend? Fuck of course you have a boyfriend, that’s why you were backing out of last night. What a poor sucker, can’t even keep his girlfriend happy enough so she doesn’t flirt or cheat. Rafe bets he would be able to keep you happy, show you what that little boyfriend of yours can’t.

He watches as you walk in, your head is bowed to look at the little girl next to you. Rafe’s blue  eyes jot down to see a smaller pair of blue eyes looking right back at him. It takes him a moment to actually realize you weren’t kidding, you have a daughter. The whole time he processes he can’t take his eyes off the little girl. Which seems to also be the case with her.

Violet has only ever really been around the same people her whole life, but she does well with strangers. She just doesn’t know what to make of the giant of a man standing in front of her. He cracks a weary smile at the toddler as she cowers behind your legs, somewhat scared of him. But like a hero you crouch down and soothe her. “It’s okay. This is my friend Rafe, can you say hi?” Your nose nuzzles her cheek making her giggle.

“Hi.” It’s small, her voice still growing along with her. WIthout a second thought Rafe bends down, sticking a hand out to the girl. “Hi. What’s your name?” She looks at you, seeking permission to answer his question. When she sees you nod her eyes go back to him. “Wioleth.” Your laugh catches his attention, he likes how it sounds. He liked it last night and hearing it directed at your daughter with love makes it better. 

“Her name is Violet. She still has trouble with v and sometimes with the t.” The smile on your face lights up your face, crinkles forming in the corner of your eyes. “Like the flower?” Seeing your smile directed at him makes his own shine on his face. “Like the flower. She’s my little petal.” She sticks to you like glue when you get back to work, sparing a few glances at Rafe to see if he was still there.

You were in the middle of snipping some stems when you heard Violets laugh. Turning to the sound you see her next to Rafe, who is currently tickling her with the lily in his hand. Stunned from the sight, you stand there and watch. Even while he’s sitting down he towers over her, her neck must hurt from looking up. Another laugh erupts in the room but the culprit this time is his fingers tickling her side.

You know he’s whispering to her, his mouth is moving but barely any sound is coming out. It’s like the two of them forgot you were there, too engrossed in the other to care. What surprised you the most was when she threw her arms uo so he could pick her up. He did it in an instant like it was second nature to him. The second his eyes met you after setting Vi on his la you unfreeze. “She seems to like you.” 

“Glad one of you does. She seems pretty cool.” He gives you a teasing smile, the tension in your shoulders drops. You don’t get why he’s upset, he has a girlfriend. But seeing how he was with Vi right now wished there wasn’t another girl named Rose and you didn’t make stupid rules for yourself.

The rest of the time went smoothly, in the middle the missing flowers were delivered so he got to choose some extras. Then he set up the tuck time and left, leaving you and Vi with a quick goodbye. After the truck got the flowers you tidied up the place, getting it ready for tomorrow’s opening. By the time you got home the two of you were beat, barely talking during dinner.

“How was it with you know who?” You snicker at Jo’s words. “Why are you saying it like he’s Voldemort?” She shrugs at you and takes another bite of food. “I don’t know, maybe he is. You were acting like he was this morning.” Here we go again, she already texted you while he was there. Is he still as hot in the daytime? Are you two flirting? Don’t do anything in front of my precious baby, she’s innocent. The text went on for a little while longer. It’s like she feeds off you ignoring her messages because she knows you’re annoyed.

“I just want to focus on me and my daughter, not on some random guy I just met. Plus Rafe has a girlfriend.” Vi’s head shoots up when she hears his name. “Ra?” Jo looks at her in bewilderment. “Looks like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. What’s this girlfriend's name? Clearly she needs to keep him in line.” You fidget with your food, knowing that Jo clocked the jealousy in your voice. “Rose.”

June who has stayed quiet all dinner chokes on her iced tea, spilling it everywhere. Violet laughs thinking it’s a fun game and tries to imitate her with no success. “Sweetheart, did he say girlfriend or just Rose.” You give her a questioning look. “Just Rose.” In all of your years of knowing June you’ve never seen her laugh like that. She was practically off her chair and on the floor crying with laughter. “Wow I never thought I’d see the day when Jo was smarter than you.”

“Hey!”

“Sweetie, Rose is his step-mother. She stuck around after the dads death to help him take care of his little sister.” Little sister? He takes care of his little sister with Rose, who is his step-mom and not his girlfriend. “Oh.” Jo and June just give eachother a look and shake their heads.

For the rest of the night you just think about how he actually doesn’t have a girlfriend. The only thing stopping whatever it was between you two is well you. The whole point was to protect Vi but she seems to love him. Throughout her bath and bedtime routine she kept asking for him. Letting out a small “Ra?” or “Whew Ra?” not really getting to saying his full name. He seems to be good with her, but that doesn’t mean anything. You go to bed thinking about what the hell you are going to do.

The next morning goes the same as the other. You get up, start breakfast, get Vi up, eat breakfast, get ready, and go to the shop. Everything was running smoothly, the shop was open and all the flowers looked perfect. You were even able to plant some seed in the greenhouse that’s connected in the back.

Customers have been coming in all morning, buying bouquets and individual flowers. Everyone has been so nice, even talking to Violet as they shopped around. She was having a blast chatting with them and running around the store. Around twelve you decided it was time to get lunch and grab Vi. As you're locking the door she keeps tugging at your hand. “One second Vi. I just need to lock up okay.”

THe impatient toddler keeps pulling at her hand. “Momma wook.” She’s pointing down the street but the key is giving you trouble. You’re struggling with the lock when her hand slips from yours, she’s running down the street screaming. “Ra! Ra!” Sprinting after her you see what she was pointing to. 

Rafe

She rams into his legs falling in the process just before you could stop her. Rafe is distracted by the sudden feeling of being hit in the leg. He looks down to see Violet on the floor and you running up to the two of them. “I’m so sorry.” You exclaim to him as you pick her up and check that she’s okay. The people behind him are waiting for him to unblock the doorway. He places a hand on your arm to move you both away from the way. “Ra!” She squeals at the man in front of you two.

“Looks like someone’s a dinosaur today.” He chuckles at the girl. “Hi Violet. Hi.” He says your name, the heat from his hand leaving as he retracts it. You greet him back, stepping a bit closer to him. “She’s actually trying to say your name. She kept asking for you after you left.” A smile forms on his lips, he feels proud that he made an impression on the young girl.

“She asked about me?” There’s something in him that can’t help but poke a bit. “I bet dad found that strange.” Satisfaction fills him when your face changes at the mention of dad. It was subtle but he could see it, see how it made you uncomfortable. “He’s not in the picture. Just us.” His face drops, he felt smug thinking he called you out for not telling him the truth. 

Looking at the two of you he can’t see how anyone could do that. You seemed so nice and funny, Vi was just a baby. How could someone do that? “Shit sorry I didn’t know.” His face scrunches when he realizes he just swore in front of a kid. “Shith.” Vi repeats, bouncing in your arms.

Rafe gives you a guilty look. “I’m sorry. Didn’t think before talking.” You giggle and shake your head. “It’s okay. Jo and I swear a lot around her. But I swear she gives Vi too many ideas.” The breath he was holding when you mention Jo is released when you paired she was a girl. He really thought for a second that maybe he didn’t have a chance. Maybe he still doesn’t but it doesn’t hurt to try.

“Dang I need to get back. I didn’t get to lock the door, she was so excited to see you that she couldn’t wait for me to figure out the lock.” It’s nice to know that the girl in your arms wanted to see him. After he left he seriously thought he wouldn’t see you again. He doesn’t know when he got to be so sentimental but he wants to know you and have you like him. The same goes for Violet.

“The door was giving you trouble?” He walks along with you as you make your way back. “Yeah it was giving me a tough time to lock it. It wasn’t perfect before but now it seems impossible.” You demonstrate it for him, twisting the key only for nothing to happen. His hand wraps around yours, twisting toughly and successfully locking it. “I can fix it for you.”

“You don’t have to do that. It’s just jammed.” Vi squirms her way down from your arms to make her way to him. “Ra come.” She waves her hand at him. He kneels down and pulls the sunglasses up to look her in the eyes. “I’m here.” The interaction is strange to see. She has always been social but this is different. She actually really likes him. 

He interacts with her like they have always known each other. As if they didn’t just meet yesterday. It’s confusing seeing it all play out. “I think she wants you to come to lunch with us. We were just about to leave.”  The sun is kind of overtaking you as he looks up. “Is it Violet or mama that wants me to come?” He stands up and takes a hold of Vi’s hand. “I can do lunch. Then we can go get you a new lock and I’ll set it up.” You two just stare at each other for a second, not wanting to break first. “Okay, know any good places?”

“Come on, I can take you to the country club. They have a great chicken club.” As id on instinct he shifts Vi to the other side of him, blocking the two of you from the main road. A simple gesture that means a lot. “I don’t have a membership to one of those. Plus I don't even know how to get there.” The crosslight sign changes to stop as soon as you make it to the crossing. You’re fishing for your keys when Rafe’s hand stops you. “It’s okay I have a membership, they’ll let you in. I was going to drive anyway so you don’t have to worry about it.”

You look at him and then at Violet. “So you just always carry a carseat around?” There’s a blush that forms on his cheeks from the teasing. He looks down at the young girl and realizes he completely forgot about the fact she was so young. “Right, my bad. Umm we can go a little further down, there’s a restaurant there. The hardware shop is close to there.” 

Vi seems content with just sticking by Rafe. When you got into the restaurant she sat directly beside him, sitting as close as possible. “Sorry I can take her.” He just picks up a crayon they gave her and started to color along with her. “It’s fine, I don't mind.” She forced him to color with her the whole time. She even had him help her with cutting her food. 

It was so surreal seeing this all play out. He was so natural with her and their connection was effortless. It made you think back to the night in the bar. The conversation was so easy and nothing felt forced. Seems like you and Vi have that in common, both falling for his charm. “How old is she?

He’s rustling around with some locks finding the perfect one for you. You shake your head as he shows a different one. “Two, her birthday is in October.” Her ears perk up at your voice. “Birdday?” Rafe laughs and shows you a different lock. “That one.” Vi giggles as he tickles her neck when he passes by. She starts to chase after him and he runs off, turning up and down the isles. You chase after them making sure she isn’t getting hurt or god forbid stolen. 

People are giving the three of you weird looks, jumping out of the way so as to not get trampled by a 6”2’ giant. You had to keep apologizing to people as you passed by them. Finally he gave up and let her catch him. Violet was laughing hysterically, throwing her arms up so he would pick her up. 

He gives you a surprised expression, not knowing what he should do. You were just as confused as he was, you don’t know if you should let them get that close. Who knows who he really is and if he would just disappear the next day. Rafe picks her up when she starts to whine, holding her as he pays for the lock and some other tools.

“You didn’t have to pay. I could have done that.” The three of you are walking back now. He’s still holding Vi who now rested her head on his shoulder, rubbing her eyes. Pulling out your phone you can see it's a little past one. She most likely is waiting for her nap time. By the time you are trying to open up the door she’s out cold in his arms.

When it’s open you turn around to grab her from him. “I can lay her down, so she doesn’t wake up.” It makes sense so you show him your office and he lays her down on the couch. “I’m going to go start the lock.” He walks away and fiddles with the lock. It’s as if when Vi isn’t around there’s nothing for him to say. It was the same yesterday after you tried to say it couldn’t continue he was closed off.

Crap did he want it to continue?

You walk to the front door and see that he got the old lock out. “Hey.” Looking over his shoulder he can see you standing there. “Hi.” He goes back to put the new lock in. “What I was trying to say yesterday is that I need to focus on Vi and I. You’re new to our lives and I can’t take any risks. It’s not just me I have to look after.” The tension in his shoulders can be seen from even where you’re standing. “I get it. At first I thought it was because you regretted it. But I get it now, she’s more important.”

You stand there as he finishes up. When he’s done he packs everything up. “If it was just you, would you still feel the same?” That’s a great question, would you feel the same? Simple answer is no you wouldn’t. “No I wouldn’t.” His eyes meet yours in a hopeful way. “But it’s not just me.” It’s illogical to feel upset about this, realistically he knows why you can’t. “Well the lock is all set up. I should head out.”

“Rafe please.” He just packs everything up and goes to leave. “Rafe.” He looks over his shoulder. “Bye.” The way he says your name is like a dream. It was airy as if it hurt to even say. It did hurt, he felt regretted. You don’t even fully know him and you already shut him out. You may be new but even you knew to stay away from him.  He spends the rest of the day thinking about you.

Yeah sure he isn’t the best. He’s just getting over his addiction and trying to keep his temper down. But at least he’s trying, he wants to be better yet all anyone can see is how damaged he is. It has never been an issue letting it go and ignoring people, he’s done it his whole life. This time he’s finding it harder to ignore the pressure in his chest.

Without really thinking her\ gets into his truck and is driving back to the shop. He doesn’t even know if you are still there but he has to try. As he’s pulling up he can see you and Violet exit the shop. He’s getting out of the car when you turn around and see him. “Rafe?”

“Okay I’m just going to say this and get it off of my chest. I meant it when I said I didn’t want to leave the other night. I was a dick about the flowers that day and I regret it.” He cringes when he remembers there’s a kid right next to you, she doesn’t copy the word so he’s in the clear. “I thought that yesterday we would pick up where we left off. Probably a stupid idea but I’ve never been known for being that smart. There’s just something about you and I can’t stop thinking about you. I get it you have Violet and you need to think about her. Just, just give me a chance. All I’m asking for is for you to get to know me.”

He’s waiting for your response when Vi walks closer to him and grabs his hand. “Okay. Under one condition.” “Anything.” He says fastly. “ We take this at my speed. I can’t have her getting attached to someone and have her get crushed if you decide this is too much.” He wants to be upset that you could think that. You hardly know him so he can’t, at least you are giving him a chance.

“We’ll take it as slow as you want. How about we go out this weekend? You can bring Violet along too, I don’t mind.” She jumps at hearing her name. “Out!” She shouts “See, even she’s excited.” You smile up at him. Maybe this isn’t such a bad idea, he seems nice and caring. “This weekend sounds great. I could probably get Jo to watch her”

He walks you over to your car, standing back as you get Vi into her carseat. “I never really thanked you for helping me with the flowers. Really saved me from having to deal with my annoying step-mom.” You laugh at him, cloning the door and making your way to the driver's side. “It’s no problem. I guess you’ll just have to make it up to me this weekend.” He smiles down at you. “I’ll make it special then.”

Before getting into your car you give him a kiss on the cheek, leaving him there to watch as your car drives away. The smile he has can’t leave his face, too happy that once again he got what he wanted. This time he promises to himself he won’t fuck it up.

Taglist: @haruvalentine4321, @namelesslosers, @ijustwanttoreadlols, @drewsphswife, @corpsebridenightamare

Let me know if you’d like to be added🫶

[mayulli]

Time to rest. I am having a moment...

[trashbaget]

[ihaventsleptinweekz]

Sometimes I think I'm a normal person then the 11 pm thought kicks in and suddenly I'm insane

[dimonds456]

it's 4 AM so you know what that means! Time for me to make a list of all my disabilities so I can clearly lay them out for both myself and the nonbelievers to see! Like a normal person!

Yes, I'm able-passing, and there were days previously where I questioned whether or not I'm actually disabled or if I was just faking/exaggerating it, but no. Not anymore. The sheer length of this list alone is enough, let alone if I had just one or two of the things on here.

I have: - Chronic Depression - Chronic Anxiety - ADHD - Autism (more than likely, not confirmed) - Graves Disease / Hyperthyroidism - Balance issues - Weakness in knees / elbows - (Tendency to fall the fuck over because of this combination) - Aversion to heat above 60º F (15.5º C) - Need glasses - Astigmatism / sensitivity to light / Graves eye bulging - Audio processing disorder - Fucked memory / focus / CANNOT read numbers quickly idk why - Breathing issues (I deadass just. Forget to breathe sometimes.) - Shakiness in hands (thank fuck it's mostly gone away, but not 100%) - Inconsistent heart rate - Unsteady grip / "chronic butterfingers" as I've been calling it - Back pain - Hip pain - This one doesn't have a name but I walk on the sides of my feet instead of just stepping down normally because nothing I have ever done in my entire fucking life is normal - Bad leg that never healed properly - Trauma - More trauma - Holy shit there's so much why is there so much of it and why am I only just realizing how much there is holy fuck - I know I'm forgetting some but this is all I can remember off the top of my head

But yeah I'm able-passing. :)

[the-busy-ghost]

The pandemic isn’t over but even if it were, I am not enjoying being reminded of how close people used to get before the 2020s