#i have said it before i’ll say it again of course ten was different with s2 rose

[3lostyears]

“nine would never do this” “nine isn’t afraid like ten” oh my goddddd they are literally the same alien but they come from different circumstances and are defined by different things:

nine comes from loss. the time war and the destruction of gallifrey is new for him. therefore, from his perspective, he has everything to gain - the main one being rose. that’s why he genuinely has to decide between losing rose and saving the world, because he hasn’t gained the world. if anything it’s a backdrop. but he has rose.

what nine needs to learn is that things and people can change - himself included. he is far less of a pacifist than ten because his morality is giving things a chance, ie the nestene consciousness in the very first episode. this is also the crux of the dalek episode, rose’s point is not entirely “guns are bad” but “it’s changed”. you see this change in the difference between how nine and ten treat cassandra, specifically in how cassandra shows empathy for the sick woman.

ten, in comparison, has gained. he has rose and a family to have christmas with. and that means he really only has things to lose - again, the main one being rose. because nine came from nothing he was essentially content enough to just have rose in his presence and have her choose him. ten now sees his relationship with rose in longer terms (i cannot stress enough that nine was not counting on his survival but was very accepting of his death, so he’s basically just elated to still be alive and to have rose reciprocate his feelings before he regenerates) and therefore has to recognise that he will inevitably lose her one day.

nine is not thinking about “the curse of the timelords” because he exclusively thinks of himself as a survivor.

it’s the fear of loss that really separates the two characters. because ten’s morality is actually pretty similar to nine’s for most of s2. people say that his “you get one warning” speech from school reunion is a prelude to time lord victorious but it feels much more like nine to me. he has compassion, for the cybermen and even cassandra and the werewolf, but he doesn’t really offer to save anyone with the frequency he will in later seasons. when it comes to the wire, the devil, and the daleks (aka the main three that threatened rose) he’s ready to kill them with limited preamble.

but then he does lose rose and he cannot bear it. he loses her and then murders a bunch of children, gets called out, and then goes pretty much the complete opposite way because he cannot bear any more loss. think about it: nine hears the ENTIRETY of satellite 5 get massacred and is horrified but keeps going. if ten had heard that he would be a screaming wreck.

"ten is a coward" is literally the ENTIRE point? some of nine's last ever words are "coward, any day" because he is sick of being a killer. and i actually fundamentally disagree with that action of his, but i get why it matters. because it shows he changed, and that's not what he believed when we first met him. he thought he was broken and that humans were a bunch of stupid apes, and by the end he is deeply in love with a human and knows he was fantastic.

it is therefore not surprising that davros is the doctor’s worst nightmare because he comes for two regenerations: he breaks nine when he says people can change, but you changed them for the worst; he breaks ten with the reminder that people have lost their lives for and because of him. so you get this pure trauma response of ten offering actual fascist davros safety and yelling at tentoo for "committing" genocide (and tentoo likely reverts back to that nine-era morality not only because he's "born from blood" but because he's actually born from gain - he got rose back).

ten is also a tragedy (where nine is not) because he is ultimately, utterly, completely defined by loss. nine was resigned to his fate (everything has its time and everything dies) and ten was born from hope and love, which systematically get ripped away from him. he was born wanting to live, specifically with the woman he loves, and he doesn't even get to die in the same universe as her.

also the whole "nine would never gitf" ten wouldn't be ten gitf if it was written properly but may i remind you that a couple of hours before he kissed and died for rose he was also blatantly flirting with lynda with a y? "ten was disrespectful he made rose act as a dinner lady" and nine let jabe ask HIM if rose was his prostitute after he’d called rose his plus one. they are not healthy aliens when it comes to people they like!

[flowersandbigteeth]

Now I’m thinking about how cute of a story it’d be if a human woman reader had a preference towards monster men, but she kept getting used by a lot of monster fetishists to fill their own fantasies. Getting her heart broken constantly as they didn’t see her as a being with real feelings. And eventually she gives up…But of course x monster comes into her life and tries his best to court her cause he actually does love her and see her as a person. Reader of course is very jaded and thinks he’ll use and abuse her too, just like all the others.

If you’re still interested in writing somber stories with a happily ever after in the end, something like this could be fun to explore. The ugly exploitive relationship dynamics taken onto human women by monster men.

Like just imagine reader is sitting in a park, having a picnic, a monster comes up to her, is pleasant, and reader thinks that this is going to be “the one” finally, and gets her heart broken again when he asks her for a one night stand. Or even worse…hands her a card to work at a human x monster exclusive private fetish club…

Um...so I ended up with something close to this, but kind of with a different spin. I've been wanting to do a mothman for soooooo long and this just came together in the right way. So here he is ^_^

Mothman (Roth) x f reader

Word Count: 9.5K

General Plot: Your gargoyle crush asks you out on a date and things don't go as planned.

TW: nsfw mothman smut, moth genetalia, a lot of teeth, kidnapping, sexy pheromones, a bit of violence, reader being tied up and gagged, revenge, mating and soft yandere vibes, bad boyfriends

“Five, ten, fifteen…fifteen,” you sighed counting your tips as you sat on the curb outside the kitchen of the Italian restaurant you worked at. 

Tears bubbled in your eyes as you realized you hadn’t made nearly enough to cover the rent you were already late on. 

“How you doing mite,” a deep voice rumbled behind you. 

You heard a squeak and then a thunk as Tyre, the chef, dumped some trash. Wiping your eyes, you peered up at him, trying to hide the redness on your cheeks. Tyre was a handsome gargoyle with slate gray skin and piercing blue eyes. He smirked as your eyes met. Sniffling, you tried to clean up your face. 

“Nothing, nothing, I’m fine.” 

He glanced down at the odd dollars and some change in your hand. 

“Bad night?” 

You sighed. 

“It’s always a bad night.” 

He scratched his chin, eyes traveling from the top of your head to the slip-proof shoes you had to wear. 

“There’s someplace I ought to take you,” he said, eyes taking on a predatory gleam. “You like monsters, right?” 

You blushed, unsure what to say now that your secret wish seemed like it might be coming true. You’d always had a crush on Tyre. He was big and strong with a rakish smile that made all the waitresses swoon. 

“Um…yeah, I guess.”

“Good,” he said, grinning. “You’re off tomorrow night. I saw it on the schedule.” 

You were going to beg for another shift from one of the other waitresses, but if you were only going to make a few bucks, you figured you couldn’t pass up the chance for a date with your crush. 

“Yeah,” you murmured, your breath a gasp. 

He pulled a phone from an apron pocket and handed it to you. 

“Put your address in here. I’ll pick you up. Wear something pretty.” 

Overcome, you could hardly speak, typing your address and phone number into the phone. 

“See you tomorrow night, mite,” he winked before walking back inside. 

The door slam made you jump, but your heart was already pattering. Tyre had finally noticed you! Ever since you’d started that job, you’d been in love with him. It was true. You did like monsters, but not in a weird way. You were curious, but you were too shy ever to ask Tyre any questions about himself. You didn’t want him to think you were a weirdo fetishist trying to get in his pants for a thrill. But finally, he’d noticed you and asked you on a date! 

Despite the lack of money in your pocket, you hopped up from the curb with a pep in your step. Maybe something was finally going right for you for once. 

When you arrived home, you frowned at the yellow notice taped to your door. 

EVICTION NOTICE: VACATE THE PREMISES WITHIN 15 DAYS OR YOU WILL BE REMOVED

Your breath caught in your throat, and you wondered if you should call Tyre and cancel your date. Walking inside, you frowned. Your apartment was small, if you could even call it an apartment. It was only one room with no kitchen or bathroom. You had to use the common toilet down the hall, and you either ate food you brought home from the restaurant or cooked noodles on your hotplate. Still, you couldn’t even afford this little closet. 

Where were you supposed to go? Pulling out the crumpled fifteen dollars, you stuffed it in the large mug with all your tips. You already knew how much was inside. You counted it over and over again every night, hoping it would magically bloom to a higher sum. 

One hundred and fifteen dollars. That’s how much you had to figure out a new home with. While tears bit at your eyes, your feet were exhausted from running around all day, so you flopped on your dipping air mattress and fell asleep. 

You woke to the next morning to your phone buzzing and grinned at the message on the screen. 

“Pick you up at 9.” 

Scooping up the phone, you beamed. As you dropped it on your chest, you indulged yourself in a quick fantasy. You’d go on a date, Tyre would fall madly in love with you, and then you’d move into his flat, have his little gargoyle babies, and everything would turn out just fine. This had to have happened for a reason, right? All afternoon, you skipped around your apartment, trying on your meager array of outfits for just the right one. 

When 9 came around, you sat on the edge of your bed, checking and rechecking the message. 9, he did say 9, right? Right. He’ll be here. 

Thirty minutes later, there was a heavy knock on the door. You tripped over yourself to answer it, eyes lighting up the moment you met the cool blue on the other side. He looked you over, a meaty hand braced against the doorframe, showing off his massive biceps. 

“Look at you, mite,” he said, brushing a curl of hair from your face. “You clean up nice.” 

“Ah, thanks, Tyre. It’s nothing really,” you half whispered, words having a difficult time making themselves past your lips. 

“Come on,” he said, taking you by the arm. “You’re gonna have fun where we’re going.”

“Where are we going?” you asked, from the inside of Tyre’s Denali, as he cruised down a dark alley. 

You had only just realized it was a little late to be going to a restaurant, so where was he taking you? He only smirked at you, eyes glittering in the dim vehicle. 

“You’ll see,” was all he would say. 

You should have been concerned, but the truth was you were down bad. You were about to be evicted, had hardly any friends, and no boyfriend. Your last situationship with a werewolf had been a humiliating disaster. You needed this. He pulled into a parking lot, flashing a black card, and a gate lifted, allowing you inside. 

“Here we are,” he said when he parked, circling the car to help you out. 

When he’d set you on the ground, he frowned for a moment, scrubbing his chin. 

“Let’s’ fix this,” he said, grabbing the tight skirt you were wearing and hiking it up your hips so it was more of a mini skirt. Then he yanked on the neck of your sweater, pushing it down over your shoulders.  

“What? Where are we going?” you asked, getting a little more concerned. 

He only looked at you lazily, reaching a hand down to smudge the makeup at the corner of your eyes more. 

“A private club. Freaky girls like you love this shit,” he assured you, though he was becoming less and less assuring. 

What did he mean by “freaky girls”? You were just a normal girl. You liked reading books and cooking when you had the chance. There was nothing “freaky” about you at all. 

Grabbing your shoulders with his big hands, he shoved you forward through the dark lot. Around you, large, monster-sized, luxury vehicles were parked in neat rows. When you reached an odd metal door, he knocked with his knuckles. A hatch slid open, and bright green eyes peered out. 

“What do you want?” 

They narrowed on Tyre. 

“You’re not welcome here.” 

You gulped, cheeks reddening, looking between the pair of eyes and Tyre. 

“Tell Roth I brought him a new girl,” he said, “Told him I’d pay my debt.” 

The eyes flicked down to you for a moment, and the door squeaked open. 

“Tyre, what is going-?” 

You didn’t get a chance to speak as the large, man with pale skin and green eyes snatched your wrist up and dragged you away from him. 

“Tyre! Tyre!” you half shouted, confused as he jerked you down a dark hall, but looking back, the gargoyle only smiled and waved at you. 

“Stop screaming. You’re disturbing the ambiance,” the man holding you in his firm fist, hissed. 

When he opened his mouth, you could see sharp fangs framing straight white teeth. The rest of your words caught in your throat as he dragged you through the club. 

On a large platform in the center, human women dressed in skimpy outfits danced on stage to oddly alluring music. Where the bright stage lights didn’t shine, you could see monsters of all kinds with human women clinging to them engaged in a frightening variety of sexual activity. 

Three gargoyles were sharing one woman, splayed on a table. A centaur had a woman strapped to him with some sort of harness, and your eyes popped when you saw the way he used her. Your heart started to race as you put two and two together. 

You’d heard about these clubs. Places where well-paying monsters could play around with human women to fulfill their fetish fantasies. Yes, you liked monsters, but you would have never stepped into a place like this, not for all the money in the world! You experienced enough creepy fetishists as a waitress. It seemed the only time anyone offered you any real money was to take you home for a night of their own entertainment. 

Betrayal cut you to the core, remembering Tyre’s words. He’d brought you here to repay a debt! He never had any plan of dating you at all! You were nothing more than a trinket to be traded! 

Panic startled you to your senses, and you started to fight the vampire holding you. 

“LET ME GO! LET ME GO!” you screamed, jerking so hard on your wrist that you thought you might break it. 

He narrowed his eyes at you. 

“Jesus, that bastard. He tricked you to come here, didn’t he?” he hissed, frowning. 

He paused, thinking for a second, and for a moment, you thought he might let you go. 

“Still, I’d better take you to Roth and see what he wants to do with you. Can’t have you running off to the cops and blowing up our whole operation.” 

Clubs like these weren’t exactly legal. Along with the girls, they usually sold drugs and were the sort of place where you could hire a shady person to do below-board jobs.

To silence your screams, and to the amusement of a few of the monsters standing nearby with drinks, he slipped the tie from around his neck and tied it tightly around your head, before he stripped off his belt and used it to secure your hands. Then he flopped you over his broad shoulder, carrying you out of the larger room up a set of stairs. You bit on the gag, desperately trying to saw away at it with your teeth, but it was no use. 

You couldn’t see, bouncing on his shoulder, but you heard a door open, and then you saw it shut. 

“Tyre brought you a girl, boss,” he said. 

Suddenly, he flopped you on the floor, forgetting you were a fragile human. You squealed as you hit the carpet hard, pain radiating up your side. Looking up, you froze in fear. The room was dim, the edges hardly visible, the only light a small lamp on a large wooden desk. Peering past the light, you met the gaze of two glowing, red orbs on the face of a dark body you could hardly make out. All you could tell was that it looked large. 

“Why’s she tied up?” 

The voice was almost a hiss, like silk sheets rubbing together. 

“Tyre tricked her into coming here.” 

The orbs disappeared for a moment, then appeared again along with a long sigh. 

“That idiot.” 

“What do you want me to do with her? Dump her? Put her on the floor? She’s pretty enough. She’ll make us some money.” 

Your heart pounded, as your future was being discussed without you. Dump her? 

“Leave,” the voice barked, sounding irritated. 

You whimpered as you heard the heavy footsteps of the vampire leaving and the door slamming behind him. There was a rustling, and the big body behind the desk grew much larger. It wasn’t a shape you recognized, two large protrusions arching over either side of its head and then two more feathery-looking ones on top. Heavy steps echoed in the quiet room as it rounded the furniture and loomed over you. 

A clawed hand emerged from the darkness, clutching your chin, slowly turning it from side to side as his red eyes examined you. 

“Hmm. A little flame,” he purred. 

You tried to scream again, but all that came out was a muffled whimper. 

The protrusions jumped as the creature chuckled. The monster kneeled down next to you, and only then, you could make out his features, just barely. His neck was thick and fuzzy, as was his body, the angular slabs of muscles softened by a coating of black down. Up close, you could see the two side protrusions were actually silver wings, and the ones on top, were elegant antennae. They twitched as he looked you over. His facial features were invisible behind more black fuzz.

“I’ve been wanting a pet,” he said more to himself than you. 

The red orbs narrowed to slits. 

“Do you know what we do at this club?” he asked. 

You’d gotten a pretty good idea when the vampire gave you the impromptu walk-through. So you nodded. 

His lips cracked, and jagged white teeth glinted at you. 

“Good.” 

Clawed fingers slipped through your hair, scraping your scalp. 

“You’ll be well fed and kept, but you are my pet. Mine.” 

You let out another muffled squeal, shaking your head as tears tumbled down your cheeks. A thumb slid through the wetness before traveling to his red tongue. 

“Mmm,” he said, smirking. “Even your tears are sweet.” 

By that point, you were hyperventilating into your gag, the world getting spinny as you panicked. You’d started your night daydreaming about gargoyle babies, and now you were being adopted as some kind of fuck pet for a monster boss. Your breaths grew increasingly shallow until the darkness writhing at the edges of your vision merged into a large black spot, and the world went silent. 

—

You jerked awake by the sound of screaming. The stone floor beneath your cheek was cold, so you sat up abruptly, only to awkwardly flop over onto your side. You were still gagged, but now you were bound by your ankles, as well as your wrists. The room you were in was dark except for a small lamp hanging from the ceiling. It put out just enough light to see the large figure of the mothman who’d taken you as his pet and an orc you didn’t recognize. You shrank back against the wall behind you, immediately afraid of what would come next, but their attention wasn’t on you. 

Another scream pierced the air, making you wince. It sounded almost like…Tyre. 

“Please! Please! She came willingly, I swear!” he said, his tone frantic, all the aloof coolness you’d crushed on erased. 

“Did you tell her what we do here before you brought her?” the orc barked.

“She was dying to get her cunt pumped with monster cock. All those girls love that shit,” he spat. “She’s just a whore like the rest of them.” 

“Tyre?” you murmured, but it only came out as a quiet grunt behind the gag. 

Roth nodded at the Orc and you heard chain rattle, then a crunch as he whipped the heavy metal into Tyre’s face. For a moment, you almost felt redeemed. Like Roth might care about your honor, but his next words evaporated that thought. 

“You know I don't like liars, Tyre,” he hissed, his voice still terrifyingly quiet and emotionless. “You brought me a problem. Now I've got to tie up a bunch of loose ends.” 

You were shocked Tyre could still speak, though his words garbled. 

“She's a slut! She wants it! Just ask her! She was ready to open her legs for me for nothing!” 

Tears poured down your cheeks, hearing the gargoyle you'd been shyly admiring for a year now finally revealing what he really thought of you. He was just like your last monster “boyfriend” who’d dumped you when he realized you were more than just a doll to play with. 

One night after hooking up, his phone started going nuts while he was sleeping. Unable to help yourself, you'd glanced at his texts, humiliated to find he'd been detailing his conquest to his packmates. You were just a joke. 

A “monster-cock hungry slut,” in his words. You stupidly let him sleep peacefully through the night, only asking him about it in the morning. You remembered his sharp green eyes full of humor and his disgusting sneer when you'd confronted him. 

“What'd you think this was? You really think a weak little human like you is good for anything but a quick fuck? Don’t fool yourself. You wanted my knot like a dirty little bitch in heat and I gave it to you. End of story.” 

You broke into big, ugly, wet sobs as your whole world collapsed around you. Your body shuddered against the gritty cold floor, tears forming dark spots on the surface. 

Across the room Roth’s antenna twitched. He gave the orc a look before crossing the room to crouch down next to you. He dug a thick hand into your hair, lifting your head. Your tears blurred his glowing eyes to wobbly blobs. 

“You're crying for him? Is he telling the truth? Are we wrong to punish him?” 

You sniffed, whimpering and shook your head. He dropped your hair abruptly, the gesture suddenly becoming something close to comfort. He patted your head a little stiffly as if he wasn't sure what to do with you. 

You watched him blink, looking away for a moment before he scooped you up, curling his wings around the two of you. He carried you back across the room, turning your face into his soft chest before he spoke. 

“I want his teeth when you're done with him,” he hissed at the Orc. 

Tyre begged behind you, his voice brassy.

“She's lying! That bitch is lying!” 

Roth didn't even flinch, striding confidently out of the room. As he carried you down a dark hall you heard screams following you until they finally faded. 

Roth walked slowly up a long staircase until he reached an elevator. It occurred to you, every room you’d been in was dim, this elevator included, just light enough for someone with average eyesight not to trip over themselves. 

Your stomach dropped as the elevator ascended, finally letting out an echoing DING when it reached the desired floor. 

He stepped forward and you peeked out from behind his wing. 

You were in a beautiful, but dark penthouse. Through the wall to wall windows you could see the stars of the night sky twinkling through. The furnishings were expensive, all black and chrome. 

“Welcome home,” the mothman said, his voice ever soft. 

He set you down on a black couch and you flinched as he crouched in front of you. His long nails picked at the knots binding your wrists and ankles until they were free. 

The moment your limbs were your own again, you slid to the opposite side of the couch, frantically untangling the gag. 

“Let me go!” were the first words that bubbled out of your lips. 

Roth’s blood eyes narrowed at you. It was unnerving you couldn't really read his expression, his facial features obscured by dark fur. 

“Go where?” he asked, calmly, his head tipped to the side. “I had my associates look into you. (Y/N), broke waitress, evicted…where will you go?” 

Your cheeks burned that he knew so much about you. 

“I don't know. Not here. Not a pet.” 

“You'll live better here as a pet than on the street as a stray.” 

You blinked and he was a few feet closer to you, stretching his long fingers out to drag a knuckle down your cheek. 

“No matter. I'm not letting you go.” 

You snorted. 

“Until you get bored with me and toss me out again.” 

His eyes became narrow slits. 

“Did someone throw you out, (Y/N)?” 

Your eyes burned into his, heavy with rage. This was just the cherry on your monster loving cake wasn't it? At least, he was honest and called you what you were to him. A toy. A pet. An object to break and throw away. 

“It doesn't matter. You're all the same.” 

You heard a hiss and then his claws pricked your cheeks, pinching your face. Bright eyes filled your vision. 

“Are we?” He asked. 

Your confidence faltered and you swallowed a lump in your throat. 

“You own a human fetish club. Explain to me how I'm wrong. You see us as weak objects to be passed around.”  

He bared his sharp teeth at you. 

“You will not be passed around. You. Are. Mine.” 

You drew your legs underneath your chin, glaring at him, but winced as a sharp pain shot through you. 

“Ouch!” 

His eyes widened and his fingers left your cheeks, clawing at the tight skirt you still wore. You tried to wiggle away, but his wing boxed you in so he could glide a thumb over your bare skin. It seemed impossible he could see anything in such a dark room, but he growled at the painful spot on your hip where you'd landed when the vampire dropped you. 

“Don't!” you hissed, jerking your skirt down. 

You watched his eyes open and shut, before he stood. 

“Damian!” he said so softly, you weren't sure who he was talking to.  

You jumped as an elegant Naga appeared, wiping his hands with a towel. 

“You called, sir?” He asked his yellow eyes drifting to you only for a moment before they returned to Roth. 

“Bring Vince. Make her some food.”  

The Naga nodded sharply and disappeared. 

He sat next to you on the couch, stretching his wings slowly and resting his forearms on the tops of his legs. Seeing him closely, now, you could see he was tall with broad shoulders, not including his massive wingspan. 

“The girls I employ want to be here,” he said, turning his face to you. “They get paid well and they enjoy their work.” 

“Is that your pitch?” you sneered. 

He flashed his teeth, chuckling. 

“No, you won't be working the floor, but you should know the facts,” he said. “Tyre broke a pact bringing you here. I don't kidnap humans.” 

“Except me.” 

“You're a unique situation.” 

“I won't tell anyone if you let me go,” you promised. 

He was hard to read, but you got the impression he was examining you. 

“I'm not letting you go. I want you.” 

“What the fuck does that mean?” You blurted, your heart starting to race again. 

Roth didn't have to answer as the elevator dinged and the vampire from before stepped out. 

“You hurt her. Apologize.” 

Vince’s eyes found you and his eyebrows rose. Giving the mothman a contrite glance, he crossed the room, bending down to one knee in front of you and dipping his head. 

“Apologies, miss, I was too rough with you. It won't happen again.”  

“Good. Get back to work,” Roth said, tone blunt. 

“Have a pleasant evening, miss.” 

Vince stood and winked at you with a little smirk, before he boarded the elevator again and disappeared. 

“Come here, you need to eat,” Roth said, gesturing for you to follow him. 

You wanted to say no, but you hadn't eaten, expecting a quiet dinner with Tyre so you slowly got to your feet and crept after him. 

In the dining room Damian had set the table with a little flickering candle and red roses. Roth politely pulled out your seat for you, encouraging you to sit down. Though you were hungry, you glared at the food in front of you as he took his own seat. 

“Something wrong?” he asked placing a napkin in his lap. 

“How do I know you haven’t drugged this?” 

“Why would I?” 

You blinked at him, opening and closing your mouth as you thought of what accusations to spew. 

“I don’t know! So you can have your way with me or whatever!” 

Though you couldn’t see his lips, a triangle of teeth appeared as if he were smirking. 

“I don’t need to drug your food to do that. Personally, I would rather my lover be conscious when I have her.” 

You crossed your arms. 

“How many lovers have you had?” 

He snorted, picking up his knife and carefully cutting his meat into little cubes. 

“That’s a rather personal question little flame,” he said, before sticking a bit of meat in his mouth and chewing. “What would you say if I asked you the same thing?” 

Your cheeks burned, realizing it was a very rude question. His low, scratchy voice drove you insane. Every word he spoke was soft, deliberate, and calm. None of your fussing seemed to move him, much. Unsure what else to say, you turned your attention to your food. The first bite was apprehensive, but after you’d swallowed that, your hunger took over and you quickly consumed the rest. 

“Damian is a good cook,” you commented. 

“I can tell he’s happy to have someone new to cook for,” he said, scooting a vegetable out of the way with his fork. “I usually have the same thing every night but this is new.” 

Your cheeks burned that he’d made such an effort, but with nothing left on your plate, you weren’t sure what to do next. 

“Come with me,” he said rising. 

You narrowed your eyes on the vegetables he’d left behind, only eating the meat, but followed him out of the room. 

The penthouse was large and airy, the atmosphere perfumed with rows of night blooming flowers arranged in planters outside of the open glass doors. 

“You keep the doors open?” you asked. 

“Though I enjoy my luxuries, my people rested in trees for thousands of years. I like to feel the breeze,” he explained. “Don’t be concerned. You are very safe here. I have security posted everywhere.” 

Your eyes jumped to your forehead hearing that. 

“Are you often under attack?” 

“My business is a dangerous one, but I’ve been at it for many years. You are safe. This is our room.” 

He opened a heavy door and led you into a sumptuous bedroom. A four poster bed sat at the center with silver chiffon curtains fluttering in the breeze flowing in through the open balcony doors. Moonflowers and datura swayed on an arbor framing the entrance, the moon hanging in the center. It’s blue light cast a silver glow over the plush white chairs and vanity. 

“Our room?” you gulped. “I have to sleep with you?” 

He chuckled. 

“I don’t sleep on a bed, usually,” he said. “My kind sleep upright on a perch. The bed is for your comfort.” 

You shuddered, a dark thought passing through your head. 

“H-how…how did you know you would need that?” 

In the darkness, you followed his red eyes. 

“Damian brought it up while you were resting.” 

You wrinkled your nose. Collapsed from panic on a hard stone floor while he tortured Tyre was hardly resting. He suddenly turned to you, grabbing you by your waist and placing you gently on the bed. 

“W-what are you doing?” you mewled as his claws curled around the edge of your skirt, scooting it further up your thigh. 

He pinned you with a glance, before turning his attention to the bedside table and extracting a little pot. Opening it, he scooped some gel from inside and carefully smoothed it over the darkened bit of skin where a bruise was forming. It tingled, easing the slight ache. 

His eyes lingered on the patch of skin, before his claws split the fabric. 

“Stop! Stop it!” you screeched, trying to push him away with your smaller hands. 

It was only then you really understood how strong he really was. He didn’t budge, but captured your wrists in a hand while the other shredded your sweater. 

“I’ll buy you better clothes,” he assured you when you were sitting underneath him in only your underwear. 

You regretted wearing your skimpiest pair, as you’d planned on seducing Tyre with them. Now you felt naked and vulnerable, the red light of Roth’s eyes outlining your curves. 

He swallowed, heavily, making a small grunt in the back of his throat before he released you and stood. 

“Sleep.” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “The sun is rising.” 

Peering past him, you could see the sky getting ever so slightly lighter. He pressed a button and heavy blackout blinds lowered automatically. The sliding door slid shut, making the room pitch black except for Roth’s eyes still shining in the dark. 

You let out a yip as his wings fluttered, stirring the air in the room and he delicately perched on the rail at the end of the bed. 

“Are you going to watch me sleep all day?” you barked, crossing your arms.

“Yes.” 

You sputtered your displeasure, but weren’t sure what to say. Hurriedly scooting under the coverlet, without meaning to you let out a satisfied hiss as you sank into the bed. Having slept on a droopy air mattress for many years, this bed felt like you were nestled in clouds. As much as you would have liked to stay awake, glaring at Roth until he went away, your eyes slid shut and you drifted off. 

–

“Miss, miss,” you heard a voice in your ear. 

You pried your eyes open, taking a moment to remember where you were. Sitting up suddenly, you were met with Damian’s yellow gaze. 

“Time to wake up,” he said, “I have breakfast for you in the dining room.” 

You blinked, realizing you could see him fairly well, and glanced at the windows to see the blackout blinds had been lifted and the sun was well on it’s way below the horizon. 

“But it’s evening,” you muttered. 

He smirked, slithering around you to open a door and then another. 

“We operate on the boss’s clock here. Mothmen like the dark, they don’t see to well in the sunlight. Here, this is the bathroom and the closet is here. I spent the afternoon purchasing you some new clothes, but if you’d like something else, just tell me.” 

“Oh, um…okay.” 

Damian gave you a slight bow and slid out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Taking a breath, you climbed out of the coverlet, first examining the balcony. Standing just in the doorway, since you were still dressed in lingerie, you could see the whole city spread out before you, streetlights flicking on one by one as the sun set. 

On the deck, along with the flowers, was a swinging chair and a small fish pond. You watched the white finned fish swimming in lazy circles  below a few lotus flowers before you went back inside. 

Poking your head in the bathroom, you found it was quite luxurious and to your surprise when you flicked the switch a real light turned on, not the dimmed bulbs everywhere else. Damian, you guessed, had stocked it with a fresh electric toothbrush and all the essentials. Oddly, there were either the exact products you had in your bathroom or the not value brand versions. Instead of the face cream you used, there was a high end cream you’d always dreamed of buying. The same with the makeup, hair supplies, and soaps. Satisfied you had what you needed, you crept into the closet. 

It was one of those fancy closets, you’d seen in magazines with clothes arranged by color and an island in the center full of shelves holding jewelry, scarves, shoes, and-

A sharp scream burst from your lips. 

Damian appeared in the doorway, out of breath as if he’d been slithering at top speed. 

“What’s wrong?” he gasped. 

You pointed a shaking finger at what was a multi compartment jewelrybox, but instead of jewels inside there were carefully arranged, polished, teeth. Hundreds of teeth. 

“What the fuck is that?” you squealed, jumping behind Damian’s body as if he could shield you from them. 

He let out a sharp breath, looking relieved. 

“Heavens, I thought something was wrong,” he sighed. 

Your eyes darted between him and the box of teeth. 

“There IS something wrong! What the fuck?” 

“That’s the boss’s collection,” he said. 

“D-do those teeth come from people?” you whispered. “Are they real?” 

Damian nodded as if that was the most perfectly normal thing in the world. 

“He likes to collect the teeth of his enemies. It’s some mothman cultural thing. It’s kind of neat if you take a good look at them. There are specimens from several species.” 

“He keeps them in his closet?” 

“Where else would he keep them?”

You felt light headed and slumped against the vanity sitting just by the closet door. Were Tyre’s teeth already part of the collection?

“It’s part of his culture, (Y/N),” he said. “Children in your culture put their teeth under their pillow for their parent’s to collect. Think of it that way.”

You shook your head, rubbing your eyes. 

“Please, please stop. I don’t want to hear any more.” 

“Is anything else the matter? Do you like your clothes?” he asked pleasantly. 

“I-I didn’t get a chance to look.” 

Damian nodded and slipped into the closet, returning with a handful of items. 

“Why not wear this outfit,” he said. “I saw it on a Pinterest board and I think it will suit your figure.” 

“Er…thanks,” you said, taking the pile as he slipped out of the room so you could dress. 

You took a long shower, trying to clear your mind of the teeth cache you’d stumbled across. When it was finally time to put on clothes, you had to admit, the outfit Damian had chosen was quite stylish, though you looked a bit like a mafia wife with a diamond tennis necklace around your neck and matching bracelets on your wrist. 

You crept down the hall to the dining room to find Roth waiting on you, surrounded by paperwork. You yelped when to his side you saw another monster you recognized handcuffed and gagged on his knees next to him. His nose was bloody and one eye was swollen. 

“What the- Elijah…what?”

Roth’s eyes rose to you, lingering for a moment before he gestured towards your breakfast. 

“Eat, your food is getting cold,” he murmured, turning his attention back to whatever he was working on as if the monster by his calf wasn’t eyeing you for help. 

You hardly noticed if the fluffy pancakes Damian had provided were good or not, because you were trying to sort out what the monster “boyfriend” who’d jilted you a year ago was doing handcuffed in the dining room. It was hard to know where to look and words escaped you as your mind spun with messy thoughts. 

Halfway through your meal, Roth gathered his stack of papers and tapped them on the desk to straighten them before he spoke. 

“Now that that’s all done,” he said. “Time to other business.” 

He stood, dragging Elijah by his collar along the table to you, leaning on it casually as if everything about this wasn’t very, very illegal. 

“What would you like me to do with this one?” he asked, a clawed hand slipping through your freshly washed hair. 

You stared up at him for a moment, a bite of pancake still half chewed in your mouth before you swallowed it hard. Your mind’s eye immediately went to the tooth collection in the closet. 

“Um…I don’t know? What do you mean ‘do with him?’” 

Elijah whimpered loudly, begging for mercy. 

Roth’s eyes narrowed and he kicked him sharply to get him to sit still. 

“Well, I can give him to my boys and have his teeth extracted or you can keep him around the club polishing the girl’s shoes if it makes you feel any better. They make a game of bullying miscreants. I’ll only take his fangs and claws if you’d like to show him mercy. But he’s not getting away without a punishment.” 

He grabbed the werewolf, by the neck, his red eyes reflecting in Elijah’s green. 

“Monsters like you make me sick. I ought to take your balls.”

He pried his lips apart, his thumb running over a fang. Though Roth’s voice was low, it was thick with a terrifying cruelty. 

“All that power, all the gifts you’ve been given and you use them to trick the ones smaller than you. You could have had a willing human woman on her knees in front of you playing whatever games you like, but you get off on torturing the sweet ones.” 

Elijah’s eyes were wide, full of terror. They flicked to you, begging for forgiveness. 

“I don’t want you to kill him,” you said, your voice thin. 

Roth looked up at you and tipped his head to the side. 

“Pity.” 

His eyes flicked down to his captive. 

“I suppose you have a new job, hm?” 

He narrowed his eyes again, head dipping down so he was close to Elijah’s snout. 

“(Y/N) is very kind. I am not. If you get into trouble, I’ll take what’s left of your teeth and dump the rest of you in a ditch. Understand?” 

Vince appeared from the shadows making you jump and dragged Elijah out. 

“Have fun with the girls!” he called after him. 

“Was that really necessary?” you asked, glaring at Roth. “Yes, he broke my heart, but his fangs? His claws? Threatening to kill him?” 

Roth slipped a knuckle under your chin, his eyes arcing in what must have been a smile. 

“My job is not easy and my world is not kind. Strength and cruelty are sometimes required to take care of the ones who can’t help themselves. That’s the way things are.” 

You huffed. 

“You’re horrible.” 

Fangs flashed in the dimming purple light streaming in through the window behind you. 

“I’ll happily be horrible so you can always stay sweet. My methods may be unappetizing, but it’s worth is to see the truth reflected in your eyes. You deserve to feel justice.” 

He leaned towards you, searching your gaze. 

“And even if you won’t admit it, I can see that you do.”

Your eyebrows jumped and your ears burned. 

“H-how did you even know about him?” 

“I went through your text messages.” 

“You have my phone? Give it to me!” 

He shook his head. 

“You haven’t properly settled in yet. I’ll give you a new one when you’ve come to accept your place here.” 

“What is that supposed to mean?” 

“You’ll soon get used to it. Come on.” 

He beckoned you to get up, leading you towards the elevator. 

“I have a use for you,” he said. 

You flinched, narrowing your eyes at him as your heart tightened in your chest. 

“What use?” 

“The girls always have things they need. Some new brand of makeup comes out or melting spray, whatever that means. I have no idea, but I’m sure you do. Can you handle a budget?” 

You nodded, more curious now that your “use” wasn’t anything alarming. 

“All you have to do is receive their requests and figure out what we can afford to buy every month, what’s most important and all that. Then hand over your report and I’ll have one of the guys deal with the order. Simple enough?” 

“Sure,” you agreed. 

He patted you on the head and you peered up at him, trying to read his expression as the two of you landed on the first floor. The club was empty this early in the evening, except you could hear the titter of women through one of the doors that led to the back. A cyclops was restocking the bar, slicing limes and he nodded to you politely when you met his gaze. 

Without writhing bodies, you could see that it was a very pretty place. Tufted benches in Navy blue velvet formed curved shapes housing glossy hardwood tables. The walls appeared to be some kind of fabric with an elaborate swag curtain arrangement softening the corners. The bar was a slick snake-like shape running along one wall, the liquor bottles lined up to the ceiling lit up by gold light. 

A woman with bright pink hair came rushing through a side hallway, looking in her purse for something, almost slamming right into you. 

“Oh sorry!” she squeaked, looking up. 

Her eyes widened at you, then looked to Roth. 

“New girlfriend, boss?” she asked, a sly smile growing on her face. 

Glancing up at him, you couldn’t tell behind his black fuzz, but you almost thought he might be blushing. 

“I’m Candy,” she beamed, shaking your hand. 

Roth waved at you. 

“(Y/N) will be taking your supply requests from now on,” he explained and she narrowed her eyes at him. 

“You’re putting your girlfriend to work?” she pouted, slipping an arm around yours and pulling you close. “Shame on you! You ought to spoil this rare blessing! You’ve been waiting long enough, haven’t you? You’re going to chase her away if you work her to the bone!” 

“Candy!” he growled, obviously a little annoyed, but she just waved him away. 

“Mr. Roth acts tough, but he’s got a gooey center,” she said, her bright eyes filled with mischief. “You’d better take him for all he’s worth! He’s been wanting a girlfriend for as long as anyone can remember, but never could find the right one.”

She winked at you. 

“The girls and I like variety but Mr. Roth is so sentimental he can’t stand the idea of sharing. He’s always wanted one little flower to spoil. It’s so cute. You’re his first girlfriend, you know. He’s never brought another woman here. We would know if he did.” 

“Oh!” you said, glancing back up to him. 

You were sure he was blushing now, though you couldn’t see it. 

“Jesus,” Roth grumbled, hiding his face with a clawed hand. “Aren’t you running late, Candy?” 

She grinned. 

“I can’t wait to tell the girls about this!” she chirped before she smooched you on the cheek and ran off. 

Roth sighed, looking at you for a moment, before a thumb rose to your cheek and he rubbed away Candy’s lipstick. 

“Don’t listen to her,” he grunted, turning quickly and leading you to his office. “The girls pretty much run this place and they get silly ideas in their heads. Meddlers, all of them.” 

“I am I really your first girlfriend?” you asked his back as he walked into his office. “I’m not really your girlfriend, though. You said I was your pet.” 

He plopped down at his desk, waving you over. 

“It doesn’t matter what I call you,” he griped, grabbing you by your hips and setting you on his desk. “You’re mine.” 

Your head tipped to the side. 

“Why haven’t you had a girlfriend before? You’re rich and powerful. Don’t women fall all over you?” 

He leaned back in his chair, letting out a tight breath. 

“My kind mate once, for life,” he explained. “It’s very…serious. Most women don’t like that sort of…intensity hanging over their heads from the start.” 

Your eyes widened, watching the stiff personality he’d been so carefully trying to cultivate melt in front of you. 

“So you haven’t had any other lovers?” you asked. 

He fiddled with the hem of your skirt, refusing to answer. 

“Is that why you’re so hard on sleazy monsters?” 

At that his eyes lifted to meet yours, and his thumb absently slipped over your thigh.

“Being so crass and careless is a sacrilege among my people. Breaking a soul who might be someone’s sacred mate is considered a crime punishable by death.” 

You looked down at your fingers, suddenly feeling an ache in your chest. It should have been a relief, not a pain. He would get bored and let you go someday. Now you knew that for certain. 

“Am I just a placeholder until your real mate comes along?” you whispered, the words slipping past your lips, though you tried so hard to keep them in.  

He chuckled, lowering his head to fill your vision with his bright eyes. 

“I just told you. We mate to one person only. I wouldn’t have brought you to my bedroom if I intended to have someone else.” 

“Why didn’t you just say that? Why be so distant? You scared me. If you’d wanted to mate me, holding me against my will is not exactly how to start a relationship.” 

At that his eyes avoided yours. 

“Like I said…women tend to run when they find out we mate for life. Humans aren’t like us. Your kind have lots of different partners and you break partnerships when they no longer suit you. If I don't force you to stay with me, you might leave."  

You had no idea what possessed you, but you placed a hand on his cheek and pulled his face towards you, forcing him to meet your gaze. Your fingertips sank into the soft fuzz and you liked the way it tickled your skin. 

“Not all of us,” you whispered. “Some of us just want one person we can be with forever.” 

“Is that what you want?” he asked. 

The words left your lips on a silvery note. 

“That’s all I’ve ever wanted.” 

He pulled you into his lap, curling his wings around the two of you. 

“I can give you that, if you let me.” 

A light giggle filled the little space for just the two of you. 

“I suppose I don’t have much of a choice,” you tittered. “You don’t plan on letting me leave.”

“No,” he murmured. “But if you stayed because you wanted to it would mean a lot to me. It’s okay if you don’t feel it now. I’ll spend our lifetimes trying to convince you.” 

Your head tipped against his soft chest, feeling a strange giddiness a lady shouldn’t feel towards her kidnapper, especially one who had a large collection of the teeth of the people he’d murdered in his closet. 

You were fairly certain monsters had driven you to madness. None of your dramatically swaying feelings made any sense… but your “enemies” had been defeated, you’d had the best sleep you’d had in a long time in a big comfy bed, and you were wearing half a million dollars in diamonds. Objectively, your quality of life had wildly improved from the day before when you were sitting on a dirty curb clutching fifteen dollars. 

For the first time, you felt his soft lips against your forehead and your head tipped up, following them. When you pressed yours against his, you felt a shudder roll through his chest, making your skin tingle. His clawed hands slipped into your hair, holding your head in place while he explored. 

You felt his breath fanning your face, panting into your kiss and underneath your fingertips his heart raced, causing yours to skip as well. An arm reached behind you and you heard sundry items clatter on the floor as he laid you out on his desk. 

His tongue explored your mouth, tasting like cinnamon, as his fingers clutched your cheek. Fear and anticipation muddled your thoughts. Part of you was still unsure, but the other part knew it was too late for doubts. Your body was ready to surrender, panties damp and thighs sticky. 

You gasped underneath him, his wings forming a silvery cave tinted with the glow from his red eyes. You ran your fingers through the soft feathers and felt him shudder with appreciation. Notching his body between your legs, he pulled only an inch away, looking at you. 

“I will keep you no matter what, but this I will not take without permission,” he murmured. “Just know, if you accept me. I won’t tolerate competition. I’ll murder anyone who dares to touch you and take their teeth.” 

Your cheeks burned, blinking at him through a heady veil of pleasure, his scent carrying notes of the moonflowers decorating his home. This was the key moment. You could refuse him and go back to being his reluctant captive…or you could become his. 

“Okay,” you whispered, your heart answering the question before your still unsure mind. “I…ah…I accept you.” 

His lips covered yours again as he let out a needy grunt, this kiss more desperate and claiming. You felt the prick of his sharp teeth as yours slid against his, the thrill of danger sending lightening bolts up your spine. You could feel the strength in his fingers as they moved over you and the weight of his body as he pressed you into the desk. 

His claws curled around the neck of your blouse and he jerked ito down, exposing the tender breasts perched in your bra. You dragged in a heavy breath tasting oddly like cinnamon, the small space under his wings suddenly feeling thick with the scent. 

Your body grew hot and sensitive, each brush off his soft fuzz making your skin tingle wildly. You suddenly felt light headed and needy, your mouth watering at the taste of his tongue. 

“W-what’s happening?” you gasped when he pulled back to press kisses into your neck. “I feel hot…” 

His hands cupped your breast as you felt his lips agonizingly brush your sensitive skin as he spoke. 

“My pheromones are binding you to me,” he hummed and your heart skipped a beat. 

“What?” you hummed, pushing your breasts into his big hands for more pressure. 

“My pheromones are designed to make mating more pleasurable…to make me irresistible to you.” 

You gasped, but your mind was getting ever hazier as the scent wound around you. Your hips bucked into his stomach, begging for what you wanted. 

“Not yet,” he purred, pulling a tender nipple into his mouth. Colors exploded behind your eyelids, feeling more pleasure flood your system than you’d ever experienced before. 

You’d had enough lovers and a few good orgasms, but this blew that all out of the water like a nuclear bomb and you hadn’t even cum yet. Your back arched and you screamed as his long, agile tongue curled around your nipple. 

The slight prick of his claws bit your skin as his fingers played with the other one, alternating between teasing plucks and firm rolls. The small panties you wore were soaked through and your thighs ground against his hips for more friction. Every inch of skin felt as sensitive as your clit, the fuzz all over his body feeling maddeningly good against it. Your fingertips dug into the thick collar of fur around his neck, wanting to just rub him all over you. 

He let our pleased hums as grunts as your fingers couldn’t decide where they wanted to be, one moment clutching his neck, then his head, then scratching at this chest. The room filled with your desperate mewls, begging him in slurred words for his cock. 

“That’s right,” he murmured on a smug chuckle. “You’re all mine, little flame. Only I can give you what you need.” 

His kisses trailed down your stomach, his soft, delicate antennae caressing your skin as he moved lower. Claws shoved your skirt off your hips, exposing your panties to him and his long tongue slid up and down your slit. You heard the sound of tearing fabric and then his breath on your sensitive lips. His tongue dipped inside of you and you suddenly understood the actual length of it, easily filling your weeping pussy.  

“Roth!” you gasped, fingers looking for something to clutch and finding a few odd feathers to wrap in your grip. 

You heard him hum as he licked you up, making your eyes cross as the vibration drew a blooming orgasm from your core. Whimpering, with tears streaming down your cheeks you felt the agile appendage lapping up your juices, while his thumb found your clit. 

He circled it slowly, making your thighs tense so tightly you thought you might pop. Pleasure zapped you like a lightening bolt, the electricity lighting up every nerve until your whole body felt like it was cumming all at once. Your head dropped to the side, drool leaking over your cheek as your eyes rolled back in your head. 

You weren’t sure you could take much more. Making love had never been like this. Your mind couldn’t process what his pheromones were doing to you. 

Finally, Roth couldn’t hold back anymore, standing so he loomed over you, only his red eyes visible in the darkness. His fingers slipped past your open lips, holding you you in place as you felt his thick shaft investigate your pussy. It felt a little strange, your skin so sensitive it could make out every detail. Though velvety skin still covered it’s girth, the head was more elongated than a humans, ending at a slightly sharper angle with a pronounced ridge bisecting it. Smooth bumps formed a line running vertically along the shaft and something…or some things grasped your thighs like little fingers, holding them open. Your confusion as what was holding your legs apart melted away when he snapped his hips and his cock entered you.

A ragged roar filled your ears as he bottomed out inside of your channel. You could tell by the way the fingers in your mouth flexed, he was doing his best to hold back, not to hurt you. He was still for a moment, as he gathered his resolve, but you had other ideas, sucking on his fingers lewdly, your wet tongue tracing his claws. 

He bent down on top of you, fingers fleeing your hot mouth and wrapping around your neck. 

“Naughty girl,” he gasped as you bucked your hips, the little nubs lining his shaft making you whimper. 

You could hardly see him, but you knew he could see you and you were getting annoyed with him trying to be gentle. Pulling your tits out of your bra, you kneaded them shamelessly, pressing the flesh against the arm holding your throat and arching your back so he couldn’t avoid the dirty show. 

You couldn’t hold back your victorious smirk as he let out a hungry growl and his hips started to batter your soft flesh. His eyes disappeared into the darkness as instinct overtook him, rutting you wildly. Strong fingers tightened on your throat, only ratcheting up the spice swirling through every limb like a savage tornado. 

Drowning in pure bliss, hot tears poured down your cheeks, your body jerking underneath his as he pounded into you. Nonsense poured from your lips, rational thought swept away in the storm. When the sensation reached it’s peak you felt like your body might shatter into a million pieces and you welcomed the oblivion that overtook you. Body shuddering violently as you fell over the edge. 

Your wet, needy cunt, clamping down on Roth’s cock so suddenly made his body respond in the way it was designed. His shaft suddenly inflated to twice it’s original girth, stretching you decadently before he cursed and you felt ropes of searing cum splash against your sucking walls. 

You could hear heavy panting and it took you a moment to realize it was your own breath. Roth let out a long, groaning sigh, his body slumping on top of yours, only stopped by a strong arm bracing the desk. 

His bright red eyes returned, looking somehow more entrancing than before. Everything about him seemed…more. His cinnamon, flower laced scent stuck to you and his soft fur felt luxurious. Even the sound of his ragged breaths tickled your ears in a sumptuous way. 

“You’re…different,” you muttered, brain having trouble putting words together. 

He let go of your throat, a thumb brushing your bottom lip as his hand clutched your cheek. 

“My pheramones have soaked into your body,” he purred. “You’re mine now. I’ve marked you.” 

“Oh,” you hummed, eyes slipping shut, as you felt the aftershocks of your love making roll over you. 

Whatever little claspers were holding your legs retreated and as his cock slipped out of you, cum and slick splashed on the wood floor. 

He scooped you into his arms, pulling you into his lap as he peppered soft kisses on your forehead. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, fingers, absently stroking your hair. 

“Mhmm,” you hummed. “Will it always be like that…now that you’ve marked me?” 

“Yes,” he said, twirling a bit of hair around his finger. “Now that we’re bonded…I can’t control my pheremones. They…have a bit of a mind of their own and their purpose now is to reinforce the bond.” 

A knock at the door sobered you a bit as you tugged your shirt back up to cover your boobs. 

“Who is it?” he called, still so quiet you weren’t sure how anyone heard him. 

“Vince,” said the vampire on the other side of the door.

“Is it an emergency?” 

“No.” 

“Go away.” 

“Got it, boss.” 

He tucked the bit of hair he was twirling behind your ear and smiled. 

“Do you want a snack?” 

Your eyes met his with all of the earnestness in the world. 

“Yes. I would love that!” 

He pulled out his phone and texted someone before setting you back on his desk and leaning back in his chair, looking deeply satisfied and proud of himself. You flopped over on your stomach, kicking your heels in the air and resting your chin on your arm. 

“Do we have to work now?” you asked, batting your eyelashes at him. 

He looked at you for a moment before answering. 

“No…What do you want to do?” 

“I kind of want to get to know you a little better…Since I’m bonded to you or whatever.” 

“Okay,” he said, stretching his arms behind his head. “What do you want to know first?” 

You blinked at him. 

“Why do you have hundreds of teeth in your closet?” 

[elenalolls]

Matt (or chris) fic where the reader is like sooo distant that matt (or Chris) become desperate to know what's wrong? Like to the point where he's begging her.

"Please. I NEED to know what's wrong so I can fix it."

PLS 🤭🤭

I’ll Always Be There For You – (M.S.)

Pairing: Matt Sturniolo x Fem!Reader

Summary: When you begin to face problems, you distance yourself from the one person you know you could go to and he notices.

Word Count: 670+

Warning/s — OOC idk help / Nothing (???)

A/N: I dont think I followed this request fully soz, WHERE HES BEGGINGGG OH SO UR SICK.

You had no intention of putting up a wall between you and Matt. It didn’t serve any purposes and you knew that. You also knew talking about what was going on would help in a way. So why were you suddenly doing things different?

You weren’t sure yourself.

And you had thought you were doing a subtle job at doing so, until you apparently weren’t when you received a text saying ‘Unlock your door. Be there in fifteen, let’s talk about you.’

‘Let’s talk about you’, let’s! Or, we can talk about how many… insults were thrown at you a day, ultimately bringing your mood down for over a week. Just for being in a relationship with your boyfriend.

Upon reading that message, your eyebrows furrowed. You wanted to tell him no, that you weren’t able to hang out or talk. But as you reevaluated his message, you realized he had sent it almost ten minutes ago, earning a groan. You ran a hand through your hair as you slipped on your shoes. Quickly making your way into your living room and towards the front door, refraining from, yet again, letting out a noise of frustration when you heard a car, his car, pull into your driveway.

Accepting your defeat, you unlocked and opened the front door. Crossing your arms over your chest, waiting for him.

When his figure appears from around the corner, you still. “Hi,” you manage to say, your voice cracking in the process. Well! “I don’t know if I can talk for long, what happened—”

“Are you okay?” Matt interjected, his tone stern, completely ignoring what you had just said.

“I— What?” You stammered, tilting your head. “I’m fine, are you okay?”

“Don’t lie to me.” Quickly adding, “Please.”

As you locked eyes with him, you could sense his concern, and it triggered a pang of guilt within you. You’ve had this discussion before, coming up with a solution that did work for a while, until it didn’t. And as if he could see right through you, he spoke once more. “You can tell me, Y/N. Anything. You know that.”

Your shoulders slumped, “I know.”

“Then what’s wrong,” He softly spoke, gently grasping both your hands. Slowly guiding you backwards, allowing the two of you to enter your house. Releasing your hands momentarily, he turned around and securely shut the door, locking it.

As you continue to remain silent, he lowers his head so he’s eye-to-eye with you, his hands moving to your shoulders, “Please. I need to know in order to help, Y/N. Let me help you.”

Reluctantly, you give in. “If you say I’m being overdramatic—”

He chuckles, rolling his eyes. “I won’t, of course I won’t. You know I won’t.”

“Right,” you murmur, “I know I said I wouldn’t check my comments on anything, but I was curious. I saw what was being said about me, and it just, I don’t know.”

Matt’s expression softens even more (if possible), “You should’ve told me. I could’ve said something.”

You looked down, causing your hair to cascade over your shoulder. Seeing this, he raised his hand and gently tucked some of your hair behind your ear. With his hand now on your cheek, you fought the temptation to lean into his touch as you uttered your next words. “You have already and clearly, it didn’t matter. Listen, it’s fine, I’m fine. Like I said, it just put me in a mood for a couple days.”

“It’s not, though.” The boy mumbled, holding your gaze. “You shouldn’t be criticized for being with me, and I’m sorry. I’ll talk with Nick and Chris about it, we can say something about it again, yeah?”

You allowed a smile to slowly make its way onto you face, “Okay, yeah.”

As he embraces you, his hands gently encircle your waist, drawing you closer. Your arms instinctively find their place around his neck. “Do you want to stay? We can watch a movie or something.”

“I thought you said you couldn’t talk for long,” he muttered against your neck, laughing as you pulled away soon after. “I’m kidding, yes.”

DT(s) — @bellelovesmen, @agirlsrage ! ౨ৎ

[vendetta-if]

What if Ash, from the alternate universe (where MC died), had met them in the same way as the alternate Victor did? And if MC and original Ash are a couple?

I very much hope that I have written this clearly, for it is not my language🙃

Unfortunately, it would just make the Ash from the AU where MC died become more depressed. Similar to the Viktor scenario, they would see what could have been.

Seeing MC and the Vendetta AU Ash getting together… It made them realize that they could’ve had a chance to be with the person they love and care the most, they could’ve been happy, they could’ve had everything they could’ve wished for.

But no… That killer took all of that away that night ten years ago.

I like to picture the AU Ash pops up and meets MC, and MC just thought that they’re their Ash. Imagine AU Ash’s surprise upon meeting a grown-up MC and not only that, MC greeting them with a peck on the lips and a hug. It feels like a dream, but this grown-up MC in front of them looks different from the one they conjure up in their head, but yet, undeniably MC. They know MC like the back of their own hand.

They barely understand what MC is talking to them about; most of the names they spoke of are not familiar to them, but still, they keep up the pretence, nodding and smiling. And then, MC hugs them again before walking off to do something.

They have half the heart to reach out and stop them… and what? What would they even say to this version of MC? So, they stay back, sticking to the shadows and make themself as inconspicuous as possible so other people who might know them won’t talk to them.

They can’t help but tail MC the whole day. And then, of course, they see their alternate self meet with MC. They look so happy, with a wide grin on their face, cheeks ruddy, probably because of MC.

Is it even possible to be envious of your own self? Because that’s what they’re feeling right now. But also, they are happy for them. At least their alternate self seems to be capable enough to protect MC and they look to be so in love with each other.

Their heart twinges in their chest as they look at the couple from afar. It’s painful, of course, but they redirect that pain into anger at the person who took this from them.

A couple of hours after their alternate self once again left MC to do something, you finally gather enough courage to approach them again. MC looks surprised.

“Ash! What’s wrong?” MC asks, confused.

“N—Nothing,” Ash answers, glancing up to meet MC’s eyes. “I… I just want to tell you something.”

“You could’ve told me over the phone, you know? No need to come all the way here,” they smile, and your heart skips a beat. It’s still the same smile it was a decade ago.

“I guess this is important enough to say in person,” Ash mumbles shyly.

“Okay, what is it?”

Ash steps closer and leans in. “MC… I love you… I always have and I always will,” they whisper, mere inches from MC’s face.

Before MC can answer, they lean in and press a kiss on their lips. It feels like you’re floating right now. But then, what comes up must come down, and pulling away, you’re once again reminded of what you can’t have.

“And… I also want to say I’m sorry…” Ash says quietly.

“For what?” MC asks in confusion, eyes filled with concern.

“Everything, I guess,” they sigh. They’ve always thought that if only they were there that night, maybe they could’ve helped protect MC—or at least die in their place.

“Ash…? Are you okay? You’re kind of scaring me right now,” they frown, bringing their hand to your forehead as if to check your temperature.

It makes you smile sadly. “I’m not and I don’t know if I will ever be,” you answer honestly before shaking your head. “You know what? Forget everything I said, I don’t know what’s gotten into me.” You rub the back of your neck. “Goodbye, MC… I’ll see you again in my dreams.”

Ash turns around and quickly runs away, not looking back no matter how much their heart wants to stay. They hear MC calling out to them, but they don’t stop. This is not where they belong and they have no right to be ruining whatever their alternate self and MC are having here.

They don’t know where they’re going, but they keep running. They just want to get away from here as far as possible.

Please, God or whoever’s listening… Just throw them back to the shitty universe they know before they do something they’ll regret.

[airaibunny]

dom!nahyo x sub!fem!reader - “birthday wish” (warnings: smut, threesome, breast/nipple play, voyeurism, [slight]tears, oral, masturbating)

a/n: requested! i’m actually exactly like jihyo in this because this is a special birthday wish involving me(slight line spoiler)🙄 happy bday 🐰anon!

word count: 2.1k

“good morning birthday girl!”

your girlfriend, nayeon, wakes you up by shouting and jumping on you. she’s normally already bouncing everywhere and yelling, but she’s especially lively when she has even the slightest reason to celebrate. your birthday is no different.

“good morning.”

you groan, giving her a drowsy smile as your eyes adjust to the brightness. she gives you a big kiss and pulls off the blanket covering you. when she sees that you’re still unclothed from last night’s early birthday present, she giggles and kisses you again.

“you should go get ready, people are going to be here soon.”

“what?! It’s like nine, why did you tell them to come so early?!”

you groan again and stretch, trying to curl back up in bed. she doesn’t let you though, pulling you up by your arms and dragging you into the bathroom.

“i’m going to go get things ready. when you walk outside, i want you to be clothed and completely ready.”

she points a finger at you and raises her eyebrows. you fake salute at her and she walks out the door, shutting it behind her. you begin doing as you were told and step in the shower. while in there, you start thinking about something nayeon said yesterday.

while you guys were having some fun last night, nayeon stopped to look at your marked body for a few seconds. you don’t know if she meant to say what came out of her mouth next, but you haven’t been able to stop replaying it in your mind.

“i can’t wait to see what your birthday present will think of this.”

you of course didn’t ask her what she meant, but you’re hoping it was about something you previously told her.

a few days ago, you were sitting on your couch, mindlessly scrolling on your phone when nayeon walked into the room and took it from you.

“what do you want for your birthday?”

she sat, patiently waiting for your answer. you had an immediate one in your head, even if you didn’t want to admit it. the only thing you’d been thinking about for weeks was park jihyo and your girlfriend; completely indecent in front of you. you didn’t know how nayeon would react if you told her though, so you were very hesitant to say anything.

“i’m waiting…”

she crossed her arms, leaning back on the couch. you contemplated what to do for a few more seconds and decided to just tell her.

“i want jihyo to join us, just for one night.”

she sat still, looking at you confused.

“join us for what? what do you mean?”

you stared at the floor, too ashamed to make eye contact. it was quiet for a few more seconds, but she finally understood.

“oh.”

you looked up at her, frantically trying to explain yourself. she let you rant for some time before finally shutting you up with a kiss.

“i’ll see what i can do. don’t worry.”

with that, the conversation was over. she didn’t bring it up again until last night, or at least that’s what you’re hoping for.

you notice that you’ve been in the shower for a long time now, so you get out. when you’re done getting ready, you go outside where there’s already some other members.

“happy birthday!” they all shout at you as soon as they notice you’re finally done and run to hug you. you say thank you and walk over to nayeon who’s in the kitchen.

“genuinely why did you tell them to come so early? in what world do birthday parties start at ten?”

she rolls her eyes stops what she’s doing to completely look at you.

“they’re here right now because they’re leaving early. i have something planned for later.”

she plants a kiss on your forehead and turns away again. did she really talk to jihyo about it? did jihyo agree?

you walk back to the living room with a million questions, already impatiently waiting for everyone to leave.

you sit and chat with everyone for a bit. nayeon eventually joins, taking a seat right next to you. you hear the door open and turn to see who it is; its jihyo.

fuck.

she looks so hot, you can’t stop looking at her body. you don’t even care that nayeon can see exactly what you’re doing. you’re still staring at her as she walks over to greet you and gives you a hug.

“happy birthday, y/n! i hope it’s going well so far.”

you can feel yourself blushing tremendously and try to hide your face. before you can do that however, nayeon notices and can’t stop herself from taking a jab at you.

“c’mon, im right here.”

she smirks while whispering in your ear, clearly teasing you.

the rest of the members and some of your other friends arrive shortly thereafter, crowding your entire living room. of course you enjoy the company of everyone present, but in this specific moment, you wish none of them were here. all you can think about is what’s going to happen after they leave.

the day is going by dreadfully slow. you’re constantly looking at your phone, hoping to magically speed up time. you keep looking at jihyo and nayeon, basically undressing them both with your eyes. it’s now six and everyone is still here. ‘why?’ your ask yourself, going somewhat insane.

luckily, someone finally says they should get going which starts a domino effect until everyone is finally gone; leaving just you, nayeon, and jihyo.

they’re both sitting on the couch, looking at you with playful grins on their faces.

“so, nayeon tells me you have a special birthday wish, one involving me. is that true?”

you choke a bit as jihyo stretches her arms across the top of the couch, still staring at you with the same devilish smile. when you don’t say anything in response, nayeon decides to speak for you.

“she’s just a little nervous. isn’t that right, pretty girl?”

she motions for you to come closer, patting down the space in between them. you sit, breathing shakily as you look at jihyo. you feel very silly all of the sudden, you’re acting as if this is your first time ever being this close to her.

“oh c’mon, you’re the one who wanted this weren’t you?” nayeon gets closer to your ear to finish her sentence “why are you so being so shy now?”

“i don’t know.”

you finally speak, earning a smile from both of them.

“why don’t you sit on jihyo’s lap?”

nayeon moves you toward jihyo as the leader practically lifts you onto herself, making you straddle her. you’re suddenly hyperaware of how wet you are. you can feel the cold slick on your underwear as it’s pressed against you with jihyo’s thighs. there’s no way she can’t feel it, you have no shorts on under your dress and she’s wearing a skirt. you try lifting your hips a bit so your not directly touching her, but she pushes you back down.

“don’t do that, i want to feel how wet i’m making you.”

shit, she really wastes no time deciding to speak freely.

“let me take your clothes off.”

nayeon stands, pulling your dress completely off you and throwing it on the floor. you instinctively cover your bare chest, feeling your cheeks and core growing hotter. nayeon doesn’t seem to like that.

“don’t cover up, let her see.”

she lowers your arms, fully exposing you to jihyo. her eyes scan your entire body, looking at every little mark and bruise while brushing her fingers against your skin.

“so pretty, i want to add my own.”

she puts her lips directly on your breast, kissing and nibbling it until it’s completely coaxed in stains from her lipstick. nayeon is sitting beside you again, using her hand to play with your other breast. you’re already a moaning mess, even though you haven’t even been touched yet.

“take this off.”

jihyo tugs at your underwear and you eagerly do as you’re told. you sit back down on her lap, letting yourself come in direct contact with her thigh. you let out a small gasp, placing your hands on her shoulders for support.

“you’re so sensitive, cute.”

nayeon is just watching now, sitting back against the armrest as jihyo does what she wants.

jihyo’s mouth goes to your neck next, licking and biting you until she’s satisfied with how many marks she can see. the hand previously on your thigh travels further up, landing her thumb on top of your swollen clit. you gasp again at the friction.

“i want you to tell me if you want me to stop, okay?”

you nod your head. she begins moving her thumb in slow, circular motions, drawing more slight gasps and moans from you.

“how long have you wanted me to do this?”

you make eye contact with her in your already broken state and force out an answer.

“don’t know, i can’t think.”

she laughs at your answer and brings her free hand your tits, taking one of your nipples in between two of her fingers.

you look over at nayeon. she’s still watching you guys, but one of her hands is inside her pants. her legs are spread apart, her face is flushed, and her free hand has two fingers in her mouth.

jihyo also notices what’s happening and speeds up. your eyes gloss over with tears as they normally do when you’re close to climaxing.

“is what nayeon is doing turning you on?”

jihyo questions, speeding up her motions even more. a breathy ‘yes’ escapes your lips and you feel your abdomen clench. your hips buck forward as you reach your high and you bury your face in jihyo’s neck. she keeps rubbing as you hear nayeon finish as well, helping you completely finish.

“you did so well. you’re such a good girl.”

jihyo tries to kiss your neck again, but you pull her in for an actual kiss. you grab her face, roughly interlacing your tongue with hers. when you pull away, nayeon also goes in for a kiss and you watch them with ecstasy.

“jihyo, it’s your turn now. it wouldn’t be fair if we got to finish but you didn’t.”

nayeon remarks, pulling you out of jihyo’s lap and pushing her down on the couch.

“y/n, why don’t you go ahead and eat her out?”

your girlfriend states, pulling down jihyo’s skirt in one quick motion. you nod in excitement and position yourself between jihyo’s thighs, directly on top of her core. you see how incredibly wet she is and can’t help but smile to yourself.

“she’s really good jihyo. you’re going to love her.”

nayeon pushes your head in between jihyo’s legs with her remark. you feel jihyo twitch as you start pressing your tongue over her clit, making sure to let her fully feel every move you make. you run your flat tongue against her folds and push it into her entrance every time you pass it.

it’s not long before you hear her become a whimpering, incoherent mess. you pride yourself in how good you are at this, it’s your favorite thing to do to nayeon when she lets you take the lead.

“is she doing well? what do you think?”

you hear nayeon’s voice over you, directed at jihyo.

“fuck, she’s great.”

nayeon giggles, pushing your head further into jihyo. your pace becomes sloppy, no longer caring how thought-out your motions are. every sound she’s making encourages you to apply more and more pressure, lapping every bit of fluid coming out of her.

you feel her legs tense around your head and see her back arch. she finishes with one last moan, releasing all of her juices into your mouth. you drink them like water, letting her completely feel and enjoy her high.

once you’re content with how much you’ve indulged in her, you come back up. nayeon wipes your chin with her hand, leaving a kiss on your lips.

you both look down at jihyo smiling and she does the same back.

“thank you, and i’m sorry for not talking a lot.”

you lean over jihyo, coming closer to her face to give her a kiss as well.

“you don’t have to apologize for that.

everything stays quiet as you all sit there, processing what just happened. you decided to break the silence with a question.

“nayeon, jihyo?”

they turn to look at you, nodding their heads.

“what if this became a regular occurrence?”

[aemondsbeloved]

Battle Of Wits

pairing: Aemond Targaryen x reader

summary: Aemond has often said how no lady would want to marry him due to his scar, much to the annoyance of you, his closest friend and constant dance partner at feasts in the Red Keep (1.5k)

notes: no warnings in this one, very fluffy

“No lady will ever want to marry someone like me,” he said to you.

Nearing his twentieth nameday, the words Aemond said to you sounded different than they did when you were both three and ten.

It was a night like this. You were in attendance in the throne room for a feast that would include dancing, of course. Your family was expected to join as your father had a position in King Viserys court. And as had been the habit for a few years by this point, you had eaten as quickly as you could so you could go to the outskirts of the room and talk to the young prince.

At that time you had grown proficient in your dancing lessons and learned to dance quite well. Now you just needed to dance.  

Your excitement was palpable. Aemond’s was not.

Back then he had said, “No lady will want to dance with me, let alone be betrothed to me.”

You did not need clarification when he gestured to his eyepatch and the scar it only half hid.

More girl than woman then, you did not know what to say. You only grabbed his hand and insisted he danced with you.

The message was clear enough. I’ll dance with you, it said. And every feast after Aemond danced with you.

You thought you were being obvious in the following years. You would happily marry him and be honored to call Aemond Targaryen your betrothed, your lord husband to be.

He had always been so focused on what others thought of him and how they avoided him that he often forgot there was someone who was always by his side. That there was someone who loved to dance with him.

And you did. He had gentle hands despite how calloused the tips of his fingers were. He would almost hold your waist gingerly like you were something very precious when he danced with you. His body was lithe and he danced like he sparred with Ser Cole, fluid motions. It was like water dancing.

Now, you were in the throne room again and the celebration was a boring one. An anniversary for King Viserys and Queen Alicent’s marriage, apparently.

“You’re a prince,” you heard yourself saying to him. “Any lady would be lucky to marry a prince.”

“A second son,” he corrected you.

“Who is a prince,” you did not relent.

He scoffed at that and then you look at him from the side. “You ride Vhagar, the queen of dragons. You are a skilled fighter and wield the sword better than Ser Cole. You are intelligent and know more of the histories than half the maesters in the Citadel I’d wager. And you are a kind man.”

He laughed at the last part. “You should talk to my nephews, they might have something to say about my kindness.”

He was unbelievable. “They do not know you as I do,” you insisted.

A beat of silence passed and you thought you had gotten through to him finally. “No lady would want to marry a man without an eye. Maybe if I still had my eye but alas.”

It did not escape you how he had stared at his nephew across the room who was, in fact, dancing.

“Very bold of you to assume your loss of an eye would stop a lady from wishing to marry you,” you said, words coming out quick and without thought.

You should be less obvious, you should be subtle. But where had that gotten you before?

At that, he had looked at you finally with curiosity. “Such a lady does not exist.”

“You speak with such finality,” you scoffed. “But you do not know what you say to be true. There are many ladies in Westeros.”

“None would seek my hand.”

Unlike when you were young, he did not speak with sadness but spoke the words like they were matter of fact.

“You are wrong.”

His expression was one of disbelief and his lips quirked up into a smirk. He looked at you, chin tilted down and it appeared that you amused him.

The nerve of him.

“Impossible.”

You huffed. “What is so improbable, Aemond? That you are wrong? Or that I am right?”

The battle of wits was not uncommon between you two but that is not what this was, at least not to you. Meanwhile, it was to him. He pushed his shoulders back, his eye more engaging and his lips quirked up into a more prominent smirk.

“You, my lady, are more often right than wrong. It is true,” he said. “But I am afraid in this case I know you to be wrong. There is not a woman in this hall that would wish to be betrothed to me and my wicked looks, let alone be married to me.”

“Of course there is,” you spat the words out without thinking. You did not take in his surprised look at your lethality. “There is one staring up at you right now. She enjoys dancing with you and values your companionship. She has never found your looks wicked. She finds you very handsome as it happens.”

There was no time to be meek or to pretend you did not mean the words. Your skin might have felt like dragonfire but you refused to look bashful at your confession.

His arrogance and confidence faded. This was no battle of wits.

“I see,” was all he said.

As always, he was unreadable. He was a fortress of knowledge and secrets. He would not let you know what he was feeling exactly in this moment. That was fine, you would tell him how you felt regardless.

“Go on, Aemond. Tell me that my affections are not reciprocated. You may break my heart if you wish, my prince, but the fact remains I am right and you are wrong. There has always been a lady who has wanted to dance with you, and there is a lady in front of you who would be honored to be your lady wife.”

Those kind of words could not be taken back. Your breaths came out heavy, frustration at him for only seeing what people dislike about him and not focusing on the ones that love him.

You did not notice the way Aemond’s eye flickered to your slightly parted lips before looking back at you.  

“You do not say this out of pity for me?” came his question.

“If I was feeling pity I would ask your elder brother to dance and get him off Helaena’s hands,” you said, directing your gaze across the room where Aegon was, albeit drunkenly, dancing with his sister wife.

He laughed shortly and your own eyes held humor briefly, but you looked at him more seriously. “When have I ever lied to you?”

“Never,” he said, quietly. “And for that I am most grateful,” he told you earnestly.

You were not so bold this time to say anything. There was no much more you could say that you had not already.

Aemond’s mouth opened and closed before he spoke. “I must confess you are the only lady I find myself wanting to dance with,” he said, the words taking him much effort. Vulnerability was not a comfort to him, but you were. “Your affections mirror my own. I think of you day and night. Whenever you are not in my company I wish you were and even these feasts that I loathe have become something I look forward to if only because I am able to see you, my lady.”

You had not expected those words to come, truthfully. Maybe he could see that.

“You should not be so surprised. You are not like me. You are very easily to feel affections for. Your beauty is other worldly and I find myself thinking there is no one as clever nor a finer dancer.”

“My dancing prowess earned your affections?” you teased.

He shook his head in denial, a soft smile lifting up his face. “No,” he said, fondness in his tone. “You did not have to do anything to win my affections, truly. I think you have always had my heart.”

“Never knew you were such a poet,” you smiled at him. Grabbing his hand you led him to the center of the room where others danced.

He let you lead the way. “Only for you.”

The fondness never left his voice nor did the easy smile on his lips.

“That’s good to hear,” you only half joked. You both moved into the step of the dance when you added, “I am not very fond of sharing.”

He laughed at your words, a true laugh of amusement. Only you were able to get him to do that.

You danced with him until your feet were sore and the feast ended.

The next morning the King and Queen announced to the court of your betrothal to Prince Aemond.

You would be married by spring’s end.

+ 

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comments and reblogs are always appreciated <3

[evdarlin]

School Kid Crush

*A/N okay so this is the first thing I've wrote since I was like 18 writing about one direction so I'm sorry if its complete dog shit. I tried and kinda want to make it a series maybe if people actually like it but yeah be easy on me pls*

From the moment that I met Spencer Agnew on my very first day at Smosh as the new Games PA, we instantly clicked. We would spend every lunch together quoting obscure movies or Family Guy. We hung out at each other’s apartments many weekends, me just watching him play video games or forcing him to watch Bridgerton with me. There was something there and I think we all could feel it. Spencer was always the one I could go to geek out about the things I always thought I was being annoying talking about. It was almost like I had met my other half which could only be explained as the most terrifying but best feeling in the world. The whole office knew that there was something there but I might be speaking for myself but I did not want to act on it solely from my own relationship problems and that we were coworkers and did not want to make things so complicated. So for now, we are just good good friends who might just be completely infatuated with each other.

Walking into the Smosh office on Friday morning felt like every other morning on the last day of the week. I didn’t get enough sleep and would rather have been curled up back in my bed asleep but someone has to pay rent. Once I arrived at my desk directly across from Courtney’s, I could see that some sweet angel had placed my dear alani drink right in front of my computer. There was only one person who could have brought that for me and I knew it was Spencer so I took off to the Games pod to thank him dearly. 

“Have I ever told you that you are a godsend and have saved my life on multiple occasions?” I say while walking up to Spencer’s desk.

“Well yes but have I ever told you that you are severely overdramatic with your words?” He said as he swiveled around in his chair.

“Alright that’s rude but I’ll let it slide since you brought me a drink sir.” I rolled my eyes and took a seat on the little couch in the small space. The office was pretty quiet this morning which is unusual but I welcomed it. “How long do you think it’s going to take before someone is yelling in here?”

“I say give it about ten minutes when Angela comes in and sees that she has to take care of that baby today” Spencer laughed and almost on cue heard Chanse cackling at Angela.

“Are you going to Courtney and Shayne’s combined bachelor party tonight?” Spencer suddenly looked nervous asking this question which is new for him around me that is.

“Yeah, I was going to head home after work to change then head over to the place, are you going?” I asked, praying and hoping he was going not wanting to miss a chance to hang out with him outside of these four walls of the Smosh office. 

“Well seeing as you just said you were going then absolutely I am. Um, can I pick you up and drive you to the party maybe?” There it was again, the nervous look on his face. 

“Of course!” I said maybe a little too fast and too enthusiastic, “I mean yeah that would be okay, that way I could have at least one or two drinks while I’m there.” I did not recover from that at all but maybe he won’t notice but seeing that smirk on his face, I am wrong.

“Then I will be there to pick you up at 7:30ish, does that sound okay?” Spencer asked, seeming to be a lot more relaxed now that I said yes.

“Sure! That gives me plenty of time, see you later Spen!” I gave him a small wave and walked back to my desk to get started on my small list of tasks I mentally gave myself to get done before filming started and I had zero free time until 5 p.m. As I walked back to my desk I was brought back to how nervous Spencer was asking me if he could drive me to the party. I mean we carpool sometimes to work and even ride together to function outside of the workplace so this shouldn’t be any different right? Oh god, is this a date? Does he know it’s a date? It can’t be a date when it’s Courtney and Shayne’s day right? I’m spiraling and don’t even notice that I ran right into Tommy.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry I wasn’t paying attention at all!” I stopped to make sure I didn’t cause some huge mess by running into him.

“It’s okay Y/N! You were really deep into thought there love, you doing okay?” Tommy asked with concern written all over his face, I suppose you can tell I was going through it up in my head.

“Uh well not really but I’ll be okay.” We both started walking towards our desks, I hoped to change the subject so I no longer had to think about what’s going on inside my head but Tommy had other ideas.

“Is it Spencer? I can totally fight him if you need me to or I can hide his Kickstarters until he apologizes to you.” Tommy giggled but stopped as soon as he saw how deep red my face had become.

“Wha- How did you know?” You mean to tell me the rest of the office knew how I truly felt about Spencer, shit.

“Oh honey, the man is completely infatuated with you and I also know you’re infatuated with him. I truly thought you guys were already together and just keeping it a secret for personal reasons. You know it’s okay to like him right? I know about the whole relationship problems you’ve had in the past but I don’t think Spencer is like that actually I know he’s not.” Tommy stopped walking to put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a little squeeze.

“Nope, nope, nope. You’re wrong, I know of no such infatuation you speak of Tommy Bowe.” I avoided eye contact the entire time but eventually sighed, “Is it that obvious?”

“Eh, kind of but hey it’s okay to like someone even if you guys work together. You guys have been attached at the hip ever since you started here and I think you might be the same person. I do not think he’s going to ghost you like every other piece of shit man who has entered your life.” Tommy knew more than maybe anyone about how much self doubt I have put on myself from constantly just men stopping talking to me out of nowhere. It didn’t matter if he said he was different, none of them were. They all were the same.

“I know he is a good person Tommy but I’m not sure I could deal with losing him as a friend and even worse I would have to see him every single day at work. I promise I’m just in my head a little bit, I’ll be okay.” I gave my most convincing smile and headed to my computer to start on my work for the day.

The work day honestly flew by without any more emotional spirals even at lunch when I could see Tommy giving me those knowing looks from across the table anytime Spencer did anything remotely nice for me. I left the office the minute it hit 5 p.m. just wanting to get out of there, I didn’t even wait for Spencer to walk with him in the parking lot. I needed to get to the comfort of my apartment and be alone before I had a full blown panic attack, not to mention I needed to get ready for this party. I made it home in record time with just enough time to get ready and sit in silence and think about what I should do. I decided to say screw it and just bring up my conversation with Tommy and see what happens. Do I know what’s going to happen? Not at all but you know what I need to do something to stop this spiral. I grabbed my bag and headed out the door was I saw that Spencer said he was outside. Spencer was waiting outside his car for me and even opened the door for me, what a gentleman. 

“You were nowhere to be found after work dude, where the hell did you go?” Spencer asked, closing the door as I settled into the front seat.

“Sorry, I started feeling bad so I had to get out of there. Hope you didn’t get attacked in the parking lot without your guard dog.” I laughed as he started his car and headed towards the place where the party was being held.

“You are literally shorter than me which is saying a lot but I was a damsel in distress and you just left me alone to die.” Spencer pretended to wipe a fake tear and looked over at me giggling. “But were you okay? Like nothing happened right?”

“Yeah I was fine, Tommy just got me thinking and I just got a little overwhelmed but promise I am perfectly fine now!” I smiled and let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding in. “It um actually was about you if I’m being honest?” 

“Me? I swear whatever it was I didn’t do it.” Spencer threw his hands up but I grabbed the wheel and gave him a glare.

“He did say that if you hurt my feelings he was going to hide your drinks until you apologize to me,” I looked over at him preparing myself for what I was going to say next, “He also said he thought we were together and were pulling a Courtney and Shayne”. 

“Hm, Tommy thinks we’re famous enough to hide our relationship like that? Wow, I am flattered.” Spencer laughed looking over at me then stopped because he realized this might be a serious conversation. “Wait, being in a relationship with me sounds so terrifying to you that you had to book it out of the office?” I looked over and saw that we had already arrived at the place but I knew our conversation was not going to end just because we were here.

“No! I just got in my head and was so scared that if you knew that I had this massive ass school kid crush on you, it would ruin this friendship we have built. I have no clue what I would do if you were not in my life, Spencer, honestly.” I realized I have just told him about this crush I have on him with my word vomit so there was no turning back now. “I like you alright, I like you a lot and it’s so damn scary because I’m terrified to lose you in any sense of my life.”

“A massive crush you say?” Spencer started giggling and all I could do was glare at him ready to smack that smirk off his face. “I like you too dummy, I thought you knew already and just saw me as your dorky coworker who also is your best friend. I promise you’re not losing me anytime soon. You’re stuck with me now babe.” He smiled and leaned over to give me a soft kiss. A kiss that I think I have been waiting for what felt like years, a kiss that seemed to let go over all of my insecurities and finally felt safe and confident in a relationship. “Now, let’s go into this party and steal Courtney and Shayne’s thunder.”

We started to walk to the door of the place, hand in hand, and ready to face all of our coworkers. The only thing you can hear as soon as we walked into the room was a far away “FUCK YEAH” which I can only place as Angela screaming.

[artandshid]

“Eddie it’s one in the morning why are you calling.” You say groggily into the phone.

“I’m sorry sweetheart we’re you sleeping?” He says with a laugh and you roll your eyes

“Of course not I was getting ready to start my ten mile run.”

“Let’s go for a drive.” He says ignoring your sarcasm. He knows you’re grumpy when you’re tired.

“Eddie, like I already said, it’s one in the morning. Where are we going to drive to? If I leave my house my parents are going to be pissed.”

“You don’t have to tell them, sneak out the window. I’ll be there in 10 minutes.” He says to you.

“Eddie seriously why are you being so persistent? You’re acting crazy man.”

“Y/n, please, as your best friend I am asking you to just come with me.” You’re silent over the phone, because of course you want to go with him, he’s your best friend, but you don’t want to get caught by your parents. “Y/n please.” His serious tone makes you change your mind immediately and that’s how you find yourself getting ready to go for a drive wherever your best friend has in mind.

You hear the knock on your window just as you put your jacket on and see your frizzy haired friend with a smile on his face. “You ready to go?” He mouths to you and you nod your head.

In his car, he has his music playing lowly and he’s rubbing circles on your hand. Which isn’t an abnormal occurrence, but the gesture always brings you a sense of peace.

“So why are we going on a drive again?” You question him and you see him swallow thickly.

“I just needed to get out of the trailer. Couldn’t get out of my own head you know?” You nod your head because you know that he gets like that.

Eddie is a very creative person and with being a creative and innovative person, you have a lot of thoughts. Those positive thoughts are what he turns into art, unfortunately, your best friend hasn’t mastered how to turn those negative thoughts into art, too. That’s why he has you.

“Where are we off to anyway?”

“Where do you want to be off to Sweetheart?”

“Let’s take the drive to Chicago.” You tell him with a smirk, knowing that you guys both love the city and it’s only about an hour and a half away.

“Chicago? You were just complaining that you didn’t want to get in trouble by your parents, if we go to Chicago there’s no way I’ll have you back before they wake up.”

“Then I get in trouble, so what. Let’s go to Chicago.”

He turns to you and smiles, “What have I turned you into?” and you laugh.

————————-————–——

You guys are walking around the city hand in hand, just like you used to do when you were kids.

The topics have ranged from his band, to DND, to Motley Cure’s new album and how dreamy Tommy Lee is, to what you would name your pizza shop if you had one. They could talk about anything and everything together.

Suddenly Eddie got serious and you asked him what was wrong. He shakes his head and kicks a rock, you choose not to push the topic and instead welcomed the comfortable silence.

All of a sudden he stops and you turn and look at him, “How are you and Caden?” Caden was your on and off again boyfriend for about 8 months. Eddie doesn’t like him, he thinks you deserve better, and you know you do, you just stay with him because you were too scared to tell the one you really want that you love him.

“We’re okay right now, but if you ask me again tomorrow the answer might be different.” You say with a laugh and try to get a read of his face.

He takes a step closer to you and brushed a strand of hair behind your ear. “You deserve better than him.”

You roll your eyes and laugh, even though you can feel your face burning at his touch, “I know Eds, you only say that every single time he gets brought up.”

He lets out a small laugh but then looks serious again, there’s something behind his eyes that you can’t quite pinpoint which worries you because you always know how he’s feeling.

Your eyebrows pinch in concern and you search his eyes, “Eddie, what’s wrong?”

He takes a deep breath and steps even closer to you, your faces barely an inch apart and he whispers, “I think I’m in love with you.”

Your breath hitches and the screen in front of his eyes was pulled away and all you can see is love and you’ve never been happier.

“Eddie you have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear those words from you. I’m in love with you, too.”

He smiles the widest you’ve ever seen him smile and he leans closer to you, you’re about to kiss him, too, but then you remembered Caden.

You push a little on Eddie’s chest to get him to stop and he looks at you confused.

“I can’t cheat on him, I’m in love with you, but I can’t physically cheat on him.”

He looks hurt, but he backs away and puts his head down.

“I’ll break up with him tomorrow, for good. Because I want to be with you, forever and ever. But I can’t be a cheater, I’m sorry.” You tell him with tears running down your face.

He smiles at you and brushes your tears away. “Until tomorrow then. Let’s head back to the van, yeah?”

You smile back at him, “Yeah, until tomorrow.”

Guys, i’m really in the writing mood, and I don’t know how long it’s going to last so here’s another one.

[britany1997]

Sorry bout the ask on main ignore it! (Pixie)

But had an idea about Dwayne and Paul sharing an S/O and how differently the two treat and go about doing things with their S/O.

Like maybe how Dwayne prefers to stay cuddled up and read a book with them while Paul likes to go bike racing with them like an adrenaline type deal?

Sharing is Caring

You mean my literal dream???? Yes of course I can write this for you friend!!!

Dwayne x GN Reader x Paul

🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇

You ran your hand along the French literature before standing on your tip toes and plucking a book from the top of the tallest shelf.

You weaved through the many shelves in the store looking for your book worm boyfriend. After what felt like hours you found him sitting on the floor, book in hand, in the Russian lit section.

“What’s that, a cinderblock?” You said looking at the enormous novel in his hand. He flashed you the cover, War and Peace.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” you groaned, “that’s your recommendation for me???”

He wrinkled his nose, “what? It’s a great book,” he said defensively. “You’ll love prince Andrei, he’s um…what’s that thing you always say?”

“I’ll desire him carnally?” You asked.

He rolled his eyes, “yeah,”

You raised your eyebrows, “you have my attention,” you told him as you reached for the book.

He grabbed your hand instead and pulled you down gently for a kiss, “do you desire me carnally?” He asked as he pulled away.

You smirked, “you know the answer to that question.”

He smiled back, “yeah, but I like hearing you say it,” he told you winking.

“Shut up,” you said, giggling, “do you want the one I picked for you?”

“Yes please,” he said standing to his feet and handing you the book. You pretended to crumble at the weight of it. He shook his head and smiled

“You’re real cute ya know that?” He asked.

You smiled and shrugged, “yeah I know,” you told him. You handed him the novel you’d picked.

“The Stranger,” he read, “haven’t read this one before.”

“It’s incredible,” you told him, “a total wild ride from start to finish. You’ll love it.”

“Looks interesting,” he said, reading the synopsis on the back, “and short,” he observed.

“Yeah you’re welcome,” you told him pointedly.

“You got like ten more of these I can read while you get through yours?” He asked while slinging an arm around your shoulders.

“Ha ha,” you said humorlessly.

He chuckled and checked his watch.

“hmm,” he hummed, “we gotta check out and go. I know someone who’s probably dying to get his hands on you right about now.” He told you.

“Yeah literally,” you snorted, “can’t keep him waiting or he’ll be pouting all night.”

“Yikes,” Dwayne said, “let’s hurry.”

One hand held your book, the other held Dwayne’s as the two of you walked along the boardwalk. You sighed happily as you took in the sights around you.

Though your peaceful state was shattered abruptly when you were picked up and spun around out of nowhere.

“Sugar!” Paul exclaimed, a huge smile stretched across his face, “been missing you all night!” He told you as he pulled you against his chest and nuzzled your cheek with his.

You laughed and wrapped your arms around him, returning his embrace, “I missed you too Paulie,” you told him, handing your book to Dwayne.

“Not as much as I missed you babe, trust me.” He said as he kept you wrapped in his arms, “David is sooo boring, I thought I was gonna lose my mind,” he whispered into your ear.

“Get this,” he told you, “he’s been following this one brunette guy around the boardwalk like a lost puppy dog. Me and Marko have been gettin’ second hand embarrassment all night long!”

“Marko and I,” you corrected.

“No babe you’ve been with Dwayne all night,” he said giving you a look, “you’re so silly,” he said.

You cocked your head to the side and smiled at him. You leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

He gasped and his hand shot up to touch his cheek as a dopey grin spread across his face. “I’ll never wash this cheek again,” he told you dreamily.

“Please do,” you said.

“Ok babe I will, but only if you give me a new kiss every time this one fades away, deal?” He bargained.

“Deal,” you said reaching out your hand to shake his.

He laughed, “yeah hello my name’s Paul,” he told you, “apparently we’ve never met before,” he said rolling his eyes as he grabbed your hand. He threw it over his shoulder before putting his other hand on your back and pulling you in for a steamy kiss.

“You’re just gonna go full tongue in the middle of the boardwalk,” Dwayne asked.

“Oops forgot you were there,” Paul said sheepishly.

Dwayne shot him a look.

“Don’t be jealous handsome,” Paul said before pecking Dwayne’s lips.

“What, no tongue for him?” You asked jokingly.

Dwayne snorted and Paul shot you a wide smile, “later babe, for you and him both,” he said winking.

Dwayne hummed, “better not keep them out too late then,” he murmured as he ran his hand down your arm until he was holding your hand.

You blushed as he brought your hand to his lips and kissed it.

Paul rolled his eyes.

“Will you make the tea I like first? When we get back to the cave?” You asked him

“Of course,” he assured you smiling, “I’ll have it ready for you when you get back.”

Paul cleared his throat.

“Whose jealous now?” You teased.

“Yeah, yeah,” he pouted.

“Want me to make you a cup of tea too?” Dwayne asked him.

“Yeah right,” Paul said, “I wanna come home to a bourbon on the rocks,”

You and Dwayne both shot him confused looks.

Paul sighed, “ok fine, I want hot chocolate” he mumbled.

“With marshmallows?” Dwayne asked.

“Obviously,” Paul said, “what am I an animal?”

Dwayne rolled his eyes, “ok great, I’ll make sure to have those for you when you both get home.”

“Thank you baby,” you said, smiling.

He flashed you one of his own, “of course,” he replied leaning down to kiss your cheek.

“Be good,” he told you, before kissing Paul’s cheek.

“No promises,” Paul said smiling sinisterly.

You laughed, “we’ll try.”

Dwayne chuckled and waved as he walked over to Marko and David who were both revving their engines.

Paul watched as Dwayne peeled off with the other boys, before turning back to you.

“Ready?” He asked.

You inhaled deeply, “as I’ll ever be,” you told him.

He smiled pulling you towards his bike and handing you a helmet “then let’s ride,” he said, grinning devilishly.

White knuckled, you gripped Paul’s abdomen, holding on as tightly as you could. He whooped and hollered as he sped down the beach on his bike, kicking up sand as he rode.

“Be careful!” You said, your voice shaking as you bounced on the back of the bike.

“Don’t worry babe I gotcha, I’d never let you fall sugar.” He reassured you, “feel free to hold on tighter if you scared though! I won’t mind if you squeeze a little,” he said looking over his shoulder to wink at you.

“Watch the road! Watch the road!” You said frantically.

“What road?” He laughed, “there’s nothing but sand for miles baby, don’t worry.”

You nuzzled your cheek into his back as you readjusted your grip around his waist. As much as it made you nervous sometimes, riding with Paul was always one of the highlights of your night.

You squealed and laughed as he took a sharp left into the forest, taking you home to the cave. Adrenaline tingled through your entire body as he made the familiar jump over the fallen tree blocking your route. You smiled as you held onto him tightly, knowing he liked to show off for you, but he’d never let you fall.

Paul parked his bike and dismounted before picking you up in his arms.

“Hey!” You said laughing, “I can walk by myself you know.”

“I know babe,” he told you, “but I love holding you! What’s the point of vampire strength if you can’t use it?? ‘s like holding a feather.” He said as he peppered sloppy kisses all over your face.

You both shimmied down into the cave where Dwayne was waiting for you with a mug in each hand. Paul raced over to where he was on the couch and took one, sitting down next to him and kissing his cheek.

You sat down in Dwayne’s lap as he handed you the other mug and slipped his arm around your waist, pulling you close.

Paul gently repositioned your legs so they were laying across his lap, “Have fun?” Dwayne asked.

“Mhm,” you hummed as you laid your head against his chest, “Paul’s the fastest boy I know,”

“Not when it matters,” Paul said winking.

You laughed as Dwayne rolled his eyes.

You listened as Paul recounted the details of your joyride to Dwayne (with lots of added embellishment of course), by the end of his story your drinks were long finished and your mugs discarded.

“So,” you said, “what do you guys wanna do now?”

Both boys turned and shot you matching smirks.

“That’s what I thought,” you said laughing as Dwayne carried you to your nest, with Paul following closely behind.

🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇

@pixielostboy @6lostgirl6 @misslavenderlady @anna1306 @ghoulgeousimmaculate @solobagginses @burnbookarilostgirl16 @its-freaking-bats

[sbdskate]

Laws Of Attraction (Part 5) - DR x lawyer!fem!reader

Summary: McLaren is in breach of contract, dr3 hires a lawyer to deal with the aftermath. Tropes ensue. Slow burn. Enemies(kind of) -> Friends/colleagues -> Lovers

Pairing: lawyer!fem!reader x Daniel Ricciardo

Warnings: language, angst, mature themes

Word Count: 4,371

A/N: In a shocking turn of events, this is in fact not the last part. I really wanted to put something out there this week but I’m still not quite finished with the last bit of the story. That being said, I think I found a good break point. I’m not even going to jinx myself by saying the next part is going to be the last, so TBD. Thank you again for your support. Please don’t be a ghost reader, and please feel free to comment or DM with any positive or constructive feedback. Enjoy!  

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Epilogue 1

You woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. Perhaps that was your fatal flaw all along. The entire time you spent trying and failing to suppress and divert your feelings for the driver, you would have been better served leaning into them and letting them go in a controlled space.  

In clearing the air with Daniel, you felt a weight lifted. You were still shocked by the revelation that the feelings were mutual at least in part, but there was comfort and stability in the understanding that had been reached. The lightness allowed you to finally stand in your confidence and share in the excitement of the next phase of negotiations. The season would be over in less than a month, with only two races left including Brazil. You were grateful for the light at the end of the tunnel.

You discreetly made your way to Red Bull hospitality on Thursday morning, bright and early in Sao Paolo before the chaos of media day began. There was only an admin there who greeted you showed you around. You made yourself comfortable in the empty kitchen area, where it was immediately obvious the difference in resources. It felt opulent yet comforting, especially compared to the aggressive orange and sparse theme of McLaren. Then again, spending any excessive time around McLaren hospitality or their garage nowadays just made you depressed and resentful.

It was early, even for you, and you desperately needed to caffeinate before the meeting. You saw the coffee machine, but no mugs in sight. You began opening drawers and cupboards in search of a vessel, cursing Christian Horner in your head. You finally found them, but of course they were on one of the upper shelves. You strained your body to extend as far as it would go, everything you needed just out of reach. While adjusting your balance on your tiptoes, you felt a warm body press against you and a shadow of an arm reaching over you. You closed your eyes and sharply inhaled, relishing the pressure on your back and the smell of familiar cologne. You opened your eyes again when he peeled away from you.

“I think you were looking for this?” Daniel handed you a mug. You took it, feeling your fingers brush again. The epiphany you had earlier was dispelled in an instant. Engaging in self pleasure may have acted as a momentary release, but it did not subdue the feelings that had taken firm root over the last few months. Masturbation was simply a light pruning for the sturdy tree that now grew in your garden that refused to be moved by earthquakes or hurricanes.   

“I could’ve gotten it,” you grumbled avoiding eye contact. You had told yourself you had no reason to feel awkward about the other night, but you felt yourself shrinking in his presence nonetheless. His voice went up several decibels and he batted his eyes to mock you.

“Good morning, Daniel! Thanks so much for helping me! Good morning to you too, no problem, so happy I could help.” You rolled your eyes.  

“Good morning. I promise I’ll be nicer in ten minutes once I’ve had my coffee.” You haphazardly raised your empty mug. He raised his hands and backed away, a small smirk on his face, but did not leave. He found a seat elsewhere in the kitchen, and you felt his eyes on your back as you went about your business.

You locked eyes when you turned around with a full cup. He innocently smiled and waved, while you forced an aggressive smile back. Leaning against the counter, you took a few sips of coffee without breaking eye contact. After a few minutes you joined him.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi.”

“Are you done being a cunt?”

“Are you done being a douche canoe?” He snorted.

“I guess not.”

“Likewise.” You paused. “Sorry. I wasn’t expecting you to be here so early before the meeting.”

“Yeah, I don’t know. Me neither. I’m excited, I think. And a little nervous.” He looked like a child on his first day of school, fidgety and unable to contain the energy requiring release. He couldn’t help the growing smile on his face. It was contagious, and you quickly found yourself smiling too.

“You should be – excited! Not nervous,” you quickly clarified. He looked down while he continued to bounce his knee.

“What if I make the wrong choice again?” he timidly whispered, though it could have been a question directed at you or the universe. It was no secret that many thought him leaving Red Bull in 2018 was the worst professional decision Daniel Ricciardo ever made, his short stint with Renault followed by his experience with McLaren as evidence. However, hindsight is 20/20. Perhaps he had too much hubris at the time, but he very validly thought he was being forced into a second driver position. How could he have known the series of unfortunate events that would follow? You did not fight the urge to hold his hand this time, gently placing yours on top of his in the middle of the table as you leaned in.

“There is no wrong choice this time,” you whispered back.

You truly believed that Daniel was in a win-win situation. Mercedes was a well-oiled, professional machine. The relationship there would be a symbiotic one. You thought they could help ground and focus Daniel, while Daniel could improve their public image and perhaps allow them to shed their somewhat stuffy, mechanical persona. Moreover, it would represent a clean slate with a new team. Conversely, you couldn’t deny how poetic a return to Red Bull would be. The place where Daniel spent so many years at the beginning of his career, it would be a momentous homecoming.

The Red Bull kitchen was quiet and empty. He looked at your hand. You were about to pull away but he lightly took hold of it before you could.

“Thanks,” he said in a soft voice to match the soft smile that graced his features.

“Of course. You know I’m always here for you.”

“I know.” He lazily rubbed your fingers with his thumb.

“Do you want to go over anything before the meeting?” You feebly attempted to redirect the conversation to be more professional, but you both knew there was no real effort as neither of you moved.

“Not really. I feel good this time.”

You remained in comfortable silence for a beat, lost in the exchange of energy that passed through one another. Your phone buzzed, pulling you away from the moment temporarily. Your face fell slightly. He looked at you expectantly.

“Well, you’re stuck with me today. The partner’s tied up with something.” You raised your gaze to meet his, searching for some kind of approval. He feigned distress.

“Oh no, what will I do? You’ve only handled 70% of this whole process on your own.” You squinted, skeptical of his confirmation.

“You trust a meager, low level associate to handle the entire trajectory of your future?”

“At this point, I trust you with my life.”

It was hard to tell whether he was being overdramatic for comedic effect or genuine. Foot steps in the distance pulled you from your trance, your hands quickly recoiling. With his back to the entry, he didn’t miss the chance to give you a wink and a smile that made you want to melt into the floor. Instead, you rolled your eyes in response but your bashful smile gave you away. You stood up when you saw your expected hosts enter.

“My two favorite people!”

“Good morning, Christian. I appreciate it, but you know flattery doesn’t work with me,” you quipped as you shook hands. When he wasn’t pissing off the rest of the grid, Christian really was quite the charmer when he wanted to be.

“On the contrary, it will get you everywhere.” The smile didn’t leave his face when he turned to Daniel, arms wide open. Their energy was well matched as they embraced in a warm hug. As happy as the driver was last week with his points finish, he seemed immensely more comfortable now.

When they separated, Christian looked at you again.

“What is this? Coffee and no Red Bull?” he teased.

“Sorry, had a bad experience in law school with energy drinks I’m afraid. Nothing personal. Though I was beginning to wonder whether the coffee machine was for decoration only.”

“They hide the mugs on purpose,” Daniel chimed in. Given the dimply smile and his tone, you would think he was joking but knew he was absolutely telling the truth.   

“He leaves for four years, comes back, and thinks he owns the place and can share company secrets.”

You had seen it several times now, but it amazed you how easy their relationship seemed. Although technically Mercedes was not out of the question, you already knew where Daniel’s heart was. It was now just a matter of ironing out the details.

Christian and the Red Bull lawyer joined you at the table in the kitchen. It was a nice change of setting, the informality of it made the weight of the discussion feel a bit lighter. The process with them was easy, especially compared to McLaren and even Mercedes. While it was slightly less formal, at all times you felt respected. Not once did anyone assume you were an admin or paralegal, which admittedly is a low bar. But even beyond that, especially with the partner’s absence, you were never treated as a subordinate and your professional capabilities were never called into question. Of course this process was not about you, but in your opinion you believed choice of outside counsel was an extension of the type of work environment your client could expect. Red Bull had been a pleasant surprise in this respect.

It was all smiles when you exchanged handshakes as you parted ways. You and Daniel were shown out the back door to avoid a few media that had just started to arrive at the paddock. You walked behind the teams’ hospitality stations so that you could join the main entry of the paddock without raising suspicion.

“So. How do you think it went?” you casually asked. You didn’t want your own opinion to taint whatever his genuine response may be.

“Honestly… I think it went really well.” The dimply smile you had become so fond of returned to his face.

“Honestly… me too.” You allowed yourself to show your enthusiasm, feeling yourself break into a wide grin. Away and hidden from the main walk of the paddock, he grabbed your hands and you both quietly squealed and jumped up and down. After a few seconds when you stopped and regained composure, he asked:

“So, what’s next?”

“Well, that depends on you. If you think you’re ready to pull the trigger with Red Bull, you let me know ASAP and assuming we’ve already nixed any dealbreakers that would’ve been in their offer, we go through everything again with a fine-tooth comb, see if they’re able to come up on anything and sign.”

“And Mercedes?”

“We keep them in play until everything is in writing and executed. No need to have a PR disaster like Alpine.” You were, of course, referring to the unfortunate circumstances of Alpine prematurely announcing Oscar Piastri as their second driver for 2023. He chuckled as you continued walking towards McLaren. You could hear the hustle and bustle from the press getting louder as more people began to arrive. He paused just before you were about to turn the corner and enter the circus.

“I want to be at Red Bull,” he said definitively. You smiled.

“Ok then. I’ll get to work.” He gave you an encouraging fist bump before taking a deep breath, knowing this would be the last bit of downtime you both had for the rest of the weekend, reluctant to leave the nest of the quiet sanctuary you shared just behind the organized chaos.

“Shall we?”

You sighed. “No time better than the present.”

-

Brazil was an eventful whirlwind. It was no surprise to you that Daniel continued to skillfully navigate an onslaught of questions about his future in the sport on press day and the rest of the weekend. On Saturday, the two of you gossiped excitedly when Kevin Magnussen got pole in qualifying despite Daniel’s own mediocre performance. Obviously the sport was cut throat, but everyone couldn’t help but root for the Haas underdog. There was a buzz during the sprint, Daniel just out of reach of the points in p11. Unfortunately, the race itself ended up resulting in a DNF for both McLaren boys. With each day of events, Daniel’s mood seemed to sour despite the positive steps being taken behind the scenes. Of course DNF-ing on what could be his second to last race ever is not what anyone wanted. However, while you sympathized for Daniel, that’s not what you were focused on. There was the celebration of George’s first win with Lewis also on the podium, but then there was the internal team drama you watched unfold at Red Bull.  

You anxiously waited out the post-race interview process so that you could update your client. If there was any question on what the path forward was before, it became crystal clear today.

As he walked through the paddock eager to get to his drivers room for some solitude, he saw you practically bouncing on your toes. He was a little annoyed to see you in such high spirits after an abysmal race, but it also made him relax a bit.

“I should DNF more often if it makes you this happy,” he dryly joked as he approached you. You should have been used to this song and dance by now. He makes a questionably flirtatious comment, you blush and get flustered, and after a bit of fumbling you redirect course and get back to business. You knew he wouldn’t change his behavior, no matter how many times you halfheartedly scolded or ignored him. It shouldn’t make you flustered any more, but there was excitement in not knowing whether there was any truth behind it. And as much as you hated to admit it, you liked it. But that was before your conversation in Mexico, where you divulged so much about your own inner turmoil. You had made yourself vulnerable. After that, you had assumed he would stop out of respect. What was a thrill before now felt like a cruel joke at your expense.

“Very funny,” you deadpanned. “I have some important news to share with you, can we go somewhere private to discuss?”

“You’re not going to buy me dinner first?” He had said this before, but it wasn’t landing like it used to.

“You’re going to have to buy yourself a new lawyer if you keep this act up.” For someone who didn’t finish the race, he was being awfully cocky today. And by goodness, did it make you feel things.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re the one who said you wanted to be alone with me -”

“Daniel.” He usually stopped after the first rebuttal.

“Not that I’m mad at it-“

Your previous excitement began to sour in your mouth as your heartbeat quickened. You grabbed his wrist and dragged him through McLaren hospitality to his drivers room. You didn’t care who saw or what it looked like. You practically pushed him in and shut the door behind you. His eyes widened as you got in his face.

“Oh shit, is this actually happening?” he began to pull at his shirt.

“What?! No. Shut up. What is wrong with you today?”

“Oh come on, I was just joking! You know I always do this.”

“No.” You pushed your pointer finger into his chest. “Today, you’re being an ass. I don’t know if this is you acting out after a shitty race or what, but pull it together. You are not a 21 year old frat boy, you’re a 33 year old world class athlete with a fully developed frontal lobe - who is now wasting my time, and rest assured, I am billing you for it. And if you stopped your inappropriate jokes for two fucking seconds and let me do my job, I would have told you that there’s a solid chance you can be on the grid in 2024 in a fucking Red Bull. Thought you might want to know.”

You had backed him into a wall and were inches away from his face, huffing and puffing. You were so mad, that one man could make you so infuriated and horny at the same time. His eyes were still the size of dinner plates, but his expression had fallen slightly. It was his turn to blush. He had been surrounded by yes-men for so long, he couldn’t remember the last time he had been chastised like this.

“I’m sorry-” You continued, your tone somewhat more even.

“Max wouldn’t let Checo through today despite what it would mean for the driver’s and constructor’s championships because he thinks Checo purposefully sabotaged him during qualifying in Monaco. The girls are fighting which is more bad PR for Red Bull, Checo’s contract is up next year, and if this dynamic continues between the two drivers then there’s a good chance they won’t renew it.”

“That’s great news-” You cut him off again.  

“Am I a joke to you? Because I know you wouldn’t be making these comments if I was a man. I know you thought I was some secretary when we first met, but I really thought I had earned your respect throughout this process.” He looked at you now wearing the pink pantsuit you’d worn on that fateful first day.

“Can I just-”

“I’ve had to deal with so many mediocre men with undeserved self-inflated egos my entire life. I’ve dated them, I’ve been in class with them, I’ve worked with them, I’ve worked for them – especially the last five years at this godforsaken law firm. Lord knows I don’t need another one. I’ve had to work twice as hard and be better than them to prove myself as an equal. And even with all that, no matter what, as soon as I leave the room I’m the punchline of some joke I never asked or wanted to be a part of because I have boobs. Maybe we got off on the wrong foot initially but I really thought you were different. But no-”

One second you were ranting, the next you were cut off by lips crashing into yours. In your fury you missed his warm brown eyes darting between your eyes and your lips. In a flash he had grabbed the lapel of your suit jacket to bring you towards him, your hands landing firmly on his chest. Fireworks flashed behind your eyelids and for a moment you forgot what day it was, where you were, and who you were. You don’t know how long it lasted. You should have pulled away. You definitely shouldn’t have kissed back. But the taste of saline on him from the demands of the day and the scruff of his beard on your chin and cheeks made you want to stay. You smelled his cologne mixed with musk and, what was that, aftershave? Instead, he pulled away first.

You blinked a few times, jaw slack. You brought a hand to your lips, half to make sure they were still there but also for confirmation that you didn’t just hallucinate.

“Sorry, it was the only way I could think to get you to shut up so I could get a word in edgewise. If you’d let me talk, I would say I think you’re the most brilliant person I’ve ever met. You’re smart, witty, funny, and no, it doesn’t hurt that you’re as good looking as I am. You think I give a fuck about billing? I would spend my entire fortune down to nothing if it meant I got to spend more time with you. I’ve known for weeks I wanted to go to Red Bull and I didn’t tell you until three days ago because as excited as I am about figuring out what I’m doing next year, I’m equally dreading it because as soon as I sign that means you leave. When you’re not in the room I only sing your highest praises. So yes, of course I respect you. And I realize, kissing you just now may have proved your point, and I’m sorry about that. And you’re right that I’ve been a cunt today and a lot of this weekend, and I’m sorry about that too.”

There had been very few times in your life where you were left speechless, and this was one of them. It was literally your job to be good with words, and right now they failed you.  

“And I know you’re going to say ‘let’s forget that this ever happened’ and I’ll move on and get back to business, but I can promise you I won’t. I’ll never tell another soul for your sake, because I don’t want you to lose your job, but I refuse to forget this, our conversation in Mexico, or that Sunday in Austin. You’re unforgettable f/n l/n.”

You stood there in silence for a few moments. Your adrenaline was through the roof and your mind was blank. He was clearly looking for a response, yet you had none. You did your best to break the tension.

“Well if your goal was to get me to shut up, you succeeded.”

“Honestly, I’m as shocked as you are,” he said with a small laugh. There was another long pause. “I shouldn’t have said all of that, I’m sorry.” You gave him a knowing smile.

“No you’re not.” He smirked.

“Yeah, not really.” You had become particularly focused on a speck of dirt on the floor, but finally returned his gaze.

“You know nothing can happen,” you whispered. It wasn’t a question, it was a statement of fact that was directed at yourself as much as him. You unsuccessfully tried to hide the disappointment in your voice. He refused to look away from you even when you continued to avoid eye contact.

“Yeah, I know.”

Silence descended again. There was nothing else to say. You realized through your tirade and this whole exchange you had been standing dangerously close to one another, and you hadn’t backed away after the kiss. You could feel his heartbeat on your chest, and you were pretty sure he could hear yours. You separated yourself and tried to pick up whatever pieces of dignity you had left. You straightened out your suit jacket and cleared your throat.

“I’m going to try to add some clauses in the contract for 2024 primary driver placement. They’ll almost certainly come back with red lines to make them conditional, perhaps based on Checo’s performance and/or your own performance in the sim, but Horner loves you so much that I think they’ll be receptive to the idea overall.” Your heart hurt at how crestfallen he looked.

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“I’ll send you a draft before it goes to Red Bull. You can expect deliverables by tomorrow.”

“Ok.”

“Assuming everything goes smoothly, I anticipate the agreement to be fully executed by Abu Dhabi. Does that sound like a reasonable timeline?”

He was incredulous at how quickly you could shut everything off. He had spilled his heart to you and in return he received merely an acknowledgement before you put an abrupt end to the conversation. You had done it so many times before to a lesser extent that he shouldn’t have been surprised by how quickly your walls went back up, but he somehow thought this time would be different.

“Yeah,” he finally answered. “But… I want to wait until after the race. I don’t want to have to worry about sneaking away in the middle of practice or qualifying.” It was his way of saying he wanted you there for the duration of the race weekend, he had gotten used to your presence over the last three months. Despite whatever this altercation did to your relationship, professional or otherwise, he couldn’t imagine finishing the tumultuous season without you by his side. He hoped you would pick up the subtlety, but it went over your head.

“I don’t know Daniel, Red Bull probably has a million celebratory events immediately afterwards seeing as their driver won the championship and they won the constructor’s. I imagine McLaren also has a bunch of end of season events planned as well that you’ll have to attend.”

“Can we ask if they can spend an extra day in the country?”

“If you want to wait until after the season is over I totally get it, it might just be easier if we try to schedule something at Milton Keynes the following week.” For someone so smart you were also awfully dense. He tried to come up with a logical explanation that you would be willing to go along with.

“I just thought it would be smart to be able to announce this within a few days after the end of the season, where there’s still buzz and interest and before we get too far into winter break. Plus then it would give the team a few days to come up with a press release still within that timeframe.”

You couldn’t argue that such timing would be better publicity for both him and Red Bull.

“Hmm, I suppose you’re right. No promises, but I’ll reach out to Red Bull to see what their schedule is like.”  

He was satisfied with the victory, no matter how small.

“Is there anything else?” The words felt hollow as they left your mouth. He looked away, shaking his head in disbelief.

“No, I guess not,” he said in defeat. You felt terrible. There were so many things you wanted to tell him, but saying them out loud would only serve to stoke the wildfire you so desperately wanted to put out.

“I’ll see you next week in Abu Dhabi,” you said meekly. You left the room, ending the exchange in a stalemate with neither party satisfied.

Taglist: @ravenqueen27 @leslizzle @zendayabelova @eitak-t @chiliwhore @wewoo1233

[fluentmoviequoter]

heyy! let me tell you, not only were you a part of me discovering a new hyperfixation but pretty much the main reason 😭 anyway congrats on 100 followers!! and if i'm still on time to request something i would love dalton l. and number 4

I'm honored, and I humbly accept the responsibility. If you couldn't tell, I have same hyperfixation and I think it's a great one!😆 Thank you for the congratulations and the request! I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think!

Warnings: a misunderstanding and some hurt feelings, happy ending, fluff, 0.9k+ words

Join the 100 Follower Celebration!

Prompt 4: "Can you please go sit in another room or something? I can't concentrate with you here."

You’re beginning to think Dalton forgot about your date. It’s been nearly ten minutes since you walked into his dorm, and he asked you to wait one minute while he finished something. Not that you mind, of course, you enjoy watching him work. Your eyes are glued to his profile as he draws, his brows furrowed as his attention moves to a different area of his paper.

“I can feel you staring,” he mumbles around the pencil in his mouth.

“Good for you,” you quip. “Your observation skills are coming along nicely, my dear Watson.”

He doesn’t signify your sarcasm with a response, instead looking through his supplies for a chamois, making an “aha” sound before he begins using it to blend.

“What are you drawing?” You ask, moving to sit on the other side of his desk.

His eyes raise to yours quickly, but he doesn’t answer.

“Are you almost done?”

His eyes raise again but look over your entire face before dropping again. He raises a hand and tugs his hair over his ear. You let him focus, shifting in your seat to look at the completed artwork displayed on his wall.

Dalton takes your shift in attention as an opportunity to study your face closer, noticing that you're dressed very nicely, and it looks like you tried something new with your hair. He thinks that every time he looks, you get more attractive. Shaking his head, he smiles to himself before finishing the shading.

“The painting of the mountain is really pretty,” you say quietly.

“Can you please go sit in another room or something? I can’t concentrate with you here,” he says, not looking up.

You try not to sound too disappointed when you agree. “Call me when you’re done?” You ask, standing in the doorway.

Dalton hums an acknowledgement, so you close the door and walk to your dorm.

Twenty or so minutes later, Dalton calls and asks you to return. You knock, holding your lips between your teeth as you hope he isn’t annoyed with you for distracting him.

“You don’t have to knock,” Dalton says as he opens the door. When he sees you, his eyes widen, even though he had just seen you. “You look amazing.”

You nod and mutter a thank you, keeping your hands behind your back as you walk in. Dalton notices your behavior change and starts to reach out, then decides to explain himself first.

“Sorry about earlier. I just really wanted to finish that so we could make dinner,” Dalton explains, rubbing the back of his neck to expel his nervous energy.

“I thought the reservation was at 6?” You ask quietly.

Dalton looks into your eyes and sees the sadness behind them, hating himself for asking you to leave and making you think he forgot your date.

“I’ll assume Chris didn’t tell you, then,” he says, rubbing his hands down his face. His eyes meet yours as he further explains, “I was going to call you and tell you that they changed the reservation to 8 but Chris was here and said she’d tell you.”

“I haven’t seen her.” You sound a little more like yourself but are still too far away for Dalton’s liking.

“I’m so sorry. And I’m sorry for asking you to leave earlier, just… you look amazing and I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you. I wanted this to be a little more romantic but do you want to see it?” He gestures toward his desk and the new artwork lying on it.

You nod and walk side-by-side to the desk, gasping as you see a beautiful drawing of you.

“It’s amazing, Dalton,” you whisper breathlessly.

“Thank you. I had a great model.”

You lean closer and examine all the little details he put into the picture.

“I really am sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to make you think I forgot you or kick you out like that.”

You turn to face Dalton and laugh as you relax, stepping closer to him.

“What’s so funny?”

“You asked me to leave because I was distracting you. You were drawing me, Dalton. How can the model be a distraction?”

“I can’t look at you and draw at the same time,” he explains, wrapping his arms around you and bringing you close.

“Maybe you should learn,” you say, wrapping your arms over his shoulders.

“Only if you help. And we really are going to be late if we don’t leave now.”

You step out into the hall while Dalton grabs his jacket.

“Oh, hey,” Chris says as she exits the stairwell. “I was supposed to give you a message from Dalton.”

“I know,” you say as Dalton yells, “We got it covered! No thanks to you!”

He exits and drops his jacket on your shoulders, keeping a hand on your back as he leads you. You laugh again, so Dalton nudges you slightly, a silent invitation to share.

You drop your voice and say, “‘I’m trying to remember every detail of your face, but I’m getting distracted by your face. Get out.’ That’s you.”

Dalton pretends to laugh, though his smile is genuine. “I’m never living this down, am I?”

“Nope. And you’ll receive payback when you least expect it.”

“Can’t wait,” Dalton deadpans.

Truth be told, Dalton couldn’t wait. He’d send you away to concentrate a million more times if it meant you’d tease him and let him hold you so closely.

[hopefulromances]

Long Time Coming I Chapter Ten I Here We Go Again

Summary: Being hired as the first female assistant coach in the league was a challenge of it itself. Being a football protigy and University Football Legend was easy enough. Coaching Jamie Tartt was a challenge all on its own.

Word Count: 2.9k

Warning: None?? That I can think of?

A/N: Enjoy

Prologue One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine

Have you ever smelt miles and miles of poop surrounding you? I hadn’t either until Ted’s big plan to get the guys spirits up. But now that smell was stuck in my nose. Even if it was just poopeh.

I stood on the pitch, one foot on the ball. It was the beginning of a new season. A new start. Which I was thankful for. The past few months since the end of the last season, and the excitement of the promotion, had been an emotional whirlwind and I was excited to finally have something to focus on. AFC Richmond had a chip on its shoulder the size of a boulder going into the season and all eyes were on us. Unfortunately, most of the odds were stacked against you even Paddington Bear had the odds against you.

But things were different this time around. Richmond was stronger, more put together than ever. This team was on the brink of being the greatest, all they needed was the right push. What that push was going to be, I couldn’t say.

I took a step back and punted the ball down the field watching it as it fell, down, down before bouncing once then into the goal.

By the time I made it back into the building, the halls were bustling with life. Various greyhounds coming into the locker room, various staff walking in and out of rooms, all the signs of an active football club. I made my way up to Rebecca’s office to meet Keely. Since she was becoming a big CEO and all, she wouldn’t be at the club as much.

She left Rebecca’s office with Ted and Higgins following closely behind.

            “(Y/N) (L/N)!” Ted greeted. “What are you doing here?”

            “She’s here to see me, of course!” Keely told him, coming over to loop her arm with mine.

Ted put his hand over his heart in feigned offense. “And here I was thinking she was here for me.”

            “Sorry, Ted,” I said, leaning against Keely. “I’ll be sure to set up our morning chat later.”

As Keely and I headed down the stairs, we chatted about the off season and Keely’s exciting new job. We reached the bottom of the stairs where we were met by Isaac leaving the locker room. He asked her for a shoe deal. Not a brand deal. Just shoes. I glanced over and saw Jamie walking down the hallway with Bumbercatch and Colin. We made eye contact for a moment before I tore my eyes away from him to look over at Colin.

            “Hey, Colin.” I approached him instead. “How’s it going?”

            “Hey, (Y/N).” He smiled at me. “Bumber and me were just talking about going to see some music this weekend, do you want to come?”

I glanced over at Jamie again who was now talking to Keely. “Oh, I wish. I actually have plans.”

            “Oh, too bad. But next time year?”

            “Definitely!”

Finally, Keely and I were done dealing with the hordes of footballers and we could finally chat. That was until Roy approached us. I knew enough about their situation to back off for a moment, give them a second to chat. I felt Jamie’s eyes burning a hole in the back of my head, but I refused to look. I couldn’t look. I didn’t trust myself to look. So, I just waited, staring at literally nothing.

Finally, Keely was done and walking down the hallway. I rushed after her, not acknowledging the boys behind me.

            “Keely! Wait!” I called rushing after her. “What was that? With Roy?”

            “Oh, that? We… we uh… broke up!” She said it like it was nothing. Like she hadn’t just dropped the biggest bombshell of my life.

I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards me. “What?”

            “We haven’t really told people, but yeah…” She shrugged then looked at her watch. “Look at that! I have to go.”

            “Keely! You can’t just-“

            “Gotta go, Barb’s waiting for me.”

            “Keely we’re gonna talk about this!”

            “Later!”

And she was off, leaving the club. I shook my head in disbelief. I turned around just intime to see Jamie leaving the boot room with Roy. We made eye contact. I started backing away slowly, and Jamie started walking towards me. Step by step I backed up until I hit a wall and Jamie was standing right in front of me.

            “(Y/N).”

            “Jamie.”

Then he was kissing me. I gasped in surprise but kissed him back for a moment before pushing him off of me.

            “Jamie, not here.”

He pouted at me as I pushed past him. “No one’s around, I checked.”

            “You did not check, you said my name then you were kissing me,” I pointed out peaking around the corner before turning back to face him.

            “I know, I know, just…” He leaned against the wall next to me. “How long do we have to keep it a secret?”

Deciding to stay private for a while was my idea. If it were up to him, he’d be on me all hours of the day and while that idea sounded really nice, I needed time to have him to myself. Just us.

            “Just until… the season gets started,” I decided on saying. “People aren’t nice to me in the press and I don’t want to give them another reason to hate me.” Jamie pouted, grumbling something about not caring what people say. I turned to face him, bringing my hands up to rub up over his shoulders. “Look, for now we’re theirs but when we get home, we’re ours. It’s better this way.”

Though I didn’t sound too convinced myself. It broke my heart to keep Jamie a secret, and I know it was hurting him as well. But my worst fear was going public and hearing all the reasons we shouldn’t be together. He deserved better than me, or I was the reasons we weren’t playing well. Whatever they could find to tear us apart.

            “Ours, I like the sound of that, love,” He crooned, smirking at me.

            “Yeah… ours,” I echoed him, matching his smile. I saw him start to lean down to kiss me but panic shot through me so instead, I stepped back and started down the hallway to the locker room. I heard him stumble behind me and let out a curse, but I continued forward.

The locker room was a mess. The boys were up in arms about the Roy and Keely break up, something to do with signing Zava, and Trent Crimm for some reason? Jamie wasn’t far behind me but I tried not to notice him as he came in and stood to the side.

            “Why would Zava write a book about Trent Crimm?” Zoreaux shouted in confusion. I walked into the room looking around at the chaos.

            “Hold on a second!” Ted silenced the room. “If y’all didn’t know about Zava, which may or may not happen…”

            “We’re getting Zava?” I muttered to Beard.

            “Possibly,” He replied.

            “And y’all didn’t know about Trent Crimm, which is happening…” Ted continued.

            “Trent Crimm is writing a book about us?” I asked again.

            “Definitely,” Beard confirmed.

            “Then what were you so worked up about?” Ted finally finished.

The boys looked at each other, none of them wanting to admit what the issue was. Finally, Sam stepped up.

            “Roy and Keely broke up.”

Beard yelped, making me jump. Then Ted fainted.

It seemed the whole league was up in arms trying to get Zava to join them. It was all the boys could talk about as well. Especially Dani. Dani had a weird thing going to be honest. Zava certainly was an amazing player. I’d seen him on the field. He reminded me of Jamie a few years ago. Except he was about 10 years older with a wife and children.

The other weird thing was Roy’s vendetta against Trent Crimm. He’d outright banned all the lads from talking to him about anything. It was weird and personal in a way I’d never seen Roy act before.

            “(Y/N) (L/N), first female coach in the league…” Trent started, coming up to me.

            “Nope.” I shut him down. Even if I wanted to talk to him, starting the conversation about my place as a woman in a male dominated field was not going to be the way to do it. I walked straight past him into the coaches office.

Roy was smiling at me as I did. “Nicely done, (L/N).”

            “I didn’t do it for you, dickhead,” I grumbled, though I was smiling while I said it. I was smiling more than I used to now. Things were going well! The club was promoted, I was with Jamie, and things were finally looking up. So, why on earth did I feel off.

            “Jamie! I’m home!” I called into the house as I walked in, juggling a bag of groceries on my hip.  There was silence in the house, though. Maybe, he wasn’t here. We hadn’t officially moved in yet, so it wasn’t like we were always together. But usually, after a long day of pretending we weren’t together, he liked to be with me. Then I heard the sound of the TV on. “Jamie?”

I walked into the house and placed my bag of groceries down on the counter. From the kitchen I could see into the living room where Jamie was watching a football game. He was leaning forward, completely engrossed in the events of the game. It was cute to watch him to enamored with the game he loved so much. I came around the back of the couch and placed my hands on Jamie’s shoulders, prompting him to lean back.

            “Hey, babe,” I greeted, kissing the top of his head. He hummed in response, his eyes still not leaving the screen.  “What game are you watching?” It took me a second to realize he was watching me. That it was my kit on the screen. An old imperial game where I was commanding the field. I stood back, letting my hands fall to my sides. “Jamie… what is this?’”

            “It’s you, ain’t it?” He pointed at the screen. “I love this part, watch” I watched as I did a backwards kick to a teammate, sending the ball back to the middle of the field before it was sent back to me on the outside. From there I sent the back flying in a beautiful arch into the goal. “Fuckin’ brilliant it is.”

I watched myself celebrate on the screen, my teammates swarming me and cheering my name. It made my smile remembering those times. But I tore myself away from it before I could get too sucked into the nostalgia of actually playing football.

            “I’m gonna make dinner,” I said, turning back into the kitchen.

Jamie hopped up off the couch and followed me. “Why’d you stop?”

            “Hm?”

            “Why’d you stop playing football?”

I started to unpack the groceries I got thinking on the question. Why had I stopped? I stopped because the second I was out of uni, no one cared about me anymore. I stopped because my mum told me that it was time to get serious, that football wasn’t a career for women. I stopped because everything in the world was against me when I graduated.

            “Uh, it just didn’t work out for me, I guess,” I replied, absentmindedly.

            “I find that hard to believe,” Jamie returned, coming over to help me put stuff into the refrigerator. “You were top of the league when you graduated. Surely you had offers.”

            “It just didn’t work out, alright, Jamie?” I said, shortly, ending the conversation. “Now can you grab me the butter out of the fridge.” Jamie pursed his lips at me, clearly knowing there was more to the story than what I was letting on. But he grabbed a stick of butter and tossed it over to me. “Besides, I like coaching now. I’m good at it.”

That made Jamie smile. “Right on that one, babe.”

I sighed, happy that I was able to get Jamie off the subject of my departure from the game. Of course, I wanted to play football when I got out of college. But there were some words that cut too deep to ignore.

Luckily, we had the upcoming Chelsea game to discuss. Richmond was the talk of the town. Well, right next to Zava, we were. Everyone was watching as we either sunk or swam in the Premiere league on our first attempt back.

The stadium was buzzing as Roy, and I entered the field. At first, the buzzing was geared towards Roy. The chant of ‘he’s here, he’s there, he’s every-fucking-where, Roy Kent” filled the air. I could tell he was trying not to let it get to him, but he was touched for sure. But that chant was soon overtaken with cants of ‘Zava’! I turned and saw the prick in the stands. It made sense, Zava was all but signed to Chelsea according to Higgins’s various rumors.

But then the game was off. I watched as the boys tried to get something going but after several failed attempts, including one off Dani’s face, we ended the first half 1-nil with Chelsea on the board. Chelsea was playing offensively. Waiting for our guys to pass so they could intercept and take back possession. All they needed to do was hold onto the ball as long as possible.

            “Hey, fellas. Listen up,” Ted began, starting our half time meeting. “We get one goal we’re right back in this thing, yeah? But right now, we are being so unoffensive, we might as well be a Hallmark Christmas movie, you know what I’m saying.”

No, no we did not. But he continued nonetheless.

            “I mean, Coach, how many shots on goal we have that half?”

            “Just one,” I answered.

            “And that one was pretty much a mistake. Am I correct, Dani?”

            “Yes, it bounced off my face. But my face almost scored!” He returned enthusiastically.

The boys chattered amongst themselves, trying to figure out exactly what they were doing wrong. I dared a glance over at Jamie. We’d mastered the art of eye conversations. We usually were able to communicate our thoughts without saying anything. Sneaking around will do that for you. He had a thought, I could tell. If he was on the same page as me, I wanted him to share. He nodded at me.

            “Just an idea,” Jamie offered starting to stand.

            “What you got?” Ted called on him.

            “Right, so every time they’re going past the halfway line, they’re just...”

Then Trent entered the room, and everyone fell silent. I wanted to rip my hair out of my skull. They were giving up valuable strategy time all because of some stupid grudge Roy had on Trent. I looked at Ted, begging him to do something. Luckily, he seemed to understand my plea.

First Ted went with Roy just a few feet away into the showers. Then Ted emerged and Roy barked for Trent. Whatever happened in that room I don’t want to know but when they came out again, Roy allowed us to discuss around Trent. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time, so I urged Jamie to finish his thought.

            “Listen!” Jamie shouted out over the noise. “What I’m saying is, every time we go past halfway, they’re just blocking up the passing lanes, you get that? So just kept dribbling until they stop you.”

That’s my boy. He saw exactly what I had seen. The boys seemed to have more energy going into the second half and it showed when Sam scored a goal off Dani’s face. And that was it, we finished the game in a tie against Chelsea.

As unorthodox as it was, I was excited. Excited because I could feel the electricity of things working on the field. Of the boys understanding each other and communicating. This was the game I loved. For a moment, just a single moment, I wished it was me on the field.

As we exited the field, I caught Trent standing to the side as we filed into the locker room.

            “Trent,” I called over, to him.

            “Coach (L/N),” He noted, standing up straight as I walked over to him. “To what do I owe the honor.”

I snorted, shaking my head. “Look, if there’s one thing, I want you to understand about me is that I am not some female superstar here to save my gender in the league.” He cocked his head at me, removing his glasses to better look at me. “I’m here because I love football. Just like everyone else on this team.”

He nodded at me, understanding. “I hear you. I understand you were quite the player in university. What made you stop playing.”

Oh, so now everyone was wondering about my past huh. Well, this wasn’t about to become some melodrama about why I didn’t play football anymore. I was here to do one thing and one thing only, coach football.

            “Nope!” I popped the ‘p’ at the end and sent him a wink. And with that I turned around and headed back into the locker room.

            “Goodnight, Coach (L/N)!” I heard Trent countered as I walked away. This season was certainly turning out to be an interesting one. But then again, when wasn’t it always.

I was looking forward to the celebration that was in store in the locker room but what I was met with was the awe shocked group watching a video on their phones. A video of Zava deciding to come to Richmond.

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[earthtoharlow]

Teach Me

4. April

Series Masterlist

“Hey, Jayla has been too nervous to ask you, but do you want to come to her birthday party this weekend?” Jack asked over the phone, his voice raspier than it sounds in person. “We’re just having a few of her friends and family over at the house.”

Ariel smiles softly into her pillow. “I’d love to come to her party!”

“Good. Jayla has been talking about this party nonstop. She would've been upset if you weren’t able to come.”

The late night hour made her feel bold. “And you? Would you be upset?”

She couldn’t help but smile at the soft laughter coming from the other end of the phone. “Fuck yeah, you might the one I’m looking forward to being there the most.”

“Good” Ariel said with a smile and cuddled further into the covers. Ariel loved her nightly chats with Jack, each conversation he would share more about himself.

“Don’t tell me you fell asleep on me? Am I that boring?”

She fights to keep her eyes open not wanting to hang up the phone. “No, I’m just resting my eyes.” Ariel protested fighting back a yawn.

“Go to sleep, I’ll stay on the line.” Jack said fondly, his voice luring her to sleep.

***

The week came and went and it was officially the day of Jayla’s birthday party and Ariel was ringing the doorbell of a beautiful 2 story home.

She could hear the sounds of kids screaming and laughing. Moments later Jack opens the door with a big smile, stepping aside so that she could walk in. Before she could greet him, Jayla was running up to her. “Miss Love!” she said, hugging her jean clad legs. Crouching down in front of her, she wraps her arms around Jayla giving her a hug. “Happy birthday, Jayla!”

She gives her a huge smile that mirrored her father’s before taking her hand and tugs her through the house. Ariel couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder at Jack, and give him a small wave before following her. She was confused at first when Jayla pulled her into the bathroom.

“What’s wrong, Jayla?”

Jayla motions towards her hair. “Can you redo my hair? Daddy only really knows how to do buns and a ponytail, I want something different!” Jayla said with a small pout, and nervously playing with the KY necklace around her neck.

“Of course, we have to make sure the birthday girl looks the best!” Ariel said without a second thought and patted the stool that was in the bathroom and motioned for Jayla to sit.

Smiling at Jayla in the mirror, she says “ok so how does the birthday girl want her hair?”

Tapping her finger to her chin, “I think I want to wear it down!”

Ariel nodded before adding “Easy enough, how about we do half up, half down? That way you don’t have to worry about hair getting in your face.”

Jayla nodded and clapped her hands in excitement. At her approval Ariel got to work.

Taking her hair out of its ponytail, Ariel grabbed the water bottle from the counter to hydrate her curls, making sure to explain each step. Ariel started separating the coils and curls to make sure she didn’t miss any.

She then grabbed the coconut water leave in conditioner to moisturize the hair. While she turned to grab a hair tie she could see Jayla turning her head back and forth bouncing her curls, making her smile. Ten minutes later Jayla's hair was perfectly half up/half down, with the curls falling down her back, a butterfly clip to match the theme of her party.

Jayla softly touched her hair, smiling wide at herself in the mirror. Turning around she gave Ariel a huge hug. “Thank you soooo much, Miss Love! I love it!”

Hugging her back just as tight, “Anything for the birthday girl! Now, come on, let’s get back to the party!”

***

Jack might have gone overboard with the party, but he was finding it hard to care when he saw how happy Jayla was. Usually they would spend birthdays with just the two of them and then the following day they would go to his mothers house to celebrate again, but this year Jayla wanted a party.

Jayla was fascinated with butterflies and wanted that to be a theme. So Jack got to work and searched everywhere he could to find butterfly decorations. He paid way too much money on the butterfly balloon arch that was setup by the dessert table, but the beaming smile on Jayla’s face was worth it.

The party goes well into the afternoon, Jack smiles watching Ariel interact with all his family and friends. With the genuine smiles on everyone's faces he knew they loved her. For some reason, knowing that they loved her took a weight off his shoulders.

While he was more comfortable having the party at his house, there was still a relief when everyone started to leave. After trying to push Urban and his mother out the door, both of which tried to drop hints how much they loved Ariel. He closed the door with a sigh, shoulders finally dropping.

Ariel stayed behind to help clean despite his protest, sweeping and picking up leftover plates and cups. “Hey, you really don’t have to stay behind to help. You’re a guest.”

“I clean up after 15 kids every day of the week. I don’t mind.” Waving away his concerns and throwing more trash in the trash bins.

As Jack helped clean, he couldn’t help but stop and watch how freely she moved around his home. He could see her being a permanent fixture in Jayla and his life. When she arrived and Jayla dragged him away, he managed to find them in the bathroom. The giggles as Ariel did her hair gave them away. Outside of his mother, Ariel was the only woman in Jayla’s life he trusted. He loved that Jayla trusted her enough to ask her to do her hair.

After taking the trash outside he watched as Ariel fussed over Jayla, making sure she put all her gifts away, she did it without a single complaint.

It didn’t take long for them to finish cleaning. Jayla, still in her party dress, was spread out on the couch, nodding off. Jack walks over to lift her up, Jayla’s face pressed into his neck. “I’ll be right back.” He whispers to Ariel who simply nods.

Side stepping all her toys and gifts she received today, he carefully placed Jayla in her bed. She snuggles under the overs as he brushes his fingers across her hair. “Happy Birthday, baby girl.”

Jayla gives him a sleepy smile. “Thank you daddy. I had the best day.”

All he could do was smile at her, before leaning down to press a kiss to her head. Just as he was about to get up to leave the room Jayla spoke again.

“Ariel, read me a story?” She sleepily requested. The use of her first name didn’t go unnoticed by him.

“Let me go ask her, ok?”

Jack walked back down the stairs to the living room, nervously rubbing the back of his neck with his hands. Ariel gave him a bright smile when she saw him.

“Hey, the birthday girl wants you to read her a story” Jack said leaning against the wall of the entranceway. Jack loved the way her eyes lit up at the request, bounce in her step as she followed him back to Jayla’s room.

His heart begins to feel tight in his chest as he watches Ariel sit on the edge of her bed, just like he would, grabbing a book from her bookshelf.

Jack had never thought about anyone joining their little family. In the last four years, the few dates he’s been on. Nothing fazed him. Content with the way things were. Then walked in Ariel Love. Now all he could think about was her joining their family.

Her voice was soft but animated as she read the book to Jayla. He watches them from the doorway, smile on his lips. He could watch this every night. Ariel’s face warms as she looks up and finds Jack looking at them with a fond smile.

Jayla was fighting to keep her eyes open as Ariel closes the book. She pushes her now wild curbs behind her ear before whispering a goodnight and one last happy birthday. Jayla gives her a sleepy smile.

When Ariel goes to stand up, Jack walks back over saying his own goodnight. Pressing a kiss to Jayla’s head. “I love you.”

Ariel waits for him at the door as Jack checks to make sure Jayla’s night light was turned on, before leaving the room.

As they made it back to the living room, he motions her to the couch. Both letting out quiet sighs as they sit down.

Turning his head to look over at Ariel “Thank you.” Thinking he was thanking her for coming to the party and helping with the cleaning she replied “No, thank you for inviting me. I had the most wonderful time. You have the best friends and family!” Ariel told him with a smile.

He smiled hearing that she loved his family but he shook his head, that’s not what he was thanking her for.

“I meant, thank you for everything you do for Jayla. Today for example, you did her hair today with no questions asked.”

Jack stops her as she tries to wave him off like it was no big deal. Reaching over to grab her hand, so she could focus on him. “It’s a big deal, and seeing you in my home and laughing with my family today made me realize how I don’t want you to leave.”

Ariel looked at him in surprise, butterflies in her stomach. “Really?”

He smiled at the shocked expression on her face. “Yeah, I haven’t dated anyone since Alyssa but I really like you. A lot. You’ve become such a fixture in not only mine but Jayla’s life as well.”

Ariel smiled at that. The moments they’ve shared over the last few months made her want more. She wanted to greedily take everything Jack would give her and more. It scared her how much she wanted to be a part of his and Jayla’s life.

“I like you a lot too Jack. I know you haven’t dated since Alyssa but we can take our time. We don’t have to rush into this.”

Jack let out a sigh of relief at hearing her say that, tightening his hold on her hands.

“How are you so…perfect and understanding?”

Her face felt warm again at the statement, “I don’t know about perfect…”

“Well, you’re pretty damn close.”

Ariel just playfully rolls her eyes. “Like I said, let’s take this slow. The school year is over in a couple months, how about we just continue to get to know each other, and go on dates. When the school year is over we can go from there.”

Jack nodded in agreement. The next two months would fly by, as he tugged at her hand lightly, and shifts on the couch to pull her in closer, he knew he wouldn’t need the full two months to decide if this is what he really wanted.

“When’s the last day of school?” He asks her

“June 12th.”

“Going to mark that shit down in my calendar.”

Ariel leans into him with a soft laugh and he smiles. There was no place he’d rather have her be, than in his arms. June 12th can’t come fast enough

***

AN: I know I said the last chapter was my favorite but this one might top it just a little. Thank you everyone for all the love you guys show for this series. We only have two chapters left after this one 🫣 As always tell me your thoughtsssss :)

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[gennyanydots]

Preschool Family Day

Future Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw x f!reader

Part of the ‘Spitfire Universe’ unnecessary to read beforehand but helpful.

“Unca Wooster!” Bradley hears a little voice call with little feets smacking the ground as he runs towards his uncle. The day that little boy can say ‘R’s’ and ‘L’s’ properly is going to be a very, very sad day for Bradley. He wants to be ‘Unca Wooster’ forever. More than he’s wanted anything in a long while. Sure the dagger squad formed a little family after the mission but this little boy is the reason Bradley really felt like it was a true honest to God family. Being an only child and an orphan made family a sore subject for Bradley for a long time but not anymore, not when there was a tiny 3 year old who thought the world of him. Bradley’s sure he can convince Eli’s 8 month old sister Ella that he’s her favorite uncle too one day.

As soon as Eli was within arms reach Bradley was grabbing him securely around the waist and swinging him around, he was the fun uncle after all. He swung little Eli in a circle before throwing him over his right shoulder and walking in the direction Eli had just come from. Very unlikely that Eli is without at least one parent.

It doesn’t take more than ten steps for a stroller and two adults who vaguely look like Eli to come into view and Bradley grins. “You guys missing a kiddo? I think I found one but I can’t remember where I put it,” he says before pretending to look around on the floor and in his pockets.

“I’m wight he,” Eli says in between giggles as he wiggles atop Bradley’s broad shoulder.

“Did you guys hear something?” Bradley asks while looking around again which makes Eli’s mom laugh.

“Naw, we’re pretty sure we only have the baby,” Eli’s father, Jake, says with a chuckle.

“Daaaaaaaad!” Eli yells and continues to wiggle while he laughs.

“Oh!” Bradley says and pulls Eli off his shoulder and holds him out in front of him as if inspecting him then turns him around to face Jake. “Here it is. Are you sure it’s not yours? It looks an awful lot like you, Hangman. If not though then I’m sure I can find a circus to sell him to.”

Jake laughs and walks over and pokes at Eli’s belly who gives an answering giggle, “I don’t know. He looks familiar but I’m just not sure.”

Eli wiggles and puts his arms out towards his dad, “Daddy you know me! I’m Ewi!”

“Ohhhhhhh,” Jake says and grabs Eli from Bradley’s hands. “That’s Eli. I know him.”

Eli laughs shaking his head at his dad, “You so siwwy daddy.”

Jake nods and sets his son onto his feet, “Learned it from the best, bud.”

Bradley grins and winks at the little boy, “He’s talking about me.”

Eli laughs, “O’ couse he is. You the siwwiest, Wooster.”

Bradley grins at Eli, “Someone has to be.”

“Eli has a question for you, Bradley,” Jake’s wife says to him. Bradley’s excited. He’s not sure what it could be but anything to do with his nephew he’s down for. Hell if the boy needed a kidney then Bradley would happily head down to the hospital right now, he’s got two for a reason.

“Umm Unca Wooster I was wonda’en if you coud come to my school on Fwiday,” Eli says while looking down slightly bashfully.

“Of course, dude! Tell me a time and I’ll be there. Why am I coming to your school?” Bradley asks while kneeling down on one knee in front of Eli to be eye level with him.

“It’s family day at preschool and any ‘special adult in your child’s life’ is invited. Since there are different types of families they do special adult instead of mom or dad,” Jake explains. “But that’s the day I have that big meeting. And baby Ella has a doctors appointment so we need a stand in adult and we asked Eli who he wanted-”

“And I said you, Wooster!” Eli finishes for his father, yelling excitedly.

Bradley grins, “I’m happy to be your special adult, buddy. As silly as I feel saying that.”

Jake laughs, “Oh believe me I’m right there with ya but I get it. Not everyone has parents or some have two moms or two dads. We read lots of books about all sorts of families don’t we, bud?”

Eli nods, “Sometimes other kids just have they gandma or gandpa and dats otay too! Cause they loved just the same.”

That’s exactly right, bud,” Bradley says and ruffles Eli’s hair as he stands up.

“Do I need to bring anything or do anything?” Bradley asks looking towards Eli’s mom. If anyone had those sorts of answers it would be Jake’s wife.

She smiles at him and shrugs, “Nope, the paper says there will be refreshments and things and then I think they’re singing a cute little song or something, which you need to record for me please, and then it’s just like hanging out. If you don’t have to come back to work or anything you’re welcome to pick Eli up then and you can have one of your Eli and Rooster days but that’s up to you. You’re on the pickup list so should be fine.” She shakes her head, “His poor teacher. Eli’s pickup list is probably the longest of anyone at the school. And on top of that I put everyone’s call signs next to their names so the teacher doesn’t get confused as to why a ‘Bradley’ or ‘Natasha’ is on the paper but Eli is saying ‘Wooster’ or ‘Phoenix’.” Eli had a lot of aunts and uncles in the dagger squad. Even adopted himself a Grandma Penny and a Grandpa Mav since his only other set of grandparents live in Texas, much to Mav’s happiness. Mav loved being the favorite grandpa. Only Mav would turn being a grandpa into a competition.

Bradley smiles, “I’m sure being this close to Top Gun he’s not the only kiddo who calls his aunts and uncles by their call signs and I’m sure he won’t be the last but he is probably the one with the most adults in his life. Other squads aren’t as cool as we are and didn’t insert themselves in each other’s lives. Plus you guys were the first ones to have kids so they have everyone’s undivided attention.”

“Just means they’re spoiled rotten,” Jake’s wife says with a laugh which causes Jake to roll his eyes.

“Oh yeah because they definitely wouldn’t be spoiled without them. They definitely don’t have a pushover for a mom,” Jake says with a laugh.

She glared at Jake, “Says the man who gives in at the slightly whimper any of the kids make. Including the fluffy one.”

Jake shrugs, “You taught both kids your puppy dog eyes. You even taught the dog. You’re just as spoiled.”

Bradley laughs. He loves spending time with this family. The banter always amuses him. “Okay so Friday I’ll be there and then don’t expect to get your kid back for a while.”

“I mean eventually would be nice but whenever is fine,” Jake says with a shrug.

“We’ll see,” Rooster says with a grin.

By Friday Bradley was so excited to be going to Eli’s school. He woke up early and made sure to look his best. He had to go on base for a little while before Mav dismissed him for the day. He quickly changed into a pair of jeans with a white undershirt and a Hawaiian shirt that Eli got him for Christmas. It was one of the brightest shirts he owned and he absolutely loved it.

Bradley got to Eli’s school a little early and headed inside. There was a check in table, for safety reasons he’s sure, and he checked in as Eli’s ‘special adult’ and got a name tag that said “Uncle Rooster” on it with a small ‘Elijah Seresin’ written in the corner so everyone knew who he belonged to. Not that anyone wouldn’t know since when he walked through the door to Eli’s classroom a loud “Unca Wooster!” was heard and a little body ran as fast as it could and threw itself against Bradley’s legs and from that minute on Eli attached himself to his uncle. Bradley didn’t mind one bit. Eli immediately raised his arms and Bradley easily picked him up and set him on his hip. Eli started to point to all the things in the classroom as he made Bradley walk around.

“An dats the piggy!” Eli said pointing to a cage on the floor in the classroom.

“You have a piggy in your room?” Bradley asks walking over to it.

Eli shook his head and wiggles to be let down, which Bradley quickly did then squated down next to the cage. There was a name tag attached to one of the bars that had a name tag on it that Bradley read out loud, “Dr Rooster Cupcake.”

Eli turned to him grinning, “Da Wooster was my idea.”

Bradley chuckles, “I have no doubt about that.”

“We just mostly call him Rooster or Roo,” Bradley hears behind him.

Bradley turns around seeing a smiling woman standing behind him and he quickly stood up.

“Ms. Y/N dis is my Unca Wooster!” Eli said and slipped his little hand into Bradley’s. This must be Eli’s teacher. Damn. If Bradley knew Eli’s teacher was this pretty he would have offered to pick him up more. Or every day. Maybe he’ll start.

Bradley smiles and offers his other hand, “Hi, I’m Bradley, oh oh I mean Uncle Rooster or or Bradley. Whichever is fine. I like both. You can use either or both or whatever,” Bradley says rambling. He’s not usually like this. He knows how to talk to pretty girls. Well he knows how to talk to pretty girls at bars. Apparently he’s not as good at talking to pretty girls in preschools.

You smile and shake his hand, “Hi, Uncle Rooster or Bradley. I’m Ms. Y/N. I’m Eli’s teacher.”

“She’s da best! She let us name da piggy afta you!” Eli says pointing at the cage.

“Piggy?” Bradley questions.

You chuckle , “I’ll show you.” You open up the top of the cage and lifted up a little blue platform and reach in and grab a little brown and white fuzzy body. “This is Rooster.” You say as you stand up and came back over to Bradley and Eli. “He’s a Guinea pig.”

“Ohhhhh a Guinea pig. I thought he meant a real piggy and was scared because that’s not a very big cage for an actual pig,” Bradley says and reaches out to pet the little body but stop just before touching him and look at you, you nod encouragingly and Bradley closes the gap and pets the small animal.

“You’re right it would be too small for a piggy but it’s actually a really large cage for a Guinea pig. Typically there’s a play yard so he has something like 17 square feet to himself in all with the cage and play yard. The kids love to watch him. Every morning he has zoomies where he just runs around his play yard in circles. The kids love it when he does that,” you explain with a giggle.

“Yeah! He wuns and wuns! And sometimes I get ta give him a tweat!” Eli says excitedly. You squat down and let Eli pet the little guy. Bradley smiles proudly watching his nephew carefully pet the small animal. “Fwont ta back wight, Ms. Y/N?”

You smile at Eli, “Exactly right, babe. Front to back or he gets all huffy and we wouldn’t want that would we?”

Bradley smiles watching the two of you. He wonders what it would take to get you to call him babe. Is that weird? It’s probably weird. Bradley doesn’t want to make things weird for Eli.

Soon the Guinea pig gets a little wiggly and you stand up and walk back over to the cage and set him back inside, “Okay Eli what do we do now?”

“We wash hands! No gettin’ sick!” Eli says then runs off to the little sink in the classroom. You follow behind and then help him wash his hands and then you also wash your hands. Bradley follows the two of you and washes his hands third. Bradley looks around the room and more adults seemed to have come in while he was meeting the Guinea pig.

“I have to greet the others but I’ll check in with you guys in a little bit, okay?” You say to Bradley and Eli.

“Otay! Have fun!” Eli says with a smile. Bradley chuckles, “Yeah have fun.”

You scrunch your nose playfully at the two of them and smile before going off to greet the other adults.

Eli pulls Bradley over to a table and has him sit down with him and they both color some pictures, Eli explaining all the different colors to him as he uses them.

You’ve caught Bradley looking at you a couple times, each time he immediately looks down towards his picture and blushes.

Once done with the pictures Eli puts them in his little backpack and Bradley helps.

“There are some snacks and drinks in the hallway if anyone would like. I’m about 15 minutes the kids have a performance they would like to show you,” you call loudly to the room. It’s gotten pretty crowded since Bradley arrived. Every child had at least one adult. Some even had two. Bradley’s pretty sure one kid has whom he assumes is his parents and his grandparents.

Everyone seems to head out into the hallway at once and Bradley sees Eli kind of hesitate.

“Hey why don’t we wait a minute before getting our snack? That’s a lot of people and I don’t feel like fighting some dad for a cookie,” Bradley says to Eli who grins up at him.

Eli takes Bradley’s hand and leads him to a table, “But you would win Unca Wooster. You in da Navy like daddy.”

“You’re right, bud. I would totally win in a fight with all these adults,” Bradley says. He sits down in a tiny chair and Eli scrambles to sit in his lap. Bradley chuckles and helps Eli up.

“You know we definitely don’t condone violence here,” you say to Bradley walking with a stern look on your face and arms crossed over your chest.

“Well I was just saying and he started it and…” Bradley tried to explain before noticing a hint of a smile on your face. “You’re kidding.”

You laugh, “I am. Kinda. We don’t condone violence but I was just teasing. But we don’t use our hands and feet if we’re mad do we, Eli?”

Eli shakes his head, “No, we use wods and we take tuns with toys.”

“That’s exactly right,” you say with a fond smile. “We use our words and we take turns. You’re so smart, Eli.”

Eli grins, “I know. I good. I vewy good.” Bradley laughs while shaking his head and wraps his arms around the little boy. Clearly he’s his father’s son.

You look over at the two and raise an eyebrow, “Is that a thing?”

Bradley nods, “It is. His dad is uhh well he’s a little bit of a cocky pilot. Great guy. Just full of himself.”

You nod, “I’ve met a few of those kind of pilots.”

Bradley shrugs, “We’re not all like that. Pretty sure if I had ended up like that my mom’s ghost would kick my ass.”

Eli gasps and turns to face Bradley, “Unca Wooster! Dats one of da wods we not awowed ta use! I tellin Ganpa.”

Bradley blushes, “I’m so sorry, Eli. Sorry, Ms. Y/N. She would probably kick my butt for this too.”

“Mommy will do it. Or Ganpa. I have you phone pwease?” Eli asks.

Bradley shakes his head, “Grandpa is in a meeting with daddy. We’ll tell on me later.”

“So maybe you are like that,” you say with a chuckle.

“I swear I’m not. It’s hard to remember to turn the cursing off. I’m going to have to do push-ups later over this,” Bradley says with a small groan.

“Push-ups? Really?” You ask with a laugh.

Bradley nods, “Grandpa Mavvie is a stickler for swearing. Last Christmas someone from our squad said ‘F word Santa’ and a little boy heard it and refused to say Santa without the fun word before it. We had a squad meeting about it. Then on Christmas his dad said a bad word and his mom said he was going to have to do push-ups and Grandpa Mavvie then made that everyone’s punishment for saying bad words.”

“Wow that’s rough. I’m glad that doesn’t apply to me. I’ve definitely accidentally said things I shouldn’t hear before,” you say with a shrug.

Bradley playfully scoffs, “Around my nephew? How could you, honey? This is unacceptable!” He blushes when he realizes what he called you.

You laugh, “I know, I know! But try not saying the s h word while you’re across the room watching a kid try and grab an open gallon of paint above their head from a counter. You’d say it too.”

“Oh I’m sure I would,” Bradley says laughing. Huh. You didn’t seem to bat an eye being called that.

Eli turns to Bradley, “Snack now?”

Bradley nods and helps Eli off his lap, “Yep snack now.”

Bradley nods at you as they walk out to the hallway and get a snack together.

During the performance Bradley makes sure to record it on his phone to send to Eli’s parents.

Most people were starting to leave and everyone was taking their kid. Of course Bradley planned to too. No way is Eli staying when they can have an afternoon hanging out together at the park. Maybe even get ice cream.

There were only a few people left, mostly talking amongst themselves. You were talking to one family before the smiled at you and said goodbye.

Bradley and Eli at some point had decided they needed to help clean up. Some people just left messes and Bradley didn’t want you to have to clean up such a big mess so he and Eli cleaned the tables off together. Eli was excited to be a big helper for his teacher. Clearly he was a big fan of his teacher which Bradley was glad of. School is always better when you like your teacher.

When you turned around from talking with the family that just left you noticed the big mess you were going to have to clean up was already cleaned up and two individuals standing off to the side looking pretty proud of themselves. You smile at them both as you head over, “I assume I have you two to thank for cleaning up the mess?”

Eli grins, “I’m a big helper! Unca Wooster said we shud cwean up and be gentemen.”

“Well you two seem to be the best gentlemen. Thank you for helping me,” You say and squat down and hold your arms out that Eli excitedly runs into and hugs you. You smile and hug him back.

“We goin to go pway at da park!” Eli says excitedly as he lets go of you to run back to his uncle.

“You are? That’s so exciting! I’m sure you’ll have so much fun!” You say matching Eli’s excitement.

Eli nods, “Unca Wooster is so much fun!”

You smile, “He seems like it.”

Bradley blushes, “Okay Eli why don’t you get your things, buddy.”

Eli runs off to gather his things then runs back.

“Bye Ms. Y/N!” Eli says grabbing Bradley’s hand.

“Bye Eli! Bye Uncle Rooster or Bradley,” you say smiling and waving. “Hope I see you around.”

Bradley smiles, “I sure hope so, honey, I sure hope so.”

AN: Did I name my class pet Rooster? Yes. Yes I did.

[lanitalay]

One Day: Chapter 8

based on the Netflix series by the same name

Azriel x reader

Warnings: none

Masterlist

You have been combing your hair for far too long. Focusing on every little strand that was out of place. Typically you did not put this much effort into your appearance but today was different. It was the Summer Solstice and all of the Inner Circle was coming to Adriata. 

You had convinced Tarquin to pardon Cassian and invite your family to the biggest celebration in the court. Now you were second guessing that decision. It wasn’t that you did not miss them, you thought of them every day. But since Starfall things had changed and you were not certain you were ready to face that head on. 

“Y/n?” Tarquin called from your door. “Yes?”

“Are you almost ready?” He walked in, dressed in his finest clothes and looking like a true High Lord. His usual billowing shirts and trousers were replaced by embroidered linen perfectly tailored to his sculpted body. His hair was in its usual free state, framing his face in wisps of silver. 

“Pretty much, don’t you look dashing.” He smiled slightly then asked “what’s wrong?” 

You took a breath, “I’m nervous.”

“Why?” You continued to brush through your hair, the action grounding you. “Well… after the war I was in a very dark place. My family helped me get better but not before I ruined myself. Anyways, this year everything has gotten better. I’m healing again and I’m content with my life. But Adriata has felt like a bubble. So safe and wonderful and away from so much hurt. Don’t get me wrong Tarquin, I love my family but I just- I worry about the bubble bursting.” 

He utters an understanding hum and places his hands on your shoulders, massaging the tension away. “It is only until tomorrow, love. You will still be as you are now when they return.” A soft chuckle escapes him as he catches your frowning reflection in the mirror. Then, he brushes your hair away from your shoulder, exposing your neck to his warm lips. He kisses, sucks and bites at the skin, careful not to leave marks per your request. You turn your head and catch his lips with yours. Strong hands cup your face as sharp teeth nip at your lower lip, further deepening the kiss. 

When you are out of breath you break the kiss and give Tarquin a sheepish smile. He pecks your lips once, twice and says “it’s going to be alright. I’ll hold your hand the whole time.” 

“You will?” He nods. “Now please finish getting ready, they’ll be here soon.” 

Tarquin was holding your hand like he said. You were waiting in the palace balcony where the Inner circle would appear any second. 

Life was good in Adriata. They needed a healer, you volunteered. Now, you were content. Your family would be happy. You were healthy. Healthier than you’d been in years. So why did the pit in your stomach grow with every minute that passed? 

Out of thin air a group of ten fae appeared in front of you. Tarquin squeezed your hand in reassurance. 

Feyre and Cassian were the first to spot you and break from their formation to give you a hug, causing you to drop the High Lord’s hand. “Y/n! You look amazing!” Feyre gushed as she took you in. Skin golden from the summer sun, hair perfectly styled and a dress matching Tarquin’s shirt hugged your body beautifully. 

“I’m so happy you’re here.” 

“Of course!” 

“We all miss you, y/n.” One by one, the Inner Circle greeted the Summer Court members. You knew who would be the last to greet you and hoped he hadn’t noticed how Tarquin held your hand or touched your lower back or how you looked everywhere but him. 

But you knew, more than anyone, that Azriel would have caught on to all of that. So when he finally stepped up to you to give you a polite hug and a “nice to see you, y/n” your heart steeled. 

So it would be like this. 

“You too, Azriel.” 

The celebrations were in full swing. The palace had been decorated in Summer Court flowers, there was a beautiful spread of food and the sparkling wine seemed to be never ending. Cassian was on his best behavior, sticking by Rhys, Azriel and little Nyx to give you and Nesta time to talk. 

“You and the High Lord?”

You sipped a glass of water. “The High Lord and I.” 

She snorts. “Please, that sounds like one of my novels.” 

You force a chuckle. 

“How did it happen?” You were about to answer when you became acutely aware of the Spymaster not twenty feet from you, slippery shadows at his command. 

“Oh, well you know how these things go. We had a meeting one night and then…” it would hurt him to finish the sentence. But you were mad at him, at his slight. “Then we ended up- well I ended up on his desk.” 

“Go Tarquin. Who knew he had it in him.” You rolled your eyes and asked “and Cassian?” 

“Insufferable, irresistible, same old, same old.”

“You two are so in love it’s disturbing.” Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. “Are you in love?” 

“With Tarquin?” She gave you a look, “who else?”

“Well, it's very new.” 

“So no.” 

“Nesta-” you began but were cut off by Tarquin calling you over “let’s show your family the pools, y/n.” 

You shot Nesta a look as she smirked knowingly. “That 's right! The pools are new and they are spectacular, let’s go Nes.” You grab her hand and pull her towards the group. When you are close enough, Tarquin grabs your hand. 

“This is impressive.” Rhysand says as the pools come into view. They were massive bowlike structures that appeared to hang in thin air, arranged like a fountain where one bowl fed the other water via smooth waterfall. There was no ceiling in this part of the palace so the sun cast a shimmering glow on the pools and the flowing water. 

“Each bowl represents the seven courts, all working together.” 

“It's beautiful, Tarquin.” Feyre said. 

“Tomorrow we can go for a swim if you’d like.” The group all agreed that they would. 

“So y/n had this crazy friend, her name was Bec, remember? They would always celebrate the Summer Solstice on the Sidra and then continue the party in the Rainbow and about 60 years ago we stumbled into the same place and our lives were forever changed.” Cassian told the story of how you joined their makeshift family. 

“You old sap.” 

“So this is a meaningful day for you.” Tarquin noted brightly. 

“Yes-”

“Whatever happened to Bec?” 

“She’s mated and has a beautiful family. They still live in Velaris, only they moved to the seaside when they got too cramped in the city center.” 

“She used to be wild- ow!” Nesta smacked her mate. “What was that for?” 

“Stop berating y/n.”

“I was just asking about an old friend.” Tarquin laughed to ease the tension that had fallen over the room. Talking about the past was sweet until thy got up to more recent years.  “Well it has been lovely hosting you-”

“You’re leaving?” Feyre asks. 

“Yes, I must be present for a sacred ceremony held in our oldest temple. But stay and enjoy the rest of the night. I will see you tomorrow.”

“Oh, I didn’t notice how late it was. We should put Nyx to bed, Rhys.” The baby was still wide awake and enthralled by all the new shapes and colors. “We can try.” 

Nesta and Cassian followed suit, claiming exhaustion from training. Then Elain, then Mor and Amren had disappeared with Varian hours before. So that left you and… 

“I’ll go to bed as well.” You say, not looking at him. 

“Are you serious, y/n?” You lift your gaze and spot him across the room. 

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t act like you’re clueless.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Fine. I’ll just say it since it could be another decade before I see you again. You ran, y/n. Things got real and you ran away like you always do. I bared my soul, I begged you to let me in and the second I thought we were finally-” 

“I did not run, Azriel. I was offered an opportunity and I took it.”

“You took it after Starfall.” He moved forward. One step at a time. 

“Don’t talk to me about Starfall.” 

“Why can’t you admit it?” Azriel was so close, so close your body ached for him even if it had only known his touch that first night, decades ago.

“I can’t do this-” you turned on your heel but were stopped by Azriel’s hand on your wrist. 

“Then let me do the talking.” You open your mouth to protest but no words come one. Not when he’s almost flush against you. When his eyes are aflame with uncharacteristic anger. 

“You make me crazy. For sixty years, you have consumed every waking moment and all of my dreams. I have never known such an overwhelming- you are so ingrained in me. In everything I do. I love you.” You begin to shake your head but he catches your chin with his free hand and forces you to watch as he says “I love you, not only as a friend. I love you like the other half of my soul. I have loved you since that first night. I have loved you through boyfriends and war and grief and sadness and I’ll love you until I’m nothing but dust. But you are pissing me off.” 

You scowl and try to jerk away but his hold remains on your wrist. “When are you going to get it through your thick skull that the time we have together is precious? Why do you insist on creating more distance between us? Have I misunderstood everything?”

“Azriel-” 

“Just answer me truthfully.” He was close again. Nose brushing against yours.

“I-”

“Because when we kissed at Starfall I thought that was it. I was ready to give you everything. But not two days later you run off to Adriata and not even a goodbye. I  must be an idiot because still, I love you. You run off into the arms of a High Lord and I still would marry you right now.”  

“Az-” your heart is pounding from his confessions, his proximity. 

“What happened? Did I do something wrong? Was it-”

“Will you let me speak?” He swallowed and nodded, his grip on your wrist loosened.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. But I couldn’t stay in Velaris after Starfall. I- I’m not blind you know? I was there at training and family dinners. I saw you and Gwyn-”

“What?”

“She’s good for you, better than I’ll ever be and everyone knows it. I left to get out of your way. Because you deserve someone that won’t run- and you’re right I’m a coward. I couldn’t bear to see it happening so I came here and I’m good now.” 

He shook his head, not willing to believe what you were saying. “Are you happy?” 

“Uhm-” He let go of your wrist. “I’m getting there.” 

“You’re not happy, neither am I. And if you would have just opened your eyes you would see that it’s because I’m only happy when I’m with you. Gwyn is great, sure, but you are everything. Come back. Please.” He wasn’t touching you but he was still so close. 

You’d be lying if you did not want to run into his arms and never let go. But a fear so paralyzing wouldn’t let you move. “What if you change your mind? What if all of this was better in theory but in practice it’s just wrong.” 

Scarred hands landed on your shoulders and hazel peered into your soul. “I swear on my life’s blood that won’t happen.” 

Then it snapped. 

A gasp escaped your lips and you clutched your chest as the feeling of light spreading overwhelmed you. It pooled out of yourself and became entwined with Azriel’s. Your face said it all. His face was stunned. “Az-” 

“I feel it.”  

“Did you know?” 

“No.” 

His hands were still on your shoulders, trembling. “What do you say?” 

What could you say now? In a matter of seconds Azriel swore to never leave you and your mating bond revealed itself. How could you say anything but “I’ll come home.” 

Heat, yours and Azriel’s combined, set your skin on fire. You wanted him. Gods, you needed him. 

“Az-” 

“Yeah?”

“Kiss me.” It was all he wanted to hear. Instantly his lips were on yours, harsh and claiming. He growled when he caught Tarquin’s scent mixed with yours and pulled away. “Where’s your room?” 

You burst through the door and he throws you on the mattress, settling atop your form with reverend strokes up and down your sides. “Az” his came out a shy moan. 

“What do you want?” 

You began to undo his leathers leaving marks on his neck and chest. 

“You. I want all of you.”

[echo-goes-mmm]

Silas and Wren 2.0 #5

Masterpost

Previous

Next

Warnings: past dub/noncon

Silas paced in his room. 

As much as he hated solitude, he’d grown accustomed to it. Now that he had company, what was there to say?

He’d gotten what he wanted, but it didn’t help the emptiness inside him.

Typical. 

He stopped, sighing. Maybe… maybe he just needed some time. To get used to another person again; or maybe time for the pain of rejection to leave.

If it ever left.

Silas opened his door, bumping into Wren. 

Wren squeaked at the impact. He stepped back, his honey-brown eyes wild.

“Sorry,” Silas apologized. “I didn’t know you were there.”

Wren's expression shifted in a flash, from fear to a placid smile, but Silas could hear his frantic heartbeat.

“I should have watched where I was going,” he said, polite as always. “I’m sorry, Master.”

Wren was afraid of him.

Of course Wren was afraid of him; how could he expect anything different? He shouldn’t hope for anything good from the universe. Nothing ever panned out right.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Wren’s relief was nearly imperceptible, but it was there.

“What’re you up to?” Silas asked.

Wren tensed again, and Silas could have smacked himself. “I’m only curious,” he added.

“I- I was looking for a duster, Master. To clean with.”

“Oh. Uh, I don’t think I have one. Sorry.”

“It’s alright, Master, I’ll make do,” Wren said with a sunny smile. It didn’t quite meet his eyes.

Silas wondered how many smiles Wren had faked before. He was too good at it.

“You don’t have to clean for me.”

Wren shifted. “I’d be happy to,” he said. “I don’t mind, Master.”

Silas knew a losing battle when he saw one.

“Well, alright. You don’t need to call me ‘master’, though. Just Silas will do.”

“Yes, Master Silas,” replied Wren automatically.

Silas sighed internally, and went downstairs.

So much for bonding. How did people make friends?

Silas scanned the bookshelf, looking for something to read. 

Unfortunately, he had read all of his books many times, and he really didn’t feel like risking the streets for the bookstore. 

The library was outside his pitiful territory, and out of the question.

Silas worried his lip. Maybe he could send Wren to buy a book or two?

He glanced at the clock. Ten pm. The bookstore closed at nine.

It was just as well, really. He couldn’t afford to spend money so frivolously. Sure, the banks were as happy to service vampires as they were humans- money was money after all- but his pockets were not as deep as most of his kin. 

Wren alone was a sizable expense, and he had to buy food for him every week. Not to even mention furnishing the attic room. No new books for a while, then.

Silas grabbed a random title and sat in his armchair. He flipped to the first chapter, skimming the words.

Nothing jumped out at him; the plot couldn’t hold his attention. He had read it too many times.

Silas scrubbed a hand over his face. 

He missed his sired siblings, even though they disliked him. He missed games and chatter and jokes, even if he was mostly left out.

But most of all he missed Felix; the only other person in his nest that didn’t hate him.

If only things had been different.

Silas sighed, and stood to put the book away.

___________________

Wren finished dusting the top of the kitchen shelves. No one had cleaned up there in ages, and no wonder. He had to climb on top of the counter to get to it.

Wren wiped off the counters one more time, and admired his work.

The kitchen was sparkling from top to bottom. He’d even mopped the floor, despite the lack of a proper mop.

Luckily, he’d found some rags in the bathroom closet. It seemed a rather strange place to keep them, but it wasn’t his place to question his Master’s organization system.

Speaking of his Master, Silas hadn’t fed from him yet. Surely he was hungry.

Wren put the stopper in the sink and filled it with hot water. He left the rags to soak, and went looking for his owner.

___________________

Master Silas was in the living room, staring off into space. His hands were folded in front of him, and his legs were stretched out.

Wren hesitated.

“Are you alright, Master?”

Silas turned his head, his gray eyes landing on him. Master looked away after only a moment.

“I’m fine,” he said.

Wren hesitated. “You haven’t had breakfast,” he said.

“I’m not hungry. Just… bored.”

What did he mean? A vampire who wasn’t hungry? Laughable. Incomprehensible. Then again, who was Wren to question him?

Boredom, though, he could fix.

Wren didn’t particularly want to at the moment- he was probably covered in dust- but it was about time he did his duty for Master Silas.

“I could entertain you, Master,” he offered, keeping his voice as pleasant and agreeable as possible.

Silas looked at him again. Wren’s hands twitched at the hem of his shirt, waiting for the order to strip.

It didn’t come.

Silas stood up. He walked to the shelf, and pulled down a box.

Confusion and relief swirled through him. A game. Just a board game.

“Do you know how to play Carcassonne?”

“I can learn, Master.”

Silas set the box on the coffee table, and Wren inched forward. Master began to pull out the pieces, and Wren sat on the rug across from him.

One day, soon, Master Silas would take him to the bedroom and Wren would find out what kind of Master he was. What he liked, and how to really please him.

But for now, Master wanted him to play a game.

Wren tried to pay attention as Master Silas explained the rules, but a thought nagged at him.

Why didn’t Silas want to bed him? 

No one had ever turned him down before. He never really had to offer before, either. It was a given; understood that Wren was always available. No Master needed to be bored when he was around.

It had been three days and Silas showed no sign of interest.

No Master had ever waited so long. Some took him into the bedroom immediately, others waited until evening came. One in particular, the worst of them, had bent him over the nearest piece of furniture as soon as they had walked through the door. 

But three days? Unheard of.

Silas placed the first square, and Wren was struck with a horrifying thought.

Was something wrong with him?

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