#i understand it is intimidating especially with the freezing but it's easy as fuck

[micechicken]

Everyone talks about Into the Mountain as being the worst quest in Genshin but really? I was kinda annoying low AR but only for the battle section. Trails of Tianqiu was worse for the battle section.

[girlwiththepapatattoo]

A Bit of Aid

Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3

Pairing: Halsin/Female Reader

Warnings: smut, masturbation, vaginal fingering, praise, bad puns, Astarion being a little shit

Summary: A friend offers you some help.

Notes: This is going to be a PROPER ONE SHOT. (I'm telling this mostly to myself. *wags finger at my own brain*)

Anyway, I've had this mental image in my head for like two weeks and had to get it out. I hope you enjoy <3

Read on Ao3 here!

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You lean back against the tree, your face scrunched in frustration. The cool night breeze brushes over the beads of sweat at your hairline, on your neck, making you shiver softly. You pull your hand out of your pants, wiping your fingers in the grass and muttering a very heartfelt, “Fuck,” under your breath. 

It’s been a week and a half since you escaped the nautoloid, waking up with an unwanted passenger behind your eye. 

A week and half, and you’ve built up a group of similarly afflicted people, and a druid you saved from a goblin camp. 

A group of very attractive people.

Now, you were far from a prude, but being surrounded by some of the most attractive people you’ve ever seen in your life is intimidating. Especially when you’ve always felt yourself as being painfully middle-of-the-road. 

And being surrounded by the most attractive people you’ve ever seen in your life is making your active libido scream at you. 

Back home in Baldur’s Gate, before you were snatched up into literal hell, you’d always get yourself off at the very least a few times a week. It was good for your mood and body alike. 

But that was when you were in the quiet safety of your own home. Trying to touch yourself while you’re in a thin-walled tent while those gorgeous people sleep mere feet away is too nerve-wracking to contemplate. 

And so, you’d decided to sneak away for some well earned alone time. Once everyone but Halsin (who volunteered for first watch) had gone to bed, you snuck out of camp and trekked probably half a mile into the forest. After making sure you were alone, you’d sat down at the base of a tree, loosened your belt, unlaced your pants, and shoved your hand into your smalls. 

Almost an hour later, you give up. It turns out that stressing out over the very real possibility of sloughing off your current form to become part of a tentacled hive mind, nearly dying several times at the hands of goblins, and are now facing a trip down into the Underdark, doesn’t make for an easy time getting off. 

Who knew?

And so you sit there against the tree, deciding to wait out the arousal swirling in your gut, to wait out the rather insistent throbbing in your clit, and once you were back to your default state to just go to bed. You exhale through your nose in annoyance, wanting nothing more than to feel that sweet, beautiful-

“Ah, there you are.” 

Your eyes shoot open in terror. You hear Halsin’s voice, his footsteps approaching through the trees, and you scramble to do up your belt at least, so he doesn’t suspect. 

He steps around the tree just as your hands leave your belt, and he quirks an eyebrow down at your red-face, at the way you’re not quite meeting his eyes. “Are you well? You didn’t come back to camp after you left, so I got worried.” 

“O-Oh, no, I’m fine, Halsin,” you stammer, trying your best to give him a friendly smile. “I couldn’t sleep, so I came out to…think.” 

“To think.” He tilts his head a little. “I understand the appeal of having a private spot, but the middle of the night in these woods is more dangerous than you’d suspect.” 

You give a weak smile. “Yeah…sorry for worrying you.” 

Mortified at what he almost caught you doing, you move to stand. But when he crouches before you, smiling in his normal, friendly way… “Would you like some help?” 

You freeze, your eyes locking onto his bright hazel gaze in shock. Did he just…? “Um. What…do you mean? Help with what, standing up? I got it, I promise.” 

He chuckles. “No, no. I mean, help with reaching orgasm.”

You pray that the ground opens you up and swallows you whole. 

“I…” You clear your throat so that more comes out than just a squeak. “W-Why would you…think that I…I wasn’t…” 

His expression is soft, kind. You’re pretty sure that only makes it worse. “Be at ease. There is no shame in desire. For most people, it’s as natural as hunger, as thirst. And there’s no shame in accepting a helping hand…or two. After everything you’ve been through so far, it’s no surprise you’re having trouble on your own.”

Against your will, your eyes flit down to his hands. Thick fingers are laced together between his bent knees as he squats before you, and the thought of what they could do on your flesh makes the hair raise on the back of your neck. You’re suddenly hyper aware of your own body, every inch of skin sensitive. 

“And if you’re worried that I’ll be offended if you say no, you needn’t be.” You look back up at his face in surprise. He gives you a serious look. “I would never touch you without your permission. If you don’t wish my help, say the word and I’ll head back to camp.” 

His words go a long way to reassuring you, and you take a moment to really think about it. It’s been so long since you last had anyone to share an intimate moment with, and you could easily die at any moment. Why shouldn’t you indulge in this man who seems more than willing to help you out? 

You lick your lips. Nerves race through your gut, along with your growing arousal, but you meet Halsin’s eyes. You mean to say something like yes or all right then or hell yes let’s wake up the camp with my screaming, but instead all that comes out is a whispered, “Please…” 

His lips quirk up, his eyes darken even as they flash in delight. “Hm. Please what?” 

His voice has lowered, his customary rumble more pronounced. Your mouth goes dry. “Please…I’d like your help,” you respond. 

“Gladly,” he all but purrs. “Let’s get comfortable then.” He has you move over, and as you shift he pulls his leather vest off. You inhale sharply, your eyes darting over his torso. His shoulder muscles ripple as he lowers himself to sit down with his own back against the tree now. 

What really surprises you though is his body hair. Elves as a whole don’t tend to have hair at all below their heads, but Halsin…his forearms are thick with it, his chest sports a nice patch, and there’s a tantalizing line running from his navel to below his belt. “Gods, you’re gorgeous,” you breathe. 

He chuckles softly. “I’m flattered you think so.” He reaches out a hand to you. “Now, come here to me.” 

Anticipation roils in your gut. You take his hand, warm and calloused and huge. He tugs you over, helping you sit down on his lap, and you gasp as you feel a half-formed erection press against your ass. He rumbles in enjoyment at the sudden friction, tugging you firmly by the hips so that your back is flat against his chest. His cheek presses to yours on your right sight, and his voice vibrates into you, along your back and into your jaw. 

“We’re going to adjust your clothing now. Pull your pants and smalls down for me, hm?” 

His tone is soft and gently encouraging, almost casual, as though he’s teaching you a new skill. It makes you feel desperate to obey. You wriggle your pants and smalls all the way off in your eagerness, which makes him chuckle. His left hand pats your thigh, sending prickles over your flesh. “Lift.” You do, your toes balanced on his knee. He slips that arm under your leg. “Lower, and tuck the toes of both your feet under my knees.” 

You swallow hard at how open this leaves you for him. His thumb caresses your inner thigh almost fondly, which has you breaking out into sensitive shivers. You feel his cheek shift as he smiles. 

“That’s it. Now, pull the hem of your shirt up over your breasts.” 

You do so, taking your bra with it. Your shirt bunches up to your mid-back, and you can feel his belly hair on your skin.

“Mmm, you’re lovely,” he purrs, nuzzling his cheek with yours. His thumb suddenly traces the curve of your breast before his hand cups under it, giving you a soft squeeze, and you shudder hard on his lap and whine his name. “My, my, you are eager aren’t you?” 

He feels your face heat against his cheek. “S-Sorry…it’s been a while,” you whisper.

“Trust me, sweetling, that was not a complaint,” he replies, giving you another soft nuzzle. “I like it. Your desire is as beautiful as you are…” 

He turns his head toward you, and he presses his lips to the side of your neck at the same time the pads of the fingers of his left hand suddenly press between your legs. You gasp loudly, your hips bucking at the touch. “Easy,” he murmurs soothingly against your skin, waiting until you settle. 

You can’t believe how quickly he’s already gotten you dripping. You��ve barely been on his lap a minute, and you’re already desperately turned on. 

His fingers move again, his index and middle fingers parted and rubbing slowly up and down your outer lips. “Fuck,” you gasp out, and he chuckles softly.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you had such a mouth on you,” he teases gently. 

You want to say something clever, something that’ll make him laugh that low, sexy laugh again, maybe even something that’ll have his cock twitching in his pants. But words are a bit beyond you right now, and so you very eloquently say, “Hnng.” 

You feel his jaw shift, as though he was going to speak, but he doesn’t. Instead, his fingers make another pass, nice and slow, up and down your outer lips, before gently parting you open. The cool air of the forest on your overheated, slick core has you stifling another curse under your breath. 

His index finger swipes through your slick as the other hand suddenly gives a pinch to your already hardened nipple, and you have to turn your head to stifle a cry into his neck. “Shh, sweetling, I know,” he murmurs, as though he weren’t the one making you lose your mind. He’s so warm behind you, and he smells so good, like the woods and clean sweat. 

He rolls your nipple between his thumb and index finger, all the while slowly, slowly dragging his touch through your dripping folds. You can feel your heartbeat in your clit. 

“You feel so good,” he rasps as he builds your desire. “So warm and wet for me…One day soon, I would like to take you properly, to feel all this around my cock.” As he finishes his words, the middle finger of his left hand slides slowly into you. You inhale sharply, your eyes nearly rolling back into your head at how good it feels to have someone else’s touch inside you. His finger is thick, nearly twice as wide as your own, and the feel of it makes your hips buck. 

He chuckles softly. “I know, sweetling,” he soothes, pressing a line of gentle kisses up the column of your throat. His right hand gives a soft tug to your nipple, before reaching across your chest to give the other the same treatment. The finger that’s inside you starts to move, gently pumping in and out of you, dragging against your walls…

Curses fall from your lips, muffled into the spot where his throat meets his jawline. You can feel him grin, glad to know that he’s doing a good job.

His right hand leaves your breast, tracing calloused fingertips down over your belly. You shiver hard, wrapping your hand around his bicep as you realize where he’s headed. His fingers slip through the soft hair at the apex of your thighs, down over your mound to your leaking slit. 

The first touch to your clit makes you hiss, and he eases up on his touch, brushing a kiss over your cheek in apology for being too harsh. He gently pets at you, testing, watching your reactions carefully to learn what touches are the best, what gives you the most pleasure. But once he figures it out…

“There we go,” he growls as you moan into his skin, unable to stop the sound that rips from your throat as he works you perfectly. His fingers slide wetly over your engorged clit just the way you like, his other hand pumps two fingers now into your drenched hole, rolling them to hit every sensitive spot you’ve got. You shudder and writhe on his lap, feeling yourself begin to sweat. 

You also feel his cock, fully hard now against your ass. He’s rumbling out soft groans next to your ear as your motions rub yourself on him. “P-Please…please, i-if you want, fuck me now,” you gasp out. 

You feel him growl at your words, and his fingers speed up their pace. “No, not now.” He nips at your ear gently. “Tonight is about you. Besides, I know in my heart if I have you now, your sweet body will be the only thing on my mind. I’ll want to do nothing more than take you, day and night…and we have too much to do for that, I’m afraid.” 

You make some sort of choking/wheezing sound in the back of your throat. You’re pretty sure that’s the sexiest thing anyone’s ever said to you. Your soaked walls clench around his fingers, and he growls again at the feeling. “F-Fuck, you…you can’t just say something like that and then deny me!” you gasp out. 

He chuckles, low and dark. “Apologies, sweetling. One day soon I’ll more than make it up to you. We shall be testing the limits of your stamina…but for now…” 

His fingers speed up, rubbing rapidly over your clit. He adds a third finger, stretching you wide around his massive digits, and you shriek his name. Almost as soon as the sound starts to leave your throat, he turns his head and kisses you deeply, muffling your noise. His tongue plunges into your mouth, tasting of the remnants of supper and something uniquely him, and you eagerly twine your tongue with his. 

You feel it, then, the sudden swoop in your lower belly. Your eyes snap open at the same time he feels your walls begin to flutter around his fingers. Your eyes meet his, those intense hazel orbs sharpening. He pulls away from your mouth, grinning in triumph. “There we go, that’s right…come for me!” 

You throw your head back on his shoulder as your pleasure builds and builds, your hips bucking into his hands. Your mouth drops open in a silent scream as, somehow, he speeds up even more, his fingers pounding into your cunt. He growls your name, you choke out his-

-and you nearly arch completely off of him as you explode. You howl your pleasure to the night air, lost completely to the torrent of fire and lightning rushing through your nerves. You barely hear Halsin, whispering encouragements and praise by your ear as he works you through it. “That’s it, sweetling, that’s it, soak my fingers. Oakfather preserve me, you feel so fucking good gripping me like that…” 

So lost you are in the throws of your orgasm you don’t see his eyes flash gold a couple times before he gets himself under control. You just writhe in the circle of his arms as he works you through it. 

When your movements begin to slow, so do his. He floats you gently down, down from the high he’d sent you soaring to just a few moments ago. You shudder and slump against him as he pulls his fingers from you, gasping for breath and shivering as the cool night air caresses over your sweaty skin. 

You hear him grunt suddenly, and you peel your eyes open just in time to watch him begin to lick your juices from his skin. You inhale sharply, your inner walls clenching hard around nothing at the sight of his tongue lapping you from his fingers. You watch, slack-jawed, as he licks every trace of you from his hand, and once he was done he smacks his lips. “You’re delicious,” he purrs, pressing his forehead to yours. “Next time you’d like help, I think I’ll take you apart on my tongue instead.” 

You shudder at his words, thinking about what he could do with that mouth. “K-Keep talking like that and I’ll be ready for round two right now.” 

He chuckles softly, brushing a kiss to your cheek. “Much as I would love to give you another one, we should get you to bed. We depart for the Underdark in the morning-you must get some rest.” He helps you to stand, then from a pocket in his trousers he pulls out a clean rag. 

You blink in surprise as he wipes at you gently, careful not to overstimulate you. “You…brought that with you? How did you know I’d say yes?” you ask, your thighs shaking a bit as he cleans you. 

“I didn’t.” He grins up at you, on his knees before your gently trembling body. “But in my years, I’ve learned that always coming prepared saves a lot of uncomfortable walks.” 

You snort, stifling giggles into your hand as he helps you into your smalls and pants. It’s quiet then as his fingers do up your laces, and then your belt. He gently pulls your shirt back down, tugging it into place, before he smiles softly to you. “If you ever need my help again, don’t hesitate to ask.” 

“Thank you. And I’m sorry for tomorrow morning, when I’ll inevitably be embarrassed that it happened at all,” you say with a soft grin. 

He can’t help but laugh, leaning down and brushing a fond kiss over your forehead. “I hope one day you’ll unlearn the shame. Now, let’s get back to camp.” He sweeps his hand back towards where the rest of your companions are hopefully still slumbering. 

You both walk in silence for a little while, before you pipe up. “Earlier, a little bit before I…finished, I could have sworn you were about to say something.” 

“Hm? Oh, that.” He grins, rubbing the back of his neck. “You’d uh…been having trouble talking through the pleasure. I was going to tease you a little, but the joke I’d settled on may have distracted you from my touch, so I kept it to myself.” 

“Oh?” You couldn’t help the curious, amused look up at him. “What were you going to say?” 

He sighs, looking embarrassed at himself now. “I was going to ask, ‘bear got your tongue’?”

You have to stop to lean against a tree, you're laughing so hard. He huffs at you, but he’s smiling, unable to find it in himself to be upset. You both bicker like old friends as you return to camp, no awkwardness at all between you. 

Of course, when you get back to camp and Astarion is sitting at the fire, obviously waiting for you both, you immediately blush as the vampire smirks knowingly. “Really, Halsin, you were supposed to be on first watch. I didn’t expect dereliction of duty from you.” He stands, languid grace incarnate, and starts to walk back to his tent. “Good thing I was awoken from my trance when something screamed out in the woods. Goodness knows what could have attacked us in our sleep!” 

He sounds of nothing but pure, pleased mischief. You’re left practically steaming in embarrassment, and before Halsin can say anything, you scuttle to your tent and tie yourself in. The huge druid sighs, shaking his head, but he can’t quite get rid of the fond smile on his lips as he settles back in for the rest of his watch. 

[watchmegetobsessed]

The Hottest Avenger - Bucky Barnes

a/n: im warning you, i will probably not stop for a while with the bucky fics so... brace yourselves lol! also i wrote this before ep 5 came out so its placed in that time

pairing: Bucky X Reader

warnings: TFATWS spoiler, some violence? nothing extreme

word count: 1.8k

summary: Being locked together with Sam and Bucky brings the worst out of you, picking on each other constantly. Following an arguement Bucky accidentally calls you his girlfriend in front of Sam when your relationship was supposed to be a secret.

masterlist

“Did you fucking eat the last dumpling?” you accuse Sam, holding up the empty takeout box where you thought were one more dumpling, one you’ve saved for yourself, but now it’s gone as Sam is eyeing you with his mouth full.

“Thought it was mine,” he mumbles, his words barely understandable from all the food in his mouth.

Taking a deep breath you’re trying not to jump at his throat right then and there. You’ve been locked up together all damn day in the trashy apartment across the street from the building where’s Zemo supposed to be hiding. Sharon had a tip about a possible place where he might be found, but you’ve been waiting to no avail for now. You’ve been growing stressed and impatient. You lost track of Karli and her people and now you can’t seem to find Zemo either. If it wasn’t for the Dora Milaje, you wouldn’t bother to be so after the asshole, but Bucky said if Ayo finds him first, he is dead and every useful information he holds goes to the grave with him so now you are forced to look for him. One failed mission has been following the other these days, that incompetent dickhead John is on the loose too after murdering that man in front of civilians and you feel like control has slipped out of your grip a long time ago. Now you’re stuck with Sam and Bucky in this crappy place, waiting by the window, watching out for Zemo and on top of everything… Sam ate your last dumpling.

Just when you’re about to snap at him, you feel a strong grip on your shoulder. You don’t have to look up to know it’s Bucky right behind you, but not just because he is the only other person in the room beside you and Sam, but also because you know his touch probably more than anyone. Only that most of the times it’s not your shoulder he is gripping…

It’s been going on for a long time between the two of you. Started with just some innocent flirting and you never thought it would grow into something more significant, but it did. And now you are officially in a relationship with none other than the Winter Soldier, only that no one else knows about it and you plan to keep it that way. You don’t need the teasing and jokes and the Avengers are known to be dicks sometimes, especially Sam.

Glancing up your eyes meet Bucky’s blue irises and he sends you a look that says “just let it go”, and though every fiber in you wants to whoop Sam’s ass, you let it slip.

“Don’t tell me you’re gonna get mad about a dumpling,” Sam chuckles as he chews on the food that you should be enjoying right now.

“I can get mad about whatever I want to,” you growl back, growing quite irritated of him at this point.

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” he huffs under his breath, clearly not as bothered as he should be. Before you could do any harm in him, you leave your spot by the window, needing a breather from… well, from him.

“Hey, it’s still your turn!” he calls after you.

“I need a break,” you growl back.

“Get your ass back here, we agreed to switch every two hours!”

“Sam! I’m walking out because I’m way too tempted to punch you in the face right now!” you snap at him, losing your patience. He rises from his seat with a hard expression, not quite a fan of the way you just talked to him, but you couldn’t care less.

“You think you could actually throw one? Because last time we fought you couldn’t really get a hold of me,” he narrows his eyes at you, coming to stand tall in front of you, trying to intimidate you with how much taller and stronger he might be, but you both know you’re a better fighter.

“It’s easy to talk with your fancy tech stuff. Why don’t we see who wins in a simple battle?” you challenge him with faked boredom.

“Guys, stop. We should be looking out for Zemo, not tearing each other apart,” Bucky tries to end the staring contest, sticking his metal arm between the two of you in case any of you decides to launch at the other one.

“Then tell her to stop bitching!” Sam nods in your way.

“I’m not bitching, I’m just fed up with your bullshit!” you spat back at him, leaning closer, your chest coming in contact with Bucky’s extended arm.

“Don’t talk to her like that, Sam,” Bucky warns him, but Sam snorts dryly.

“Don’t tell me you are taking her side, she is throwing a fit for a fucking dumpling!”

“I’m not taking sides, just trying to settle this stupid disagreement here,” he defends himself and you roll your eyes.

“You can’t tell me she is not overreacting it, Buck!” Sam laughs in disbelief, taking a step back, dropping the act that he wants to fight you. He probably knows he would come out as a ridiculous loser. “This is fucking insane, I’m not in the mood to deal with your shit, Y/N,” he shakes his head.

“Hey!” Bucky snaps at him. “Don’t talk to my girlfriend like that, okay?!”

“I’m just—wait, what?!” Sam’s eyes widen and you freeze too.

Your dumbass boyfriend didn’t just out the two of you, did he? What else is about to come?! Sam’s shock turns into a cocky grin as his eyes shift between you and Bucky.

“You guys… you guys are fucking?” he asks with a delightful laugh and you close your eyes sighing, already tired of his shit.

“That’s not—We’re not fucking, I mean… It’s not like that,” Bucky stutters, but it’s just making it worse. He looks at you with terror in his eyes, but you are way too drained to deal with it the right way.

“Yes, we are fucking! And we are in a mature adult relationship! Get yourself over it!” you bark at Sam before turning around and walking out.

You faintly hear the two men talk inside, but you don’t make out the words. You don’t go too far, sitting on the steps leading up to the third floor. Soon enough you hear the door of the apartment open with a creak and a moment later Bucky shows up in your sight. He sits beside you, remaining silent for a little before speaking up.

“Sorry for running my mouth,” he mumbles, his head hanging low.

“It’s… fine,” you breathe out. Bucky fidgets with his fingers and you know he wants to touch you in any kind of way as a reassurance that it really is fine. You don’t want to hold a grudge, it was an accident, you’re just a little bummed it’s not gonna be just the two of you anymore. Reaching out you take his hand, the real one that’s flesh and meat and you lace your fingers together as he peeks at you, still reserved and hesitant.

“Is it really fine or are you just bottling it up?”

“It really is fine,” you chuckle softly and leaning closer you kiss his scruffy cheek. “The only reason I wanted to keep it a secret is because you know how vickery the guys can get. I just didn’t want them to pick on us.”

“They do it because they are just jealous,” he smirks playfully, his shoulder bumping against yours.

“Yeah? Of what?” A soft chuckle slips through your lips.

“That I scored the hottest Avenger,” he replies smugly and you can’t help but laugh with your head snapping back.

“I didn’t know you were fucking Thor!” you retort and immediately see his smirk vanish from his lips as he stares back at you, not enjoying your joke as much as you are.

“Thor? Really? Not this shit again, Y/N,” he narrows his eyes at you. Back when you were just skirting around each other, you loved pulling his leg, joking about how much you are into the hottest Avenger, aka Thor. He never appreciated it, usually earned you a tight-lipped smile before he mumbled “Tarzan’s got nothing on me” before walking away, leaving you laughing like a hyena.

“Come on, you know I’m more into super soldiers,” you grin, leaning closer as he pepper his sharp jawline with more small kisses.

“You know, it’s not the best thing to say to your boyfriend when there are now about eight more super soldiers running around,” he huffs.

“But none of them has a metal arm,” you point out, finally making him laugh.

“So that’s your kink? A vibranium arm?” he asks with faked shock and you curl your arms around his bicep, resting your chin on his shoulder.

“How haven’t you realized yet?” you chuckle. Bucky turns his head until his lips can capture yours in a sweet, lighthearted kiss that makes you forget about everything that’s been clouding over your mind these past days. All the failures, the mistakes and chaos fades into nothing, because you have him and he has you.

Walking back into the apartment Sam stares back at you, neither of you entirely sure how to act after what just happened. He then grabs his phone from the dusty table before holding it up.

“I could order some extra dumplings,” he offers and you crack a smile shaking your head. This was his peace offering, both of you knows he won’t straight up apologize for the way he talked, but this is already more than what you were expecting from him. Bucky must have had a few words with him before joining you outside.

“It’s all good.”

The three of you get back to work, taking your previous spots, returning to the task on hand as silence falls on the room once again. You catch Sam glancing at you and the Bucky and you can tell he is about to make a snarky comment on your relationship. And just as he is about to open his big mouth, Bucky moves to silence him, but you’re faster. With a simple move you throw Sam to the ground, keeping him down with your hand wrapped around his neck.

“Don’t even think about teasing, understood?” you hiss at him as he gasps for air, his hands wrapping around your wrist as he tries to fight you off, but you hold him a second longer to emphasize the importance of your words. Then you finally let go of him and he coughs for air, fixing him up from the floor as you simply walk back to your spot by the window.

“Hottest Avenger, huh?” he breathes out, revealing that he heard what you talked about out on the stairs. “More like the Avenger with the most anger issues…”

You just grin, glancing over at your boyfriend who is now standing with his arms crossed over his chest, not even bothered by his friend’s struggles on the floor as he smirks back at you, nodding proudly as if he was saying: “That’s my girl.”

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed it!

[timomoe]

Estonia Headcanons Because I have SO MANY

Estonia is very kind. He's not just the average run of the mill nice, no he's overwhelmingly compassionate with a strong desire to do good and be remembered as good. He likes to help people, he likes it when people come together to help others. He's a moral and good person who likes to care for others.

Make no mistake, however. He is not a pushover. He knows when his kindness is being taken advantage of, and while he's one to give a few chances (headcanon he got the three strike system from Alfred, who's got a much harder time with these things) for a person or nation to improve their behavior, he can and will shut their bullshit down fast if he understands there's no real way to fix what's going on. He will cut people off and cut people out of his life. He's been unhappy for so long, and he sees absolutely no reason to keep someone in his life if they're going to hurt him, make him unhappy, or hurt/make the people he loves unhappy. Think of how Finland is described to be - he will forgive you until a certain point, but once you've crossed that line, there are consequences, and he's not afraid to dish those out.

He's quick to call people out for being terrible. He'll also embarrass them for it if he can and if he deems them deserving of it.

He's not easily intimidated. As far as he's concerned, he's walked into Hell and come out the other side multiple times, what the fuck's anyone going to do to him now? Threats are funny to him, and he will laugh in your face if you ever threaten him, especially if a person is with their friends and trying to make themselves look cool, that's a promise.

He has pretty bad insomnia, and even if he doesn't, his sleep's not usually that great. He's developed a tolerance to melatonin and has to rely on other things to make sure he sleeps through the night - but sleeping through the night is becoming very rare for him. He either doesn't fall asleep until very late or he wakes up every hour and a half or so.

Contrary to popular belief, Estonia will end your life if you so much as lay a finger on Latvia or Lithuania (and vice versa. They aren't actually family, but they behave as though they are)

Estonia has such a mouth on him. He's not loud, no, he prefers that the attention be on someone else, but if given half the chance (and if he thinks they deserve it) he will verbally ruin a person's life without hesitation. He's sarcastic and he thinks of comebacks and insults quickly.

He's good at a lot of things, and he's got at least a rudimentary understanding of how the things he's not good at, but thinks are important, work.

It's really easy for him to get tunnel vision and focus on one thing day and night for weeks on end. Someone usually has to physically make him stop what he's doing if this happens. Luckily, Latvia and Finland are pretty good about coming to check on him and make sure that he does not do this.

He's got many hobbies, which range from software engineering, front & back end development, and gaming to knitting, crochet, and embroidery. The first three are things he uses as a distraction, the latter three are just things he's done for so long, he doesn't think he'd ever be able to stop doing them.

Don't ask me why, bc I don't have an answer for you, but I think that Estonia has somewhat big hands with long, thin fingers with knuckles that are literally always tinted blue and freezing cold no matter what. He doesn't know why they're like this, and doctors tell him he's fine, so he's just ok with it, but his hands are always cold and blue for no reason.

[bcitisthelight]

your analysis of the dogfights was excellent! i am so intrigued, do you perhaps have thoughts about the bigger ships, like the resolute or smth? i’m constantly thinking about the amount of necesseties they need on a ship that size because the clone wars was a logistical nightmare, do you have anything to add to that as well?

I have to be entirely honest here and admit that - I know that people love the Star Destroyers. And listen, I get it. There’s something inherently sexy about a cruiser that massive, which you know, is actually kind of the point right. Easily half of the point of Destroyers is that they’re meant to intimidate the fuck out of whoever looks at them, you’re supposed to look at them and go “holy shit that thing is fuck-off kinds of large, we should definitely do whatever is being asked of us, because we don’t super feel like obliteration” I can understand the appeal of something that thrillingly massive. I mean, there’s a REASON the I-class Star Destroyers are one of the most iconic ships in the franchise.

But you know I’ve got to admit - they just don’t do it for me. I’ve never been particularly interested in them. What I love about starfighters is, they rely on cleverness, there’s real tactical decisions you make in the drafting process of their engineering design, its almost like a game. But with Star Destroyers, it’s all - there’s no elegance you know? It’s kind of like, professional bodybuilders right, I can objectively acknowledge that they’re impressive, that they’re doing all the things that should totally work for me, but when I see a person with arm muscles the size of watermelons, my first reaction is “well that’s just excessive”, you know? I’ve never been a “him big” kind of lady, if you get what I mean.

But you know, you do hit an interesting point as far as - resources, right. This is something that I think a lot of people underestimate, is the critical nature of supply chain, particularly supply chain in war. (For my fic writers, not only is this is a very easy way to add a lot of believability and depth to your worldbuilding, but it’s a desperately fun way to add conflict and tension to your narrative.) And that is something about these destroyers, is they are resource black holes.

For one, there’s the crew you’re supporting - you mentioned the Resolute, and that’s a Venator class, so that’s a crew of about 7500 souls, who all require food and medicine but also, you know, things that you wouldn’t even think of at first blush? Like, here’s one I don’t see mentioned often but actually comes up a ton, is bed space. Even if you take it as a given that they’re practicing hot-racking in the crew quarters, you’re looking at thousands upon thousands of bunks to provide for, which, blankets seem like a silly thing to worry about in your supply chain, until there’s some sort of issue with the heat, and you’re freezing your ass off in the cold vacuum of space.

But hey, let’s assume you have 0 crew. You’re still looking at fuel, power, maintenance, the repairs these types of things always end up needing, and allll of that requires money and supply chain. And, in the starfighter post I talked a lot about engineering, here’s a fun way that intersects with this conversation - for ships that big, when something fucks up in a major way, you can’t just go to the fucking space jiffy lube. Every single one of those parts are special order, and they are wildly expensive, ESPECIALLY because, pretty much every destroyer you see is a product of KYD (Kuat Drive Yards), and so, they can charge whatever they want, because where the hell else are you going to go?

So, those are my thoughts, I guess! But like I said, I don’t tend to go in for the bigger things, sorry!!

[crystalessenceswrites]

hiii if you’re still taking requests for the bucketheads, would you be able to do 1 and 4 from the kink list for boba? <3

M’kay anon, this is the kinkiest shit I’ve ever produced... I hope you enjoy. Boba Fett x fem!reader Rating: E (18+) Warnings: I think Boba comes with his own warning… Explicit sexual content, consensual non-consent, discussion of kink, discussion of safe words, d/s tones, rough sex, degradation, cuffs, knife is present (no knife play), orgasm denial, unprotected P in V sex, predator/prey if you squint and close one eye … so basically this is just filthy ya’ll

(1) “Pretend you don’t want it” & (4) “You know I love you; right? I have every intention of fucking you like I don’t.”

Despite what most folks thought of Boba Fett and his gruff disposition, Boba was a generous lover. The bounty hunter never left you wanting (unless that was the goal) and was more than happy to experiment with other ways to sate both your needs. It was not uncommon for Boba to probe for new ideas as you both laid wrapped up in each other, drifting on the last waves of bliss.

“I know there must be something,” he murmurs against your skin, lips dragging against the sensitive length of your throat, “you cannot lie to me, mesh’la.”

Breath caught in your chest; you squirm under his scrutiny. There were times you cursed just how perceptive your Mandalorian was. He could read you like a book. But even knowing Boba as you did, there were still some desires you were hesitant to share. Fantasies held close to your chest that you did not expect to ever share with a partner.

Boba is relentless. Once he sinks his teeth into something he will not let go. This is no different. He sees you holding back, and he will dig until he unburies it. “Love,” he presses a series of chaste kisses across your cheeks, “I want you to feel good. Let me make you feel good.”

You know he does. He has yet to try anything that does not. “Boba…”

He pulls back, expectant as he studies your face. “I’ve never- it’s not…” the words are heavy on your tongue, “it’s not something I’ve shared.”

Boba’s face softens as he gathers you up in his arms. Warm hands running up and down your back as you tuck your face into the crook of his neck. “Take your time, mesh’la. I don’t want to upset you.”

You take a few calming breaths, following the movements of Boba’s fingers across your skin. “You know I like it when you get a bit rough.” The two of you had played around with that plenty. Boba was a strong man and you enjoyed when he took advantage of that in the bedroom. Nothing ever reached the point of pain, but he always left you a pleasant kind of sore when you were finished.

“I know you do,” he rumbles deep in his chest as he continues to soothe you.

“And I like it when you’re in charge.” Considering his personality and line of work it shouldn’t surprise anyone he enjoyed it just as much as you. He reveled in the control as much as your reveled in submitting to him.

Boba chuckles again, “oh do you?”

Smacking at his chest, you pout, “don’t tease, Boba!”

“I’m sorry, mesh’la. Keep going.”

“I like it when you use me…” this was rather new between the two of you, but it had become obvious that you both enjoyed when Boba let loose and used you to fuck out his frustrations. Even when Boba focuses on his own pleasure, he manages to leave you happy and satisfied.

“Yes.” You can hear the curiosity peak in his voice. You most definitely had his attention now.

“I want that all… for you to get rough and use me, but I not want it…” your voice trails off, burying yourself further into his chest and holding your breath.

Boba remains eerily still for a long moment. Every fear you’d had over admitting this to him flashes before your eyes. The disgust or rejection. Tears gather in the corners of your eyes at the thought.

His hand flexes against your hips, fingers digging into your skin. “Princess… you want to pretend you don’t want it?”

Eyes cinched shut you nod into his shoulder, just wanting to melt into a puddle and leave all the embarrassment behind.

Instead of shoving you away Boba groans and pulls you even closer. Chest to chest you can feel his breathing pick up. “You want me to get rough, to take you, even though you’re telling me no?”

You think your whole body is flushed now as Boba’s words rattle around in your head. Ever perceptive, he knows exactly what you want. He does not sound opposed either. No, you can hear the excitement behind his word.

“Yes.”

“That can be arranged, princess,” the bounty hunter practically purrs.

.

Boba is meticulous with the barrage of questions that follow, but you understand their necessity. He would never actually hurt you and wanted to put every safeguard in place to keep any accidents from happening. It was also about setting up the most pleasurable scene for the both of you, making sure you would both enjoy embracing one of your less conventional fantasies. He walks you through every element of his plans without actually spoiling the “surprise.” This only serves to build up the anticipation. While the two of you already use the color system when trying out something new in bed, you settle on an additional safeword for good measure, satisfying Boba’s need to have redundancies on top of redundancies. He not only needed to be in control of you, he needed to have complete control over the situation as well.

You can hardly contain yourself the next day at the market. You know it’s coming but you don’t know when. The anticipation alone was already working you up as you navigate the market crowds. You figure he wouldn’t grab you in front of anyone, or within shouting distance either. Neither of you were wanting to cause a scene, especially somewhere you two often stopped to resupply. You could still feel his watchful gaze following you through town as you finished up the shopping. Despite all the training he’d given you between jobs over the years, you still couldn’t tell where he was watching you from or how he was following you. It was frustrating, but it spoke to Boba’s skill. He never failed to impress, even when it came to your little game.

Standing on the edge of town you attempt to still your racing heart. You can still feel his eyes on you, igniting your most basic instincts. Your gut tells you to stay in the settlement, knowing you are safe around other people, but your core urges you on down the wooded path, eager for the promise of what’s to come. It all leaves you too tense to appreciate the walk back to the ship, you’re too focused on every sound, ever sign of the man hot on your trail.

As the town fades out of view your body realizes what’s happening seconds before your mind does. Boba, the picture of calm, strolls out of the tree line a few paces ahead, decked out in full armor, favorite baster strapped to his hip. The picture of an intimidating hunter. You just freeze and stare, like a deer caught in headlights as his visor remains trained on you.

When your mind finally does catch up it screams at you. Your fight or flight kicks in and you know there’s no way in hell you could ever overpower Boba. Ditching your pack, you spin on your heel and put all you have into a full sprint back towards safety. Realistically you know you would not get far. Boba’s reputation was not for nothing. He had a lifetime of practice in catching people and catch you he did. One thick arm appears out of nowhere, latching around your torso as his other hand clamps down over your mouth, cutting off your ear-piercing screech. He hauls you back into his chest despite your flailing. Your kicking does little against his beskar as he pins your arms to your sides.

His laugh crackles through the helmet at your pathetic attempts to escape. “Now, now, little one. If you stay still for me, I might be gentle with you.” Heat washes over your body at the insinuation but despite your submissive streak, that’s not what this was about. Boba gets off on working you into submission just as much as seeing you willing give it. You didn’t plan on be willing today.

The moment he removes his hand from your mouth you resume your struggle. Your shouts lost to the trees. “Let me go you sleemo!”

He laughs again, grip tightening around you, acting as if your thrashing doesn’t inconvenience him at all.

“I haven’t done anything! Let me go!” you wail.

“I beg to differ,” he shoots back as he snaps his binders over your right wrist.

“Oh no, no, no! No! Let me go!” Nearly frantic you try with your whole being to keep him from locking in your other hand, but your struggle doesn’t amount to much. His posture screams smug as he tightens the metal around your wrists. It was not the first time Boba had used his binders on you and the memories of the nights before sends a pleasant warmth to your core despite the situation.

With little preamble Boba hoists you up over his shoulder, your upper half hanging over his back. His arm wrapped around your waist keeps your squirming to a minimum, so you resort to pounding your bound fists against his back. It only serves to amuse him further. You’re probably doing more damage to your hands as you repeatedly bash at his armor.

He ignores every insult and curse you hurl his way as he treks back to Slave I. Your voice starting to go hoarse as he carries you up the ramp and none to gently tosses you to the floor of the hull.

Boba stands above you, his visor following your frantic movements, still searching for an escape. A few taps on his vambrace has the ramp closing behind him, sealing your fate. Tilting his helmet ever so slightly the menacing aura melts away, “color?”

“Green,” you nod, and the bounty hunter snaps back into place.

“Up,” he orders, jerking his helmet at you.

You fix a glare up at him, refusing to make this easy for him.

A sigh filters through the modulator, “don’t say I didn’t give you a chance to make this pleasant.” In a flash he’s yanking you across the floor by your cuffs. The metal floor dragging uncomfortably across your back. You told him you liked it when he manhandled you and he obviously remembered. He pulls up onto a blanket laid out along the far wall, forcing you to sit, back pressed into the metal pipping as he shackles your hands above your head. You didn’t even get the luxury of a bed now.

“Please,” you beg, tugging at your restraints, “you don’t have to do this. Let me go.”

His wide form kneels at your feet as he twirls his viroblade in one hand. Blood roars in your ears as your eyes lock on the blade.

“Oh, but I do have to,” you can picture his Cheshire grin under the helmet as he drags the knife up your pant leg.

“Oh please, no. Please don’t.” Your begging turns to whimpers as the blade continues upwards. He toys with the edge of your shirt for a moment before his visor snaps up. “Hold still.”

His tone leaves no argument, and you freeze as the viroblade is jerked upwards, slicing the front of your top clean open with one flick of his wrist. Tears build in the corner of your eyes as he tugs the ruined clothing open to expose as much of you to him as he can with your hands still bound.

“Look at you,” he groans, one gloved hand coming up to tweak one peaked nipple through your breast band. Your pleas fall on deaf ears as he yanks the band down, exposing your breasts to his rough groping.

As your pleas fade into weak whines Boba seems satisfied with your chest, his hands get to work unlacing your pants. You whimper one last “please” before he rips them down your legs taking your underwear with.

“Ha, you act like you don’t want this-” he runs one hand up your slit, the evidence of your arousal collecting on his glove- “but you’re dripping for me,” he sneers.

“No! I don’t-please, I don’t!” you sob, tugging helplessly at your binders. The metal rattles against the pipe.

Boba scoffs, “sure you don’t.” With what you imagine as a roll of his eyes, he yanks your hips forward, allowing him better access to your cunt. Two fingers press into your sopping hole, drawing a garbled cry from your lips.

“So fucking wet,” he spits, voice crackling through the helmet as he begins to coax the coil in your belly tighter and tighter with his vicious fingering. You bite your bottom lip to hold back the moans, still trying to retain some sense of pride and deny him the pleasure.

“So fucking tight,” he grins, “can’t wait to feel you squeezing my cock, girl.”

Crooking his fingers, he presses up against that spot inside you, pushing you right up to the edge before he quickly withdraws his hand. Legs quivering, you sob at the harsh denial.

“Ready for my cock, girl?” he taunts, moving back to his feet.

Bleary eyed you shake your head, a quiet “no” falling from bruised lips.

“I think you are.” Boba grips under your shoulders, hauling you to your feet and freeing your cuffs from the ship wall before quickly manhandling you to your hands and knees. You can’t get any purchase on the floor or blanket with your hands still in the binders. Your arms slide out in front of you, leaving your face pressed into the blanket, ass arched into the air. Boba groans at the sight

“Prefect,” he rasps, leaning over your body. His cool beskar pressed against your flushed skin, a small relief. Hands settling into a vice grip around your hips he rubs himself against your weeping folds, coating his cock in your arousal.

When did he? You don’t even remember hearing him unzip.

Bearing down on you, cock notched at your entrance he rests his helmet over your shoulder. “You know I love you, right?”

“Y-yes,” you croak, trying to turn towards him.

“I have every intention of fucking you like I don’t.”

“Please!” you cry, though you’re not sure what you’re begging for at this point.

With one quick thrust Boba sheathes himself in you, burying himself to the hilt. You swear you can feel him in your throat as he throbs inside your heat. One hand fists in your hair, yanking your head back as he begins to pound into you.

Boba doesn’t lie. He fucks you like he’s never fucked you before, his hips relentlessly pistoning into you, driving his cock home again and again. Tears stream down your face as he draws you back up to the precipice, the coil ready to snap again. Boba can feel it, his hips stutter as you grip him in a vice.

“Come on then,” he grunts, pulling on your hair again, “come all over my cock, girl.”

Your body listens, your orgasm slams into you, forcing the air from your lungs. Overwhelmed with your own release you barely register Boba groaning above you, burying himself in you as he cums, his warm seed filling you to the brim.

Neither of you move for a long moment, letting the waves of pleasure recede before untangling yourselves. Boba curses as he pulls out, the mix of your release dripping down your already messy thighs. Tucking himself away he settles next to you, dragging your limp body into his lap. Blissed out, you let him go about freeing you from the cuffs, inspecting your wrists for any irritations.

“Mesh’la,” he coos, wiping the remaining tears from your cheeks, “how are you feeling?”

Smiling up at him, you lean into his gentle touch. “Good… sore and tired… but very good.”

“And was that everything you wanted?”

“Everything and more, Boba.”

Ever the generous lover.

[leonicscorpio]

Y'all, I'm so excited for Gotham Knights.

Both as a batman and bat family fan. This game is looking to offer a lot in terms of both gameplay and add an extreme amount of story. I especially am excited to see what they end up doing with Jason.

Right off the bat (lol) I love his design. They show that he's large and imposing. Physically intimidating. As well as bringing back his white streak with a clean short haircut and s scar that extends from his mouth all the way up his head. His design is just *chefs kiss*

However upon looking at his promotional information I was immediately grabbed by his bio. They mention something very specific about this universe's Jason that is very unique and peculiar.

The top text pretty much establishes what is already canon and what we know about Jason to be true. The death, Lazarus Pit, his anger, etc. This also poses the fact that we will probably see a Jason in-game that is very volitile and easy to anger. (That's hot) but what's most interesting is the bottom text. "After reconciling with the Batman Family, he's embraced Batman's non-lethal combat methods" what's so striking to me is that Jason and Bruce seemingly made up prior to the events of Bruce's death. As Jason got the message of Bruce's death, and as seen in the image prior (the one with Jason's face) we see Jason is visibly hurt and shocked. He's taken aback by the announcement. While I think any iteration of Jason (Pre-New 52 straight up-villain Jason or New 52 Anti-Hero who is half trying to get Bruce to love him, half telling Bruce to fuck off) would be shocked of Bruce's death announcement. We get to see Jason's reaction first and foremost and it's very personal and emotional. This brings up a point that's been bugging me ever since I saw the announcement of Gotham Knights.

What happened to Jason that made him reconcile with Bruce?

This post is speculation as to what I think may have happened to Jason to cause him to turn around and be welcomed back into the Bat Family.

I think that the events of Under The Red Hood still happen but either Bruce or Jason kill the Joker.

It's a stretch. But hear me out. We know the most defining moment in Bruce's and Jason's joint story is the confrontation between Bruce and Jason over the Joker and Jason trying to force Bruce to kill the Joker.

Bruce decides he cannot kill the Joker. Now the movie and the comic differs on how they handle the ending. In the comics, right as Jason is about to pull the trigger, Bruce reacts and throws a Batarang at Jason. Slicing him in the neck. Severely injuring him but not killing him. In the Under the Red Hood movie, Bruce, when faced with the option of having to chose between killing the Joker and just letting Jason kill him. Bruce turns and walks away. He readies a Batarang because he predicts (correctly) that Jason will retaliate out of confusion because he sees Bruce as rejecting him again. Not understanding that Bruce is simply chosing not to be involved in the situation.

I think Jason turning around to Bruce could happen most likely because the events of Under the Red Hood transpired differently. We know Joker still exists in this universe because Jason's death and resurrection is implied to be the same. But we also know that Barbara Gordon's paralysis during the events of The Killing Joke are still canon in this universe.

What if this universe follows the canon of the movie in that when Bruce turned away from Jason, either Bruce verbalized to Jason that he doesn't care what happens to the Joker, right now, he's chosing Jason, and although he doesn't want Jason to kill the Joker, he's letting Jason decide.

What if Bruce still throws a Batarang at Jason and instead of staying still, Jason brings the joker up and uses him as a shield? Killing the Joker or severely injuring him as a muscle reaction to protect himself from the Batarang. We know that the reason why Jason is so antagonistic towards Bruce is because Bruce didn't kill the Joker and let him continue to kill and injure people after Jason's death. And that inaction is directly what happens

The WB Montreal team (the team making Arkham Knights) hasn't confirmed if The Joker is in thw game. We know the confirmed villains are The Court of Owls and Mister Freeze. With Two Face being hinted at through promotional material. But there is no direct references that The Joker will be in the game.

I may be looking too deep into this. Jason may have just turned around as a result of Bruce's demise. But I like to think of the potential character interactions we could see in Gotham Knights. I want to see a Jason that has properly reconciled with Bruce and is trying to make amends. Only for him to lose Bruce and run the risk of falling back on bad habits. Is Jason still antagonistic towards Dick and Tim even if Bruce accepts Jason as The Red Hood and is able to help reform him? Is Jason still the bitter, almost acidiccly snarky and biting character his in Scott Lobdell's characterization of Jason if he reconciles with Bruce? Does he still call Tim "replacement" and such if he's accepted and recognized and given the support he needs? How does the rest of the family react to Jason? Are they apprehensive?

There's so much to look forward to with Gotham Knights and I'd love to know what other people think. With an exciting new take on Jason's character (as well as being able to play as Jason in an RPG based setting) we get to have an extremely diverse cast. All of the Robins are played by Asian American voice actors and Barbara is played by a Latin-American voice actress. Stephen Oyoung is a fantastic casting for Jason because he already has a lot of exposure as a VA who plays villains. Christopher Sean is going to bring so much fun as Dick (for those who don't know he voiced Kazuda Xiono in Star Wars Resistance and Ludwig in Epic 7) America Young is the current voice of BARBIE and is also going to bring so much to the role of Barbara Gordon. And while Sloane Morgan Siegal is the new face of the bunch, from what we saw from the promo he's bringing a great new take on Tim Drake that's going to be refreshing and exciting.

Let me know you're thoughts!

[sweettodo]

Lady Boss ⟿ Levi Ackerman x reader

Vanilla, somewhat of a quicky, consensual, office fucking, boss.

1,722 words

Strutting down the halls with the upmost frustration, blood boiling, your veins pulsating through your angry fists. You couldn’t fathom how you were getting blamed for something you didn’t do.

Being the ‘mistress’ or in other words overseer for these excuses of men who all thought they deserved to be at a higher- scratch that; they were too fucking stupid to be as good as me.

So what if my brother - Jean, put me in the position I’m in today, but he didn’t just let me sit on my high horse, I needed to do work. ‘Who’d she sleep with to get that promotion?’

SMACK!

“That’s what you get for being a fucking peon. Go make yourself useful like cleaning the bottom of my feet.” The group of men cease speaking. You shake off your hand, you were not afraid to discipline these fuckups.

“So-”

“Sorry what was that? Speak up!” I shout. They sigh in defeat. ‘Someone put her in a mood today’ they simultaneously think in their heads. They hated your attitude, especially on these days.

“Sorry...damn.” That’s right, you thought to yourself, you let out a sigh and continue walking quickly down the large hallway of offices, our ... business was more or less a money laundering business, we were discreet and powerful. We racked in tons of cash and had plenty of allies.

You reach the large double door, slamming your fist against them a few times, you tapped your foot in anticipation.

“Well if it isn’t the biggest fuckup of the day, actually; month.” Chairman Levi scoffs, slowly letting you into the office. He moves back to his desk and you slam the door.

“You act like this was my fault. Your men are fucking stupid.”

“Your men actually, fun fact, you’re in charge of them. Therefore my hands are clean of this mess.”

“You act like I can babysit 25 men to hold a few wads of cash.” You snort, slamming paperwork onto his desk.

“And I’ll say it again, it is not my problem.” He crosses his arms, his body leaning against the windowsill, he was too cocky. You hated him, but you knew you needed to get out of this.

“It was actually twenty five thousand... hey, what do you think you’re in here for? To yell at me for your wrongdoings? I should demote you. I might as well make that call now-”

“Wait- uh.” I didn’t think before speaking, sounding weak on the spot, he stuffs his phone back in his slacks.

“How do you intend on fixing this mess?” He stands, slowly unbuttoning his black blazer, he was so toned.

“I’m a smart woman; I’ll figure this out without your input thank you.” Such a nasty attitude, on days where you two could cut the tension with a knife, days like this where his disgust towards you strengthened. How your hateful words spewed from your mouth. You’re a woman for god’s sake, act like it.

He drops his blazer so it hangs off his chair, he wanted you to feel intimidated of what he could do to you at anytime.

“Here’s the deal-” his finger points at you lazily and it taunts you, he drops his crossed arm stance and sits in his tall leather chair, “you can come here and I’ll help you, or I’ll let Jean now how much of an incompetent bitch you are, your choice.”

You pondered, you could possible wiggle your way out of Jean finding out; Levi reaches for the desk phone and begins dialing Jeans extension to his office, your heart drops, I quickly move towards him and grab his wrist and the neck of the phone, hanging it up before it could ring.

“See, you are a smart girl, I love it when you actually listen to me.” He chuckles, I mock him and wait to be dismissed, “take that off.”

What? What the fuck was he doing, your mouth drops open in utter shock, it was a mix of a dream come true and something ripped out of an erotic novel.

“Take what off?-”

“Your shirt.” He says matter of factly, the lump in your throat freezes while he does it himself, tired of him waiting for you to strip and get down on your knees.

Painfully, he looks down at you while he unbuttons each and every blouse button, your heart pounded; he was not close enough. You shoved the dirty thoughts to the back of your head, you needed to regain power.

“What are you going to do for me Mr. Ackerman?” You hold back his hands, he smirks.

“I’ll loan you the twenty five, you just gotta remember to pay me back babe.” ‘Oh fuck yes’ you secretly became excited to his words, this meant no Jean.

You shrug off your blouse, revealing the pinkish-nude lace bra you had on, he stares in awe at your perky boobs, they sat so nice. Countless thoughts ran his head, labeling every part of your body... ‘I’ll do this, and this’

“Liking what you see Lev-”

“You think just because I’m going to fuck you; that you can call me by my first name?”

“Sorry sir.” He turned you around, forcibly holding down the side of your head against the cold desk while he took his time once again, staring at every part of your body, he was in fucking love.

His body hot, you wanted to stand up and rip his clothes off him like the feral slut you were for him. You wanted to be his little toy, do whatever you want to me sir.

“You should keep wearing skirts to work, easy access.” He rubs your butt with his tough hands, he pushes up your skirt and the matching panties gave it away.

“Sir, let me help you.” You stand quickly and he takes a tiny step back, allowing you to speedily unbutton and you practically rip it off him, god he was so incredibly sculpted. As they say, god spent extra time on this one.

“Stop drooling,” you snap out of your trance and fiddle with his belt, unhooking it. He throbbed, his meme er begged to be fucked by you and Levi was too excited to see you.. and hear you, and taste you.

He doesn’t allow you to drop to your knees, ‘you’re too good for that’ he told himself, he wanted to see you fall apart beneath him.

“Just hurry up and fuck me then.” His eyes widen, his smirk grows as he pushes you back over onto the desk, bending you in half while he quickly moved your panties to the side. He was about to indulge.

You let out a squeal the moment he pushes himself into you, you sucked him in, he knew it was all too dangerous to fuck you now, you were going to have him pussy whipped.

It seems as if he has more and more to stuff you with; reaching spots previous men couldn’t reach, surpassing all nerves that you even knew existed.

“Wow- Sir.” You’re taken aback, you gasp when his hips finally clap against your ass and thighs, he was in all the way, you were fucking stuffed.

Swears fly from Levi’s mouth as he takes time with the first few thrusts, pumping out and back in; in and out in and out.

“I could be in this pussy ass day, my god, you’re clenching so hard.” He groans, he picks up the pace as he pulls apart your ass cheeks to fill you up as much as possible. Your spongey walls contacted and gushed around his big cock while your eyes rolled tot he back of your head in complete pleasure.

“Hmm it feels so good sir, please keep fucking me like this, I need it.” You moan, he follows your orders, he needed to move your position, he needed easier access to this goddess of a body, goddess of a pussy.

You both went into the office separate days of the week, rarely seeing each other.

“You know-” Levi pounds into you, “if our deal upholds, I need to be able to fuck you anytime I want.” His breathing ragged.

“Yes sir I understand.” You moan, mouth jammed open, your legs slowly wanting to give out as he takes you to different heights, this was gonna be a earth shattering orgasm.

He bit onto his bottom lip to stop himself from sounding like a moaning mess under your spell, you were dripping wet, it felt like a palace between your walls, silk sheets, sliding in and out, not easily. You were so tight he didn’t know what to do with you.

“S-sir I’m about to come.” You whine, pushing yourself against his cock, he lets out a tense breath of air, not expecting you to do the work for him.

“Then come.” Levi grabs the other hip, kicking apart your legs further and fucking you senselessly, you were a drooling mess.

Your body contacts once again, he slows down slightly while still fucking you hard with those powerful thrusts. You cream all over his dick, he’s starstruck by feeling those spasms and seeing your helpless body grasp behind her onto your wrist, it was enough to send you flying over the edge.

You release your seed into her, holding still for a few moments and pulling out making sure it seeps into every crevice in her pussy. Seeing both her and your come drip from her beautiful cat. It was a sight to see alright.

Levi’s muscles are weak, he needs to catch his breath, sit down. You wore him out so good just from those ten minutes of him tearing you apart. The same goes for you, you relax your body and breathe heavily whilst slowly picking up your panties from your ankles and pulling them up, tugging down your skirt and trying to limit your leg movement, afraid of not being able to walk.

You two stood in silence, redressing and regaining composure, “you have a very nice dick sir.” You purr in his ear, he thinks about other things to prevent him from getting hard again.

Glancing at his watch, he knows he’s off the clock, “come on, you’re coming home with me.” He grabs his belongings and you do the same. You were absolutely thrilled.

“Yes boss.” Giggling, you follow behind him closely, halls empty so no one would suspect a thing.

[an-annyeoing-writer]

Chanyeøl x Reader: homini lupus.

Word count: ~3,2 k

Genre: dark, supernatural

Warnings: mentions of violence, blood and injury

I’m actually thinking of writing this for some other members. There are some minor events that weren’t explained and I’d like to refer to them in other fics. We’ll see!

Homo homini lupus est.

You didn’t know how long you spent in the same position. Your back ached, you were cold, and the migraine wouldn’t leave you in the last few hours at least, ever since you lost the remaining willingness to move. You tried to walk around the small space at least once in a while to keep your body warmer, and yourself – saner. But it didn’t work, and you felt hungry, thirsty, and exhausted. 

The space was small, but you knew it wasn’t meant to be a prison; more like a pantry, considering shelves along the walls, although empty. 

Sometimes, you heard noises. People walked right behind the locked door, ignoring that you sat there in complete darkness, starving, unable to cry for help any longer. You wished someone would come here just to keep you company, or at least tell you what was going on. But no one did – you were kept here like an animal hunted down, caught and then kept alive until it’d be needed dead. Although it’d at least be given water and food to stay healthy until its time came, and you didn’t have even that much. 

You thought you’d pass out when the doorknob moved slightly; you couldn’t see it, but you heard the faint noise and your face snapped up.

“Let me out” you whispered; your throat was dry, your voice hoarse, as if it didn’t belong to you at all. But you stumbled to your feet, pushing forward and falling against the door next moment, slamming your weak fists against the wood even as the noises on the other side dulled out. You cried out incoherently.

And suddenly, something slammed against the door from the other side, making you jump back. You shook, barely standing on your own feet, as the lock was removed on the other side and the door opened, letting in light that blinded you in an instant.

“Why can’t you just keep quiet?” the voice spoke even before you saw the man in front of you clearly.

“I-I heard a sound…” you whimpered.

“I just tripped, don’t think too much. God, can’t you even be quiet for a second?” You kept quiet, though; you waited for your eyes to adjust, and finally, you made out the silhouette in front of you, a man with one hand still on the doorknob and the other holding onto his side. You didn’t see the exact colors yet, but there was a darker stain on the side of his face, one you confused with a shadow at first, but as you soon realized, wasn’t one. 

“Are you hurt?” you whispered.

He snorted. 

“Still stronger than you, no doubt. Stay where you fucking are.”

“I-I can help” you offered.

“I don’t think so, you can barely stand.” He moved to close the door back and, almost instantly, let out a groan, leaning against the door frame for support. You didn’t hesitate before reaching to him; anything to get out of here, no matter how dangerous the world outside could be with him around. 

His immediate reaction was to push you away and you landed on the cold ground, miraculously not letting out a pained sound. 

He stared at you for a short moment, as if rethinking his previous statement.

“Follow me. Don’t slack off. If you can stand up, that is.”

You didn’t know if you could. But the will to get out of this small space turned out way stronger than all the aches and fear gathered in your fragile body. So you ran after him, trying to remember at least some of the passing surroundings, but in the end, able only to walk behind the man who captured you, hoping that he won’t pass out in the middle of the hall – mainly because if anyone was to find you two like this, your explanations would be quite unreliable without his testimony.

Although maybe, just maybe, it’d give you a chance to escape? 

Probably only if no one else was in the house; you wondered how big the building was, but it seemed cozy, closer to a summer house than a mansion, so it shouldn’t be too big. You didn’t change the floor, but you saw some stairs in the distance. You moved into a cozy bedroom and the man motioned you to wait in the middle, walking to the door in the corner, which, as you saw from your perspective, was a bathroom. He came back soon with a small box – first aid kit. 

He threw the box at you, and you barely managed to grab it; at least these few minutes of stretching your bones helped a little with your migraine, and you didn’t feel as dead as before. In fact, literally the opposite – you felt a rush of adrenaline that urged you to move as the man sat on his bed and exhaled heavily. You looked at him more closely. Although he was holding his side earlier, there was no visible injures there. Maybe some bruises under the jacket, you thought.

The only one was on his face. Blood poured from under his closed eyelid, and it was a scary sight. There was a cut over the bridge of his nose too, but it didn’t look half as threatening. 

The man looked at you with his one, dark eye.

“What happened to you?” you asked. He must have calmed down by now, because he didn’t yell anymore, his posture didn’t look half as intimidating as before. He didn’t say a word as you moved a chair to sit next to the bed and open the first aid kit. You didn’t know, what to do. Shouldn’t he wash his face first?

“I was robbed” he announced.

“What kind of robbery leaves wounds like this?” you huffed.

“It wasn’t a robbery. I was stolen from” he clarified, although, in fact, it didn’t clarify much.

“What do you mean? What did they take?”

“Can’t you tell?” His one eye bored into you as the two of you stared at each other for a few moments.

“Oh.” Who’d do something like this… And what for? 

The man seemed amused.

“They’d gladly take you, too, if they knew you’re here.”

“Who?” 

You completely forgot about what you were here for, simply listening to him, first aid kit left on the mattress. 

“People who don’t like what we are.” This reply didn’t explain much. The man huffed. “You don’t need to know the details.”

“You just said they’re after me, too. Who are they? I need to know more.” You were focused on getting the information out of him. It was not an easy task, you had a feeling you were unlucky enough to meet the stubborn one. 

“It’s none of your business.” 

You huffed with annoyance, picking up a bandage roll from the box and throwing it at him. You stood up and started pacing around the room. As if your head wasn’t already overwhelmed, you had even more questions than before. Nothing had been cleared out, nothing at all. 

“Then why do you keep me here? It sounds like you couldn’t care less about my well-being, then why bother?”

“Don’t be mistaken” the man spoke louder. “I couldn’t care less about you, but I don’t want them getting any stronger. I won’t let them put their hands on you until they’re all dead.”

“How many is all, then?”

“Seven” he answered without hesitation. “Six of which I’m going to kill.”

“And the one?”

“If I kill him, I die, too.” The grin on his face made it clear that he was sincerely amused with making you even more confused than you already were. 

“I don’t understand” you admitted.

“You don’t need to. Just stay where you are, could you?” he shrugged. From the box, he took out some pills and took two, but it didn’t seem like he’d do anything about his eye. 

“What about your…?” you hesitated, briefly pointing at his head.

He shrugged.

“I’ll get a new one, no big deal.”

Just who was he? You had way too many questions. Your fear dissolved a little, especially after finding out he was not as hostile as he seemed at first; interest appeared instead. 

He looked up at you with his one eye and scrunched his nose. 

“You’re useless here. Go back to the pantry.”

You glanced at him, not too happy with the perspective.

“Can I use the bathroom at least?”

He shrugged.

“Do what you want. You’ll die if you try to get out, so in your own favor, don’t.” 

“What do you mean?”

“We’re two hundreds miles from the nearest town, and it’s the middle of winter. We’re not gonna kill you, but it doesn’t mean we’re gonna care if you die. If you go, you’ll freeze to death or starve before they find you. So we won’t care.”

“That’s cruel.”

“Maybe. But we have enough of our own problems to worry about.”

“Can I get food?”

“Do what you want.”

So you did. Maybe it’d earn you a bit more chance to get information out of others who were here. Or maybe it’d just make it a bit more bearable, if you could live normally at least. 

You came to a conclusion that there’s nothing more humanizing than a warm shower.

* * *

You slept on the sofa in the living room of the house. It was a spacious building, as you discovered. A few rooms were locked and no one ever entered them – one of the men shared that they belonged to those who passed away. It scared you to realize that death was not something uncommon to them, but you didn’t dare to ask more questions; these rooms were unavailable to you either way, so you stayed in the living room, a place the inhabitants came to only on those rare evenings when all of them were here. Usually, only one or two were in the house to begin with and they busied themselves in their own rooms. There was six of them. And the one who stayed at home the most was Chanyeøl, with his head wrapped in bandages; he didn’t recover yet so he didn’t go out much. You wondered where they all went in the first place – if it was true and the closest town was hundreds of miles away, where were they going all the time?

Once, it became quite obvious. Sehůn came back home with a dead deer over his shoulder; the animal had no wounds so you worried, what if it was poisoned? Would it be safe to eat it? But the others didn’t question it, just prepared it, and that was the first time in a while you ate something warm and fresh. They didn’t really care that you took some, nor that you sat among them while eating. They never paid you much attention at all, but you didn’t mind – it allowed you to see them at ease, not so scary anymore, just a group of people, maybe not friends, but surely not enemies either, more of associates, living under the same roof. 

You saw them come back home tired and dirty, you saw them laugh at stupid jokes while looking as if they just took a bloodbath, you saw them complain about injures that were simply “annoying”, never “life-threatening” or even “dangerous”. 

And one day, you saw Baëkhyun sit next to Chanyeøl and gently take the bandage off his head.

“It looks good” he spoke. “Creepy as hell, though.”

“You should have gotten me a better one. Seriously.”

“I thought this one would suit you more. We can dig out the other one and exchange so that they match.” The sentence was probably the creepiest thing you’ve ever heard, but the man’s smile made it clear he was simply joking, in his own, twisted way that Chanyeøl seemed to reciprocate, because his lips curled into a grin too. 

They heard you shuffle in the door’s entry and both turned their heads towards you.

Chanyeøl’s bright blue eye stared at you with more intensity than the other, dark one you already knew. 

Baëkhyun was right. It was creepy as hell.

* * *

“Aren’t you getting too comfortable?” 

Chanyeøl sat by the kitchen table, elbow on the glass surface and chin resting on his palm; he seemed bored, so he watched you do the dishes after dinner. 

“What do you mean?” you asked, not even glancing back at him. 

“I could put you back in the pantry at any time and none of the guys would stand up for you. I could even kill you and they wouldn’t care. Why do you do this, then?”

“Do what?” You didn’t seem too bothered with his words. You started to get used to his threats. 

“Act like you live here.”

“Do I not?”

“You’re a hostage.”

“Thanks for letting me know” you replied sarcastically. 

You made barely one step before his hand was on your neck, pushing your face against the fridge. His grip was firm, but you didn’t dare to struggle, trying to ignore the way your entrails twisted in fear. You were starting to get used to it, you just needed more time. That’s what you told yourself. He wouldn’t kill you – you repeated it in your thoughts. He wouldn’t kill you, he doesn’t hate you. You’re useful, somehow.

“You seriously think that it’ll change anything?” He leaned down and let his voice turn quieter – the words he was about to speak were not for anyone else to hear. “There’s seven of them. If I kill the one, I die too. What, do you think, will happen, if I kill the others?”

The words started to sink in. All the domesticity and familiarity suddenly turned poisonous. Not even associates, you thought. Just means to reach his own goal. Did the others know? Should you warn them? Or were they all thinking the same way, working together only for now? Was this how the others passed away? Were they also not useful enough for their life to be more valuable than the death of those who were against them?

“B-but there’s only six of you” you noticed. Your voice quivered.

You felt his breath on your neck, his grip didn’t loosen.

“Do you want to know who’s the seventh? Do you, really?” 

Your body shook in fear, and you realized that you should have started fearing him much sooner than you allowed yourself to.

A smirk.

A push, forcing you onto your knees.

And then, silence. He was gone. 

You had to get out of here.

* * *

“Where do you think you’re going?” 

Chën stared at you, amused. It was early spring already, the temperature wasn’t that bad. You picked up the warmest clothes you found, took food and everything else you considered useful. Chën stood in the door’s entry as you walked into the yard; he was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed, not wearing anything special, yet not looking half as cold as you already were upon feeling the weather for the first time in ages.

“Chanyeøl said I can go if I want.”

“You’ll die.”

“Or survive.”

“Doubtful.”

“Worth the risk.”

“Is it?”

“I will either live or survive. If I stay here, I will only die.”

“Better later than sooner, though” he shrugged. 

But you didn’t feel convinced. You made your mind, you knew anything would be better than staying here. You didn’t ask for any of this. Were “the others” really even worse than what you had here? You doubted. Especially now, knowing what was their purpose.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” The angry voice startled you, it was the first thing that made you hesitate, but it’s not like you had much time to reconsider.

A hand wrapped around your hair, pulling you backwards and you landed on the  snow with a shriek, the bag falling off your shoulder. 

Chanyeøl stood over you, his face twisted in anger.

“You think that’s funny?” he spat at you; you didn’t think it was, but Chën’s laughter resonated in the distance. 

“Y-you said…”

“Get the fuck up.”

He seemingly resisted the urge to kick your side to hurry you as you scrambled to your feet, head low in fear. 

Chanyeøl stared at you coldly. 

“Get back inside. Now!” he growled. 

You passed by him without a word. Your body shook in fear and cold; maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to leave, after all? Just how far you’d make it anyway? You were so weak. 

Suddenly, a small, weird sound resonated right behind your back, followed by a groan. You turned around rapidly. 

There was an arrow in Chanyeøl’s shoulder, all the way through, its sharp head glistening with red, sticking out of his back. 

The man stumbled backwards and you jumped away in fear before tearing your gaze away to look in the direction the arrow must have come from. 

There was a man holding a bow in his hand. You knew his face. You’ve meet him before.

But you didn’t. It wasn’t the same person, the look in his eyes was not the mocking glimmer you’ve seen in Sehůn’s. Who was he?

Who were the other five men gathered around?

Two dark eyes of Chanyeøl’s nemesis stared at him coldly, and Chanyeøl glared back with hate you’ve never seen in anyone else before.

“Move away from her” the other Suhø spoke. 

Chanyeøl snorted, pushing himself off the ground. Before you could react, his arm wrapped around your neck as he pulled your body against his chest, a human shield. The arrow in his shoulder didn’t seem to bother him half as much as it bothered you.

“Or what?” he dared.

Someone pushed through the crowd of men; a smaller silhouette that stood behind them until now, with her arms crossed on her chest and an unreadable look on her face. 

Yøu. 

Your breath hitched at you stared at hër in complete shock. Shë stared back, also curious, maybe not that confused, seemingly knowing what awaited hër here, but also surprised – it’s not really a situation one can prepare for too well. You couldn’t help comparing herself to hër. Shë seemed prepared, with hër hair not as messy as yours that weren’t treated with a haircut in ages, lipstick on hër lips, a color that suited hër so well, which should suit you too, even though you’ve never considered it before. 

You didn’t have too long to think about it. 

Chanyeøl pushed you forward, as if instantly giving up your own self; as if, in fact, you didn’t matter to begin with. Just means to his own success, as you realized. What did it matter?  He wanted to kill both of you, anyway. Why did he want hër here so much?

The both of you passed by each other, still too shocked to exchange even a word of greeting. 

You couldn’t see anything, your eyes wouldn’t focus enough to keep you aware of where were you going. You thought you’re gonna stumble and fall, but a pair of hands was suddenly on your shoulders, grounding you, a motion so gentle and protective you couldn’t help the tears gathering in your eyes. You missed it. You missed the warmth.

The other Chanyeøl studied your face intently.

“Are you alright?” he asked and you forced yourself to nod slightly, although your legs felt like a jelly. He pursed his lips. “You can rest. You’re with us now. You’re safe.”

Please, reblog if you enjoyed! It’s not much, but it’d help me a lot!

[madmeridian]

hm, idk if this is exactly wild, but maybe an atla au?? for meronia??

ahahahahaha okay i was so fucking excited about this i accidentally wrote a 1,900ish word fic... oops. i hope you like it! i kinda just made it in the atla universe and not like a direct fusion bc i got this idea for it. also italics are flashbacks and non italics are present day! okay pls enjoy 

“Near? I’m heading out for work.” 

There was no response for a second and Mello nearly thought that Near wasn’t going to respond, but he rounded the corner just as Mello took a half-step out the door. The restless night had left Near exhausted and Mello hoped he’d at least go back to sleep after. 

“I’ll see you when you get home,” Near murmured, not quite looking at him. 

“Take it easy today.” Mello held his arms out, inviting, and Near stepped into them without hesitation. 

“I can’t,” Near said. Mello could practically hear the grimace in his voice. “I have orders to fill.” 

Near hadn’t been particularly interested in any of the work Ba Sing Se had to offer, considering most of it was either customer service or construction work. But people in the Middle Ring, as well as a few from the Upper Ring, had taken a liking to his craftwork, so he’d started his own little business. 

“At least get a nap in.” Mello kissed Near’s forehead. “Promise me.” 

“I’ll try,” was all Near offered before he walked away, leaving Mello in the doorway alone. 

The streets of the city were busy, as they usually were in the mornings, especially where they lived. Mello walked through them silently. The people who had come to know him greeted him cheerfully and asked after Near. 

When they’d first met him, Mello had been cold to them, suspicious. After all, he didn’t want them to know that there were two fugitives in their midst and he couldn’t give anything away. If they were found, they were dead. 

Though they were still on edge, Mello and Near had warmed up to the people, mainly after discovering they were mostly harmless. Not to mention, they hadn’t seen their own pictures in any of the wanted signs around Ba Sing Se. 

“Get some more sleep, you looked exhausted,” one of their neighbors called to him jokingly. Mello feigned a smile and nodded. Near had been struggling with nightmares since they’d arrived at Ba Sing Se and as long as he wasn’t sleeping, Mello wasn’t either. He couldn’t let him suffer alone, not when it was partially his fault. 

-----

Mello was certainly not a fan of the freezing temperatures, cold wind whipping against his face. Similarly, his fellow Fire Nation soldiers shivered and groaned, though all of them fell silent when their commander walked past. 

The Southern Water Tribe, diminished as it was, still had capable waterbenders, and it was their mission to capture or kill them. Mello had been on plenty of raids before, but never to either of the water tribes. He was interested to see how well they would fare against the Fire Nation. 

Judging by the mass scrambling that was going on when the ship came close enough to the Tribe, it didn’t seem like things were going to go all that well for them. 

Mello ignored the feeling of guilt that was creating a pit in his stomach. Part of him had always abhorred the raids, the pain they brought on others, but he was a soldier and pity had no place in him.

Screams began to rise up when the ship finally docked and a flood of soldiers descended on the Tribe. 

-----

Mello shook the memory away and focused on what he was doing. None of the retail jobs would hire him, apparently because he was too intimidating to work with anyone, so he’d settled for construction. Though, he would have to admit, there was something therapeutic about hammering a nail into place. 

“Hey, come eat lunch with us,” one of the other workers called to him. “It’s break time, man.” 

 Part of him wanted to tell them to fuck off and leave him alone. But, that wouldn’t bode well for his job, nor for blending in. Things weren’t the same in Ba Sing Se as he was used to. Adapting had taken some getting used to, but he’d gotten good at being less rude. 

“Sure thing,” Mello said, plastering on a fake, polite face. “Just give me a few minutes to finish this up.” 

The others nodded, smiling at him with approval. Whether or not they liked him wasn’t really a concern of his, but it was smart to stay on their good side. Blend in. 

The last thing he needed was to get on someone’s bad side and get ratted out because of it. 

-----

“Please,” the white-haired man had said, holding out his hands. “I’ll tell you where the waterbenders are if you let them go.” The children in the corner cowered away from Mello, from his flaming hand, and the other that held a sword. 

“If you’re lying, I’ll kill you,” Mello sneered. Still, he waved the kids out. They ran, crying and yelling. The pit in his stomach made itself known again. “So, where are they?” 

“I don’t know where the others are,” the man began, “but I’m one. I only didn’t tell you because I’d thought you’d kill them.” To prove his point, he directed an arc of water in the air. Mello grabbed his arm and dragged him out. 

“That’s all I need to know,” he said through gritted teeth, wishing that the man hadn’t just given himself up like that. He’d seen the prisons and knew what happened to waterbenders. The guy would be executed or kept in a cage. 

Either way, his end would be miserable. 

-----

“You’re home late,” Near noted. Mello grunted and flopped down in a kitchen chair. 

“I got kept up by my coworkers,” he said, watching as Near poured him a cup of tea. “They’re a talkative bunch and I’m trying not to be rude to them.” 

“You, trying not to be rude?” Near asked, raising an eyebrow. “Who are you and what have you done to my Mello?”

“Oh shut up,” Mello huffed. “I’d imagine if they liked me, they wouldn’t report me if they saw my face on a wanted poster.”

“That’s smart.” Near gave him the tiniest bit of a smirk. “And maybe if you’re less mean you’ll actually be able to get a job at a shop instead.”

“Please, as if you’d be able to. You’re just as bad as I am.” 

“Hardly. Now come on, you promised me a game of Pai Sho.” 

-----

“You’re telling me, out of all of you, only one waterbender was captured,” the commander shouted. “One! It’s pathetic. It’s a fucking disgrace. Keehl, you’re excused for now. Go guard your prisoner. The rest of you will stay here.” 

Mello was more than happy to escape the scene, the commander’s anger boiling in the air. It was all luck that he was the only one to have caught a waterbender. 

Said waterbender watched him with wide gray eyes as he approached the cell. He didn’t seem at all fazed by his capture, nor his captor standing in front of him. 

Mello turned his back once he got to the cell, standing there as he’d been taught, straight back and searching eyes. 

“My name is Near,” the prisoner spoke up. Some were more talkative and some didn’t try. Mello hated the talkative ones. He was always sad to see them go. “I think you should at least tell me yours.” 

“And why’s that?” Mello asked quietly. 

“So when I go to prison, I can tell everyone about the man who caught me, in case one of them escapes and finds you one day. So they can get revenge for me,” Near said dryly. 

“Very convincing.” Mello paused, before looking down at the man for a brief second. “It’s Mello.”

“Did you do that to yourself or was that someone else?” Near pointed to Mello’s scar. “It looks like it hurt a lot when it happened.”

“Someone else,” Mello said gruffly. “And yeah, it hurt.” 

“I appreciate you not doing it to me.” Near offered quietly, “you don’t seem very evil. I thought you’d be much harder to talk to.”

“Don’t get too comfortable.” 

-----

“I win, again,” Near said smugly. Mello crossed his arms, glowering. 

“I’m almost certain that the only reason you ask to play this is solely to piss me off.” 

“Then you’re wrong. I play with you because you’re the only one who gets close enough to beat me. Mind you, you have won a few times.” 

“Yeah, yeah. I know that. I fucking hate losing though and you know that,” Mello grumbled. Then he yawned, stretching. “I’m exhausted.” 

Near was quiet for a moment, looking at Mello blankly, then frowning. 

“You shouldn’t have stayed up with me last night. You need sleep.” 

“You need sleep too and you fall back asleep better when I’m up too,” Mello argued. “Not to mention, it’s my fault. I’m gonna keep staying up with you.” 

“You shouldn’t blame yourself,” Near shot back, crossing his arms. 

“Come on, let’s just get some sleep,” Mello said, getting up and heading to the bedroom.

-----

The commander had made a huge mistake. He’d constantly put Mello on guard duty for Near, since the rest of the soldiers were doing grunt work they normally wouldn’t as punishment. 

And Mello had gotten… attached. More so than he usually did with prisoners. 

So, on his next shift, he’d carefully snuck the keys to the cell away. When he got to the cell, he crouched down low. Near tipped his head in curiosity. He’d smiled a bit, but his face was much more thin and gaunt than it had been. 

It made Mello’s heart ache in a way he didn’t quite understand. 

“You don’t have family in your tribe, right?” Mello already knew the answer, from their talks, but had to make sure.

“I told you I was an orphan,” Near said, a little crease forming between his brows. “Why?” 

“How do you feel about Ba Sing Se?” Mello whispered, holding out the keys. Near leaned forwards, grabbing the bars. A twist of disbelief and relief made his eyes widen. 

“Can we get off safely?” Near asked, one hand trembling, reaching out. 

“We dock in an hour and I know every inch of this ship. They won’t know we’re gone until my shift is over. Three hours after we’ll leave here.” 

Four hours later, the alarm bells sounded on the ship for their escaped prisoner. Neither Mello or Near were there to hear it. They were on their way to Ba Sing Se.

To freedom. 

-----

Mello had never been Near’s night guard, but he’d never heard anything about him having nightmares from the man who was. He’s not sure the man would’ve been able to tell. Mello is a light sleeper, luckily, so when Near starts to gasp and whimper, he wakes immediately. 

It happens like clockwork. Near has a nightmare, Mello wakes up, then Near does too, and then they sit there. Mello just waits for Near to calm and talk to him. Near’s told him several times that’s all he needs to do, is just give him a minute, and Mello is glad to. 

Near’s nightmares vary. Sometimes it’s the raid, playing over again in his head, his people’s blood staining the snow of his home. Other times, it’s on the ship, and Mello dies. They aren’t free and Near is sent to his grave too. And sometimes it’s incomprehensible, just horrors over and over.

Mello waits for Near to talk, smoothing his unruly hair back and holding him close. 

“I’m sorry,” Near whispers. He always says that, and Mello always says the same thing back. 

“Nothing to be sorry about, Near.” 

Near is quiet for another moment, leaning against Mello’s side and blinking slowly in the moonlight. His eyes almost look silver and Mello has to sort of bite his tongue to compliment them because he’s not sure it’s the best time to flirt. 

“Thank you for staying up with me,” Near says slowly. “I know I said you shouldn’t but… it helps.” 

“It’s what I’m here for. We’re in this together, Near.” Mello kisses Near’s forehead and hugs him tight. 

Mello sees the tiny smile Near tries to hide and smiles too, genuine for what felt like the first time that day.

[asilentguardian]

My Thoughts on Gotham

My mom and I finished watching Gotham on December 29th, and this analysis has been sitting in google docs since then. Some of this is a bit incoherent, some of it I wrote as I was watching, and some of it I wrote after finishing the entire show. So here it is. 2,000 words or so of rambling about Gotham. 

My thoughts on the show as a whole: Gotham changed my opinion on a lot of Batman’s villains. I used to be indifferent towards Penguin, now I love him. I used to hate Firefly, now I love her. While there were one or two decisions that I disagreed with, the portrayal of these characters was satisfying and the tone of the show as a whole was refreshing. The writing was good for the most part, however there are issues with sexism and homophobia that I personally noticed.

And now I’m going season by season cause I’m a nerd.

Season One

Season one is a bit of a mixed bag for me. It seemed to me that the show writers and the younger actors were still trying to find their footing and decide what kind of world their Gotham was. Some episodes are slow, but overall it’s intriguing and I was invested after a couple of episodes.

The pilot has a lot of moving parts and it still works. They did a good job of intertwining all of these characters before starting them all on their own paths.

I can’t imagine anyone else playing these roles. I am really happy with the casting choices for this show. Jim Gordon, Harvey Bullock, and Bruce Wayne especially.

Fish Mooney is an interesting but welcome edition! To be honest, the first time my mom and I tried to watch Gotham, we hated her. The second time around, however, I LOVED her and her role in the rise of Penguin.

Having Edward Nygma start at the GCPD was a really cool idea! I think they executed his descent into madness perfectly. I wanted Ed to prevail and to be a goodman just as much as I wanted to see the Riddler emerge.

Speaking of the GCPD, the corruption and the conflict within the precinct is very believable and compelling. It’s easy to believe that Jim Gordon is a young and optimistic detective who believes wholeheartedly in doing good. I also appreciate the fact that Jim Gordon doesn’t lose that drive for good throughout the show. I also don’t find it too cheesy, even if it’s a common trope.

The Batman universe is huge so I was expecting references and easter eggs at every turn, and I was half right. There's plenty of references and cameos but they work and they aren’t essential to the plot which helps casual fans keep up with the story.

A lot of seeds are planted during this first season, and it’s rewarding to see them pay off. I don’t feel as if the first season suffers from the thing that a lot of movies do where they are clearly trailers for the next part in the franchise. 

I think my favorite episode of this season is episode 20 “Under the Knife.” The stakes are high and the story line with the Ogre is definitely unexpected and horrifying but in the best way. Also Ed kills Dougherty and it’s very satisfying.

Season Two

Rise/Wrath of the Villains!

Theo Galavan and Hugo Strange were the big bads of this season and I think they were written and acted very well.

Something I’ve noticed about some of the villains on this show and their interactions with children and Bruce in particular is that they’re... unsettling. I suppose that’s intentional and I definitely think it makes some of the villains more intimidating, but it’s really creepy. There are a lot of adults that are preying on Bruce’s innocence in this show. 

Theo Galavan was not my favorite. He was intimidating for a bit, but I kinda grew bored of him. I did enjoy the nod to Azrael. 

Hugo Strange! I was kinda indifferent to him when playing Arkham City but I enjoy him in this show! Loved when he showed up again in subsequent seasons and you immediately knew some Fucked Shit was happening.

So Mr. Freeze. I’m not too sure how I feel about Gotham’s take on this story. The casting is solid, but killing Nora? Not the move. Actually very angry about that to be honest. The Mr. Freeze episode could’ve been so much more compelling and emotional but instead it was a way to move Lee and Jim’s relationship forward :(

They managed to make Firefly not annoying, but I only found Firefly annoying before because of that stupid boss fight in Arkham Origins. But I liked Bridget.

Penguin and Nygma’s relationship is very fun in this season! More on them later, but at least in season two it’s very enjoyable to watch them learn to trust each other. My mom and I adored their story line.

I LOVE Nygma’s character arc in this season. His interactions with Gordon are some of my favorite bits from this season. They are very rewatchable and I find their relationship to be one of the more intriguing ones in the show.

Overall season 2 was decent. Some of the villains were forgettable, but the relationship arcs and character arcs that were compelling kept me interested.

Episode 15, Mad Grey Dawn, was one of my favorites this season. Seeing the Nygma v Gordon thing play out was so so so fun. I really loved being able to follow Nygma’s logic and feel Gordon’s frustration at being framed.

Season Three

Mad City/Heroes Rise!

There’s A LOT I have to say about season 3. I liked it. There’s a couple of big issues I have with season 3, but overall it was compelling and I enjoyed it.

While I’m not usually one for the “this character has a darkness inside of them” trope, I really didn’t mind it with Gordon. I thought it was believable and interesting enough to be engaging. bounty hunter Gordon was pretty fun, too. And hot. Anyway.

The Mad Hatter v Jim Gordon stuff is intense. Episode 6 where Gordon is forced to choose between Valerie and Lee is where the “dark side” trope lost me a little but I do like that they make a point to have Gordon always make his way back to the light. Valerie’s exit felt very rushed and sudden? I don’t know if the actress was written off for some reason, but it felt very weird.

So. Penguin and Nygma. I don’t know if I would necessarily call it queer-baiting, but it definitely doesn’t sit right with me. Here’s the thing about Gotham’s queer representation: it’s not good, but it’s not bad. There is 100% an issue with making all of your queer characters villains. And there’s a HUGE issue with having Barbara’s attraction to women only be present when she’s a) acting as an antagonist to Gordon’s work at the GCPD (Montoya in season one) or b) on the side of the antagonist and framed as crazy (Tabitha in season two). Also, notice how in season five she’s “sane” when she’s with Gordon. It’s homophobia luv.

However, in the case of Penguin and Nygma, the added layer of Penguin’s love for Nygma makes their arc a little more interesting and compelling (there’s still an issue with queer love being framed as toxic and obsessive in this show, but if I don’t stop talking about that this post will be miles long).

The Ivy thing is certainly a new plot device, but I don’t hate it. Took a bit to get used to, but older Ivy makes sense and to be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of child Ivy. Not that her character was bad, but I personally found her a tad annoying.

SEASON 3 EPISODE 14. THE GENTLE ART OF MAKING ENEMIES. I HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT THIS. Bruce’s character development in this episode made me extremely happy. I haven’t talked a lot about Jerome-Joker yet, but I really like him. Joker is one of those characters you can take a lot of liberties with and it can either really work or really suck (looking at you Jared Leto). Gotham’s version of Joker, while a bit rushed, is a good fucking Joker.

The reason why I like s3e14 so much is THIS is what the Joker vs Batman relationship is about. This is why they are perfect foils. Batman always has a reason, a method. Motivation and a cause. He believes in Gotham and he believes that EVERYONE has the capacity for good. Joker does things just for the hell of it (i.e. kidnapping Bruce). His point is anarchy and chaos. His point is that everyone has darkness and that they are “one bad day” away from giving into that darkness (subtle nods to The Killing Joke, very nice). This is illustrated SO beautifully in this episode. However, I do see an issue down the line of Joker knowing who Batman is instantly, but I digress.

The birth of Riddler! The development of Penguin and Riddler’s animosity! mwah!

Also. Bruce standing above Gotham in an early version of the suit. There’s no ears or cape but my mom and I were VERY excited. I felt so giddy.

Bruce’s vow not to kill was beautifully framed, props to the DP on that one. It felt nice to hear a live action version of Bruce Wayne say that. (Note from the future: yes he breaks it. Sorta. I’m mad about it, but I explain my feelings in depth later).

Season Four

A Dark Knight!

Alright. Season 4. To be honest, it took me a while to warm up to this one.

Scarecrow. Love his costume. Love his escape. Scarecrow is one of my favorites because he’s creepy and cool and terrifying. Well done. The episode where Jim goes after him is really brutal. He goes there alone, not even Harvey by his side, and he is forced to stare his biggest fear in the face. I loved it!

The Pax Penguina. I’m easily won over by references to old literature and history. This show has made me actually like Penguin. I used to find him annoying and didn’t understand why he was people’s favorite, but this show has proved him to be a competent and cunning villain. I love to hate him. It’s fun seeing him at the top of Gotham.

Riddler’s escape and Nygma’s return. His friendship with Lee and Grundy (Grundy!!). Ed and Lee was certainly an interesting choice. I didn’t hate it, it just seemed really odd. I enjoyed Lee’s rise to power though! 

Sofia Falcone. Not really a fan tbh. Didn’t trust her from the start and it was SO satisfying to see her get shot in the head. Talk about a ruthless mastermind. To be fair, I did love to hate her in the beginning, but then she kinda got on my nerves? The actress that played her was really good though!

Captain James Gordon. Yessir. What a legend. One step closer to Commissioner. But also ouchie he had to go behind Harvey’s back. That subplot hurt so good.

Professor Pyg is. A lot. Gotham is a mature show, but it’s hard to like Pyg even as a villain. He’s unsettling and his episodes are a bit too much. I tolerated him but it just got to be gratuitous. I will say that I am relieved that they weren’t heavy handed on the cross-dressing thing. Would prefer not to see that played for a joke anymore, and this show does not need to vilify queerness more than it has.

Jerome and Jeremiah! ahhhhh!!! What wonderful interpretations of the Joker! Jerome was great, but I think I’m partial to Jeremiah. Maybe because his costume looks so much like the Joker from the animated series and Mark Hamill will always be my Joker. Either way, I LOVED their story line in season 4.

Kinda love Barbara being involved in the League. Very sexy of her. Also very sexy of her to not be dead. 

Alright. Here we go. Ra’s Al Ghul and Bruce Wayne. I have mixed feelings about this. So Bruce kills. Technically he’s not Batman yet, and obviously Ra’s didn’t stay dead, but he already took the oath. I have a hard time staying with any adaptation that makes their Batman a killer, but this one wasn’t awful? And then technically Barbara uses Bruce’s hands to kill Ra’s in the finale. I’m upset that they went with a “what if Batman kills” story line in the first place, but the resolution wasn’t too terrible.

Those last three episodes of season 4. Wow. My mom and I couldn’t stop watching. The nods to The Killing Joke were cool but not too on the nose. The stakes felt high and I was so deeply invested because this story line in particular was very well crafted and planned out and it definitely shows. There’s so many loose ends at this finale, and somehow it works and you still have hope. But holy shit, those bridges coming down, the utter panic and confusion as you’re wondering “is X person okay? what happened to X?” wonderful, chefs kiss.

Season Five

Legend of the Dark Knight!

Oh gosh. I have so much I want to say, but I don’t know how to put it into words. I loved this season. I loved the post apocalyptic vibes of Gotham. Loved the rise of the villains into the people who will one day face Batman. Loved Gordon’s leadership and rise to Commissioner. There’s a few things I have issues with this season, but I’m just so in love with that finale. What a beautiful send off.

I loved how the finale was crafted, how we didn’t see the full Batman suit till the end. I did, in fact, cry when that thing was revealed. The score was beautiful. It felt so much like an episode of The Animated Series, yet so unlike any other piece of Batman media. It was so refreshing to have everything wrapped up nicely, so refreshing to have hope and satisfaction in a finale.

Overall, this version of Gotham City feels like a living, breathing thing that is lived in and flawed. It is wonderful. The set designers did wonderfully and it feels so timeless in the way that the Animated Series did as well. I think that’s part of the reason why I loved this show so much. It made me feel the same way that the Animated Series did.

I know I’ve missed a lot of details and plot lines, so if for some reason you are interested in my thoughts on a particular thing in this show, my inbox is open!!

[offtopicoverload]

Sooo about that exchange you told me...

One time i was going to my first piano lesson after a while, and i was really excited but you know really nervous. When I go to meet the teacher, we go into a seperate room to practice and see if i want to continue with them. So i sit down on the stool and they start asking me questions about my knowledge on piano, and tells me to show how i play. So remember how i said i am really nervous, well he he... they sit down next to me and play something easy for me to repeat and me being the nervous and anxious mess i am, i totally don't realize their feet on the pedal and i accidentally🙃 k i c k 🙃them. They say, it's okay don't worry, just play what i did. So once again i try and start to play but this time my hands are shaking so i am not able to play very well and i get really frustrated cuz i don't want them thinking i am bad at playing. But of course, i fuck up evenmore so they try to show me by placing their hands on top of mine but can you guess what i did? 🙃🙃🙃 i p u s h their hands away as a reflex 🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃 by the time i finished the lesson, i was an apologising mess and a red tomato🙃🙃🙃 conclusion i don't think i will be having any lessons on anything, ever again..... yeah, so any galaxy thoughts from your beautiful brain??

(i am so sorry this is so long, if you don't want to answer i would totally understand)

i fucking FEEL YOU ON THAT. im the freeze-up-when-anxious type, but i know exactly what you mean and it’s so awkward asdjhfsdfjk

but dont stop trying to learn, especially things you enjoy, those are so important

as for the galaxy thought, im so bad at broad questions, so im just gonna ramble under the cut lmfao, and if ya wanna correct me or ask something specific, i promise ill get to it sooner this time lol

- im playing the nanny affair right now and its the most confusing thing. im ace and have this weird, dark curiosity towards allos, so ive read some shit, but i can only ever explain my thoughts as 👁👄👁

like what IS THIS???? WHY??? IS THIS REAL???? IS THIS A THING???? THE FUCK????? so. confused.

- ANYWAY i started another fic last night, this time for the freshman and idk why im finally getting around to the idea, but i guess i am

- ive also decided that clover 100% made fun of rocco and his ukulele and his wonder wall singing mercilessly, and i love her for it

- rosie’s really good at wearing heels and hope buys her pairs and then steals them. they also make her giant cuz shes already 5′11″, so she just towers over everyone ajhfksj

- ooh should i list heights? fuck it why not this my blog and bullshit i can do whatever LMAO

violet’s 6′2″ and absolutely not allowed to wear heels, hazel’s 5′5″ but lies and says shes 5′6″, runaways mc is a shorty at 5′2″, daisy’s actually 5′6″, ivys 5′8″ and always wears heels, lilacs 5′7″ and doesn't care at all that shes kinda tall, willows 5′7″ and shes juuuust too short compared to elisa, sage is only 5′6″ but she has tall energy, dahlias 5′4″ and adores it, ash is mega shorty at 5′0″, olives 5′9″ and digs towering over chelsea, clover is 5′2″ but has like 5′6″ vibes, rowans 5′4″ but somehow looks shorter, briars 5′8″ and either very inconspicuous or very intimidating, oakley’s 6′ and the one always getting thing from the top shelf, rue’s 5′9″ but with shorter energy, rylens 5′5.5″ and yes that .5 is important cuz auroras only 5′5″, izzys 5′3″ and it just kinda... fits

- i started reading the stanford encyclopedia of psychology page on happiness yesterday cuz thats where im at rn, but then i got distracted and dont remember anything and i dont know what this is, so im sorry ashdkjf, ill happily answer something more specific instead of this collection of random thoughts as i avoid working

[livingmybestfakelife]

Gospel Truth

Summary: You finally break Tommy after showing your true colors

inspired by the song Gospel Truth by Joseph J. Jones

gifs by @mistress-gif

When you woke up this morning it was freezing, it gave you a good boost to get out of bed and get on with your morning routine before heading out to work. You couldn’t wait to speak to Thomas about what had occurred last night, you weren’t there to witness the commotion but your daughter had vented to you about it, tears falling out of her big beautiful eyes that she inherited from you, she could hardly get any words out because she was so upset, her father had embarrassed her in front of a very important man that could be of importance to her future, one that even though had a clean record, was known to be respectful and trustworthy, Tommy just didn’t trust around his only child.

It took everything in you to not go up to his room and give him a good chewing out for doing what he promised you he wouldn’t do. But the house of full of guests wardering about, surely one of them would be nosey enough to put their ear up against the door to listen in, and last thing your baby girl neeeded was more embarrassment, so you decided to leave it alone...for the time being. Today was a big day, Selena would be leaving for university this afternoon so you and Tommy would be sending her on her way at the train station, but before all of that you both headed to work, he had left an hour before you did, you were also early so the office was empty except for the both of you, perfect, no one around to listen to you two bicker.

Your footsteps could be heard all the way in his office, he for some reason recognized your footsteps, “it has a certain rhythm” he once told you, you never understood that, it didn’t sound any different from any other woman, but he insisted that it was different, he just knew you way too well to misktake it for anyone else’s. It was unusual but it was him, he sighed and gulped down the rest of his whiskey before straightening up in his seat, preparing for your wrath he already knew was coming. As you entered the room he was hit in the face by a whisk of air caused by the swing of the door, your glare making him feel colder, the only other women that he ever intimidated by was his mother and Polly, then came you.

You were fourteen years old but had a mouth on you like a grown man, always prepared for a debate, a fight and had enough stamina to outrun any authoritative figure that tried to chase you down. It would be cliche to say that you were different from any other girl Tommy has ever met but it was the truth, besides your bold and brass personality, you were also the only girl Tommy knew who was being raised by a single father, your mum passing on when you were only eight years old, your dad taught you how to defend yourself from a very early age, knowing all too well how boys and men would try to take advantage of a beautiful young lady like yourself. Your relationship with your dad was one that he was jealous of, his own father being a coward and walking out on his own family not too long ago, but here you were with one that could’ve easily given up, and abandon you like most of them did, not wanting to be bothered with a child all by themselves, or remarrying just for someone to keep up with the house, but he didn’t do that either, he loved your mother too damn much to move on, he had all he needed with you, it was you two against the world, and Tom only wished that his own pop valued him and his siblings the same way.

Your personality from who were as child to today never changed, when you wanted to get your point across you’d do it loudly and dramatically, how else would these stubborn men listen to you. You walked into his office and closed the door with your foot, marching to one of the chairs in front of his desk, as you sit down you move your collar down and expose your neck a little, just enough to show him your trophy from the night before, something that you liked to do to taunt him, the faint bruise on your neck caused by an admirer that you invited up to you bedroom late last night, making sure to sneak him out quickly after you were done with him. He balled up a fist then unclenched it and let out a heavy sigh.

“Why do you insist on pissing me off?”

“Why do you insist on breaking your promises?”

“If this is about last n-“

“Of course it is, you told me that you wouldn’t do this Thomas, I’m holding out my end of the deal and I expect you to do the same”

“Oh, right, you are doing that aren’t you? Fucking a different simp every other night in my house”

“Oh fuck off, like you don’t have women who warm your bed every night, I deserve a good fuck as well”

“YN”

He says your name in a warning tone, he knows how easy it is for you to push his buttons and he hates himself for always falling into your trap and making himself look crazy. But that’s what you always did to him, you make him fucking insane, because he never fully had you, and you never fully gave your heart to him, your deepest secrets he had to learn from the grapevine, meanwhile he was spilling it all out for you, he’s done every he could think of to get you to understand how deep his love ran for you, he’s sacrificed, stole, lied and killed for you, one time right in front of you. Even after all of that, you still didn’t fully commit to him emotionally, sure you married him, but it still wasn’t enough, he didn’t feel anything on your end, now he understood how Lizzie and so many other of his “girlfriends” he had felt, to be willing to give anything just for a “I love you” but only getting crumbs in return.

“Look, as I said, I’m holding up my end of the deal, I agreed to move back in here for as long as you pay for Selena’s education, which is fucking insane”

“What’s so insane about it Yn? We both know that she isn’t mine”

“Thomas!”

“Well she isn’t, not biologically at least...listen to me, look I don’t mean to sound so cold alright, I love Selena like she was mine, hell I adopted her didn’t I? Gave her my last name, but...I”

“Wow, you’re so sad, the big tough Thomas Shelby having the nerve to call other men simps when he’s the biggest one of them all, too blind to see that I’ve been using you for security all these years, I mean men hell, might as well take advantage right, it’s not like you were getting the hint, you took me in when I was already seven months pregnant with another mans baby, a man you knew you couldn’t compete with because he had something you didn’t, and that was me, I actually had some feelings for the poor bastard and you couldn’t handle that, it tore you up didn’t it? That I was having his baby and not yours, that we were so close to getting married...well luckily for you he died in that club fire, then you had a chance to swoop me in, not that I could put up much of a fight, I was twenty one with no man to help me raise my child, you were my meal ticket Tom, my simpy little meal ticket-“

You cut yourself off when all of a sudden he pulled out his gun and shot it into the ceiling, his eyes were wide and dark, the dark circles under them making him look more like a mad man, for the first time in all your years of knowing him you were afraid of him, you had finally broke him after slowly chipping away at his heart, your rant breaking it apart completely, he felt nothing but anger and betrayal, you’ve played with him for too long, and now...well that hole in the ceiling tells you all you need to know. He lowers the gun and walks closer to you, you back away as far as you can only for him to grab your arm, pulling you up against his chest.

“Tommy, please”

“You’re begging, since when do you beg, that’s for dogs remember?”

“I’m- I’m s-sorry, I didn’t mean it”

“Course you did, because it’s true, you played me like an instrument and I let you...because I love you”

“Y-you didn’t deserve it”

“I didn’t get what I deserved I got what I took, I took whatever I could get from you”

You reach over to take the gun from him and put the safety on, not trusting him with it for the moment, he’s breathing hard and beginning to sweat around his forehead, you wipe it away before kissing it, he melted at your comfort, even if it was your way of taming the beast he was being right now, your kisses and caresses were always warm.

There was a knock on the door that startled you out of the moment, you straightened him out before shoving his gun in your purse

“Come in”

The door opens to Selena walking in with a big smile on her face, she’s wear her brand new dress she purchased yesterday just for this day, wanting to make a good impression on the new people she would meet at school.

“Sorry if I’m interrupting something, but I was just coming by to pick up my last check”

You smiled at her and walked over to his desk to pick up her check that you knew was already written out and signed, he had it prepared for her every Friday.

“Here you go baby, we’re gonna miss you here, especially your dad, you’re the best assistant he’s ever had and will ever get”

“Oh, I know”

She gives him a wink earning her a chuckle from, he reaches out to give her a big hug, the two of them being just as close as you were with your own dad, the both of you never told her about his adoption of her, and you’re not sure you ever would, maybe one day she’ll find out on her own, either way it wouldn’t change their relationship, she’s the only father she’s ever known.

“Okay, I just finished packing, I still have some things to do before I leave, I’ll meet you at Esmeralda’s Place for lunch and then we can head on to the train station, sound like a plan?”

“Sure, darling, it’s a plan”

He gives her a kiss on the cheek before she excitedly leaves the office with her check that would end up leaving her even more in glee once she see’s that he’d given her a three hundred pound bonus, he’s too good to her, always giving her more than you’ve ever asked of him, it made your guilt tear your heart and stomach apart, you would have to spend an extra half hour in church on Sunday begging for forgiveness.

At the moment you didn’t have anything to say, deciding to leave things where they were you went to leave, but not before he spoken up.

“We’re not done here YN, cancel your plans for tonight, we have a lot to talk about”

And by talk he means have dinner and then fuck, it’s how you settled almost all of your issues with each other, so his threatning tone had no effect on you.

“Of course Tommy, whatever you say”

You go to give him a soft peck on the cheek then leave to head to your own office, luckily Polly was just coming in, the awkwardness finally exiting the office building.

“Morning Aunt Polly”

“Morning honey...everything alright?”

“Fine, Selena going away is just making me a bit depressed is all, she grew up too fast”

“Yeah she did, don’t worry darling you’ll see each other again before you know it”

She pats your shoulder and walks to her office, you were glad that a tear that was about to fall from your eyes dropped after she walked away, the last thing you wanted to do was keep her from her work over the count of your emotions, you would need to toughen up a little more now, and keep your guard up more often, Tommy was no longer manipulable.

[exhaustedfander]

“What if I told you that I love you?” Chapter Four

a03 link

Previous Chapter

Writing Masterpost link

Word Count: 2,613

Here’s the final chapter! I’d love to hear what you guys think. This was a really fun little story to write.

Closing the door behind him, Logan sees that Virgil’s been waiting in the hall. From the expression of relief on his face, it looks as though he wasn’t expecting him to remerge.

“Hey – are you okay? He didn’t try anything, did he?” Logan really will need to find out what happened between those two, all those years ago someday.

“It was a very civil discussion. I’m perfectly fine,” he says, voice clipping slightly. Virgil frowns.

“L, what’s wrong?”

“I’ve messed up. Terribly. And I need to set things right.” The concern etched into Virgil’s face deepens as he takes a step closer to Logan, grabbing hold of his wrist.

“Whoa, hey, are – are you sure about that? I mean, you were kinda a mess back there a little bit ago. Not – not that there’s anything wrong with that! I totally get it, man, I mean, same. It’s just…” Virgil trails off, and he’s trying so damn hard to be there for Logan as much as he can be, but he’s so scared for him, “I’m… worried about you.”

The last sentence is muttered under his breath and Logan is once again reminded how much he cares about his friend. He pulls away from Virgil’s grip on his wrist, instead wrapping his arms around the emo. The embrace is a bit stuff, a little clumsy, and Logan isn’t sure if it’s for Virgil’s benefit or his own, but it’s helping a little. Virgil hugs him back, sighing at the contact.

“Your concern is appreciated,” Logan breaths out, “I know that you’re looking out for me, and I thank you for that. But… this is something that I need to do.” Logan releases Virgil from the embrace, seeing that heightened look of terror still gleaming in his eyes. Even so, Virgil shoves his hands in his pockets and nods.

“Okay. I… I get that. I’m sorry, for being such a thorn in your side, or whatever,” Virgil mutters, his eyes landing on the floor, “I know I worry too-fucking-much…”

“You by no means have any reason to apologize,” Logan responds quickly, praying he comes off reassuring, “Virgil, you calmed me down from a panic attack. You stayed by my side in the worst of emotional turmoil, you are an exceptional friend, and one I am endlessly grateful to have. Your worry being a little heightened is absolutely nothing to be sorry for; you are vigilant, and you’re looking after me. That is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Virgil looks back up to meet Logan’s gaze, the hint of an anxious smile in his upturned lip.

“Shit, L, has Remus really turned you into that much of a sap?” Logan clears his throat, far louder than necessary, which turns Virgil’s smirk into a shit-eating-grin in a matter of seconds. At least he looks less terrified, even if it is a little at Logan’s expense. “I don’t know what you mean,” Logan says as if he doesn’t know that his friend is entirely correct.

“Yeah, whatever man. You’re a good friend and I’m really thankful to have you around, and all that,” Virgil says, trying and failing to downplay the fondness in his tone. It’s clear that he’s still very anxious for his friend, but he’s doing what he can to trust that things will be okay, something Logan knows certainly isn’t easy for him. “So… you’re really gonna face this thing, huh?”

“I am,” Logan says, taking a deep breath, “I have to.”

“Well then, I hope it goes good,” Virgil says, struggling to sound chipper but doing his best, “Seriously, if this is what you want, then I want you to get this. I want you to be happy.”

“Thank you, Virgil,” Logan says, feeling nervous anticipation welling in him, “For everything.” “Sure thing, L,” Virgil says, watching as Logan disappears down the hall and towards the common room.

Logan knows he’s very likely not prepared for whatever scene he may stumble upon and is quickly proven right when he walks into the room.

Patton is sitting on the couch with Remus beside him, who is presently sobbing loudly into his hands. The sight is immediately heart-wrenching, to a point where Logan has to brace himself against the wall for a moment. In all the time he’s spent with the intrusive side, he’s never seen him so emotionally raw, so broken. Patton tries to set a comforting hand on the small of his back before Remus swats it out, letting out an animalistic growl. Patton flinches. Logan hadn’t ever wanted this, not in the least bit.

“Remus?” His voice pipes up, coming out far more anxious than he intends. Remus’s head jerks up, eyes meeting Logan’s in a moment of primal emotion Logan doesn’t know how to name. Fear seems to be fairly present, though, that he does know.

“Go – go away, nerdy Wolverine!” He says, scrubbing at his eyes with his sleeve, but the makeup that’s run down his cheeks seems intent on staying put.

Patton’s eyes dart from Remus to Logan, desperation evident. While Patton and Remus are by no means close, Patton never misses an opportunity to be there for his “kiddos,” especially not since Janus’s acceptance and Remus, somewhat reluctantly, being accepted to be in their presence.

“Remus, I-I would like to speak with you.” Logan curses the weakness of his voice, the way it trembles. He’s usually so sure of everything he says, but now, he’s out of his depth and doubt seems to overcast everything that he does.

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to talk to you,” Remus says indignantly in much the way a child might, but the sorrow in his voice is impossible to miss, “S-so you can fuck right off.”

Logan takes a grounding breath before walking into the room and motioning for Patton to leave. The Fatherly side lingers for a moment, anxious to leave Remus in such a state, but the look Logan sends him seems to get the message across that they need some space to converse. Patton gets up from the couch and wordlessly slinks out of the room. The tension that hangs thick in the air is palpable, and Logan can’t be sure what will happen next, only that it probably won’t be ideal.

"Don’t you dare get any closer,” Remus warns as Logan takes another step forward, and the logical side freezes, “I bite.”

Remus is doing his damndest to being intimidating, and while Logan has never actually been afraid of him, this scares him. The damage he’s clearly done, the uncertainty of how this could all play out, his own complicated, difficult to understand emotions at play. It all combines into a situation Logan never imagined he could possibly be in, and he can’t help but wish that he was better at dealing with emotions, or didn’t have them altogether.

“Please, I-I know that I’ve upset you greatly, but –.” Logan snaps his mouth shut as he pivots, narrowly missing a throwing star that careens past him and lands in the wall with a loud thunk.

“I said, don’t you dare get any closer,” Remus repeats, wiping his eyes again. There don’t seem to be any fresh tears, but the anger that burns in his red eyes is all the more concerning, “You’d think someone as smart as you would be able to take a fucking direction.”

“Fine,” Logan says, trying to calm down his own frantic nerves (and doing an abysmal job of it), “I – I won’t get any closer. I can say what I need to from here.”

“And who the hell told you I wanted to hear anything you want to say right now?!” Remus demands, chucking another star Logan’s way and missing yet again as the Logical side misses it. “Son of a Bitch, how’re you so good at dodging?” “I’ve had some experience,” Logan reminds him, “I’m afraid that isn’t going to get you anywhere. You know you cannot hurt me that way.”

“Yeah, yeah, lucky you! It’s so fucking easy for you to do it to other people. Why the hell would I get to do it back?” He asks, voice dripping with bitterness and sorrow. There’s a franticness to Remus, different from his usual manic behavior. He seems genuinely terrified for Logan to get any closer, afraid of exactly what, Logan can’t say with certainty, but the thought burns a hole in his mind nonetheless.

“Remus,” he says, standing still where he several feet away with his arms in the air, showing to the best of his ability that he does not intend to cause harm, at least not any more harm, “I… I cannot express how sorry I am, for the way that I’ve behaved. But please, let me explain myself. Allow me to shed some light on things.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I got your message clear as crystal; you’re disgusted to think that someone like me could have such mushy, gushy, disgusting feelings about someone like you.” Logan shakes his head frantically, feeling the shift in the room as things go from bad to worse.

“N-no! Not at all! T-that isn’t it,” he says, trying to explain but it’s so hard to find the words he’s looking for. How does one explain feelings they’d been so hesitant to accept? How is it that Logic can be so overrun with emotion that he hardly knows how to function anymore?

“I’ll – I’ll smash all your beakers! I’ll set all the books you love on fire! I’ll cut your onesie to ribbons! And, then, then –.”

“Then… what?” Logan dares to ask. Remus lets out an exasperated groan, burying his face in his hands once again.

“I don’t know! I’d be easier – easier if you were scared of me. If I could just get you to-to be afraid, then maybe you’d leave me the fuck alone. But you’re not scared of me,” Remus hiccups, and Logan realizes he’s begun crying again, “I can’t even get that right, huh?”

“I don’t want to be afraid of you,” Logan says, wanting so desperately to reach out and wipe the tears from Remus’s face. Seeing him crying, hugging his knees, he looks far too small. Remus is bold, Remus is larger than life, chaos incarnate and this isn’t right at all. “And I don’t want to hurt you, either. But… I have. And I apologize, profusely.”

“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Remus mutters through his tears, “I almost never know what I’m thinking, but – but this time I really fucking lost it. I just… I needed to say something. It was like a leach, sucking out all my blood a little at a time, e-every time I saw you, every time you told me a stupid fact, or w-we made something explode together in the name of science.

“And it just k-kept taking and taking. I was gonna be like an empty juice box, all my blood slurped right out, s-so I asked you. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad i-if you’d just told me I was repulsive right then and there.”

“I’m not repulsed by you,” Logan says, still lost in the imagery of a bloodless body that Remus has spun, “Not at all.” “Yes, you are!” Remus shouts, the sound echoing through the room. Surely the others can hear it, from wherever they are. “You – you sunk out the second I said anything! You were horrified!”

“I sunk out because I was overwhelmed,” Logan says, “I didn’t know how to process the information and I needed to take a step back and revaluate. You must understand, issues of emotion don’t come easily to me… and… I panicked. I know I should’ve handled things differently; I know I should have given you an answer, but I… got scared,” Logan admits, his voice almost dipping into a whisper.

“I thought you weren’t scared of me?”

“I’m not,” Logan replies, “I’m not scared of you, Remus. But the prospect of someone having such feelings for me was… not something I’d previously considered. Even as we spent more time together, I didn’t ever consider that you might…” Logan trails off, feeling himself begin to tremble.

His body wasn’t made to harbor love, he decides, and it certainly wasn’t meant to be loved by someone else. He’s tried so hard for so long to be taken seriously, to perform his duty to the best of his ability, and yet here he is, swept up in a sea of feelings he’s sure would take a lifetime to decipher.

“This is quite the torturous way of explaining you don’t feel the same,” Remus replies weakly, “I would’ve gone for a more traditional one myself, waterboarding, castration, bone-breaking, something a little simpler.”

“I didn’t say I don’t feel the same.” Remus blinks, his misty eyes flickering with confusion.

“Yeah… yeah, you did?” Remus says though it comes out as more of a question than anything else.

“No,” Logan says, “I didn’t. I said I was overwhelmed. Feelings… they aren’t something that I have much of an understanding over, but as I’ve come to realize… they are something I possess.” 

“You-you don’t…” he doesn’t dare speak it. Logan shakes his head.

“Earlier today, you asked me what my response would be if you told me that you love me,” Logan says, a lightness in his chest overtaking the hopelessness that had previously taken root, “I’m trying – I’m trying to tell you I feel the same. I don’t understand it, I don’t know how to process it at all, but I want to. Because… Remus, I love you too. I-I didn’t know I was allowed to love, and I certainly didn’t think I’d have someone love me but… I do.”

Remus sniffles, hot tears burning their way down his cheeks as he looks at Logan, taking in the distraught, lovestruck mess that he is.

“You’re telling me, t-that you… that you love me. Me?” Logan breaks out into a smile.

“Yes. I love you, an i-incredible amount, Remus. And… I would very much like to kiss you if you’d allow me.”

A sob erupts from Remus as he shoots up from the couch, tacking Logan in an embrace that sends them toppling to the floor. The moment they make contact, Remus is all over Logan, his hands in his hair, on his shoulders, at his sides as he presses desperate kisses to his lips. It is by no means an embrace for the books; Remus is still crying quite a bit, his tears making their kisses taste of salt, and it’s rushed and frantic. But Logan takes all that Remus gives happily, holding onto him like a lifeline.

“I’m sorry,” Logan gasps the moment he has the chance to catch his breath, “I’m sorry, I-I upset you so much.” “Shut up and kiss me, Lo,” Remus demands, before reigning the nerd in for another kiss, and Logan can’t argue with that.

The tension that had hung heavy in the room disperses little by little. Remus’s anger and sorrow dissolves into relief and passion. Logan’s apprehensions melt away, their survival impossible with Remus in his arms, clinging fervently and embracing him as though stopping, even for a moment, would surely end in their tragic deaths.

For years, Logan hadn’t believed he was allowed to feel much of anything. He still firmly believes he wasn’t meant for this softness, and yet, it’s come upon him, and no longer can he dispute that.

He’s become swept up in a sea of feelings that very well might take a lifetime to decipher, and Logan’s decided he doesn’t mind the thought.

Logan loves Remus, and finally, that's one feeling he embraces without hesitation.

=+=

Taglist:

@nadiestar 

@unoriginalgayboyalex 

[ephemeral-writings]

Omgggg your Jongdae scenario was *chef’s kiss*!!!!!!!! Can u do a continuation pretty please? Maybe with 6 or 13!!!

😅...is it too late to complete this request?? sorry for the long wait, life happened oof

---

Jongdae + 6. “ Why didn’t you tell me? “ & 13 “ Shhh. I know. “

word count: 1.5k

Jongdae has made futile attempts to talk to you during his stay at the hotel.

You didn’t have it in you to wake up and have the same dance with him again, so last night, after Jongdae had fully succumbed to sleep, you wriggled out of his warm embrace to go home to your cold, empty bed that Jongdae once inhabited. Did you regretted it? Maybe. 

Finally, a few days later, the charity event was due and you had no time to contemplate getting back together with Jongdae. While you weren’t the event planner, you still had responsibilities in partaking the event as the venue’s manager. Like taking the hits of any mishaps that arises which, with this event planner-- a snooty woman who finds no fault in her character, doesn’t hold herself accountable, and blames you for not having enough lights installed or not “providing competent workers”. 

“Please give me permission to strangle this woman,” your assistant mutters under her breath besides you. 

“Not if I do it first,” you retort back as you marked another task off your list. 

The charity event is nothing if not just another opportunity for the richest of the rich to flaunt their wealth and make pretentious remarks about other’s personal business that was frankly, was none of their business. It was another glamorous night for the wives of some 40, 50, 60 year old men to gossip and spread groundless rumor around and their husbands to blatantly ogle the more “fresh meat”, whether for their sons and daughters to potentially marry for business gains or because men were gross and gazed at women as if it were a sport.

You laugh at the back of the room with your fellow workers as CEOs after CEOs and benefactors alike went on stage to give their speeches, spouting bull like how this charity helps people in need(which it does to some extent, you don’t argue that) and that pledgers should applaud themselves for being so benevolent(this, however, you scoff). 

“I seriously doubt any of these people have a real benevolent bone in their body,” Yumi whispers to your small group, causing everyone to erupt into stifled snickers except for you. 

If it wasn’t for the man sitting at one of those tables, you would’ve agreed wholeheartedly. You couldn’t when the man you love and showed you love was part of it.

You’ve tried with great effort to not find Jongdae in the mass of power and money hungry individuals but it wasn’t hard when he shined in your eyes. He’s dressed it an immaculate suit that he’s probably wearing for the first and last time. His raven hair styled to perfection, his posture stiff as a rock as he listened to one of the leading competitors of technology in medicine explain how pitiful sick individuals were and how much they need this group of millionaires to support them. You could look past the snobby character of these people, but the words they spouted was certainly something you’ll never let by-- something you never got used to while dating Jongdae especially. You watch the light in Jongdae’s eyes dimming as he glares vacantly into the air, and he stays like that for a few seconds, until he turns and meets your eyes. From where you stood in the shadows, you’re caught off guard that he catches your eyes so easily-- too easily. 

He finally breaks it off when the audience starts applauding, for what, you don’t know, but him turning away finally pulls you out of your trance and you’re faced with the same reality that you were so viciously struck with when you first came to the realization: you and Jongdae can’t work. 

Your heart feels heavy, constricting as it presses against your lungs and causing knots in your stomach to form. You feel utterly sick to your stomach as memories rushed through your head-- the condescending look, the animosity in his eyes as he told you to stay away if you knew what was good for you. 

Before you know it, you had escaped and found yourself on the patio. There’s not a single soul around you, and making sure of that, you finally let yourself break ever so slightly. You curl into a squat, balling your arms around your knees, at the far corner in case someone does end up walking in. Breathing in for 4 seconds, releasing with 8, and repeating until you feel your racing heart begin to slow.

Suddenly, you feel a hand on your head, resting its weight enough to let you notice its presence. Had it not been for the all too familiar scent of Jongdae, you would’ve looked up and swat the person’s hand away. Now, you freeze in place, unable to look up because you knew it was him. 

“Baby, look at me.” 

You can’t. 

Jongdae gently tugs off your hair tie, letting your hair fall from it’s ponytail, and as he threads his fingers through, you feel him massaging your scalp in a caressing manner. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“There was nothing to tell,” you answered vehemently, finally looking up at the man. God, he looked absolutely breathtaking. Intimidated by his stature hovering over you, you move to stand up while he follows. You continue speaking, “Your father was, is right. We don’t belong together. You’re you and I’m me, and that’ll never change, Jongdae.” You shrug your defeated shoulders. “Some things we just can’t change.”

His expression hardens when he hears your words. “Oh, you mean like my love for you?” He bites back.

“Stop. Stop it, Jongdae,” you stammered, backing up when you feel him leaning in. 

“Well, you said it yourself, Y/N! Some things we can’t change. I still love you, and don’t try to bullshit me and tell me you don’t feel the same way. I know you do, too. I can’t change my father, but who the hell is he to change our love? You really think I care that we come from two different worlds? Fuck, Y/N, I was ready to get on my knees and propose to you! And then-- and then you go and tear my whole world apart and let me think that you really didn’t love me anymore. Do you know how much that broke me?”

Of course you knew. Jongdae, busy man or not, had spent the first week after you had broken up, begging you to reconsider, demanding to know what had gotten into you to cut him off out of the blue. You couldn’t bring yourself to tell him that it was his father who had infiltrated all these negative thoughts about your relationship with Jongdae. He made you doubt your ability to “survive” in the corporate world, to love Jongdae the way he deserved, and that’s where it truly affected you. Jongdae may be able to shower you with love and anything in the world he could buy, but what could you give him in return if not love? Sometimes, love isn’t enough. 

“If you think it was easy for me,” you whispered, shaking your head which caused the tears that were brewing in your eyes to fall. “You weren’t the only one who was hurt. Do you even understand the shit I felt when I had to listen to your father as he told me how worthless I am to you? How easily you could replace me because I’m nothing-- a nobody? How me being with you was getting your name tarnished because you were supposed to marry one of his business partner’s daughter?” 

Jongdae’s face contorted as he listened to the spiteful words that came from his own father. “I’ve told you before, Y/N, that I never promised him my hand to any one. It’s my fucking life, too.” 

“And it’s not a life you would want to be spending with someone like me, Jongdae.” Your face cracked a smile, if nothing else, it’d hurt too much trying to fathom a life without Jongdae. More tears fell and before you could react, Jongdae was a breath away from you, thumbing the fallen ones from your cheeks. 

“There is nothing in my life than you that I am sure of. You are my life,” Jongdae whispered on your skin before sealing it with a kiss on your forehead. And you really did believed him. Jongdae was the light of your life as much as you were his. He never once failed to make you feel loved, to make you feel more than enough for someone like him. In fact, he never pointed out that your lives were so different. He came into your life with full intent on loving you despite all else because you meant something to him. You meant the world to him.

“I,” you started but choked on a sob. Trying again, you mustered everything you had in you to let him know exactly how you felt. “I love you.” It felt like a weight had been taken off your heart; it soared with immense love-- love for this man in front of you who crushed you in a backbreaking embrace.

“Shhh. I know,” Jongdae hushes your sobs as he showered you with kisses on your head, ear, cheek, until he reached your lips. “I love you, too.” 

[just-come-baek]

Jewels 2 | final

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Themes: some angst with a sprinkle of fluff | adventure!au | archaeologist!reader | dodger!Jungkook

Word count: 5.1k

Warnings: nothing greater than what happened in the first part

Summary: Nobody said it’s going to be easy, but when Jeon Jungkook, the handsome troublemaker, tags along on my adventure, my simple trip morphs into a life-threatening mission. I was to find an ancient necklace and gain fame in the archeology field, but thanks to Jungkook’s mischeif, we attracted lots of unnecessary attention and plenty of enemies.

A/N I don’t know if tumblr links work again, but if you want to read the first part, you just have to do that through my masterlist

I was royally screwed, and it was all Jungkook’s fault.

Though I was caught, and later on tied up, I just sat there, thinking of getting my revenge. I was aware it was pointless since it was apparent that the smugglers would either rape me and sell me off, or rape me and kill me afterward, but I just couldn’t help myself.

If only I could have a moment with Jungkook alone, if only I could put my hands on him, damn, I’d shred him into pieces. He had lied to me – multiple times, he had put my life in danger – also multiple times, and on top of that, that son of a bitch had stolen the necklace out of my backpack, stripping me of my secret weapon against these men.

They had brought me to their campsite sometime in the evening; now it was the middle of the night. I was freezing, the robe around my wrists was scratching my skin, and I was thirsty as hell. Too bad, the smugglers gave no shit about my needs. Once in a while, one of them would come to check up on me, but it wasn’t because they cared. They would glance at me, (read: eye-fuck me), say something in their language (probably life threats), and then leave.

I was their captive, and I hated every second of it, and frankly, making up ways of getting my revenge on Jungkook was the only thing that kept me away from going crazy. If I ever made it alive, Jungkook would wish to be dead.

Sometime before the dawn, I dozed off.

At least, I tried to doze off because as soon as I closed my eyes, feeling the embrace of sleep, one of the smugglers poured a bucket of ice-cold water on me, jolting me awake.

“What the fuck?” I yelled at him, but he just turned around and left without a word. “So gentlemanly of you,” I muttered, being overly irritable so early in the morning. Judging by my attitude and willingness to crack jokes, I must’ve been getting better.

A bit annoyed, I tried to wriggle. Unfortunately, my attempts to free myself were fruitless. I only scratched my skin some more.

I felt like a damsel in distress, and it didn’t sit right with me; especially when my knight in the shining armor was a lying motherfucker who had actually put me in this situation. Instead of helping me out, he had only attracted more trouble, and as soon as he had got a chance, he had run off with my necklace hidden in his pocket.

This whole situation was hysterical. I should’ve listened to my guts. There had always been a mischievous gleam in Jungkook’s eyes; why the fuck had I ignored it all the time?

My train of thought was interrupted by another smuggler. Unlike all the others, he was taller, and generally better groomed. He couldn’t be good news.

With his eyes fixated on me, he dragged a chair across the ground, placing it in front of me. His intense stare gave me chills, but I tried to play it cool; he attempted to intimidate me, but I had nothing to lose, so I decided not to give him that satisfaction.

The man said something in a rough voice, and though he sounded kinda sexy, it didn’t help me at all with comprehension. It seemed similar to French, but I don’t speak it, so I had absolutely no clue what he wanted to tell me.

A little annoyed with me, he stood up, grabbed my chin, and made me face him. Slowly, he was losing his patience, but no matter what, I wouldn’t magically start understanding him. At this point, I could only speculate what he meant, and though I wasn’t sure he probably said something along, “don’t get used to such luxuries, doll face. My men and I are going to fuck you senseless, and then we’re gonna sell you off as soon as we reach land.”

It was just a random guess, though.

When for the tenth time he didn’t get any reply from me, he also left.

The entire day no one stopped by to check up on me. I hadn’t eaten since the energy bar the day before, and now, my stomach was growling loudly. Too bad they wouldn’t understand my complaints regarding their poor hospitality.

It was my second day without food and water and sleep, and I could swear I was starting to have sound hallucinations. It was impossible, but my deprived mind was assured that the bushes around the campsite buzzed a faint “psst” at me.

The smugglers had better give me some food or else they’re going to sell a lunatic, and I was doubtful that they would get a large amount of money for someone in my state of mind.

I was on the verge of fainting at this point, but once again, I thought I saw something in the bushes. First, it hissed at me, and now, something moved.

Oh my God, it wasn’t a snake, was it?

Judging by the commotion it was making, it was a god damn big snake. Moreover, this time around, I didn’t have anybody to hide behind. I was tied to a fucking pole, completely defenseless. Even if I tried calling for help, these smugglers wouldn’t understand me.

Was it an anaconda? A Cobra? A boa?

When to come to think about it, I’d rather have the smugglers kill me. One clear shot to my head and it’s over. Who knew what symptoms I would get after the snake’s venom?

“Psst,” once again, I heard it, and it was enough for me to lose it. I started to wriggle like a lunatic, scratching my wrists until I felt the blood slowly oozing out of my fresh wound, the robe now digging into my flesh.

Cautiously, it left the bushes. Then it hit me. The creature wasn’t zigzagging across the ground as a snake would; it was a man trying to sneak into the campsite. After a few steps, I could see it was none other but my knight in shining armor – Jeon Jungkook.

What the hell was he doing here? Did he realize that leaving me was the greatest mistake that he has ever done? Questionable. If he came back, it had to mean that he had some serious trouble with getting out of the island.

“Shh…” Jungkook whispered when he approached me. “Everything is going to be alright,” he added, but I didn’t believe him. It was beyond evident that his intentions of rescuing me weren’t pure. Somehow, it must’ve been to his advantage to help me out.

“Jungkook, watch out,” I screamed, but before Jungkook managed to react, one of the smugglers, the bigger and the best groomed, hit Jungkook’s head with a stick, knocking him unconscious. It was just perfect; my only potential savior was just as screwed as I was.

The smugglers tied Jungkook to a chair and put him in front of me so I could torture myself with his beautiful yet treacherous features.

At first, I recollected the good memories with him; I had fewer of those in my mind, after all. Ignoring all the bad things he had done, it was quite pleasant to think about our time spent in Casablanca. Unfortunately, as soon as we had left it, everything went downhill.

Jungkook was lucky that he was unconscious because if looks could kill, he would have been staked, buried, dug up, and then staked again for good measure.

Jungkook was really lucky that I was tied up because if I could lay my hands on him, he would have wished the smugglers had killed him before me.

In the middle of the night, Jungkook stirred awake. Hopefully, with a terrible headache.

“Hello, Jungkook, what brings you here?” I asked bitterly, genuinely interested in the motives behind his unexpected visit in the smugglers’ campsite. After what he had done to me, it seemed rather odd that he came here because he wanted to rescue a damsel in distress.

“I came here because we were supposed to meet by the chopper, yet you never showed up,” Jungkook explained, but I only snorted, knowing he was bullshitting me right now.

“Try again.”

“But it’s the truth,” he stated, but it was a blatant lie.

“Cut the crap, Jungkook. I know you’ve stolen the necklace from me,” I accused him, and Jungkook remained silent, not even trying to defend himself. “Let me ask you again, why the hell have you come back?”

“OK, fine, I stole the necklace,” Jungkook admitted, and I was quite shocked to hear Jungkook say something true for a change. “But you have to believe me that I came back to get you because I care. At first, I thought I would be fine, but as soon as I reached the chopper, I felt terrible. Now I know that I shouldn’t have betrayed you like that.”

I was speechless, but not because I was touched by his confession. I literally didn’t have anything I wanted to tell him. Maybe he realized his faults, but for me, it was too late. I didn’t need to hear the justification for his actions; I had already made my mind. He had let me down a few times too many, and no apology would make up for it.

“So what was your plan?” I asked, changing the topic. We didn’t have time before the smugglers would leave the island, and I didn’t want to waste it on talking about his feelings. “If you planned getting caught and dying alongside me then I have to congratulate you. Well done, Jungkook,” I added in a mocking tone.

“Have you always been such a bitch?”

“Yeah, if you want me to be nicer, maybe you shouldn’t have double-crossed me.”

“I’ve already apologized for that; what else do you want me to do?” Jungkook said, but I had no recollection of him ever apologizing for anything.

“I have a few ideas actually, but I’m pretty sure you’re not gonna like them.”

“Can you just stop being a bitch for a moment so I can explain my plan to you?” Jungkook asked me angrily, and I just shrugged, waiting for him to elaborate about his plan. “So, I have the necklace in my side pocket,” he started, tilting his head, pointing at his cargo pants. “I thought you could do the trick again and charm them as you did in the cave. When I tried it, it didn’t work,” Jungkook explained, and now, I knew the real reason behind his return.

Of course, he couldn’t use the necklace! Only women could use it to enchant men, so that’s why he came back to get me. He needed me to use it, and get us out of the island. Thankfully, I hadn’t believed in his single word, otherwise, I would’ve thought he could be selfless.

“Do you think you can get closer, so I can take the necklace?” I asked straightforwardly, keeping my emotions (read: animosity) in check. Right now, our relations were strictly business-like; we had a common goal, so we had to put all our differences on hold.

“I have to try, it’s the only chance we have,” Jungkook said before he tried to move toward me. It was very clumsy and loud, but the smugglers seemed to decide to ignore all sounds regarding their captives.

“Why do you think the necklace didn’t work on you back then in the cave?” I wondered out loud since it still bugged me. “Are you sure you’re completely a man?”

“I think I have proven you how manly I am back in Casablanca. Or have you forgotten how you writhed below me?” Jungkook answered cockily, being already half-way to me.

“What? It’s the only explanation I could come up with.”

“Then it’s a wrong explanation,” Jungkook quickly replied, offended by my attempts of hurting his masculinity. “As soon as we get out of here, I can prove you wrong once again,” he added, but at this very moment, I was repulsed by the concept of fucking him. He might’ve had the good looks, but given the circumstances, jumping into his bed was the last thing I’d do. Jungkook was disgusting.

“I think I’ll pass, thank you,” I said, trying to smack his repulsive smirk off of his face. “Do you think you can be a little faster? They can come here anytime,” I urged him, but my words didn’t make him move any faster.

Who knew when the smugglers would come to eye-fuck me again or check if Jungkook regained his consciousness?

“Can you reach it?” Jungkook asked me when he positioned himself behind me. The rope bored deeper in my wounded skin when I tried to reach into his pocket.

“It hurts like hell,” I spoke, biting on my bottom lip, trying to stop myself from crying out in pain. “Can’t you get a little closer?”

“I’ll try,” Jungkook whispered, as he tried to give me better access. “How about now?”

“I almost got it,” I said, stretching my arm as much as I could. “I got it.” With a broad smile, I squeezed my hand around the necklace. I’d never let it go again. If someone wanted to have it, they would have to take it out of my cold hands.

“Now we have to wait for the smugglers to come here,” Jungkook concluded, acting like his typical self. Apparently, he was still resistant to whatever curse the necklace had been hexed with. “Now when they are your little puppets we can leave the island safely.”

“Sure,” I replied, although a few evil ideas ran through my head. With the necklace in my possession, I could control other men.

Before I could let out a chortle, one smuggler came to check on us, and instead of panicking that Jungkook and I were plotting something, he looked at me with heart eyes.

The necklace was working.

“Untie me,” I commanded, and the man obediently fulfilled my request. “Finally,” I added, massaging my sore wrists. I had to have my wounds cleaned, but after a quick examination, I was sure I was going to survive.

“Didn’t you forget about something, sweetheart?” Jungkook asked, hurrying me up.

“Oh, right, how could I forget about you,” I spoke casually, smiling at him. “Slap his face for me, will you?” I ordered, and the man once again did what I told him to do. I watched Jungkook get slapped, and although it was petty of me, it was also extremely satisfying.

“Why would you do that?” Jungkook groaned when his cheek started to sting.

“Slap him again, but harder this time around, okay?”

“Don’t –“ Jungkook wanted to object, but his words were stopped by another powerful swing of the smuggler’s hand. “I came here to save you, and that’s how you’re paying me back?”

“If you didn’t steal the necklace, I wouldn’t need your saving,” I retorted, but Jungkook only snorted. “Bring me something to eat, please,” I ordered the smuggler, and he, with a bright smile on his face, walked away, happy that I chose him out of the others.

“How can you be so cruel?”

“I’m only getting started,” I jested, but Jungkook didn’t seem to be amused. Apparently, he didn’t have a sense of humor when tied to a chair. “But trust me; your fate would be much worse if you weren’t resistant to the necklace.”

“I thought we were a team…”

“We were,” I started, “until you double-crossed me.”

“Is it too late to start over?” Jungkook asked with a sheepish smile, but I ignored him, looking for the man who was supposed to bring me food.

Whatever Jungkook and I had, it was over. He didn’t seem to give up, though, and if he wanted me to talk to him, I had to eat something first.

It was strange to walk amongst drug smugglers, especially when they made me feel as if I were their queen bee. They stared at me with admiration, willing to bend over backward to fulfill all of my wishes. The attention they were giving me was slightly uncomfortable, but after what I had gone through, I deserved some luxuries.

“This way, miss,” the man said, showing me a way to the table which was packed with different types of food. “Bon appetite,” he added before he walked away, letting me enjoy my meal in solitude.

Though I didn’t particularly like eating alone, I found this meal quite enjoyable.

I ate until I was full (read: until I was on the verge of vomiting).

“Gather all men around,” I commanded, and within two minutes all men assembled around me, two of the smugglers even brought Jungkook. “Oh, you’ve brought my captive.”

“I’m not your captive, princess,” Jungkook retorted, but he didn’t speak again when he got slapped for the third time. “I deserved the other slaps, but this one was uncalled for.”

“I want you to pack your things. We’re leaving the island instantly. The drugs are staying here. Is everything clear?” I commanded, and the men quickly ran away in separate ways, getting ready to leave the island.

“You’re ridiculously sexy when you boss them around,” Jungkook commented, somewhat turned on by my behavior. “I like strong women.”

“If you don’t shut up, I’ll leave you here,” I threatened, and Jungkook immediately stopped talking.

Before the sunrise, everything was set. All the men boarded the plane, while Jungkook and I stayed behind to chat. Though I wasn’t planning to leave him here, I could scare him a little bit. He wouldn’t hesitate to leave me here if he were in my shoes.

“So… what now?” Jungkook asked, now seriously concerned about his well-being.

“Don’t worry; I’ll take you to Ziguinchor. Later on, you gotta cater for yourself,” I explained as I cut the ropes, releasing him. Silently, Jungkook followed me into the plane.

Shortly after, we took off.

“I think I know why the necklace doesn’t work on me,” Jungkook started when our flight was slowly coming to an end. Within thirty minutes, we were to land in Ziguinchor.

“At this point, I don’t really care,” I answered, depriving him of his last chance of messing with my mind. Jungkook knew how to talk, how to wrap women around his finger. He had done it with me once, but now, I was smarter, and I wasn’t going to repeat my mistake.

I just couldn’t let him fool me twice.

“Please, don’t be like that.”

“Fuck you, Jeon. You stole the necklace and let these men hold me captive. It doesn’t matter why you came back. Just shut up, we’re gonna land soon,” I interjected him before he angered me even more. I couldn’t care less about his motivations. For what I cared, he could be pregnant with my baby, and I still wouldn’t like to have anything in common with him.

Shortly after my outburst, the plane landed. I had never been good with farewells, but this time, I honestly didn’t care what Jungkook might’ve thought about me. All I wanted was to get him out of my sight.

“You will come back on the island to destroy all of the drugs, and when you return, you’re going to live a normal life,” I ordered these men, and they, like they always had, nodded their heads with utter love.

“Goodbye, Jungkook,” I added before I, with my head high, walked away.

Although Jungkook tried to follow me, I ignored him. After a few moments of absolutely no reaction given by me, he finally gave up.

  ***

  The journey back to my home was much smoother with the necklace. If I faced any problems, I just had to find a man within my sight range, and he would do whatever he was told to. On the way, one man had given me a ride to the airport, and another gave me his ticket.

Travelling has never been simpler.

Once I reached my modest apartment, I fell on my bed, ready to have the nap of the century. I was exhausted and jet-lagged, and I almost slept for over twenty hours.

After my return, everything seemed dull and monotonous. And though, it didn’t bother me right after I had come back, after a few weeks it began to bug me. The routine was slowly getting to me, and with each passing day, it was more and more challenging to deal with.

I was safe in the confines of my small apartment. I was successful in the archeology field. I even went on a date with my co-worker, Hoseok, whom I had been a serious crash before my expedition. At the very first glance, my life seemed perfect, but when I thought about it, it was dull and disappointing, and above all, it lacked excitement.

I showed my discovery to one of the professors who had used to teach me. Later on, he arranged a meeting with the custodian of the National Museum. Modestly speaking, the custodian was ecstatic to hear about the necklace.

Within a few days, I got a call from him.

They wanted to have an exhibition, my necklace being the main exhibit.

I agreed in no-time.

Moreover, he provided me with a skilled crew to get back on that island and get all the other exhibits for my very first exhibition.

At first, I was hesitant, but I agreed. I was desperate to feel the excitement again, and although it was fun, it wasn’t nearly as exciting as my previous expedition.

Two months later, the exhibition had its premiere. The necklace was inside a glass cabinet in the center of the room, surrounded by Aminata and Yaya’s skeletons, pictures of simulations of their faces, and plenty of writings which we had found written on the tomb’s walls.

Because it was my discovery, I was asked to give the opening speech, and though it wasn’t as scary as being held captive, I was anxious as fuck. I was having the peak of my life; only a fool wouldn’t be a little bit stressed in that kind of moment.

Having had two glasses of champagne, I successfully delivered my speech. People listened attentively to my story about the research and my solo expedition, people laughed when I cracked a joke, and most importantly, they clapped when I finished.

It was the most important night of my life, and it was a complete blast.

Two reporters even proposed me exclusive interviews.

“I am proud of you,” my professor congratulated me as soon as he found me in the crowd. “I saw your passion on my lectures, it’s no surprise to me that you did all of that by yourself,” he added, and I felt a pang in my chest.

Although Jungkook had helped me a few times, I couldn’t involve him in my report. Or anything else that he had put me through. It was unfair for me to take all the credit for the discovery, but I didn’t have any other choice. If I had confessed to all our faults, we both would’ve been screwed. Stealing somebody’s chopper, getting shot down into the ocean, being held captive by the drug smugglers, and the list went on.

“Soon the entire country will be talking about your discovery. You better get used to the attention you’re getting now because it will not go away easily,” the professor added, and I chuckled. Whenever I held the necklace, I struggled with plenty of unwanted attention; I was going to be just fine. At least they admired me because of my success, and not because of some curse.

“I didn’t think it would,” I added, and we both chuckled. “It’s not that bad, actually.”

“Maybe, but it’s different in the long-run. You’re a celebrity now,” the professor spoke, and I tried not to laugh. Me? A celebrity? No, Jimmy Fallon hasn’t contacted me yet.

Seeking for the right words to say, I looked around the crowd. It was odd; I thought I saw him. No, it was impossible. I had exclusively told him to leave me alone. Jungkook wouldn’t show up on this event, he could've figured out how significant this evening was to me. He wouldn’t ruin this for me.

“Excuse me after a moment,” I excused myself before I walked away, looking for the familiar brown hair, broad shoulders, and his bunny teeth.

No, he wasn’t here; I must’ve been imaging things.

I was running among people, trying to spot him, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. My mind must’ve been playing tricks with me. Jungkook was probably on the other half of the world, seducing and tricking other women.

The moment when I was ready to accept that Jungkook was only a hallucination caused by excessive stress I was experiencing during the evening, I saw him. Jungkook was standing backward to me, studying the necklace inside the glass cabinet.

Knowing him, he was probably trying to come up with a plan of how to steal it again.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, and Jungkook turned around, taking my breath away. He looked marvelous in a suit and tie. Moreover, when his gaze met mine, I felt hot out of a sudden. It seemed as if I missed him.

What wasn’t correct; he was a lying asshole after all.

“You did it,” Jungkook said in genuine admiration. It was strange; after all, he had done, right now, he seemed to be proud. He was impressed with my achievement, even after I had taken all the credit for the discovery. “I am happy you succeeded.”

“Thank you,” I answered, completely confused due to his presence here and his unusual behavior. It was so unlike him to talk to me without any lewd innuendos. “What are you doing here, Jungkook? Haven’t I made myself clear?”

Jungkook smiled shyly; he was acting coy – that was new.

“You’ve made yourself crystal clear, but I just couldn’t let you leave without listening to my proper explanation,” he started softly, and I cocked up my eyebrow. It wasn’t unpleasant to see him. Actually, it was pretty nice. However, when I heard the melody of his voice, I was lost. Until now, I hadn’t realized how much I missed not only the adrenaline rushing through my veins, but also him.

“Is there anything left to explain?”

“I know why the necklace has never worked on me,” Jungkook started, and I crossed my arms across my chest, waiting for him to elaborate. I had thought about it many nights, but I had never come with a proper answer.

“And why is that?”

“When you hold the necklace, it turns all men within your sight range to change into mindless zombies who are so in love with you that they want to anything to make you happy,” Jungkook said, and I didn’t interject him; he was right after all. “It has never worked on me, or it has worked all the time because I was already in love with you.”

Maybe it was rude of me to snort, but it was what I did. Jungkook? In love with me? Puh-lease, it made absolutely no sense.

“You can’t expect me to believe in your confession,” I stated, hesitant to hear his voice again. I was a strong woman, and I didn’t need him to make my life complete. Unfortunately, as much as I was ashamed to admit that, I wanted him to make my life complete.

With Jungkook, I had felt the rush of adrenaline. Whenever he had been around, I had left excitement wash through me.

It was silly, but I actually missed the way he had made me feel.

“But it’s true,” Jungkook fought, ready to deliver me a thorough explanation. “I missed you like hell. Every day I wondered what you’re up to. I hoped you’re happy. It was incredibly stupid of me to steal that necklace, but I learned my lesson.”

Jungkook explained, and I wanted to slap myself for letting his words move me.

“I love you, woman.”

“Do you think love can fix everything?”

“It can’t, but it’s hell good of a start,” Jungkook admitted boldly, reminding me of his cocky side. God, I really missed this side of him. “There wasn’t a day when I didn’t regret what I did. I can’t get back in time to make different decisions, but I can stay by your side, support you in every part of your life, and try to prove that my heart is in the right place.”

“When have you got so sappy?” I asked with a witty smirk, and Jungkook smiled widely, knowing that I started to give in. “I barely recognize you. You’re dressed like a decent human being in that suit and tie, and now, your personality. You’ve done a 180, haven’t you?”

“It seemed appropriate to dress like that,” Jungkook answered, looking down at his attire. “And if my speech wouldn’t sweep you off your feet, my looks were supposed to be a back-up plan to make you droll over my sexy body. What do you think about it? Is it working?”

“You’re an asshole you know that, right?”

“I am an asshole in love. You can’t blame me for trying,” Jungkook retorted, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. Though I didn’t want to show my inner emotions, a broad smile crept onto my face. “What do you say? Do you want to leave this super boring party, and do something more fun?”

“It’s not boring,” I corrected him, now slightly offended by his sharp words. It was an event dedicated to my discovery; it was awesome.

“I know it’s all about you, but you have to agree that it’s boring as fuck.” Jungkook defended his point of view, and after seeing this through his perspective, I had to agree. The average age of the guests was fifty and more, and nothing exciting was happening. People just talked about history and/or art and sipped champagne.

This party was a bummer.

“What do you propose?”

“Normally, I’d take you to your house and fuck you all night long as we did before, but now, I know I have to prove myself to you, so what do you think about getting a drink with me? And tomorrow, I can take you on a proper date.”

“Ok, but as soon as I get bored, I’m leaving.”

“Don’t worry, love. It’s never boring with me.”