#i still miss her sitting on the top step with the dogs asking for breakfast

[justabigassnerd]

Finally Safe

Pairing - Tim Bradford x reader

Word count - 6,179

Warnings - kidnapping, drugging, talks of malnourishment, sad Tim hours, angst, fluff, inaccurate medical scenes, swearing

Summary - after being missing for years, you and Tim are finally reunited

A/N - hey y'all! this was an idea suggested to me by @scarletstarrs so I hope I did your idea justice because I loved exploring this idea so much (and all the angst that came with it). anyways I won't ramble, as per y'all please send in requests, feedback, and enjoy!!!

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When Lucy entered the station, ready for the morning roll call, she was both shocked and confused to find Tim Bradford missing from the building. Other than being forced to take leave after being shot, Tim had always shown up to work no matter what.

“Hey, have you seen Tim?” Lucy asks, sitting down in between Jackson and Nolan who both shrug, shaking their heads. Before the three could begin theorising about where Lucy’s training officer had gone, Sergeant Grey stepped up to the podium and began to talk, detailing what was going to be happening during the day. Just before he sends everyone off to start the day, he addresses Lucy.

“Officer Chen, you’ll be riding with me today. Dismissed.” Grey says, his dismissal causing everyone to stand up and make their way out of the room to start their day. As Grey begins to exit, Lucy follows after him.

“Sergeant Grey, while it’s an honour to ride with you today. Where’s Officer Bradford?” Lucy asks, trying her best to sound respectful while enquiring about where Tim is.

“Officer Bradford is taking a personal day,” Grey replies simply, gesturing for Lucy to go and get the war bags to load the shop. At Grey’s gesture, Lucy began to make her way to get the bags, silently wondering to herself why Tim had taken a personal day and whether he was okay.

Across LA, Tim was sitting at home. He had barely had the energy to move out of bed when he woke up but he had managed to drag himself over to the sofa after making sure Kojo had his breakfast. Kojo, while not having lived with Tim long, had picked up on Tim’s melancholy mood and curled up next to him, whining softly as Tim studied a picture on his phone. Tim let out a soft sigh, tears filling his eyes as he studied the picture, a picture of him and you, his wife, on your wedding day. He was embracing you happily, lips pressed to yours.

“I miss you so much,” Tim whispers, unable to remove his gaze from the image of you. You had gone missing three years ago to the day, and Tim could never forgive himself for it. At Tim’s whisper, Kojo shuffled around, resting his head on Tim’s lap, sensing Tim’s pain. Kojo’s movement briefly pulled Tim’s attention away from his phone.

“I’m sorry buddy,” Tim says softly, stroking the top of Kojo’s head. Since you had been taken, Tim had consistently taken a personal day on the date you were taken with each passing year you remained missing. Most detectives involved in your case had told Tim that it was time to give up. The chances were high that whoever had taken you had killed you and had moved on. But Tim wouldn’t just give up on you. He couldn’t. Deep down he knew you were still out there somewhere, and he needed to find you. As Tim continued to swipe through the album of photos he had of you and him, Kojo began to paw at his leg slightly, as if trying to drag him out of his slump.

“I know. Come on, I’ll take you for a walk.” Tim says, knowing that keeping Kojo inside because of his upset would just not be worth it. Tim manages to get up from the sofa, shower and change before grabbing Kojo’s lead. As he left the house with Kojo trotting along by his side, he was silently grateful for the dog’s presence in his life. Before Kojo came around, Tim just wallowed in his house, hiding away from the world when he missed you too much. But now he had someone relying on him, and he couldn’t let Kojo down. After reaching the park, Tim let Kojo off the lead so he could explore while he sat on a bench. As he watched Kojo, he couldn’t help but imagine you sat by his side. You had always wanted to get a dog since long before marrying Tim and he had always put it off, claiming he wanted to wait. He felt so guilty for owning Kojo while you were missing but he knew that when he found you, you’d love Kojo and you’d so quickly become his new favourite person.

After a while, Tim whistled for Kojo to come back over so they could walk back home and as they made their way home, Tim’s phone buzzed, alerting him that he had a message but he opted to wait until he was home to see what it was. When he finally made it home, Tim collapsed onto the sofa and pulled out his phone to see a text from Angela.

‘How are you?’

That simple message was enough to bring the smallest of smiles to Tim’s face. Angela had been Tim’s entire support system since the day you went missing. She had checked in with him regularly and was someone to lean on during his bad days. When she had been promoted to detective, Angela had promised Tim she would do what she could to try and pick up any leads in your missing persons case. Tim had been so grateful for Angela’s support over the last few years, she was the person he needed to help him navigate your absence in his life.

‘Could be better.’

Tim could never lie to Angela. She had ways to see right through him, even over text so he knew there was no point even attempting to act like he was feeling okay on a day like this.

‘Do you want to come over? Have some company?’

Angela’s offer of company was not unusual, although the last few times Angela had asked if he wanted her to come over after her shift had finished, but now with her on maternity leave, both she and Tim had a whole day to console each other.

‘That would be nice. I’ll be over in a few.’ 

Tim types out and sends his response, once again forcing himself up from the sofa and petting Kojo, promising him he’d be back soon before grabbing the keys to his truck and making his way to Angela’s house.

When he arrived he barely even knocked on the door before Angela opened it, a soft gentle smile on her face as she took in Tim’s appearance. It was obvious to her that he hadn’t slept well the night before but she couldn’t blame him. If Wesley had gone missing she knows she’d be absolutely beside herself with worry and anticipatory grief.

“Come and sit down,” Angela says softly, resting a hand on Tim’s back and guiding him to the sofa, easing herself down alongside him, her gentle hand never leaving his back as she moves it up to rub his shoulder lightly. For a few minutes, the two of them sit in silence before Tim lets out a shuddering breath.

“I miss her so much.” Tim manages to say, his voice choking as tears begin to well in his eyes.

“I know, Tim,” Angela says sympathetically, her hand continuing to rub soothing circles on his shoulder in an attempt to keep his breathing steady.

“It hurts.” Tim manages to say, hand hovering near his heart, swearing he could feel his heart pounding louder and stronger with each second.

“I can’t imagine the pain. But I’m here for you. You’re not alone.” Angela says softly, feeling her heart break more and more at Tim’s broken state. She was the only person who got to see this side of Tim in these moments and it made her more and more determined to find you. After a few moments of comforting whispers from Angela and teary sniffles from Tim, he turned to face her, eyes still shining with unshed tears.

“Do you think we’ll even find her alive?” Tim asked, uncharacteristically pessimistic about your case, making Angela shocked.

“She’s got to be out there somewhere. And we’ll find her.” Angela says, pulling Tim into a careful hug.

“It’s my fault she’s gone,” Tim mutters against her shoulder, a confession no one had heard from him before.

“Don’t say that. You’re not to blame.” Angela says, pulling away slightly to look him in the eyes as he shakes his head.

“I am.” Tim insists, his right hand moving to fiddle with his wedding ring, a movement Angela didn’t miss. She knew he would take the ring off when he was on duty, but when he was off duty it would be restored to its rightful place and he’d often find himself twisting it around on his finger out of habit.

“Why do you say it’s your fault?” Angela asks tenderly, hoping she’d be able to help Tim realise that it wasn’t his fault.

“We had an argument that night. A stupid one at that, I can’t even remember what it was about, maybe about chores or something? But y/n got pissed at me and she said she needed to go on a walk to clear her head. I was pissed too and the moment she left I just decided to go to bed. I was too angry to do anything else. If I had gone after her none of this would’ve happened. She’d still be here with me.” Tim whispers, feeling like his throat is closing more tears welling in his eyes as he relives that night.

“Where are you going?” Tim asks, pausing his angry pacing to glare at you from across the room.

“For a walk. I can’t be around you right now.” You reply, your voice just as venomous as his as you grab your keys, reaching for the door handle.

“Fine.” Tim spits angrily, turning on his heel and stalking off again as you open the door, exiting and angrily closing the door behind you while Tim storms to the kitchen, grabbing himself a beer from the fridge.

After a couple of beers, Tim decided it wasn’t worth staying up waiting for you any longer. You had taken your keys and he knew you’d come back whenever you were ready to so he took himself to bed, practically passing out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The next morning, Tim woke up and found your side of the bed still empty, and when he reached across to search for any remaining body heat, he found that your side was still cold, like no one had slept in it all night. Figuring you had spent the night on the sofa, Tim sat up and got himself out of bed, all anger from the night before gone.

“Hey, Baby, I’m sorry about last night.” Tim enters the living room, rubbing his eyes as he enters, stopping in his tracks when he realises you’re not in the room, nor was there any evidence you had even slept on the sofa. At the sight of the empty room, and your keys still missing from the key bowl, Tim felt his stomach turning with anxiety. He just knew something bad had happened to you. You wouldn’t just go silent on him or not come home at all.

After trying to call your phone and getting no answers, Tim knew he had to file a missing persons case when he got to work. He wasn’t going to rest until he found you.

“Tim, listen to me. It is not your fault. You couldn’t have known. Neither of you could’ve known there would be a psycho out there. You can’t blame yourself for something you never could’ve anticipated.” Angela says softly, her voice shaking Tim from his thoughts. She could imagine the guilt Tim was feeling, but she knew it wasn’t his fault.

“It is. If I had just-”

“Okay, I’m going to stop you right there. There’s nothing you could’ve done. I know just as well as you that y/n is stubborn as anything, so if she wanted to go and get some air after your argument then she would’ve done it regardless. You can’t predict the future and y/n wouldn’t want you to blame yourself.” Angela says, her voice was soft yet firm so she can get her point across to Tim. She knew Tim had a habit of blaming himself for things out of his control but she had no idea that he had carried guilt from your disappearance silently and had been beating himself up about it for so long.

“I just need to find her. I need her safe and home with me. I didn’t even tell her I loved her the last time I saw her.” Tim says, fiercely wiping at his eyes to stop any tears from falling.

“I’m working with detectives to pick up the dead ends from y/n’s case. One of them will lead us somewhere I’m sure. Between you and me, working y/n’s case is the only work Wesley is okay with me doing while on maternity leave. He knows how important it is to us and he’s promised me that if we catch the asshole he’d ensure he spends the rest of his life behind bars.” Angela says reassuringly, wanting to help restore Tim’s faith in finding you.

“Thank you, Angela,” Tim says quietly with a nod. With the topic seeming to be at an end, Angela decides to change the subject and while Tim had always jokingly complained about helping Angela with wedding planning, he was more than happy to do so on this day. While he helped Angela plan various parts of her wedding, he couldn’t help but think about the time he had spent planning his wedding with you.

“Tim, we can’t seat my uncle next to your brother-in-law!” You exclaimed with a laugh, curling further into Tim’s side as he wrapped his arm around you, chuckling lightly to himself, both of you focusing on the seating chart Tim had drafted.

“Sure we can. It would be hilarious.” Tim says, squeezing you closer, his hand winding around your waist.

“You want our wedding to result in a fistfight?” You say, an amused tone to your voice as you raise an eyebrow.

 “Mmm, might not be the best idea then,” Tim murmurs, leaning close to press a kiss to your cheek.

“The best idea is to make sure they stay as far away from each other as possible.” You muse, unable to stop the smile covering your face as Tim continued to press kisses to your cheek.

“We’ll figure it out.”

By the end of the day, Tim had spent most of his time at Angela’s house and he had been beyond grateful for her company and her willingness to help him through a day like this. When Wesley got home, Tim decided that was when he should be heading home himself, knowing Kojo was probably waiting for him.

“I’ll see you around,” Tim says quietly, giving Angela a gentle hug, pulling away and giving Wesley a friendly nod before making his way out of their house, heading to his truck to head home. Unbeknownst to Tim, the moment he left, Angela’s phone buzzed and when she read the text she knew she had to step into work again. Whether Wesley liked it or not.

The next morning, Angela made her way to the hospital, meeting with other detectives once she got there before being led to a room that had a girl inside. Angela figured she couldn’t be any older than her early twenties. After getting a quick brief from the other detectives, Angela made her way into the room, smiling softly to let her know she wasn’t a threat.

“Hi, Bella. I’m Detective Lopez, but you can just call me Angela.” Angela introduces herself, easing herself down onto one of the hospital room chairs as Bella eyes her carefully. Angela could tell that the last thing Bella wanted was to be questioned but it was protocol, whether she liked it or not.

“I promise I’ll make this quick, just tell me what happened,” Angela assures, pulling out her notepad and pen.

“A few months ago, some guy grabbed me off the street while I was making my way home. He kept calling me ‘Samantha’ the whole time. No matter how many times I told him my name was Bella he just ignored it.” Bella explains, tears welling in her eyes as her arms wound around her middle.

“Can you describe this man? And where he was keeping you?” Angela asks carefully, making notes on her notepad as Bella nods.

“He looked like he was in his forties, his hair was greying and he had a huge burn scar on his right arm, like all up it. He was keeping us in the woods. It sounds really cliche now that I say it out loud. He’d moved us around a bit before he found this old abandoned cabin on the outskirts of the city. He managed to get power and water so he figured we could just stay out there, like some delusional family or something.” Bella says, and Angela immediately picks up on her choice of words.

“I’m sorry, you said ‘us’. Was there someone else?” Angela enquires, glancing up from her notebook.

“Yeah, there was another woman, she might’ve been in her thirties? The guy kept calling her ‘Vivian’ but I’m guessing that wasn’t her name.” Bella explains with a nod while Angela pulls her phone out of her pocket, hurriedly scrolling through it and finding a picture with you in.

“This other woman. Did she look like this?” Angela flips the phone around, showing Bella the picture, watching as her eyes widen in recognition.

“Yes! That’s her!” Bella exclaims, looking over at Angela.

“She’s alive,” Angela mutters to herself, unable to believe the news.

“Do you know her?” Bella asks, noticing Angela’s reaction and how hurriedly she was typing into her phone.

“She’s a friend of mine. She’s been missing for a while.” Angela says, tucking her phone away as she talks.

“She’s the one who helped me escape. She saw the opportunity and she encouraged me to go for it.” Bella says, watching Angela’s reaction carefully.

“That sounds like y/n. She always looked out for others.” Angela says with fondness, remembering how you had always put others above yourself.

“I want to help her,” Bella says, a strong, newfound determination in her voice.

“Can you recall where the cabin was? If you can that would help us track her down.” Angela asks, listening carefully as Bella explains all the details she can remember of her escape from that cabin. After getting as many details as Bella could remember, Angela excused herself, exiting the room and immediately calling Grey on her way out, informing him of everything and letting him know that he and the LAPD needed to act fast before you were moved again.

Back at the Mid-Wilshire police station, police officers were starting to prepare for an operation on the outskirts of Los Angeles just as Lucy and Tim entered, ushering their recent arrest to be processed. They quickly became aware of the atmosphere around them so while Lucy was processing the arrest, Tim stepped out to find Grey.

“What’s going on?” Tim asks after tracking down Grey.

“I’m getting some people together for an operation. But I need you and Officer Chen to stay on patrol.” Grey says, gathering his war bags and barely glancing Tim’s way.

“I want to help,” Tim says, confused as to why Grey isn’t letting him get involved with an operation, not when he had as much experience as he did.

“This isn’t a matter to discuss Officer Bradford. You’re one of my best patrol officers and I need you out on the streets with Officer Chen while we do this. Is that understood?” Grey asserts, facing Tim and staring him down as Tim straightens up.

“Understood, Sir,” Tim says, feeling his heart sink at not getting to be involved with an operation.

“You’ll get in on the next operation,” Grey says, clapping Tim on the shoulder quickly before making his way towards his shop, leaving Tim to head back to Lucy, finding her after she had just finished processing their arrest.

“Hey, did you find out what everyone’s doing?” Lucy asks, looking up at Tim curiously.

“There’s an operation going down. I don’t know what it’s for but Grey wants us on patrol.” Tim says with a shrug, beginning to turn on his heel and make his way towards their shop, annoyance evident in in his body language.

“Do they know this would be a great learning opportunity for me? I want to get as much experience in operations as possible. Why aren’t they letting us help?” Lucy asks, following behind Tim.

“I don’t know, Boot. But it’s not my place to challenge Sergeant Grey’s orders.” Tim says firmly, glancing over his shoulder at Lucy who nods, still obviously upset about not getting to help with an operation while she’s still in training.

“Come on, get in. We’ve got a patrol to finish.” Tim then says with a shrug, both of them reaching the shop and getting in, ready to continue their patrol.

After a couple of hours of patrolling, Tim and Lucy had stopped to grab some coffee and while they stood outside their shop, talking and sipping at their drinks, Tim’s phone rang, making his eyebrows furrow when he saw Angela’s name displayed across his screen.

“Angela.” Tim greets as the phone reaches his ear.

“Tim, you need to get your ass to the hospital right now,” Angela says, making Tim raise an eyebrow before he thinks of a reason why she’d be asking him to come to the hospital.

“Are you having the baby already?” Tim asks, a panicked expression crossing his face.

“What? No. Look, just come to Shaw Memorial as soon as you can.” Angela says, an urgency in her voice that Tim hasn’t heard in a while.

“Okay, I’ll head over now.” Tim concedes, bidding Angela goodbye before hanging up the phone and shoving it away in his pocket.

“We’re going to the hospital. And no Angela is not giving birth.” Tim says, able to predict what Lucy was about to ask from a single look.

“Then why are we going to the hospital?” Lucy then questions, both of them getting into their seats just before Tim starts the drive to the hospital.

“No idea. Maybe one of my C.I’s ended up in hospital and they wanted to talk to me.” Tim says, shrugging lightly, wondering to himself why it was Angela had summoned him to the hospital when she’s not supposed to be working. The closer they get to the hospital, the more Tim starts to suspect that it has something to do with you. Angela had assured him that the only case she was working while on maternity leave was yours. But as he parked in the car park for the hospital, he started to picture the worst possible case scenario as he bursts through the hospital, tracking down Angela within minutes, practically leaving Lucy behind.

“What’s happened?” Tim asks, studying Angela’s expression carefully as she grabs his wrist leading him to a nearby hospital room and letting him look through the window. At the sight, tears immediately began to well in his eyes, stepping forward slightly towards the door before Angela stopped him.

“The doctors are working on her now. They’ll get you when she’s stable. I just wanted to show you that we found her.” Angela explains softly, watching as Tim refuses to tear his gaze away from the window.

“She’s alive,” Tim whispers, tears in his eyes as he watches the doctors hooking you up to an IV drip and heart monitors.

“She is. We found her.” Angela says softly, carefully guiding Tim back to the waiting room and helping him ease himself into a chair just as Lucy finally found the pair.

“What the hell? Why did you leave me behind?” Lucy demands, approaching Tim who barely processes her words, his gaze locked on the floor in front of him as his knee bounces impatiently.

“Not now, Lucy,” Angela says, holding a hand out towards Lucy to silence her while her other hand rests on Tim’s shoulder, squeezing it softly.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Lucy then asks, noticing the unusual behaviour Tim was exhibiting and how Angela was protecting him fiercely.

“We’ll tell you later,” Angela says, knowing that with the state Tim was in, she shouldn’t go spilling his personal life.

After half an hour of waiting, a doctor approached Angela since they only recognised her but she made sure to bring Tim into the conversation as well as make sure the doctors knew he was your husband so that he would make any and all medical decisions that you couldn’t make.

“y/n had been drugged upon being found, I assume something that was something done so that the perpetrator could move her without the risk of her running away. She’s also showing clear signs of dehydration and malnourishment so we’ve got her on IVs to give her what her body needs. She’s still asleep but would you like to see her?” The doctor explains, glancing at the tablet in his hand before looking at Tim who nods. The doctor gestures for Tim to follow him to your room but before he leaves he turns to Angela.

“Message me if you need me,” Angela says softly, watching as he nods once more before following the doctor and being granted access to your room. As soon as he enters the room, he grabs a chair and pulls it up along your bedside, one hand taking your hand in his while his other hand runs through your hair.

“I’m here, Baby. I’m so sorry. I love you.” Tim says, repeating the three sentences like a mantra as he squeezes your hand softly. He felt more tears welling in his eyes as he took in your form. Your cheeks were hollowed and you had dark circles under your eyes. The more Tim watched you as you slept, the worse his guilt got. He couldn’t help but hate himself more and more for letting you leave the house that night. As the day progressed, Tim found himself uncharacteristically talkative with you, rambling about everything you had missed.

“I’ve got a new rookie. Her name’s Lucy Chen. You’d like her a lot actually. She reminds me of you in a way.” Tim says, his thumb absentmindedly rubbing the back of your hand as he talks. He knew you and Lucy would get on well. After all, Lucy was someone who was unafraid to speak her mind around Tim and you’d admire her fire. By the time night fell, Tim was sure he’d covered everything that had happened since you had gone missing. He felt a yawn slip past his lips which made him attempt to shake the sleepiness off. He didn’t want to fall asleep and then risk waking up to find out that this had been a dream. He couldn’t bare to wake up to find you missing again. However, as the night progressed, Tim got more and more tired and he began to struggle to keep his eyes open so he laid his head down on your bed, making sure he was facing up at you, keeping your hand in his the whole time before letting his eyes slip closed, hoping this wasn’t all a dream.

You woke up slowly in the early hours of the morning and as you slowly open your eyes, you couldn’t help but smile tearily when you recognised the sleeping face of your husband. The face you had dreamed of seeing for years. You watched Tim quietly for a moment, admiring the man you loved so much before your need to talk to him overtook you and you squeezed his hand softly, rousing him almost instantly. His eyes blinked open and you felt a tear slip down your cheek.

“Hey, Tim.” You whisper softly, your voice slightly hoarse from lack of use. Tim couldn’t even bring himself to talk, he just squeezed your hand, tears welling in his own eyes.

“You’ve grown your hair out a bit.” You observe quietly, gently extracting your hand from his to run your hand through his hair, having been used to his shorter haircut for too long.

“You like it?” Tim asks with a teary laugh.

“I love it. I did always tell you it would look nicer if you grew it out a little.” You muse softly, enjoying the feeling of running your hand through his hair with the slight added length. As another tear rolls down your cheek, Tim reaches out and wipes it away, his touch as soft and as gentle as you remembered it.

“I’m so sorry, Baby. I let you down.” Tim apologises, his hand lingering on your cheek as you lean into his touch, desperately craving the love and comfort only Tim could provide you with.

“It’s not your fault. I’m the one who left that night.” You say, slowly retracting your hand from Tim’s hair, returning it to your lap as Tim shakes his head.

“I should’ve stopped you.” Tim argues, making you shake your head in response.

“You couldn’t have known, Tim. Look, let’s not argue. We haven’t seen each other in years I don’t want to ruin this by arguing. It’s no ones fault but the ass who took me.” You say, your voice soft yet firm as Tim nods lightly in understanding.

“I missed you so much.” Tim then whispers, his face displaying every emotion he was feeling in the moment.

“I missed you too.” You reply softly. Glad you were reunited with your husband again.

After a few days stay in hospital, you had finally been cleared to go home which you were excited for. Your days in the hospital were mostly spent talking to lawyers and detectives to get all the evidence needed for the case against your kidnapper. But Tim had all but refused to leave your side through it all, and some of your friends came to visit you after news had spread that you had been found. You even got to meet Tim’s newest rookie, Lucy, who like Tim predicted, you got on brilliantly with. And while you had appreciated people wanting to visit you, and that the detectives and lawyers wanted to get that guy behind bars as soon as possible. But you just wanted to go home, to spend some time with Tim in the comfort of your own house, as well as getting to know the family member you had missed the arrival of. When Tim had told you about Kojo, he had not missed the way your eyes lit up and he knew it was going to be love at first sight for both you and Kojo. After all the paperwork had been sorted and Tim had brought you a comfy change of clothes from home, you finally headed out to Tim’s truck, letting him help you into the vehicle and settling in to the passenger seat.

The drive back to yours and Tim’s shared house was relatively silent, you listened to what was on the radio and occasionally chatted with Tim until he pulled into the driveway. You waited upon Tim’s orders for him to round the truck and open the door for you, helping you out carefully before leading you to the front door.

“Are you ready?” Tim asks softly, hand interlocked with yours as you both stand in front of the door, staring it down before you nod lightly, giving Tim the sign he needed to unlock the front door, easing it open and ushering both you and him inside, quickly coming face to face with Kojo.

“Hey, you must be Kojo. Tim’s told me all about you. I’m y/n.” You introduce yourself to the dog, watching his reaction carefully as he approaches you, sniffing at your outstretched hand for a few seconds before gently licking your hand and allowing you to pet him.

“Oh, aren’t you the sweetest boy?” You praise, petting Kojo happily while Tim jokingly rolls his eyes.

“It took less than a minute for me to be replaced by the dog.” Tim jokes, making his way into the kitchen to grab some drinks and by the time he returned, you had curled up on the sofa with Kojo and Tim couldn’t help but smile at the sight of having you home again. After placing the drinks on the coffee table, Tim sat down on your other side and wrapped his arm around your middle, pulling you into him and pressing multiple kisses to the side of your head as you smile softly, cherishing the attention and love Tim was giving you.

By the time night fell, you were ready to crash and Tim knew it. He chose to carry you to the bedroom, sitting you down on the bed and finding one of his old police academy shirts he knew you loved to wear and a pair of flannel pyjama bottoms, handing them to you before turning around to get changed himself. When you were both ready for bed, you climbed under the covers while Kojo curled up at the foot of the bed. You instantly curled into Tim’s side, burying your face in his chest.

“I’ve missed this so much.” You mumbled, smiling to yourself when Tim tightens his grip around your waist.

“Me too. I love you so much.” Tim whispers, kissing the top of your head before you tipped your head up so Tim could press the softest of kisses upon your lips.

“I love you too.” You reply softly, eyes full of love as you look up at Tim before curling back into him, quickly falling asleep in his arms the way you had been dreaming off the past few years.

In the middle of the night, Tim stirred, aware of the way the two of you had shifted throughout the night. You were now lying with your back to Tim and his arm was wrapped around your middle but he quickly withdrew it when he noticed you twitching and crying in your sleep. He instantly knew you were having a nightmare so he flicked his bedside lamp on and reached out to gently rouse you, placing his hand on your shoulder and calling your name softly until you bolted upright, eyes wide open and tears staining your cheeks.

“y/n. Baby. It’s okay. I’m here. You’re safe.” Tim says softly, his hand reaching down to hold yours, his actions only stopping when you practically curled into him instantly, changing his action from holding your hand to holding your sobbing, shaking form instead. Tim continued to reassure you and comfort you quietly, his hand rubbing up and down your back while Kojo rested his head on your leg, whining softly in his own way to comfort you. Tim then began to coach you through slowing your breathing, using techniques you had used when he suffered with nightmares and when you began to calm down, he began to wipe your tears away.

“I thought I was really back in that cabin.” You admit with a sniffle, making Tim hold you closer, taking your hand in his and placing it above his heart.

“You feel that? I’m here and so are you. I’m not going to let anything happen to you again.” Tim promises quietly as you focus on the steady thumping of his heartbeat while your other hand reached down to pet Kojo softly.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.” You apologise, pulling away with your eyes still shining with tears as Tim shakes his head.

“Don’t apologise. I’m going to be here for you when you need me to. I’m your husband and after what you went through I’d be a shit excuse of a husband if I did anything but look after you when you needed me. Don’t ever apologise for having a nightmare. I love you and I’m going to help you through this.” Tim says, pulling you back into his arms and feeling you settle your head perfectly above his heart so you could focus on his heartbeat once again.

“I love you too.” You mumble, soothed by Tim’s repeated action of running his hand up and down your back as well as his melodic heartbeat and soon your eyes slipped closed again. In the arms of the love of your life and feeling safe for the first time in years.

Tim watched you sleep peacefully for a few minutes, just to make sure no nightmares tried to attack you again as you slept but after not as much as a twitch, Tim switched his lamp off and cuddled you closer as he let himself drift off to sleep. You were finally back where you belonged. And Tim wasn’t going to let anyone hurt you again.

[loveharlow]

SEVEN - 004

PAIRING ‧₊˚ JJ Maybank x Fem!Reader

SYNOPSIS‧₊˚[2.9k] based on 1x04.

WARNING(S)‧₊˚ swearing, mild violence, detainment

NOW PLAYING‧₊˚

A/N‧₊˚ The shortest and most boooooring chapter to date but it's for a reason :(. And to make up for it (and the late post). I'll post chapter 5 much earlier than intended (AND THAT'S THE MIDSUMMERS CHAPTER WOOO).

˗ˏˋ series masterlist ˎˊ˗

AND WITHIN MINUTES ALL THAT HOPE DIED. There was no gold. Just a shipwreck. The drone passed over the entire thing three times and nothing. The metal detector didn’t make a single sound.

“Just pull the damn thing up.” John B said, frustrated. “Somebody beat us to it.” 

“Or it was never there.” JJ muttered, steering the boat back in the direction you’d come.

WAKING UP TO MARLEY LICKING YOUR FACE WASN’T AN UNCOMMON OCCURRENCE, you assumed it’d just felt so unfamiliar because of the fact that you hadn’t slept in your own bed the last few days since this whole gold rush started. You groaned, lightly pushing the dog away from you with your palm.

“I’m awake, Marls…” You groaned out sleepily, rolling off of your bed with a grunt as you hit the floor, your side still sore from the events of yesterday. The pain was mostly gone, all that remained being a tenderness and slight redness surrounding the area.

Rolling onto your back and sitting up, you pet the chipper animal as she snuggled up under you. “Jesus, your morning breath is worse than mine.” You said, face twisting. Reaching for your phone as you scratched the top of her head, you saw that it was close to noon, you sighed, getting up and walking downstairs to get your day started.

You were surprised to find your mother shifting through documents on the kitchen island when you got there, slowing in your steps. “Hey, mom…” You said, eyeing the woman as you opened the fridge to pull out the milk. She merely glanced up at you, before averting her eyes back down to the documents in front of her.

“Morning.” She muttered. You faced away from her, hearing the pen she was writing with hit the counter as you walked to the side and grabbed the cereal from the pantry. “Did you hear about Topper’s boat?”

You bit your lip, completely forgetting about that. Realizing you hadn't responded and stood frozen in place, you cleared your throat and continued making your breakfast. “No, what happened?” You asked, faking obliviousness and pouring the cereal into a bowl, now facing her again. She had the papers in her hands, reading glasses sitting low atop her nose as her eyes scanned the pages as she spoke.

“He and Mrs.Thornton found it sunken this morning. What a waste of money. I hear it was brand-new.”

“Yeah, well, it’s Topper.” You remembered, pouring the milk over the colorful pellets of food. “Him and his friends aren’t exactly known for being careful.” You muttered with disdain. 

“Speaking of caution,” The woman began, clasping her hands in front of her. “I had an interesting meeting with Sheriff Peterkin and Shoupe. They said John B was being chased through town by some dangerous men earlier in the week and he apparently ran from his social worker when she went to pick him up this morning. Do you know what’s going on with him?”

“I don’t know, Mom, maybe the fact that his dad went missing and DCS has been trying to drop him into the system ever since?”

All she could do was sigh. “John B’s father is gone. It’s been almost a year. He needs to accept that and move on.”

“...He needs to just accept the fact that his dad is gone? Do you hear yourself, right now?”

“Listen, I don’t have the energy to argue with you, right now. If you see him or know where he is, it’d be very much appreciated if you could tell Shoupe or Peterkin so they can alert his social worker-”

You scoffed, looking your mother in her eyes. “I'm not doing that. You're crazy if you think I'm going to help you and your cop friends put one of my best friends into foster care-”

“Excuse me?” Your mother was baffled at your tone. But it seemed like everytime you came home recently, on the rare occasion that you did, she always had questions. Scratch questions, accusations. And in your mind, either she knew something or she just wanted reasons to be on your ass. “I don't know what's gotten into you recently. If your father could see you now-”

“No, mom,” You cut her off shortly. “If only he could see you.” You spat, making your way back up the stairs, bowl of cereal in hand, slamming the door behind you.

“AREN’T YOU GLAD I MADE YOU COME?” Kie asked cheerfully, carrying a cooler full of snacks and drinks while you laid out a blanket on top of the grass, JJ and Pope unfolding lawn chairs to sit in. Kie had rounded you all up to see a movie in the park with her. You’d already informed them of the reason for John B’s absence, seeing as this isn’t his first marathon from DCS. If he got away successfully, per usual, you all would be seeing him by tomorrow.

“My couch was pretty comfy, I’ll be honest.” JJ replied. While Kiara was preoccupied, Pope whispered to JJ, but you could still hear them.

“We are in enemy territory. Way out of the green zone, man.” He was visibly anxious, eyes fleeting all across the crowd of people that littered the lawn. 

“Dude, tranquilo, okay?” JJ tried to calm him.

“We are in the middle of Kooklandia.” He hissed. “This is the last place I wanted to be.” He ranted, the two boys not even noticing when Kiara got up to go get drinks.

“Shut up. Both of you.” You reprimanded, sternly. “God, you have the worst poker faces I’ve ever seen.”

“They could be lurking in the bushes right now, we don’t know.” Pope tried to make you understand.

“Dude, just chill out.” JJ said. Just then, Kie had come back, four cans of soda in her arms that she distributed evenly amongst the group of you.

“Just saw Rafe,” The name alone sends a small wave of chills down your spine. “He said to ‘tell your girl that we know what she and your boy did’. What does that mean?” Her eyes fleeted towards you for the most part. 

“Where is he?” You questioned without hesitation.

“Right there,” She motioned behind her, prompting you to whip your head around to where Topper, Rafe, and Kelce stood menacingly by a tree, sipping on beers. Even from that distance, you could tell he was staring dead at you. It brought back so many unwanted feelings and memories, so badly it made your head hurt.

“Great, the whole death squad.” Pope’s voice cracked. 

“Hey,” Kiara’s voice called from beside you, just loud enough for only you to hear. You turned back to face her. “What’s going on? Is he still bothering you? Is it about what happened-”

“No, it’s not.” You were quick to cut her off in case the guys were listening. “It’s not about that.” You said sternly, tuning back into JJ and Pope’s conversation.

“If they corner me, I’m comin’ out swingin. I’m on edge right now.” JJ spoke seriously. “If that doesn’t work, I got this right here.” He assured, holding up his backpack that looked mostly empty but oddly heavy.

“JJ, please tell me you did not bring a gun here. JJ, there are kids!” Kie started, being oddly loud for not wanting people to know that JJ may or may not have brought a gun.

“I didn’t bring the gun, Kiara. Everything’s fine.” He tried to calm her. 

“That’s really convincing.” She said, voice full of sarcasm. “...What happened? What did you guys do?” She asked, eyes going back and forth between the three of you that remained quiet. “Founding principle, no secrets among pogues. What is Rafe talking about?”

“Kie,” Pope started, voice low. “It might go down tonight.” 

YOU ALL WERE A GOOD WAY INTO THE MOVIE AT THIS POINT, the sun had gone down and the air had cooled. The only sounds filling your ears were the movie playing and crickets in the trees. You were sitting in between JJ’s legs, using the base of his lawn chair as a backrest to ease the pain on your side from trying to keep yourself up. You’d heard him and Pope whispering but paid no mind until the blonde was tapping your shoulder, signaling that he was getting up.

“Where are you guys going?” You questioned, looking up at him and adjusting the chair from where it had slipped behind you once he got up.

“We gotta wring it out.”

“Together?” Kie asked.

“It’s bro code. Bro’s who piss together…” He struggled to find a rhyme with the made-up honor code. “...stick together. We’ll be right back.” You watched as the pair of boys crouched, creeping through the crowd and over to a tree next to the projector screen. You questioned why they didn’t head to the actual bathrooms but quickly got your answer with a quick glance back, seeing Rafe and his goons blocking it.

“Now, do you want to tell me what’s going on?” Kie whispered.

You sighed, curling in on yourself slightly. “Trust me, it’s better if you don’t know.” The girl scoffed and shook her head. 

“Do the guys know? About what happened?”

“No. Why would they?”

“Do you ever plan on telling them?” You rolled your eyes, starting to get frustrated. 

“No, Kie, I don’t. I’d like to forget it ever happened, if that’s okay with you.” You snapped, silence falling over the two of you as the movie continued to play.

You assumed maybe a handful of minutes had gone by before you noticed the guys hadn’t come back yet and one weary glance behind you told you all you needed to know — Rafe, Kelce, and Topper were gone, too.

You immediately shook Kie’s arm, startling the poor girl.

“What? What is it?”

“We need to go. Now.” Was all you said before you got up, taking JJ’s bag with you as you and Kie swiftly walked in the direction the guys had gone earlier so as to not alarm any movie viewers. Coming around the back of the projector screen, you were met with a brutal scene in front of you — Kelce held JJ by his arms as Rafe delivered blow after blow to his face while Topper beat up Pope.

“Let go of him! Fascist asshole!” Kie yelled as she whacked Topper in the back over and over. You made a b-line for Rafe, throwing JJ’s bag down and jumping onto the boy’s back, wounding your arms around his neck, allowing JJ an open opportunity to push Kelce off of him.

“Leave him alone, Rafe!” You screeched.

“You don’t wanna do this, sunshine!” He yelled back, throwing you off of his back and onto the grass. Just like yesterday, you were on your back as he stared down at you, breathing heavily. “I’m being nice. Only ‘cause you’re my favorite.” He smirked, huffing with blood in the corner of his lip before turning back to JJ. 

You rolled on your side in the grass to see Topper choking out Pope only after having seen him throw Kiara to the ground. JJ had Rafe handled. You reached for JJ’s bag that had been abandoned, flipping it open to reveal the gun and a lighter. Your eyes went back and forth between the gun and Topper, who had Pope in a deadly chokehold at this point.

You wanted to do it, so bad.

But a gun to a Kook's head was what caused all of this in the first place, so you dismissed the thought, kicking the lighter over to Kie, the object hitting the sole of her shoe.

The girl looked down at the lighter and then at you, you motioned towards the projector screen and she caught on quickly. It wasn’t long before the projector screen was going up in flames, scaring the movie guests and breaking up the fight, spooking the guys. Topper released Pope as JJ pushed Kelce back once more, Rafe stood off in the middle of the four guys, staring directly at you as you got up.

When he snapped out of whatever trance he was in, he gathered up Topper and Kelce and fled the scene. Kie helped Pope up as you turned your attention to JJ. He was fixing his clothes but you didn’t miss the scars on his cheek and bottom lip.

“Are you okay?” You asked frantically, eyes roaming his entire face for any more cuts.

“Fine, I’m fine.” He calmed you as you laid a hand on his shoulder before trailing it up to the back of his neck, but he looked like he wanted to say something. Like he was thinking extremely hard.

“C’mon, let’s go.” You urged the rest of your group, leaving before the fire department and cops inevitably made their appearance.

“I JUST ACTED OFF INSTINCT, MAN. I WAS A CORNERED ANIMAL.” Pope told JJ as he restocked some items on the shelves inside of Heyward’s. It was the next morning but you were all still on edge about the fight last night. It was clear now that Topper knew Pope and yourself were the ones who sank his boat and you were just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Don’t feel bad, dude. It was three of them and two of us.” JJ tried to remedy it. “That’s some typical Kook shit right there.”

“Hell yeah.” Kie agreed. 

“Hey Pope,” Heyward’s voice rang out in the small crab-shack, towel slung over the older man’s shoulder. “There’s someone here to see you.” He motioned behind him, Deputy Shoupe making his appearance.

Pope’s posture immediately straightened, his eyes going wide as the shop went silent with Shoupe’s arrival. “Evening, officer.” He barely got out. Shoupe’s eyes went between you and Pope before replying.

“You’re both here. Great.” He said, reaching into his holster. “I have an arrest warrant for felony destruction of property. For both of you.” 

“Woah, woah, woah…” Heyward was stunned as he stood back and watched the scene play out in front of him.

“Keep your hands on the counter where I can see ‘em.” Shoupe handcuffed Pope first, the boy putting up no fight in his daze. He looked like he’d faint any moment.

“Shoupe, what’d they do?!” Heyward tried again.

“Look at the warrant.” Was all the deputy offered in response, remaining stoic. Once Pope was secure, he moved onto you, looking you in the eyes somewhat pitifully before beckoning for you to turn around and put your hands behind your back. Heyward, Kiara, and JJ were causing commotion, talking over one another as he secured you in handcuffs.

“Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney…” He continued but you could barely hear him as he single-handedly guided both you and Pope out of Heyward’s Seafood. Pope’s father, JJ, and Kie follow close behind.

“Shoupe, it was just me.” You tried, craning your neck to look at the officer. “Pope didn’t do anything.”

“Nice try, kiddo. But there were two people on that boat, caught it on camera. And your face is as clear as day.” He dismissed you.

“It was me!” JJ yelled, causing Shoupe to stop in his tracks. The three of you turned around to look at the blonde. “...Pope tried to talk us out of it. But Y/N and I were just too mad because they’d just been beaten up. I was so sick of those Figure Eight assholes." He spoke convincingly, eyes landing on Pope's ashamed figure. "I can’t let you take the blame for something I did.” JJ was now right in front of Pope, looking the boy dead in his eyes. “You’ve got too much to lose.”

“JJ, what’re you doing?” Pope said hushed but still aggressive.

“I’m telling the truth, for once in my damn life.” He said without much hesitation at all. “I took his old man’s boat, too.”

“What the hell…” Heyward looked crazily at the blonde boy.

“He’s a good kid.” JJ told Shoupe. “...You know where I’m from.” Shoupe nodded lightly, agreeing with the statement before his attention was on you and Pope.

“That the whole truth, Pope?” Shoupe inquired, cocking an unbelievable eyebrow.

He seemed to ponder on it before gulping heavily and nodding his head shakily, looking at JJ one last time. “Yeah…that," He huffed. "That covers it.” 

YOU’D NEVER SEEN THE INSIDE OF A JAIL CELL, not that you ever planned on it. It was suffocating. The walls, the color of the walls, the dingy bars, the stale air. You felt like a caged animal, an unwelcome chill making the experience that much more unbearable.

You and JJ sat across from one another — on the floor, legs bent underneath with your heads thrown back.

“Why’d you do it?” You questioned, your voice echoing out within the cell. "Take the fall, I mean..."

“I couldn’t let Pope go down for it.” His raspy voice replied. “I would’ve taken the fall for you both. But I heard Shoupe, they had footage of two people and your face was ‘as clear as day’.” He mocked the older man’s southern twang.

The action made you chuckle, craning your head down to look at him, not aware that he was already looking at you.

You sighed, shaking your head and running fingers through the base of your hair. “I should’ve never suggested it in the first place. I knew it was a stupid idea, I just wasn’t in the right headspace…”

“Because of Rafe?” The question made your heart stop, eyes jumping up to his before fleeting to the ground. “It’s not hard to notice. He clearly knows you, knows you. But I just…can’t put the pieces together. What happened between you two?”

You looked down at your hands that were now wound around your knees, your fingers fiddling with each other. “A lot of things happened, when I first moved to Figure Eight and fell in with Kiara and I’s old friend group. Let’s just... leave it at that.”

The blonde was looking at you like he wanted to press for more information and you knew one day he would, and with the way recent events have played out? That day might come sooner than you were comfortable with. But for right now, you just couldn’t wait until you got out of this cell. Somehow.

feedback is appreciated! thanks for reading.

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©loveharlow.

[atsadi-shenanigans]

You Could Just Ask

Summary:

“You still gonna be a jackass to our friends instead of just asking me to pleasure you?” you say. He swallows. His adam’s apple bobs. “If this is my reward, absolutely.” He can’t see you smile at this angle. He can feel your grip leave his cock to slide your fingers through his hair before you grab. Still slow, still steady, giving him plenty of opportunity to stop you. He don’t. He lets you pull his head back, bare his throat, and only whimpers and shivers against you.

Or: Astarion is terrible about communicating what he wants. But Eleanor is getting good at translating gremlin.

Astarion has been in a fucking mood for two days now. It’s driving you nuts, it’s driving everybody nuts, and by all accounts, it’s driving him nuts. Ain’t nobody can put a finger on it, neither. He’s well fed, y’all went on a murder spree day before yesterday, and he even found a nice, silk jacket to wear around camp.

Man’s got it made.

And decided to be a bitch about it.

You sit at the breakfast fire, needlessly poking at the embers with a stick while he makes snide swipes at Gale’s cooking (which he don’t eat), Karlach’s clutter (she just found a stuffed owlbear to match Clive), and Lae’zel sharpening her weapons (he got a point, there).

Even Wyll stares at the fire, shoulders set in a tense line. Something’s gonna snap if somebody don’t do something.

“It’s not as if you can deal any real damage,” Astarion says to Shadowheart, who tried to get him off Gale’s ass and is now taking the brunt of it. “We all saw how accurate your spells were in the temple.”

She looks all cool and collected. Just lifts one of her eyebrows. But her knuckles are white as her fists tremble. Shadowheart fought off the mother superior of her former, well, it ain’t called a church, here. But she fought the bitch and won and she paid for it.

“That’s it.” You stand

Astarion clocks the movement and turns to face you (stares down his nose at you; or tries to since you two are the same damn height).

“Y’all wanna head out?” you say over your shoulder to the others as they stash their day gear into their packs. “I think we’ll stay here, today.”

“Gladly,” Gale mutters in an outside voice.

“Welcome to it,” Karlach says which means hoo-boy, even she’s getting pissy.

Wyll gives you a blank look, that slowly morphs into a sly “good luck” sort of grin. Turd. Everybody thinks the Blade of Frontiers is so upstanding, much nobility, wow. But Wyll is a sly little shit, is what he is. He just hides it real good until it’s time to strike.

They all shuffle on outta there double quick. Astarion watches them go as he checks his nails for damage that ain’t there.

Then you’re alone—well and truly, Shadowheart and her half-elven hearing—and you turn to your exasperating lover.

“The fuck was all that?” you say.

He just looks at you, all unimpressed. Sniffs. “What was what, dear? You’ll have to be more specific.”

You will not throw your camp slipper at him. He dodges too well, and then you got to go fetch the damn thing before either Scratch of Sweetums gets it and demolishes it (or drops it in the river, bad dog) (but not really bad bad dog, and he got pets later on, anyway).

“You’re being a dick,” you say.

To which he, predictably, rolls his eyes. “As if it’s my fault we’re surrounded by incompetent idiots.”

His gaze flicks down. Just for a second. You almost miss it, but it landed on the top of your tunic. You got yourself a new one of those, too. But only to wear around camp, cause it’s got itself a damn titty window under some satin neck straps. Astarion’s pupils flare wide a second, and then he glares at you as if challenging you to comment.

You been together several times, in several way by now. He usually initiates (you did once). But you got a suspicion.

You step closer. Reach out slow and careful to crook your finger over the top of his trousers, since he tucks his shirt in and all. Then you pull, slow and steady, leave him plenty of time and distance to stop you or pull away.

But his pupils dilate again, and he steps into you. Lets you drag him flush against your front.

“Astarion,” you say. The man actually licks his lips. “Did you get horny and decide to be an asshole to everybody about it?”

A hint of a smile tugs his lips before he buries that under scorn. “Of course not.”

But you’re learning his tells. The way his gaze hovers over your face, darts down to the titty window and the hint of cleavage like a hummingbird. Also the less than subtle grind against you as he says it.

“Were you being a dick to get us alone?” you say.

A pause, this time. His voice wobbles a touch when he says, “No.”

You lean in. Catch the way his face tilts to meet you.

“I think you’re lying,” you say against his lips. “I think you want me alone, and I think you went all bratty so I’d feel ornery about it.”

His inhale stutters. A minute shiver runs through him. “And what would you do if you were, ahem, ‘ornery?’”

It’s mind boggling how much things’ve changed in the months since y’all met. Since the disastrous first days of…this. That you can be here now, with him, talking like this? It’s a minor miracle.

He’s so fully pressed into you you can feel his cock twitch even through the cotton trousers.

“Did you do all this so I’d fuck you?” you say. You cannot keep the smile off your face or outta your voice.

He finally cracks. Closes his eyes and runs his lips over yours. Drawls, “Maybe.”

“Is it the strap?” you say. He’d picked it out and purchased it in the city, and then the nice sex shop man showed you how to put it on and, well, implied how to use it. And clean it (that part was very explicit, detailed instructions.)

The tip of his tongue swipes your upper lip. His hands ghost up your sides.

“Would you?” he says.

He takes charge in the sheets. But he bought that dildo to use on him, and he seemed to enjoy it when you did (he whimpered as you fucked him).

You’re learning what you like in terms of dirty talk (it’s surprisingly graphic). He’s an excellent teacher. So you gird your loins, ignore the heat all the way down your neck, and open your mouth. “You want me to spread you wide on my cock and fuck you all better?”

He sucks in a gasp. “Gods, darling, yes.”

Then his lips crash into yours and you’re both stumbling towards y’all’s shared tent.

The rest on AO3 for very, very rated E reasons.

[braveclementine]

Scars, Tattoos, and Fainting. Not Quite in That Order

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Twilight characters or locations. I do own Davina Mikelson and Marcel. I also own the backstory for my OC. I do not condone any copying of this.

Davina P.O.V.

I got dressed casually. It was a warmer day out so I put on a white tank top, black jeans, white laced up boots, and took my black purse. I also brought one of my blue and gray hoodies, but I didn't wear it because I didn't really need it.

I hopped on my motorcycle and headed for Jacob's place because I knew that was where the guys were going to meet before going back to Emily's for breakfast.

Plus, Jared and I had a bet that one of us would make it back to Emily's faster and I had to use the motorcycle to my advantage of course.

I pulled up and I saw that four of the five boys were there. Jacob was the one missing. And then I saw Bella was storming over to them and I froze. Oh dear.

I now wished I hadn't worn the white boots as they were probably going to get mud on them. I should've worn the black. I quickly stopped the motorcycle, hurrying over to them.

Bella was already near them, talking angrily with them and I quickly ran over. "Bella!"

Something Bella said was making Paul laugh and I knew Bella was just going to piss him off.

That was when Bella reached her arm back and punched Paul across the face.

"Bella!" I yelled. "What the hell!"

Paul was shaking now, even as Sam went and put a hand out on his chest.

"Too late now." Embry teased.

"Bella, get back." Sam ordered, his eyes flicking to me, "Davina, back."

"I'm not the dog." I muttered, standing in front of Paul, "Paul, listen to me, it doesn't matter, all right. You just need to calm down."

"Paul! Calm down, now." Sam ordered, shooting a look between me and Paul, warning me to step back.

Spit was flying from Pauls' mouth.

"Paul please." I begged, stepping forward to put a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright."

It was too late, he transformed, his claws catching me, sending me sprawling into Jared.

"Ow." I muttered, sitting upright.

"Mom." Jared asked, frantically. Sam was holding Embry back from doing anything as Jake came running from the house, jumping over Bella and turning into a wolf too.

I jumped to my feet. "No! They can't fight!"

"Mom!" Jared said, holding me back. "You're bleeding. Calm down."

I blinked, taking in the claw marks that went down my arm. They were heavily bleeding and they hurt like hell. These were definitely going to scar.

I hissed. "Damn."

"I told you to get out of the way." Sam said angrily as Jake and Paul did a standoff.

"I thought-"

"No one can control Paul when he gets like that, no matter how much of a mother you are to him!"

Paul and Jacob started to fight more ferociously, biting at each other as Jake started to push Paul towards the forest, breaking Billy's boat in the process. I wondered if Billy was watching and crying over his boat.

"Hey! Take Bella back to Emily's place." Sam ordered Embry and Jared.

"Guess the wolfs out of the bag." Embry muttered as the three of us jogged over to Bella who was still staring into the forest where Jake and Paul had disappeared into.

Jared and I rode in the back of Bella's truck while Embry drove. They had a bet on whether or not she would throw up.

I sighed. Jared had given me a shirt from somewhere and I had wrapped my arm with it. I would use some of Emily's medicine. I should really start paying her.

As we pulled up, the three of us made yelping noises to let Emily know we were here. Then Jared helped me down from the truck while Embry climbed out, letting Jared know that Bella didn't vomit.

"I think we should go back and see if Jacob's okay." Bella called out the window.

"He'll be fine." I said, heading into Emily's kitchen.

They argued behind me until Embry called, "Come on in Bella! We won't bite."

"Speak for yourself." Jared said.

"Jared!" I scolded him.

"Sorry mom." Jared grinned.

"You guys hungry?" Emily asked, her back to us as we filed into the kitchen.

I could smell blueberry and cranberry muffins.

Emily turned with the muffins and I saw that she had made a couple of chocolate muffins too and I grinned, taking one.

"Oh, who's this." Emily said in obvious surprise, looking from me to Bella.

"Bella Swan. Who else?" Jared asked with a shrug.

"Leave it to Jacob to find a way around." Emily murmured, looking rather unfriendly at Bella. I knew she was worried about what this would do to the pack. "So you're the vampire girl."

"Yes. Are you the wolf girl?" Bella asked stiffly.

The four of us laughed and Emily warmed up a little. "I guess I am. Where's Sam?"

I snorted.

"Bella, er, surprised Paul this morning."

"She punched him in the face." I corrected.

Emily rolled her eye. "Ah, Paul. Do you think they'll be long? I was just about to start the eggs."

"Don't worry, if they're late, we won't let anything to to waste."

Emily laughed. "No doubt. Bella, are you hungry? Go ahead and help yourself to a muffin. Davina, you know where the bandages and other ointments are."

"Thanks." I replied, taking my muffin with me as I fished out supplies and then headed to the bathroom. I washed the wound, taking cotton balls and hydrogen peroxide, cleaning the wound, gripping the counter when it burned, before bandaging it. That would be it for today. Later tonight I could apply Neosporin ointment to it.

I stepped out of the bathroom and entered the kitchen, putting things away. That was when Sam entered the room, striding across it saying, "Emily."

I tried not- like Bella- to wince at the love in his voice. So much love. I would never have anyone say my name like that ever.

"Hey, none of that. I'm eating." Jared complained.

"Then shut up and eat." Sam replied.

I knew they were kissing so I spent an extra long time taking care to put the things away.

"Ugh." Embry groaned.

"Davina." Sam said and I turned to look at him. He looked worried, "How are the scratches."

"Deep. Might scar. But they should heal up alright." I said with a shrug. "Next time I'll get out of the way."

"Next time." Sam grumbled.

"Wait." Bella said as Paul and Jacob entered the kitchen, "So you knew?"

"Knew? Of course I knew. How could I not, my dratted brother being what he is." I sighed dramatically.

Sam grunted, unimpressed, "Don't quote me Harry Potter."

I grinned but ignored him, answering Bella instead, "Yeah, I knew."

"You haven't quoted anything in a while." Sam murmured to himself.

I punched his shoulder, although it was true. I had stopped quoting things as much when Carlisle had left. Left. . . more like ran. Abandoned me. . . stop thinking.

"Sorry." Paul said apologetically to Bella and then turned to me, "I really am sorry mom."

"I know Paul." I sighed, ruffling his hair, "I'll forgive you as long as you don't eat any of my chocolate muffins."

"Want to go on a walk?" Jacob asked Bella in a low voice.

"Sure." Bella muttered.

They obviously had things to talk about. I munched happily on my chocolate muffins, leaning up against the counter like Emily like the boys sat around the table eating.

I helped Emily with making sausages and bacon while she made as many eggs as she could.

After a half hour, we were done making breakfast and at that moment, that was when Jacob and Bella walked in. Jacob was excited, Bella looked scared.

I turned around, grabbing my glass of milk to drink. "I know what the red head wants." Jacob said quickly and everyone but me turned to face him.

Redhead? What redhead? Did we know a redhead?

"And?" Jared asked when Jacob didn't continue.

"She is trying to avenger her mate- only it wasn't the black-haired leech we killed. The Cullens got her mate last year, and she's after Bella now."

Wait.

"She's just a girl." Embry protested.

"I didn't say it made sense. But that's why the blood-sucker's been trying to get past us. She's been heading for Forks." Jacob amended.

"Excellent. We've got bait." Jared said with a smile.

My body felt weird. Victoria was back.

Jacob yanked the can opener off the counter, launching it at Jared's head. Jared reached up, snagging it out of the air before he hit his face, to calmly for my liking.

"Bella is not bait." Jacob growled.

"You know what I mean." Jared said calmly, putting the can opener down on the table.

"Wait." I finally managed to say aloud and everyone turned to look at me. "Victoria's back?"

Some sort of panic was seizing me and it didn't make sense. What the hell was happening to me?

"Victoria?" Paul snorted.

"You didn't think to tell me she was back?" I asked Sam angrily.

My hand was shaking, my head was spinning, and I felt so, so hot. I heard the sound of a mug hitting the floor, milk going everywhere, and everything went black.

------------------

"Dav?" Sam's voice whispered in my ear in worry. "Dav are you okay?"

"I'm trying to sleep." I muttered.

"Wake up Dav." Sam said forcefully.

I blinked my eyes open to find just about everyone standing over me, eyes shining with worry.

I had been moved to the small living room now, laying down on the couch and I sat up quickly. "Oh!"

"I'm sorry." Sam said apologetically. "It's not like we knew the name of the vampire."

"Right. No. I know. Sorry." I muttered. "I don't know why. . . it was like. . . I don't know."

Sam gave me a worried look.

"I feel fine now." I muttered.

"Good." Sam said and then ordered everyone back to the kitchen. "Look, Dav, is there any chance that this. . . Victoria would be after you too?"

I hesitated, "I don't know. James- that's her mates name- he was after me originally because of my blood."

"I thought vampires weren't affected by your scent." Sam questioned.

"Most of them aren't." I sighed, "My blood gives vampires two reactions. Indifference, my blood doesn't smell like anything but fruit and it's a comforting scent. Something to calm them down when they get angry. Or, it riles them up. It's the most potent blood in the world for them. It's called being a vampire's blood singer. For Laurent and Victoria, they barely registered my scent, thought I was a vampire at first. For James however. . ."

"I'm surprised he didn't attack you when he first. . ." Sam drifted off, concern on his face.

I smiled a little, "He did. Carlisle. . . he stopped him. But then, he went after Bella because Bella's scent, while not as potent, was more interesting. And also because of Edward's reaction to defending her on the baseball field. Carlisle also didn't kill James. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett did. Alice helped too I think. But I don't know."

"I can't lose you." Sam muttered.

"I'll be fine." I smiled a little. "It's Bella and Charlie you have to worry about."

"We'll keep them safe."

"Good."

I hesitated and then asked, "Sam? Can I get a tattoo?"

Sam stared at me blankly for a second and then asked, "You're asking me for permission to get a tattoo?"

"Yeah." My cheeks coloured a little. "Well I. . . I want that."

I rested a finger on the one on his shoulder. The one that marked him as a werewolf. "Not on my shoulder and not as large. Just a small one on the inside of my wrist." I pointed to where I wanted it.

Sam was silent for a long time and I was afraid that he was offended. "Sorry, it's stupid." I muttered, swinging my legs over the side of the couch to head back to the kitchen.

Sam drew me into a hug, burying his head into my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Yeah Dav, you can get the tattoo."

"Love you Sammy."

"Love you too Davina." Sam murmured. "Please don't do anything stupid."

"Harry invited me to go 'wolf hunting' with him. I said yes." I said hesitantly. "But he really just wants me to help him cover up any clues like footprints and stuff. You okay with that?"

Sam hesitated, his large dark eyes gazing back at me, "Yeah, I think that'll be okay. I doubt the vampire will mess with a large group and one of us will be nearby anyways."

"Don't get shot." I said in worry.

Sam and I headed back into the kitchen where Emily had already cleaned up the mess and my chocolate muffin was in the refrigerator.

I raised an eyebrow and Paul said, "I didn't want the muffin to go to waste."

I laughed, hugging Paul tightly.

"Jacob thinks it would be best if you spent as much time as possible here in La Push. She- this vampire- won't know where to find you so easily, just in case." Sam said as he leaned against the counter to Bella.

Bella looked at me and then back to Sam, "What about Charlie?" she demanded.

"March Madness is still going. I think Billy and Harry can manage to keep Charlie down here when he's not at work." Jacob said.

"Wait." Sam said, glancing between Emily, Bella, and myself, "That's what Jacob thinks is best, but you need to decide for yourself. You should weight the risks of both options very seriously. You saw this morning how easily things can get dangerous here, how quickly they get out of hand. If you choose to stay with us, I can't make any guarantees about your safety."

"I won't hurt her." Jacob muttered.

"If there was somewhere else you felt safe. . ." Sam suggested.

"You could come to my house." I said with a shrug. "Although I really spend a lot of time at the hospital and here so maybe not."

"I don't want to lead Victoria anywhere else." Bella finalized, looking at me.

Sam nodded. "That's true. It's better to have her here, where we can end this."

I flinched along with Bella. I really didn't want Sam- or any of my boys- to get hurt.

"You'll be careful, right?" Bella asked.

The boys broke into laughter while Emily and I stayed silent.

"Bells, I need a ride back to Billy's." I said. "Coming Jacob?"

"Ah, yeah." Jacob said.

I kissed Sam's cheek, ruffled all my boys heads, hugged Emily lightly, and then followed Bella and Jacob out to the truck, hopping into the truck bed again, tapping the hood lightly to let them know I was good to go.

We spent a majority of the day at Billy's house. I chatted with Billy about the hunting plans and also about keeping Charlie down here while Bella and Jake watched TV. Billy later called Charlie so that he could come down. Charlie brought pepperoni pizzas. I wasn't very hungry- I almost never was anymore- but I tried taking a slice. I ate about half of it.

"To Spring break." I joked with Bella, holding up my can of A&W rootbeer. "To traditions in the making."

Bella rolled her eyes, clinking her soda can with mine. "If we could go a spring break without being hunted by vampires it would be nice."

Jacob and I laughed.

------------------

A couple of nights later, I was asleep in my room when I thought I heard a commotion. I groaned, rolling over- I had previously been facing the wall- and found myself face to face with a red headed person.

My breath caught in my throat as her hand came, wrapping around my neck, trying to lift me out of bed.

And then a black wolf came out of nowhere, knocking all sorts of things off my dressers and stuff, knocking into Victoria who ran.

I sat up, gasping for breath, looking wildly around the room. What the hell? Was that a dream?

Everything was in the place that it was before. Nothing was out of place, not by a centimeter. I let out a sigh of relief. Yes, it had been a dream. I shivered, sliding my legs over the side of the bed, standing up and padding over to the bathroom.

I climbed into the shower, washing my hair with this special bamboo natural soap that was meant to thicken hair and then washed my body with dove soap bar. Chamomile smelling, meant to reduce anxiety.

I stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my body, ignoring the fogged up mirror, and grabbing the bottle of anti-depressants. I took two with a glass of water before heading back to the bedroom to get dressed.

I dressed in blue jeans with a pink sweater and white converse. I slipped on a gold necklace and then headed to the bathroom to curl my hair.

The bathroom mirror wasn't fogged up anymore and I stopped from plugging in the curling iron, feeling my heart start to beat fast.

Around my neck were large purple bruises.

I left the bathroom, grabbing my purse, and sprinting down the stairs. I rushed to get my motorcycle, speeding down the road, thinking frantically about what had happened last night. The only one that would be able to confirm it was Sam.

I pulled to a screeching stop, letting out a small yip to let Emily know I wasn't an intruder before bursting through the door.

"Emily, where's Sam!"

"They're out." Emily said, looking at me in concern. She was working on a cake at the moment. "Why? What happened?"

I breathed in and out, placing my hands on the table. "It's just. . . last night. . . I thought Victoria was in my room and then there was a black wolf. But when I woke up, everything was like how it was when I went to bed, even though the black wolf had knocked things over. So I thought it was a dream. But then, I found that I have purple bruises around my neck. I need Sam to tell me whether it was a dream or not. Cause if it wasn't a dream, then I don't know what I'm going to do."

Emily put the icing down to come over and hug me, "It's going to be alright."

I nodded, rubbing the inside of my wrist like I did whenever I got nervous or anxious or scared. The tattoo reminded me that I was a wolf mother and I was supposed to be looking out for my cubs. Not the other way around.

Then again, Sam wasn't my cub the way the others were. Sam was. . . my brother. He would always be my brother and nothing other than my brother. Sometimes, I wished we had the same parents so that I could really claim it.

Plus- I completely envied his lovely russet skin. I could get tan, but it never matched the delicate shade the Quileute's had. And certainly not here in Forks where the sun rarely shone.

Once I had calmed down, Emily invited me to help her with the cake- which I did. She made us lunch, which I picked at and tried to eat. I really was trying to eat.

It wasn't that I didn't want to eat either, the food looked absolutely delicious and my natural sweet tooth made me crave after the cake, but my appetite was never there for it. My stomach protested against food and I hated it. I had gotten extremely thin and Sam was always forcing food on me because my thin was the unhealthy kind. We both knew it was just a result of the soulmate bond and it just fueled his hatred towards Carlisle for leaving me like this.

Sam didn't get back until late and I jumped up the minute he walked through the door. He greeted Emily first, kissing her so that the air was suddenly suffocating with love and adoration. Once he was done kissing her, he turned to me. "How are you Davina?"

"Umm, you tell me. Was there or was there not a vampire in my room last night?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Sam hesitated and then said, "There was."

I let out a sigh, "Well at least I know where the bruises came from."

"I'd much prefer if you stayed down here. I talked to Harry and he said they have an extra room at their house you can use until all of this dies down." Sam said.

"Doesn't Harry have kids?" I questioned.

He nodded, "Seth and Leah. You guys should get along."

"I don't get along with girls." I muttered, "Except you Emily."

Emily grinned, kissing Sam's cheek and putting the cake in a cakebox.

"Where are you taking that?" I asked.

"Jacob's house." Sam said. "It'll be us, the Blacks, and Charlie and Bella."

"Oh." I replied.

"You're coming too of course." Emily said. "We're only going for dessert anyways."

I nodded, "That sounds good."

"You've eaten today, right?" Sam asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Emily made me lunch."

"Did you eat it?" Sam questioned.

"A little bit." I muttered.

"Davina. . ." Sam muttered.

"Look, you know I can barely eat." I pretty much whined, "Butt out Sam."

Sam muttered something unintelligible under his breath.

"Anyways," I turned to Emily and winked, "Do you want to ride on the back of my motorcycle Em?"

"Absolutely not." Sam growled, wrapping a protective arm around Emily's waist. "I don't even want you riding that death trap Davina. Emily sure as hell isn't getting on it."

I giggled, "See you guys there."

I started up the motorcycle, driving off to Jacob's house.

I, of course, beat them there. Charlie was already there with Bella.

"Hey Charlie! Hi Bella!"

"Hey Davina!" Charlie said. "Haven't seen you in a while! How's the parents!"

Charlie had of course, seen me quite a bit, me being at his house all the time, but what he meant was that he hadn't seen me in a time where he could actually talk to me.

I was just barely able to stop the flash of pain that probably flitted across my face at the mention of my parents and I shifted uncomfortably, flashing a fake smile and said, "Not really sure. Probably good though. We haven't talked in a few years."

Charlie did one of those awkward nods and said, "Ah."

"Yeah." I muttered. Charlie turned to Sam and Emily who had just come in and I missed Billy's look of concern as I dropped the smile, trying to get a hold of the pain.

Charlie loved Emily's cake. Sam cut me a slice and watched me eat the whole thing, although for some reason, I felt full trying to eat it even though I hadn't had anything the entire day. I knew he was concerned. I was too for that matter. It wasn't like I was trying to purposefully starve myself. But I was finding I could only eat every few days.

I wished I could get better, but I didn't know how. I mean. . . it's not like there was information about what to do when your vampire soulmate with a third tier bond leaves you without saying good-bye and you start feeling completely sick on the internet. There were no vampires I could even talk to for help.

Well, I supposed I could try locating the Denali tribe. I would go to Denali and ask around for the golden eyed clan. I wasn't sure if that would work and I was partly afraid that I might run into a Cullen there. Specifically Carlisle. But if things got worse, I would tell Sam what I wanted to do and he could help me.

Bella and Jacob skipped out on us to get some space and I was getting ready to leave. I had to go back to my house to get clothes and stuff before moving into Harry's house.

I was sure it would be completely awkward, but it would also give Harry and I time to talk and plan about the hunting trip that would be happening in the future. I knew my goal was to make sure I erased any signs of the wolves and also to help Harry protect Charlie should Victoria show up. Of course, Sam didn't know about that part.

Not that guns would help harm Victoria, but I'm sure my lighter would. I was also working on a new stake because they had proven pretty useful in the past. It would at least stun her as she probably wouldn't be expecting it.

Sam took Emily home and then followed me in his truck as I made my way back to the house. I packed one suitcase full of necessities along with my backpack with my laptop and school things. He loaded the suitcase into his truck and then I followed him back to La Push, down a different road then I was used to until we reached Harry's house.

It was much larger than I was used to for a Quileute rez house. Not like it was mansion or anything, but most of the houses on the rez were small, one story houses, maybe two if they were lucky and rather small.

Harry's house had two stories and was rather wide. I wasn't sure how big it really was on the inside, but it looked big from the outside.

Harry was waiting outside, shaking hands with Sam and giving me a hug, "We've already got the room set up for you. It's across from Leah's, my daughter."

"Thank you." I said sincerely. "I'm sorry to be causing so much trouble."

"It'd be more trouble if that vampire got ahold of you." Harry grumbled, leading me into the house and we didn't talk about it anymore.

I was introduced to the rest of the family. There was Seth, who was a fourteen year old boy. He was kind've cute in a little boy kind of way. His hair was short and cropped, a good natured expression on his face. He was lightly tanned and when he smiled, he had these dimples. He was just slightly muscular and though his skin was a little warmer than mine, it was nowhere near as hot as the wolves.

Leah on the other hand looked older than she was. She was only sixteen or seventeen, but looked like she could be in her twenties. Her black hair was short, shoulder length, and cropped. She was thin, but the muscular thin that made her look like she could be an actress in an action movie. Like a Marvel superhero. She didn't seem to like me as much as her brother did, but was still polite enough in front of her parents.

Sue was a very pretty woman, thin with wide hips, and long beautiful black hair. Her teeth were straight and white and when she smiled, it lip up the room. I could see why Harry was in love with her and it was clear she was very much in love with him.

"Welcome Davina." She said, stepping forward and hugging me.

I was pleasantly surprised, hugging her back.

"Thanks. I hope I won't be to much of a bother. It should only be-" I looked at Harry quickly. "A week or so give or take."

"It's no problem." Sue said, "No problem at all."

I smiled.

"Are you hungry?" Sue continued.

"Ah, no. I ate at the Blacks' place." I said. "But thanks."

"Alright, well Leah? Do you want to show Davina to her room?"

"Sure mom." Leah said, "This way."

I nodded to Seth and Harry before following Leah up the stairs to my room.

"So, you're Sam's sister, are you?" Leah asked.

I licked my lips nervously. I had heard the stories of course. How in love Leah and Sam had been before Leah's cousin- Emily- had come down and Sam had imprinted. That was probably why she didn't like me. Being Sam's 'sister' and all.

"Technically speaking no. We're not related. But I consider him my brother." I replied softly. "We're close."

Leah nodded, opening up the door to a small room, "This is your room."

"Thanks." I whispered.

Leah and I stood there for a second and then she turned, going into a door that was just a little to the left of mine and went in, closing the door behind me.

"Don't mind her." Seth had followed us up and he was giving me puppy dog eyes. "She. . . is very touchy about Sam."

"No, I understand." I whispered softly. "I know what it's like to be left in love."

"Maybe you could help her." Seth said excitedly.

"Maybe. But I don't know if she likes me very much. Being Sam's kind've sister after all." I sighed. "Anyways, I should get some sleep. It's really nice meeting you Seth. Hopefully we can become good friends."

"Yeah!" His eyes lit up and I smiled.

"Night Seth."

"Night Davina."

I went into the room, closing the door quietly behind me, looking around.

It was a small room. The walls were white with only a small round mirror on one of the walls. The bed was set up against the windows with an arm chair next to it and a dresser at the foot of the bed. There was a small lamp between the bed and the armchair and there were also a few plants in the room. I smiled. I really loved it.

I set my suitcase down in the corner, closing the shades on the windows. Then I undressed quickly, climbing into bed.

Tomorrow would be a very interesting day.

[sidetongue]

this is Susan 

[lonely-lost-soul]

“I’m Not Soft.”

Request 5: Techno and the voices simping for the reader, maybe after reader gets in (and wins) a fight or something more domestic like farming or playing with Steve

Requested By: Anonymous 

(Technoblade X Female Reader)

~Added a little bit of spice~

Technoblade kicked the snow off his boots sending little flurries all inside the doorway of his cabin. He had just arrived home, he was coming home much later than he anticipated getting held up at a long-running syndicate meeting. He was greeted by the savory smell of baked potatoes and steak, it had him practically drooling. Techno wandered into the kitchen after hanging up his cloak by the door, his plate was sitting in the furnace. He peeked inside and saw it was set on low heat just to keep his food warm, he smiled softly. 

‘She’s so thoughtful. Keeping it warm for us. We should give her a kiss! Where even is she? Find her before you eat. You can sit together!’ 

Technoblade let out a soft hum of acknowledgment listening to the advice of the voices and searching for his lady love. He stepped into the living room and noticed the fire was roaring away in the fireplace, you were still here then, very early on he made sure you knew to put the fireplace out when you were finished in the room. He had a close call with Tommy when he was living here, and since then he made sure to remind you constantly about the fireplace. He spotted you and Steve curled up next to one another by the said fireplace, you were buried in his white fur and he was snoring away loudly beside you. A book was in your lap and you were wearing one of his shirts as a pajama top, socks with little bears on them adorned your feet. 

‘Oh my god, they’re so cute together. Take a picture! Take a picture! She looks so peaceful…’

Technoblade smiled gently making sure he did end up snapping a picture, just so he could tease you about it later. Plus you were adorable and you snuggling with Steve really melted his frozen heart, 

‘SIMP!’ 

     “You guys are doing the same thing shut up.” He growled under his breath finally walking over to you, Steve cracked his eyes open and let out a low snarl before comprehending who stood in front of him. Once he recognized The Blade he let out a disgruntled huff before falling back asleep, his movement caused you to stir. Technoblade watched as you rub the sleep from your eyes, before running your hands through your messy hair. “Morning Princess,” He cooed squatting down beside you. You blinked blearily at him for a moment before a smile lit up your face, you moved quickly wrapping your arms around his shoulders. He couldn’t help but smile in response to the hug, his hands were placed on his lower back as he squeezed.

‘So small and cute. Just like a little kitten.~ Can you give her a kiss now? I’m tired of asking for a kiss just do it. Stop making him sound like a simp. Wait look she’s pulling away-’

You pressed a kiss to his lips murmuring a weak, ‘welcome home Protesilaus.’ He shivered a little at the use of his Greek title and gave you a kiss back. 

     “Did you make me dinner?” You hummed nodded your head sleepily, “You spoil me, Princess.” He cupped your cheek with his hand and you nuzzled into it, you looked blissful. 

     “Only cause you deserve it, big guy. Want me to sit with you while you eat.” 

     “If you’re up for it.” Another kiss was pressed against the side of his lips and he purred fondly. You giggled a little and he flushed darkly, “Don’t laugh at me that’s cringe.”

     “Not laughing at you, I just love it when you purr. You’re like a big lion, who’s only soft for me.” He scoffed with an eye roll, 

     “I’m soft to no one.” 

     “Sure you’re not Tech.” You gently pat his cheek before standing up and cracking your back, Technoblade stood up beside you. The both of you walked into the kitchen, you sat at the table while he grabbed his meal. He dug in and his eyes fluttered, 

     “This is so good, god I’m so glad you’re my girlfriend.” 

     “Just for the cooking?” You teased fluttering your eyes at him and he looked thoughtful for a moment, 

     “Well, that and the great se-” You let out an indignant sound interrupting his sentence you went so red it even spread to your ears. Technoblade laughed loudly, “You’re so adorable when you’re flustered,” a smirk spread across his lips. 

‘We got her. Oh my god, she’s so cute. Awwww she’s embarrassed what a sweetheart. You should pinch her cheeks. Show her what we mean- DON’T BE GROSS. He was gross first though!’

     “You’re a terror,” You scoffed fanning your hot face with your hand trying to cool yourself down. 

     “Exactly and don’t you forget it, Princess.” He had a soft pink flush across his cheeks as you flipped him off, “Maybe later.”

     “Techno!” You squawked as he roared with laugher, “What is with you tonight!?”

     “I just missed you. I’ve been away from you all day can you blame me?”

     “I suppose not…” You trailed off smiling softly over at him and he smiled right back at you. “I’m going to head to bed, you coming or what?”

     “I’m right behind you.” He hummed placing his plate in the sink before following you up the stairs. 

The next morning was dedicated solely to you, not only because Technoblade wanted to but also because the voices just wanted to stay close to you. Your head was tightly tucked underneath his chin as he watched you sleep. The rise and fall of your chest was hypnotic and he placed his hand on your chest feeling your heartbeat flutter against his hand. He smiled watching you wake up for a second time with a sweet yawn, he kissed your nose as you regained consciousness. You snickered softly giving him a kiss right back, “Morning Techno.” 

     “Morning Princess,” He greeted, “I was wondering if you wanted to walk Steve with me today.”  

     “I’d love nothing more,” you smiled warmly “on one condition.”

     “And that would be?” Technoblade raised an eyebrow, his hand gently stroking your hip. 

      “I get to wear your cape.” His face scrunched up with disgust, 

      “My cape is sacred, you know this.”

      “I promise I’ll take really good care of it. Please for your wonderful and stunning girlfriend.” 

      “Eh?” He muttered as you batted your eyelashes at him, and despite his original distaste the voices melted seeing your face. 

‘She’s so cute. Adorable, look at those big ole eyes. Tell her she’s cute! Love of our life truly. She’s a teasing little shit ain’t she? Let her wear the cape, what's the harm?’

       “Cringe,” Technoblade said instead and the voices groaned loudly in his ears, he watched your face settle into a pout. He clicked his tongue annoyed at your pout, “come or don’t either way I gotta walk Steve- oof-“ Technoblade grunted as you sat down on his hips glaring at him. 

      “Give me the cape now.” You glared into his eyes, hands gripping onto his shoulders, his eyes lit up with amusement. 

     “Oh, you taking charge here Princess? I don’t mind if you think you can handle me.” The voices and he relished in the way your entire face turned red and you rested your forehead on his neck. 

    “You’re impossible but I’m still taking your fucking cape cringe-lord.”

     “Nerd.” He mused with a fond kiss to your lips, “but fine. I suppose you can borrow it.” Technoblade relented with a small smile, as your entire face lit up like the sun. 

‘Worth it. That smile! Be still my heart! She’s going to look so adorable. Trust us Techno you made the correct choice.’

He rolled his eyes and watched you tilt your head to the side, “The voices?” Technoblade gave a little nod. 

      “They’re being stupid.”

‘STUPID! FUCK OFF! WE’RE HELPING YOU SCORE!’

      “What’re they saying?” 

Sweat gathered on Technoblade’s brow, well now he couldn’t say they were complimenting you. He’d look like such an asshole. 

        “Nothing important.” He tried to cover himself up quickly and you gave a little smirk of your own. “Shut up don’t-“

       “Aw, do they like me?~” You cooed pinching the man’s cheek. “I love them too, they’re a part of you after all.” Now it was Technoblade’s turn to flush red all over if the voices weren’t gushing before they were now. 

‘Kiss her oh my god kiss her. We love her too! Tell her that right now! She needs to know! Bark bark bark bark! Everyone here is a simp. I’m the only one with a brain cell. Technooooooo tell her pleaaaaaseeeee.’

      “They Ugh...they want me to tell you they love you too.” He watched you smile again, “they also want me to give you a kiss.”

       “Well tell them I accept their kiss.”

       “Oh, they know sweetheart believe me.” He leaned forward to capture your lips, he felt you sigh pleasantly against them. His hands moved down to rest on your hips, rubbing gentle circles on them. He tilted his head to deepen the kiss but you pulled away from him, he let out a growl of disagreement. 

        “Oh hush up you grump. We have to feed the bears and dogs, plus if we’re walking Steve we need to get going.” 

       “Tease.” He grunted as you whacked him on the chest, before hopping off his lap to get dressed. He followed you out of bed, as the both of you got ready for the day ahead. You finished before Techno and slid down the ladders to whip up a quick breakfast and feed Steve. By the time Technoblade came downstairs, Steve was happily chowing away and you handed Technoblade two slices of bread. He gave you a quick kiss on the side of his head before shoveling the food into his mouth, he heard you giggle and he raised an eyebrow. “What’re you laughing at exactly?”

     “You’re eating like Steve,” Technoblade made an indignant sound of protest which only caused you to laugh harder. Sometimes he genuinely wondered how he put up with you but then he remembered he loved you and wouldn’t trade you for the world. He only rolled his eyes at you before grabbing Steve’s designated leash and hooking him up to it, the bear let out a huff and his little stub of a tail began to wiggle. “Someone’s excited,” You cooed at the bear scratching under his chin, “My big ole sweetheart.”

     “(Y/n) he’s supposed to be a killing machine please don’t coddle him.”

     “Oh fuck off Techno. Look at his face!” You squished the bear’s cheeks between your hands, “he wouldn’t hurt a fly!” The bear rumbled loudly in his throat but it was more of a pleasant sound than a threatening one. Technoblade raised an eyebrow at the antics before him, 

     “Leave our guard bear alone and go put on your boots.” You huffed but ultimately decided not to be a brat and listen to your boyfriend for once, you stood beside the door as Steve and he wandered up towards you. An eyebrow was raised and he looked you up and down, 

     “What?”

     “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

He watched you slowly blink before patting the sides of your winter jacket, and he chuckled deeply. He took off his cape and draped it across your shoulders, your face lit up and you snuggled into the fluff. It flowed behind you much more than it did when Technoblade wore it, it was swallowing you up. 

‘She’s so precious! We were correct, good job Techno. Such a good, sweet girl. We’re protecting her from the harsh elements! True! You don’t want her to get sick do you?’

Technoblade snapped out of his thoughts as he felt a soft kiss against the side of his cheek, “Thank you Tech, you made my morning.”

     “Anything for you.”

‘We’d kill for her you know. If anyone even looks at her wrong we’ll tear them apart. Guys, could you lighten up a little? Sheesh. Never she’s our stability.’

     “Shall we?” He held out his arm and you wrapped your hand around it snuggling against his side, he really was down bad for you. The both of you stepped out it was a beautiful sunny day the wind only a gentle chill, Techno grunted as Steve eagerly pulled him forward. He heard you laugh as he stumbled down the steps, he shot you a glare over his shoulder and you flipped him off. 

‘Hot.’ 

Technoblade’s face scrunched up in disbelief, “what the hell chat…” he muttered but the heat he felt in his cheeks showed he agreed with the voices. Once again at his side the two of you walked in the direction of Snow Chester, once you both came to the shoreline Technoblade turned towards you. “Would you like to visit L’manhole someday day soon?”

     “Like you even have to ask me that. I’d love to see the damage you caused.”

‘Our little anarchist in training.~ I for one, Can’t wait for her to join the Syndicate. We don’t want her to remember, we want to protect her. Exactly, her joining could put her at risk.’

     “Then we’ll go soon I promise.” 

     “I look forward to it big guy,” You cooed, pressing a feather-light kiss to his lips that sent electricity down to the tips of his toes. He tilted his head deepening the kiss slightly, his hand cupping your cheek, it was so small in his hand. He loved hearing the soft whimper you made against his lips as his tongue slipped into your mouth but the moment was shattered as he heard Steve let out a low warning growl. He rapidly pulled away and shoved you behind his back, he came face to face with BadBoyHalo, the egg cult leader himself. “Is that BBH?” 

     “Looks like it,” Techno muttered as you slipped out from behind him, the demon was in his smaller form and he waved enthusiastically. “Careful Princess,” Techno murmured hesitantly, watching him skip over, “remember the egg.” 

     “I got this Tech, no worries. I’ll be back in a moment alright.” You met Bad halfway and Technoblade shuffled uncomfortably. 

‘Don’t let her go. He’s gonna hurt her. Keep a steady eye. She’s not fragile but eavesdrop just in case. Be careful, and keep alert. Blood for the Blood God. Not yet shut up.’ 

Technoblade clicked his tongue but did eavesdrop on their conversation allowing Steve to sniff at the ground nearby for bugs.

     “(Y/n) my little muffin! How’re you doing?” 

     “I’m doing good Bad! I haven’t seen you in a while, how're you doing? Still doing egg stuff?”

     “Of course silly! That’s why I wanted to visit you.” He grabbed your hands, “I need your help.” He grazed his claws across the back of your hands, Techno watched you raise a suspicious eyebrow. 

‘That’s my girl. Always being suspicious and alert.’ He mentally praised, and the voice agreed with his though,

     “And that help would be what exactly?”

     “You need to convince Techno to give the egg a second chance!” You stared at him blankly and Technoblade tried not to laugh. 

     “Bad, you’re one of my good friends but I fucking hate the egg too.” His smile faltered a little bit and Technoblade’s hand went to the sword on his hip. Bad’s smile quickly returned and cupped your cheeks,

     “Language dear.” He scolded his smile turning strained, “this just means I need to introduce you to the egg silly! It’s going to love you,” 

     “Bad No.” He began to squeeze your face, nails digging into the flesh of your cheeks. Your eyes flashed with fear and Technoblade was about to step forward and intervene but skidded to a halt as he watched you knee Bad in the stomach. Technoblade’s jaw fell open, as you grabbed Bad’s arm as he bent over in pain and flipped him over your shoulder slamming his back into the snow and dirt. Bad let out a pained sound, but all Technoblade could focus on was the way his cape flew to the side with a flourish as you recovered. Your hair stuck to your cheeks as you glowered at the demon, “Don’t touch me.” You stood up, looking more regal than Techno’s ever seen you look, “Go home Bad, and don’t come back till you’ve sorted yourself out. This egg thing has really fucked with your head.” You walked back over towards Techno and smirked at him the fire in your eyes still burning bright. You brought a hand towards his face and you closed Technoblade’s jaw with your finger, “You’re going to catch flies babe.” His jaw snapped shut as you winked at him, you took Steve from his hand and began to walk away. 

‘Damn the cape’s covering her ass. THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE FOCUSING ON?! SHE JUST FLIPPED BADBOYHALO LIKE HE WAS A SACK OF POTATOES! NO FUCKS GIVEN! Stop screaming you’re too loud. Get me a woman who can flip me like that. God, I love strong women. Techno go make out with her right now don’t let her get away with that! We made the right choice with her, maybe she should join the Syndicate. Yeah but then seeing this side wouldn’t be as special-’

     “Tech you coming?” You called over your shoulder, 

‘Yes ma’am. Anything for you. Such a tease.’

He said nothing but followed in your footsteps, hands twitching at his sides, desperately trying to ignore the way the voices purred and begged for him to make out with you right here in the snow. 

As soon as you removed the collar from around Steve’s neck, and hung it back in it’s place by the door Technoblade pushed you up against the wall. You gave a squeak in surprise that he absolutely relished in, maybe he was a little bit of a sadist. His cape fell from your shoulders with a soft clatter as he roughly pressed his lips to yours, he watched your eyes droop closed before closing his eyes as well. “That was the hottest thing we’ve ever fucking seen,” He growled against your lips hoisting you up so that your legs wrapped around his waist. 

     “We?” You said breathlessly as his kisses moved from your lips and down to your neck, 

     “The voices.” He nipped at the skin between your shoulder and neck, enjoying the way your breath hitched in your throat. 

     “Oh,” was all you managed to get out letting your head fall back against the wall with a soft thump. Techno snickered against the burning skin on your neck, you whined a little before meekly murmuring, “Don’t stop. Please Technoblade.” 

‘Well, you heard the little lady. Don’t stop Technoblade. Make her beg some more first. Agreed, that’s what she gets for teasing us after all. Give the girl what she wants already. Who are we to deny her when she looks like that? We live to please one person and that’s her.’

Technoblade panted softly, throughout his life he was never one to deny giving the voices what they wanted. Especially when that something was you.  

[radiant-reid]

Faking it

Chapter 8

previous chapter

WC: 4.4k

CW: Explicit smut after the ★★★ (NSFM)

When Spencer woke up, there wasn't anyone next to him. Half dazed, he reached out to touch Y/n, only to find a slightly warm bed next to him. Slowly, he sat up, rubbing his eyes as he rested against the headboard.

"Morning, sunshine." Y/n's voice drew his attention to the big, round armchair in one corner of the room. She sat there, tanned legs contrasting the grey seat, a book in her hands. Without any makeup or fancy clothing, she looked simply like her. Through the patio door, the sunlight streamed in, painting her face gold.

"Hi," Spencer replied groggily.

Y/n put the book down, walking over to him and running her fingers through his curls. "You looked too peaceful sleeping for me to wake you." She smiled at him, admiring his perfect face in the warm morning light. "There's breakfast outside." She mentioned, still not wanting to take her face away from Spencer. Instead, she nodded to the balcony outside the patio doors.

Whenever Y/n said anything, it seemed to take Spencer twice the amount of time to register it. Looking at her face was too distracting for him.

"Come on then." Y/n encouraged, holding out both her hands so Spencer could take them. When he did, she pulled him out of bed, stepping backward as they walked onto the balcony.

She gestured to a seat, which Spencer took before she took one across the table from him. Spencer only then noticed the French toast on both their plates, topped with berries and chocolate sauce.

He couldn't help but grin at his fake girlfriend cooking him breakfast. "Thank you, sweet girl." He mentioned, not missing the blush on her face as he picked up his cup of coffee to take a sip of. She always made it exactly perfect.

Y/n picked up her cutlery and started eating, both of them sitting in silence.

Spencer could have said it then. It would have been easy enough and ideal. The golden sun on them, endless blue sky, and a confession. Still, somehow the words got caught up in his throat.

"So, are you excited for golf today?" Y/n asked after a while, eyebrows raised.

"I can read the trepidation on your face," Spencer mentioned, reaching out to rest his hand on hers. "It's not a big deal, you know?"

Y/n looked at him with wide eyes. "Reid, I don't know if you know what you've gotten yourself into." She warned him.

She didn't know why she was so nervous. After all, Spencer was her fake boyfriend. Maybe, it was because she wanted her parents to not worry about her ending up alone. That's what she tried to convince herself.

Spencer rocked her hand. "I'll be on my best behavior, not ask for any embarrassing stories, and not tell any embarrassing stories." He assured her, half comfortingly, half-jokingly.

"Okay," Y/n replied, mostly relaxed.

There was a knock on the doorframe of the patio door, obtaining their attention. Spencer turned his head around, away from Y/n.

It was Y/n's mom, holding a few books. "I've brought these for you two to look at." She kindly informed them, handing the books over to Spencer.

He read over the title to see it said Y/n's full name and year intervals.

When he turned back to place them on the table, Y/n was shaking her head rapidly.

"No, mom, no," Y/n begged, but her mom was already gone. Spencer chuckled at her, opening up one of the books. "Reid, shut that now." She commanded sternly, trying to grab the book of the table.

Spencer moved them before she could get them. "Absolutely not. I want to see what's in them." He disagreed, trying to open them while Y/n tried to take them off him. "Please?" He begged, giving her his best puppy dog eyes.

Y/n groaned before rolling her eyes. "Reid, you're the worst." She playfully complained.

Spencer still laughed at her, putting the books back on the table. "Come here." He requested, moving his chair out more. How could Y/n reject the offer to sit on his lap?

She moved to sit on his lap, facing forwards so, unfortunately, she couldn't see him. She could, however, feel his bare chest against her back and his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Show me." Spencer requested again.

Y/n picked out the photo album she knew came first chronologically, holding it up so Spencer could see it from where his head rested on her shoulder.

"This is what I looked like as a baby." She narrated, flicking through pages of pictures. They were all old photos of Y/n as a baby. Some of her family members holding her and some of her dressed up in themed outfits.

Each was cuter than the previous.

Spencer had to tell her. "You were so adorable."

Y/n spun around to look at him. "Were?" She asked quickly.

"Sorry, sorry, are." He corrected himself. Y/n let out a satisfied hum, turning back around to keep going through the book.

Once they'd finished with one of 0-4 Y/n, they moved on to elementary school Y/n.

Spencer was only half paying attention. The majority of his focus was on the warm, glowing feeling he felt deep down. He figured it hadn't stopped since Y/n asked him to help her out. It had only intensified. With Y/n in his lap, he suddenly realized it was going to come to a crescendo at some point. The softness of her skin and the smell of her shampoo made it clear that point would be soon.

Still, something stopped Spencer from saying it.

Y/n continued to explain each picture to him, giggling at the funny memories and sighing at the sad ones. Spencer was able to reciprocate whichever emotion she was feeling because of how closely he was studying her. It definitely wasn't something he could usually do.

They only had a few hours to hang out before Spencer had to go off to golf.

Y/n gave his hand one last squeeze, not really wanting to see him go. "Are you sure you don't want me to come?" She asked for what felt like the 100th time.

Spencer shook his head, taking her face in his hands before placing a kiss on her forehead. "Calm down, love, I'll be alright." He assured her. He wasn't worried like he thought he'd be, but he could tell she was.

Y/n felt like she was melting in his arms between the forehead kisses and pet names. "Okay, have fun." She told him. Spencer nodded and let her go, taking a single step away from her.

"Wait, I forgot something." He announced, spinning back around. Y/n furrowed her eyebrows at him, unsure about what he could have forgotten. Spencer answered her question, cupping her face and quickly placing his lips on hers. The kiss wasn't desperate, more delicate and tender.

Y/n kissed him back for a brief second before they pulled away. He turned back around, walking off with a smirk, leaving Y/n with the widest grin.

Once she knew Spencer was gone, she jumped up and down on her feet a little before having to compose herself again.

Spencer felt ecstatic as he got in the car. Despite rather wanting to spend time with Y/n, he certainly wasn't complaining about going golfing. He'd only been once before, but he could calculate the maths, so he didn't think he was going to have any issues. It might have been the only sport he could possibly do, no running or physical exhaustion.

He was smart enough to know he was mainly there to answer any questions Y/n's dad and brother had, but he couldn't stop thinking about her.

The heavy questions only started coming down once they were at the golf course.

"You wouldn't do anything to hurt her, would you?" Y/n's brother asked once he'd taken his shot.

Spencer couldn't shake his head fast enough. "Never." He didn't know how anyone could. He didn't know how anyone had.

Y/n's dad placed a hand on Spencer's shoulder. "He's only messing with you." He mumbled, loud enough for both of them to hear. Spencer gulped nervously, his eyes flicking back to her brother, who was wearing a smirk. "It's really not difficult to see how much you adore her every time you look at her." Spencer really could believe he was so obvious, but he had hoped he wasn't. Surely it wasn't something Y/n had missed. "I only worry about her safety at work." Like most parents would be, especially with a daughter whose job was so dangerous.

Spencer nodded understandingly. "I know." Y/n had only been hurt a few times, shot in her vest twice, in the foot once, and punched a couple of times. But every time Spencer felt frightened when he saw her hooked up to an IV was something he never wanted to see.

"I know she's not going to stop working at the FBI, but is she safe there?" Her dad continued.

Spencer was more than happy to offer reassurance. "She does have a habit of rushing into danger, but we all look after each other." He realized that didn't sound very reassuring. "Especially because she's the youngest member of the team. Everyone looks out for her, silently, of course, because otherwise she'd be annoyed." He mentioned with a chuckle. "Plus, she's amazing at her job. Always making sure the victim's families are okay, and she's great at talking unsubs down. She's also very knowledgeable when it comes to profiling, somehow she can always think outside the box." Spencer all but bragged about her. It was like his rambling, completely uncontrollable. He wasn't even focused on the golf or Y/n's family anymore.

Her dad nodded. "Good. I'm glad she's looked after." He mentioned. If they had any worry before, they definitely didn't now. It wasn't just because of Spencer's words, though, it was because of how his eyes lit up when he talked about her. Like she was the only person in the world that mattered.

The rest of their golf game only lasted the remaining 5 holes, and they were quickly back at the house.

"Hey, Spence." Y/n greeted him when he walked into their bedroom. She was sat where she sat in the morning, reading a book with one finger twirling a strand of her hair. It was such a comforting sight. "How was golf?"

"Good. I had fun," Spencer replied.

Y/n looked up at him with a smile he had missed in the few hours they'd been apart. "Did you win?"

"Nope." He answered proudly.

Y/n nodded at him. "Good boy." She acknowledged. Her praise wasn't lost on Spencer who blushed bright red. "We have to get ready for dinner in like an hour." She mentioned. "Want to read 'til then?" She offered as she held out his book.

Spencer nodded and she moved over to let him sit next to her. As soon as he sat down she laid her head on his lap facing outwards so she could read her book. Spencer lightly gulped.

It was enough to make Y/n apprehensively moved her head off his lap, sitting up straight. "This is okay, right?" She affirmed. Spencer nodded lightly. "You'd tell me if I was doing anything that made you uncomfortable, right?" She pressed gently.

Spencer nodded firmly. "You're not, not at all." He quickly told her, running a finger over her cheek.

Y/n smiled as she laid her head back against his thighs. Spencer picked up his own book before opening the page. He struggled to focus on his book with the side of her face under his nose.

He couldn't resist experimentally stroking a finger against her cheek. When he saw her smile, he continued, moving his hand to her hair so he could run the soft strands through his fingers. He was desperately trying to mesmerize the velvety feel of her hair. He knew he'd remember it, but he didn't believe he'd be able to feel how he was feeling again.

It was so comfortable he didn't hear Y/n calling his name twice. "Spence." She spoke gently, rolling over, so she was looking up at him.

"Hmm, what's wrong?" Spencer asked, his attention drawn to the slight smile on her face.

Y/n let out a light giggle. "Were you so wrapped up in that book you didn't hear me trying to get your attention?" She asked him.

Spencer drew his lips into a line before nodding. "Uh, yeah, something like that." He replied, bending the truth.

"Alright, Reid." She joked, sitting up and moving her head off his lap. She took the book out of his hands. "What is so interesting about Quantum computing?" She inquired.

Spencer furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember exactly what he had been reading about with Y/n's face so close to his. It was proving difficult. "Quantum computers are used for taking large manufacturing data sets on operational failures and translating them to combinatoric challenges." Spencer quoted.

Y/n was now the one frowning. "What?" She spluttered out.

Spencer smiled at her confusion. "It's just computer technology that performs calculations based on the probability of an object's state before it's measured. That's the simplest version." He explained with a smirk.

Y/n still looked confused. "You still didn't tell me what was interesting about it." She joked with another giggle.

Spencer rolled his eyes. "Actually-"

"Nuh-uh," Y/n replied, pushing a finger to his lips. "I love your rambling." She assured him. "But, we should get ready." She informed him, taking Spencer's wrist to look at his watch.

Spencer still couldn't help but blush at her compliments. "Fine." He reluctantly agreed. Spencer didn't think he had ever been so needy, wanting to touch her for all the time. It was almost painful.

Y/n got ready in record time, knowing she had left it half an hour later than she planned to. It was an extra half hour she got to have Spencer's fingertips gently twirling strands of her hair.

Both of them getting ready together felt so domestic. Spencer could almost trick himself into imagining they were getting ready to go out. Just the two of them on a date. Maybe for their 1st anniversary.

"Okay, what do you think?" Y/n asked, walking out of the closet in some light wash denim mom jeans, a white cropped top, and some tennis shoes.

Spencer looked over her outfit from where he was sitting on the ottoman, trying not to let his eyes linger too long. "You look beautiful." He told her.

Y/n giggled at his look of awe. "Spence, I was joking. This is as casual as it gets." She told him.

Spencer shook his head. "No, you really do look pretty." He insisted.

Y/n couldn't help but smile, walking over to him. She placed both her hands on his knees, bending over so her face was in front of him. Spencer's usual nervousness turned into confidence, he wasn't sure how, but he cupped her face, leaning in to kiss her.

She immediately deepened the kiss, letting her tongue trace over his bottom lip. One of Spencer's hands traveled to her waist, tugging her closer. She was all but ready to climb onto his lap when a knock on the door interrupted them.

"You two were meant to be in the car 5 minutes ago," Sophie announced from behind the closed door.

Spencer noticed Y/n rolling her eyes. "We'll be there in a second, Soph." She stood up straight, offering Spencer a hand which he took.

He felt speechless as he treaded his finger through hers.

"Wait." She stopped him before they could walk out of the door. Y/n reached up to wipe her finger over his lips, confusing Spencer. "Lipstick." She offered as an explanation.

Spencer blushed, cheeks heating up. "Oh, uh, thanks." He awkwardly replied.

Y/n bit her lip, pressing a hand to his cheek. "You look really handsome, Spence." She told him with a smile, unable to resist complimenting him. Every time it made him blush.

He just nodded as they walked out the door.

The whole 3 hours there were out there was nothing but stolen glances, affectionate touching, and smiles. They were both far beyond needing to pretend they didn't have feelings for each other. Still, both of them were far too blind to see how the other was feeling. They were just holding on to an untouchable but near dream.

It didn't stop once they were back alone in Y/n's room. If anything, it was worse. The intensity of the feelings was only amplified.

Trying to ignore the feeling, they both got changed. Y/n into a tank top and pajama shorts, Spencer into basketball shorts Y/n didn't know he owned. She lay down in bed, resting her back against the headboard, Spencer doing the same thing.

Y/n tried to busy herself on her phone, checking over social media. Spencer picked up his book, finger skimming down the pages. The silence between them was quickly growing heavy as Y/n yearned for something more.

"Spence?" She finally ceased the silence quietly, fracturing the tense atmosphere. She turned to him, placing her phone down on the nightstand.

Spencer turned to her, his brown eyes meeting hers. "Hmm?"

Y/n held his gaze, only then realizing she didn't know what she wanted to say. Instead, she sat up straighter. "I... I don't know."

Spencer wanted to ask her what was wrong, but the look in her eyes assured him she was fine. It took him all of a second to know what she wanted. And another second for her to realize he knew.

★★★

He placed a hand on her cheek, taking his time to lean in and kiss her. It was soft and gentle and Spencer. It was all Spencer. Y/n didn't wait a second kissing him back, like so much of their time had been wasted.

Y/n sat up on her knees, swinging one over Spencer's thighs so she was straddling her. He dropped the book that was in his hand on the floor. She held onto his jaw, stroking her thumb over his cheekbone as she deepened the kiss. Spencer moved his hands down to her waist, holding her closer to him.

"Spence." She pulled back with a deep breath, looking into his eyes. "This is okay, right?"

Spencer wasn't sure if she was talking about if it was okay with him, or if it was an okay thing for them to be doing. Nonetheless, the answer was the same.

"Yes. Yes, please, Y/n." He assured her, stroking his thumb over her waist, pushing up her tank top slightly.

Y/n nodded, reattaching their lips once more. Spencer pulled her closer, kissing her deeply. It wasn't as heated as the last time, it was deep and almost loving.

She could feel his hand riding up her tank top, his fingertips tapping on her waist as they kissed. Spencer was back to his usual nervousness, she could tell.

So, she pulled back again, lifting the top he desperately wanted off over her head. Spencer's eyes fell to her bare chest, taking in the view of every inch of her soft skin.

"You're so gorgeous." He told her before placing his lips back on hers. The kiss was filled with longing. Like it was going to be the last one they got, taking in all of each other.

It didn't get less intimate, Spencer pulling her lips off her neck, trailing them down her neck softly. Y/n let her hands travel up and down his chest as she slightly ground onto his hips.

"Spence, fuck." She groaned as he dragged his lips down the valley of her boobs. It was slow and gentle, wet kisses she could feel burning her skin after he'd moved his lips down.

He didn't stop kissing every inch of her chest, leaving her whimpering on top of him. His skillful tongue flicked over her hardening nipples.

Y/n could feel him hardening under her thigh, and it made her feel even more desperate for him.

She trailed her fingers down, letting her fingertips linger on top of his dick.

"This is alright?" Y/n confirmed, looking down at him as she placed her fingertips shallowly in the waistband of his shorts.

Spencer nodded. "Yes, please." He stuttered out, breath getting thicker.

Y/n placed a kiss on his cheek as dug her fingers in deeper. Spencer raised his hips to help Y/n tug off his pants as she moved back, so she was level with his hard length.

She stoaked him up and down, listening to every whimper he let out.

"Please, baby," Spencer begged shakily.

Y/n looked up at his pleading look. "You're so big, pretty boy." She mentioned before taking him into her mouth. Spencer immediately moaned, letting his head fall back as he reached out to touch her hair.

She didn't rush it, slowly taking him into her mouth as she pumped the rest of him with her hand. Spencer keep his fingers threaded through her hair, just holding it out of her way.

Every swirl of her tongue against his tip left him groaning, desperately trying to stop himself from coming too early.

Spencer pulled her off his dick just before he could feel himself needing to cum.

Y/n smirked at him, flashing him her most innocent look, swollen red lips.

"My turn." Spencer declared, tugging her up before he flipped them over gently so her head rested on the pillow.

Y/n tugged at his curls as he planted kisses from her neck downwards. "Please, Spence, do something." She pleaded as she buckled her hips upwards, feeling the increasing wetness.

"What do you want, pretty girl?" Spencer asked her, tracing a single finger up and down her side.

"Something, anything, your mouth." She decided.

Spencer moved his thumbs into the side of her shorts, looking up at her. "Can I?" He asked.

"Yes, please, Spence, please." Y/n quickly consented enthusiastically.

Spencer softly smiled at her, tugging them down her thighs before she kicked them off. He trailed his kisses down her navel, lingering just above her clit.

Y/n let out a deep breath before he dragged a single finger down her slit, just enough to feel the dampness he was responsible for. Nothing had ever made him that proud.

"Spencer Reid, please, just please." Y/n resorted to begging him to do something, aware he wasn't trying to rush it.

Spencer indulged her, attaching his lips to her clit as he traced a finger around her hole. For someone who acted inexperienced, he was phenomenal with his fingers and lips.

He flicked his tongue nimbly over her clit as he pushed a single finger into her. Even though it was only one knuckle deep, his long slender fingers were enough to have her moaning loudly.

"Fuck, Spence." She moaned out, back arching off the bed. Spencer thrust his finger all the way inside of her, pushing it in and out. "Oh, God."

Spencer smirked against her. "Not quite, but close." He mumbled out.

She was about to argue with him, but he could read her, thrusting 2 fingers back inside her and rendering her speechless. He set a slow but deep pace, quickly reducing her to incoherent babbling about how good he was.

"Spence, c-close." She brokenly moaned, grinding her hips into his fingers. "Gonna come."

Spencer left his fingers inside her, scissoring them and putting pressure on the spongy spot inside of her. That was all it took for her to fall over the edge, walls to pulse around his fingers as she spluttered out his name mixed with a trail of moans. He watched intently as she came, absorbing the image of her clenched eyes.

He only took his fingers out when her eyes fluttered open.

"You are unbelievable at that," Y/n announced, taking her fingers out of his hair, worrying she tugged it too tight.

Spencer chuckled at her. "Unbelievable suggests unlikely." He told her.

Y/n rolled her eyes at him. "Unbelievable as in incredible." She tried.

Spencer nodded. "Well then, I appreciated that." He said with a smirk. Giving her such an intense orgasm made him indescribably more confident.

"I'd appreciate something else." Y/n giggled, trying to pull him up.

Spencer smiled softly at her, moving so he was on top of her. He placed his lips back on hers once more.

"Fuck me, please, Reid." She all but begged, feeling his dick sliding between her slit.

"Got something better for you, princess." Spencer rested his forehead against hers, using one hand to guide his dick into her.

Y/n kept her eyes open, watching Spencer's pretty face twist as he pushed deep into her. She could feel every inch of him inside her, filling her up.

Spencer continued to thrust in and out of her slowly, reaching every spot. It made her squirm, thrusting her hips up to reach his while she arched her back. He moved a hand down to thumb her clit in slow circles.

"Spence, oh my god, shit, I'm gonna cum." Y/n declared between moans, feeling the pressure in her stomach start to build. It was the most perfect sight to see him above her, curls falling around his face as his brown eyes gazed into hers.

Spencer could feel her tightening around him, making him very sure he was about to come as well. "Y-yeah, me too." He replied, trying to keep his thrusts steady.

It only took 3 more thrusts before they were both cumming, letting out a series of moans and each other's names. Y/n's thighs were practically trembling as she attached her lips back to Spencer's. Once they had both ridden it out, Spencer pulled out gently, laying next to her. Both of them attempting to steady their breathing.

Y/n rolled over onto her side to look at him with a grin. "Spence, you good?" She asked him.

Spencer nodded quickly. "So so good." He smiled, still a gross understatement. He ran a finger through a strand of her hair.

Y/n placed a quick kiss on his lips. "Gonna go to the bathroom." She announced, getting up out of bed.

Spencer tugged her hand. "Are you alright?" He checked.

"Yeah, handsome. I'm good." She replied, placing the palm of her hand on Spencer's cheek before walking off.

Y/n couldn't stop smiling as she climbed back into bed with Spencer, putting some clothes back on before lying on his chest.

Spencer wrapped his arm around her, placing a kiss on her forehead before she fell asleep. Spencer couldn't. Instead, he admired her sleeping face. Everything seemed right, but Spencer was ever the overthinker. And he couldn't stop his mind from whirling.

Next Chapter

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[imthebadguyyy]

God, I Love You

Lewis Hamilton X Reader

Summary - Its been a tiring couple of race weeks, and you just want to love on your man

Stretching, you slowly opened your eyes as the first bright rays of sunshine peeked through a gap in the curtains, that you had drawn shut the previous night. As you slowly regained complete consciousness, you became aware of the slight weight around your waist, and the feel of warm breath on the back of your neck.

Suddenly remembering the events of the previous day, a smile etched itself onto your lips, as you rolled over to see a sight you had sorely missed for the past three weeks. Lewis was still fast asleep, head buried in your neck, and arm slung around your waist. Smiling as you took in the sight, you became faintly aware of the sound of paw steps down the hall, as Roscoe's face peeked in through the open door. Sitting up very slowly so you didn't wake your sleeping boyfriend, you extended your arms towards the dog, who came trotting forward for a morning cuddle.

After some morning loving for the dog, you decided to get up and start your day, and let Lewis sleep off the exhaustion, exhilaration, stress and jet lag from the races he had won. He had only come home yesterday, and it had been so late in the evening that you had just eaten dinner together, and talked for a bit, but sensing how hard it was for him to even keep his eyes open, you had simply gone to bed. But today, you had planned to simply spend time together, to make up for the time he had not been there.

Stepping into the bathroom, you did your morning routine, of brushing, using the toilet, and tying your hair up into a ponytail. Then you made your way into the kitchen, the bulldog following right by your side. When you had begun dating Lewis, Roscoe had simply started treating you like his mom, and once, when Lewis had referred to you as 'Mumma' while talking to him, you cried. That was the moment you knew that this was always going to be your family. Ever since then the dog had become your fur baby as well, and Lewis often joked that Roscoe loved you more than he loved his own dad.

Deciding that waffles and fruit was the way to go, you quickly whipped up the batter, and poured it into the Mickey Mouse shaped waffle iron that you had bought at a Disney themed store. Picking out some strawberries, mango, orange segments and blueberries to put in a bowl on the side, you also decided to prepare Roscoe's bowl, so the doggo could eat with you guys. Soon, the smell of waffles wafted through the air, and you took out two perfectly shaped waffles to put onto the plate. Quickly pouring more batter into the pan, you began to set up the breakfast tray, and then make your way back to the bedroom.

With breakfast eventually ready, you picked up the tray laden with waffles, cut fruit, tea, maple syrup and a bowl of dog food and walked up quietly to the bedroom. The curtains were still drawn, although the gentle breeze kept moving them to the side, causing little rays of sunshine to peek through and shine on Lewis's face. To combat the light, he had simply pulled the fluffy white blanket over his head to keep the light away from his face, and you mentally "awed" at the sight. Setting the tray down on the bedside table, you climbed into the bed, and wrapped you arms around his torso, peppering kisses onto his neck, and moving onto his face, kissing his chin, nose, cheeks, forehead, eyes, and then finally, just above his lips.

Stirring as you kissed his face, Lewis's eyes slowly fluttered open, taking in his surroundings. After momentary confusion about where he was, he remembered that he was back home. Back with Y/N and Roscoe. A feeling of happiness and pure joy began to spread through his body, as he turned to see Y/N's e/c eyes looking at him with pure love and adoration. "Good morning bubs! Did you sleep well?" she asked, fingers tracing shapes over his bare skin. "Morning baby. I did" he replied, snuggling into her warmth, burying his face in her chest, as she began to softly play with his hair. "I made breakfast"

"You didn't have to" "I wanted too" 'MmmHmm"

As you basked in each others warmth and cuddled up to each other, Roscoe, deciding that he wanted some loving too, jumped onto the bed, right between the two of you. "Hello Roscoe" Lewis said, reaching out to pet the doggo. Wagging his tail, he trotted up to your body, and sat down near your tummy, resting his head on Lewis's shoulder. Feeling loved up and comfortable between both your boys, you let out a sigh of content, and rested your head on your boyfriend's shoulder. Humming something under his breath, Lewis began running his fingers along your bare arms, causing goosebumps to erupt over your skin.

"The foods getting cold" you suddenly said out loud, hopping out of bed to go and get the tray from the bedside table. Getting out of bed, Lewis made his way to the bathroom, and eventually came back to the room in a couple of minutes, to find Roscoe munching away at some treats, while you had picked up a little folding table and placed it on the bed to rest the tray on. Feeling extremely happy once again, he climbed back onto the bed, and grabbed his share of the food on the table.

His phone began to vibrate, Toto's caller ID flashing across the screen. Groaning, he put the phone face down on the table, and ignored the call. "Why aren't you picking up ? It could be important you know" Sighing, he turned to you, "I spoke to him yesterday, and if its that important he can simply text me after I don't pick up. Plus I've seen him for three weeks straight, and now I want to spend time with YOU" pouting, he looked back at you, making you let out a snort of laughter at the look on his face. "Ok drama queen. Now eat your breakfast and then we can take a shower"

Smirking, he looked at you from the corner of his eye, "we?"

"Yes, now shut up and eat" you said, nudging him with a glint in your eyes.

"Yes ma'am"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After taking a shower together, and washing the dishes and the general monotonous household work, the both of you decided to take a walk along the beach, and take a frisbee along with you.

Dressing in the appropriate attire for the beach, you put Roscoe in his "ROSCOE 44" harness and walked out of the house. The beach was only five minutes away from your house, and you enjoyed the salty smell of the ocean air. It was a bright and sunny day, accompanied by a pleasant, cool ocean breeze as well. As you neared the golden sand, the bulldog bolted towards the sand, and ran right up to the water, and turned back to look inquiringly at the two of you. Laughing, you caught up with him, setting down the beach bag Lewis had packed for your beach day on a towel. Deciding to just relish in the Sun rays, you laid down a second towel, and removed your wrap around dress to lie in your bikini.

Lewis on the the other hand, decided to go for a swim in the water, and stripped off his t-shirt, so he remained in just his swim trunks. Looking over the top of your sunglasses, you couldn't help your gaze wandering all over his toned and muscled body, letting your eyes drink in the sculpted muscle and the tattoos that adorned his body, eyes lingering over each and every one, teeth unconsciously sinking onto your lower lip. "Enjoying the view?" his cocky voice made you look up at his face, still feeling slightly dazed.

"Yeah, because its mine to enjoy" you replied, throwing him a smirk. Rolling his eyes, he ran to the water to join Roscoe for a swim, while you watched with a smile on your face, as you watched your two boys chase the waves together. Whipping out your phone, you opened Instagram, to film the pair, and uploaded it onto your story with the caption : beach days with these two make everything better 🤍🤍

When the rays became too hot, you guys packed up your bags and made your way back home, stopping to buy some ice cream to beat the heat. Deciding to simply order some Chinese takeout food for dinner, with a bottle of wine, you settled down in front of your TV to have a movie night together. Lewis was in the kitchen, making some popcorn, and bringing you guys some wine as well.

Settling for 'Lion King' for your first movie, you let Lewis sit down, and prop his feet up on the pouffe in front of the sofa, while you tucked your feet up in the sofa, and laid your head down on his chest, his arm coming round your shoulder to hold you tightly. Roscoe sat by Lewis's feet, already asleep from the tiring day he had had at the beach. As Simba met Timon and Pumba, Lewis turned to look down at your face, "God, I Love You" smiling back at him, you leaned up to press your lips to his jaw. " I love you too"

Leaning his head down, he pressed his lips to yours, setting down the bowl of popcorn, to wrap his hands around your back, to keep you in place, as you pushed yourself up, wrapping your arms around his neck, as his hands began sliding up your back to finally rest in your loose hair, while yours slid down to his toned shoulders, and straddled his lap. The kiss grew more and more desperate, until you two finally broke apart, for the need of oxygen, resting your foreheads against each other, breathing heavily. " I love you. You're so good to me"

"I love you more"

"Not possible"

The moment was broken by a loud "wuff" as you both turned to look at the dog, who had stood up and was now looking up at the two of you with a look that said 'get a room parents!' "Roscoe!' Lewis whined, "We were having a moment" Laughing, you got off his lap, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I love you. Now, we have to feed to dog"

'Mmhmm' he mumbled, leaning into your touch.

"If you get up now and set the table, I promise I'll lock the door so Roscoe doesn't come in tonight" you said, looking over your shoulder, to wink at him. Eyes darkening slightly, he turned to look at you, and walked right up to you, pressing his palm onto your waist. "You better lock that door tonight. No doggy trauma in this house"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK OK OK OK FIRST F1 FIC. let me know what you thought !

NO I HAD TO ADD THIS BECAUSE IT SUITS THIS STORY SO WELL. im soft 🥺❤

Thank you thank you thank you to @grandestrategia for the idea ❤

[leafs-lover]

Can you do “If you don’t stop now I’m calling your mom!” with Pierre Luc Dubois? Thank you 😘

Boyfriend!Pierre-luc taken from this prompt list

For the first time this winter, the weather in Winnipeg is perfect. Normally frigid temperatures accompanied by extreme winds, you woke up to an amazing sight. A few inches of fresh snow, the sun shining and not a single branch moving. Completely still air, to the point it’s almost eerie.

Unlocking your phone and opening the weather app, you expect to find the bright red 'cold weather' banner at the top of the screen. The same warning from yesterday, and the day before, and basically every day this month. Instead it's only -6°C. Practically unheard of for this time of year, the type of warmth that in comparison, feels like summer.

Running back into the bedroom you jump into the bed, almost landing on Pierre in the process. Phillip and Georgia immediately perked up, alarmed by the commotion. Grabbing the blanket you forcefully throw it off him, causing him to shiver as cool air hits him.

“YN…it’s my day off,” Pierre groans, not yet ready to open his eyes. “What you are doing?”

“Pierre! It’s perfect outside!” Running your hand over his broad chest you feel the muscles under his shirt right before you bounce your knees, causing the mattress to move with you.

“Babe,” he groans. Easily wrapping his arm around your waist he pulls you down, pinning you against him in an attempt to calm you. By this point it’s no use, Phillip and Georgia have jumped into the bed and are joining in on the excitement. Tails wagging, stepping all over Pierre's chest with wide smiles.

“Pierre,” you pout. Pushing up on one elbow you haul Phillip up, who eagerly begins licking Pierre’s cheek, causing him to laugh. Bringing his free hand up he pets the dog, who sits on his chest continuing to lick his cheek. Georgia, not wanting to be excluded, forces her way between you and lies with her head in the crook of Pierre’s neck, giving you the opportunity to pet her. Slowly Pierre’s hazel eyes open as he keeps one had on your waist the other gently scratching Phillip.

“What are you going on about?” He asks, finally looking toward you with some sleep in his eyes.

“We have to go outside. There is snow and it’s not that cold, this doesn’t happen here!”

Shaking his head with a grin, he asks, “is there coffee?”

“No, I was going to make it, but the snow distracted me.”

“You’re such a kid,” he laughs. Gently picking the two dogs up and setting them on the bed he sits up slightly, bringing himself closer to you. “Morning.” He places a soft kiss on your lips, morning breath still heavy in his mouth, “can you make coffee.”

“Of course,” you smile. Placing one last kiss on his lips, you leave him alone in bed. Nails click on the floor behind you, following you to the sliding door. Letting them out, you head to the kitchen and begin coffee and breakfast. By the time coffee is brewing the pups are at the door, barking to be let back in. It’s not that they dislike the cold, it’s that they prefer to be with the humans. When you and Pierre are in the living room, they are in the living room. When you are in the backyard during the summer, they are outside with you. Right now you are in the kitchen, and that is where they want to be.

Following a quick breakfast, you are tugging on your hat and boots, zipping up your coat and heading into the backyard. Pierre, still wishing he was in bed, hangs back at first. Watching while you make tiny snowballs and throw them in the air, laughing as the dogs try and track them like tennis balls, only to lose them once they land in the white landscape.

“Pierre!” you scold.

Whipping your head to the side, jaw slacked after a snowball hits you square in the back.

“That was for Georgie, I missed,” he shrugs, but the devilish grin on his face says otherwise.

“You missed?”

“Yes.”

“You? A professional athlete? You missed a shot from 5 ft away?”

“I play hockey not baseball,” he shrugs.

You let it go, or you act like you are letting it go. With a soft smile as if you’ve accepted his lie, you bend down and grab a make a small snowball and begin rolling it around, telling Pierre you want to make a snowman. What you want is for him to come help, get closer, and allow you the opportunity to get him back.

The snow crunches under Pierre’s boots and you hear a loud thud as he falls onto his back, arms wide open. Moving his arms and legs he works to make a snow angel, trying not to trip Phillip who chasing his hands around, thinking he is playing.

“YN, can you help me?” he asks. “I don’t want to ruin it with footprints.”

Sighing, you leave the snowball and walk over to Pierre’s feet, holding your hands out for him to grab. When you feel his hands grasp yours, you start to lean back in an attempt to pull him to his feet, only to be met with resistance. With blown pupils and wide grin, Pierre pulls his hands and you tumble forward landing in the snow. Your legs and butt are completely white, the sleeve of your jacket cold. As you feel snow hit your stomach under your coat you loudly gasp.

“PIERRE!” You want to sound firm, mad, but all that comes out is a laugh.

“You said you wanted to play in the snow,” he explains, taking a snowball and throwing it at your chest, a few flakes going down the top of your sweater.

“OHMYGOD!” you shriek. The commotion pulled the dogs over who are eagerly wagging their tails, Georgia even letting out an excited bark.

“If you don’t stop now I’m calling your mom,” you warn, watching him make another snowball.

“Fine,” he huffs, throwing it away, drawing the dogs away momentarily.

Standing up you begin the process of brushing the snow off. Pierre stands beside you and draws a hand back before placing a firm slap on your ass, causing some snow to fall off.

“You are the worst,” you laugh, rolling your eyes.

“I put snow on you I get in trouble, I take the snow off I get in trouble, no pleasing you,” he mutters, placing another slap on your ass, to the other cheek this time.

“I’m all cold now.”

"Lets go inside.” His voice is dark and husky, his hand still on your wet clothes burns to the touch. Ducking down he places a kiss to your neck, his lips warm against your skin cooled by the snow. Keeping his hand on your ass, he gives it a firm squeeze, eliciting a faint giggle. “I’ll warm you up.”

Without another word you head for the backdoor with a firm grip on his wrist, two wet pups not far behind.

[luimagines]

Waking Up Next to Him

Masterlist

Set platonically and within the adventure. It’s long so it goes under the cut!

Time

The bright sunlight winked just beyond your eyelids at an blinding angle. Your back was against warm though and was surprisingly comfortable despite the growing ache in your neck. There’s a weight over your shoulder, pinning you in place but doesn’t dig in. A thrown blanket is covering your body and the secret weight, even if half of it has ended up on the forest floor. You’re too tired to think of what the weight can be. All you know is that it’s comfortable and you don’t feel like moving. A heartbeat passes and the solid form on which you lay shifts. 

A groan.

More shifting.

Heat flushes your face slightly as you resign to get up, trying to play the whole cool, once you realize what, or rather who you passed out against.

“Mornin’ Time.”

Your pillow takes a minute to assess the situation.

It’s early, none of the others are up yet. Too tired from the journey the day prior, but the resident chef wakes up the earliest to cook breakfast on time. He’s asleep now but won’t be for long. You thank the stars and your luck that you woke up before him. No pictures for him to take this time.

Time grins, seemingly unbothered by the events and sighs good naturedly. “Good morning.”

Twilight

It was a cold night. They told you it would be. Both your traveling companions and the breeze as you settled with the day’s end.

But you couldn’t have guessed how cold it turned out to be.

Sleep didn’t come easy. Discomfort and shivers kept you awake. Your blankets were warm but not warm enough. At some point, in the middle of the night, you gain the warmth your tired brain was waiting for before drifting off to sleep. 

When you wake, you can’t breath.

Hairs tickle your mouth and nose and there’s a large and heavy being on top of you. At first you think it’s Wind because the shape is much to large to be four but smaller than some of your other companions.

Further analysis and you realize that it’s not hair but fur, that’s threating to enter your lungs and the color of the material seems awfully familiar.

“...Wolfie, I love you but you’re killing me. Get off.” You weakly push the beast away, not coherent enough to move your limbs and piece together how to be a functioning human yet.

The creatures blinks up at you, having just woken up as well and notices your open eyes. A yawn and crushed ribbed where he stepped to get off later and your freedom has been duel earned.

You take a breath of relief and grin, only now noticing the cold with the rising sun to be a little more barrable than the previous night.

“Thanks buddy, you’re a walking heater. I probably would have been a popsicle if it hadn’t been for you.” He nods in acknowledgment and swiftly turns away before you can reach behind his ears to thank him properly.

You look up and see Wild and Time already awake, not talking. Warrior looks to just have woken like you today. Not unusual but welcoming nonetheless. Wind and Sky probably won’t wake up for another hour or two and Hyrule and Four always wake up a little after them. No one knows for sure when Legend will get up because its never consistent and Twilight seems to be missing as well.

The ranch hand emerges from the tree line seconds after you realize he was gone to begin with. He smiles at you and waves in greeting.

You wave back and try to dust the wolf hairs off of your clothes.

You missed Twilight’s subtle smirk.

Warrior

It was a hard fight and not a safe place to stay put but the dungeon left you with little option. Separated from the group and low on provisions and healing items, you and Warrior realize that your both running low on fumes. Taking refuge in a secluded corner, hopefully far away from any potential monsters and threats, you rest.

Waking up is hell.

Sleeping back to back was probably not the best idea but neither of you wanted to risk an ambush. Shifts were supposed to be taken but given that you both fell asleep says something about your energy levels and the previous fights.

Your neck hurts, your legs are sore, your butt and hips are not thanking you for the treatment and everything ache will familiar but expected battle wounds. None major but each one takes its toll.

“You up?” Warrior stands up as if he wasn’t bleeding from the shoulder yesterday and he also didn’t sleep sitting for who knows how many hours.

“I am clearly sitting Captain.” You mutter. “I am not up. I refuse to be up.”

“You know as well as I do that we have to get to the others. What if they need help?”

“I’d argue we need the help. Everything hurts. We have no fairies and there’s more dungeon ahead of us with obviously more enemies and traps and puzzles...” The puzzles... were the worst. “Just five more minutes....Please?”

Warrior says your name in a way a tired mother tries to get her stubborn child to listen to reason. His face twists at the idea and when he attempts to look over his shoulder to check your surroundings, it instead contorts in a pained grimace.

So his shoulder pain was still there after all.

“Fine. Five minutes.”

Sky

As expected, Sky goes down for the count within the first few minutes of the mandated lunch break. Unfortunately after a rumble or two and strange smoke coming from the distance that decidedly wasn’t there when you first arrived, the group decided to investigate.

Legend goes to shake Sky’s shoulder in an attempt to wake him but it’s all in vain.

Sticks are drawn after a long and loud argument about what to do and yours in the shortest.

Everyone else goes to check out the commotion and you are stuck with babysitting duty. It’s not bad all things considered- he’s asleep- no actual babysitting happening. But part of you can help but grumble about missing the action so you sit non too gently next to him and decidedly not pout.

Your stomach is full and the sun light begins to feel heavy and warm and nice.

Your eyes close before you can fight it.

Some time later, you’re shaken awake. Adrenaline fills your system instantly but upon seeing the laughing face of Sky himself, you remember yourself and only marginally resist the urge punch him.

“Feel better?” You ask instead.

“I could ask you the same thing.” He chuckles and points to his chin.

You wipe across the area and your hands comes back wet, cold and covered in drool. 

“You saw nothing.”

“Oh sure, but Wind did.”

Great.

Now it’s on his pictobox. That’s blackmail material in his favor, you suppose and refuse to acknowledge it further.

Wild

When you wake up, it’s still dark. Not even close to sunrise.

The fire burns bright and warm throughout the area but it’s not the fire that’s keeping you warm.

You also find out you can’t move.

You crane your head slightly to find long hair draped over your shoulder and a familiar scarred ear belonging to the resident champion.

He wrapped around you completely, hugging you tightly and pining you down with a leg to boot. 

You attempt to shimmy out but his grip tightens instead.

You sighed and watch as Twilight comes into view. He crouches closer and squats on Wild’s side, whispering to you. “Do you need help getting out? I can wake him to take over Hyrule’s shift for the night.”

You take a minute to rethink about your position. It’s not painful. The opposite actually. It feel nice. You’ve seen Wild cling to who ever he can get his hands on when he sleeps so you’re not surprise. 

You don’t need to pee or leave anytime soon anyway.

“No, I think I’m good actually.” You reply, whispering as well. “Let him sleep, it’s been a day for everyone.”

Twilight nods and leaves, but not without looking back once or twice in case you changed your mind.

You shimmy back in place and allow yourself to be held by your friend. 

Sleep comes easier this time.

Hyrule

Gentle fingers card through your hair. Warmth, magic and the unusual feeling of safety plague your mind. Confusion hits you but the alarm that typically follows never comes.

“Oh thank goodness, you’re awake.” A voice fills your ears. It’s muffled and must have been quiet to begin with because you can’t make out who said it yet. 

Organizing your thoughts feels like traveling through knee high mud.

Your eyes blink open and the light comes through.

The Traveler is leaning over you, thankfully blocking out most of the sun from immediately assaulting you. 

“Hyrule?”

“You had us worried for a minute.” He visually sags with relief, a tired smile on his face and leans back. “You took quite a hit.”

Your head feels swollen but as Hyrule continues to push your hair back it dissipates as time passes. Your thoughts clear and with his help, you sit up.

A hand places itself by your temple. It takes a half second before you realize it’s yours.

It comes back covered in dried blood.

Sky runs over after tending to Four with what looks like a bloodied wet cloth. He sits down slowly and begins to clean your head in a familiar fashion.

“Thank you. Both of you.” You tired voice comes through and a worn out smile follows soon after.

“Anytime.”

Wind

It’s nice day. 

According to some people.

Dark clouds cover the sky, the sun nowhere to be seen. It pours cats and dogs and the only cover for miles is a lone cave where your group currently takes up residence. Everyone’s wet and your clothes feel heavy and cold. No one is happy. 

Wild, Twilight and Legend dive deeper, intending to check out if any monsters reside in the cave.

Hyrule insisted on traveling with them but Warrior’s concussion and Time’s bleeding leg call for further attention and Legend claims to have more magic restorative potions than healing potions.

He stays behind.

Four and Sky take over the food while he’s distracted, trying to make a half decent meal before he intervenes.

Wind is groaning, sore and bored but otherwise unharmed.

You don’t make any comments at your own pain, biting your tongue and taking a deep breath. As you lean against the stone wall, Wind stomps up next to you and sits down with purpose.

“I could’ve gone with them.” He slams his fist into his cheek with his elbow on his knee.

“But you didn’t. It’s not so bad.” You said.

“They didn’t want me to go.”

“You’ll live.”

“I’m just as good as them you know.”

“I know and you make a better pillow.” You says, throwing yourself sideways with your head landing on his lap. He squawks indignantly and attempts to push you off but you hold on. “Sorry, you make the best pillow.”

“NOOOO!”

“YEEEESSS!”

“Nooooo.” Wind keeps his hands on your back but you’ve misjudged your exhaustion. You’re out in seconds.

A moment passes.

“Hey, hey, hey.... wake up. You have to eat.” A small hand shakes your shoulder.

“Hm?” You blinked tiredly. There’s a bowl if front of your face and you don’t hesitate to grab it. “Thanks.”

“You’re heavy.” A voice calls from behind. The owner lets you take the bowl and begins to gently push you off into a sitting position. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“It was supposed to be a joke but thanks for letting me sleep.” You admit and smile at the pirate. 

“You trapped me.” He pokes your side, trying to look annoyed but falling flat. There’s a joke in there somewhere. You’re missing something.

The others have come back while you were out of it, all either have hidden smiles or failing to hide their shaking shoulders and snickers.

Curious and a little self conscious you looks into the provided meal, your reflection greeting you as always.

A lightbulb goes off over your head.

“DID YOU DRAW ON MY FACE?!”

Four

There’s a force dragging you down but there’s two arms under you.

It’s very concerning for a moment but then....the size of them catches up to you.

Your head snaps up and comes face to face with a very surprised Four.

“Hello.”

“...Hi.”

“Lovely weather we’re having, don’t you think?””

“You’re leading with that?” Four snorts and continues walking, unbothered by your weight in his arms.

“How...?” You trail off trying to find the right words to explain what happening to you. You don’t feel any pain and nothing feels injured....but the lack of memories is a little concerning.

“How am I holding you?” Four smirks as he guesses incorrectly. “I’m stronger than I look.”

“I was going to ask how did I fall unconscious. I don’t remember anything. I’m more surprised by that than the fact that you’re holding me despite being half my size.” You blinked and try to keeping searching through your memory.

Nothing comes up.

“Wizrobe.” Four answers causally with a shrug. “It caused some chaos, fought another wizrobe and you got caught in the cross fire between the two of them before we could intervene. Their attacks canceled each other out well enough that you weren’t actually injured but uhh..... Well I suppose you’ll figure it out sooner or later.”

“Four.” You glare in warning.

“Maybe don’t look at your reflection for a while. Legend, Twilight and Hyrule all agree that it’ll fade with time but...”

“What are you talking about? What happened to me?” You sit up a little in his grip, Your arm reach over his shoulders and something wrong catches your eyes.

Your skin is green.

Your shocked silence stills your entire body. Four winces once he follows your eye line and stops to place you on your own feet.

“It could be worse?”

You stare a little while longer and look back to Four with hopeful eyes. “Think you can knock me out again?

He’s not amused.

Legend

You blissfully wake up for the first time in a week. 

It’s been an easy week in terms of travel and attacks so the boys take it upon themselves to cause trouble and it hasn’t been merciful to your sleep schedule.

They are the very incarnation of that thing your hometown friend used to say. How did it go again? If there’s no trouble then I’ll create it? Something along those lines.

But this is different and you don’t plan on wasting it.

You close your eyes and attempt to go back to sleep while you can but hushed voices reached your ears, keeping you awake before you can tune them out.

“Should we wake them?”

“You know how Legend is. He can be as bad as Sky and he had a rough night to boot.”

“But he’s right on top of them and they promised to show me how to fight in hand to hand combat.”

“You have all day for that and they didn’t say it was going to be today.”

“But I‘m excited! I want to start as soon as possible.”

“Will you idiots keep it down?” A voice by your shoulder speaks up. It lacks the usual snark it posses but the intention for venom is there. “Some people took double shifts last night. Shut up.”

You breath a small sigh of relief as the voices abruptly cut off and don’t return for a long minute.

The body next to you stills.

Three heartbeats pass and the unnoticed weight gets off of you.

You pretend to be asleep still, not wanting him to push you away so early in your relationship. He’s just started to get used to you.

You’re determined to be his friend before everything ends.

He’s determined to avoid that.

It’s been a battle of wills.

An unstoppable force meets an unmovable object.

But this could tip the scales in his favor if you fail to play it off correctly.

“No one say anything.” Legend hisses. “Not. One. Word.”

You make the mistake of stretching. 

“You’re up! You’re up! You’re up!” Wind practically pounces on you, knocking his name sake out of your lungs and demolishing any chances for a peaceful morning. “We can start now!”

“Can I eat first at least?” You groan out, not bothering to fight him off.

“Wind. Off.” Time calls out and the boy follows the command without question. He quickly kneels by your side though, practically vibrating on the spot.

You sit up and look around.

Looks like you were the last one up.

“Morning everybody.” You smile. You glance at Legend who unluckily has the tips of his ears tinted red. His arms are crossed and he’s avoiding looking at you, even greeting you as the rest of the group return your call.

You smirk. “Good morning Legend. Did you sleep well?”

He huffs and turns away completely, taking a few steps to leave.

You get to your feet, shadowed by Wind and head to take your share of the food from Wild.

A beat passes without any words exchanged and you tilted your head innocently at the Veteran. You refuse to let it be awkward between you so you pretend you know nothing.

The blush travels down his ears to his face and neck. “I did. Thanks for asking.”

[miekasa]

any spare levi headcanons tonight????? 😁😁😁😁

Sure, why not, he is the love of my life after all. These are pretty random, and fit in some sort of generalized modern boyfriend au. Hopelessly domestic, as that is the nature of nearly everything I write for Levi, anyway. Also still terribly obsessed with the idea of him with a motorcycle, so there’s that.

He owns at least six black blazers. They’re nearly identical; slight differences in texture and cut, one with lapels, one that’s boldly all leather that you swear you’ve never seen him wear. They’re kind of his go-to staple, other than a sweater.

That being said, he doesn’t exclusively wear all black. His closet leans towards more neutrals, sure, but he’s not allergic to color. You might not catch him wearing neon orange on the average day, but he’s not averse to a nice shade of green, any shade of purple that suits his mood, even a softer pink.

He has towels and rags he sets aside especially for you when he comes over. He always washes them and put them back in place when you leave so that they’re ready to go for next time.

Claims to not have any attachment to the shows/dramas you watch, but he’s totally backseat watching. Halfway into every single series, he starts sitting down when you turn it on, and scoffs at dumb decisions the characters make.

He splurged on one of those frame TVs that look like a painting when they’re idle. It was a good investment in his opinion.

He doesn’t hate Starbucks drinks—there’s worse things out there in terms of quality of tea. What he despises about the establishment is the way they call out names for you to pick up your order. He’s learned that mobile order ahead is the way to go.

Has slippers for around the house, so consequently, you have slippers for walking around his house. He keeps both pairs (and a few extra for friends and guests) tucked neatly beside the door for easy access; yours always go next to his.

Does not understand the purpose of a robe. Buy him one tho and he will suddenly find an excuse to wear it: making breakfast, lounging around watching TV, doing some light cleaning and dusting. It’s comfy, alright, he can admit that much.

The little puppy you got him that he swore he was not going to warm up to now gets the royal treatment. The best doggie goods and treats, top rated shampoos, cutest drying towels, even a miniature couch he constructed just for the pup. They’re best friends, there’s no breaking that bond now.

Speaking of the puppy, affectionately named Captain, Levi can be found walking him every day shortly after work. They have a few different routes, but they always pass by the local vendors/market, who enthusiastically anticipate their appearance every day. Some of the older ladies running stands have even taken to bringing a few treats with them for Captain—after bundling up some goods for Levi, too, of course.

Captain also has a special doggy backpack Levi uses for when he’s on his motorcycle. If you follow anybody on TikTok in his area, you’re bound to see at least one video of the pup while Levi’s out riding. He’s become viral on social media without even knowing it.

(When you show him a video someone posted of him and Captain with well over 100k likes, and a million views, he only rolled his eyes. But remembers that particularly day; remembers the folks had a kid who politely asked to pet the dog, so he let him. He also maybe asks you to send the link to him).

On the subject of the motorcycle, there was a good few weeks he wouldn’t let you on it. Always found an excuse, a smart reply that was punctuated with gentle push on your forehead and calling you too clumsy for it. Later, you found out it’s because he’d ordered you a helmet; didn’t want to risk you riding without one.

He always keeps it in the storage compartment should he make a stop to pick you up while he’s riding; and he usually wears at least two layers to have a spare to wrap you in before you get on.

When he cooks, he always makes sure there’s enough for leftovers and/or to give you some later. He also bakes frequently, and at least once a week, he stops by with some kind of treat for you—“Trying out a new recipe, let me know if you think it’s missing anything.”

On the subject of food, he won’t police what you eat to annoying extent; he knows that not everybody has the time or will to make pasta from scratch like he does. But, he will smack your wrist if you consider ordering fast food when you’re over at this place. Give him 30 minutes and a single pan, he’ll make something much better than whatever you can find on Uber Eats.

Really, though, he doesn’t mean to obnoxious about the homemade food thing, it’s more habit for him. Growing up, he had to learn to be resourceful, so buying fast-food isn’t ever at the forefront of his mind. Cooking for you also turns out to be something somewhat intimate that he enjoys, so just let him.

Once bought an Apple Watch because he liked the look of them, it wasn’t insanely expensive like other high end watches, and it could connect to his other devices, so why not? A week later he returned it, the ping of his notifications were in one too many places for his liking.

You tried to convince him to keep it—“At least for when you’re jogging! It can track your activity and calories!”—but he clicks his teeth. He’ll survive without keeping track of them.

He learned the hard way that jogging with Captain is no good. His legs are too tiny and Levi ended up carrying the puppy the entire time. Captain is more of a walk dog… or ride on the back of his bike dog.

If you changed anything in his phone settings—like the ringtone for you contact, or the sound his keyboard makes—he wouldn’t go back in and try to figure out how to reset it. Unless it was something obnoxious, like adding an autocorrect shortcut to say something lewd.

He doesn’t really listen to music when he’s just walking. When he’s on a run, that’s fine, but he somewhat prefers to just… hear the environment around him when he’s on a stroll or a break from work. The only reason he’d have headphones on in public is to take a phone call, but even then, he’d prefer to wait until he’s somewhere more private.

He likes having you over at his apartment and has contemplated asking you to move in. He doesn’t want to rush anything, though, so he’s content with your sleepovers for now. (Though he really cannot fathom that you call them “sleepovers” like you’re 14. Please).

He speaks to his mother at least once a week, and she always asks about you. Levi tells her that you’re fine, gives her small updates about you, but Kuchel really just wants to know when the wedding is. He pretends to be busy whenever she starts asking and conveniently ends the call.

Occasionally, he’ll stop by and take you out for lunch. Depends on how much time he has during the day for himself, but he always enjoys sharing a meal with you.

Whenever you’re out with your friends drinking, Levi will pick you up. Even if you already told him that you’d Uber home; as soon as you text him that you’re going to leave soon, he’s already on his way.

He makes pretty good cocktails himself. Teases you for running his alcohol supply dry when the truth is he has more of your favorites in his cabinet than his own. He secretly likes the way you flirt with him when you’re tipsy.

You don’t always cuddle on top of each other when you sleep together. You can just lay by each other and that’s enough; but sometimes, you catch Levi turning towards you in his sleep, reaching for your hand. His body seems to search for yours subconsciously, and you swear there’s a hint of a smile on his sleeping face when you put your hand within reach.

Do not try to pay for dinner when you’re out with him. He’ll pull the “I’m going to use the restroom” move and pay the bill behind your back if he needs to. Open your own doors, maybe; pull out your own chairs, sure if you want; but not this.

He flosses very diligently every night. Mostly because he fucking hates the dentist, so if he takes the extra steps and is extra careful with his teeth, he doesn’t have to go as often, right?—Wrong, it’s the one time the roles are reversed, and you and Hange have to wrestle him into the doctor’s office.

On the flip side, if there are any doctors you routinely avoid and/or forget to schedule check ups for, fear not, because Levi will do it for you. He’ll drive you there, too—the only caveat being, that he usually doesn’t tell you where you’re going until you’re almost there. You think he’s doing the mysterious man surprise date thing and then boom, he’s pulling up to the ophthalmologist. Good luck.

He’s purchased a physical, paper copy of the news on every one of your anniversaries, birthdays, and other special occasions. He keeps them all neatly tucked away in a drawer. Sometimes, he looks back on them—sees what was happening in the world around you on that day. Maybe someday he’ll cut them up and bind them together in a book for you.

He doesn’t like having headphones in when you’re home with him, and preferred if you didn’t either—unless it was for work or school. He welcomes you to use his speakers and play your music aloud; he likes listening to what you listen to. If you look closely, you can catch him humming along or tapping his foot when he really likes a song.

Saves pictures you send him in an album in his camera roll. Occasionally can be found scrolling through them—particularly if you’ve been away on a trip, or he hasn’t gotten the chance to see you because of conflicting schedules.

He takes relatively short showers and doesn’t have a strong preference for the water temperature, so he lets you shower first. Unless you want him to join you, of course.

It’s not hard to tell when Levi wants you. He becomes noticeably more touchy, even if that margin isn’t too wide by anyone else’s standards; and he rarely tries to hide it. It only happens in the privacy of your apartments; but he’ll come on to you—leaning a bit further into conversations, a hand on your knee, a kind of cloudy look in his eyes.

Sometimes he forgoes the attempts at being subtle, just kisses you out the blue, carefully backs you up against the wall, puts his hands on your hips. He can be awfully direct when given the opportunity.

[goodlucktai]

Could you write something about natsume getting a hug?? Just, from whoever n for whatever reason. I keep thinking about how no one ever really hugs him n it makes me sad

x

The absolute last person Joji expected to see today was Natsume Takashi.

Joji slows to a stop on the corner of the street, a block away from the train station, and stares shamelessly.

It's been a decade since the last time he saw Natsume, but he recognizes him immediately. Of course he does. His light hair and eyes aside, Joji has thought about him on-and-off since junior high.

Joji remembers that rainy day when he was thirteen, an empty desk in the middle of his eighth grade classroom, Ito leaning over in his chair to whisper, "Did you hear? Natsume was in the ER. He almost died. The police are looking at his foster parents."

It was as if he'd been plunged into a pool of ice water. He sat there, frozen, while their teacher called them to attention for homeroom and announced that Natsume wouldn't be in their class going forward.

What was the last thing Joji had said to him? "It's no wonder your parents didn't want you." Why the hell had he said that? A book, if he remembers right. He'd lent it to Natsume and Natsume gave it back all water-damaged, like he'd gone for a swim with his backpack on. Natsume's eyes were on his hands, on the ruined book, and he'd tried to apologize, said he'd pay for it, but Joji just snatched it away, ticked off.

"This is what I get for trying to help you, I guess. It's no wonder your parents didn't want you."

Joji is almost twenty-four now. He's going into pediatrics. His fiance, Sakura, is a foster parent. She is currently the proud and fiercely protective mother of two beautiful twin girls.

Sora and Miu are terrified of adults and they go everywhere together and sometimes they make up stories. Sometimes they lie, about why their uniforms are torn, why they're home late, why their lunchboxes are covered in dirt. They have this look in their eyes sometimes like they're just waiting to get hurt again.

Sakura has the patience of a saint. She never raises her voice. She stitches their torn uniforms, replaces their lunchboxes, and, on more than one occasion, has marched into their junior high school and threatened the staff with physical violence if her babies come home with bruises one more time.

Needless to say, Sora and Miu adore her. It took them longer to warm up to Joji, but they're there now; no longer flinching when he moves in their direction, greeting him happily when he comes over for breakfast, smiling shyly when he staggers into the apartment underneath the weight of two giant stuffed rabbits that cost nearly half his paycheck, because it's their birthday, Sakura, they need them.

Joji tries to imagine someone telling them "this is why your parents didn't want you" and goes absolutely breathless with rage.

Natsume glances up from his phone to look right at Joji, as if someone had pointed him out. Caught staring, Joji shuffles in place for a moment, and then squares his shoulders and heads over.

He's expecting the Natsume of his memory; he's expecting him to curl his shoulders and duck his head, the way Joji's girls still sometimes do when a stern auntie wants to talk to them.

He's not expecting Natsume to level him with a clear, politely confused gaze. He pockets his phone, and shoves his hands into the front pockets of the cardigan he's wearing; a size too big, like something he borrowed out of someone else's closet, but it's a charming look on him. He's dressed well, in dark-washed jeans and white high-top sneakers, and his silvery hair is long, probably long enough to fall past his shoulders if he didn't have it piled up in a bun. There's a squat calico cat at his feet, glaring up at Joji with judgmental green eyes.

"Can I help you?" Natsume asks kindly. His voice is a shock to the system; Joji remembers him like it was yesterday.

"Oh," Joji says, stymied. It never occurred to him that Natsume might not recognize him in turn. "Um, I'm Watanabe Joji. We were classmates in eighth grade."

"That's right," Natsume says with gratifying quickness. He looks a little embarrassed now and returns Joji's short bow. "Sorry, it's been a long time."

And we weren't exactly friends, he doesn't say, but that common knowledge sits neatly between them.

"Ten years!" Joji replies with some forced enthusiasm. "Is that why you're here?"

"Sorry?"

"The, ah, reunion this weekend? Ito, from our homeroom back then, put together a whole thing. Our whole class is getting together for dinner and drinks."

It occurs to him that Natsume might not have been invited. Joji thinks that's less because he isn't welcome and more because Ito almost certainly didn't have his contact information. The few times his name has come up, Joji's friends have gone quiet and melancholy. A few of them are parents now, or aunts and uncles at least. All of them know better than they did when they were mean, shitty little teenagers.

Joji opens his mouth to assure Natsume that they'd love to have him, but Natsume cuts him off with a laugh.

It's not a mean laugh. It's not unfriendly in the slightest. But it stings anyway, because Natsume is laughing out of pure disbelief.

"No, no," he says, waving a hand, "god, no. Could you imagine?" he adds, glancing down at the cat. The cat huffs, settling a little more solidly against Natsume's ankle. "We're just passing through, actually."

"We?" Joji asks dumbly. Did he mean himself and the cat?

It's Natsume's turn to get cut-off, this time by a long, drawn-out shout of "Takashiiii!"

A short, russet-haired young man around Joji's age comes barreling down the sidewalk toward them at a flat-out run. Joji's first inclination is one of alarm, but Natsume steps forward with his arms outstretched, and the stranger collides with him in an embrace that looks like it hurts.

Natsume is laughing again, but it's softer this time. It's the warmest sound Joji has ever heard him make.

"What's this for?" Natsume is saying, patting him on the back.

"Just missed you," his friend replies.

"You saw him twenty minutes ago, Satoru," comes the exasperated call from further down the road, and Joji glances over to find a small group headed their way, laden with shopping bags.

"Yeah, exactly," Satoru says, leaning back without letting go, just enough to gaze up at Natsume with a cheeky grin. "I'm all Takashi-deficient. It's pretty serious."

"Sounds serious," Natsume replies, and agreeably keeps an arm wrapped around his shoulders as the rest of their group catches up.

A tall, dark-haired man stoops to pick up Natsume's cat, and it settles agreeably in the crook of his arm. The brown-eyed woman beside him lets out a coo, shifting all her bags to one hand so she has one free to scratch it behind the ears.

"We're being rude," the dark-haired man says in a soft, pleasant tone. "Who's this, Takashi?"

Natsume introduces Joji as an old classmate, giving absolutely none of their history away in tone or expression, but somehow all of his friends seem to clue in to something anyway. Their collective demeanor shifts, in an unidentifiable way, even if their polite smiles don't slip an inch as Takashi introduces each of them in turn.

All but Nishimura Satoru, still tucked up against Natsume's side, who gives Joji a positively poisonous look.

"Okay, Satchan, you're going to lose privileges if you can't be nice," Kitamoto says dryly, and extracts him from Natsume's person with a deftness that speaks of years of practice.

"Nooo," Nishimura says, but it's curbed quickly by Shibata shoving a bag at him and snapping, "Carry this! It's that stupid lucky cat statue you just had to have, and it's heavy!"

"It looks just like sensei! Tooru loves it, too!"

"I do," Taki admits.

It's a warm afternoon, right at the end of August, the sky turning golden with the beginnings of dusk. Joji still manages to feel cold.

He grew up, but Natsume did, too. He always regretted what he did, he always wondered if Natsume was okay, wherever he went, but Natsume hasn't seemed to spare him a second thought. He's got his own friends now; bright, kind people who look like they'd raise hell for him. Who run to meet him.

Joji missed the chance to have a place in Natsume's life. He's a footnote, now, and not a very good one.

"Jojojojo!"

The bright voices have him spinning around, forgetting everything else, and he lights up when he spots Sora and Miu waving at him from the other side of the street. Sakura has a firm hold on their jackets so they can't go spilling out into the street until the pedestrian crossing sign lights up, and then she releases them like a couple of eager hunting dogs.

Natsume's friends shuffle to one side politely, and Joji steps forward to catch his girls when they reach him. They're so beautiful and he missed them so much, this weekend they were away to visit Sakura's parents. He kisses them each on the head, and then kisses Sakura on the head in the name of fairness, and it makes all three of them laugh.

Taki coos just like she did with the cat, hands clasped together under her chin.

"What sweet girls!" she says. "Are they yours, Watanabe?"

"Yes," Joji says proudly, putting one arm around each of their shoulders. They've come so far, not hiding behind him from the group of strangers, even if they press into his sides shyly. "This is Miu, and this is Sora. We're adopting them."

Sakura shifts her weight imperceptibly, a barely-there tell. Waiting, he knows, for the surprise, or outright condemnation. She's dealt with a lot of bullshit for taking these kids in, from family and ex-friends and even total strangers. It rolls right off her, and she usually gives as good as she gets, but she hates when Sora and Miu have to hear it. They don't deserve to hear it.

Joji will have to explain it to her, later, why he brought it up. Why he knew it would be safe to bring it up in front of these strangers.

Sure enough, all their faces soften immediately, a gentle transformation. Natsume crouches, gazing at the twins with an expression that Joji remembers from his childhood. The delicate resilience, the willingness to reach out even if he got hurt.

The look on his face ten years ago when he handed back that ruined book, owning up to his mistake and trying to fix it, buying Joji a replacement even after Joji said something unthinking and cruel.

"I was adopted, too," he says.

"Really?" Sora asks quietly.

"Really," Natsume tells her. "My parents died when I was little. I wasn't an easy child to care for, even though it wasn't my fault, so I got passed around a lot. It took me a long time to find my place, but I found it. Did you find yours?"

"I think so," Sora says, glancing around Joji at her sister.

"Me, too," Miu adds.

Sakura clutches Joji's hand hard enough to bruise. She won't cry here and now, but he already knows it's going to be an ice-cream-for-dinner kind of night.

Natsume looks up to meet Joji's eyes when he says, "That's good. I'm glad to hear it."

It's forgiveness. Joji hears it plain as day. He didn't get a chance to ask for it-- isn't sure he deserves it-- but there it is, freely given. And it's reassurance, too.

When Joji's daughters used to curl their shoulders and duck their heads, it would always tug at the memory of a boy he used to know, who was as kind as he was desperate for kindness.

Now, he thinks, when his girls are making a mess of the kitchen trying to follow a pancake recipe with their friends, or dragging a stray cat inside with big, hopeful eyes, it'll remind him of this afternoon. Natsume's clear, bright eyes, and the protective cluster of friends surrounding him.

The world wasn't fair to him; it left a mountain in his life that he had to climb, complete with all its pitfalls and crumbling paths and bad weather.

And here he is on the other side, goodness intact. Smiling. Loved.

He found his place. Sora and Miu found theirs.

And god, if that doesn't give Joji hope for everyone else.

"It was nice to see you," he says thickly, hoping Natsume hears his honesty. "Don't come to the reunion, that was-- a stupid thing to say, but-- would you-- dinner?"

Natsume hears it. He tilts his head, considering, and then says, "We missed our train, anyway."

"And I'm starving," Tanuma says agreeably. Clearly, he says it more to agree with Natsume than anything.

Nishimura is the hardest sell, watching Joji with hard eyes. But then his gaze dips to Sora and Miu, and all his sharp edges go soft, like butter melting in the sun. After a handful of tense seconds, he visibly gives up on his anger with a huff. His friends, watching patiently, all give absurd little cheers when it's clear he's on board.

"Fine, but if you live farther than three feet away, we're getting an Uber," Shibata threatens, rustling the shopping bags in his hands with annoyed fervor.

They drift in the direction of Joji's home, and Kitamoto talks Shibata down from the Uber with the promise of ducking into a 7-Eleven for ice creams instead, and Taki and Sakura are fast friends, rolling their sleeves up to compare tattoos-- Taki's is a strange, occult-looking circle that Joji makes a mental note to ask about-- and Tanuma lets Sora carry the fat cat, while Miu pets it with reverent fingers.

Natsume walks beside Joji, calm and unhurried, with Nishimura on his other side. He grew up with so much grace.

"Can I add you to the class groupchat?" he asks without thinking.

"Good luck with that," Nishimura butts in, not unkindly. "He's the most unreliable texter you've ever met. He left me on read for like two days once, and we live together."

"You'd have better luck with an email," Natsume says apologetically.

It's more than Joji thought he'd get; they exchange contact information, in the middle of this chaotic, noisy group making its way down the street toward the well-lit combini on the corner and then, beyond that, home.

Natsume doesn't seem to have any interest in reconnecting with his old classmates, and Joji doesn't blame him for that. Even though it will certainly piss Ito off to be kept in the dark, even just for a few days, Joji decides it's for the best.

Nishimura's goodwill can't be stretched that far.

[heyiwrotesomethings]

The Perfect Pet

Shinobu Kochou x They/Them Reader AU

A/N: This could be considered a part two to You Cat to be Kitten Me, but you could totally read this without having read the other. I’ll just link the other fic in case you’re interested (LINK). Hope you enjoy! Word Count: 3,454

Shinobu knew when she had let herself be dragged to the animal shelter by (Y/n) that it wasn’t going to be a simple visit. ‘Just to look,’ they had promised, but now, here Shinobu was watching (Y/n) stare up at her from their crouched position on the floor as they rubbed the puppy’s belly with hopeful eyes.

“No.” Shinobu said, not unkindly.

“I didn’t even say anything yet.” (Y/n) pouted in return, scratching the soft puppy’s furry neck.

“It’s written all over your face. We are not getting a dog, (Y/n).” Shinobu hated to tell them no, but she really couldn’t stand such furry animals.

“How about a cat?” (Y/n) asked, looking just as hopeful.

“No.”

“A bunny.”

“No.”

“A ferret.”

“No.”

“A—“

“(Y/n), we’ve talked about this. I’m not living under the same roof as some slobbery, wiggly, furry beast. If you want to play with an animal so badly, you can always visit Mitsuri’s cat, or her new rabbit too for that matter. Is that what brought this on?”

“A little,” (Y/n) stood up, forgoing eye contact with Shinobu to scan the rows of animals.

“A little, hm?” Shinobu crossed her arms, “and whatever else could possibly be at play?”

“It’s nothing,” (Y/n) shook their head, “want to grab lunch now?”

Shinobu tilted her head and gave (Y/n) a questioning look. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t nothing. Still, she wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of this stuffy room and wash her hands. She could question them about it later.

“Lunch sounds wonderful.” She smiled, looping (Y/n)’s arm with her own.

They waved at the volunteers and thanked them before heading out of the shelter and back to their car. They drove to one of their favorite spots with outdoor seating that overlooked the river, talking casually and laughing together while they waited for their food to arrive.

“You remember I have been invited to be a guest speaker at Kyoto University next week, right?” Shinobu had asked between bites.

“Yeah, why? Is something wrong?”

“Oh no, nothing is wrong per se, I was also asked just recently if I could stay a few days more to oversee a new experiment. You don’t mind do you?”

“Of course I don’t mind, dear. I love how passionate you get about new projects. I hope you have fun.” (Y/n) smiled, though something seemed a bit forced about it from Shinobu’s perspective.

“Are you sure? I haven’t committed to it yet.” Shinobu tested.

“I’m sure, really. Why are you giving me that look?”

“What look?”

“The worried, suspicious kind of look.”

“It’s just that you have seemed kind of out of it since we left the animal shelter. You said it was nothing, but I’m not quite sure that’s true.”

“Shinobu, it’s fine, really,” (Y/n) assured as they paid for the meal, “do you want to go on the river walk trail before we head home or...?”

“What I’d really like to do is find out what’s bothering you.” Shinobu grumbled. Nevertheless, she took (Y/n) by the hand and led them down the path.

Plenty of people were out, enjoying the warmth the sun had to offer. Of course that meant a lot of people were out with their dogs as well. Shinobu took to using (Y/n) as a barrier whenever a dog veered too close to her, sniffing them with wagging tails. (Y/n) was all too happy to intercept the furry canines that they came across.

“This path should really be wider...” Shinobu would mumble, tugging (Y/n) along so they wouldn’t dwell for long.

“We’re almost back to the car. You’ll be okay, I’ll protect you.” (Y/n) teased, staring at Shinobu adoringly. Their hand was squeezed tightly while someone with a big St Bernard passed them by, its tail brushed against Shinobu’s thigh, making her shudder.

Shinobu heaved a huge sigh of relief when they got back into the car. As (Y/n) drove, Shinobu rolled down the window to send any little hair she found on her pants flying out on the wind.

“So, today was fun, right?” (Y/n) asked tentatively while taking the last turn to their house.

“Today was, something.” Shinobu shrugged. Yet she smiled sweetly and patted (Y/n)’s leg. “But any day I get to spend with you is a good day.”

“Aww, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

The couple made the safe return to their house and lazed about for the rest of the day. When dinner came around they cooked together, spinning, teasing and brimming with cheer all the while. It was after they had gotten ready for bed and (Y/n) flopped into the covers beside Shinobu that the doctor decided to try her luck again.

“So what was on your mind today?” Shinobu asked while she turned on her side to observe her partner.

“You’re still on that?” (Y/n) poked Shinobu in the ribs, “let it go.”

“No, I want to know what’s wrong. I’m leaving for Kyoto soon and I want to get this all sorted out so it doesn’t fester while we’re apart. No matter how small a matter you think it is, anything that concerns you matters to me.” Shinobu spoke seriously.

(Y/n) was ready to deny Shinobu again up until she loomed above them on the bed with such stern eyes.

“I just miss you, you know. I guess I get kind of lonely when you’re away.” (Y/n) admitted.

“I miss you too. We always find time to text and facetime, that helps doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does. The house though, it just feels empty without you. Of course I’ve got work to do too, but when I’m done and you’re not around, I just feel kind of sad.”

“You could always invite my sisters over, you all get along so well and Mitsuri and Iguro or any of our other friends and family.” Shinobu suggested, mildly upset with herself for not noticing sooner.

“I have before, but I can’t commandeer everyone’s plans every time you’re gone for an extended period of time. You don’t have to worry though, I find ways to keep myself busy.” (Y/n) said, snuggling deeper into the covers.

“I won’t stay the extra days, I’ll email the professors right now.” Shinobu moved to get out of bed but (Y/n) pushed her back down and held her in place.

“No need for that. I don’t want you to skip out on opportunities to grow your research for me. See, this is why I didn’t want to talk about it.”

“This is why you took me to the animal shelter, isn’t it? So you had something to keep you company whenever I’m away.” Shinobu asked despite already knowing the answer.

“I’ll admit that was kind of the idea. I just wanted to see if anything would catch your eye, but I didn’t keep any unrealistic expectations. I knew you wouldn’t like anything furry. I was kind of hoping to find a hairless cat or something.”

“(Y/n), you should have told me. I would have—“

“You would have settled on something just to make me happy. I wanted to find something we’d both like.” (Y/n) rested their head on the pillow just above Shinobu’s shoulder and nuzzled it with their nose, looping an arm over Shinobu they sighed pleasantly, “It’s really okay. I’d let you know if I thought otherwise. Good night, love you.”

“Love you.” Shinobu smiled, resting her head atop (Y/n)’s.

While (Y/n)’s breathing slowed and they drifted off into unconsciousness, Shinobu was wide awake. She gently drummed her fingers over (Y/n)’s side while she searched her mind for a solution that would leave them both satisfied. Shinobu had raised fish for a time, but you couldn’t really pick them up or interact with them like one would a more traditional pet.

Shinobu slowly scooted to lay upright against the headboard and took her phone off the charger, turning down the brightness a bit when the harsh light hit her eyes. She typed the shelter into her search bar and navigated through the site, trying to imagine herself getting along with any of the animals and failing miserably.

She was about to give up and go to sleep when curiosity got the best of her and she clicked the tag marked ‘miscellaneous’. She hadn’t realized the shelter cared for such unusual animals. Shinobu smiled down at her partner sleeping in oblivious bliss. Maybe this could work out after all.

The next morning, (Y/n) woke up to the smell of breakfast and lazily swiped their arm over the bed, searching in vain for the warmth of a body they knew couldn’t be there. With a tired whine, they resigned themself to getting up and stumbled into the kitchen.

“You’re up early.” (Y/n) yawned before giving Shinobu a quick peck on the cheek. “Something wrong at the pharmacy? The clinic? Leaving for Kyoto early?”

“Must there be something wrong in order for me to get up early?” Shinobu asked. To tell the truth, she hadn’t slept much at all; she was too busy researching to do so.

“No, it’s just that you prefer to sleep in when you don’t have plans.” (Y/n) said, moving to sit on top of the kitchen island.

“Oh, but I do have plans.” Shinobu cryptically corrected, standing between (Y/n)’s legs.

“You do, do you?” (Y/n) smiled, “do these plans involve me at all by chance?”

“In fact, they do.” Shinobu kissed (Y/n) before stepping back a bit to look them in the eyes. “So eat your breakfast and get dressed so we can head out.”

“Head out? Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

(Y/n) and Shinobu finished their breakfast, showered and got dressed. Shinobu started up the car and they went off on their way. (Y/n) asked her a few more times for even just a hint but Shinobu simply smirked, holding a finger to her sealed lips.

She couldn’t keep the secret forever however, especially not after (Y/n) realized what road they just turned on.

“Shinobu, what are you doing?”

“Just trust me.”

“I trust you, but what are we doing back at the shelter?”

“Come with me and you’ll see.” Shinobu said, already getting out of the car.

(Y/n) unbuckled their seatbelt and quickly followed behind their partner, wondering just what idea could have gotten into Shinobu’s head. They managed to catch up to her just as she greeted the volunteer working the front desk.

“Good morning, we’re here to see Puppy.”

(Y/n) gave Shinobu a weird look, but the doctor didn’t pay them much mind as the volunteer answered after a moment of confusion flashed in his eyes as well.

“Really? That’s wonderful! Come follow me to the back.” The young man said.

While the couple followed the volunteer to the back of the shelter, (Y/n) tried to figure out how they were going to dissuade Shinobu from picking out a dog just to please them. Shinobu couldn’t even remember to speak properly when thinking about it. I mean, ‘we’re here to see puppy’? Really? Not a puppy or the puppies just, puppy. She was really just going through the motions, wasn’t she?

“She’s right in there. She has her own little set up and everything. Poor thing was surrendered to us after her owner died of old age, but she seems to be adjusting well. Serve her up a nice big platter of salad and she’ll never forget it.” The jolly volunteer disclosed.

The previous owner died, had they? That was so sad. (Y/n) frowned at the thought. The salad comment got to them however. What kind of dog would want a salad of all things?

“May we go in?” Shinobu asked.

“Sure. Let me know if you’ve got any questions. I’ll be back at the desk if you need me.” The helpful man said before making his way back down the hall.

Shinobu wasted no time in gently pulling the door open and taking a step inside, much to (Y/n)’s surprise. Shinobu ducked her head back out and motioned (Y/n) forward with a curl of her finger. (Y/n) was so confused. Shinobu looked genuinely excited to show her this particular puppy. With a slight delay, (Y/n) followed her in and looked for the dog that had somehow managed to win over their Shinobu’s heart. Their eyes roamed around the room for a moment, they blinked, and nearly broke their neck with the force they used to turn their head back to the shape that had caught their eye.

“No way.” They breathed out.

“What do you think?” Shinobu asked, moving to crouch beside the large tortoise.

“That, that’s not a puppy.” (Y/n) stated dumbly, too shocked to say much else.

“Her name is Puppy. She’s a Sulcata, or an African Spurred Tortoise. Cute, isn’t she?” Shinobu softly stroke the tortoise’s head with her finger.

“She’s massive.” (Y/n) blinked. Perhaps they were still sleeping and this was all just a dream.

“Yes, the biography they had on the website said she’s a little over one-hundred-twenty pounds. She shouldn’t grow much more if at all though, she’s well over eighty years old. Your previous caretaker took really good care of you, huh?” Shinobu said, patting Puppy’s carapace as the giant reptile slowly scooted away.

“Eighty years... Shinobu, are you suggesting we adopt this grandma of a turtle?” (Y/n) watched attentively as Puppy scooted across the floor.

“Tortoise, (Y/n). And yes, I am. She may have more years than the two of us combined, but she could very easily live another sixty years with the proper care and attention.”

“Are we even equipped to give her that? I don’t think we could even pick her up? Like, how would we even get her home and where would we put her?”

“If we decide to adopt her, there plenty of ways to safely transport her. We can set up an enclosure in the back yard and let her roam around the house. We’ll have to keep an eye on her of course, but I’ve heard she’s quite well behaved.”

(Y/n) stared at Shinobu with awe. Never would they have thought Shinobu would speak so passionately about such an unusual animal unless it cultivated its own poison or was some kind of insect. They shook their head and smiled.

“You know,” they said, crouching down to stroke Puppy’s scaly leg, “an actual dog would be easier to take care of, relatively speaking.”

“Do you not like the idea?” Shinobu asked.

“Oh no, I was just wondering if we get divorced when we’re like, eighty, who gets Puppy?” (Y/n) laughed and rubbed their arm, Shinobu had punched it a little harder than she had meant to.

They took some time to get to know Puppy, feeding her some leafy greens from her veggie platter and petting her carapace. It didn’t take long for them to become completely enamored with the old gal.

They met up with the man at the front desk again and filled out an adoption form. It would take a couple days to be processed but Puppy was as good as theirs. They quickly made their way back home to continue their research and completed all the preparations to make the house and yard tortoise friendly.

A couple days later, and the adoption went through. The couple was elated and rushed to pick up the new addition of their family and bring her home. It was a bit tricky, but they made it without any complications.

They let Puppy settle in and explore the yard enclosure first before slowly guiding her to the house with collard greens and cabbage. As they sat in the middle of their living room with the foot and a half long tortoise, Shinobu found herself wishing she could just cancel her Kyoto trip altogether.

“This was a terrible idea. Now I never want to leave the house.” She sighed.

“Aww, it’s like Puppy is your baby. Your very old baby.” (Y/n) said, feeding Puppy another leaf.

“We never did discuss if we were going to give her a new name.” Shinobu thought suddenly. “Any thoughts?”

“Nah, I like Puppy. It’s cute. Besides, she’s had that name for almost a century, it doesn’t seem right to change it now.”

“Yeah, I can agree with that sentiment.” Shinobu nodded.

“You just want to tell Kanae we got a puppy and watch her face change as she realizes the truth, don’t you?”

“Perhaps.” Shinobu smiled mischievously.

***

When it came time for Shinobu to leave for Kyoto, she hugged (Y/n) close and kissed them sweetly.

“I’ll miss you.” She softly proclaimed.

“I’ll miss you too. I think Puppy will too.” (Y/n) said, looking down to watch Puppy step up to Shinobu’s foot. Most likely she was looking for a snack.

“I’ll miss you too, sweet girl!” Shinobu hummed, couching down to give Puppy a quick rubdown. “You and (Y/n) take good care of each other while I’m gone, okay?”

Puppy closed her eyes, enjoying the attention Shinobu gave. Shinobu returned to her full height and gave (Y/n) another kiss before grabbing her travel bag and heading for the front door. Before she was fully out of the house, she turned back and smiled at (Y/n).

“I almost forgot to tell you. I texted Kanae about Puppy. Expect her sometime today, she can’t wait to meet her,” Shinobu waved her phone at (Y/n), “try to catch her reaction and send it to me. I really wish I held off on telling her until after I got back.”

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do. Be safe.” (Y/n) waved in return, already well aware of what Shinobu had in mind for her unsuspecting sister.

“I will. I’ll call you tonight. Love you.”

“Love you,” (Y/n) watched Shinobu leave before looking back down at Puppy. “Come on, Puppy. Let’s go outside.”

They led Puppy to the backyard with some cabbage and set her up with some hay and other enrichment materials. It was maybe an hour later when (Y/n) heard movement from inside the house. Instead of panicking, they remembered what Shinobu had said and got their phone ready. Just as they hit record, Kanae slid the back door open and jogged over to (Y/n) with Kanao calmly closing the door behind her. Apparently Kanae had convinced her to tag along.

“I can’t believe you actually convinced her to get a puppy! How did you do it?” Kanae started in on (Y/n) immediately. “Where is the puppy? Shinobu wouldn’t send me any pictures.”

“Well...”

“...That’s not a puppy.”

(Y/n) and Kanae turned to Kanao who was staring down at Puppy as she snapped at some hay. (Y/n) turned their phone back just in time to catch Kanae’s double take and the journey of her expression from disbelief to acceptance.

“I should have known it wasn’t that simple!” She groaned, “(Y/n), what did you two do?”

“We got a sulcata tortoise from the animal shelter. Her name is Puppy,” (Y/n) noticed how mesmerized Kanao was by the reptile and grinned, “she’s really gentle, you can feed her some greens from that bucket if you’d like, Kanao.”

Kanao nodded, taking a big, leafy bok choy and offering it to the tortoise with bright, attentive eyes. The youngest sister did not seem the least bit disappointed by Shinobu’s farce.

“I can’t believe her! I should have seen this coming, Shinobu has detested furry things all her life, but this is like a literal dinosaur!” Kanae sighed and shook her head, “She really got me good.”

A moment later, and the eldest Kochou sibling realized (Y/n) had recorded the whole encounter.

“(Y/n), don’t send that! Don’t give her the satisfaction!” Kanae pouted, reaching for the phone.

“I’m sorry! She asked me to before she left.”

“You don’t need to do all of your partner’s dirty work. Come on, please?”

“Already sent.” (Y/n) said, a sympathetic smile tugged at their lips.

Kanae frowned and narrowed her eyes, reminding (Y/n) heavily of Shinobu. It was a look (Y/n) seldom saw on the usually cheery woman.

“Fine then. I’m going to pet that tortoise now, hopefully she’s more well mannered than her caretakers.” Kanae turned her nose up on (Y/n) and joined Kanao in gently patting Puppy.

(Y/n)’s phone buzzed and they looked down, Shinobu had answered quickly it seemed. A simple, ‘yes!’ with a couple variants of laughing emojis. But another message soon followed reading, ‘When I come back, we’re getting Mitsuri next.’

(Y/n) exhaled an amused sound and prepared themself for Shinobu to come back from her trip. They knew that once she returned, Shinobu would continue to pull the same joke about Puppy to all their friends and family until no one remained unaware.

[captain039]

PART 2

We can take care of each other

Hank x reader x Connor

Warnings: ABO, poly relationship, swearing, police things, Intimate, sexual, harassment, Daddy Hank, anxiety, angst

Previous chapter <-

You awoke slowly and groggily. You grumbled at the light shining in through the small crack in the curtains. You pulled your covers over your head before you heard movement. You frowned body tensing as you slowly stood. You quietly opened your door and peered around. You frowned when you saw Connor before you remember he had stayed the night.

“Sorry detective did I wake you?” You jumped when he spoke.

“No, the sun did” you huffed and yawned as you came out. You sat down at the kitchen table and tried to wake up a bit more.

“Would you like breakfast?” He asked.

“Just give me ten minutes” you answered rubbing your eyes. He sat down in front of you while you stared at the table.

“I’m not a morning person” you said chuckling.

“It’s alright, neither is the lieutenant” Connor smiled and you snorted lightly.

“That I know” you chuckled leaning back and closing your eyes again.

“I’ll make you some breakfast, it’ll wake you up” Connor said as he stood.

“You don’t have to make me breakfast” you chuckled looking to him.

“I just have cereal” you stood and opened your top cupboard. You glanced at the three types and sighed. Connor was behind you probably analysing your cereal.

You froze when a hand touched your naked back. You had worn a singlet that had a low back, your hair thrown up messily and shorts on.

“Connor?” You muttered not daring to face him.

“Detective may I ask a personal question?” He said in a serious tone. You gulped and nodded slowly turning around as his hand slipped.

“Yeah” you whispered looking to him.

“You told me yesterday that you had bonded with Hank” he began and you cursed yourself silently.

“Not a proper bond” you said and he frowned.

“In my head I get a mental bond with people I trust and have been around the longest, it just happens” you shrugged.

“Like my family I guess” you trialed off.

“Am I apart of that family?” He asked head slightly tilted.

“Of course” you said frowning.

“But I have no scent” you frowned again at his words.

“You smell like washed clothes and Connor?” You shrugged.

“Do you like Hanks scent?” His questioned confused you as you tilted your head.

“I do?” You said unsure. His LED whirred a little and he stared ahead at nothing.

“Did something come in?” You asked.

“Chelsey is being admitted to the hospital, she’s calling for you detective” you froze. You rushed to get dressed and quickly grab a piece of bread as breakfast. You looked to Connor who was already dressed and nodded.

At the station you saw the ambulance outside and commotion inside. You pushed past people Connor right behind you. You found her pretty easily, shaking on the floor in the corner, medics around her.

“What happened?” You asked one of the medics.

“She went into an episode, she kept saying Y/n” you nodded as she spotted you.

“Y/n” she said and rushed to you and you froze as she clung to you tightly. You didn’t know what to do, the woman had obviously made you her safe space. You blinked a few times body beginning to shake also.

“Detective” Connor said softly as you gulped.

“Miss Chelsey I need you to let go of the detective” Connor said calmly.

“What’s going on?” You heard Hanks voice.

“Hank” you muttered. Connors hand rested on your shoulder while Hank knelt by you. Chelsey hid as you rested on your knees, she awkwardly laid on you.

“Hey” Hank spoke softly cupping your cheek. Your eyes were blurred a bit as you tried to focus on him. This was a little too much, you never had someone cling to you with this much need and fear, you were the one to do the clinging.

“What’s wrong with her?” Hank had snapped at the medic.

“I don’t know” she said stepping back. He was tense and letting off a worried alpha smell.

“She’s gone into some kind of shock lieutenant” Connor spoke this time.

“I suggest we take her out of here” he added.

“No!” The woman around you cried and you flinched.

“Hank” you mumbled again.

“What is it?” He asked quickly.

“What do you need me to?” He added.

“Hank hold her” Connor spoke.

“What?” The alpha frowned.

“Chelsey isn’t going to let go, but she needs to calm down or they’ll both end up in hospital, please Hank, I cannot do this” Connor spoke almost desperate, his hand on your shoulder tight.

“Jesus” Hank muttered.

“Y/n” you looked to the alpha.

“I’m gonna sit down ok?” He said and you nodded. He sat behind you and you leant back.

“You’re alright” Hank said no doubt glaring at anyone who looked at him.

You began to calm down, things cleared and your mind wasn’t so fuzzy anymore.

“Chelsey” you said softly and she looked up.

“We need to get you to a hospital” you whispered and she nodded.

“I need help” you glanced back to Hank.

“Yep” he stood with a grunt and helped you up with the girl clinging to you. You turned to Connor who had a worried look, eyes glancing you up and down. You gave him a small nod and slowly walked out the police station and into the ambulance with Chelsey.

After she was admitted she got put under anaesthetics to calm her down and give her some rest. You were still off as you left Connor and Hank had waited outside for you. You felt wrong almost the feeling she gave you, you don’t know why. You couldn’t take care of her, you didn’t know how to.

“I can’t help her” you said softly.

“I can’t take care of myself how am I supposed to support and help her!” You shouted slightly before leaning against the car.

“Hey, nobody’s forcing you to take care of her ok?” Hank said.

“The hospital and the department will deal with her” he added.

“Detective” Connor said as you stared at the ground.

“I can’t-“ you lifted your hands seeing them shaking. It was like old memories were being brought up, past trauma. You had issues with alphas in the past, you were easily submissive and pushed around, you couldn’t defend yourself. In school it was worse, despite being able to go to a special school with limited people they were still around. You always sought guidance and wanted someone to hold your hand even when you were teenager. You hated feeling alone and not able to do anything by yourself.

“Lieutenant I think we should take the detective home” Connor said.

“Yeah” Hank helped you into the front seat. You sat staring out the window till you pulled up to his house.

“Lieutenant?” Connor asked confused.

“She needs someone Con” he sighed getting out.

They both helped you into the house and you sat on the couch. Hank gave you a blanket and Sumo jumped up and rested on your lap.

You felt eyes on you while you tried to redirect your mind, almost like you were malfunctioning.

“I think she’s malfunctioning” Connor said.

“Connor she isn’t a fucking robot” Hank sighed.

“No, but she’s trying to reprogram her thoughts” Connor could read you easily and you were thankful for it. You were in a sense trying to reprogram yourself you guess, back to your normal self.

“Well I ain’t leaving her till she’s good again” Hank said finale and sat down on his single seater.

“Sit down Connor” Hank sighed and he did. Connor sat on the three seater by Sumo gently petting the dog. You stayed quiet for a while till you leant your head back and sighed.

“I’m sorry” you finally spoke.

“The fuck you sorry for?” Hank said.

“Malfunctioning” you smiled.

“We all malfunction sometimes” Hank muttered.

“I’m not use to people clinging to me like that” you explained.

“I’m usually the one doing it, I’m sorry” you sighed and Hank frowned.

“What’s wrong with being clingy?” He asked.

“It’s annoying” you shrugged.

“I know it annoys you, I’m in your pocket all the time and I’m sorry I just-“ Hank cut you off.

“Shut up, you’re not annoying me, the only who annoys me is goof face over there I still have him around don’t I?” Hank looked you in the eye and you nodded.

“You don’t annoy me, I’m just a grumpy old alpha ok, I don’t mean to be a dick” he sighed running a hand down his face.

“I just am” he leant back looking away.

“Your not old or a dick” you mumbled.

“I am” he scoffed softly taking a sip of his beer.

“And you don’t even know what I’m doing” you sighed looking to Connor.

“I’ve known you for a while detective, I have ideas of what you are doing” Connor said.

“Though I may not be alpha, beta or omega I still understand your needs” he said and you smiled sadly.

“I just can’t help them in a way an alpha could” he added and your heart broke a little.

“Well shit” Hank laughed making you frown.

“Whats funny?” You asked.

“Connor” he said smirking.

“How am i funny lieutenant?” He asked tilting his head while you frowned confused.

“I forget both of you have never had partners” he sighed.

“Connor you have a thing for Y/n” he said and you flushed.

“What thing?” Connor asked.

“You like her” Hank added while you brought the blanket to your mouth.

“She is my friend” Connor said not getting.

“Fuck sake, you wanna be with her” Hank said gesturing to you. Connor frowned and blinked but made an ‘o’ face when he got it. Hank sighed sitting back a frown settling on his face though.

“Is something the matter?” Connor asked.

“No” Hank said bluntly and you frowned.

“Hank?” You said softly and he tsked getting up.

“You can sleep out here or kick me out of my bed I don’t care” he grumbled and went to his room. You frowned watching him leave shoulders sagging.

“I think the lieutenant disapprove of my feelings” Connor said.

“No he’s just-“ you sighed.

“Do you disapprove of my feelings detective?” He looked to you, puppy eyes boring into you.

“No! No, I’m just not use to having some like me like that Con” you flushed.

“I don’t know how it would work though” you sighed torn between Hank and Connor.

“Something bothers you” he stated giving you his attention.

“You and Hank-“ you sighed.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with Hank, I’m torn between you and him” you said sighing.

“I want you both to be happy and with me” you mumbled as Connors eyes squinted.

“You want both of us? As partners?” He asked and you nodded pulling the blanket close again.

“I don’t want one” you mumbled.

“I just don’t know what to do, Hank doesn’t see me like that” you said sadly.

“I’m just the stupid kid he has to look out for” you sighed. You held Sumo close, hugging him as you cried softly. Connor stood up and you frowned as he left in the direction of Hanks room. You sighed not knowing what he was doing.

“You love me right Sumo?” You asked and he licked your face.

“Yep” you made a disgusted face as he gave a silly lopsided grin with his tongue hanging out.

“You’re so cute” you squished his cheeks together.

“Detective” you jumped when Connor called you. You dreaded moving but went anyway with the blanket wrapped around you. You followed Connor into Hanks room, he sat at the end of his bed leaning on his hand.

“The lieutenant doesn’t believe me” Connor said making you frown.

“Believe what?” You said confused.

“That you want us both” you flushed at his words.

“Me and the lieutenant have experienced some intimate moments” you kept your eyes on the ground as Connor spoke.

“Only because you wanted to experiment” Hank snapped lightly.

“Fucking-“ Hank sighed. You were blushing furiously.

“Would you like to experiment detective?” Connors voice went low and deep and you almost melted at the sound. You were flushing like mad legs shaking slightly as you walked over to Hank. Hank looked up to you back straightening as he did. You gulped nervously as he looked down again.

“Fuck it” he mumbled and you yelped when he pulled you to his lap. Hank captured your lips and held his arm around your waist to keep you up. You were lost for a moment before kissing back. You shuddered at the feeling of being on his lap, your blanket now a pile on the floor. You didn’t notice Connor till his hands were on your hips. Hank had moved his hands higher up to hold you steady. Connors hand slipped under your shirt to feel your skin. You made a small noise in Hanks mouth and he gave a soft growl. Connors hands were cool on your overly heated skin, you were getting breathless as Hank kissed you roughly. Connor was feeling you, gently squeezing your soft flesh before you felt his lips on your neck. How Connor knew what to do was beyond you but you didn’t want it to stop. You pulled back breathless as Hank attacked the front of your neck instead. Connors hand moved to the front of your stomach, gently squeezing your tummy. You flushed embarrassed before his hand snaked to your pants.

“Connor” you mumbled and Hank hushed you gently.

“Hank” you whined as he kissed you again.

“We got you omega” Hank whispered into your mouth. Connors fingers eagerly slipped between your underwear and down through your folds. The android hummed against your neck before his lips left your skin. You whined but Hank growled in warning to keep focused on kissing him while Connor teased your clit. You gasped as he gently rubbed giving Hank access to inside your mouth. You had to pull back out of breath. You breathed heavily leaning against Hanks shoulder as he kissed and sucked along the side of your neck.

“Connor” you whined back arching slightly as his pace quickened. His fingers began to vibrate and you moaned at the feeling as he moved quickly. You came quickly too the stimulation to much. You panted and trembled as Connor ran his finger through your juices. He pulled his hand out and you frowned as he lifted his fingers to Hanks mouth. You flushed when Hank sucked on them eagerly moaning at your taste. Connor stood up too but Hank grabbed him and kissed him. You leant back slightly watching, eyes fixated. Hank pulled back breathless and Connor licked his lips. You were blushing like mad, body still trembling slightly as Connor kissed you gently. You leant to him almost chasing him as he left. You hid in Hanks shoulder then and he chuckled arms holding you tightly. Connor nudged his nose gently to your neck sighing.

“You should both rest” Connor said and you nodded eyes not daring to meet either of them. You got off Hanks lap with shaky legs, you picked up the blanket and wrapped it around yourself.

“No couch” Connor blocked your way before you could go there. Hank chuckled lying back in his bed arms behind his head. You saw his clear bulge and flushed like mad scurrying to the bed and lying down. Connor closed the curtains and you frowned when he went to leave.

“Connor” Hank called and he turned around.

“Come here you idiot” Hank sighed. You shuffled to move to the middle and Connor laid down beside you.

“I don’t sleep” Connor said.

“I don’t care” Hank said and you laughed quietly.

“You leave again and I’ll break your legs” Hank muttered lying down and getting comfortable.

“Noted” Connor said.

You closed your eyes but rolled over to face Connor. He laid stiffly, hands rested on his stomach as he stared at the ceiling. You looked to him silently asking hoping he’d see your eyes.

“Connor” Hank mumbled.

“Yes lieutenant?” Connor answered.

“You have to pay attention” Hank said and Connor looked to you.

“Oh” he said opening his arms. You smiled lying on his chest, leg hiked up on his. Hank spooned you from behind and you sighed contently. You saw Hank grabbed Connors other hand and you smiled finally closing your eyes for a needed rest.

Next chapter ->

[sisterspooky1013]

Only One Choice, Part 2, Chapter 24

Read it here on AO3 / Tagging @today-in-fic

June 1999

The air smells wet and woody, birdsongs trilling in the early morning sun that trickles through a sky light. She stretches, then disentangles her legs from the sheets and stands, walking to the window.

There is a giant soaking tub in the corner of the room, flanked by two windowed walls that afford a sweeping view of the Cascade mountains, green carpeted hillsides meeting with a baby-blue sky.

She can still recall her mother’s face when they told her the wedding would be in Washington State. “But...we don’t even know anyone in Washington, Dana,” she’d said with a bemused expression, lamenting the length of their flights with a nine-month-old in tow.

Her mother’s reaction paled in comparison to Mulder’s excitement when she’d suggested the idea; she would spend their honeymoon relaxing with a book in the tub, and he could spend it traipsing through the woods looking for Sasquatch, or ‘squatchin’ as he called it. They would reunite in the afternoon, hiking, making love, catching up on all the conversations they’d missed while in the trenches of parenting a new baby. Mom would stay at the same resort with Molly so they could see her every day, while having precious nights to themselves; something they haven’t done since she was born.

She turns the tap on the bath, a blast of water thundering into the empty basin. When it’s full nearly to the brim, she disrobes and eases in, breathing deeply to inhale the juniper-scented steam, courtesy of the resort-provided bath salts. Closing her eyes, she thinks back over it all; their chance meeting, how she was drawn to him by a force that seemed to be bigger than them both, the anguish of wanting him but feeling like she owed it to Ethan to stay together. Her eyes snap open, a memory long-buried in the recesses of her mind springing forth like a trebuchet.

The day she met Mulder, she’d been planning to take the day off to go to a book signing for an author she admires. The signing was cancelled due to a scheduling conflict and she almost took the day off anyway, but had a last minute pang of guilt knowing that the workload that week was already heavy and Trudy would struggle to manage it all on her own. So she’d gone in, she’d performed that autopsy that should have been on Trudy’s docket, and she’d filled out the paperwork, and she’d met Mulder. How delicate the balance of the universe that such an insignificant choice completely changed the course of her life.

She suddenly misses him acutely, and a bundle of nerves and excitement flutters in her belly thinking about when she’ll see him next. She’d scoffed at the idea of them spending last night apart; they live together and have a child so the performative chastity seemed to be a bit much. He said it was like a fast, that a little time apart would make it even more special when they saw each other at the ceremony, and she ultimately acquiesced.

“Meet me on a mountain top at 4 o’clock tomorrow?” he’d asked as he backed out of her room, pulling away from the desperate kisses she was planting all over his face.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” she replied with a smile, and they said goodnight.

She smiles again, sinking down until the water slips into her ears. She can’t wait to marry him.

———

He sits up and arches his back, his spine protesting the cramped accommodations. Looking over at Byers and Missy curled up in the king size bed, he regrets his decision to crash on the couch here instead of staying with Scully in their room. Not only because he slept like shit with his legs hanging over the end, but also because work takes him away from his girls so often, he’s an idiot to add another day to it if he doesn’t have to.

He stands, hands on his hips as he twists to stretch his angry muscles, and walks to the window, taking in the dense green hills and valleys that surround them. He smiles, because she could have asked to go to Mexico, or France, or anywhere on the entire Earth and he would have given her what she wanted, but she chose the place she knew he wanted to go. Selfless and giving to a fault, his Scully. Soon to be his wife.

He quietly slips on his running shoes and sneaks out of the room, hitting the hard-packed dirt trail the concierge had told him about. The quiet forest is the perfect place to be alone with his thoughts, nothing but the thud of his feet striking the ground and the twitter of waking birds to distract him. He thinks about his life, about being a child who was lonely and alone, with parents who provided food and shelter but not much more. He thinks about Molly, and how she will never know that kind of pain, that there will never be a day of her life that she is not told how much she is loved. He wonders if his dad ever felt about his mom the way he feels about Scully, and he knows it’s not possible that he did, because if so they would still be together.

He comes to a break in the trees and pauses, breath heaving and lungs burning as he watches a hawk gliding through the valley below, hunting for breakfast. How easily he could have missed this moment, he thinks. Even one small change to the trajectory of his life, and he never would have walked into the autopsy bay that day. If the courier hadn’t been sick, if he hadn’t stopped by Kirkbride’s office when he did. Even further back, if he hadn’t stayed with the bureau with the X files were closed, if Valerie hadn’t been there to encourage him, or if he hadn’t met Valerie one random Tuesday at a record store. The path was long and winding, and it led to her. It led to him on this mountaintop in a sweat-soaked T-shirt, smiling at the thought of his baby daughter, his almost-wife.

He picks up running again, the smile staying on his lips. He’s always felt like he was running away; from his painful past, his regrets, his bad decisions. Now he realizes he’s running towards; his future, a thousand opportunities yet unseen, a kind of happiness he never thought he’d know. He can’t wait for the rest of his life to start.

———

He stands in a clearing near the edge of a cliff, the lush green landscape toeing up against the horizon looking like crooked teeth. Frohike stands beside him in khaki pants and a white linen shirt, a leather folio clasped in his hands. Mulder is also dressed fairly casually, in slacks and a blue Oxford shirt, the sleeves cuffed and the top button undone.

Scully wanted this to be as non-traditional as possible, to make it their own. There is no wedding party, no tuxedo, no flower girl or garter toss. No one will walk her down the aisle, as no one but herself has the ownership to give her away. The guests are small in number; immediate family only, plus the gunmen. Monica and Dahlia are house-sitting back in DC, minding Priscilla as well as the dog, King, that joined the family after the purchase of their house in March. Bucking the idea of arranging guests by whose “side” they are on, they all sit in a small cluster, and Scully will enter from the side.

He looks out and waves at Molly, who is standing on Missy’s lap, holding her hands and bouncing up and down forcefully. She squeals and shouts “dah, dah, dah!” which he chooses to interpret as “Daddy” even though Scully told him it’s just a nonsense syllable and doesn’t mean anything.

Langly gets the signal from Frohike and hits play on a small boom box, piping an instrumental version of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” up into the branches of the towering evergreen trees. He expected to feel nervous at this moment, but all he feels is excitement as Maggie scurries out from behind a line of trees and takes her place beside Bill, giving him a smile and a wink.

Scully appears from around the same group of trees and he grins broadly. He’s seen the dress, they picked it out together, but the full effect is stunning. Her hair, now grown well past her shoulder blades, is curled softly and pinned half up, brilliant red tendrils shimmering in the midday sun against her porcelain shoulders. Her dress is full length pearl satin, a slim sheath cut with off the shoulder straps. She is holding a small bouquet of pink peonies in her hands, and holding his eye with a playful smirk.

She arrives beside him and before the music stops, before Frohike has a chance to begin, he steps forward and takes her by the waist, kissing her fully. The guests laugh and he pulls away to see a confused smile on her face.

“I couldn’t wait,” he says simply.

They move through the ceremony, exchanging rings and vowing to love each other forever; promises they’ve already made to each other a hundred times. As they near the part that Scully understands to be the end, Frohike goes off script.

“Mulder has prepared some words of his own, he’ll read them now,” he says, nodding toward his friend.

Scully’s eyebrows lift in a surprised and confused expression.

“Mulder, we didn’t talk about writing our own vows,” she whispers, afraid she’s failed to complete the assignment.

“It’s okay, these are for both of us,” he whispers, and then, taking her hands in his, he reads a passage from her favorite book from memory.

“I have for the first time found what I can truly love; I have found you. You are my sympathy, my better self, my good angel; I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely. A fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my center and spring of life, wraps my existence about you, and kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one.”

The tear that slips down her cheek is borne only of happiness. She looks into his green eyes and sees contentment and love, and desire. It’s not a spark, what they have, nor an ember. It’s a wildfire, a white-hot torch, an eternal flame that binds them together inseparably. They were forged in fire the moment he laid eyes on her in that autopsy bay, maybe even before.

Frohike concludes, “by the power invested in me by the State of Washington, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride…again.”

He wraps his arms around her waist, lifting her up as he kisses her deeply, a gust of warm summer wind picking up pine needles and tossing them in a mini-tornado that surrounds them both. Molly squeals “dah dah dah!” and claps for her parents.

———

She stands at the mirror, brushing her teeth. Her hair is combed out, her makeup removed, the white dress hanging in the corner of the room with the hem now tinged brown from the dirt that served as their dance floor.

Mulder appears behind her, an arm snaking around the waist of her satin nightgown. She smiles at the sight of his newly ring-adorned hand pressed flat against her belly, then leans forward to rinse.

“Ready for bed?” he asks softly, and she nods.

They slip beneath the cool sheets, curling around one another face-to-face; her leg threaded between his, his arms around her back, foreheads touching. She draws in a big breath and lets it out slowly, contentment settling deep in her bones.

“Do you ever think about all the things that had to happen in exactly the way they did to lead us here?” he asks, and she pulls back a little to look at his face.

“Yes, I was actually just thinking about that earlier,” she says with a curious lilt.

“Makes you wonder, huh, what lives we’d be leading if even just one detail were changed,” he says, tracing his finger along her shoulder blade.

“I don’t think it would have mattered, actually,” she says, and he gives her a quizzical look, silently asking her to elaborate. “I know this will sound a little far-fetched coming from me,” she begins with a self-conscious smile, “but I think it was always going to end up this way. Even if we hadn’t met when we did, we would have crossed paths some other way. Looking back over everything, it just seems like this was meant to be the outcome, even if the path to get here could have gone in a lot of different directions.”

He ponders this, remembering a conversation they had over coffee when, against all odds, she reappeared in his life.

“Like there was only one choice, and signs along the way to pay attention to,” he says contemplatively, lifting his hand to brush a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Exactly,” she replies, pressing her lips to his briefly, “it was always going to be you.”

END

[lepusrufus]

To bargain for immortality pt.4

The first thing to come to her conscious mind as soon as she woke up were always the faint distant sounds of her home. Faint, as not only was Cassandra's bedroom on one of the higher floors, but any staff members knew better than to make noise while their mistresses were sleeping. Distant barking made its way past a window left ajar, accompanied by scribbling noises.

Nicole turned around, legs tangled in the blanket that was shared until not long ago, to look for a colder spot warranted by the warm May weather. The realization that she was alone in bed made its way through the haze still remaining from sleep. That, in itself, was not unusual as Cassandra almost always woke up first and busied herself with something while waiting for her to wake up.

"Cassandra?" She called out quietly, voice still groggy with sleep and eyes not even bothering to open.

"Just a moment," came her response from the other side of the room, likely the desk, as the scratchy sound of pencil on paper stopped.

The chair was pushed away and a handful of steps took Cassandra to the door, where a maid was waiting outside as per routine. After a couple hushed instructions, the door clicked shut again and she finally approached the bed, looking down at her wife with fondness. She bent down to leave a kiss on top of messy auburn hair.

"Good morning."

Her answer came in the form of a returned kiss and impatient tug of her hand, that she gladly indulged by sitting down on top of the soft cushions that she had priorly abandoned. Nicole wasted no time in wrapping an arm around her waist and nuzzling into her side, happy to feel the cool skin underneath a thin grey robe. Cassandra decided that her wife seemed awake enough to receive news, despite the obvious refusal to even crack an eye open.

"Bela wants to go into town later and asked if we'd like to come."

There they were, emerald eyes finally open and staring up at her in surprise.

"Did you say yes?"

Cassandra scoffed. "And finally get the chance to go out and stretch my legs after being locked up in the castle for all winter? Absolutely not."

That got her an eye roll. "In that case I'll keep on sleeping through the whole evening," Nicole said, pretending to go back to the dream she had just left unfinished, something the mild tiredness that had settled in her body seemed more than happy about.

"Oh no you don't."

Two strong hands gripped her shoulders and shifted her into Cassandra's lap, thin lips intoxicatingly close to her ear. "I even prepared the perfect outfits for the two of us, I simply cannot believe you'd pass up this opportunity for some extra sleep."

Nicole laughed at the feign offense, voice finally clear and free from the morning raspiness. She stretched her arms upwards with a few satisfying pops and then let her hands rest on Cassandra's shoulders.

"My, that's so thoughtful of you," she said, leaving a soft kiss on her lips. "Good morning."

The moment was kindly interrupted by a curt knock on the heavy door. Nicole groaned and moved back on the bed, pulling a nightgown that certainly did not belong to her loosely over her shoulders. When she was covered enough to not put on a show, Cassandra chuckled and addressed the still closed door.

"Come in."

A young woman entered the room, one of the latest additions to the kitchen staff as per Cynthia's request, with a tray expertly balanced in one hand, while the other held the leash of one of the thankfully well behaved hounds.

"Eris!" Nicole greeted the black dog, who snapped its big brown eyes in her direction and started wagging its tail. Thankfully for the girl holding the leash, the dog was expertly trained and did not lunge away to its owners. Instead it followed along, not tugging on the leash until both were just by the bed.

"Breakfast, my ladies."

A small assortment of drinks, together with a plate were placed from the silver tray to the small table on Cassandra's side. One wine glass was filled with fresh crimson blood, a cup of hot tea was sitting right beside it, steam rising up from the liquid inside and, in the smaller cup, dark coffee. On the plate, a freshly baked croissant and a small assortment of berries were waiting invitingly.

"And Eris, as you requested."

The girl held up the leash, but Cassandra simply waved a dismissive hand. "Just let her go. And leave the leash on my desk."

She did as was instructed, unhooking the leash with a soft metal click and placing it, coiled up neatly, on the carefully polished wood of the desk. Then, with a slight bow, she left the two alone once again.

Nicole didn't acknowledge that, too busy patting the spot by her side for the black hound to jump up. Cassandra opened her mouth to protest, but was a second too late as the dog was already in her wife's lap getting head and neck scratches. She sighed. At least all the hounds were kept squeaky clean outside hunting sessions.

"Stop spoiling our hunting dogs."

"Oh darling don't worry, I have no power over Carolina's training," she emphasized by snapping a finger and pointing it to the far side or the bed, direction that the dog followed dutifully, curling up on top of a folded blanket. "Good girl," she cooed at the furry beast, which elicited a tail wag.

Cassandra shook her head with a small smile tugging at her lips. She passed the small coffee cup to her wife, who took a tentative sip to test the temperature. It was lukewarm, as it always was, the routine of all the family ingrained into each and every staff member to the dot. They knew how Nicole liked her coffee, what tea to pair with any kind of breakfast and, probably most important for their sake, exactly how much blood, down to the milliliter, Cassandra liked to drink in the morning. Well, early evening, but who kept track.

The bitter liquid was downed in mere seconds, the taste accompanied by a sour grimace. Nicole did not like coffee in the slightest, having lost any possible appetite for the bitter taste after drinking one too many, or a thousand too many, cups during her days in med school. Unfortunately, it still did its job of waking her up, so a compromise with a sweet cup of fruity tea right afterwards had to be made.

She passed the empty cup back to Cassandra, who replaced it with the tea.

"I have to say, seeing your face scrunched up in disgust every morning is most entertaining."

"Happy to see my attempt at waking up is enjoyable for you," she replied with a pointed look thrown over the porcelain edge of the mug.

The look however was replaced by a content sigh upon sipping on the tea, the prior bitter taste slowly replaced by a blissful blend of fruit and lavender. While their cook Cynthia was downright an expert at preparing all kinds of meat, human included, her biggest talent was creating the best blends of tea, never too overpowering but always with a balanced taste. At least according to Nicole, and she would hold that opinion to the day she died.

While waiting for the liquid to get to a more drinkable temperature, her attention went back to the dog now sprawled on its side. "Why did you ask for Eris?"

Cassandra took another long sip of her drink, far more elegant than one would expect from a woman who had no issue regularly walking around covered in blood. "I just thought we could bring her along, I know she's your favorite," she finished with a smirk.

"That's not true," Nicole quickly replied, as if she were a mother accused of having a favorite child, which only made Cassandra's grin grow wider. She cleared her throat in an attempt to save some face. "I love all our dogs equally, Eris is just… particularly well behaved, yes."

Her wife simply chuckled, not having bought any of her excuses for playing favorites. Not that Cassandra wasn't guilty of that either. Her first response to picking a favorite would be not unlike Nicole's, but she had a particular fondness for Freya, one of their Finnish hounds, who always seemed so eager to sniff out prey on the hunts. She would be lying to say that she didn't entertain the idea of asking her mother to infect some of their best dogs from time to time, their short lives feeling like blinks of an eye compared to her own immortality.

She placed the now empty glass back on the table, not quite as graceful as her mother always did after a meal. They had plenty of time, so getting up was not yet in either of their schedules.

"Are we going somewhere in particular, or just out for a stretch," Nicole asked in between sips.

"Bela has to pick something up and Dani, surprising to precisely no one, wants to visit the bookshop," Cassandra started with a slight eye roll, leaning on her side on top of the cushions and starting to toy with the hem of Nicole's sleeve. "Since we're doing none of that boring stuff, I thought you'd like to choose."

Nicole tapped a finger of the white rim of her mug, nail making a soft clink. She sighed. "Just a walk around town, I'm really dying to get out too."

"You do realize you're not confined to the castle during winter like I am right," Cassandra laughed.

"And leave my beloved wife all alone while I go out and about," her reply was overly dramatic, complete with a hand gingerly placed over her heart almost as if such an idea was close to blasphemous. It only gained her a small snort.

"Should I remind you that I've spent decades in this castle? I promise I can bear it."

Okay, grandma.

With the tea finally gone, Nicole placed the tall mug on the nightstand closest to her, effectively freeing her hands. Free to trace tender fingers up Cassandra's arm, her neck and around the intricate lace of her choker to toy with the fine chains decorating it.

"You sure about that?" Her voice was sickly sweet, all too aware of her unbeatable talent of making someone as sadistic as her wife melt with little more than a hushed tone and gentle hands.

Cassandra did not respond right away. She was nothing if not a prideful person and admitting to the fact that yes, she would miss her, even for a handful of hours, was not particularly high on her list of things to be said out loud. It was almost an unbearably clingy kind, their relationship. Or at least that's what someone who did not know better would say. Truth be told, they were both the kind of people that looked almost desperately, although a desperation worn with odd grace, for comfort in other people. People they would then fight tooth and nail, or more accurately fang and claw, to keep close. It was obvious in the way Cassandra took on the role as protector of the family, nevermind the fact that Alcina would cut any possible threats to pieces before any of them had time to lift a finger. Obvious, also in the way she was so protective over Nicole herself, the beautifully engraved dagger always strapped to the redhead’s side either under a lab coat or at the belt of a dress rendered little more than a fancy accessory.

Cassandra chuckled, wrapping long fingers around her hand and taking it away from her necklace. "Why don't we get dressed before Bela comes to nag at us mm?" Then black lips were gingerly pressed to the skin, leaving a small kiss on top of bony knuckles.

With a shrug and a less than gracious stretch accompanied by a yawn, Nicole got out from under the covers, the red velvety fabric of the robe flowing after her like an impromptu cape.

"Are you wearing my robe," Cassandra's voice came from behind her, together with hands placed on her waist.

Duh.

Not that Cassandra ever truly complained. Finding the oversized clothing her wife often wore quite endearing.

"It does look quite charming on me you have to admit."

"You're practically swimming in it."

Nicole rolled her eyes which only prompted a small laugh.

They fixed themselves enough to be semi presentable for the small distance that separated the bedroom and the dressing room. Nicole was about to suggest wearing something more casual, but the fact that going out for the first time after the long winter months was almost reason for a small celebration for all three of the Dimitrescu sisters made her shut down that train of thought. No harm in being fancy on occasion after all.

The outfits Cassandra had picked out were nothing short of perfect for the occasion. Matching black dresses, Nicole's a tad lighter with a lacy collar and frilly hems complete with a white vest-like corset, while Cassandra's was made out of a thicker fabric and went down almost to the floor, surely due to her tendency to get cold easily.

Not being the kind that lingered in the dressing room too long, that was more Daniela's style, it took little for them to get dressed. The occasional helping hand for small things that one could maybe twist and turn to do themselves, but why bother when you have a perfectly willing to help spouse, was something they both enjoyed and took a couple extra precious moments to let a hand linger or fingers to trace expertly done sems. After some makeup was applied and the leash was hooked back to Eris' collar, they finally made their way downstairs.

They were close to fashionably late it seemed, as Bela, Daniela and Anita were already waiting in the main hall, the eldest throwing a miffed expression their way upon seeing them descend the grand staircase.

Nicole noticed the absence of one of their usual party members. "Isn't Laura coming with us?"

"She had to go to Donna's this morning. Spring preparations and all," Bela's reply came dangerously close to being accompanied by an uncharacteristic pout.

Oh. Someone's in a sour mood.

They made their way down the stone paved road that connected the castle to the town in relative silence, interrupted only once by Bela telling them when they would meet up to head back home. Other than that, they just enjoyed the short walk. And for good reason, the road was surrounded by beautiful rose bushes on both sides, with pine trees expanding beyond them and the sounds of birds and nocturnal animals beginning to wake up blending together in a quiet murmur so typical to the forest.

Once in the town square under the familiar angel statue, Bela wordlessly left them in favor of making her way down a small street. Daniela and Anita seemed more courteous and said their goodbyes and see-you-laters as they turned around, chattering about something only they understood.

Left alone, with their dog whose leash was attached to the same belt Cassandra's sickle was, they started walking down the quiet streets. It was almost sundown, so even the small crowd of people usually going about their business was almost non-existent, knowing better than to be out at night without good reason.

Something that Nicole was yet to grow bored of, even after a few years spent at the castle, was the small architectural oddities around town. It looked quite regular, albeit old, at first glance but a closer look would reveal the rich symbolism resulting from the centuries of being quite literally broken off from the rest of the world and almost frozen in time.

The go to flowers planted in front of buildings were crimson roses, the familiar patterns of swirling vines and leaves engraved into walls and lamp posts. A bakery they passed by had three sickles hanging behind the glass, complementing the harvest theme the entire shop had, together with dried wheat in vases and warm inviting colors on the walls. The one fishery that everyone in town knew had a mermaid gracefully swimming in a panel just above its entrance and horseshoes were nailed to most doors leading to houses or small apartment buildings. Even a toy store had a suspiciously Angie-like doll, although without the cracks and signs of time its original counterpart sported, looking out at any passersby.

One thing that could never go unnoticed however, were the crows. Statues of the birds, big or small, could be seen anywhere, from street corners to rooftops and atop building entrances. Some had their wings spread out, ready to take flight were they not trapped by stone bodies, others had their bills open wide in a silent croak and some were simply looking on. Real crows were also incredibly common, replacing the pigeons any other city had in favor of the black birds, ironically roosting on the statues of themselves quite often and kindly providing the city background noise with their caws. Nicole inquired about their presence once, and Cassandra had explained how the locals see crows as good luck, being a symbol to Mother Miranda. Many people fed them and even had buildings upon which small towers were erected with the purpose of giving the birds space to make nests.

Nicole had a strong suspicion that some of the birds were a little more than they let on, especially after seeing their so-called goddess break into a flock on multiple occasions. Sometimes, you would look at one of the crows perched on a power line connecting two buildings, and icy grey would stare back, the depth in those eyes far too human to belong to any bird.

Her slight glare towards one crow that seemed to look at them from a windowsill was interrupted by the memory of a small list she had tucked in her pocket before leaving.

"Oh, I need to pass by the pharmacy to pick up a few things we ran out of."

Cassandra simply shrugged. "Sure," and she looked around for a moment to find the street that would take them there fastest. Not like they had any plans other than enjoying the pseudo freedom that being out of the castle gave them.

The pharmacy was oh so conveniently located on the other side of town, adjacent to the hospital near the reservoir. Ever since Miranda had found ways to lessen the negative effects of his mutation, Moreau was the designated town doctor, but due to the still somewhat volatile transformations he was still mostly confined to the place and it's murky waters, a fact that he despised greatly. It was an obvious choice, then, to erect the hospital there. It was a small building not unlike the rest of the town's architecture when it came to size, no more than three floors high and with a small staff that Moreau himself had to teach the ins and outs of medical practice. If memory serves right, even Miranda and her assistants had taught some people particularly well versed in the sciences how to operate the equipment and patients alike. Medical training seemed to be hard to come by around here and Nicole had a gnawing suspicion that it was the reason she was still alive.

The building coming into view behind the trees and the paved road that cut through the small stretch of woods separating the town and reservoir looked oddly new in comparison to the rest, as it had been erected only a couple decades prior. Attached to it, a smaller house with matching tiles on the roof and a sign that read Farmacie above the entrance's double doors.

Dogs were normally not allowed inside, but who was going to stop them of all people from marching right in, black hound happily walking by their side. They were the only ones inside, save for a short woman sitting behind the counter, panic flashing in her eyes when her gaze fell on Cassandra's tall frame, hand in hand with Nicole who was at the moment too occupied with pulling out the list of meds she had written. She gave it a once over and, sure that she had everything down, passed the paper to the pharmacist, who knew better than to ask if she had any prescriptions.

"You could've sent someone to fetch these for you," Cassandra said, eyes following the woman as she disappeared behind tall shelves full of small boxes and pill bottles.

"I know, I just didn't want to wait. I don't like running out of supplies," Nicole shrugged.

Plus, Nicole was way less likely to be questioned on why she's buying twenty different kinds of meds than a random maid. Partly because the pharmacist recognized her and partly because any sane person here knew better than not obliging when Cassandra was looming behind her. A small smirk graced her lips at the thought and a sly look was given to her wife, who was too busy playing with the dog's floppy ears to notice. Eris raised her head at the unforgivable offense, playfully trying to nip at the gloved hands that were tickling her, getting a giggle out of the brunette.

All three were distracted by the soft clink of a bell hanging above the door, indicating that someone had entered the pharmacy. It was an older man, looking to be in his sixties, heavily leaning on a crutch held in his right hand.

Cassandra's features morphed into a scowl and Nicole could practically hear the man-thing going through her mind. The man was probably on the verge of doing a complete one eighty and exit the pharmacy, when a voice called out from behind the counter.

"Ah Andrei, I have something for that infection of yours, hold on a moment," the pharmacist called out, before handing Nicole a sizable paper bag full of what she had requested.

She felt an unwelcomed whiff of decay as Cassandra took the bag from her hands, and sniffled in an attempt to ward off the stinging sensation in her nose. She fumbled with the credit card, mentally cursing the payment for not transferring quicker when the smell was starting to make her eyes water the slightest bit.

"Is everything alright my lady?"

The man's voice, full of genuine worry came from behind them, having moved closer upon the pharmacist's urging, and the putrid stench of death and decomposition flooded Nicole's senses together with the slick sensation of blood running down her face. She had to force down a gag as she shoved the card back into a pocket and all but ran out the door, worried wife in toe.

"Nicole what-" Cassandra swallowed any words she had at the sight of the blood flowing down and staining the until moments before immaculate white of her wife's corset.

Nicole made her way to a corner of the building that nobody seemed to go to, and leaned against the wall, eyes squeezed shut and trying to ward off the lightheadedness.

For someone who spent years working on dead bodies in various stages of decomposition, one would think that the smell of death did not bother her. And it didn't. But this was different, the stench seeming to make its way into her skin and clinging to her senses, coating her throat as if trying to choke her out in the most disgusting way possible. Not to mention that there was no actual dead body around.

She coughed out the blood that didn't make its way out of her nostrils and instead decided to go the throat route. Her hands were a crimson mess and so were her face and dress, a pang of guilt shooting through her for having ruined the outfit picked by Cassandra. At least the bleeding seemed to stop and so did the horrid stench.

Cassandra didn't seem to care, nor even notice, the ruined fabric. Instead she pulled out a handkerchief from a pocket and started to gently wipe the blood away from pale skin.

"What's wrong?" She asked and Nicole could only shake her head.

"I don't know. I don't know why this keeps happening," she almost ran her hands down her face in frustration but had enough clarity of mind to remember how dirty they were. "I thought it would go away, and for a while it did. I don't understand what the hell is wrong with me," she added, voice rising the slightest bit.

Cassandra grimaced, trying to get her face clean. "We can talk to Mother when we get back."

A defeated sigh made its way past bloody lips. Nicole had her doubts that Alcina would know any more than them on the situation, which was nothing. They knew nothing.

She grabbed Cassandra's hand to steady herself back on her feet, mind drifting to what she didn't want to think was her only solution.

If there was anyone who could get to the end of this, it was Mother Miranda.