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harmonictechnicality · 1 year

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Steve wakes up around three or four in the morning almost every night. He’s always careful getting out of bed. Small movements, slow footsteps. Minimal bones cracking. Doesn’t want to wake Eddie. Not that he needs to be this careful because his boyfriend could sleep through several natural disasters (and if someone bothered to wake him in this scenario, he’d put an impotency curse on them or some equally fucked-up shit).

But that’s one of the reasons why they work. Not because of the sad-dick curse thing. They just exist on different sides of the scale. The raging insomniac and the deepest sleeper known to mankind. It balances out in the weirdest possible way.

Still… he’s always careful. Can never be too careful.

Steve doesn’t really do much when he wakes up at this ungodly hour. He sort of walks around their duplex, drinks a glass of water, opens a window to breathe in that pre-sunrise air. It fills his lungs up differently than normal air. At least, it feels like it does.

Like less people are breathing it in. Like he can take up space without feeling selfish. The logic doesn’t really add up but whatever. Concepts like logic and science are overrated at four in the morning.

After another lap around the place, he slides back into the covers, drapes an arm over Eddie’s waist. His t-shirt is rumpled up to his chest, so Steve is met with linen-warm skin. His fingers curve into Eddie’s sides, pulling himself closer.

Steve yawns, breathing out all of his pre-sunrise air. Inhales the scent of his boyfriend instead. Smiles like an idiot into the pillow because it’s totally a fair trade.

And Eddie… well, he doesn’t even budge - doesn’t even stir when Steve settles in next to him. He just continues to wheeze through his nose, mouth slightly open. Not quite a snore, but Steve will probably tease him about it in the morning regardless.

This right here. This makes Steve’s shitty sleep cycle worth it.

The sun pokes through the window blinds. Eddie pokes Steve’s cheek. Too much poking going on for Steve who definitely didn’t get enough sleep, per usual.

“You got up last night.” Eddie mumbles, still lazily poking him.

“How’d you know?”

“Bed felt different.”

Oh. The way Eddie says it. A crash of honesty. His voice sounds weathered, unused from sleeping. Barely awake. It sort of hits Steve’s heart like a crime he didn’t even know he was capable of committing.

Honestly, he doesn’t get why last night would be any different. Steve gets up most nights, not just last night. But Eddie looks particularly wounded by this (new) realization, so Steve probably shouldn’t point that out right now. Maybe in the afternoon when Eddie is more alert. Less… offended.

“Well, I’m back now.” Steve grabs Eddie’s index finger, the one poking him, and places it over his own lips. Bites at it gently till Eddie pulls away in protest. He’s smiling as he swears. Lets out a string of half-hearted threats about how he’s gonna pour Steve’s hair supplies down the sink for such a vicious attack.

It’s a little irresistible when Eddie gets like this. When he’s the pouty one instead of Steve. All he can think to do is reach out, curl his hand underneath Eddie’s chin and pull him in. Eddie moves so easily, gives up his one-sided fight long enough to kiss Steve. Hands running up his back, legs hooking around Steve’s thighs.

Drowsy, morning kisses are so good. So, so good. Their lips feel heavier, their motions feel thicker. Every touch is guided by pure need. Steve fucking needs this, to feel Eddie curving into him, arms framing his own, groaning every damn time they break away. It all makes Steve feel needed too. Needed by the guy who changed the trajectory of his life by asking Steve to ‘hang out or something’ two years ago.

Or Something turned out to be absolutely everything.

“New rule.” Eddie huffs, drags his lips down Steve’s jaw. “For every hour you spend awake during the night, you owe me.”

Steve laughs. “I owe you, huh?”

“Mhmm. You owe me an extra hour of wallowing in bed together in the morning.”

“What about work?”

“The hours will have to rollover, I guess. Accrue interest.” Eddie lifts up from Steve’s neck, eyebrows raised. Clearly having too much fun with this. “We can hash out the details over coffee and burnt toast.”

Typically, Steve would play along, continue the little comedy routine that Eddie starts up. But he’s so damn tired from the lack of sleep and early fucking wake-up call. So instead, he tugs Eddie back down by his collar and whispers, “Whatever you say, baby.”

Because that’s what it boils down to. He’d do anything for Eddie to kiss him this deep, till their lips blister and their jaws ache. Steve would give every fragment of lovesick happiness in his heart, just to hear the way Eddie says his name all breathy and raw.

He can’t say that out loud, dear god no. Eddie would mock his ass into next century. So Steve just hums into Eddie’s mouth, twists the collar of his shirt enough to permanently wrinkle it. They’re verging into that gray area between cable-approved makeout sessions and dry humping till the alarm goes off. If there wasn’t an alarm to worry about, Steve would already have Eddie’s boxers already his ankles and moaning his name the way he likes it best.

Whoever invented alarm clocks are the ultimate boner-killer.

Steve ducks his head into the crook of Eddie’s neck, lays a few quick kisses on top of his shoulder. Hopes that translates to, ‘I wanna suck you off till there’s nothing left, but I’m a boring fucking adult with a boring fucking job.’

The translation must be clear enough because Eddie rolls off of him and heads to the bathroom. Seems just as grumpy about it as Steve. Good. They can be cranky together.

When he comes back out, they get ready for their respective work shifts. Steve looks over, watches Eddie struggle with a tangled portion of his hair, before giving up. Accepting defeat way faster than Steve ever would. “Uh, Eddie?” He tries his best to hide his snickering through the question.

“Yeah?”

“Why does it matter if I wake up sometimes?” Okay. Most times.

“You’re gone.” Eddie shrugs. “Simple as that.”

The reaction is too mellow for Eddie though. Shrugging and dismissiveness? Nah. He’s downplaying the shit out of whatever he’s feeling, and Steve’s not having it.

“What do you mean it’s simple?”

“It’s just… I don’t know. Doesn’t seem fair.” Eddie checks the clock, then sighs. “I want more time.”

More time? More time with Steve or more time in general? Either way, it doesn’t add up. They’re young - they have all the fucking time they could ever want. Also, they live together and have all the same friends. It’s not exactly a logical theory.

Then again, neither is Steve’s ‘pre-sunrise air supply’ theory. None of it makes sense. But at least they’re here. Wanting fresh air and each other. That’s enough logic for a lifetime.

“Hey.” Steve walks over and takes Eddie’s hand. He taps over his ring finger, the one that symbolizes something they can’t have. Not now, not in this society. Still. It means something. So he stares intently at it, rubs over the place where a ring might sit. Thinks that Eddie would pick out something bold. Something gaudy and perfectly him.

More time. Steve gets it, he does. He releases Eddie’s hand and nods. Smiles.

“I’ll steal us as much time as I can, Eddie Munson.”

#steddie #steddie fic #steve harrington #eddie munson #this is the first little thing I've written since submitting my Big Bang draft #it’s a lot softer than my normal stuff but hey #insomnia writing do be like that sometimes #(so yeah - I projected my sleep problems onto Steve)#(and yeah - I projected my tangly hair onto Eddie)#let me liveeeeeeee

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supernovafics · 8 months

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𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐓

"i'll be there for you" universe masterlist

pairing: bestfriend!roommate!steve harrington x fem!reader

word count: 1.8k words

warnings: explicit language, a lil bit of angst w/ a wholesome ending<3

summary: in which you and steve take a late-night trip to your favorite diner

general note: everything in this universe/series can be read as standalone oneshots but to understand the full “lore” it would prob be best to read the other stuff too<333

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Fall 1985

It was four long hours of your life that you’d never get back. But, you were glad that all of the work that you had to force yourself to do all night was finally over.

It was somehow always in moments like these— where you procrastinated until the last possible second to do something that had been assigned weeks ago— that you sincerely wanted to drop out of college; and you’d barely even been there three months. But you also knew that you definitely could not do that because of your parents.

So, instead of even pondering that thought too much, you pushed through and forced yourself to start and finish a project for your Psychology class that involved a shit ton of writing and research. It was a project that now made your head pound heavily in your skull from focusing on that one tedious thing for hours upon hours.

With a loud sigh, you closed the books you had open and then stood up from your desk. A part of you wanted to immediately flop onto your bed and fall asleep, but then there was the other part that wanted to do something else entirely. And then suddenly the thought of the diner that was only ten minutes away and had amazing milkshakes became the only thing on your mind.

You switched out of the wrinkly old t-shirt you had on and put on a different oversized one that was less wrinkled, and then slipped on a pair of sweatpants. Steve was sleeping right then, you were pretty certain of it, but you still wanted to give him the opportunity to partake in this impulsive late-night decision you were making. So, when you exited your room, you headed toward his and walked in.

You refrained from turning on the light because you didn’t want to startle him awake, and instead simply sat down on the edge of his bed and lightly poked his back before whispering, “Hey.”

He only shifted a little bit and didn’t turn to face you. “Hm?”

“I just finished my stupid fucking midterm project for Psych and I’m going to the diner because I’m in dire need of a strawberry milkshake. You wanna come?”

“It’s one in the morning,” He mumbled, still barely moving and you weren’t entirely sure how he was actually able to be so accurate with what time it was.

You took his response as his way of saying no without actually saying it. And honestly, you weren’t too surprised by that answer because it was then that you remembered that his shift at Family Video earlier had been longer, and apparently more annoying, than usual. So, you decided not to try and further convince him to come to the diner with you.

“Okay, I’ll be back in an hour,” You said as you got up from his bed. “I’ll bring you back onion rings and your own milkshake. You can have it for breakfast when you wake up.”

“I’ll come,” Steve said before you left the room. He finally shifted around and sat up so that he was facing you. “The onion rings will suck in the morning.”

“Very true,” You nodded and then smiled as he got up and found a random hoodie to put on. “I’m sorry for waking you up, but I’m glad you’re joining me on this little adventure.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You drove Steve’s car, because you liked driving it more than your own, and he slept the entire ten-minute ride to the diner formally known as “Third Street.” The name had always been somewhat amusing to you because the small place was actually on a street called Cliffview.

It was empty aside from one man sitting at the counter with a coffee mug in his hand and a woman occupying a booth, reading a book with a soda and a plate of fries in front of her. You briefly wondered what their stories were, what brought them to a diner at nearly one-thirty in the morning.

You and Steve took your usual seats at the booth that you always sat at, and even though Robin and Eddie weren’t there at that moment, you two still decided to sit on the same side of the booth; it felt like second nature to do so. There was probably never a moment where you and Steve didn’t sit on the same side of any booth.

Since there was barely anyone in the diner right then, your orders were quickly taken by your waitress Cheryl, and they came out much faster too— a strawberry milkshake for you, a vanilla one for Steve, and a plate of onion rings for you two to share.

You took a long sip of your drink and internally sighed in contentment because somehow that milkshake made all the work you’d done and the fact that you were keeping yourself awake to come here even though you were exhausted completely worth it.

The two of you ate and drank your milkshakes in comfortable silence for a little while before Steve scooched down a bit in the seat and leaned his head on your shoulder.

“I actually am really sorry for waking you up,” You told him. “I forgot how long your shift was today, and I know you’re so fucking tired right now.”

“The onion rings and milkshake make it okay,” He mumbled, and you couldn’t see him, but you had the strongest feeling that his eyes were closed. “Tell me about your project.”

You reached for your drink, taking a sip from it before responding. “Hearing about that will definitely put you to sleep.”

Steve hummed. “Maybe I wanna hear a bedtime story.”

You laughed a bit. “Okay, well in that case, definitely not because I don’t wanna get dirty looks from the other people in here when you start loudly snoring.”

“I don’t snore.”

“Mhm, yeah, of course, you don’t,” You said, the sarcasm completely evident in your tone, and he poked your side which made you laugh again.

You placed your hands in the pocket of the hoodie he was wearing because they were cold from you holding your glass. “Okay, this has nothing to do with that dumb project… But, um, how mad do you think my parents would be if I dropped out of school?”

Steve’s answer came immediately. “They would blame me somehow and kill me.”

“That would quite literally never happen,” You said with a shake of your head. “My parents love you too much to be mad at you for longer than even an hour.”

“Okay, yeah, maybe that’s true. So, instead, they’d actually kill you, and then that would suck more for me than you because I’d have to live without you.”

“I think I’ll take that as a compliment,” You said with a small laugh before grabbing an onion ring.

“But, anyway, you’re not quitting school, so this hypothetical situation doesn’t matter,” Steve told you and then lifted his head off of your shoulder so that he could take a quick sip of his milkshake. “You were barely able to convince them that you didn’t want to go to the University of Chicago. I think they’re still somewhat in mourning over that.”

Probably from the moment you became old enough to even think about college, your parents were pushing the idea of the University of Chicago onto you. Both of them had gone so it felt like the obvious choice for you to “follow in their footsteps;” well, the obvious choice mainly in their eyes. And for a while, you were okay with going in that direction because it felt like an easy option, and you were way too fucking smart not to get in, and when January rolled around you found out that you did.

But then the thought of leaving Indiana, leaving your friends, leaving Steve, became something that no longer felt “okay” to you. And then there was the fact that you were still completely unsure what you even wanted to do, so it felt dumb to you to go to a school that was really good and really expensive without a solid “plan” for your future.

However, your parents were way too persistent and strong-willed to let you give it up that easily. So the compromise that was ultimately settled upon was that you’d do the two years of community college here at the one close by and then you’d transfer to the University of Chicago and finish your last two years there.

At first, the thought of that felt fine to you, but now it felt like something that you weren’t sure if you actually wanted to do anymore, even though it was still basically two years away.

“Sometimes it just feels like a waste of time,” You said with a small sigh. “I still haven’t found that thing yet. My thing. What I wanna do.”

“You’ll find it.”

“Maybe it would be a good thing if I did quit, though. I could work at Family Video with you and Robin. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“Yeah, it would be,” Steve nodded. “But, you don’t really wanna do that.”

You started picking at the now half-eaten plate of onion rings that sat between you two. “Technically, that’s true. But, that’s only because I don’t know what I wanna do at all.”

“I think you just gotta give it some time. You’re way too smart not to be in college right now. One day you’ll walk into some class and it will all just suddenly click into place for you,” He told you, and he sounded so certain and sure.

Somehow his encouraging words always managed to placate your thoughts; the type of existential thoughts that would usually only happen in the middle of the night. And you were glad that you had Steve to pull you back up before you spiraled harder.

You let his words sit for a second before you slipped out of the booth and went over to the counter, smiling at Cheryl as you paid the bill. When you went back, settling in your spot next to Steve, he slung an arm around your shoulders.

“If you did actually quit school, I’d fully take the blame and let your parents kill me,” He told you.

You knew that you weren’t going to do it; you’d never be able to muster up the courage to pull the trigger. Therefore, you would instead just continue to live in this awkward phase that felt weird at times and hope that it would eventually work itself out.

However, it was still nice to hear Steve’s words right then.

“Thank you,” You responded, smiling at him and then mimicking his words from earlier. “But if you did that, then I would be the one suffering more because I’d have to live without you.”

He nodded thoughtfully at that. “Okay, new plan then. We just let them murder both of us.”

You laughed a bit as you pushed yourself even closer to him, putting your hands into his hoodie pocket once again. “Deal.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

let me know ur thoughts<333

(requests are open for stuff you wanna see in the universe/series!🫶🏾)

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fic #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington smut #steve harrington x you #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x fem!reader #stranger things fluff #steve harrington series #steve harrington headcanon #steve harrington imagines #steve harrington x reader smut #steve harrington angst #steve harrington thoughts #stranger things fic #stranger things series

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damiansgoodgirll · 2 months

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Hello! My first time requesting, but I was hoping for a Damian x reader where reader has extreme insomnia and they can go weeks on end without sleeping, and he finally sees us sleeping for the first time in our relationship? I’ve been struggling with insomnia recently so I just wanted a fic about it! :)

i’ve been struggling with insomnia since covid happened so i know how you feel🥹🫶🏻 i hope you like it!

damian priest x reader

insomnia

“can’t sleep again?” he asked you when he saw you reading a book when you told him you were going to sleep.

three hours ago.

he knew about your insomnia and he hated that he couldn’t do anything about it. he tried everything in his power to help you but nothing was working.

you were used to it by now but for him, seeing you always so tired was something that he hated. all you were getting was three or four hours of sleep each night, if you were lucky. he never saw you sleeping for more than four hours and he knew how much you needed to sleep.

you just, couldn’t.

one time it happened that you hadn’t slept for two weeks in a row and damian was so worried he called the doctor to check on you. it didn’t care if you told him that it was normal for you, he was so worried that he wanted for you to get checked out.

it happened again. and it still happens but he got used to it.

he just hated seeing you always so tired but full of energy at the same time, knowing that you were high on painkillers for your headaches and on coffee to get you energy for the day.

“nope” you smiled at him, softly closing your book. it was already midnight and damian had been doing some training after dinner. you went to bed saying that you were tired but here you were after three hours of staring at the ceiling.

“you want to go for a car ride?” damian asked sitting in bed next to you. his suggestion melted your heart.

car rides always helped you sleeping. the soft music on background, the city lights at night. damian loved it when you first told him about car rides and he enjoyed them as much as you do. driving in silence and just looking at the view.

“thank you dams but not tonight…i’m not in the mood” you smiled at him “but i would love for you to cuddle me…”

“say less” he smiled getting under the cover with you.

your head on his muscular chest. his hands around your body keeping you warm and his lips softly kissing your head. one hand went straight into your hair, gently scratching it.

“we can talk if you want” damian suggested and you smiled at him.

“you’re tired dam…you should sleep”

“you’re tired too but you’re not sleeping yet and plus i’m not that tired” he said yawning.

“you sure?” you laughed “it’s okay damian, go back to sleep…i’ll be here in the morning, probably bringing you breakfast in bed” he smiled at your words.

“goodnight hermosa” he said and turned the lights off.

you spent a few hours staring at the ceiling, watching the moon outside and turning and moving into the bed. you couldn’t find peace big it wasn’t anything new for you.

damian got up to go to the bathroom and realised that you were still awake, eyes closed but awake, you were just resting your eyes.

“hermosa?” he softly called once he came back to bed.

“mh?”

“still awake?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“yup, but it’s not a problem…you should go back to sleep”

“i hate not being able to help you hermosa” he softly kissed your cheek, making you melt into his touch.

“you being here is already enough…”

“i think i could help you” he said, laying back next to you and wrapping his arm around your shoulder, making you close to his to his chest, where you just laid your head on.

“how?”

“let me sing for you…” he whispered.

“damian you don’t have to…”

“i want to mi amor…just close your eyes” he said as he started mumbling a soft spanish lullaby.

you really didn’t know what was going on. if it was his soft voice, his hand gently scratching your head, his slowly but steady heartbeat, the rain falling outside, you finally found some peace.

damian fell asleep way before you did but somehow you finally fell asleep too.

it was almost 8 am when damian first woke up and he almost had a heart attack when he saw you laying there next to him. he wasn’t used to it. you would usually be up by that time. making breakfast or cleaning or doing some work.

it took him a few minutes to realise that you were sleeping.

not resting. not taking a nap.

but you were really sleeping. heavenly sleeping.

he tried to make as less noise as possible when he got up and he went to close the blinds, so the light from outside wouldn’t wake you up.

he smiled, making his own breakfast and softly humming some latin song. he prepared some pancakes for you too and set them aside so that you would have something to eat for when you wake up.

he started his workout and took a quick shower in the guest bathroom when he saw that you were still sleeping.

almost lunchtime when he saw you coming out of your bedroom and getting into the living room where he was watching some tv.

“hey sleeping beauty” he smirked.

“what time is it?” you asked him yawning.

“eleven in the morning” he said and you almost gasped.

“what?”

“you heard me right”

“and i slept all morning!” you almost screamed too surprised.

“you did” he laughed.

“i had the best sleep of my life”

“i can bet that” he said letting you sit next to him and cuddle him.

“it was amazing i swear” you laughed “all thanks to your lullaby”

“i suppose…” he joked.

“i can’t wait to hear it again tonight”

“i made you pancakes love if you want to eat something…”

“you also made me breakfast?” you screamed “i love you so much damian”

he laughed when he saw you sprinting towards the kitchen, loving this side of you. not tired, not paranoid, just you being you.

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buckyysdoll · 8 months

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— 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭 —

જ⁀➴ — • on the flight back from a gruelling case, fatigue hits you much harder than you’d quite expected … <3 cw: canon typical refs, eg child murder, brief ref to blood — nothing else? pairing: aaron hotchner x f!reader xx

MAIN MASTERLIST

As far as work went as a federal agent, most of the time it was hard. It came with the role, but today, somehow, you were so damn exhausted it actually hurt.

Every single part of you ached, every one of your bones seeming strained near to breaking. If it wasn’t for you going back now you thought you might’ve had your own breakdown, before long.

You’d been holed up in Boston for nearly six days altogether, and were only just now taking off. Fatigue was a physical weight, something ugly, that dragged down your mood and the others’ as well.

You all knew jobs like these always took their toll one way or another; you only hoped that the flight would allow for some recuperation — however brief it would be.

Because the truth? This case had been gruesome, even more than the ones you’d grown used to by now. With no less than eight child murders in just four days, the young unsub had been male, and a sadist.

He’d killed for pleasure alone but was finally caught — all thanks to you, and your team. You held on fast to that truth, even as you still hoped that he’d rot in that cell for his penance.

Ten minutes ago, when you’d first closed your eyes, you’d still seen the flash of that blood. So much of it. But now with just over under an hour left before landing, sleep tugged at your bones.

And was welcomed.

The report for this case would be written up once you arrived back to Quantico’s base, as Hotch had told you just fifteen minutes ago from beside you. You’d wanted to talk. They would be in your hands, these findings, and you wanted his thoughts, his unclouded judgement.

Something about the man just steadied you, though you couldn’t have voiced it aloud if you tried.

Conversation around you had dimmed, as though you were held underwater, suspended. Derek’s smooth voice sounded in laughter, while Reid spoke in quick and somewhat heated debate.

He was no doubt proving Morgan horribly wrong, and you registered a vague sense of pride. You loved your whole team, every one, and yet maybe just a little more for one certain agent …

Vacant, you let the thought slide. You barely even felt yourself falling asleep. Still, you could register the soft, cologned scent of that someone through your half-conscious mind.

You didn’t even feel as your head tipped, fell on to his — aaron’s — black-blazered shoulder. Everybody else saw it though, saw Hotch’s eyes snap from his papers to your face.

Impossibly, those tanned cheeks warmed. Colour stole up his neck — and Aaron Hotchner was blushing.

To be honest, he’d barely even been able to read the damn file, what with you beside him. It was a genuine caution to have you so close by his side when he was meant to be working.

Now though, his soft smile betrayed him. Just like always. Just for you.

“You good over there?” Of course, Morgan — all sly and smirking as he nodded at Hotch. His voice was quiet, also conscious not to wake you, but it carried enough suggestion in it nonetheless.

If he could, Aaron too would be sleeping — but your presence stirred him and kept him awake. you were so close, and his heart kicked into overdrive at the warm weight of your head on his arm.

The strands of your hair, so soft, fell across his chest just a little from your angle. Try as he might, Aaron couldn’t help but breathe in the smell of perfume, of shampoo.

God help him.

“All good.” His voice was steady as always, but clipped enough to send the message across. Don’t you start, was the unsaid warning, but his soft, gentle tone overrode any bite.

You felt safe enough to sleep on him. Comfortable enough to lean up on his arm.

Aaron ignored Derek’s jibe, knew how much it was apparent on this plane that he loved you. They all could see it, could feel it in how his demeanour had shifted, how your touch was what anchored him down.

He was so stoic, so good at his job that they often forgot he could be like this — not an agent but a man, just a man so in love with a woman that he’d be her reprieve, if he could.

They all knew how he felt for you, but they’d let him voice it in his own time. And while they teased, they also knew that you felt the same, too.

Neither one of you could face it quite yet.

Warmth spread in the arm with you on it, nerves firing to life underneath his clothed skin. He wanted to reach out and brush back a strand of your hair — but he didn’t. He didn’t.

Would not.

Instead, he shifted in his seat, aware that more eyes were now on him — all smiling. It was so rare to see Hotch this soft and they loved him more for it — for that vulnerable side.

That which you alone brought out of the agent. Through his soft spot only for you.

Aaron felt his own eyes pull down in exhaustion, but he fought to ensure they stayed open. He reread the same damn page at least five or six times before closing the file for good.

There was only about twenty minutes left anyway until landing. Until you would wake.

“Watch it,” he just muttered at Derek’s damn smirk, at even Spencer’s light, knowing eyes. Gideon, too, was hiding his smile with some effort, playing chess with young Reid.

Aaron knew he wouldn’t live this down anytime soon, not with the teasing colleagues he had. He remembered that thought, how it lingered, how he couldn’t even care about that fact in the moment.

For twenty minutes later instead found you both now asleep, him too lulled by the flight. Aaron’s head had tipped down onto yours, his cheek pressed close to your crown.

Soft spot, indeed.

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novaawayne · 1 year

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Jealousy | Izuku Midoriya

pairing: izuku Midoriya x fem reader

summary: Izuku was never a jealous man but when he starts to hear certain comments, he can't help that feeling that wells up from deep in his chest.

warnings: not sure, I'm more asleep than awake. Maybe a bit of Mirio yandere.

wc: +3.8k

a/n. English is not my first lenguage.

y/h/n: your hero name.

masterlist

You and Izuku started dating when you finished school. Both became professional heroes and their relationship flowed wonderfully.

Izuku would have loved for you to work at his agency but you mentioned that you didn't want the relationship to interfere with your work so somehow, you ended up working alongside Mirio Togata. Better known as Lemillion.

Deku was very happy for you. Mirio was a great hero and he trusted him to watch your back during missions.

It was like that for four years. Izuku had been thinking of proposing to you but he still couldn't find the perfect ring and he was so meticulous and perfectionist that he was also looking for the right place and time.

However, one day an email arrived on his laptop. It did not say who the sender was but the content of the email was a link to a blog.

He normally would ignore such emails but there was something that made him uneasy. Before the link there was a short message that said: it seems that very soon you could lose your girlfriend.

He started the blog, it was kind of like a superhero gossip page. Izuku had heard of that blog, although there were many, this one in particular was very famous.

Everyone knew that you and Deku were a couple and in a stable relationship. Even the Marketing guys loved their relationship. A single photo of the two of you generated many sales, not to mention the interviews.

But then, why was Mirio holding you by the waist like that while greeting the cameras with big smiles? Why did you hug the man's hip and rest your head on his chest with a big smile? Why?

He read the entire note. The blog mentioned something about how they had saved some children from an elementary school that was on fire.

It's true, they both looked tired and you seemed a bit more hurt than Mirio. Surely he was just holding you, but you didn't want to worry the children who admired you and that's why you smiled despite the pain.

But there was also another photo below. One where Mirio carried you in his arms and you hugged him by the neck.

At the end of the note it said something that he didn't like at all.

“We can see the two heroes very close, they even seem like a perfect couple. Could it be that the heroine y/h/n has left Deku to be with Lemillion? Please turn on page notifications to receive all our updates”

The note had been published a little less than half an hour ago.

Deku slammed his laptop shut with such force that he must have broken it. Immediately he took his phone and looked for your contact in the messages, but before he could send you the message, a call from you came in.

He answered immediately.

"Hello bunny" Deku greeted. He never minded showing affection to you in public and he knew that you had blushed. You always did.

“Hello honey” you sounded a bit strange “I'm sorry, I just wanted to let you know that I got hurt today and I'm in the hospital. But don't worry, the doctor will come in a moment and besides, I'm with Mirio"

He frowned. He was always going to worry about your health even if you only broke a nail.

“Was it because of the elementary school thing?” He asked you.

“Um… yes. The school was falling down and there were still children inside. I ran in to get a child out but a piece of roof hurt my leg. I guess I wasn't fast enough."

"I understand. I'll go right away"

"No!" Deku was confused by your sudden yell, he had already stood up but dropped into his seat. You've never yelled at him, not even when you were fighting, “I know you're busy, honey, and I don't want to bother you. How about you pick up some food on your way back home and the two of us have dinner together?”

He sighed in relief.

“Of course, bunny. I'll bring your favorite” he heard you release a giggle.

"Here you go, sweetheart" Deku heard on the other end of the line. Did he hear right? Mirio called you sweetheart? Since when did he do that and why hadn't you told him?

“Oh, thank you very much Mirio. It's just what I needed” you had answered. You had obviously moved the phone away a bit, but he heard clearly.

"Oh, is that Midoriya?" He heard him ask you, but his tone seemed displeased though he couldn't be sure. Maybe he was just tired.

"Yes"

"Say hello from me"

"Mirio says hello" Deku heard you again loud and clear on the speaker "so, I'll see you later. Okay?"

It took him a moment to react.

"Okay, bunny"

What the hell was that feeling that sprouted from her chest? He had never felt this way before. Something like anger and sadness combined.

He sighed tired. He had to return to his work to leave early and go get food for dinner. But right now he needed a new computer.

Deku discovered that you were doing great and that night you didn't seem to have any trouble walking. But what did bother him was that you mentioned that Mirio took you to the house. Not that he hadn't done it before, but this time he annoyed him a little.

He himself would have picked you up at the hospital but an emergency arose and he was unable to leave the office earlier than planned.

But that night you covered him with kisses and you fell asleep in his arms. Everything was fine, they were pure silly ideas that his mind created.

However, that little thorn did not disappear. He began to notice how close you and Mirio seemed to be. The way he made you laugh out of nowhere and how comfortable you seemed to be around him.

He also noticed that it was Mirio who was always approaching you. His big hands were looking for a way to be on your body. Touches here and there, barely noticeable to others. But there they were. Mirio even dared to tuck a lock of hair behind your ear from time to time.

He discovered that that feeling was jealousy. Iida and Uraraka had to explain it to him one afternoon when their paths crossed after a team mission. Deku told them a bit about how he had felt since that incident in elementary school and they did their best to advise his best friend.

“Don't worry Deku” Uraraka told him “y/n loves you very much and she wouldn't be able to do this to you. Maybe it's just a misunderstanding and you should talk to her about how you feel."

"I agree" continued Iida "besides, Togata is a good guy and he knows that you and he are a couple. They are just good friends, plus they work together. It's normal for them to be so close."

That lifted Izuku's spirits. It was true, there was no way you could fool him. Right?

Soon came December 24. They had organized a Christmas gala for all the professional heroes. And of course, the number one hero, Deku, could not be missing.

Normally they would spend Christmas with Izuku's mother and New Years with your family, but this year they decided to try something new and they both agreed to attend the gala.

But in the last week you've been acting really weird. You fell asleep before Izuku got home even though you always expected it. It took you a long time to answer his messages and when you did, they were curt responses.

Also, you no longer filled his face with kisses in the morning. He was trying to get closer to you, but you seemed to be getting further and further away.

What was happening? It wasn't very easy for Izuku to talk about his feelings, he felt that he was a burden to others and although you always listened to him, this time he couldn't find the right words.

"You help me?" Izuku snapped back to reality when he heard your sweet voice.

You were turning your back on him and he understood that you were asking for his help to zip up your dress. That dress made you look beautiful. The fabric adjusted perfectly to each one of your curves and highlighted that cute ass you had. I was dying for the whole world to see you holding his arm. He always liked to show you off and show everyone that you belonged only to him.

Izuku moved closer to you, placing his big hands on your waist and then leaned down a bit to place a kiss on your back. Then another kiss and one more.

"Izu, we'll be late" you reminded him. But the feel of his lips against your skin was just intoxicating.

“Maybe we shouldn't go” he broke away just a little “maybe we can stay here. You and me alone” he caressed your bare skin, you always liked his big warm hands.

You actually liked the idea, but there were a lot of people waiting for them at the gala. Mainly Deku. They had already announced his presence and many reporters would be disappointed if they didn't see him.

"Izu, you know they'll kill us if we don't go"

"Fine" he gave up sadly. Leaving a kiss on your neck.

He moved away from you a bit and zipped up, even though most of your back was visible. You turned around to face him.

"Thank you, honey" you left a quick kiss on his lips before continuing to fix yourself.

Two hours later, they were both at the party. There were quite a few heroes everywhere and a lot of photographers and reporters trying to get an interview or a good photo.

You were hugging Izuku's arm as they walked down the pretty red carpet that would lead them to the building. As soon as they noticed the presence of the number one hero, the cameras turned to you urgently.

Many yelled at them to turn around. Photographers and reporters wanted more of Izuku's attention.

"Hero, Deku" a reporter called out to him and you and Izuku approached her. He was supposed to be nice and give some interviews. Also, that girl was small and seemed very nervous. She was probably new to this whole interview thing.

Izuku was always very nice and it was very rare for him to refuse a photo, an autograph or an interview. Only if he was someone trying to be rude, would he refuse. Otherwise, he would spend hours pleasing his fans.

Fortunately, it was only ten minutes and they both kept walking. Stopping from time to time to have some photos taken. The flash started to hurt your eyes and Deku noticed it immediately so he hurried inside the building where there were no more photographers to bother you.

You smiled at him in thanks as you placed a kiss on his cheeks.

Izuku kept one of his hands in his pants pocket, right where he kept the box that contained the engagement ring that he wanted to give you. He had been carrying it for two weeks. His other hand clung tightly to your waist as they walk across the room and greet his acquaintances.

Only fifteen minutes have passed when Izuku feels you separate from him. You've never done it before, you always tell him first if you want to go to the bathroom or want a new drink, you don't walk away and that's it.

Then he saw that Mirio was coming towards you. Izuku noticed the way your face lit up for a moment when you saw it. He felt his heart break very slowly and painfully.

“Hello guys” greeted Mirio with a beaming smile “wow, y/n, you look gorgeous. And look, your dress is the same color as my tie. As if we were combined” Mirio's voice is enthusiastic. Izuku saw his own tie, it was also the same color as your dress, you yourself had given him that tie for that day.

Deku gagged but tried to smile instead. It was a very awkward smile though.

"Hey, Togata" Izuku calls him "can we talk for a moment alone?"

You looked at your boyfriend curiously.

"Of course, Midoriya" Mirio hugs him by the shoulders.

“I'll be near the snack table,” you advise as both men walk away.

Once Izuku and Mirio are out of the room in a lonely hallway with no prying eyes, Izuku gathers the courage he needs to face Mirio.

"I... I've noticed lately that you and y/n seem much closer."

"Well, I guess" Mirio let out a giggle "we're co-workers and we're also friends"

"The problem" Izuku almost yelled "is that I think… I would like to know. Are you in love with her?"

He was direct but his eyes remained squeezed shut as he clenched his fists.

"Yes" he clearly heard the man's answer "I'm in love with her and I'm also trying to take her away from you"

Izuku's eyes widened in surprise. He noticed that Mirio's eyes seemed darker and scarier. He had never seen it that way.

"What? Why?"

“Well… it's simple if you think about it. You always get everything you want, Midoriya. Everything. And I'm jealous. You stole my number one spot, I was meant to be number one, not you” he was silent for a moment before continuing “y/n is pretty, kind, smart, strong and you don't deserve her. She needs someone better. To someone like me. I want her"

Deku was in complete shock. He really didn't expect such sincerity.

Mirio turned to leave, Izuku unable to move for a long moment. Staring at the ground and clenching his fists tightly from the fury that flooded his veins.

Although in feeling he was rather similar to sadness.

With firm steps he returned to the party where he searched for you with his eyes and quickly found you next to Mirio. The blond man was very close, flirting with you very shamelessly. Although in the eyes of others, Mirio was just being nice. As always.

Izuku moved to your side, sliding a hand down your back and then down your waist to pull you to him. You looked at him curiously.

"Is everything alright, Izu?"

“Perfect, bunny. Can you come with me for a moment?"

"Of course, honey"

You quickly looked at Mirio with a smile to say goodbye to him. Mirio smiled at you too but as soon as you turned around, he tried to kill Izuku with his eyes. However, he preferred not to interfere at that moment, he knew perfectly well that now he had you around his little finger and as soon as he asked you to leave Izuku, that's what you would do.

For years he was brainwashing you, praising you and casting doubt on your relationship. He discovered everything you liked and everything you didn't. What made you happy and what made you sad. He knew all your friends and the names of all your relatives. There was nothing Mirio didn't know about you. He showered you with gifts and small things. He would bring you your favorite coffee every morning and to your favorite restaurant for dinner.

Everything was going as planned. He even tracked down that girl who posted hero gossip and paid her a generous amount of money to start the rumor that you and him were having an affair.

It was only a matter of time before things between you and Deku ended. And so Mirio would have you for himself.

Izuku took you to a clear corridor, the building was quite big so it wasn't difficult to find a solitary and beautiful place. The green haired man took your hands in his very gently, as if he was afraid of hurting you in some way. Although he had never done it.

It might look like a pretty funny and adorable scene, Izuku was probably the strongest man in the world but he treated you with such finesse it was almost unreal. But also very cute.

He looked sad and confused, you didn't understand what was wrong but it was clear something was wrong from the way he frowned at him very deeply.

"Izu?" You called out to him and he looked at you with teary eyes.

"You still love me?" he asked suddenly. You didn't understand where that question was coming from but it was obvious that someone had said something to him to make him feel insecure.

Or was it something you said yourself?

You approached him, letting go of his hands and instead of him you gently took his cheeks. He appreciated the gesture.

"What is that question about?"

He shook his head, he didn't want to say what he thought but at this point, being honest was probably his best option.

“I've noticed… I've noticed that you're closer to Togata. I know they are very good friends but I don't really like how close they have become. I feel like you've left me aside and maybe... maybe you don't want to be with me anymore. I would understand perfectly… well, not really. But I want you to always be very happy and if that means you don't want to be by my side…” you silenced him with a kiss.

"I love you more than anything in the world, Izuku" you told him with total sincerity "I don't love anyone but you. Also… I know I've been a bit distant lately but it's because… well…” you looked at the ground.

"What is it, bunny?" He encouraged you to continue and they exchanged positions, this time it was Izuku who held your cheeks and your hands remained on his hips.

“I had been having some ailments” you explained “and at first I thought maybe it was a cold or something related to some mission but a few days ago I went to the doctor because I felt very dizzy. And well… she said that I’m pregnant” your cheeks turned red. You were very happy but you couldn't be sure if Izuku would be too.

They had never had a serious conversation about having children. Deku was at the height of his career and maybe having children wasn't part of his plans right now. You did want it, no matter what. Even if Izuku didn't want it, you would have your baby.

But something happened that you wouldn't have expected in a million years.

Izuku knelt down and showed you a beautiful ring. His eyes shone with tears and something else. Something akin to happiness and longing.

"Marry me please"

You looked at him stunned. Was this real? Was Izuku really asking you to marry him? Tears welled up in your eyes, you couldn't describe the happiness that was suddenly surrounding you. Maybe it was the pregnant woman who gave you strong emotions.

"Of course I do" you finally answered.

Izuku smirked and slid the ring onto your finger. Immediately he stood up to kiss your lips and give you a hug. He would have loved to press you hard against his body but he had to be very careful from now on. Even more careful than he already was.

It was after forty minutes (when Izuku stopped crying with happiness), that they both held hands and returned to the party.

The photographers found you in less than a minute, they had been looking for Izuku and no one missed his big dazzling smile and slightly puffy eyes.

In the same way, he did not separate his hand from your waist at any time and you very covertly showed your engagement ring. At that moment no one noticed but you knew that the next day the world would be in chaos when someone noticed the ring around your finger that was not there at the beginning of the night.

Izuku's fans were quite intense and used to notice the little details of the number one hero. What included you. Of course you also had your fans but they were few compared to Izuku's.

The rest of the party was very easy going and fun. Mirio didn't approach you but he saw him talking with Tamaki and Kirishima.

At half past four in the morning, the two were in Izuku's car heading to his home. They both put on their pijamas and prepare to sleep.

They both lay on the bed and you settled into Izuku's chest while he caressed your skin. It didn't take long for you to fall asleep but Izuku kept his eyes open while continuing to make those soft caresses.

He heard his phone ring and, very careful not to disturb you, he reached over to take it. He smiled a little noting that there were a bunch of fan page notifications of him breaking the news or rather, speculating about your engagement ring.

At the beginning of the night you were not wearing it and there were thousands of photos focusing on your hands. Then there were thousands of other photos of your hand with that pretty ring on your ring finger.

One of the pages even showed the price of the ring, which in fact cost a fortune. But that didn't matter to Izuku. He loved to spend his little fortune on you.

There were many pages and photos that were already beginning to talk about the possible marriage between you and Izuku. And they were anxious for an official announcement.

Izuku opened his Instagram and quickly posted a picture of you, showing off the ring on your ring finger. The description said: she said yes.

Izuku turned off his phone so he wouldn't hear the notifications for the rest of the morning and left it on the nightstand. Right away he left a kiss on your head and caressed your cheek.

“Now you will never leave me” he murmured in the dark “you are mine and mine alone. And no one can ever separate us” he placed another kiss on your forehead and finally closed his eyes.

Of course. Getting you pregnant was his first plan, but since you hadn't given him any news and you didn't seem to have normal pregnancy changes, he decided to advance his marriage proposal. But he was pleasantly surprised when you finally told him you were expecting a baby. Everything was going according to plan. Even better.

He could only imagine how upset Mirio would be at that moment. He could never take you away from him.

You belonged to Izuku and no one else.

↬ written by Novaawayne

#izuku midoria x reader #izuku midoriya #izuku x y/n #bnha x reader #mha deku #Deku #deku x reader #bnha deku #my hero academia #izuku x reader #mha izuku #yandere izuku #izuku x you #bnha midoriya #midoriya x you #midoriya x reader #Midoriya

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ghostly-penumbra · 1 year

Text

DannyMay 2023. Day Thirty-one

"Free Day"

Ao3

Warning: (Continued) captivity. Puking.

- - -

When Jason was kidnapped by the Ghost King, less than twenty-four hours ago, he didn't think he would be sleeping for a while, but maybe the stress of the kidnapping and the subsequent thrashing of Danny's —his jail-mate, it seemed— room (with Danny's enthusiastic permission and encouragement) had left him drained enough for him to doze off briefly —or maybe dissociate, which would be understandable—, and he came to himself still sitting in Danny's sofa, whilst his jail-mate sat on his bed —out of arms reach—, hands on his knees and gazing at nothing.

Jason groaned, rubbing at his eyes through his domino mask.

"Good. You're awake."

Red Hood looked sharply back at Danny, who was now looking at him with the trace of an awkward smile on his face, when just seconds ago he had looked, well, dead.

"Are you- hungry? Do you need anything? Other than freedom, that is, can't give ya something I don't have myself."

Jason snorted despite himself, and that got him a more genuine, if still small, smile from his jailmate. He stood up and wobbled on his feet, taking a hand to his head and cursing softly at the sudden dizziness. "Shit."

"You okay, man? How are ya feeling?" Danny asked him, coming warily closer.

Jason ignored him and sprinted to the door that he had deduced led to the bathroom, and soon enough he was kneeling next to the toilet, barfing his guts out with an intense, burning acidic feeling going up his throat.

"What the fuck is that?" He asked in between heaving, ragged breaths.

Whatever the fuck had been inside him was a dark green mottled with red spots of blood and smelled of decay and rot.

"Ugh; not good, is what it is." Danny, who had been hovering a couple of steps away, said. "Is that all of it, or is there more?" He asked.

Jason was about to snap that he was fine, mind your own business very much, but his words caught in his throat, and a determined expression set itself in Danny's face.

He flushed the toilet, and knelt behind Jason, placing both hands on his shoulder-blades, sending a pulse of cool energy and something else to him, and said, his voice even, "Get it all out, don't hold a thing back. I got you."

And with that little push, Jason resumed throwing up, getting rid of that putrid ooze, with Danny's hands a balm that spread to the- to the very core of him, making it bearable.

Once he finished and Jason was back in his jail-mate's couch, taking hard, open-mouthed breaths and with said jail-mate pressing a cold glass of water on him, he managed to croak again, "What the fuck was that?"

Danny put the glass in Jason's hands and made sure he wouldn't drop it before he answered, "For the looks of it, rotten ectoplasm."

"... what?"

"Think of running water, if water had life-preserving, life-giving, and resurrecting properties," Jason's eyes widened in recognition, and with Danny looking at him, he must have seen it even with his domino on, "now imagine it going stagnant for, how long?"

"... centuries." Jason answered.

Danny made a face at that and recoiled. "Crude." He said. "How long…?" He asked again, and once again, Jason knew what he meant.

First, though, he emptied his glass of water, feeling the cold liquid sooth at his sore throat. "I was fifteen back then, so, four years."

Danny whistled low. "Dude, that's like- that's just- damn! How did you survive that long with that clogged in your system?"

"With unpredictable, uncontrollable bursts of blinding green rage, of course." Red Hood snorted with annoyance.

"That's… one way your body may have tried to get rid of it…"

"Dude, what are you going on about?" Jason asked now.

"Look, man, I'm really no expert, I'm not a doctor of any kind, but my parents are, and I've been around the Zone for four years now, so I know a wee bit about us halfas and-"

"What's a halfa?"

"... sorry, what?"

"Halfa. The other guy said it too, when we summoned him. What is a halfa?" Jason said it clearly, looking Danny in the eye.

Danny opened and closed his mouth once, twice, only to end up groaning in distress and holding his head in his hand.

"Four years without clean ectoplasm, it tracks, it tracks." He said, obviously to himself. Red Hood's jail-mate breathed in deeply and looked back up at Jason. "Okay, we're gonna start from the beginning, but I need you not to flip out, yeah?"

Nodding, Jason sat up, "Lay it on me." He said, determined.

And so, Danny did.

… later, if Danny was upset that his room now sported a fist-shaped dent, he didn't show it.

#Danny Phantom #DPxDC #DannyMay 2023 #DannyMay2023 #dannymay #day thirty-one #free day #Jason Todd #Danny Fenton #Halfa Jason Todd #Ghost King Vlad Masters #ghostly-scrypts #lmao half a month late but here it is #captivity #puking

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imvenusasaboy · 26 days

Text

PUPARIA

Chapter 10 - Illusión De Amor

prev - chapter 1

"Hosah, hey," A familiar, grating voice pounded at his ears as he was shaken awake.

God, what time is it? Disoriented and disgruntled, the shifter lifted his head from his folded arms, having being laid face-first on the desk, rubbing his eyes for a clearer view.

Ew, what the hell was Scotty doing here?

"Ugh.." He groaned, "..What? What are you doing here?" Hosah struggled to get his words out through a yawn.

The security guard just laughed at him as he usually did, except this time with a lot less venom, "It's ten o' clock. You could've clocked out four hours ago. Don't get paid for overtime here, you know."

"Shit, where's Teddy?"

"Who?"

Right, "Edward, sorry. Where's Edward?"

Instead of giving an answer, Scotty just pointed toward the single illuminated room down the hall, the staff room. Through the glare in his glasses, Hosah caught a peak of his own reflection. Gross. The kind of face only a good nights sleep would fix.

"You should go on and get home now," the unusually nice man dragged his feet as he walked away, "Shifter Slaughterers come out at this time of night." Oh, there's the Scotty he knew all too well, he was beginning think that the security guard had been replaced by some sort of evil clone, the polar opposite of his true self. Hosah couldn't help but scoff at the term. Nice alliteration, but still sounds kind of bad on the ears.

Watching as his coworker slinked off into the cramped security office, which he was sure was just a refurbished utility closet, the shifter got up to stretch. Now really was the perfect time to get back home, not only was his ass numb from the cheap chairs Jules' gave them, but he'd also kept his assistant waiting for god knows how long. So long in fact, that it was already pitch black out.

One good thing about the office was its location. Right in the heart of the city. The shifter stared out of the window, eyes transfixed on all the little lights scattered across the street view. It was almost as illuminating as the sun during the day, as the night awoke and the paths became even busier than ever on the Friday night, ready to experience the thrilling night-life the Big Apple had to offer.

That wasn't the life for the detective. At least, not anymore it wasn't. Sleepily stumbling all the way, Hosah travelled towards the staff room where Teddy was implied to be, and sure enough, there he stood, coffee mug in hand.

The taller of the two's face seemed to light up as he walked in, "You're awake."

"Yeah, why didn't you just get me up earlier, how long have you been waiting for me?"

"Seemed like you needed the sleep, didn't want to disturb you." The kindness Teddy had shown towards the shifter sort of put him at unease, an inkling that there must be something the man was looking to gain from their friendship, although upon close inspection, Hosah found nothing of value he could be manipulated into offering.

"Right," His eyes adverted down to his feet, leaning against the door frame to support his heavy body, "I need to go to bed."

Despite wanting to say 'Yeah, you look like you do,' , Teddy refrained, instead leading his partner in crime out of the building, holding onto the oversized coat sleeve that hung from his skeletal body all the while. Upon living with the seasoned detective, he realised maybe his tired look wasn't actually due to poor sleep schedule after all, and with the recent discovery of his poor health, it seemed to just be a more sunken face situation.

The way Hosah's skin clung to his bones was always concerning, his cheekbones and jaw so sharp it looked like they'd rip straight through his flesh at any given moment, and seeing him in full without the cloak that was his work outfit definitely cemented that worry. He could see exactly where Doctor White was coming from with his theory, but didn't want to outright say that to avoid offending the malnourished man. Teddy had studied psychology for four years at university level, and only god knows for how long he'd read about it during his days at boarding school, so he considered himself an expert on how to approach and communicate with his new friend.

To be honest, as the two weaved through the busy night-life of the city, Teddy realised that was probably one of his flaws. He didn't see any of his relationships in a normal way, he saw it more as a dissection of the other person's mind, being able to tell what they're thinking and how they're feeling just from a slight glint in their eye. That was the beauty of being in a close relationship with someone. The scholar was usually very good at this, reading people's minds after a mere handful of interactions, but Hosah was very different.

It was just as the note put it, he was hot and cold, contradictory, totally unpredictable, a textbook gemini. He felt sort of bad for thinking of him in such a way, but, to the rookie detective, Hosah was sort of like a wild dog he'd embarked on taming. At first, he bit and he argued, he was cold and said very little, but as the days passed and they spent almost every second in each others company, he quite literally felt them both warming up to each other, as the shifter now willingly sat, perched in his palm, leaning into any sort of touch he was given. It was extremely cute, admittedly.

The previous weekday, although painful and possibly traumatic for the shifter, was an extreme advancement in their relationship, and Teddy couldn't help but smile when thinking back on it. He felt proud of himself as he stared down at the impossibly tiny figure beneath him on that pillow, in that moment, Hosah was no longer the scruffy stray he was when they'd first met, he was now a well-groomed house pet, almost as if he'd never been wild at all. The only thing the giant could think in that moment was 'Look at you, all domesticated now,'. That was probably an extremely unsavoury way to put it, but it was the most obvious comparison Teddy could think of to his situation.

He'd done this before many times, in terms of actual animals at least, remembering his days on the farm during the summer when stray cats would wander out of the nearest village- about four miles away, all cold and hungry, bare bones and in need of a little love to make them all better again. Maybe a cat was actually a more accurate comparison to make in regards of Hosah, still feisty, some interpreting his clear setting of boundaries as being mean or rude, but with all the ability to love and play just like that of a puppy.

As he actually sat and thought about it, the assistant felt a rush of guilt, looking to the figure sat at his side on the late night subway ride home. The shifter leant on his shoulder like he did with the door frame, eyes barely open. He really was very pretty like this, even the yellow luminescent glow of the train suited him, made him look less jaundiced by comparison. With his eyes closed, Teddy could get a proper look at his long, wispy eyelashes that usually weren't visible due to how straight they were. Very, very pretty indeed. He felt guilty for being so pitiful of the shifter. Objectively, it was understood that Hosah was a grown man with his own set of thoughts, beliefs, dreams, values, wishes, all the sort of things that made one human, which is probably why Teddy felt so bad in the first place.

He'd never really felt human himself. Teddy recalled being in the food hall during his childhood, every other boy with his eyes closed saying their graces, as he sat, wide eyed with nothing to say in regard to his meal. Maybe it was due to personal experiences, but it always confused him, why he was expected to thank god for the meal. Why not the farmers who harvested the ingredients, or the chef that prepared it? Sure, God might've put the animals there to begin with, but they were created to live, no? Sitting in that hall, the only one not following orders, was what made Teddy realise he probably was not normal. He was supposed to be god fearing , obedient without question, but his mind couldn't help but doubt what he was taught to be fact.

Although he really didn't want to admit it, all Teddy wanted to do was to show the shifter the same sort of love he did to the lost kittens that wandered onto his grandparents farm, but that was one thing his time studying the catholic bible had taught him not to engage in. Despite questioning almost every other teaching he was given, this was one that always stumped him. Thinking of Hosah in such a way made him feel like some sort of predator.

He'd watched before how the farm cats would sit and stalk the little field mice, approaching very slowly, their moves so meticulous, so calculated. That's sort of how he found himself behaving in regards to the shifter. Overthinking every word he said to make sure it only had a positive effect on their relationship, buttering him up and throwing in 'You're right'-s even when Teddy knew the man was so blatantly wrong. Just the thought of turning that into love felt completely wrong. Not that he didn't want to, the feelings were definitely there and definitely grew stronger and more persistent as the days went on, but he'd learnt these kinds of feelings should be reserved for women, and women only.

Teddy would feel totally improper entering a vulnerable persons life, having them depend on him in such literal and small, personal ways, and then asking for romance. Although he'd heard a rumour or two about Hosah's love life through the grapevine, it all sounded so vulgar, so harsh, and it more made him feel extremely bad for the shifter rather that disgusted with him. That kind of disgust he saved for himself. It was clear there was some kind of underlying problem or event that dictated Hosah's life, but it would be far too forward to confront him about it, so instead he waited with intense focus, lurking with a fixed gaze until he opened up on his own terms.

He desperately didn't want to be like those who had previously hurt the shifter, despite not even knowing if that assumption was true or not, and it would eat at him from the inside out to know he was capitalising from Hosah's misfortune to receive the kind of sick love he'd always longed for. Teddy knew it wasn't wrong to seek love, but it proved to be increasingly difficult to break out of old habits and thought processes.

Looking down at the sleepy face before him, Teddy wondered how anyone could have such hatred toward the shifter. The stalker had the general understanding of Hosah as an individual, a human being, but still despised him just for his unlucky pick at the genetic lottery. As far as he was aware, the shifter generally hadn't done much to harm others, besides being a little rude from time to time. Why anyone would come up with the conclusion that the man was a vermin to the people surrounding him puzzled Teddy greatly.

Actually, no, third times a charm, Hosah was most like a mouse. His only crime being his size, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's how Teddy felt towards all fifteen of those people they found that day. How people could be so cruel to those who, below the surface level, were the same as everyone else in the world. His job continuously hurt his heart, feeling repeatedly crushed with every day that passes, every little tidbit of new information being gathered, which is exactly why he stayed. Hosah was now a target, and he would do all he could to free the shifter from the glue trap he found himself stuck in.

"Are we almost home?" The sleepy voice was so quiet, muffled by the coat Hosah's face was pressed against.

Snapping back into reality, awakening from the depths of this own brain, Teddy reassured the heavy-eyed man whose head lay against his shoulder, "I thought you fell asleep for a second there. Not much longer now,"

Raising his arm, Teddy wrapped it around the shifters shoulder, pulling him in closer, the blond head now resting in the cavity of his shoulder between that and his chest. It didn't matter if the other commuters looked at them, shit, this was New York, people could have psychotic episodes on the tube and it'd just be another mundane Monday.

The ringing of his phone forced the assistant to shift his position, forcing Hosah to hold himself up without support. The number wasn't saved in his phone, weird.

Reluctantly, Teddy answered the call, "Hello?"

Luckily, the crazed killer had not in fact found his phone number, instead, it was far worse, "Edward? I went back an hour or so before I clocked in, there was some dude peering in the windows about.. I don't know, twenty minutes before I got there?" Scotty's voice was just as annoying when muffled through the flip phone's poor audio quality.

For fucks sake. "Think it's the same person who left the package?"

"I mean, yeah, who else would it be? Fucking idiot though, lights were off downstairs, and you guys are on the third floor. Anyway, just thought you should know. Maybe bring a gun on your way to work tomorrow or something."

Despite the clear sarcasm in Scotty's voice, that last part sounded quite serious.

Before being forced to endure chatting with the unpleasant security guard for any longer, Teddy hung up the phone, wondering if the shifter had overheard any of the conversation.

"I have a gun in my apartment, it's in a safe in the closet with all my painting stuff." Hosah clarified. The assistant couldn't picture him with such a weapon, but maybe that's just because he'd painted the man as something so delicate, so fragile, something that could only ever be hurt, and never the other way around.

The shifter continued, his big, brown eyes looking up at Teddy's face all innocently, "Can pick up a my paints and a canvas when we drop by for it, then I can return the favour you asked of me."

Ah, that's right, Hosah's art was truly beautiful, nothing outwardly unique or preposterous, in fact it was all quite close to still life, except the way he blended the paints in such a fuzzy, soft way gave all the pieces the same sort of quality you'd have looking back at old childhood memories in your mind at night, some details straight up missing, the faces of adults blurred as you've forgotten their features over time, barely able to see them as they were so far away from your pre-developed body.

Despite the fact that Hosah was probably horrified with the information that was relayed over the phone call, his assistant couldn't help but smile. Hosah would be making a painting for him. He almost felt guilty for feeling happy in this moment, but then he remembered the fact and that sort of childish excitement Teddy hadn't felt in years came rushing back. Too ecstatic for words, Teddy just nodded, agreeing to go back to the previously broken into apartment to collect the shifters things.

"Are you not worried to go back there?" He enquired, the absolute need to understand the shifter and his thought process possessing his speech.

Instead of any kind of logical, satisfactory answer, Hosah shrugged, "It's kind of the least of my worries right now. People can be arrested, detained, they can lose interest. But all of my internal problems need to be solved by myself, and I need the will power to solve them. That's way more scary. That I just won't have it in me to fix myself."

Although it was certainly stupid in terms of regards to his physical safety and wellbeing, Hosah was right. He said the most insightful things when he was tired.

-~-

It felt like it had been years since the pair were sat in Jules' office, but in reality it had been three weeks at most.

This time around, they could keep each other entertained with their casual banter whilst waiting for the ruthless woman to assign them to a new task. Something still related to the overall mystery, but more detached from the main objective. Not only would it be better in terms of keeping Hosah safe, it would also he more accurate to what he had been hired to do.

During his time living at a hospital-esque sleep away school, Hosah had learnt he was quite the good mediator. Quite literally shrinking down to his peers height, getting their version of events to a T, being a source of both comfort and logic for the troubled individuals, it was something he actually quite enjoyed. As someone who greatly enjoyed knowing about the drama going on around the so-called school, and also as someone who was a big fan of being regarded as the hero who saves the day, the one able to solve everyone's conflict. That was probably why Jules came back to butt-fuck-nowhere-town Colorado to recruit him.

Finally, maybe twenty minutes after being informed she had business for the two to attend to, Jules arrived, looking as breathtaking as ever. Even in the business casual black button down blouse and knee length pencil skirt, the woman looked completely out of this world. She could wear a raw rotisserie chicken, and all the high fashion brands would probably make a trend out of it.

"We got a call earlier ago," Jules had a concerning smile plastered onto her annoyingly perfect face as she took her seat, "Same old same old, that bakery's had their roof torn off again."

"Ughhhhh. Okay. Yeah we'll go right there." Hosah brushed his fingers through his hair, sick of this same scenario happening monthly.

Teddy on the other hand had not yet been on the bakery bandit's case, and just his face alone was enough to know that.

"What- What do you mean they've had the roof torn off?" For lack of a better word, he was flabbergasted.

The shifter waved him off as if to say 'Don't worry about it' , but Teddy was most certainly worrying about it.

"Happens all the time. Shifter grows to like , eighty feet, something like that, goes for the roof and takes their goods. Not for themself, probably, never takes all of it, just a few things." Hosah was laughing, despite his assistant's visible concern, "I kind of don't ever want to catch the guy, gotten to be quite fond of them with all the times they've done it. Seems innocent enough, just fucking annoying. This is where my taxes are going. Fixing their stupid roof. At this point it'd be cheaper to just move location."

Teddy wasn't really paying attention to the shifter's debriefing, more-so focused on the absurdity of the scenario the shifter seemed so casual about.

When they arrived, the detectives had to fight their way through the crowd of onlookers and news reporters just to get in the door and talk to the cashier. Hosah didn't understand why everyone was so fussed, this thing was a regular occurrence nowadays.

It was a sweet little cafe-bakery fusion, and when it got refurbished as it did so often, it was a real hidden gem. The walls were a soft, pastel pink, although they were now covered in dust and dirt from the rubble that had come down from the moved roof, and the decor had a very similar colour palette, with cute little flower shaped pillows on all of the painted wooden chairs, pretty lace serving as table cloths, although they'd probably have to get replacements for them now as they were dirtied beyond repair. Such a shame, Hosah would've quite liked to frequent the place if the not-so-desirable visits didn't happen so often.

The young girl behind the register looked absolutely disheveled. The shifter didn't recognise her, so he assumed she was probably a new hire. Unlucky. It wasn't unusual for the bakery's staff to quit after their first encounter with the giant, who seemed to love terrorising this specific location for no apparent reason at all.

Shifters that could grow instead of shrink weren't exactly unheard of, they just had to take extra precautions in regards to their height changes. Usually, if you have the fact stated in any of your records, the military's special forces will get straight into contact, which is where most of them ended up going. Despite wanting to understand the fear everyone felt regarding the situation at hand, Hosah just couldn't, he was far too used to being tiny, being surrounded by more giants than anyone in the vicinity could probably even comprehend.

"So. Back at it again huh." Hosah leant against the rubble covered counter top, seeing what goods the delinquent had left behind in the glass case beneath him.

The girl sniffled as she nodded, "I was-, I was warned about it, but... I need the money..."

Her name badge read Yojeong, Hosah recalled it meant 'fairy' in his mother's native language, a very cute name indeed. Yojeong's hime-cut hung loose from her short ponytail, shielding her reddened, tear streaked face. Poor kid. The shifter himself knew just how scary it was to be tiny, he couldn't imagine what it would be like for the girl, with no prior experience or exposure to that sort of horror.

"Not hurt or anything, right?" This was never the case, but it was always best to clarify before assuming.

Still, with her head hung low, she shook 'No', as expected. Although, after Hosah's sigh of boredom as he prepared to hand the girl a paper to fill out giving a statement, she seemed to have remembered something,

"He- He didn't even like... take anything, he just gave me an order and asked for it to go. So.. I don't know if I should've done, but I just bagged it up for him, and he reached down and took it."

"If he didn't pay, then he took it."

"No, no, I mean he wasn't- he wasn't forceful at all! It was so weird, he was so casual about it, like he wasn't even doing anything wrong!" The girl now had her head raised to look up at the seasoned detective, something he couldn't say happened very often, given his lack of height even when it's at its maximum capacity.

Although he did feel bad that Yojeong was in such distress, visibly shaking as she recalled the interaction through frantic stutters, it wasn't anything new to the detective.

Hosah had heard the same story about a hundred times. Handing the girl a witness form to fill out, the shifter was about to go on his merry way, until a figure he swore he recognised walked in through the front door, the little shop bell jingling sweetly as if nothing had happened at all.

Thierri!

Ah, everyone's favourite unnecessarily tall detective. Actually, the man was barely a detective at all, he was hired to do petty tasks like coffee runs and such, but just kind of inserted himself into cases nowadays. Supposed to help Jeanne out with things, but the guy was such a klutz, the shifter wasn't too sure how exactly he'd be of any benefit to the well experienced Detective Alice.

That didn't matter though, Thierri had this amazing, mind boggling personality that just made him so charming and fun to be around. Hosah had no idea why his coworker seemed to cold towards the man, he was a sweetheart! The only way the shifter knew to describe him was 'excitable puppy that knows no physical boundaries' , but that wasn't necessarily as bad of a thing as it sounded on paper.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Hosah beamed, not even noticing how the young cashier had slinked away into the kitchen.

Thierri shrugged casually, "Maternity leave."

The information just shared was most certainly not deserving of the man's nonchalant attitude.

"Oh, shit, congratulations?" The shifter's assistant held his hand out to shake Thierri's, but instead, the man continued speaking as if Teddy had said nothing at all.

"Yeah, she's a Pomeranian, got her from the shelter last week. Her names CCP."

Oh. Of course, how could the shifter be so stupid. It was no surprise his coworker had used the phrase 'maternity leave' totally wrong, he should've just known upon hearing the phrase come out of his mouth. It wasn't the first time Teddy had his mind blown today too, but the shifter knew this was classic Thierri behaviour.

Almost choking in disbelief, the assistant asked, just for clarification, "...You named your dog after the Chinese Communist Party?"

Instead of a normal reaction, Thierri scoffed as if it was the most unreasonable assumption to make after hearing the acronym, "No, it stands for Captain Cream Puff, duh."

Right, obviously, how foolish of him to assume otherwise.

"You know what we should do? Let's call Jeanne up and get lunch together, you haven't properly met Edward, have you?" Hosah inquired, although the two coworkers in front of him didn't seem too keen on the idea.

"No, you're right, I haven't been introduced yet.. which is whyyyy... we should maybe go out just us three? Right, Edward?"

Instead of taking his superior's side as he usually did, Teddy nodded in agreement. What the fuck was going on? Hosah didn't think the awkward air between them all and Jeanne was that bad, was it? What kind of beef did the two have with him?

Wanting to get to the bottom of the mysterious air of tension between all of the detectives, the shifter took the decision into his own hands.

"I'm calling Jeanne anyway. If he declines, he declines. I'm not gonna be rude and not even invite him." Hosah had already pulled out his phone by now, there was no turning back.

Also, he wanted to debrief the last couple days to everyone at once, feeling it was necessary to air out his current situation given the gravity of it all.

This was going to be fun. Or at least, that's what the shifter hoped it would be.

#g/t #giant tiny #g/t ocs #gianttiny #sfw g/t #giant/tiny #oc hosah #oc teddy #g/t writing #Puparia_tag #Teddy Brain Focus #We Will Get The Four Detectives Interacting chapter next #Oh yeah!

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gaysindistress · 9 months

Text

As Good a Reason - five

pairing: Mob!Bucky Barnes x reader

summary: when Brock Rumlow picks a fight he can’t win with the White Wolf, he drags his Snake back. Six years after she ran away, Y/N Rumlow is faced with a choice to make; do as she’s told and kill the White Wolf or overtake her father instead because spite’s as good a reason to take his power?

warnings: mob!Bucky, cursing

word count: 2.3k

Tag list @kandis-mom @casa-boiardi @blackwood-bodecker-housewife @cakesandtom @unaxv @hidden-treasures21 @vonalyn

four | series masterlist

disclaimer: credits to original creator/poster of image/gif. found on Google/Pinterest. The women in the banners are not how Y/N is supposed to look. They are merely for aesthetic purposes and Y/N is written for anyone to see themselves in her.

Hospital machines beep around the two Rumlows as the one in the bed struggles to maintain a regular breathing pattern. Brock spent the night in their room, waiting for his dear child to wake up. One might look upon them and think that it was a loving father eagerly awaiting an update on their child’s condition but that’s far from the truth. He couldn’t care less about what happens to them after all of this shit show is over but right now he needs another person on his side and the child laying in the bed is his only option.

They stir awake and groan from the pain that blossoms from their stomach where their father had shot them less than 24 hours ago.

“You had surgery so don’t move,” Brock says with his eyes still closed and his feet resting on the edge of the bed.

“You shot me,” they mutter to myself and repeat louder as the realization sinks in.

“Get over it,” their father responded, “I needed to send a message to James and your sister.”

“How does that send a message when they weren’t even in the room?”

“I don’t know you tell me,” he says with an eerily calm tone as he opens his eyes and takes his feet off the bed, letting them slam against the floor, “How did he know that Y/N was coming back? Or that you’d be at the party?”

“I…I don’t know. Steve’s being glued to all of our sides so I assume…”

Brock scoffs and stops them in the middle of their sentence, “No. Steve being there when you all got back in not a fucking coincidence. Someone told him and then they told James that you were going to that party to kill him. Who was it?” “I swear I don’t know,” they try to reason with their father but he throws his chair back and grips them by the shoulders.

“Who’s working with James?” he grits out between clenched teeth.

“I don’t know, I swear I don’t know,” they cry as he bruises their shoulders and shakes them to get an answer. “Stop lying to me! Who is the fucking rat in this family, Victoria?” She cries even harder when he pushes his thumb into her wound, “I don’t know! I swear to god, I don’t know who it is!”

Brock pushes away from her and she cries out in relief as he paces the room. Clearly anger and violence are not the ways to get through to her so he switches methods. He takes a deep breath and slowly approaches her bedside again. She shrinks away from him and he puts on a sorrowful face.

“I’m sorry. This whole situation has put a lot of pressure on me and I… I’m scared. I’m scared, Victoria. I can’t lose any of you, not again. I won’t,” he lies to her with a fake but convincing wobble to his voice, “I just want to keep you guys safe but I can’t do that if I don’t know who is trying to hurt you. Please sweetheart. If you know anything, anything at all, I need you to tell me.”

Victoria lets her body relax as she stares at him and processes the change that she sees in him.

“I can’t.”

“Yes you can,” he urges as he places his hands on her knees, “I won’t hurt the I promise. Just tell me who it is.”

Her chin quivers as she fights the words that want to leave her mouth. He reaches up and brushes her hair back behind her ear, “It’s okay, you can tell me.”

“It’s…it’s,” she starts and bows her head so she doesn’t have to look him in the eyes, “It’s Klaus. He’s been working with James for over a year now but with Y/N coming, things got complicated and now he doesn’t know what to do. He’s scared that James is going to hurt Y/N if he goes to you for help but he’s more afraid of what you’d do if you found out.”

Brock pulls her into a hug and rests his head on top of hers as he rubs her back and nods along in false understanding, “Thank you for telling me. I’ll take care of it.”

“You can’t tell him that I told you. He’ll never forgive me,” she cries even harder into his chest, “Please dad, you have to help us.”

“Of course sweetheart. That's what dads are for.”

The room that Y/N has been imprisoned in is nothing short of sterile. Like the rest of the house, there is nothing that might provide comfort to anyone who walks it's houses however she supposes that with James as its owner, comfort will never be found in his presence.

It’s been four days since he brought her here and subsequently made it painfully obvious that she is alone. Her stay has been nothing short of boring and isolating. Steve and Sam are interchangeable in their duties to check on her, tell her food is ready, or to generally torture her with their words. Aside from those two, she hasn’t seen another soul. James hasn’t even made an appearance, something that she thought she would be grateful for but something deep inside her feels the hole that his absence leaves.

Maybe it’s her daddy issues.

Maybe it’s the mommy issues.

Maybe it’s the fucked up childhood she tries to forget everyday.

Maybe it’s the way he looks at her like she’s the only person in the room.

It’s the way his piercing eyes never leave hers even if she’s not the one talking.

It’s the way he noticed her dress that night and praised her.

The way he was gentle with her while commanding an entire room of men.

The way he jokes with her effortlessly and smirks at her when she impresses him.

Maybe it’s the mommy issues and the way she craves to feel taken care of and held emotionally even if by him.

Maybe it’s the daddy issues that make her want attention from him and how she’s fighting the unhealthy ways that she might go about to get that attention.

She wants to believe that she isn’t falling down this rabbit hole but images of him keep flashing in her mind as she lies in bed, eyes closed, and heart thumping widely against her chest. She watches it all in her head; his lips on her neck while whispering her name, the cold look in his eyes when he ruins her, him worshiping her as if she is a god. The images are burned into her mind no matter how much she tries to combat them with logic and reason. Minutes slip away into hours and it’s proving to be useful to try and starve off what her mind wants her to see. A shock to her system is what she needs to restart her brain and the brutal feeling of the cold water from the shower head does the trick.

“Fuck,” Y/N gasps as the water missles lay waste to her skin, leaving behind red marks from the sheer freezing temperature. She persists though and continues with her shower, washing away the thoughts. She watches the evidence of her transgressions wash off of her body in the form of water and soap as she scrubs at her skin. It leaves her skin raw and aching but at least it distracts from that same sensation that existed in her mind moments ago.

Stepping out, she wraps a towel around herself and walks back to the bed where the clothes Steve threw at her one day lay scattered. She’d been pleasantly surprised that all of the clothes had tags indicating that they were new and not whatever someone’s ex had left behind. As she goes to drop her towel, she hears what sounds like someone clearing their throat. Knowing that not just anyone could be here with her, Y/N chooses to quietly react and only allow her eyes to flicker up towards the source.

James is leaning against the wall, almost blending in with it due to his dark jacket with a black shirt underneath and black jeans. His eyes make a lazy trail up until they land on her face and he winks at her.

“Do you always let yourself into your guest’s room?” she asks as she gathers her clothes to change in the bathroom.

“You’re not a guest so those rules don’t apply to you.”

“Am I a prisoner then?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” he tells her while pushing off of the wall and taking a seat on her bed with his back to the headboard. Once again he’s lounging like the entire situation is normal, casual, as if they’ve known each other for years.

She doesn’t close the bathroom door all of the way because she suspects that he would open it anyways. Slipping a white tee on and a pair of black jeans, she takes her time brushing her hair and quite frankly wasting time so she doesn’t have to face him. She puts her back into the same braided ponytail as that night and takes a deep breath before going back into the bedroom.

“I got this morning,” he tosses his phone to her with a rather disturbing picture pulled up; Victoria on the ground bleeding.

“Who sent this to you?”

“Who do you think?”

She tosses her phone back and starts to fold the clothes to distract herself as she says that she thinks that it’s Brock’s twisted way of playing with her emotions.

“He’s going to do anything and everything to get me to react before we’re ready. It’s probably fake.”

James narrows his eyes at her, “you’re terrible at lying, you know that?”

Y/N pauses for a second and stares down at her hands, “No I’m not. I just…. I just need to pretend to at the very least, I might burn his entire house down tonight.”

“Even if she was inside?”

“I’d get her out obviously,” she shoots back as she restarts her folding, “then I would tie him to a chair and set the shithole on fire so he could watch it burn around him.”

“So why don’t you?” he asks her. His foot gently knocks over her pile of clothed clothes and the way his grin grows wide means that he did it on purpose.

“Get your shoes off my bed,” she playfully hits at his foot and ignores his question. He only moves his feet inches away, just enough to make her feel like she’s in control but not enough to fully give her real power.

He poses his question again and she answers this time, “I’m not ready to.”

From beneath his jacket, he pulls out his gun and points it at her. Y/N takes it from him and turns it back on him in the same amount of time it took to pull it on her. His grin grows wider and it pisses her off to no end.

“What?”

“You say you’re not ready but you took my gun from me without hesitation.”

She seems shocked at her own actions and her shoulder droops as soon as she realizes what she did. Y/N hands it back to him and resumes her idle folding as she tries to hide the shaking in her hands. James notices of course and questions it.

“Are you afraid?”

“That’s a stupid question.”

“Is it though?”

“My feelings don’t matter,” she wrinkles her nose to stop the burn of her emotions bubbling to the surface, “If anything, I’m waiting on you to get the stuff I asked for.”

“I did, it’s been here for two days but,” he starts as he gets up and rounds the bed to stand behind her, “if you need more time, I can give it to you.”

His cold hands gently turn her so that she’s facing him. He stares down at her, eyes scanning her face but he comes up with very little so he presses, “Do you need more time?”

“No,” she says while basking in the feeling of his hands trailing across her bare arms, “We made a deal and I don’t want to drag it out any longer than needed.”

“Do you want more time?” She looks at him confused and he elaborates, “If you want to stay here, all you have to do is ask.”

“What I want is to go home and be as far as I can from here, from all of this, from Brock, but especially from you.”

He gives her a small smile and looks down for a moment before meeting her gaze with something new blazing in his eyes, “who said I was letting you go?”

Y/N tries to take a step away but his hands tighten on her biceps and she’s reminded of who the man before her is.

“James,” she murmurs as a quiet plea to let her go.

“What?” he says but it’s not gentle nor is it kind. It’s harsh, demanding, and cruel. Everything he was said to have been came through in that single word but she can’t back down. She has to push to be sure, to know that she had a chance of being free.

“James,” she starts softly, hoping to ease his rage, “we made a deal; in exchange for my siblings’ lives, I would help you kill Brock and then I’d be free to go.”

“I’ll make you another fucking deal,” he seethes as his emotions boil to the surface and he can’t contain the possessiveness anymore, “I’ll get rid of that piece of shit and you stay here with me.”

She shakes her head at him, unable to grasp that her chance to be free is slipping through her finger tips. Her voice breaks as the words barely slip out, “No, I need to be the one to do it. I need to get away.”

James can’t help but roar at her suggestion to leave, to leave him. He takes both of her hands into one and grabs her by the chin before he growls his promise to her, “You’re mine now, little snake. You don’t get to leave.”

Me.

The unspoken ending to his sentence.

Her chest heaves as the words settle in. Her eyes search his once again for a shred of humanity to let her know that he can be bargained with.

Again she finds nothing but the cold and cruel determination that he holds to own, claim, control, rule.

Faced with the reality that there’s no escape from him, Y/N agree. She nods and gives him the answer he craves. He places a searing kiss to her forehead.

She’s in the belly of the beast now with only one way out.

#bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes #mob au #bucky barnes x reader #mob!bucky barnes imagine #mob!bucky barnes x reader #mob!bucky #mob!bucky barnes and reader #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes fic #marvel imagine #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes reader insert #marvel #mob bucky barnes #mob bucky x reader #as good a reason bucky barnes

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verai-marcel · 5 months

Text

Your Hearth Is My Home (BG3 Fanfic, Astarion x Female Reader, Part 15 of ?)

Summary, Notes, Tags, & Part 1 are here.

Act II - Part 13 | Part 14

AO3 Link is here, my dear.

Word Count: 3268

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Act II, Chapter 3 - The Rescue

Being within the soft silver glow of Isobel’s shield, the party felt less of a need to keep watch, but Astarion still stayed awake out of habit, only needing four hours of trancing to feel refreshed. So it was in the pre-dawn hours that you found him in front of his tent, reading a book.

“Awake so early?” he asked as you passed his tent.

“Old habits,” you mused.

He only gave a small “hmm” and continued to read as you walked away.

You were heading towards the cave behind the waterfall, notebook in hand. It had been so long since you had practiced aloud, and you were scared you would forget the songs that your mother had taught you. The old songs, the ones that she said were special, were part of her lineage.

We come from the eladrin, not the ones from Toril, but from the Feywild. Long ago, an eladrin came to this plane and stayed a while, and had a child. So our lineage continues to this day, fey blood in our veins.

You took a deep breath.

And sang.

You weren’t sure how long you sang this song or how many times you repeated it, but when you finally stopped, you still felt the same as before, just with a sore throat.

Mother said this song could bring out the fey in my blood. But nothing ever happens, no matter how many times I sing it. Maybe I don't have enough power in me.

Sighing heavily, you closed your notebook and left the cave. Your companions were already up and about, getting ready for the day.

And unfortunately, Volo had found them first.

Shit.

“If I could just get a few quotes about your adventures—”

“Not interested,” Lae’zel snarled. “Be gone. We have enemies to kill.”

“Ah, but only a sentence or two—”

You gently took Volo by the elbow and guided him towards the pathway away from camp. “I’ll regale you with some of their adventures back at the inn. I need to help them get ready, and then I’ll join you there.”

He brightened. “Oh, that sounds lovely, I will see you soon!”

As he jauntily headed away from your camp, you heaved a sigh of relief. Turning to the party, you noticed that they also looked relieved to see him gone.

“We owe you,” Wyll said with a grin.

You gave him a small salute. “Just doing my duty to protect the camp,” you said with mock seriousness, earning you a few chuckles.

You walked with the others to the bridge, and wished them well as they left the safety of the shield. Watching them disappear from sight, you silently wished for their safe return.

Then you turned to the inn.

Sigh. Guess I better face my own battle.

***

An hour felt like an eternity with Volo asking question after question. It felt more like an interrogation rather than an interview. As you finished answering yet another follow-up question, you peeked at his writing. He was clearly embellishing and exaggerating nearly everything you said.

“That’s not what I said,” you finally pointed out.

“I’m punching it up a bit, making it sound more exciting to the average reader,” he explained. “You have to make them cling to your every word!”

You resisted the urge to roll your eyes. Eventually you caught the eye of Alfira, who came up to you and asked for your assistance in the kitchen. Excusing yourself, you followed her until the two of you were safely out of earshot.

“You looked like you needed an escape route,” she said with a knowing smile.

“I did, thank you so much.” You looked around. “I guess I’d better actually do something in here, so it’s not too obvious that I ran away from him.”

She giggled. “Well, we could use your help preparing the midday meal.”

As the two of you chopped ingredients and cooked, she shared some stories of her past.

“I’d love to hear one of your songs,” you said after she mentioned how she had met the others.

Alfira looked at the pile of peeled and chopped potatoes. “Well, I think we’ve prepared enough for now. Let’s go out back, I can sing for you there.”

She grabbed her lute and the two of you went out the back door to the shoreline behind the inn. Strumming the lute a few times to tune it, she began to sing.

It was a beautiful song, and her voice was soft and warm, wrapping around your heart and making you feel every note like a gentle caress. Unable to stop yourself, you began to sing with her.

Without missing a beat, she harmonized with you, and together, the song grew stronger. You created a verse in response to hers, and though she looked a bit surprised, she smiled and let you sing. Before long, your song began to gather an audience.

When the two of you ended the song with the last few notes sung as a complement to the other, applause suddenly burst out around you.

Unused to the attention, you froze up. Beside you, Alfira bowed gracefully and you quickly followed suit, your movements a bit stiff. She turned to you as the crowd dispersed. “I didn’t know you could sing so well.”

You shrugged. “I don’t do it often in front of others,” you replied. At least, not if I can help it.

“Well, could’ve fooled me. You’re a natural. I can’t believe you came up with that verse so quickly.”

“Just felt… inspired, I suppose.” You smiled. “Thank you for sharing your song with me. It was brilliant.”

She smiled back, and together the two of you walked back into the inn to finish preparing lunch.

***

It was very late. You had taken an afternoon nap so you could stay awake to watch for the group, but even so, you were starting to feel sleepy. And yet you continued to stare at the pathway, willing them to come back safe.

They’re on a rescue mission. In enemy territory. There’s a very high chance something has happened.

You shook your head. You didn’t want to think about that. Getting up, you cast the hot water rune under the waterfall, and then decided to distract yourself by practicing your old songs and dances.

A few hours passed in this way until you felt exhaustion sink into your bones and drag you down to your bedroll. And still, you stared at the pathway, laying on your side, unable to sleep, anxiety gnawing at the periphery of your mind.

Finally, amidst the soft rustling of the trees around the campsite, you closed your eyes.

It’ll just be for a moment.

***

Memories this far back were more like impressions, feelings, colors splashed onto a snow white canvas.

Your mother, the color of warmth, of autumn, of the sun.

Your father, the color of the earth, of summer, of the sky.

They were happy together, always smiling at one another. And they always smiled at you, as if you were their shining star. They would always love you. They would always be there for you.

Until they weren’t.

The village was peaceful, quiet, tucked away in the mountains just south of the Spine of the World. Far from the chaos of the cities, where devil-worshiping cultists summoned infernal creatures to take over the continent.

And yet, somehow, these far-reaching plots and conspiracies touched even your miniscule spot in the world.

Somehow, the snow white canvas you loved so much became drenched with red.

But before the crimson stained your life, it was full of songs, of dance, to celebrate the change of the seasons.

You always thought your mother looked the most luminous during the harvest season. Her cheer was infectious, spreading throughout your small village. Everyone knew her. Everyone loved her.

Of all the people that died that day, you missed her most of all.

***

The soft chime of the alarm bells woke you. Pushing yourself up with some effort, you saw your companions returning, looking fatigued and covered in grime and blood.

“If you’re famished, there’s some snacks near the campfire,” you told them. You had set up a platter of nuts, dried fruit, and meat jerky before you went to sleep, just in case. “I’ll go renew the hot water rune,” you added before heading off to the waterfall.

You could hear someone languidly following you. You expected Gale, who enjoyed observing your magic. Perhaps he wanted to make his umpteenth attempt to guess where it came from.

Instead, you were surprised to glance behind you and see white hair stained with blood.

“Are you alright?” you asked, turning towards Astarion.

“I’m fine, go on,” he said, waving his hand at you dismissively. “I need a shower.”

I would too, with all of that blood. Stepping into the water and casting the rune as quickly as you could, you realized the water was going to be hotter than usual. Shit, I sang the song too fast.

You tentatively stuck your hand into the heated shower to check. You quickly pulled your hand out and stepped back, only for your back to slam into Astarion. You turned and, looking past his bare shoulder, realized all of his clothes were on the shore.

Is he…? Oh. I should not have looked down. Immediately focusing your gaze to his face, you blurted out, “The water is too hot.”

He raised an eyebrow, then walked past you. Before you could stop him, he stepped into the hot water and sighed happily.

“Perfect.”

“R-really?”

He turned his head toward you. “Yes, darling. A few of us think the rune is never quite hot enough.”

You gawked. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

Astarion shrugged. “They probably didn’t know it could be changed. And it felt good regardless.”

You made a mental note to tell the others that you could adapt the temperature. You also realized that Astarion was still showering in front of you as if you weren’t there. Quickly turning around, you stiffly marched back to camp.

“Not even a goodbye?”

You waved back to him without turning around. That view is going to haunt me now.

Back at camp, some of them were snacking while others had broken into one of the wine bottles and were drinking casually. You asked what had happened, and quickly you learned that because of the worm in their heads, they could easily pass through the towers. After they were interrogated and then tasked with finding the whereabouts of Bal-something, they were left alone. Unsupervised, they were able to track down the tieflings and gnomes and escaped via an underground dock.

“Wow,” was all you could say. No wonder it took them so long to get back.

Astarion returned from his shower, which reminded you of the temperature. “Right, so, just in case any of you prefer hotter water, just ask me to adjust the rune next time. It’s a bit hotter this time since I rushed the song, but hopefully it’s still suitable.”

Gale immediately turned towards you, academic interest brightening his expression. “So the speed of your song dictates temperature?”

You shrugged. “To some degree. Pun not intended.” Gesturing towards their tents, you continued. “I adjusted all of your tents to your comfort level as well, after talking to each of you.” You stared at Gale with a grin. “I’m surprised you hadn’t noticed.”

Gale opened his mouth, gave you a look, then scratched his chin. “I thought mine was fine.”

Interesting, I saw you sneak into Shadowheart’s tent. Perhaps you were too distracted to notice that her tent has a higher temperature than yours. But I won’t say anything. You snickered to yourself.

Gale raised an eyebrow at you, but said nothing.

One by one, everyone took their turns in the shower and headed off to their tents, until finally, it was just you and Astarion, sitting side by side, staring into the dying embers of the campfire.

“You aren’t going to trance yet?”

“Not yet. I… I need to process something that happened tonight.”

You recalled that he had just stripped and gotten into the shower while you were still there, as if he was desperate to get clean. Your hackles raised. “Did someone try to hurt you?”

He let out a small huff of laughter. “Someone is always trying to hurt us, darling.”

“I don’t mean in battle.”

He was quiet for a little while before he spoke again. “There… was a blood merchant. She wanted me to bite her in exchange for a potion, but…” He looked sick for a moment. “Her blood smelled foul, rank. And the way she leered at me… I can’t get it out of my head.”

You remained quiet, letting him continue.

“But the others… they didn’t force me. Gale asked me if I wanted to, and when I told him I didn’t, all he said was, ‘then don’t.’ Like it was that simple.”

You nodded. You were glad that everyone was growing closer together, and could trust each other.

“I’m… grateful… that they told me it was my choice,” he said quietly. “It’s been so long since I’ve had to make these decisions for myself. I won’t lie”—he looked away for a moment—“it’s a daunting prospect.” He looked down, his expression darkening slightly. “If they had told me to bite her… I would have just gone along with it. A moment of disgust to force myself through, and then I could have carried on, just like before.”

You frowned. “One potion isn’t worth it.”

“Then what is? Two potions? A moment of unpleasantry doesn’t matter if there’s a fine reward, right?”

“Not if it means giving up something you don’t want to give,” you replied.

“But we could have used that potion,” he argued. “Perhaps I should have just gritted my teeth as always and let her”—his voice caught, his expression pained—“have me, for a bit.”

“Absolutely not!” You turned your entire body to face him. “You’re not some object to be passed around.”

He looked at you for a moment, his eyes widened with momentary surprise before he looked back at the fire. “You’re right. I’m more than that. More than a thing to be used.”

You watched him as memories seemed to play across his vision. He let out a huff. “Being forced to lure pretty things back to my master, what I wanted be damned, was my entire existence for two hundred years.” He frowned and took a breath. “I had nothing at all for so long. Not even my body.”

He turned back to you once more. “Today made me realize that I never stopped thinking like I was still his slave, even in freedom.”

You reached out with the intention of hugging him, but you pulled back. You didn’t want to force anything on him, not now. You put your hand back in your lap. “I’m glad you’ve realized that,” you told him. “Whatever happens, whatever is asked of you, you can always say no. I’ll never judge you for it.”

He nodded. “Thank you,” he said, the sincerity in his tone marking your heart. “You can too, you know.”

You looked at him in confusion.

Astarion smiled. “You can say no to me as well. You don’t have to feed me every night.” He gently brushed your cheek with the back of his knuckles. “You’ve looked more tired since we’ve come here.”

Your eyes widened. Ah, so he’s noticed.

“I can go for a while without a meal. I’m not so weak that I can’t hold back until you’ve recovered.”

“And I’m not so weak that I can’t handle a bit of blood loss a few days in a row. I am a woman, after all.”

He chuckled. “Fair point.”

You looked back at the fire, letting the silence simmer over the flames as you digested the conversation. It was… a lot. Quite the catharsis and revelation for your poor vampire spawn.

Wait.

Looking back at Astarion, seeing his contemplative expression as he stared out into the distance, you wondered when your heart had claimed him as one of yours.

You knew you had been staring at him for too long when he glanced back at you. He gave you a flirty smirk. “Admiring my beauty?”

“Just… just wondering if you wanted a hug,” you mumbled, feeling lame. “But not sure if you were comfortable with that,” you added sheepishly.

He sat up and smiled. “You are such a little sweetheart,” he said as he opened his arms. “Come here, darling.”

As you snuggled into his embrace, you felt something strange when your skin made contact with his.

…guilt…conflicted…

It was faint, but it was there. You honed in on it, even as your body was reveling in physical contact.

Why does he feel this way? Godsdammit, nothing is ever simple with this man.

You pulled away, unable to get your head out of your own, well, head. “I think I’d better get some sleep now,” you said, stuffing your own thoughts deep down for later.

“Of course.” He stayed where he was for a moment, looking at you with a slightly pained expression before he got up and gave you a slight bow. “Sweet dreams, my dear.”

As he left for his tent, you crawled into your bedroll and tried not to ruminate on the reasons why he would feel guilty.

***

A trance for an elf was more a meditative state, a reverie to refresh the mind and body. So when Astarion went to lay down in his tent, he expected his subconscious to run through his usual mental training exercises.

Instead, his mind decided to replay the scene from this morning.

After seeing his sweet treat walk past him with a mission in her step, he waited a few moments before quietly getting up and following her. It took a moment for him to brave the running creek and peek into the cavern behind the curtain of water.

There, he could hear her sing a song in a language unknown, and yet it felt familiar. It had been decades, over a century even, since he had spoken Elvish with any regularity. And yet… even after so much time, he still understood that the witch was singing something similar, yet different somehow.

She read the lyrics from a worn notebook in her hands, her attention completely on her song and not on anything else. She has zero awareness, dammit. Astarion stayed and watched, keeping one ear out for anyone who may approach.

Not that he was guarding her or anything. He was just… listening.

The song ended, and he started to move away from the cave entrance, but then he heard her sing again from the beginning.

She’s going to sing herself hoarse.

Shrugging, he continued to walk away, but he paused when he heard her cough violently.

She’ll be fine.

Her song continued, her voice cracking in places.

Damn foolish witch. Why should I care?

But he did care. And he wasn’t happy about it.

Shaking his head of the memory, he turned over and tried to go back into reverie, but his thoughts turned to how delightfully sweet she looked when she asked him for a hug, how nice she felt in his arms. The conflicted feelings he had, both wanting her and not wanting her, stemmed from the same reason. A reason that was growing harder and harder to deny.

Godsdammit. This is going to be a long night.

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

Act II, Chapter 3 End notes: Oh dear, Astarion is starting to catch FEELINGS. Whatever will he do? As always, thanks for your continued interest in my little story, please let me know what you enjoyed by leaving a comment!

Tag List: @numblytemporary @xalphafox @avitute

#bg3 #bg3 fanfic #astarion #astarion x f!reader #baldur's gate 3 #female reader #writing #bg3 spoilers #your hearth is my home

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k9authorwolf · 2 months

Text

Lucid Dreams- Bucky Barnes x Autistic!Enchanced!Reader (Part 01)

Summary: The cradle of sleep continuously eludes Bucky. Nightmares tormented him every night. But a chance encounter with an unknown woman draws him into the dream realm. Granting him the peace he so desired. But he longs to see her again. His dreamgirl.

Disclaimer: The reader's autistic traits are based on my own. Every autistic person is different with their own different traits. So please do not assume every autistic person is like this.

Inspiration: Lucid Dream by Owl City

Bucky jolted awake from another nightmare. Covered head to toe in sweat, his heart rate extremely high. He was in his apartment, on the floor in the living room with a bunch of blankets and his pillow. The TV on low playing some crappy old sitcom from two decades ago was the only light in the room. Bucky groaned in frustration as his hands went to his short hair. He hadn’t had any decent sleep in weeks. Nothing but nightmares.

He was so tired.

The lack of sleep was affecting him during the day, shuffling through the streets as if he were undead. Fueled by reflex and muscle memory. How much longer was this going to go on?

“How have you been sleeping?” Dr. Raynor asked. But Bucky didn’t answer, he didn’t want to. He just kept staring blankly out the window, his vision doubled occasionally with exhaustion. In the corner of his eye he saw Raynor grab the notebook with frustration. His anger spiked, “Like shit okay! I’ve been sleeping like shit! Happy now?!” He exclaimed. The pen stilled in the therapist’s hand as she eyed him. “Have you been doing those sleep exercises I recommended?” Bucky rolled his eyes. “Yes, every single one. And not one of them made a damn bit of difference!” All these “new age” methods were ludicrous in his opinion. Scented candles, meditation, listening to some ancient sounding new age music. It was too weird for his taste. A glass of smoked whiskey and a good book was enough for him, more realistic.

Bucky sat through the rest of the session harboring anger. His frustration over the lack of sleep he was getting was pissing him off more everyday. Everynight he’d stay up as long as possible. He'd eventually pass out but he’d be up in less than four hours from a nightmare.

Walking back to his apartment the sounds of the city had become droned and melded, in his exhausted hazed mind it was like the world was fading away. He passed the little coffee shop on his route, it showed up a few months ago. Seemed to be fairly popular with the young crowd. Whatever. He just wanted to go home.

“OOF!”

Someone bumped into him. “Sorry!” They left before he could see their face. He couldn’t really see clearly through the haze in his eyes. He looked at where he felt the person’s hand touch him, on his sternum. He felt a warmth coming from it as if the hand was still there. He grasped the end of the hoodie and pulled it towards his nose, he sniffed. Coffee. The smell of freshly ground coffee beans wafted into his nose. The roasted smell made his mouth water. Fresh coffee. Maybe he’d brew up a pot when he got home.

Finally his apartment was in sight, and so was someone. Sam. The new Captain America sat on the steps of his building. Clearly waiting for him. On approach Sam stood up, “Raynor called me.” He said. Bucky rolled his eyes in annoyance, “What are you my nanny now?” Bucky snapped, fishing out his keys. “She told me about your sleep problems. I just wanna help man.” He was so sick of this. People thinking they can just walk into his life and without indirectly telling him he’s a wreck, a psychological tire fire, a monster who must obey like an obedient dog! “She knows nothing about me!” Bucky was getting more and more angry. “Buck, we're just trying to help.” Sam placed his hand on Bucky’s shoulder. But the former Winter Soldier shoved it off as if he had been burned. “SHUT UP!” He yelled. He turned to Sam, “You wanna help Sam? Then leave me alone! You have no idea how all this is for me! Everything I’ve done! And until you do, LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!” He yelled with all the anger that had been pent up inside.

He turned and entered the building, leaving Sam behind. Once inside everything hit him.

Why did he do that? Sam was just trying to help, like the good friend he is. And Bucky lashed out. He pushed his friend away. His only friend left. Bucky leaned his head back on the door as his face began to tremble and hot tears pooled in his eyes. He banged his head on the door in an attempt to punish himself. He slid down to the floor as sobs began to emerge from his throat. He was all alone. That’s what he does, he pushes and alienates all those close to him. Afterall it was his fault Steve left. Bucky berated himself thinking Steve abandoned him because he had enough. Bucky’s sobs echoed in his apartment. He was so tired. Why couldn’t he sleep? He just wanted to sleep.

Later that night, Bucky’s eyes were red and swollen from sobbing out his frustrations. He wished the world would just swallow him up forever. It was past midnight now, the smoked whiskey he poured two hours ago was almost finished. The astronomy book in his hand was half done. Since being freed, astronomy had become his favorite thing to catch up on. He could recall memories from his childhood where it’d be late at night, his parents and sisters would be tucked in and asleep while he snuck up to the roof to find all the constellations he could see. And get lost in thoughts over what may be beyond that sky and those stars. Now with all the satellites and space stations he was more enthralled than ever.

He yawned, he couldn’t see straight anymore. He wanted to sleep but he knew what would happen in a few hours. He needs to sleep. He stripped down to his boxers, his dog tags dangling against his bare chest. He looked at the spot where he had been touched earlier that day. It felt hot but not in a painful way, there were no marks or anything but he felt the heat seep deep inside him. Maybe he was hallucinating.

He laid down in his pile of blankets on the floor, the TV was on low. His head resting on the pillow. He took deep breaths trying to relax his mind and think of anything other than the impending nightmares he’d face later.

What would it be like to float through outer space? He wondered. Where nothing mattered. The problems he faced everyday would just melt away. Just him and the endless horizon of stars.

He slipped into sleep.

Weightless, Free, Peace, and warmth. That’s what Bucky felt, he’d never felt this before.

I am a light sleeper

But I am a heavy dreamer

He opened his eyes. And to his wonderment saw an endless sky of stars and colorful nebula clouds. He was floating in outer space. Yet he could breathe and there was no lethal cold. It was warm. Like being wrapped in a soft blanket or embraced by someone. This had to be a dream. It felt so amazing, sure he was just floating but it felt so free, so peaceful. He wanted to touch the nebula clouds, he reached his hand out unsure how to move himself forward. But with the thought of moving forward he slowly floated towards the cloud.

My imagination gives me wings

And I can go anywhere

His hand went through the cloud and it moved with his hand. Following his every movement as if he was controlling it. In a spur of childlike wonder he quickly flicked his hand and the cloud followed. Dazzling wisps of bright colors and starlight followed his hand creating an ethereal dance of light and wonder. Bucky’s heart soared with warmth and happiness. He wanted to see more. With a quick thought he floated up.

And when I wander away, to some other place

I'm suddenly there, way up in the air

Where passenger trains catch fire and fill the sky with flames

And that black rabbit of death

Wakes up in a breath, of beautiful dreams

My heartache it seems, so terribly vain

Where fire and diamonds fall like rain

He reached out to grab a star. In his hand it was small yet bright. Like a firefly. He held it with care. It was like he could do anything. Go wherever he wanted. Nothing could tear him away from this feeling. His self hating thoughts, his tainted mind. It seemed so far away like no harm could come to him here. Here in this realm of dreams he felt safe.

Do you believe in endless miracles?

Do you believe in the impossible?

Do you believe sleep is a time machine?

Do you believe in curiosity?

Do you believe in what you cannot see?

Do you believe life is a Lucid Dream?

He suddenly heard music. It was getting closer. Was there someone else here? He looked and saw in a burst of ethereal color, a woman. Running on a stream of white starlight that grew to catch her steps. Nebula clouds and stars followed her as if she were guiding them. Her (y/h/c) air flowed behind her like a curtain as she ran. Dressed in a black tank top and underwear of the same color, she was happy as she ran on the stream of starlight. Earbuds were tucked into her ears with their cords disappearing into nothing. Bucky could hear the music from them. As clear as day. The woman turned her head to look at him, she smiled brightly as if she had been looking for him. Her (y/e/c) eyes, brighter than the stars that followed her, gazed at him. Beckoning him. She was so beautiful. Like a Goddess of Dreams. With a quick flick of her hands she sent another stream of starlight his way. It flowed under his feet pulling him forward to follow the woman. Nearly losing his balance he gradually moved his legs to run on the stream.

This was amazing! He was running on starlight! He looked at the woman again, her smile was bigger and brighter. She raised her arms high as she looked at him cheering him on. He ran with her on the stream of starlight exchanging glances. She pointed ahead of them, the underside of a swirling galaxy. She sprinted ahead of him and breached the galaxy in a burst of stars and colored dust. Like a mermaid surfacing. He wanted to do it too. He sprinted. Breach. Breach. BREACH!

Well that's how you study the stars

That's how you study the stars

And that's how you know 'em by heart

Life is a Lucid Dream

He pushed through the galaxy floating up and up with the stars following him. The brightness in his chest radiated. He never felt so free. So happy. So content. He breathed deeply in peace as he floated. He opened his eyes and stared at the swirling galaxy before him. He wanted to stay forever. His dog tags floated before him. Above him he saw the woman again, delicately drifting towards him with a soft warm smile that made his heart flutter. She reached out and cupped his cheeks with such tenderness his eyes drifted shut at the warmth. “Time to wake up.” Her voice echoed with such grace and softness it made the angel's of old sound tone deaf. And with a soft kiss to his forehead he was enveloped in a warm bright light.

I am a light sleeper

But I am a heavy dreamer

When Bucky opened his eyes again, he heard the sounds of the city. He stared at the ceiling. He was back in the real world. He smiled at the memory of his dream.

He sat up, he felt well rested. Looking at his watch, it was past 6 in the evening. He had been asleep for sixteen hours. With no nightmares. He felt amazing. His mood shifted when in the corner of his eyes he saw a glowing blue light over his sternum. Ethereal blue light in the shape of a delicate handprint lay on his chest, the fingers ending at his sternum. Radiating a soft warmth. It faded slowly into him. He felt a wave calm wash over him as he thought about the woman in his dream. Did she do this? Did she give him that dream?

He needed to find her.

He had to see her again.

#bucky barnes #bucky x reader #james bucky buchanan barnes #bucky fanfic #bucky barnes x female reader #bucky barnes x autistic female reader #bucky barnes imagine #bucky x reader fluff

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shubblelive · 1 year

Text

— [ TENSE +2 ] UNWANTED PROPOSAL

summary : (from marriage proposal) timing is everything.

genre : fluff

warnings : talks of marriage (again, mostly silly), like 2 swear words

pairing : cc!wilbur soot x cc!reader

pronouns : none (you/yours), i think 1 or 2 uses of "them"

featuring : cc!wilbur soot

word count : 1.4k

note : i am back!!! i have so many will drafts that i am slowly but surely getting them out. i started college since i last came on, so i have wayyy less time and energy but i am doing my best i promise.

You met Wilbur because of a bit.

No one thought you’d like each other when you first met, with Wilbur first discovering your channel while he was streaming. You were a lot softer than him, from your voice - preferring to bring your mic closer to your face rather than yelling. You played video games, sure, but you liked games that you could just play by yourself without much stress. You were big on crochet and painting, and Wilbur was taken with you almost immediately.

You, however, were harder to convince. “Who is Wilbur and why is he bullying Ruby?” You gestured behind you to where there was a small anteater figurine on the shelf. She was given to you by one of your fans, painted specifically for you and you’d named it after the girl who gave it to.

From then on, you would go back and forth, each picking on a small thing that the other did. This went on for a few weeks before it suddenly stopped. Your viewers were disappointed, but they assumed the bit had finished, and you guys would go back to pretending the other person didn’t exist.

You did the opposite, much to everyone’s delight. You flew out to see each other every few months, streaming for hours with Wilbur’s head resting on yours, your hands fiddling with each others under the frame of the camera. But it was the times that you weren’t streaming that you loved the most.

Waking up with Wilbur’s face inches from yours, him coming to stand between your legs while you sat on the kitchen bench, head resting on his shoulder. His hand under your jaw as you beamed up at him, smile so bright he could feel his heart pounding against his ribcage so hard he was convinced you could feel it. Spending what felt like centuries memorising the shape of his face.

It was years of friendship captured online, with all the love and tenderness obvious to anyone who saw. It didn’t show the whole story, didn’t show the kisses pressed to your cheeks in dark rooms. Didn’t show the tears when he left you for another four months.

Everyone on the internet could see Wilbur loved you, but you were the only person who knew just how much. At least he thought so.

It was one of Wilbur’s extended stays at your flat, and you had an early morning stream planned; an important one. Wilbur had woken up late, and went to go check on you. He wouldn’t go in - he was still in his pyjamas and people didn’t need to see him half awake and full-hearted.

He was just intending on standing right outside the door and listening for a few minutes before he’d go entertain himself while you worked. You were playing the Sims after having just announced new merch and a new project you’d been working on, and Wilbur found himself biting back a smile.

“I’m really struggling, chat.” Your tone was light, but when was it not? Why hadn’t you said anything? “Now, I know we like to keep things nice and cosy here, but maybe one of you can help me.”

Wilbur frowned, knowing he’d have to bring it up with you later. You were struggling? And you felt more comfortable sharing it with the entire internet rather than with him? “So, chat. We all know Wilbur, right? We know Will, we love Will. Now, I think I love Will more than anyone else, and I thought he loved me.” You huffed.

What were you talking about? Of course he loved you. Had he not been showing it enough recently? He pulled out his phone and immediately went to look at your calendar. The two of you had combined work calendars years ago, so even if you weren’t in the same place you knew what the other had going on. It was your idea, but Wilbur was immensely grateful in that moment. You had another thing early tomorrow so you wouldn’t want to be out too late. You had to go out immediately after the stream, but you’d be back by lunch. That was more than enough time for him to set something up. “I have been trying my hardest, chat. I want to marry Wilbur and he just refuses.” He almost dropped his phone, his heart leaping into his throat. You wanted marriage? It was one of those things, where if you wanted it he’d more than willingly give it to you. But marriage was something Wilbur thought you didn’t want.

Okay, he could do this. Maybe not before lunch, but he could do it. He’d just need a ring, and all the other fancy shit that people did. What should you buy your partner before you propose? Candles? You weren’t big on the smell.

Maybe he could make dinner, though you preferred not cooking when he was there, hating washing up even more. He would figure it out. He knew you better than anyone else, he would make this the best proposal ever.

Sim-Wilbur was not co-operating. You had spun a wheel at the beginning of your sim’s life to find out who their love interest would be and your real life boyfriend was the lucky person.

You had tried your best to get your sim to propose to Wilbur but he kept rejecting them no matter how high your relationship was. You ended up deciding to play something less frustrating until the end of the stream. After, you emerged and found Wilbur on the couch, typing furiously. “You alright, Will?”

“Of course, love,” he barely looked up. “You off?”

You nodded, but he didn’t even look. “Yeah, I’ll be back around eleven-thirty. Want me to bring lunch?”

“Sure.” He looked up for long enough to kiss you quickly. “Sorry, sorry. I’ll be more present when you get back I promise, just work stuff.”

“Okay,” you felt a bit silly, even trying to talk to him when he was clearly distracted. “I love you.”

At least he made sure to say it back before you left. You shook off your weird feeling, and went to your meeting. You had a bag of food in one hand, struggling to hold onto it while you unlocked your door. “Will? Can you come help me please?”

You managed to get the door closed, and when you spun around you were met with your boyfriend. On one knee, with a ring.

You dropped the bag.

“What?” you couldn’t think of much else to say besides that. “What?”

“Darling.” He had practised twelve times, absolutely determined not to show you how rushed this was. He’d re-propose later, of course, something much more extravagant. Or less, if that’s what you wanted. He didn’t know what you wanted, this was something he hadn’t even considered in this phase of his life. Not that he wouldn’t do it, he’d do anything for you. “We’ve been together for a while now, but even if we hadn’t I’d still know that I don’t want to love anyone the way I love you. I don’t even think I’ll be able to if we split up. I know sometimes I’m shit at showing it, and I’m sorry if you were putting out signs and I was ignoring them. But I promise, I love you more than I can even say. So, after all that…” he took a breath. “Will you-”

“I don’t want to get married!” You blurted.

He faltered. “You don’t?”

“No,” you spluttered. “I thought we talked about this! I told you I was happy with how we were, and I thought you were too. It’s nothing to do with you. I’m just not a marriage type of person, at least not right now.”

“But you said-” He wobbled as he stood up, dusting himself off. “You said you were trying to marry me but I was being stubborn or something.”

You shouldn’t have laughed, but you couldn’t quite help yourself. “Video game, darling,” you said softly.

God, he was an idiot. “God, I’m an idiot.”

“No you’re not.”

“You’re still laughing at me!”

You pulled him closer to you, pressing a kiss to his lips. “I love you, Wilbur. But the answer is no, I will not marry you.” He started laughing as well, and he kissed you back; open mouthed and giddy. “Your chips are on the floor.”

“Doesn’t matter,” his hands found yours, squeezing gently. “I can eat chips whenever. You only don’t get engaged once.”

“If you’re lucky.” You said, not able to wipe the smile from your face despite the fact that literally nothing happened.

“Trust me, I’m so lucky.”

#wilbuh ♡#wishing i could write my name on it #wilbur soot fanfiction #wilbur soot x reader #wilbur soot x you #wilbur soot x y/n #wilbur soot fluff #mcyt wilbur #wilbur soot x reader fluff

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danceswithsporks · 10 days

Text

Awake- Part 3

Crosshair x Innkeeper!reader

*Not canon to Season 3*

Parts 1 2

Chapter Summary: Home is finally in sight but can Crosshair handle all the emotions happening around him and deal with his own at the same time?

Authors Notes: it’s a long one folks! Strap in and prepare yourself! Lots being hit here! I can’t stress how important it is that you’ve read the other instillations in this series to understand parts that aren’t being said! Please take the time to go and read Calm and Warm if you haven’t already!!

“Crosshair.” The sweet voice of his dream woman called to him down a long dark hallway lined with dolls. It echoed off the bare walls to him beckoning him to her.

“Crosshair” she called once more.

Without hesitation, Crosshair began to run towards the voice.

“Crosshair”

His legs burned as though he’d been running for hours.

“Crosshair”

His arms felt heavy.

“Cross”

The hallway began to rumble and shift from side to side.

“CROSS”

The sniper sat up with a gasp, just barely missing hitting his head off of Echo’s. “Wh-What?”

“Sorry. Rex wants to see ya.” Echo thumbed over his shoulder towards the exit of the room they were in. “He’s in the main area.”

“Got it.” Crosshair swung his legs off the cot and sat with a sigh. They’d been at the base for almost a week now. According to Hunter, they’d be moving on soon. Back to some place they’d settled down on. Within his first day at the base, his arm had been properly healed by Kix, as well as the blown eardrum he’d sustained during their escape. Something he was thankful for. However, the time in which his arm had been left to naturally heal had done a number to the strength in his arm. He’d need time to rebuild it and hold his rifle properly.

Echo tilted his head to the side as he watched his brother. Something was on his mind. “Credit for your thoughts?”

Crosshair shook his head, not ready to discuss his dreams. “Just trying to adjust is all.” He’d given up hope on escaping Tantiss and now here he was, free. Well, almost. Rex and his men had kept a close eye on him, especially Howzer. No doubt they were worried that he’d undergone some kind of reprogramming and been turned against them. That he’d been turned into a spy and that was why he’d been spared the worst of the experiments. Crosshair hadn’t the heart to tell them the extent of the torture he’d gone through. Not even he was ready to discuss that yet.

“Take ya time. It’s a lot to adjust to. Good thing is ya got us here to help ya.” Echo watched the sniper stand and stretch for a moment. He stepped over and patted his shoulder carefully. “Glad to have ya back.”

“It’s good to be back.” Crosshair reached up and squeezed his brother's hand tightly. It was crazy to think about the fact that a few years ago it was just him, Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech. They didn’t work with regs often, opting to work as their own team. Then they worked with Rex to find a missing soldier. Within a few hours, they went from a team of four to a team of five. Now Crosshair couldn’t think of Echo as anything less than a brother. The team was almost back together now, almost.

He could feel it in the air, the grief that no one wanted to address. Tech was truly gone. Killed while trying to find him. In a way, it was his fault. If he hadn’t reached out and sent that warning then they wouldn’t have gone looking for him. They would have stayed safe wherever they had been and Tech would be alive. He wouldn’t blame the others if they hated him. Crosshair and the girl had spoken on two other occasions after that about the planet the batch had settled on. About some sweet women who took care of her and the others and about a pirate that had shown them the island in the first place. Though Crosshair barely paid attention to their names, something about Chai and Stitches and Phee. Who was who, he couldn't tell but the girl had been excited. Unsure if he’d ever meet them in the first place. All he knew about them was that Tech had saved one of them from a tsunami when they first arrived on the island. At least that was what Wrecker told him. Besides those few occasions, he hadn’t spoken to Omega, the girl clung to Hunter and Wrecker, no doubt scared she’d been taken anyway again.

Which is why he was surprised that the child ran up to him when he entered the main briefing room. Her arms wrapped around his torso and squeezed him tightly while she called out his name happily. It was still strange for him to hear his name called out. For nearly a year now it had been CT- 9904. Only a few called him by his name and those that had had either gone AWOL or worse. At least in the real world. In his dreams, he constantly heard his name called out by his dream woman. But now? Now everyone was saying it and while it felt amazing to hear it said, it was also a little overwhelming.

“Hey, kid.” He reached down and ran a hand over her hair carefully. Behind her stood Rex, Howzer, Hunter, and Wrecker in the center of the room. They seemed to be in conversation about something and barely paid Crosshair any mind. It wasn’t until Omega pulled him over to the group did they acknowledged him. “Boys”

“Crosshair, how ya settling in?” Wrecker asked while kneeling to pick Omega up. The girl happily released Crosshair’s hand and returned to her place on Wrecker’s shoulder.

“Good enough. Beds are more comfortable than the ones on Tantiss.” Making it easier to fall asleep and dream about his dream woman.

Rex crossed his arms and nodded. “Good to know.”

The group stood awkwardly around one another before Crosshair finally let out a long breath. “Echo said you wanted to see me?”

“It’s about Hemlock.” Hunter heard the way Omega swallowed at the name.

Crosshair raised an eyebrow in shock at the mention of Hemlock. “He survived?” How? How could someone survive that kind of explosion?

Howzer shook his head quickly while raising his hands to stop anyone from asking more questions. “We just intercepted a transmission from the Empire. His body was found in the debris of the ship you destroyed. He’s dead.” He and Crosshair were far from on good terms with one another, Howzer had lost a lot of good men to Crosshair back when he worked for the other side. But he was slowly starting to understand the complex clone a little better and even he had to admit the shot had been impressive. “Still can’t believe you got that shot off with a broken arm and a blown eardrum.”

“Wasn’t easy. Couldn’t have done it without Hunter.” So Hemlock really was dead. The source of his torture and torment was officially gone. So why didn’t Crosshair feel better? Why was there still this nagging weight on his chest? He took a few moments to try and find the source of those feelings but found he couldn’t with so many eyes on him. The others were still staring at him. “What else is there?”

Nothing could get past Crosshair. Hunter crossed his arms, much like Rex and Howzer, before speaking. “After some conversation and listening to your recount of what happened at Tantiss, we’ve decided on what to do.”

“And?” Crosshair didn’t have the bandwidth to play games right now.

“We’re heading home and we want you to come with us!” Omega spoke happily from Wrecker's shoulder.

She was ever the light in these dark times. Even with Tantiss gone and Hemlock and those involved with the testing dead they still weren’t safe. They were enemies of the Empire who knew too much and had done too much. One day someone would come for them, Crosshair could feel that deep down. Would going with them be the right idea? Would they be safe with him there? Or safer without him?

“Where’s that?” He’d go with them for now, if only to keep them safe.

Wrecker smirked while throwing his arm around Crosshair's shoulder, the image of Stitches already in his head. Her beautiful smile beaming just for him as she calls out his name in happiness. Already he could imagine wrapping his arms around her and holding her close before dipping her and kissing her hard and deep for hours on end. His Stitches, his beautiful girl. Wrecker spoke with a happy sigh “Pabu”.

-*-

Pabu was quiet, eerily quiet. Something was about to happen, you could feel it in your bones. Whatever it was you didn’t know but with how peaceful things were it was inevitable that it would all be shattered. “Hmmm.” You stepped around the small table in your private kitchen and placed a plate down in front of Phee.

“What’s with the hum?” Phee picked up her fork and happily stapled at the fish on her plate.

You sat across from her with your plate of food and chewed your lip for a moment. “Something feels off. I keep getting this feeling that something’s about to happen, something bad.” Beneath the table, your leg started to bounce causing the table itself to shake a little.

Phee reached across the table and took your hand in hers. “Everything will be okay. It’s just a nervous feeling after the tsunami. It’s been really quiet around here since that day and your inn was close to the waters. It makes sense. Everything will be okay.” Truly, things were looking up for your island. People were back in their homes and you were all recovering.

“Yeah.” You scooped some of your rice onto your fork and hovered it over your plate. “Maybe you’re right.” The two of you fell into silence as you ate the late lunch you’d made. Phee was one of the older people in your life who you cared about deeply. She’d always swung by your inn when she returned from her travels with some kind of gift for you. Whether that was a new ingredient to try out or something to decorate with. She’d directed people to your inn countless times and it was with her help that you were even staying afloat. Phee had her place here on Pabu, it was rare that someone didn’t, but during slow times she’d rent a room just to help out. You’d never accept straight credits from anyone so she, and others, had found ways to pay you for services. Even if they didn’t need them.

*Pling* *Pling*

Phee’s datapad rang softly from her satchel. The woman was inclined to ignore it and just enjoy the meal with you. But something nagged at her and told her to answer it. “Yeah?” She answered quickly while glancing at you.

“Phee? It’s Hunter.” A somewhat familiar gruff voice echoed across the table. You’d met him and the others before when you’d delivered food up to their ship. Hunter was nice, a man focused on protecting his family. Especially Omega. The girl was lucky to have such protective big brothers.

“Well hello, stranger. Haven’t heard from your boys in a while. Hope that means some good news.” She winked at you as she pushed around the rice on her plate. She’d missed talking to the boys. It had to be a good sign that Hunter was contacting her. No doubt Wrecker, and hopefully Tech, would be contacting Stitches and Chai as well. Goodness knows the girls could use some perking up.

Hunter cleared his throat as he stared at the swirling blue of hyperspace. “We’ll be landing on Pabu in a few hours. You should probably meet us there.”

It was the way he said it that made Phee shift. “What happened?”

“I’ll explain when we land. Just think someone they know should be there.” A noise behind him made him turn and look back at someone on the ship.

“Do they know yet? Or should I tell them you're coming back?” Hunter was being cryptic for some reason. No doubt for the sake of Omega which had to mean something horrible had happened.

Right, he should let the girls know they were on their way back. “I’ll have Wrecker message her in a little bit.” How would he explain his reaching out to Chai instead of Tech?

Why did he only say Wrecker? Sure Chai and Tech weren’t as secure in their relationship as Wrecker and Stitches, but surely he’d let her know he was coming back. Right? Her eyes flickered to you as she remembered what you said about the feeling that something bad was about to happen. Surely you couldn’t mean the worst possible thing. Right? “I’ll get things ready for you guys.”

“Right. See you soon.” Hunter hung up the line.

You chewed your piece of fish nervously while listening to the conversation. Something wasn’t being said and that feeling was back in your stomach. You waited until the call ended before speaking. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” A twisting feeling was beginning to form in your stomach.

“Possibly.” Phee pushed the plate of food away from her before placing her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand. “Hunter’s always been cryptic but not to this level. Something’s wrong.”

“Are you going to let Chai know?” It hadn’t been lost on you that Hunter hadn’t said anything about Tech contacting the tea shop owner.

Phee let out a sigh before shaking her head. “I don’t know. I’m hoping Tech does it himself.” She had to believe he would. Brown eyes had to be okay.

So that’s how it was? You were going in with the hope that everyone was fine. “Well,” you stood from the table and picked up your half-eaten plate. “Should get those rooms aired out and ready for guests.” How many rooms that would end up being used was still up in the air. For now, you’d get the four ready for use. Hopefully, the only reason why there’d be three used would be because Tech was staying with Chai.

“Here, I’ll help.” Phee stood from the table and grabbed her plate as well. She needed to keep her mind busy and not worry about why Hunter was being so careful about what he said.

You forced a half smile while nodding to the older woman. “Thanks.” Even with her help, it would take some hours to get the place ready for company. Time that would only make your worry grow.

-*-

Hunter ended the call and looked back at his family. They were stationed around Gonky talking happily with one another. How long would this happiness last? Could they really easily go back to Pabu and not worry about anything else? “Echo? Can ya come in here for a minute?”

Echo looked up from his datapad. “Yeah. No problem.” Standing, he carefully maneuvered around Gonky and the others before entering the cockpit. The door shut behind him with a hiss closing him off from the others.

“Wonder what that’s about.” Wrecker took a bite out of his rations bar. He couldn’t wait to get back to Stitches and her fantastic cooking. He’d been dreaming about her pasta dishes and the fish meals she made. He felt bad for not calling her yet, but he would soon. He just needed to figure out what to say to her to explain the long silence. How did he tell her that her best friend's almost-boyfriend was dead?

“Probably about what to do when we get to your island.” Crosshair laid back in his bunk and stared at the ceiling. He hadn’t slept since they left Rex’s base and now sleep was pulling at him. Maybe he could catch a few winks before they arrived. He found himself missing his dream girl, her sweet words that sent rivers of warmth through his veins. It was ridiculous to miss someone from his dreams, he knew that. But the safety and security she provided was just unbelievable.

“You mean our island.” Omega emphasized ‘our’ for him to understand that he was part of the family once more. “Oh Crosshair, you’re going to love it there. It’s pretty with nice weather. The people are really nice too. Especially Stitches and Ch-“ her voice hitched as she thought about the tea shop owner. “Chai.” She was going to be so sad when she found out about Tech. Who would tell her? “Sh-She makes the b-best cookies.” Tears began to form in her eyes at the thought of Chai smiling and giving her the cookies. How often would Chai smile after losing Tech?

Wrecker could see the sadness beginning to form in the girl. Her shoulders hunched and began to shake. “Chai makes some amazing sweets and teas. Stitches and I go to her shop a lot to get some treats for after dinner.”

“St-Stiches makes yummy food and pretty clothes.” Omega swallowed the lump in her throat. “I w-wonder if she’s f-finished my new dress.” A wail left her as she thought about the day she picked out the fabric for the dress. Tech had helped her.

“What’s happened?” Echo stepped out of the cockpit in surprise at the girl's wail. Omega sat in front of him as a crying mess.

“She was talking about Chai and suddenly she was crying.” Crosshair sat up from his bunk with a sigh. Sleep wouldn’t be in the cards for him now. He’d have to wait until later to see her.

“Ah.” Chai. The focus of his and Echo’s conversation. Hunter sighed as he knelt next to the girl and rubbed her back. “Chai is-“ Hunter swallowed. “Was Tech’s girl. Even if he didn’t know it.”

Crosshair chewed his lip as he listened to Hunter explain things. “Oh” was all he could think to say. This was the girl that his brother had begun to fall for? The one he’d saved according to Wrecker.

“Tech wouldn’t want us to be sad over his death.” Echo knelt next to Omega and brushed some of her hair out of her face. “He’d want us to talk about the good times.”

Omega sniffled as he spoke. “I m-miss him so much.” It was like something snapped inside of her. With another wail, tears poured from her eyes and she buried her face into Echo's chest.

Across from him, Crosshair watched as Wrecker began to cry as well. It seemed the grief that no one had wanted to address was finally hitting. All it took was returning to their new home.

-*-

The rest of the trip to Pabu was long and exhausting. They’d spent the last four hours trying to calm Omega and Wrecker down. While dealing with their grief. Hunter wouldn’t openly admit to but he was heartbroken at the loss of his brother. Out of everyone he could have possibly lost, Tech was the one he never expected to lose. Echo was angry at the loss of Tech. He’d been the first one to accept him into the batch after he’d been saved from the Techno Union and now he was gone. Yet another brother was taken from him. First the boys of Domino squad, then Fives, and now Tech. How many more clones would they lose before it finally stopped? How many more before they finally found their happiness?

That left Crosshair. A man who was angry, sad, and lost. None of them would say it, but he could feel it, they were angry at him for making the call that inadvertently got Tech killed. If he hadn’t made the call then they wouldn’t have gone to Eriadu and Tech wouldn’t have fallen to his death. Their grief, suffering, and pain were because of him. How was he supposed to think of himself as a brother to them when he’d caused their worst pain?

“Crosshair? There’s one more thing you should know about that day.” Hunter spoke calmly as they began to approach the planet. He could tell that the sniper was in his head over something. No doubt the topic of conversation for the past four hours.

“Hmm?” Crosshair didn’t look up from staring at his hands. It was just him and Hunter in the cockpit while Echo helped Wrecker and Omega prepare for landing. Hunter had taken it upon himself to contact Wrecker’s girl and ask her to meet them at their landing point. Something about her being the one needed to calm down Omega and Wrecker. Crosshair was too tired and lost in his self-loathing to ask anything more.

Hunter sighed. “It’s about why the mission failed that day. There was someone else there that distracted us and caused it to go to shit.”

“Someone else?” The sniper looked up at the new information. He’d always assumed they just couldn’t get the tracker on and were spotted.

“Saw Gerrera. His squad was there to kill the top officials that had assembled for the meeting. They’d planned on blowing the base. We couldn’t let them do that. With Hemlock killed we wouldn’t have been able to find Tantiss. Things went sideways and Saw’s explosives detonated, blowing parts of the base and some ships. The tracker was destroyed. In the process, the mechanism for the rail line was destroyed and caused us to jam. Saw escaped and Tech died.” It was the first time he’d openly said what had happened. The moment played over and over in his mind every time he closed his eyes.

Crosshair made a face between anger and sadness. Saw Gerrera. The man he’d once been ordered to hunt. The man that Hunter had allowed to live and escape. The man that Crosshair had executed an entire group of refugees over. The thought of those civilians begging for their lives made his stomach twist. While it was true he’d been under the influence of his chip, he was also still cognitive to his actions. Deep inside he’d been screaming for himself to stop. Only to watch in horror as he didn’t listen to himself. “Saw.” His anger boiled. He’d hunt the bastard down and kill him himself. “What about that Trandoshan that was helping you and then turned on you? What happened to her?”

“Cid? She was killed by Hemlock's men after he took Omega.” Hunter would be lying if he said he missed her. Sure. She’d taken them in after they fled the Empire. But she’d also abandoned them and sent them on deadly missions. Worst missions then those they’d been sent on with the Republic. Good riddance was all he could say when it came to her. Nothing more and nothing less.

“Not surprised. Hemlock wasn’t one to leave loose ends and seeing as she turned on you I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d turn on Hemlock too.” Crosshair couldn’t get Saw out of his mind. That bastard was fighting for the rebellion but sacrificing too many for the good of it. How could he be okay with leaving civilians behind to fend for himself when he knew the empire was hunting for him? The thought made Crosshair sick. Out of everything he learned recently since realizing he was nothing more to the Empire than fodder, it was that family and allies were important to have and keep safe. Allies like Mayday. Yet another brother he’d lost for no reason other than because he was a clone. It made Crosshair wonder if the Empire would be so lax when it came to losing soldiers that had volunteered to serve than they were when it came to losing clones. “Have any idea where Saw is now?”

Hunter looked at his brother angrily. “You’re not going after him, Cross. We just got ya back and you're not back to your old self yet.”

“And why do you say that? I’m fine.” He was ready to get his revenge. Saw deserved it for all the deaths he’d been instrumental in.

Already Pabu was coming into view. The sun was low and the lights of the island spiraled upwards towards the top. Hunter could even make out the Archium standing proud and tall in the courtyard. “I know your arm isn’t one hundred percent yet. You’d die out there on your own.”

Cross looked out the window at the small island. So this was where they’d settled? It looked safe and quiet. “I can take care of myself, Hunter”.

“It’s not just you anymore, Crosshair. You have to think about the others now. Think about Omega. How upset she’d be if you left as well. She’s already lost one brother, don’t make her lose another.” Hunter turned the ship and began the landing sequence.

Hunter was right. Which was frustrating for Crosshair. His arm wasn’t back to perfection yet. His hand wasn’t as strong as it was before. It would take time to build that strength back up, that’s what Kix had told him. “I’ll stay until my arm is back to normal. Then I’m hunting him down.” Nothing would stop him from finding and killing Gerrera. Nothing.

-*-

This woman before him, this was Chai? She was so small compared to the rest of them. So meek and sweet-looking. Crosshair could already see why Tech had been attracted to her. He should say something, anything. But what? He’d never met this woman before. ‘Hi, I’m Crosshair. The one your almost-boyfriend went out to save. Sorry, but he died doing that? That was far from the right thing to say to her. Instead, he just nodded once to her before moving off to the side. He watched as another figure crested the top of the hill. She stepped into the light of the courtyard allowing Crosshair to see her rich brown skin and dreadlocks. This must have been one of the women the girl had mentioned. She made her way across the courtyard and towards Echo who stood just a few feet behind him.

“Phee, good to see ya again.” He extended his hand to her.

“Glad to see you made it back without any new modifications.” Phee quipped happily trying to break the tightness of the air around them. “So what happened?” She could see Omega against the tree with Wrecker both looking solemn. The only two people she didn’t see were Brown Eyes and Hunter.

Echo sighed and leaned in to whisper to her, not wanting Chai to hear it from him. “We lost Tech. I won’t go into it now but it was bad. Hunter is gonna talk to her.” He nodded towards Chai.

Crosshair turned and stepped over to the group. So that was what they’d been discussing in the cockpit. “That a good idea? Shouldn't it come from someone she’s known for a long time?”

“And you must be Crosshair. Tech told me all about your sparkling personality. I’m Phee.” She extended her hand to the clone who took it carefully. “He’s right. I should be there when he tells her. She’ll need support.”

Phee, this had to be the pirate then. Crosshair could vaguely recall Omega talking about her. They’d met through Cid of all people. He looked over his shoulder as the sound of Hunter's boots on the metal ramp seemed to echo throughout the courtyard. “Now’s your chance.” He stepped to the side and allowed Phee to walk over to the woman. Moments later Chai fell to the ground and wailed loudly. Crosshair felt his heart tighten at her pained sounds. Should he say something? Go comfort her in his twin's stead? Again, would that be weird seeing as he didn’t know her?

Another figure entered the courtyard as Chai’s cries rang out. She paused and clenched the top of her shirt over her heart before quickly moving across the courtyard. Ah, this was Wrecker’s girl. Stitches? Yeah, that sounded right. The woman found Wrecker and Omega easily and knelt in the grass to hold them. Crosshair watched as his physically strongest brother collapsed into the woman’s arms and cried into her neck. Once again his heart hurt.

Twenty long minutes dragged by as he watched his brother cry and Phee comforted Chai. After about ten minutes the pirate had escorted the woman out of the courtyard and down the mountain, no doubt to her home. Hunter had returned to the ship to begin the final checks on the ship with Echo offering his help. Which left Crosshair to stand awkwardly in the courtyard listening to the sound of Omega crying and the soft shushing sound of Stitches’.

At the fifteen-minute mark, he returned to the Marauder and helped to unload their basics from it. Gonky was secured and Omega's bag was packed. “Should I bring this over to the kid?”

“Nah, we can deliver it tomorrow.” Echo peeked out of the ship where Hunter had just left a moment prior.

Crosshair leaned in the doorway and watched as Hunter spoke with Stitches. A sentimental hand was placed on Hunter and words were exchanged before the leader of their group looked towards him. “Looks like we’re heading out.” Crosshair pushed off the doorway and grabbed his bag as well as Omegas. Behind him, Wrecker's bag was picked up by Echo.

They both stepped off the ship and he watched as Echo closed the ramp and locked the ship. An eyebrow was raised at the action. They never usually locked the ship.

Echo shrugged. “The ship was stolen after I left the group. Now it gets locked at all times.”

Crosshair was too exhausted to be surprised by the news that their precious ship had been stolen. He’d ask Hunter about it later. They approached their leader at the top of the path. “Where are we going?”

“Phee said the Inn’s been set up for us.” Hunter shifted his bag on his back.

“What about the kid and Wrecker?” Crosshair looked over his shoulder to the three of them still beneath the tree. However, they were now standing with Stitches. The woman’s hand in Wreckers and Omega almost asleep in the giant clone's arms.

Hunter began his descent towards the inn, it wouldn’t be a long walk. “They’re staying with Stitches’. I’ll check on them tomorrow.”

Crosshair nodded as they began their walk. Their small group fell into silence as they tried to process what happened. The cries of Chai still rang in the sniper's ears and he feared they would all night. He cleared his throat a few times as they walked, trying to hold down the lump forming in his throat. He missed his twin.

Fifteen minutes later they arrived at the inn. Low lamps illuminated the windows and Crosshair could tell that someone was within. No doubt the innkeeper. He prepared himself to meet whatever quirky man who owned the building. No doubt they’d want to discuss their adventures and hear about the state of the galaxy. All of which sounded exhausting to the clone.

The door opened with a hiss allowing the three tired clones to enter. To Crosshair's surprise, a pleasant-looking woman stood before him. Very pleasant looking. She was almost familiar to him. Crosshair shook his head slightly at the strange feeling in his head as he took in her features. Beautiful eyes and a stunning smile. Why was she so familiar?

“Crosshair, Echo, meet the innkeeper.” Hunter had seen her on more than one occasion as he’d explored and learned about the island. “Sorry, don’t think I ever caught your name.”

You laughed brightly, albeit sleepily. “It’s ok.” You introduced yourself to the group. The one with a tattoo over his eye was staring at you oddly. Was he ok? “You boys must be exhausted.” You spoke softly while moving over towards the stairs that would lead upstairs to the bedrooms. “Phee called me and filled me in. I’m sorry for your loss.” No doubt they’d want to get to bed as soon as possible. Maybe tomorrow or the day after you could ask about what happened and their adventures.

“Thank you.” Echo nodded to the woman. She was beautiful. Almost like one of those dolls you’d see in the more expensive shops on Coruscant. He’d seen little kids around the shopping districts with them when he’d be on leave on the planet during the war. He missed those easy days.

Your voice. It was your voice that made him understand why you seemed so familiar. You were her, his dream girl. How could you exist? Was this real or was it a dream? Could he already be asleep and this was all part of his dream? No, he’d heard your name. Something he’d never heard before. But that didn’t seem right. Something told him you had another name. A name that his dreams had constantly been hinting at. A name that he’d known in the back of his head but could never get to his tongue. He blindly followed you and the others to the stairs.

“I have three rooms ready for you all. Each room has rubbing water with both a bath and a shower. There are soaps and oils in each room for you to use. The beds come with a light and heavy blanket and four pillows. If you need more just let me know. Breakfast is at daybreak but don’t worry if you don’t make it. I keep the kitchen open all day and Stitches said she’ll be bringing meals for you guys as well. Though I’m guessing she’ll be too busy tonight and tomorrow to do that. So you’re stuck with my cooking for now.” You weren’t on Stitches level but you were pretty damn good. You stopped by the first door and inserted the key card. “Here, this one's for you.” You turned and handed the card to Hunter. The leader of the group you’d been told. Thus you gave him a bigger room.

“Thank you. I don’t know how we can afford to repay you for this.” Hunter dropped his bag in the room and waited to see who got placed in which room next. Why was Crosshair staring at you like that? Was he feeling okay?

You shook your head gently. “It’s all been figured out. You guys are to stay here as long as you need. There’s no rush. Your room, board, and clothing have all been taken care of. I’ll go to Stitches tomorrow and pick all of it up.”

“Clothes?” Echo tilted his head in surprise.

“Mhmm, Stitches used the image of you guys Wrecker gave her and made clothes for all of you. Including you two.” You pointed to both Echo and Crosshair. “This next room is yours, Echo.” You took a gamble on his name. You couldn’t remember exactly who was who from the picture but something inside told you this was Echo.

“That’s nice of her.” Echo was surprised that you knew his name. It had been a while since he’d heard a beautiful woman say his name sweetly. The last time had been Dove when he’d joined the Batch. The thought of his lost friend made his heart ache. From what he’d heard the ship had gone down and she, like so many others, had been lost. Though, if Rex had survived then perhaps she had as well. “How did you know my name, if you don’t mind me asking?”

You slid the keycard into the slot on the door before the door hissed open. The scent of the cool night air drifted from the room and into the hallway. “The same picture actually. Wrecker and Omega talked about you two a lot to Stitches and she told me. Though I have to be honest that I took a gamble on who was who. Stitches only told me your names, she never pointed you out.”

“Fair enough.” He smiled at you as you passed the keycard over. “Thank you for this. It’s been a while since we’ve slept in real beds.”

“All the best for you boys to stay here. Your backs could use it.” You winked at the clone before stepping down the hall. The one who’d been staring at you oddly was left. Meaning g he was Crosshair. “Leaving this room as yours, Crosshair.”

The sound of his name on your lips pulled him from his thoughts. “What was that?” All he’d heard was his name.

He must be extremely tired if he missed what you were saying. “I said that this is your room. Crosshair.” You motioned to the room with the door open. “I’ll bring up some dinner for all three of you in a little bit. I can only imagine what you’ve been living off of these last few weeks.”

You’d said his name again and once more his brain short-circuited. He moved to thank you and found he’d already forgotten your name. “I missed your name, what was it again?” To his shock, you laughed brightly reminding him of his dream girl again.

“It’s ok. It’s late.” You extended your hand to him with a bright smile. Once he took it you squeezed his hand gently and spoke your name. He raised an eyebrow at you, making your heart beat fast for a moment. How odd. “But you can all call me by my nickname.”

“What’s that?” Though something told him he already knew it. It finally had all connected inside of him.

“Doll, my nickname is Doll.”

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band--psycho · 1 year

Text

Young!Remus Lupin x Reader-Monster Lines

So.....I'm back (sorry it took a little longer than planned!)

Huge thank you to @xacatalepsyx , I couldn't have done this without you my friend! 💛

This is another story based off another trending sound that has been on my TikTok a lot!

I hope you all enjoy this! 💛

It was late, and yet, I’d never felt more awake. It was the night after the full moon, and though I hadn’t expected to see all four of the marauders, my heart sank nonetheless.

I’d only recently learned of Remus’s secret, and it hadn’t made one ounce of difference to me.

But I also knew that this meant a lot to Remus, and I would never want him to think I didn’t take his feelings into consideration.

I could see how heavily this weighed on him.

Though upon learning about his secret, a lot of my questions about the quieter marauder had found their answers; like, why he was always so agitated a week before the full moon, and so tired the week after. Why he always disappeared, only to reappear with new scars and injuries, why he always seemed to be so hyper aware of everything; sight, smell, hearing…

Looking back, I kicked myself for being so stupid, I considered the idea, sure, but the thought was gone as quick as it had come.

He was just… Remus.

The quietest out of the Marauders; but no less brilliant.

He was the man who usually always had his nose in a book; who’s soft brown eyes lit up when he was explaining the plot of the latest tale he’d read. The man who without doubt gave the best hugs in Hogwarts.

And the man who never failed to make me smile, no matter how awful my day had been.

It was his business, his secret , and no matter how curious I might’ve been about him and his life. I had never wanted to pry or interfere.

I’d alway admired him from afar, but when I grew closer to him through the marauders and Lily, my feelings for him had only grown.

I think he felt the same way about me. We had certainly grown so much closer over the past year, and Lily was always pointing out little observations and actions I’d also noticed, so perhaps… Maybe he felt the same way.

He was alway interested in what I was reading or doing, was always there to help me when I needed it, and as of late wasn’t shy of showing me his affection.

He’d alway carry my books, or chase of the boys when their antics were getting too much, he was alway just… him.

Remus John Lupin.

I could feel the butterflies erupt in my stomach at the thought of the way he had gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind me a few weeks ago; it was such a simple and sweet gesture.

Only a few days ago were the two of us downstairs in the common room, in the early hours of the morning. One hand held the book he was reading to me, whilst the other was resting on my side as I laid against him.

After a few hours of reading we just sat together, under a huge Gryffindor blanket wrapped around us both, in a comfortable silence, watching as the fire in front of us flickered.

Had it not been for the fact we heard footsteps coming down the stairs from the dorms; which we later found out was not only Lily but James too, we probably would have stayed there until daylight broke. Just snuggled under that blanket.

He was kind and considerate, yet mischievous and cheeky enough in his own right to keep me on my toes. He wasn’t afraid to be honest with me, and never judged or mocked me for anything.

He was perfect, flaws and all in every way.

But I had always sensed he was hiding something.

There was alway one point of every month where he seemed to close himself off from me.

Even a few days ago; in the common room; when I looked into his gorgeous eyes you could see a flicker of fear, of hesitation. As though his mind was arguing with his heart. I wanted to ask him about it, I wanted to know what thoughts were filling his mind, but before I could he just smiled at me. A soft smile that made my heart race faster than normal, before his eyes made their way back to the book and he continued reading.

Now, I knew why…

He was in the Hospital wing; the other marauders had told me this morning before they reluctantly went back to their dorms to get some sleep. They looked exhausted; and from what Lily had told me this had been one of the rougher nights.

That’s when I decided that I was going to see him.

I didn’t know if he wanted to see anyone, least of all me. He was so angry when he found out that I knew about his secret, but I needed to see him, to make sure he was okay, or ask okay as he could be, no matter how mad he was.

~~~~~

Remus could only blink at me,as I stood at the entrance of the Hospital Wing. Confusion flooded into his eyes, before his brows furrowed as though trying to figure out if I was really there or if he was imagining things.

“Y/N? What are you doing here?” His tone was hushed, and still groggy from sleep.

I winced at the thought that I’d disturbed him from his sleep, maybe now wasn’t the time; he needed rest and I knew that. The last thing I wanted to do was disturb him or make him uncomfortable. I contemplated making a quick apology and walking back out the way I came in,so that he could rest, but now that I’d seen him, I just wanted to stay with him.

I scraped my mind for words, trying to figure out what to say, though I truly didn’t know what to say at the moment, the only thing that I could put together was a single sentence.

“I just, I just wanted to check up on you,” My voice was weak, and I kicked myself for that, however Remus didn’t seem to notice.

“I see, of course you’d be worried about me. I should be the one checking up on you.”

A small sigh of relief left my lips at the realisation as his words registered in my mind.

“Remus-” I began softly, making my way over to the side of his bed.

Gently he placed his hand on top of mine; his thumb lightly stroking the back of my hand.

“Y/N, I’m sorry,” he breathed; as his eyes met mine.

“You don’t have to-“

“I do,” he countered, “I was an absolute dick to you yesterday.”

Yesterday was one of the only times I had seen Remus angry.

Not that his anger was really directed at me; but more at Sirius and James who had been discussing Remus and I.

~~~~~~

“Honestly, I just wish he would ask Y/n out,” Sirius vented, the frustration clear in his voice as he paced backwards and forwards through the practically empty common room.

He knew Remus liked Y/n, he knew Y/n liked Remus; it was clear to everyone, and all Sirius (and the rest of the marauders, plus Lily and Marlene) wanted was to see them happy together.

“You know why he won’t,” James sighed; leaning back on the sofa, his eyes staring up at the ceiling.

“He’s not a monster,” Sirius stated; though his tone was a lot harsher than he meant for it to be, he knew James did not think Remus was a monster. But both of them knew that that’s how Remus viewed himself.

“To some people he is,” Peter mumbled, his eyes momentarily glancing up at Sirius before Sirius shot him a death glare, silencing him very quickly and making a wave of regret wash over Peter at what he said.

But again, even though Sirius hated to admit it, Peter was right. People did view Werewolves as monsters; that’s why Remus was so secretive about it and that’s why Remus viewed himself as nothing more than a monster. He also knew that that was why he wouldn’t tell Y/n, because he was terrified that she would view him as what he thought he was, a monster.

But Y/n wouldn’t think that. Not only was she one of the least judgemental people in the school, she also adored Remus and there was no doubt in Sirius mind that that would ever change. He knew that the love Y/n had for Remus would never change.

That’s why he was so frustrated with his best friend.

“Y/n loves him; I know him being a Werewolf wouldn’t change those feelings,”

“Umm Padfoot?” Peter attempted to interrupt the middle of Sirius’ vent, but to no avail.

“What Wormtail? Do you seriously think the fact that he’s a Werewolf would change any of the feelings she has for him?” Sirius snapped, glaring at him, before Peter pointed towards the steps that led up to the dorm rooms.

And standing there was Y/n.

Sirius’ face went pale; how long had she been there? How much had she heard? The thoughts raced around in Sirius’ head until he saw a look in her eyes that answered his questions.

She knew.

“Remus is a-”

She halted her words, unable to finish her sentence as the very man she was talking about walked through the door.

“Remus is a what?” He asked, his voice low and his eyes full of pain and anger.

Y/n had not been the only one to overhear his friend's conversation.

“Say it Y/n,” he spat harshly.

“You’re a Werewolf…” she stated, keeping her eyes fixed on his, “Remus-”

“Don’t,” Remus warned, “Just get out Y/n,”

“Moony-” Sirius started, attempting to calm his friend down but to no avail. Sirius didn’t even get to finish his sentence before Remus had pushed him against the nearest wall.

Y/n had never seen Remus violent. Ever. Especially not physically.

“Remus-” Y/n began; only earning another glare from Remus.

“Out, now,” he snarled, before turning his attention back to Sirius.

Y/n didn’t really get much say in the matter; she couldn’t say anything before James had picked her up and carried her out of the room; simply telling her to go and find Lily.

~~~~~~

I wanted to make him see, to understand that I was aware of his situation, and yet I still wanted to pursue something with him.

“Remus; you don’t have to worry about it,” I assured him.

“I am a monster you know,”

“Who told you that?”

“Look at me,” was simply his answer as he motioned his hands at himself in disgust and the sight breaks your heart. He says nothing after that, closing in on himself again, and I took this opportunity to truly close the distance between us.

I took a seat on the bed next to him, turning to face him. Then,I turned that had been placed on top of mine, over, so that his palm was facing up towards him.

“Why?” His eyes narrow, studying you for an answer, though you don’t give him one, merely insist gently.

“Just let me see it.”

Even though the butterflies in my stomach were fluttering away like there was no tomorrow, I had to ignore them. Right now, I needed to focus.

I narrowed my eyes as I dropped my gaze towards his palm, intently studying the lines upon his skin.

“Hmm…” reaching out a finger to one just below his index finger, gently tracing the length of it towards the other side of his hand, “a long life line.”

I felt his body shiver slightly at the sensation, before I continued my observations; my attention immediately grabbed by the line just below.

“Oh and this one, means you’re shy.” I glanced up at him with a small grin and he in tune huffs a laugh at my antics, though I did notice a slight redness to his cheeks.

“Hmm… hm, hm, hm… well that’s funny…” Y/n softly continued; moving his hand just a little closer as her eyes narrowed.

“What?” The tone that laced his voice was evidence enough of his panic.

“I don’t see any…”

“Any what?”

“Monster lines,” I answered, the smile on my face growing, “Not a single one and the lines don’t lie.”

I gently raised my other hand to his face; making sure to be careful of the small cuts that were scattered over his soft skin, before starting to rub his cheek soothingly, “I love you, Rem and I promise you that you are no more a monster than I am.”

“But-”

This time it was my turn to interrupt Remus’ words, but I didn't do it with my own words; no, I did it by placing my lips on his before Remus could utter another word.

“You are not a monster,” I mumbled against his lips, “And I will remind you of that every single day.”

“Y/n,” he whispered; the softness in his voice made every single butterfly in my stomach erupt before he pulled me back down for another kiss, before saying the words I’d longed to hear from his lips, “I love you too.”

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