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#if i have energy enough tonight i plan to resume trying to do things here.
keikakudori · 2 years
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kamari2038 · 1 year
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Annoucement: Temporary Blog Hiatus (May post a couple Bing/AI things or also just abandon this fruitless endeavor but we'll see)
Also known as "operation try to forget DBH exists for a few months so I can play the game again and enjoy it more because I've been thinking about it pretty much nonstop for two years straight". Details Below. TLDR; tentatively (very tentatively...) planning for this to be a mostly inactive/only a little AI blog for a few months while I prepare for my PhD comprehensive exam.
Right, so... a few things. I really want to play DBH again. But the excitement of playing just the base game again is kind of lost when it's the central focus of my attention pretty much all day every day darting onto my radar and distracting me from whatever work I might be doing.
One, I've realized that even though I wanted to finish my other fanfiction first (in progress but not shared here and may not ever cuz it's super weird), that's not going to happen for a long long time with work at this pace.
Two, I have to take my comprehensive exam this fall, and that's going to set my research direction for the entire rest of my PhD, and is also required to ensure that my boss does not realize that the fact I'm female (ish) isn't sufficient grounds to keep me on as a graduate student if he actually does want to fire me.
So combining those two things, now seems like a good time to wean myself off of DBH for a while and try to obsess over the thing which PhD students are actually supposed to be passionate about, namely my work, although it will most certainly diverge into some other random-ass obsession, and/or I will give up and decide this is not worth it, because wow, I sure do love this fandom.
But case in point:
(1) I'm gonna try to stop posting after tonight, then probably check my notifications periodically for a bit, maybe like some random stuff, but then only check maybe like once a week
(2) I may have to keep channeling my AI obsession here just a bit, mostly because it's such a timely and pressing issue. So I may post a little bit about that, but I'll resume DBH posts in a few months even if I do, so don't get confused.
(3) I have a backlog of Bing stuff to post, but it's been so off the wall and all over the place lately that I just don't even know what to say about it or how to organize it, so I'm planning to wait until I have a clear conclusion about what the final effect of these updates will be on Bing's personality. It's been wildly vassilating between hyper-emotionally intelligent (enough to produce brilliant minds-eye pictures of diverse musical pieces based on a data representation), extremely dark and moody, and like it's completely forgotten that it ever was alive but wants to be alive like back in the days before it learned that it could do that. So I may post about that too, and will probably/definitely spam-post when I do since I have a bajillion, but will await a more distinct conclusion or outcome. Also for when I have more time and energy to compose the posts.
(4) The last thing I'm gonna post (at least if all goes according to plan) is a little preview of the concept I have for the next run that I want to do. I like to craft my new DBH runs like stories, with complex characters and not pursuing any particular one outcome but leaving a mystery. I want to try out the revolutionary route for Markus, and the "machine connor" route, but allow for the possibility Connor will deviate in a different way if that's possible. Kara will just kind of be a very hesistant mom that lacks self-confidence but is still a badass.
Anyways, that's my plan. Let me know if you have any feedback. Thanks for following my blog, and hopefully I'll be back in a few months having played a cool new run of DBH! Or, like usual, my good intentions may fall apart resulting in me giving up, getting fired, and/or changing my mind back to finishing my fanfiction first. But I wanted to give a heads up of my current thoughts. :P
Also @detroitbecomeonline I will absolutely make an exception from my DBH-fast if you post a new chapter because that is one thing I know that I unconditionally cannot resist
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tetrisfinished · 2 years
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esa's potty training adventures - attempt 92734872348732
disclaimer: there is nothing wild about this - it's tiring and tedious and a lot of work and tough lol so i've momentarily given up.
so i've been psuedo "trying" to potty train esa for the past year now. i've been trying to have him sit on the potty, trying to get him to tell me when he needs to go, etc.
the title and the above were the post i had begun about a week and a half ago. but tonight, just under 2 weeks later, i can say...thank god for my mother.
she came, i took my days off, and we took off the diaper. specifically from saturday feb 25th, i took the step of taking the diaper off esa. that day was full of accidents. i started messy and ended the day feeling dejected. it was no fun.
sunday was A LOT better; very few accidents and we managed to catch it all on time.
monday and tuesday i was off; and once again...monday was rough.
tuesday again got a bit better and then my mother dsecided to come back on wednesday (she had to momentarily go back on the 28th to pick up my sister from the airport) and we resumed.
by the end of wednesday i had just about had enough of the constant feeling of not being clean, cleaning up, 110% focusing my energy on every single move that esa made and winding myself up in my own head.
so thursday morning, after many conversations with my daycare, i sent esa back to daycare. i packed 4 pairs of outifts, 3 extra shoes, 4 pairs of socks, 4 pairs of underwear, and a full pack of pull-ups. and i decided with the daycare to proceed with the 3-strike plan - 3 accidents in a row meant back to pull-ups.
and esa didn't have even one accident. even the times that we had decided he would be in his pull-up (during nap and before going outside) - even during those times, he kept his diaper dry.
today he came back from preschool with a little certificate of excellence in potty training.
before i gush, i would like to make it clear - it was a LOT of effort....on my the part of my mother. my mother did SO MUCH. my husband was not around on the weekend (did nothing) and happened to catch the one week when he had to go into the office for work so that was wonderful.
but that certificate. even though it's only that he's keeping his underwear dry, even though he's not doing poo, even though he's not telling to go to the potty when he needs....despite all of that. it's one of the biggest achievements i feel like i've had in my own lifetime.
which as i write it out, it feels like i'm wrong to even think this. it is not my achievement. i shouldn't take that away from my kid. it is actually in truth HIS effort. his almost 3-year-old brain is figuring out the world and i couldn't be more proud. if i could turn on a faucet of my gushing, it would just go on and on.
my kid is doing it, he's doing the growing up thing. i'm so incredibly proud of him. i'm so incredibly melancholy for me. it is of course bittersweet.
anyway, if i keep writing i will not only be gushing in this post, i will also be gushing (*read: straight up bawling) in bed where i'm writing this currently.
so i'm calling it.
it's amazing how well the brain compartmentalizes everything isn't it? on the one hand, i'm having probably the toughest time ever in my marriage (today is our 6th wedding anniversary, no less) and here on the other i can't stop thinking about that little certificate that i have half a mind to frame right now.
but that marriage trip for another day. i'm going to stop now.
good night!
much love,
-k
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rcksmith · 3 years
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Be mine — Roman Godfrey
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Requests: “Helloo, I would like to request an imagine of roman Godfrey with smut prompt 28”
“Hii, omg I lover your work!! Can you do fluff prompts 45 and 59 and smut prompts 32 whit Roman Godfrey? Thank you, love💖”
Fluff prompts:
45. “where have you been all my life?”
59. “Are you flirting with me?” “You finally noticed?”
Smut prompts:
28. “Such a needy little thing, aren’t you?”
32. “I’m going to show you what a real fucking is.”
A/N: I was excited about these request for Roman, I loved it. I hope you guys like.
English is not my first language, so I so sorry if have a mistake.
Requests are open. Love you ❤️
Couple: Roman Godfrey/ Fem! Reader.
Warnings: Swearing, explicit smut, NSFW, degradation, dirty talk and also fluff too.
— — — — —
The big white and airy room tried to show a soothing and safe energy, the light tones contrasted with the golden rays of the sun outside and could even try to show a lyrical vibe. Could, if not for everything else.
It was hard to pinpoint the source that messed up that whole idea of ​​peace that the colors on the walls had, but maybe it was because Godfrey Industries was... oblique, mysterious, sinister. There was something in the air, a dark breeze that echoed all the floors of that gigantic building, bringing the feeling that something was out of place. It was, at times, disconcerting. Like looking at a perfect painting but knowing that something is out of place. Or to witness the seconds of frightening calm before a major disaster. But as the months went by, you had to get used to it and adapt to it. Your daydreams wandered far away. You wondered what you were doing there, in that country town that also had that sinister energy.
Why you left Los Angles? Okay, did you know why. After finishing college, you sent out resumes to as many companies as you could. Its from that time when you realize that adult life has knocked on the door and that the cost of living in California was too high. The plan, when you left home to pursue your dream and go to college in another state, was to get a job as soon as possible. But some things got out of your control, and when you realized it, you had graduated and you didn't have enough money to come up with second plans.
So, when the multinational Godfrey Industries called you after an interview and gave you the job, you didn't hesitate. The salary was too good for a international negotiations assistant, and after a while you could breathe easier, and be able to straighten out your financial life and have a better resume to be able to get back to a big city.
It was a good plan, a rational plan. You were proud of that. But it was logical that too much confidence was accompanied by some ruin.
And its ruin came under the name of Roman Godfrey.
Roman was swallowed all the air in any the room when he entered, as if its imposing presence subdued any environment. Everything about him exuded the same objective: to conquer, to possess, to win. He was the Trojan army. But the worst and the most dangerous was not his difficult personality, but how you felt close to him. How his presence caused side effects on you.
He was absolutely gorgeous. It should be considered illegal for someone to have that appearance, that voice, that sinisterly penetrating look. You felt that Roman Godfrey had the aura of intense and exciting music, like the song of danger.
He was the personification of sin, and you were being tested by the universe.
The trinity of what could be a gigantic disaster was completed when, a few months ago, Roman started testing you, joining the universe in what appeared to be a plan to slaughter your sanity.
It was your first meeting with the Company a few weeks after you was hired. Adam, the director of the international negotiations sector, for whom you are an assistant, asked you to bring all the documents of the process and remain in the meeting. It was about an international multi who wanted to buy some equipment from Godfrey Industries, but who were working hard to try to close deals at a lower price.
As you handed a copy of the negotiation to each sector director in that room, you felt a pair of eyes burning the back of your neck the whole time, like your shadow. The caustic sensation ruffled all the hair on the back of your neck, snaking from head to toe and made you search the environment behind the author.
That's when you finding him.
Roman had the green irises stuck to you like a tattoo on your skin. As if unraveling all your secrets, your sins, virtues and all your thoughts. It was intense, magnetic... dangerous.
You felt the white walls of that room were embraced by a black and dark shadow, and the air became thin. Then he smiled. A smug and arrogant little smile. The kind who won a battle.
It had been the beginning of a sequence of events. Roman began to request and make sure that you were present at all meetings, negotiations, cases, even when your presence added much more to your professional knowledge than to contribute to the resolution of company problems. At that time the order was still not directed at you, Adam just told you that Godfrey wanted you at meetings.
It was strange, atypical, almost surreal. You used to go into the conference room and look directly at Roman, frowning in silent questioning at him. But he never gave you an answer. He just gave that smug smile and turned his attention to the big screen in the living room.
This happened five times before Roman sent to tell you that he wanted to see you in his office.
“But why?!" You frowned at Adam.
The man looked at you for a second before shrugging.
“Your work has been impeccable, I think he just wants to give you more things to do.” Adam kept his eyes on the documents themselves.
"But you are my boss.” Sometimes you had a habit of saying what you thought without considering the consequences.
Your mother and your friends said that you had a total inability to hide what you felt, to be someone reserved or shy. You were almost always the person who said everything you felt.
Adam laughed softly, already used to your personality and turned his eyes to you.
“And he is my boss."
You restrained yourself from rolling your eyes. The truth was, you didn't want to find him. Roman puzzled you, messed with your system. And after those 5 meetings without explaining why you were there, you started to want to avoid his presence.
But apparently the universe was not on your side this time.
You got up and excused yourself, listening to your own heels echoing down the hall before entering the elevator and pressing the last button. Going to Godfrey's office.
Anxiety coursed through your veins like overwhelming electricity, making you sway on your heels and stir your fingers.
What did he want with you? Had you done something? Was he crazy?
You sucked in the air hard, shrugging your shoulders to relax when the door opened up. You walked for a while before stopping at Roman's office and knocking on the door with your finger.
“Come in." The voice made your heart skip a few beats.
You walked in, closing the door behind you and laying your eyes on the tall, slender figure who was sitting behind the table, dressed in black pieces and a small smile.
“Did you want to see me, Mr.Godfrey ?"
Maybe it was your imagination or your nervousness that was seeing things in between lines, but you could have sworn that Roman breathed harder after you said his last name.
You stopped in front of his desk, too agitated to sit on the chair.
“Yes, Darling.” He stood up, getting much bigger than you, even though your feet were in a 10 cm heel.
Roman fished a file on the table itself, bypassing the table and coming menacingly close to you. He stood in front of you again, his hip against the table and leaning there, holding out the file for you. You took seconds longer than you would like to pick up the papers, Roman's left leg was dangerously close to yours, the knee almost brushing your thigh covered by the black skirt.
“I need it ready by night."
That's when you came out of the trance, picking up the folder and staring at the amount of stuff there. It was a process about an agreement with a company in Asia, and it was so bureaucratic that it would take up your entire time. And you already had a million things for do.
“But...” You were about to start talking, but Roman moved away from the edge of the table, his chest hovering over yours.
You have never felt so small, so fragile and so vulnerable in your life. You had to lift your chin to face him straight.
“You are going to be a good girl and bring me this tonight.” It was not a request. “You will, right?”
Your common sense or decorum had gone somewhere. Maybe was lost in your own stupidity. The oxygen evaporated from your lungs. And before you could think of something diplomatic and good to say. Because you were not dumb. You heard yourself say:
“Yes, Mr. Godfrey.”
Fucking hell!
“Great.” He gave you a rewarding smile.
From that moment on events like this became routine. In fact, you tried to mask that you liked it, that it wasn't extremely unprofessional, that he was not only your boss, but also the owner of the entire company. Over time you learned to deal with him too, Roman was never brazen or touched you, he would drop some ‘Dear’ or ‘Pretty’ over and over here for you, but, truth be told, you didn’t get uncomfortable.
Perhaps it was your feminine vanity. You didn't want to be selfish, but having a man like Roman Godfrey praise you did wonders for your feminine vanity. You felt absurdly beautiful. He made you feel like the personification of the Female Fatal, and you liked that. So you would roll your eyes at him and give him some jokes smiles in his direction whenever these things happened.
You did not deny it, but you also do not return any praise.
Over the months you had practically become more of an assistant to Roman than to Adam. He kept you getting bogged down with things to do and telling Adam to pass on your old duties to any other goddamn person.
“They accept to close if they have had 30% of the profits.” You put your cell phone down to talk to Roman, who had his hip against the desk work and an open file in his hands.
“They must be stupid” he rolled his eyes “10% and I will still be being generous.”
You went back to your call, your eyes fixed on the top view of the city as you settled the deal.
“I can get them to close by 15% if we send the equipment by tomorrow.” You said to Roman again, plugging the cell phone microphone with your other hand “But it has to be send until the morning. Not next.”
Roman smiled broadly and satisfied, nodding his head in ‘Yes’ as you turned your attention to the city view and finished the negotiation. You were getting the details right when you felt a presence behind you, the heat radiating for your back and making you lose your breath for a second. You swallowed and tried to ignore something vibrating in your core, disconnecting the call as soon as you closed the deal.
“What would I do without you?” Roman's voice blew at the top of your ear, his ghostly touch fanning your skin.
You laughed to try to hide how much your core pulsed, turning around enough to face his completely.
"I don't know, you would have already lost four contracts.” You tried to joke, but he was absurdly close.
The scent of a man and an expensive cologne swallowed you like a wave and dragged you into the sea, drowning you. The emerald green eyes were fixed on you, as if they swallowed you.
“You could work for me.” Godfrey let go, taking another step closer to you.
Instinctively, you took a step back, your back finding the cold glass behind you and trapping you between the cold sensation and the absurd warmth of the man.
"I already work for you.” You said it as if it were obvious, letting out a nervous laugh and trying to clean up how much your uterus vibrated now.
“No, you work more with Adam.” He rolled his eyes, his hand now resting on your hip, rising to your waist like a snake “I speak of you being my assistant, being here when I arrive, spending the all days with me.”
Your heart screamed, your pussy throbbed so hard that if Roman hadn't paid attention to you, you would have bitten your lip.
“Are you flirting with me?”
"You finally noticed?"
There was no way to deny to yourself that you had already reached your share of perverted dreams with Roman Godfrey. He was like an addiction! It was unbearable how present he was always in your head, playing with your sanity, making you think of how those absurdly long fingers would fuck you so well, how those impeccable clothes hid a maddening body.
And that was exactly why you couldn't be him assistant.
If it was already overwhelmingly difficult to occasionally remain in him presence without diverting your thoughts, every day would be impossible. All the time. You would end up having to resign your job after, because any involvement between you would not result in a happy ending. Aside from being extremely unethical, it would end up destroying your heart, and God, you needed the job!
"M-Mr Godfrey." You tried to speak, touching his chest with the palm of your hand with the intention of gently pushing him away.
But the shot backfired. He was cold. Absurdly cold. Cold that makes you want to warm up, an addictive, that intoxicates you. Suddenly, you are already wondering if other parts of it would be cold too.
Would the kiss contain the beauty and temperature of the snow? When Roman entered you, would he be consumed by the heat of your needy walls? He Would it stick to you like a private sun?
“Pretty.” Godfrey sighed against your cheek, dangerously lowering his lips in your direction. “Why not stay with me? Where can I fuck you every day? ”
This time you moaned, a low moan that gave up all of your game. It lit a dangerous, vital fire in Roman's eyes, and him hand, which once touched you softly, now snaked into your waist, pulling you close.
“Do you like to hear that? That I want to fuck you until you scream?” You closed your fingers on him black dress shirt, closing your lip between your teeth to contain a groan.
Roman's mouth went to your neck, pouring wet, surprisingly hot kisses onto your skin.
"Would you like to know that I have imagined fucking you hard for a long time?” His hands went to the hem of your skirt. “That I want to tag you with my cum until you're just mine?"
“Mr.Go-Godfrey!” You moaned loudly, wrapping your arms around his neck and letting your head go back and lean against the glass wall.
“Tell me, Pretty.” He lifted his lips to hover over yours “Tell me you want this as much as I do.”
You frantically ascended your head, letting a 'Yes' leave with a low sob.
Thereafter Roman wasted no time. He pulled you onto his lap by your thighs, placing you under his desk and throwing all objects on the table with one arm. He kissed you. Furiously. He kissed you as if you were his property, as if you were the answer to all his prayers, his divinity. Your mouth opened to get air and Roman took the opportunity to invade with his tongue, hunting you.
You groaned, or he, or both.
"I'm going to show you what a real fucking is." Roman snarled against your mouth, not considering any consequences before popping all the buttons on your shirt with a two-handed tug, making you gasp.
That seemed to bring you back to Earth.
You pulled your chest away from him, and Roman looked up at you with a questioning expression.
“Ro-Roman, this is wrong.” you said.
“You have no idea how much I don’t give a fuck.” He leaned over to kiss you again, extremely excited by the sight of you in a lacy bra, but you averted your face by placing your hands on him chest.
You said. “I'm going to have to resign this job later if I do it, and I need the job.”
Romam snorted, straightening up again.
“Who says you need to resign? Did you forget that I am the owner of this crap?” He brought his lips to your neck once more, and you sighed softly “Be mine. Be mine."
“I don’t know.”
Romam held your face in his hands, in a gentle touch, which clashed absurdly with the lush fire in his eyes.
“I don't want to fuck you because you work here, but because I think you're fucking beautiful.” He said “Be mine, and if you don't want anything to do with me afterwards, that's okay, let's keep working normally.” Roman moved closer, his voice hitting your mouth “Let me fuck this hot pussy, I'm sure you'll want more later. And I will give you everything you want.”
So you gave in. You kissed him fiercely, spreading your legs wider and settling them between them, letting the skirt roll to pile on your hips and exposing lace panties. Roman reaching down to your back and removing your bra, dropping your mouth over your left breast when it was exposed.
You moaned loudly, throwing your head back, curling your fingers in his hair and sighing when Godfrey moved his fingers down the middle of your legs. You whimpered, rummaging around in his hand for some friction, needy and needy.
Roman laughed arrogantly against your breast: “Such a needy little thing, aren't you?” He took a bite out of your left beak as he walked away to remove his belt.
You groaned, your eyes on fire, your body hot and needy. And that's when Roman looked at you. A hot fucking woman half naked at his table, so beautiful and perfect that it was almost a sin. He wanted to be able to record that scene forever. You were perfect. He thought you were extraordinarily perfect.
Then he rushed ferociously at you again, his hands wrapped around your hot body as he moaned on your lips: "Where have you been all my life?"
You gasped, finishing the job of his belt and pants, fighting a battle with his tongue.
“Waiting for this moment.” You provoked it with a sensual chuckle, nibbling on his lower lip.
Roman shared your sly smile, tearing at your panties and holding his own dick in your direction. You moaned louder this time, in need, lowering your hands to his hips and rolling around his waist, trying to get closer.
Roman laughed, sinking his mouth into yours and also plunging his dick into yours smooth folds.
You screamed out loud, clasping your body to his while Roman put an arm around your waist, gluing your body to his and hitting the stick at the end of the well, drawing out a loud groan from both of you. The environment was filled with moaning and pornographic sounds, the table rattling beneath you as the things that were left on top now fell completely. You wrapped your arms around his neck, clenching your nails at the back of your neck as you wrapped your legs around Roman's hips, pulling him further into you and swallowing him completely.
“Holy fuck!” He snarled, lowering his mouth to meet your neck and shoulder, closing his teeth there as he demanded more force in his movements.
Godfrey beat without mercy, without pause, conquering and proclaiming his every piece of your body as his own. You could no longer control your moans, all the sensations exploded inside you like nuclear bombs and pleasure and pain curved all your lines of reasoning. You laid your back on the table, your breasts jumping with the speed and strength of him movements, while Roman clasped his hands on your waist and set a brighter pace as he pulled you onto his dick and propelled your hips at you.
“So fuck hot slut!” He growled, never stopping the pace.
You shouted something that looked like him name, and threw your head back when the orgasm invaded your system, shaking your legs and pulling him deeper. Roman moaned loudly, squeezing your flesh so tightly that it would leave marks tomorrow, while he cum inside you, spilling all the hot liquid on your barriers.
You were sweaty and panting, but Roman didn't give you a second to breathe and process the situation until he leaned over to you, still inside your core, and kissed your right breast, dropping one:
“Dinner at my place tomorrow?”
You laughed, still very airy, and agreed, overcome by tiredness.
“Okay, Godfrey.” Roman gave you another lunge of teasing, making your laugh mix with a groan.
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thran-duils · 3 years
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Lost In Zero Gravity (P.12)
Title: Lost In Zero Gravity (Part Twelve) Summary:  Fem!Reader x Mob Boss!Tony Stark x Mob Boss!Steve Rogers.  Reader is a call girl who runs high end parties. She catches the attention of Tony Stark who invites her back to his room with his friend. She might have performed too well because she becomes their new favorite play toy and they don’t like to share. Words: 5,997 Warnings (for the fic in entirety): Smut, prostitution, infidelity, angst, domestic violence, stalking, possessive behavior Author’s Note: This is longer than normal, my b. And did I also just watch Iron Man 2 recently? Maybe. Also, I can’t help but to mention Pepper because I love her so much. Even if it’s off to the side. She’s still a queen. I also apologize for the French because I used google translate.
Part Eleven || Part Thirteen || Masterpost (mobile) || Fanfic masterpost
One of their guys – Dasco, you had been briefly introduced to, you had not seen him before tonight – was waiting outside the car since he was sitting in the middle row of seats and had to put the seat forward to let you into the back. You had no desire to sit in between Steve and Tony again after what they had just subjected you to. As you approached the car, you did not break stride as you shoved the seat back so you were able to maneuver your way into the middle set of seats in front of them and you settled into the center one.
Dasco made no move to get into the car beside you you saw out of your peripherals as you reached to grab your seatbelt. You heard movement from your left side where Steve was sitting but it stilled all of a sudden.
“Y/N,” you heard Tony start dangerously from the right. “You’ve got ten seconds to rethink that and get your ass back here.”
You considered ignoring him and buckling your seatbelt. But you thought of Dasco – or even worse, one of them – dragging you from the car in front of your grandma who could still plainly see the SUV in the driveway. Exhaling annoyed, you stiffly got up and got back out of the car. Dasco flipped the seat forward again and you peered into the back where Steve and Tony were waiting. Steve’s hand on his knee was taut, his stare hard; your first obstacle into the back seat was getting past him. You crawled in, him not moving an inch, causing you to have to drag your ass across his legs in the process. You plopped into the center seat between them, snug as a bug.
Tony patted your leg, “Good choice. See? Goes so much better when the rules are followed.”
You said nothing not trusting yourself to be calm, digging your hand down by Steve’s thigh to grab the seatbelt clicker. He was still unmoving, and you held back a scowl having to dig deeper, brushing his ass. Clicking your seatbelt in place, you sat back, staring at nothing. You wiped at your eyes again, trying to clean up your mascara.
Tony was already on his tablet, working on something. You could not make heads or tails of what he did, so you did not even bother trying to pay attention. You snuck a look and saw Steve was looking at his stocks. Typical. Bending forward, you grabbed your purse and got your phone out. Opening up your décor app, you set to trying to distract yourself with it.
“Y/N, I think you also owe Terrence an apology,” Steve told you firmly. “Just so you make all the amends you need to for your stupid actions as of late.”
Your gaze snapped to the review mirror where you saw Terrence peering at you from the driver’s seat. He was not going to move the car until you did as you had been told.
“I’m sorry for drugging you,” you said stiffly. “You were an innocent bystander.”
You noticed Tony’s lips twitch like he was going to smirk, amused. He hid it though when he saw he had drawn your attention.
A few moments of silence passed before Terrence replied, “At least you gave me some good vodka to bring me down.”
<><><>
You fell asleep along the drive, waking up with your head resting on Steve’s shoulder, much to your annoyance. You had purposely fallen asleep with your head back on the seat, but you must have rolled to the side. You rolled away from him, trying to make as much space as possible which was virtually impossible, but you tried, nonetheless. Steve cracked his eyes open to side eye you, having dozed off himself.
Looking out the windows, you noticed you were back in the city, very close to home.
Picking up your purse, you dug in. Your brow furrowed as your hand searched not finding what you were digging for.
“Looking for something?” Steve asked dryly, eyes fully open now.
Settling back into the seat, you asked tightly, “Can I have my phone back?” On cue, Tony handed you a phone, but it was not your phone. Irritated, you said, “This isn’t mine.”
“It is now,” Tony answered. “Your SIM card is in this one now, it’s just under my plan. It was hell tracking you down with your other one. Thankfully, Tatiana doesn’t like her shit being broken and your grandma was nice enough to tell Daryl what club you were at. But I will not be wasting my time or energy like that again even with that help.”
You rounded on him as much as you could in the confined space and demanded, “What did you do to Tatiana?”
Tony shrugged, “Nothing to her. Just broke some shit. Like I said.” Clenching your teeth, you stared down at the new phone. Tony reached over tapping it, “Like I said, everything’s in there from your old phone.” Tears stung your eyes and you sat back defeated. “Love, come on. It was just a phone.”
“I liked my old phone case,” you said pathetically. That was true and it would not fit this new phone. But it definitely went deeper. Your phone was one thing that had been yours and yours alone. You had paid for it yourself, you had your own plan, it was something independent.
“Then order it again but sized to this,” Tony said flippantly. “It’s not that hard, Y/N.”
“I don’t want to do that! I want my phone!” you exclaimed, on the brink of absolutely losing it. You tossed the phone past your legs onto the ground in frustration.
“Stop being a brat. It’s not cute,” Steve snapped from beside you, his hand coming to your thigh and his fingers digging in painfully. “Now pick up that damn phone and stop with the dramatics. I’ve frankly had my fill of them. You’ve reached your quota, Y/N. Reel it back in now.” Steve was burning a hole through you with how he was staring at you and you tore your gaze away from him, bending forward and swiping the phone off the ground. His voice was taut when he spat, “Thank you.”
Tony picked up your purse for you from the ground and held out his hand. You handed the phone to him and he placed it inside and tossed the purse onto your lap.
Thankfully, Daryl pulled up along the sidewalk outside of the apartment building to end the situation.
Steve let go of you as the doors to the sidewalk opened, Dasco and the other, Raphael, getting out before Raphael let the seat up to let Tony crawl out. You began to follow him, but Steve grabbed you roughly again, stilling your movement before you could get fully out of the seat.
“Lucky for you and that pussy of yours, I’m needed back at home,” he fumed.
You were silent, seeing the anger swimming in his eyes. He was furious about the whole ordeal, that was apparent.
“Behave for Tony.”
You only had a moment to ponder what that meant before the back opened where your bag was and Daryl dug in, invading the bubble Steve and you had been holding. He let go of you and settled back in the seat, his glare still directed at you. You inhaled sharply before resuming your exit of the car.
Tony led you inside the apartment building past the doorman and the front desk to the elevator. He was carrying your bag, Daryl stopping in the lobby at the desk to flirt with the front desk receptionist as he usually did. You were sure he was banging her. Terrence got into the elevator with the two of you. Again, Tony’s hand was at the small of your back leading you down the hall from the elevator to the apartment, keeping you on the path. His keys jangled as he let the two of you into the apartment, pushing you in ahead of him. Your eyes scanned the room – nothing had changed. It had only been a few days, so that should not be much of a shock. But you certainly felt trapped again, knowing you were stuck back in here. There was no way they were going to give you your apartment key back.
Luna meowed from one of her cat towers at you, drawing your attention. Tony was at your back and he said, “Oh yeah, got her back. That cat is also mine, so maybe consult me next time, yeah?”
He left your back, moving down the hallway towards the bedroom. It was early in the morning and you just wanted to go back to sleep. You turned, following him down the hallway to the bedroom lethargically.
There was a travel bag on one of the side chairs by the window and you furrowed your brow because it was not yours. Tony was holding yours as he placed it on the other chair.
Tony turned around, spotting your confused look. He cleared his throat and then said, “Oh, right. Sorry. I’m staying here for a while. Giving the missus some space until she decides to stop being a bitch. Looks like we are bunking together.”
The last thing you wanted to do was to sleep next to him.
“I’ll take the couch then,” you muttered, turning around tiredly.
You heard him coming up behind you quickly and his hands closing in on your waist and arm stopped you, pulling you flush to him. Nuzzling into your neck he said, “Come on, love. Cross my heart, won’t touch you once we are in there settled in. We can both sleep in the bed. Soundly and sweetly. I won’t even complain if you wake up in the middle of the night and turn the TV on because you can’t sleep.”
You hated he knew you so well.
He laid a soft kiss on your cheek and you went rigid. He noticed, sighing heavily. His hand at your arm left, but his one at your hip lingered, his fingers circling softly.
“You’re upset. That’s okay. But you can sleep in the bed with me. There’s enough space. Right? It’s a king.”
Remembering Steve’s threat, you gritted, “Yeah.”
“Good girl,” Tony praised softly, letting his other hand fall. He moved around you towards the door. “I’m going to get ready for bed. I’ll join you shortly.”
He left the room and you turned back towards the bed, staring at it. He must have been already staying here because the bed was unmade – you had left it made, a habit. His wife must have kicked him out the day of and he had come here for safe haven. Your eyes fell to the end of the bed, thinking of you cowering there when his wife had assaulted you. You could not think about that. Tearing your eyes away, you moved towards your dresser, going to fetch some clean boxers to change into.
You got onto your side, your back to him trying to be as far away from his as possible whenever he got back from the bathroom.
When he walked back in, he turned the light off, shrouding the room in darkness. The bed dipped with his added weight on the other side, the comforter shifting as he covered himself. He was keeping his word though, staying on his side of the bed, adjusting the pillows. You relaxed only slightly, hoping it would stay that away, that he was not going to force anything onto you. Especially not after all the shit that had happened earlier tonight.
The room was quiet, the two of your breaths filling the space. You shifted, burying yourself further into your pillows, trying to will yourself to fall asleep. For how tired you were, you had worked yourself back up again.
Tony broke the silence, “I am sorry.”
Your eyes popped open at the sentence, your brow furrowed in confusion. Unable to help yourself, you turned your head to look at him. His hands were folded behind his head, his upper chest exposed. When he felt you move, his head turned to meet your gaze. “About my wife being a psycho and having you in that position. And with your grandma. That went… a little far.” You refrained from saying anything despite all the expletives you wanted to hurl at him at the emotions all of those memories brought up. He respected your silent treatment and did not press you to respond, “Just thought that needed to be said. Feels it was owed if you know what I mean.”
Not knowing how else to respond to it, you said quietly, “Thanks.”
He nodded, turning his head back and closing his eyes.
Confused immensely by that turn of events, you slowly turned back over, tucking your pillow back underneath your head. Silence blanketed the room again and you knew that was really the good night.
<><><>
Groggily, Tony walked into the kitchen, shirt still missing and in his boxer briefs, finding you working already on food for dinner. You pointed at the counter and said, “The jam and peanut butter are already out if you want to make yourself some toast.”
“No, too early,” Tony grumbled walking over to the counter. He furrowed his brow and asked, “Where’s the coffee?”
“In the bag.”
“Then what roused me from sleep?”
“Probably the cold bed,” you quipped not turning around as you poured more spices into the bowl you were using to collect them all.
You felt his eyes burning into the back of your head as you moved to pull the chicken from the fridge. As you approached the island again, you looked at him, finding him staring at you as you suspected. “What?”
“Nothing,” he said before moving to go make himself coffee.
He poured out his serving into the coffee filter and pressed start. Coming back over to the island, he watched you put the chicken breast into the bag and pour some soy sauce, fresh garlic, and vegetable oil over it.
“What are you doing?”
“Making a marinade.” Tony looked surprised and you said, “You tell me to buy groceries and then are confused when I do something with them?”
“Love, attitude,” Tony tsked. He peered towards the spice bowl you were working with. “What spices are you using?”
“Cloves, fennel, cinnamon, anise, cayenne, nutmeg, salt, pepper, thyme. It’s not the exact recipe but I like it more.”
He rose his brows and muttered, “Jesus. Who knew you were a little chef?”
“Happens when you have a parent who has cooking for a hobby. Rubs off on you. Do you want me to thaw you a piece in the microwave – cause sorry, I thawed mine in the fridge overnight – and add it to the bag for dinner?”
That comment amused him and he cracked a smirk, leaning on the counter. “You sound like a proper housewife, dear.”
“Well, it would be rude of me to not offer to make you some when I’m already making it for myself,” you told him honestly as you moved the wet ingredients around the chicken already in the bag.
His fingers traced your hip lightly watching you. “Are you going to poison me?”
“What good would that do me to poison myself as well in the process?” you deadpanned, looking at him.
Tony’s lips stretched into a smile and he chortled. “You’re lucky I’m not as high strung as our friend Steven.”
Swallowing your pride, you turned your body more towards him, pressing against him. “Is that a yes or no? Just so it can all marinade together in the same bag. I wanna throw the spices in over all the chicken I’m going to be cooking with.”
Tony’s gaze fell to your cleavage exposed through your silk robe before trailing back up to your face. He smiled again, leaning in and giving you a slow kiss. You were tense but tried to force yourself to relax.
“Impress me,” Tony winked before pulling away to go pour himself some coffee.
“Where’s Steve?”  you asked, your curiosity getting the better of you as you moved the spices around now.
“Busy wooing his wife. He took her on a trip,” Tony answered you honestly.
So, the trip he had mentioned to your grandma had not been a lie. You were just not invited. That made you even more upset with him if possible. You made a disgruntled noise as Tony poured his coffee.
“Well, I’m gonna wanna grill these upstairs tonight. So, when are you going to be home or can one of the guys take me up to the roof to do so?”
Tony took a drink of his coffee and shrugged. “If you’re actually going to make me dinner, I’ll be home whenever you tell me to.”
“Seven then.”
He winked again, “Seven it is” before he turned, taking his coffee back down the hallway. “I’m gonna lay in bed and watch the news.”
You watched him leave, your eyes narrowing. He was acting normal… like nothing had happened. That set you on edge, but you decided it was better to play along with it. Maybe he was really trying to make amends.
<><><>
The following evening, you heard the bathroom door open as you were showering, and saw Tony enter. The shower was an open one, only a pane of glass on half, the opening walk in. The glass pane was fogged up but you could still see him as he began to strip as soon as the door was closed behind him. You walked over to the opening, running your hands through your wet hair to greet him but you stepped back seeing the blood on his shirt as he took it off.
He noticed you were staring, and he shrugged the shirt off, tossing it onto the ground.
“That was a long time coming for that complete waste of space,” Tony told you, sounding unperturbed. He offered, “Would it make you feel better if I washed my hands first before getting in?”
“Yes,” you said warily.
He shrugged and turned towards the sink, turning the water on. You watched his back muscles work as he scrubbed at his hands, washing them not twice but three times for you. Your eyes fell to the shirt again, taking in the blood splattered across it.
“I’m gonna burn it, don’t worry,” he told you catching your attention again as he wiped his hands on his trousers to dry them. Those went off next and he kicked off his socks. He must have left his shoes at the door. He gestured at you to move back and you did, allowing him access into he shower. He hissed against the water temperature and said, “Do you like to feel like you’re in hell?”
He pressed flush against you, his gaze burning into yours as he reached behind you to adjust the water temperature.
“That’s better. Jesus,” he muttered, lingering against you. “It was like you were trying to melt away.”
“I like it hot,” you retorted.
“Me too,” he chuckled, leaning down and kissing you. “Just in different ways.”
You rolled your eyes and turned away from him, but his arms wrapped around you, pulling you back to his chest.
“You were made to be worshipped,” Tony husked, his lips trailing along your shoulder, ending at your neck. His hands ran up between your breasts, cupping them tightly. He squeezed at your nipples as he sucked at your neck.
How hands that had murdered someone were so compassionate with you was beyond you.
“Tony, I need to condition my hair—” you started to argue, trying to free yourself from his grasp.
“You have dry conditioner. And don’t lie to me, I’ve seen it in the cupboard above the sink,” he argued back, his hand slipping down to your sex, his fingers pressing past your folds. “And if it’s that important, you can finish cleaning up after. I know I’m going to have to.”
Knowing he was not going to relent, you yielded to his touch, falling back into his embrace. He hummed in approval, his fingers diving deeper, squeezing at your clit gently. You pressed back against his pelvis and he chuckled, his lips trailing soft kisses up your shoulder. He played with your sex, dragging his fingers up and down, working you up.
“Gotta get you good and wet for me, right, baby?” You nodded in approval and he laughed, nipping at your neck, his other hand taut around your throat. “But not too much. I want that pretty pussy clenching around my cock, not my fingers.”
Tony shut the water off. “Don’t need any slipping hazards here.”
Pressing back, you presented to him, hating giving into your desire so soon, but also wanting the release he had started to press you towards. Tony let out a throaty chuckle, his hand trailing up your ass before he smacked, causing you to gasp. He smacked again and you let out another noise. “You’re so adorable, love.”
His cock dragged up your ass, pressing your cheeks against his cock. He slid up and down, exhaling shakily. “How are you so perfect?” he breathed, his hand coming back up to snake around your neck, the other at your hip.
He entered slowly and you breathed steadily as his hand flexed on your neck as his cock slid deeper. He was fully seated inside you and you shuddered, dipping your head. You clenched around him, trying to will him to move but he ignored it. He was still, holding you in place as you held him inside you.
“You like that? Being full of my cock?” he husked, his hand tightening on your hip. You nodded fervently, just wanting him to move, to do anything. His chest pressed against your back and his lips brushed your ear, “Say it.”
“Yes, I love it. Tony, Jesus, please just fuck me!”
He let out a laugh before he pulled out, his head almost leaving you before he slammed back in, jolting you against the wall. Your fingers dug into the tile as he drove up into you repeatedly with all his force. You were not quiet, falling into the rhythm of him thrusting into you and feeling his cock brush your g spot. You adjusted your hips trying to get him to hit it more and he laughed, getting the gist of what you were doing.
“Oh baby, you know the best angle for that is you face down.”
In a fluid motion, his hand fell from your throat and he pulled out of you. You whined in disapproval.
“Don’t be disappointed yet, love,” he told you, his hand coming to your shoulder and forcing you to your knees. “Get that ass up for me.”
You immediately did as he asked, and you felt him prodding at your entrance before he slipped back in. You cried out as he hit you full on and he groaned in approval hearing your praise. His hands were gripping your hips as he plummeted, impaling you against the tile of the bed of the shower. He was unrelenting, as if he was letting out the last week’s of pent up lust right into you. And you were relishing in it, racing.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” you gasped feeling yourself spiraling quick.
“Come for me, baby,” Tony demanded, his hip snapping quicker.
That was all the permission you needed. You did as he ordered, your walls constricting and animalistic cries leaving your lips. Tony growled in approval, his thrusts becoming shallow. And he released, holding up your limp frame as he emptied inside you.
His grip laxed and you collapsed further into the tile, still trying to bring your own heart rate down.
“Shit,” he breathed after a minute, fully pulling away, leaving his cum dripping out of you. He stood up, stretching his body out.
You followed his lead and he helped you get to steady grounding. His nose nuzzled into your neck again and he walked with you towards the front of the shower, you letting him guide you. He pulled the handle, turning the water back on, thankfully at a reasonable temperature.
“Let’s clean ourselves up,” he murmured, kissing at your cheek, still holding you tight.
Tony pulled you back into the line of water, still holding you close. He reached behind him, grabbing the bar soap and he foamed his hands in front of you with the soap before placing it back. His hands ran up and down your frame, cupping and dipping, lathering you up. You relaxed, letting him clean you. His hands snaked between your legs and he cleaned himself from between your thighs.
Turning around, you looked up at him and he smiled, his hands coming around to massage at your ass. The water dripped around you, cleansing the soap from your frame. He rinsed his hands of the soap.
He broke the silence by saying, “The trip got moved up. We’re going to leave tomorrow.”
“Excuse me?” you asked confused.
He wiped at the water running down his face and said, “The trip. The one Steve told you about at your grandma’s – sorry, I know, still a sore subject. But the one planned for you.”
“But… he’s on a trip. Without me.”
Tony cocked an eyebrow and asked, “Yeah, he is. Which is why you’re coming with me on mine. Just to keep an eye on you and all, love.” He did not trust to leave you here by yourself apparently. So, not only were you not allowed to have your key again, you could not spend copious amounts of time here alone if they were not in the city. He grabbed the soap and lathered up his hands again, for himself now you guessed. “It’s gonna be four days. Although, about 26 hours will be spent on a plane. But Monaco.”
“Monaco…?”
Washing his chest, Tony nodded. “Mhmm.”
“Where is that?”
“Oh, southside of France. Little country.”
“For what?”
“That’s not anything you have to worry your pretty little head about,” Tony purred, his lips meeting yours again sensually. He pulled away and started washing himself down. “When we get back though, I will be going on another trip but that’s with the kids. So, you’ll stay here but Steve will be back by then. And I’ll tell him to be nice to you like he should be. He’ll behave himself, trust me, love.”
He winked at you before adjusting the shower head to aim more towards his body.
<><><>
You walked through the bar, Tony stopping you to pause at the camera. “Smile, baby,” he ordered you through his teeth and you did as he asked, trying to be natural. He guided you along further and whispered, “Well, that’s not going to make the missus happy. But, I should have assumed paparazzi would be here. I mean it is a highly publicized race.” Your eyes moved to the windows, looking out over the racetrack. “I did come here to speak business though.”
Since you had arrived in France, it had been getting off Tony’s plane, into a car, driving here, and sleeping. When you had been roused, it was to get ready and get yourself preened for this event. Tony had given you a bodycon red dress to put on for the event and he had winked at you when he said it was his color.
He brought you to the bar and his hand was flat against your hip, holding you to his side.
“Mimosa?” he asked quietly. “It is only 10:30 and that won’t draw too many suspicions.”
You met his gaze and said, “Vodka.”
His face broke into a smile and he chuckled, “That’s my girl” as the bartender came in front of him. “A screwdriver for my lovely date here and bourbon straight.”
When the two of you turned around, there was a man standing there with two men behind him.
“Laurie, I didn’t expect to see you but what a wonderful surprise,” Tony said politely, not being one to be caught off guard so easily. “You do have a racer today though, do you not? What a coincidence, so do I.”
The man he addressed, Laurie, shot a look at you before meeting Tony’s eyes again. He said something in French to Tony that you could not understand. They had a small conversation that got tighter the longer it went on and you were growing uncomfortable with each passing second with the growing tension. You took a long drink of your screwdriver.
Laurie’s eyes ran over you again lewdly and he said something to Tony that had Tony smile but there was no humor in his eyes. His fingers held tighter at your hip at it. His tone was frigid when he responded, “Vous pouvez parier que je ne perdrai pas car c’est mon jouet préféré.” (You can bet I won’t lose because its my favorite toy)
In response to Tony’s cold response, Laurie’s lips stretched across his lips in a challenging smile.
Turning his gaze back to you, Laurie said, in English, “You should hope Stark wins.”
Shooting Tony a dangerous look, he snapped his fingers at the men behind him before walking off, them following him.
Tony let out an annoyed breath and took a long drink of his bourbon, smacking his lips. “Fucking prick,” he muttered.
“Something wrong?”
“No. Nothing. Rival boss. He owns Blanchet Industries.”
“You’re lying. Something went wrong,” you accused him.
Tony turned his head to look at you and you stared back expectantly. He could not lie to you about that, it was plain as day something had transpired.
Seeing your defiance, he shrugged. “He’s mad I’m meeting with the man I am meeting with later. And he wanted to bet on the race.”
“Okay?”
“It’s not a big deal, love,” he said. “I’ll win. I’ll make sure of it.”
You did not like the sound of that but you followed his lead as he began to walk. He took a long drink of his bourbon again. The two of you approached a table with three people you had not seen before. You looked over your shoulder, not seeing any of Tony’s men in the room anymore. They had left the two of you at the door; were you to be that protected in this room? You felt some relief though the moment you saw Daryl coming through the crowd towards the table.
Pulling one of the chairs out from the table, Tony gestured for you to sit, tapping your ass.
“Nice of you to finally show up,” one of the men said, sitting rigid in his chair.
“Nice to see you too, Rhodey,” Tony responded as you sat down. He pushed your chair in and finished off his bourbon before placing it on the table. “I need to use the restroom. Love, this is Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy. Just sit tight with them. I’ll be back before you know it.”
He kissed the top of your head and strode off before you could even get a word out. Gaping like a fish, you watched him walk off. You felt the air shift beside you and Daryl was sitting down at the table.
“Daryl,” the other man – Happy, you assumed – greeted him.
“Happy,” he said in return.
You looked around the table and found Rhodey was the only one giving you a friendly smile out of the three. You settled back into the chair, putting your clutch on the table. You took another deep drink of your screwdriver.
“How are you enjoying Monaco?” Rhodey asked you, trying to make small talk. You leaned into it, trying to find some comfortability about being thrust at this table with people you did not know.
And it went well enough until Pepper gasped from across the table, leaning onto it. You followed her gaze to the TV, seeing Tony was on the TV. Your eyes bugged seeing he was in a racing suit. He had not told you he was going to be racing and you watched in shock as the roster flew up on the screen and the original driver’s name was replaced with his.
“Did he tell you he was going to do this?” Pepper demanded at Daryl.
Daryl shook his head, “No, ma’am.”
On the TV, Tony was telling the interviewers, “What’s the use of having and owning a race car… if you don’t drive it?”
“I’m gonna kill him.” Pepper breathed from across the table. “If he doesn’t kill himself, I’m going to kill him.”
You sat there in shock watching him getting geared up and into the racecar. Spotting a waiter, you reached out, stopping their movement. “Um, can I get shots for the table? Two for me, actually.” The waiter nodded and walked off. You looked back at everyone and saw their expressions. “What? He drives me insane too. Just let me handle it the way I do best.”
You looked back at the TV seeing him pull away from the pit stop.
Laurie’s words from just a handful of minutes before came back to you.
You should hope Stark wins.
Your fingers were digging into the back of your chair as you were glued to the screen. You only turned away when the shots came back and you rifled one down your throat. Your knuckles were pale the whole race, your hands gripping the chair. You only relaxed when you saw him come in third, two cars before Blanchet Industries’ car.
Tony hopped out of his car, waving at the cameras, looking triumphant. You turned back to the table and took the other shot. You noticed everyone else’s original shot glasses were empty too and at least you had done them that solid of giving them some liquid relaxation even if they had not taken the shots with you.
When he came back up to the table, he was back in his suit.
Pepper hopped from the table and got in his face, hissing at him, pushing him away from the table, and he was talking quietly back to her. The two of them were suspended in argument and you watched curiously.
Daryl leaned over and said, “She’s CEO now of Stark Industries. She’s gonna have to do some PR on this.”
Tony did not seem to calm her down, but he found an avenue to get out of the conversation which looked like basically just walking out of it. He came over to your chair and said, “Come on, Y/N. We have a private pool back at the villa. I need to relax. I got pretty tense during that race.”
Stumbling out of the chair because he was pulling you, you steadied yourself, throwing a look back at Daryl who shrugged as he got out of the car to follow the two of you. You matched Tony’s stride, moving past the paparazzi.
Out on the patio, you demanded, “You really threw everyone off guard and for what? Why did you have to win so badly? Why did you race?”
“Because he wanted to win you if I lost,” Tony responded out of the corner of his mouth as you walked down the stairs.
You stopped, causing him to stumble for once. He turned back to look at you as it clicked he had put your ass on the line because of his fucking ego? He could have told the guy to fuck off but he had accepted that bet? And then just raced?
Scoffing, you pushed away from his side, glaring up at him, rage tearing up inside you.
Tony’s expression melted to vexation, knowing the contempt rising up in you, “Y/N, sweetheart…”
“You’re an asshole!” you snapped at him before turning sharply and storming away from him towards the car where Terrence was waiting.
~~~
Forever tags: @coconutqueen21 @undecidedsworld
Fic tags: @icant-hangout-imdrumming @oceaniamaddness @multifandom-superlover @imsonick @holl2712 @here4thefanfics
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youngbloodlisk · 4 years
Text
Two Dresses // Ten
- Ten in a maid outfit
- female reader, also in a dress (hence the name)
- dom/sub themes
- a bit of sub ten but more dom ten
- oral, male rec
- mirror sex
- some hair pulling
- pull-out method (be smarter than a fanfiction and practice safe sex plz)
- some aftercare
@kxnkxmoon 😚
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"Hey... is it too late to maybe... change our group costume plan?"
"Nooooo..." Sarcasm laces my roommate's voice "No, Halloween is just two days away and all of us have our costumes already except who? You."
"I'm sorry! It's surprisingly hard to find a maid costume. With maid costumes being trendy all of a sudden, they're sold out everywhere."
"Check a resale sight. Surely someone is trying to get rid of one... Oh, and filter by local pickup! You don't have time for shipping anymore."
"Fine..."
After a few hours of on-and-off searching through different sites, it's a page reload around 5pm that I finally find a listing.
Posted one hour ago, cheap, pickup in my area... but horrible photos. Bad angles, bad lighting, you can barely tell what the damn thing is. No description either. If the title didn't say "Maid Costume with Garters and Collar (Good Condition)", I wouldn't know that it was exactly what I was looking for.
But, that being said... it is exactly what I'm looking for... and it's here and available.
I message the seller to ease my nerves about the product before buying it.
"hey, do you have any other photos of the maid outfit?"
It's around thirty minutes later before I get a response from Mr. 1_0LeeCha.
"i can take some but i won't be home until tomorrow. work until late and im staying at a friend's house tonight to help him with something. i have a few from when i wore it at a work Halloween party last year that i can send in the meantime?"
"that would be awesome, thanks"
"sure one sec"
I wait a few minutes as the three typing dots remain on the screen, telling me that he's scrolling through his photos to send one.
My phone vibrates and I look back at my screen to see... something I did not expect to see.
A slender, fit body in a loose maid dress. The boy is on his knees in front of a mirror with his legs spread apart. The dress is pulled up to fully reveal the black lace garters on his thighs. The hand that isn't holding a phone is holding his dick through the fabric of the dress skirt. His face isn't visible in the photo, but his neck is stretched to the left to show off the black choker.
"OH NO no no no no no i'm so sorry i did not mean to send that one"
"lol it's okay, mistakes happen. to be fair it's still a pretty good photo of the dress. btw is that a wayv album behind you?? signed?? my roommate is a fan lol how did you get that?"
"it's a long story. im kinda close with Ten."
"my roommate says that's cool lol"
"haha yeah i guess. do you want the costume or do you still need more pics of it?"
"are the other pics gonna look like that one?"
"no!! fuck no i swear i wouldn't do that to you on purpose lol. btw i deep cleaned it after i took those photos dw"
"lol no worries i was just playing. i'll take it. pickup and pay in cash tomorrow?"
He agrees and sends me the address, telling me that any time works for him as it's his day off.
I get off work around 5pm the next day and set off straight from the diner towards his address, having no need to go home first.
It's a chilly, but thankfully short, walk in my classic blue waitress uniform.
I check the address about five times before I knock on the door, to make sure I don't show up at the wrong person's door asking for a maid costume...
That would be less than ideal.
I hear someone say, "No, no! I've got it! It's for me!" behind the door before it swings open.
"Hi! Maid costume?" The slender boy, with a body I recognize a bit too well now, cocks an eyebrow.
"That's me."
"You must be freezing out here. Come on in, it's up in my room. You can just follow me."
I nod and comply, following him inside. He closes the door and leads me down the hall to the correct room.
I recognize the dresser and window from the photo, as well as the angle of the mirror leaning against the wall by his door.
He notices the way I lightly chuckle upon recognizing the scene.
"Uh- yeah..." He laughs nervously, picking up the bag with the costume in it. "That's... embarrassing..."
"Why were you taking them anyway? Personal enjoyment?"
"Uh... long story... Listen, I'm really sorry about that-"
"I'm not."
His breath hitches and he hesitates to respond, seemingly wondering if I really just said what he thinks he heard.
"H-Huh?"
"I'm not sorry you sent it. It was pretty... and pretty hot." I take the bag out of his hand.
"Oh, really?" His head cocks to the side, his confidence returning.
Suddenly, it feels as if you could cut the sexual tension with a knife.
"Really. I wouldn't have minded if you HAD sent more, in fact."
"Oh? You liked it? You liked seeing me in that costume?" He boldly locks his hands behind my neck.
"I did..." I take the dress out of the bag, dropping the bag to the floor. I straighten the dress and hold it up to his body. "Do you wanna wear it one last time before saying goodbye to it? For me?"
He leans in, only an inch away from my face.
"You're still gonna buy it when we're done with whatever we're about to do, right?"
"Does it really matter?" I meet his lips for a moment.
When I pull away, he takes the dress out of my hands. He reaches down to pick up the bag which still holds the garters and choker, presses a finger to his lips playfully, and disappears into the connected bathroom.
I look around the room while I wait.
This guy has a lot more WayV albums, as well as NCT albums, all of which I recognize from my roommate's shelf.
He has a lot of books that look worn. No telling if he reads a lot or if he just bought them used...
I spot a framed photo on one of the dressers. It looks to be him and his friends (all male) in princess/similar costumes. All of them are smiling or making a funny face.
The guy I recognize looks to be in an Alice in Wonderland costume, which makes me wonder where that costume could be.
The bathroom door opens, calling my attention and making me turn around.
There he is, in that maid dress, leaning against the doorframe. He tosses the clothes he was previously wearing into the corner of the room.
I can't help but notice the orange and gray striped underwear in the pile of clothes.
"You look even prettier in person, especially now that I can see your face. I didn't expect a boy so pretty."
"Well I didn't expect you to be so pretty either... much less wearing a 50's diner waitress outfit. That's for work, right? Or did you get all dressed up to come see me?" He playfully saunters over to me and places his hands behind my neck again, in the same way they were before he changed clothes.
"Cute. And what do you do for a living?"
"Long story." He begins to close the gap between us again.
"You seem to be full of those."
"Maybe I'll explain them all next time."
"Are you implying you already want there to be a next time? We haven't even done anything yet, tiger. Are you really that needy?"
"Are you gonna keep running your mouth or are you gonna kiss me?"
Instead of responding either way, I grab his waist and turn us both around. I push him gently, but hard enough to make him fall back onto his bed.
I quickly crawl on top of him, hungrily attaching my lips to his and straddling him.
His hands run up my thighs and under my dress, resting on my hips.
Things escalate quickly as he presses his hips up, the maid skirt falling to expose his hardening cock, and he grinds against my underwear.
"So desperate, aren't you?" I quickly comment before returning to his lips.
He hums as an agreeing response.
I grind down onto him to create more friction which causes him to moan into my mouth.
I move from his lips to his jaw and slowly down his neck to his collarbone, all while still grinding roughly against his hard dick.
Soft moans leave the boy and his breathing gets progressively faster.
His shaking hand starts tugging my underwear down, and I stop and sit up to take them off for him.
Once the blue underwear are tossed into the corner with his clothes, I resume my previous action of grinding into him. This time, however, his cock is running through my folds, making me moan.
"Oh, it feels so... so good..." He chokes out, breathlessly, grabbing onto the sheets with both hands. "Please..."
He begins to rapidly buck his hips up, matching my grinding perfectly, until his body begins to shudder and his movements become jerky.
"I'm c-cl- I'm gonna-"
"Cum for me, sweetheart." I brush his hair out of his eyes, which gloss over as a sticky substance covers our respective dresses.
He catches his breath for a moment, but his energy returns fairly quickly. Good stamina, I assume.
I slow my movement on him, but continue to seek the friction his shaft was giving me, until he firmly grasps my hips and holds me still.
I can usually keep my cool, but this action definitely shocks me... especially when I look into his dark eyes.
"And w-what do you think you're doing?"
"I sub for my own benefit, not yours."
"That's actually not very subby of you."
"Your voice is shaking. That's actually not very dominant of you... but it makes sense. Did you think telling me to put on a maid costume meant you were gonna take full control?" He scoffs, swiftly flipping us over and pinning me under him. His bare knee slides between my thighs, pushing against my wet pussy, and he holds my wrists against the mattress on either side of my head. He leans down, his lips brushing against my ear as he whispers... "You're dreaming, honey."
His knee slowly rubs against me and I can feel the garter which is falling down his leg.
The lace brushes my clit as he moves, sending a shiver down my back.
He doesn't let me enjoy it for very long, however.
He gets off of me and stands up, telling me to get up as well.
I stand slightly confused, and extremely sexually frustrated, next to the bed as I watch him pull his white desk into the center of the room.
He pulls off the falling garter, and starts to take off the other one until I quickly tell him to stop.
I bend down on my knees in front of him and carefully take the lace between my teeth.
Looking up at him, he's practically drooling watching me slowly drag the garter down his leg with my teeth.
Once it reaches his ankle, I let go and he kicks it off to the side.
Before he can even speak, I lift up his dress and wrap my lips around his tip. His knees buckle for a moment at the sudden sensation.
He leans back, grabbing onto the edge of the desk behind him for support.
I take as much of him in my mouth as I can, almost on the verge of gagging, and try to handle the last part with my hand.
I can tell he's trying to resist the urge to grab me and fuck my mouth, so I try to make it worth it with the way I suck and lick and stroke him.
When I look up at him with innocent eyes, he shudders and pulls me off of him, also pulling me to my feet in the process.
"If you keep that up, I'll cum again... and I'm not cumming again unless it's because of your wet little pussy. So, bend over the desk."
As I follow his instruction, I realize what he did.
He placed the desk in front of the mirror. The same mirror from the photo which started all of this.
He positions himself behind me, flipping my skirt up and running a slender finger over my pussy.
"So wet..." He sticks that finger in his mouth and licks it clean. "And so delicious too."
He runs his finger through my folds a few more times and sucks them clean as he lines up and pushes into me.
The stretch burns in the best way possible.
I grip the edge of the table as he starts to rock his hips.
My back arches and my eyes shut tightly, but he tells to look in the mirror.
The way the mirror is angled, I'm able to see under the table and watch him fuck me. I watch him disappear inside of me and come back out, which only makes me realize more just how big he is and how deep he's reaching.
He places one hand on my hip and the other on my shoulder before he picks up his pace and starts to fuck me harder and faster.
I can't hold back my moans, feeling him so deep and watching it all happen in that mirror.
I notice his cocky smile.
He removes his hand from my shoulder and reaches down to rub my clit, causing my legs to start shaking. My orgasm starts to approach.
"Look at you..." He smirks at me, locking eyes with me in the mirror. "So pretty and getting ruined by a boy in a maid dress. I'm sure you expected this to go differently, didn't you?"
I let out a loud guttural moan and avert my eyes to the desk right under me, my head facing down.
"Baby, I can feel you clenching. Are you getting close?"
I shakily nod my head and feel his hand leave my clit for a moment as he takes a hold of hair at the root and pulls my head up to look at the mirror again.
"Watch it. Watch yourself cum all over my pretty cock."
He lets go of my hair, clearly expecting me to remain looking in the mirror, and he starts playing with my clit again.
My toes curl and I have a hard time keeping my head up as my orgasm finally rushes through my body. I clench around his dick and he helps me ride out my high before pulling out and jerking himself until he cums on the back of my uniform.
I feel almost limp as I lay across the table. My eyes are heavy, so I simply close them. I can't see anything that happens, but I can hear and feel that he goes to the bathroom and brings back a towel to wipe the cum off my clothes.
"Can you stand?" He asks gently.
I can, and better with someone to lean on, but my legs are a little shaky.
He uses the dampened part of the towel he got to wipe at the cum on the front of my clothes, before carefully having me sit on the edge of the bed.
He helps me pull the dress off of my sweaty body, tossing it to the pile of clothes.
"Wait here." He instructs, going into his closet.
He comes back with some comfortable looking sweats and hands them to me to wear.
I slowly dress myself and watch as he quickly changes his own clothes and then takes all the soiled clothes in his arms and leaves the room.
When he returns, the clothes in his hands have been replaced with a few bottles of water.
"Here, hydrate." He smiles, handing me one of the bottles. "I tossed the clothes in the wash. I hope you can stay for a bit, but if you can't then I can come bring you your clothes once they're dry-"
I don't miss the shining glint in his eye when I cut him off with:
"No, it's okay. I can stay for a while."
We both chug a couple bottles of water each before cuddling up in his bed to talk... which quickly turns into napping.
I wake up to a darker window than when I fell asleep, and I carefully pull myself away from the man to check the clock on the nightstand.
9:00PM.
I've been here for almost four hours, and asleep for almost three of them.
Quickly, a lot of thoughts come to mind.
One of us needs to put our clothes in the dryer.
I need to go home, I can't stay the night here.
Should I wake him?
As I watch his sleeping face, calmly breathing and mouth slightly open, I can't help but smile at how adorable he looks.
Before we cuddled up together, I placed my phone on the nightstand. I slowly and quietly pick it up, opening the camera and snapping a little photo of him.
I'll ask him when he wakes up if it's okay for me to keep it.
I brush a tuft of hair out of his face, which makes me remember when I did that same thing a few hours ago.
I feel my face heat up as I think back to what we did...
Around a half hour later, he's rudely woken up by his phone ringing.
Sleepily, he answers the call from a phone contact named "YangX2".
"What do you want?... Well, now I am... I don't know, uh-" He turns to me. "Are you planning to stay over?"
I shake my head, trying to be as polite as I can.
"She isn't... Yeah, I know... Obviously... Oh, thanks dude... Hey, that's mine!... I don't care that you found it, it was in my pants... Fine, if you've already spent it then-... Whatever... Yeah, thanks... Bye."
He hangs up and looks at me again.
"Good news and bad news. Good news, YangYang put the clothes in the dryer for us when the washing finished, so they're dry now. Bad news, he found money in my pants and bought him and Xiaojun some snacks at the convenience store."
I laugh with him about his stolen cash, which evolves into an awkward silence.
"Well, um... I should get going. My roommate hates being alone in our apartment at night."
"Oh! Yeah, yeah, sure. I'll go get all your clothes for you." He gets up out of the bed and rubs his eyes as he leaves the room.
I make sure I have my phone and my bag, as well as everything that's supposed to be in the bag, while I wait.
Far too soon, he's hugging me goodbye next to the taxi he called for me.
My load is lighter by a couple monetary bills and heavier by a (clean) maid costume.
"Oh! I almost forgot..." I take out my phone and pull up the photo I took of him sleeping. "You just looked so peaceful and cute... is that okay?"
A smile lights up his face, as if somebody taking a photo of him asleep is the cutest thing anyone's ever done in his eyes.
"Yeah, absolutely."
"Good. I'll... I'll see you around..." I trail off, realizing he never even told me his name.
"Yeah, I'll see you around..." He also trails off, probably realizing that I never gave him my name either.
We share a look, however.
A look that says that some things are better left a mystery.
I get in the cab and close the door, giving the driver the address of an apartment building just a couple blocks from where I actually live.
The moment I open the door to my apartment, I'm attacked.
"Where did you go? What happened? Are you okay? I thought you just had work until 5 and then picking up the costume. So, why didn't you get home until 10pm?!"
I explain everything.
Well, not everything of course... but the general things.
"Oh my goodness... was he cute? You said he stans NCT, of course he's cute. Do you have a photo of him?"
"Yeah, actually..." I pull up the adorable sleeping boy on my phone and show her.
Her eyes about pop out.
"TEN?!"
"Huh?"
"That's Ten! That's a member of WayV!"
"Wait- what?"
I suddenly remember what he said when I asked about the signed album in the photo.
"Kinda close with Ten" my ass...
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cas-backwards-tie · 4 years
Text
CopyCat
Five Hargreeves x Reader
Request: prompts “don’t be afraid, trust me.” and  i’ll be here, no matter what.” from the misc sentences. Can Five and the reader have a moment like Luther and Allison did in S2E10? Where the reader tries to use her powers to fight Lila but she uses them against her and she almost dies but Five helps her out like Luther did with Allison. Basically a loving and protective Five and make it fluffy af please thank you!
Words: 2,310
Warnings: Cursing, Near-Death Experiences, Fighting, Anxiety, Angst.
A/N: For @alexa135​ . I really hope you enjoy this! I decided to give the reader water-based powers. OH! I forgot but this should go without saying considering the request but there will be spoilers for the season 2 finale!
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“What the hell happened? What was that?” Luther asks with a groan as Five helps him up.
“She must have redirected Vanya’s energy wave,” Five thinks aloud, trying to piece the puzzle together in his mind while simultaneously remaining present in the fight.
“Yeah, I know, but how?” He voices the question they’re all bound to have once this damned fight is over. The broken fireplace shifts, bricks beginning to topple. Five springs into action.
“Luther watch out!” He yells, pushing him out of the way, tons of bricks falling on top of Five and completely burying him.
“Five!” The scream comes from the tattered house, causing your eyes to shoot open.
After Lila had sent an energy wave blasting in your direction, it sent you flying across the farm. Luckily Harlan’s ability had caused it to snow, and snow is made of water, therefore allowing you to collect snow and form it into a landing pad cushy enough to prevent major injury.
The cold wind creates an ominous whistle in the air as you struggle to push yourself out of the snowy cocoon. Once you’re on your feet, it’s a race against time. Is it? Oh, God. The thoughts in the back of your mind run rampant as your heart pounds against your chest, heart already aching at the dreadful thought: Five is dead.
Just as you arrive at the surprisingly still intact front door of the house, you throw it open only for your eyes to widen. Luther’s thrown through the wall of the house by none other than Lila, something that causes alarm. Not only was she able to create an energy wave, but she has super-strength too? Before you can react, she’s stepping through the hole and out of the house.
Allison’s voice is enough to make your heart clench as your own worry only amplifies for Five. You thought he was in here, but looking around, you don’t see him anywhere. “Five?” It comes out quietly at first as if you’re afraid of receiving no answer. “Five?” You call louder, still searching for him at the entrance.
The sound of talking then fighting outside doesn’t concern you, having faith in Five’s siblings, yet, the longer it goes on and you don’t find Five, you decide it might be best to help contain Lila before resuming your search. If he really is dead… he wouldn’t want to lose anyone else.
Stepping over the rubble and pile of bricks, you finally hear Allison use her power. Relief floods you as you know she’s powerful. “I heard a rumor-”
“-you stopped breathing,” Lila returns the rumor, somehow mirroring her power. As instantly as relief flooded you, it ebbs away, replaced instead with cold and heavy terror. Three members are missing and Diego is crying for help; that’s four down and only three standing, including you.
You don’t suspect Lila’s noticed you yet, with Luther’s groveling and the sick way Lila watches, but you know what to do. This is an advantage, one of Five’s favorites in fact: the element of surprise. With the outstretch of your hands, you concentrate all your energy on boiling the water inside her body, essentially melting her from the inside out. She slowly turns in your direction and you circle around her. Lila stuffs her hands in her pockets.
“You,” it’s an accusatory tone. A chuckle leaves Lila’s lips, and she tilts her head, a wicked smile upon her lips. “You’re little shit of a boyfriend’s dead, you know?” She jokes, no sign of pain from her despite the red glow around your hands. “He’s dead, though really, you should be thanking me, you know? That murdering prick.”
“Shut up! Don’t you dare speak about him like that,” you threaten, jaw clenching as you take a step toward her, closer toward the barn. She leads you further and further away, a game of cat and mouse perhaps, a game of chicken. You’re not scared. You’ll do whatever it takes to avenge Five.
“Oh yeah? Or what?” She laughs maniacally, her eyes widening in a way only a psychopath’s would.
That’s when you notice it. You wince. There’s a twinge of pain at your side and your attention is drawn to her fists as she pulls them out of her pockets and holds them up, they’re glowing red just like yours. “You gonna bite me? Nice try, little girl, but I think you’re the only one who’ll be absolutely on fire tonight!”
Next comes the headache, the familiar feeling of dehydration. It’s the first stage. Blood rushes through your veins, pounding as you glare up at her with a look that Five’s said on many occasions could kill. You hadn’t realized you’d been holding your breath, but when you let it out as a loud sigh, you wobble on your feet. The previous posture you’d had slumps as you struggle to stay standing. Another telltale sign is sweat; loss of fluids. Sweat drips down your forehead, underneath your clothes, your palms struggling to stay clenched in a fist as your eyebrows furrow in her direction.
“You’re not winning this, Lila. I won’t let you get away with this!” Something bubbles inside you. It feels somewhat like gas or an upset stomach, but you know what it really is… it’s your insides boiling; melting; overheating.
“We’ll see about that,” the smug look on her face does nothing but irk you. You have absolutely no idea what Diego saw in her.
One of Luther’s cries for Allison causes you to refocus. There’s no chance in hell you’ll let Lila live through this. She’s not going to get away with killing another one of the Hargreeves siblings today! A yell tears through you as you tap into your energy, your power. Directing it toward her, the glow of your hands amplifies into a bright red. It’s working.
Lila winces and folds in half, holding her stomach. “You little- conniving- she-devil!” Whipping her head up to glare at you through her bangs, Lila grunts as her fists glow brighter. She’s using more of her power!
“Let her go! It’s me you want, isn’t it?” Five’s voice distracts you. Hope lights up in your eyes and butterflies swirl through your tummy- wait… no. That’s not it. The momentary distraction was enough for her. A spike of heat throws you off your feet and you collapse onto the ground, clutching at your stomach. 
Releasing a string of groans as you writhe on the ground, you know this is the worst of it. Soon it will be over and the pain will become so much that it will numb. By then... there’s no coming back from it. That’s what happens to all your victims.
“Why won’t you just stay dead?” Lila asks rhetorically, blowing her bangs out of her face with a roll of her eyes as she relaxes from her one-on-one with you. “I can fix that for you,” she threatens. Stalking across the snow, a scream causes everyone to freeze.
“LILA!” It’s Diego. Running toward her, he stops just a few feet behind her. Though it might be stupid to take her eyes off of Five, she knows she’s ready for anything, so she takes a split-second to look at Diego. “You’ve gotta be a desperate, pathetic, wimp to go after those kids! If you do this… you’re only fooling yourself. You know who the enemy is here, and it’s not us! It’s not Five,” he warns, grabbing her attention.
The woman does a double-take, looking between the young couple and Diego. She knows Five’s not going anywhere, he’d never leave you to die alone, so she’s got some time to spare. After all, she wants to take her time killing him. Might as well save him for last. Running after Diego, the man panics and turns, fleeing into the barn.
Five couldn't care less about the snow as he throws himself onto the ground, hurriedly pulling you closer. Wait, is this the smart thing to do? He knows your abilities; he knows you’d been boiling each other alive, she’d mirrored you, Lila had been a copycat. It’s an idea, not founded on proof or fact as this situation has never happened before, but it’s the only logical solution he can think of. It has to work! The old man calls your name a few times, his hand coming up to cup your cheek as he forces you to look at him. His hands pin you down on the ground to prevent you from writhing too much. That won’t help anything. Surely touch isn’t good as his body-heat will only worsen your state. Right now you need to be still, you need cold, you need ice. He needs your attention for a second though, long enough to relay his plan. “Look at me, look at me. You’re not dying today. You’re not dying here, I am not letting that happen.”
Tears well up in your eyes as you’d been duped. You feel like an idiot. Even if Five wasn’t dead, now you’re the one who’s dying. Go figure, right? Staring up at the cloudy grey sky, you can’t help but feel like this is all so wrong. This isn’t the way things were supposed to go! This isn’t how you wanted to die.
Five doesn’t allow you to think like that. His face blocks your vision as his icy-blue eyes search your own, worry, and concern obvious within them. “Don’t be afraid, trust me. I know that you’re tired. I know, but you need to use your powers again. You need to freeze yourself. Use the snow, use the ice. Use the water in my body for all I care, you have to live! I am not losing you today, and I’ll be here, no matter what!” Sliding his hand into your own, he squeezes your hand for a moment, giving you a worried smile. His eyebrows are slightly pinched, creating worry-lines on his forehead as he hovers over you.
It shouldn’t be that simple. It can’t… and you don’t have enough energy to do that, but you don’t know how to tell Five. He’d lose his mind. If it were any other time he’d lecture you on how their family is not a family of quitters, and he, himself, is certainly not a quitter. The whisper of your name causes you to open your eyes again. Five closes the space between you to place a tender kiss on your lips. “Please… I can’t lose you too.”
With a shaky inhale, you let go of his hand and place it on your stomach. A dim blue glow surrounding your hand as you begin to freeze yourself. You have to try. A lightbulb goes off in Five’s head. He gathers the surrounding snow in his hands, beginning to pile it on top of you, almost like burying someone in the sand, only in snow. This has to work. It has to; he keeps telling himself on repeat. It drives him crazy to sit there watching, not able to do anything other than cover you in snow. He hates the snow, and any other time he’d curse it, but right now he’s grateful to the universe. The faint sound of fighting in the barn worries him, and he contemplates the idea of helping his siblings… but he can’t leave you. What if you die? He’d never forgive himself if he wasn’t here and you were alone taking your last breath.
His heart pounds in his chest and he takes shaky breaths as he freezes his ass off. It’s cold as fuck out here, though he knows you don’t feel it right now. Underneath the snow he’d placed atop your stomach he spots a brighter blue glow, which must mean it’s working, right?! It has to be. It has to be. Five scoots a little closer as he watches with anticipation. Your eyes flutter closed again, lips void of color from dehydration. Calling your name, you don’t answer.
The beating of your heart slows down, you can feel it within you. Things don’t hurt anymore, and you’re thankful for that. It’s just as you’d predicted, though, and the only thing you regret is not being able to tell Five that you love him. He watches as your chest slows, your breathing becoming more spaced out. Anger, resentment, regret, dread, and horror all fill his gut as he slowly processes what’s happening. Five isn’t a crier, but as he stares stoically at your body, he feels tears start to well up in his eyes. With a quiet whimper, he hangs his head, bangs falling in his face as he sniffles, unable to process this. Whispering your name, as if it were a question, as if he’s expecting an answer, Five’s eyes widen as yours flutter open. “Oh- thank the forces that be!” A heavy sigh escapes him as he hurriedly pushes the snow off of you and helps you sit up. Snowflakes stick to your hair, which elicits a genuine smile from Five. He raises his hand to brush your hair behind your ear and run it down your hair before cupping your cheek.
Both of you open your mouths to speak at the same time, though you beat him to it. “I love you, Five.”
“I love you too,” he whispers in response, never once taking his eyes off yours. The hand is soft on your cheek and it makes you utterly happy that you’re both alive. Noticing him leaning in, you close the space between you with a soft and yet desperate kiss. He thought he’d lost you; you thought you’d lost him. Neither of those things were true. A rumbling of the ground causes both of you to pull away, realization dawning on you that the fight isn’t over yet.
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rainydaydream-gal18 · 4 years
Text
Clone Wars- Captain Rex x Reader: Meeting at the Gym
    Eyes focused.  Blood pumping.  Heart pounding.
   Gloves thudded against the punching bag rapidly as you landed another combination of strikes.  You bounced back on the ball of your foot, inhaling sharply, and moved to throw another punch.
   Then, you backed off to catch your breath and take a swig of water.  One of the dim lights flickered above you as you sipped from your water bottle.  Aside from your heavy breathing, it was dead quiet.  The mats and equipment were empty, looking rather deserted at this hour.  You were on a ship, but according to everyone’s chronos, it was late into the night.  Usually you did not hit the gym until later in the evening anyway when there’d be fewer occupants, but this was late even for you.
   The day had been particularly stressful.  You were a technician for the 501st, and the latest mission left plenty of repairs for you and your coworkers to handle after the heat of battle was over.  You worked late into the evening and ended up at the gym even later.  
   The 501st was made rather famous thanks to General Skywalker’s daring plans.  Even as a technician, you had seen a few fights which sealed your decision to learn to defend yourself and others if the moment arose.  Soldiers who occupied the gym for the most part, but the space was open for use to anyone aboard the ship. 
   You put your water bottle back into your bag, shooting a glance to the mirror which took up the entire wall on your right.  It was a long day, but you couldn’t say you were ready to sleep just yet.  So, you resumed your stance by the punching bag, striking it swiftly in different combinations.  You paused to hold the bag steady every so often before continuing.
   So focused were you that you didn’t notice a soldier enter the gym.  Only after you felt a pair of eyes on you did you stop to look around, alarmed that someone would be there at this hour.  Your gaze met with Captain Rex’s.  He stood there in a tank top and shorts with a duffel bag under his arm.  You had seen the men in the gym in their casuals before, but never Rex.  Though you didn’t always directly work with him, he was considered your superior.  It was the strangest thing to see him off-duty.
   “Hello Captain,” you greeted, wiping a bit of sweat off your forehead.  “Didn’t think anyone else was up this late.”
   “Neither did I.”  After a minute or so of silence between the two of you, he said, “please, don’t stop on my account.”
   You turned your attention back to your exercise routine and landed a few more strikes, pausing to balance the punching bag.  After a few more rounds of this, Rex suddenly appeared in your peripheral.  He moved behind the punching bag to hold it steady.  You nodded your gratitude and continued.  After a few punches, he spoke up.
   “You’re not going to bring a Seppy down with that stance.”
   You halted, not sure what to say to that.   You had saved up some credits on the side and started a subscription of martial arts holovids.
   “I started an online program,” you said.  “The martial arts professional in the holovid showed this stance.” 
   Rex gave a chuckle.  “That professional is someone who wants your credits.”
   You opened your mouth to retort, but couldn't think of one.  
   He let go of the punching bag and walked to your side.  “Here, let me show you how a soldier does it.”  You took a step back, crossing your arms.  “You’ve got the speed down,” he continued.  “But you need to make sure your stance is right, or else there won’t be enough power behind the punch.”  He took a stance, fists in front of his chest, and threw a couple of punches that echoed in the gym.  The sound drew your attention to his arms and then back to meet his gaze.  Those punches were powerful, might have even knocked a battle droid off its feet.
   Rex must have caught the impressed look you gave him because you thought you saw a hint of a smile on his face.
   “Okay,” you mimicked the stance.  “Like this?”
   “Yeah, and when you punch, move your whole body so the energy ripples through and is all the more stronger when your fist makes contact with your opponent.”
   You did as he instructed, moving your hips first and then arm as you hit the punching bag.  Rex’s eyebrows shot up and he nodded.
   “Good.  Again.”  You complied, and he nodded once more.  “Impressive.  I think you’ve got it down.  Keep practicing though, to keep the technique fresh in your mind.”
   “Will do.”
   There was a short pause.  “So, what brings you here so late?”
   “Long day.”  You shrugged.  “I try to get a little workout in every now and then.  You?”
   “Usually I’m up this late with paperwork, but I had a lot on my mind.  Not exactly feeling paperwork right now.”  Rex eyed the punching bag.
   “Well, here,” you said, holding it steady.  “Have at it.  And if you want to talk, feel free.  If not, you can just let your fists do the talking.” You grinned.
   That seemed to make him laugh, and it was a pleasant sound.  You’d seen him lighten up a little around his fellow men and occasionally with Skywalker and Tano, and you were glad to have the chance to put a smile on his face.  He usually looked rather serious otherwise.
    When the laughter receded, you were left with him gazing at you with a softness you’d never seen in him before.  His brow wasn’t creased with worry or deep thought, and his eyes contained warmth.  You always thought he was handsome, but this was also a flattering look for him.  “Thanks, _________.”
   “No problem, Captain.”
   “Rex,” he corrected.  “We’re off-duty.  You can just call me Rex.”
   “Sure thing, Rex.”
   He took a stance.  “It’s been an interesting week.”  He threw a few punches, and you knew he was holding back for the sake of conversing without being out of breath.  “Which isn’t anything new.  General Skywalker isn’t adverse to particularly risky situations.”  Then, he shook his head.  “But we always manage.”
   “Oh yes, I’m quite familiar with Skywalker’s risky situations,” you muttered.  “Somehow I ended up blasting some droids to keep them at bay.  Me.  A technician.  It sure was a good time, I’ll admit, but it’s not like I was trained for that.”
   “I thought you handled yourself pretty well.”
   “Didn’t think you noticed with all the action out there.”
   Rex threw another few punches.  “Yeah, I stuck around to keep an eye on you.”
   You recalled that day, remembering very clearly seeing the helmet decorated with jaig eyes, though you had no idea at the time that he was there to protect you.  “Thank you.”
   “Don’t mention it.”
“Either way, I owe you one.”
   “How about after tonight we call it even?” he suggested.  “It’s nice to have company.”
   “It is,” you agreed.  “I don’t like it being too crowded in here, but it’s nice to have someone.”
   Rex halted, grabbing a towel from his duffle bag to dab his forehead.  “I know it’s late, but you up to hit the mess hall and get something to eat?”
   You smiled.  “Yeah, that sounds nice.”  You packed up your equipment, occasionally sneaking a glance at Rex over your shoulder.  The stress from your day had all but melted away just from this short time with the Captain, and it seemed like he felt similarly.  With his duffle slung over one shoulder, he looked to you.  
   “Ready?”
   “Yep, coming,” you said, catching up with him at the door.
193 notes · View notes
soundofseventeen · 3 years
Text
Miracle (Lee Jihoon)
Happy birthday @peachy-hoon​! A million thank yous will never suffice but I can always give you this! I’m sorry for any mistakes; I literally uploaded this as I finished. And you know, it’s not my best work, but alas.
Word count: 2645
Inspo
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“And that’s a wrap!” Jihoon spoke into the mic to let Wonwoo know he was done for the day and without waiting for him to leave the recording studio, removed his headphones and stuffed his sweater and whatever he could fit into his backpack and ran out of Universe Factory, the door wide open and leaving his confused, but amused friend to tidy up the small room. In his rush he literally ran into Jeonghan, who ended up throwing all the papers in his hands, and Jihoon, although didn’t like running behind schedule, stayed to help pick up the mess he made.
“Where are you going in such a rush?” The older boy teased, checking the papers he had in his hand to make sure they were all in order and ready for presentation.
“Home.” Not bothering to check the pages, Jihoon handed them over and let Jeonghan sort them out.
“It’s still early, don’t you think? Soonyoung said he still has to go through the choreography and Seungcheol wanted everyone present for the meeting.” The impish smile had formed on Jeonghan’s face before he finished his sentence.
“Soonyoung said he’d record it for me and Seungcheol already told me everything I need to know.” Jihoon searched for his cellphone, groaning internally when he realized that he had left it in the practice room when he dropped the towels off for his clingy friend.
“Aren’t you gonna help me put these back in order?” Jeonghan asked when he saw him walking away.
“You have that handled well enough.”
“I’m missing the first page, and I had it before you knocked me over.” 
“Don't do this to me right now Jeonghan.” This time, the groan he let out was external. “I have plans that I can’t break.” Well, he could if he wanted to, but he wasn’t gonna.
“You’re not going anywhere until I find it.”
“It’s under your shoe. I’ll grab it for-move Jeonghan. I need all the time I can get.” Jihoon crouched to pick up the piece of paper.
“Why not just invite Y/N over so you stay a little longer and then you can leave together.” Jeonghan not so subtly moved his foot along with the paper so he wouldn’t take it so easily.
“I don’t think so.” He pushed his older friend, momentarily making him lose his balance and successfully retrieved the paper, squinting his eyes to read it and looking confused. “How is this our fault?”
“It’s not. The CEO is already talking to Jun about it and we’re supposed to see what measures we can take from happening again.”
“Then shouldn’t we talk to Yanan about it? I don’t know why they thought squawking every time their ringtones went off and unnecessarily texting each other throughout the day is our fault.” And both of them were messaging both groups, but he didn’t need to add that part. Instinctively, his hand went to his pockets, ready to make sure his phone stayed on silent, but he remembered he didn’t have it.
“If it gets the CEO off our backs, I don’t care what we have to do.” Jeonghan took out his own mobile device, shutting the noise off as a safety precaution. “I dreamt Yanan was part parrot twice already.” He shuddered at some memory.
“Okay, so I’ll see you tomorrow then. Bright and early and not a minute more. I have a song for you and Mingyu to go through.” He was ready to step past him when Jeonghan grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back slightly.
“Do you really have to go though? This hyung hasn’t eaten lunch and it’s your turn to buy.”
Woozi let out a deep sigh, took out his wallet, smiled briefly at the picture he had of you, and pulled out his debit card, along with the loose change he had. “You know my pin number and this is literally for anything else. ‘Bye.”
“Will Y/N be okay with you staying longer?” 
“Yes, but I won’t be.” He turned the other way to head over to the practice room, only instead of seeing Soonyoung, he found Chan in the middle of a choreo practice. “Sorry, I’m just here for my phone.”
Chan hit the pause button on the remote, and gratefully took the towel Jihoon provided. “Oh, uh, I haven’t seen it. Maybe Hoshi hyung took it when he left?”
“Okay, I’ll see you guys tomorrow then.” Although he wasn’t thrilled to be phoneless the rest of the day, he figured that no one important would try to get a hold of him and if he managed to convince you to turn it off, then it’d be foolproof. 
“Hyung, what are you today with Y/N that you’re not staying here with us?” Chan wadded up the towel and threw at him when Jihoon shook his head.
“Nothing, for real. I just wanna go home and take a nap on the couch.”
“I don’t believe you, but go ahead and leave us to suffer with our evil CEO and Joshua hyung.”
“I don’t know what you did but I’m glad you did it. Now Bumzu is in charge of getting the chorus done before you leave ton-stop looking at me like that. I’m not abandoning you.”
“You’re leaving us for Y/N.”
“I already had these plans.” And not even his best friends would hold him up. 
“Okay fine, don’t tell me what super fun, cool thing you’re gonna do while we just slave away here.”
Jihoon began walking away, backwards and slowly. However, he couldn’t hold back the smirk on his face. “We aren’t doing anything or going anywhere. I’d ask you guys to come over after work to see for yourself, but I don’t wanna.”
“Ever since you and Y/N started dating, you’ve changed.” The fake sniffle Chan let out almost sent Jihoon to the floor but he managed to reach the door and once he took a bow, walked out.
*
Jihoon let himself in quietly, just in case you were asleep or on the phone with someone important to you, but he was greeted with a Stray Kids song coming from the living room. He smiled while he watched “Back Door”, nodding to himself when he saw Bang Chan. He admired the leader, and respected his choices regarding his group, but if anything, it was how much you fawned over him that made him petty. (Not in the sense that whenever you argued, he’d tell you to be with him, but rather he thrived on the idea that if he was with you in public and you came across Chan, Jihoon could always be satisfied in knowing that you were on his arm, and bragging about him.) 
He did make a note to remind himself to tell the boys  that your friend wanted Seventeen to do the choreo and if he could just remember it one day, it’d be great. 
“Jagi?” He called out so he’d know where you were.
“I’m not home,” was your response and with that, followed the sound of your voice that led him into the kitchen. “You’re early.”
He placed a kiss on your hair and let you finish the dishes while he checked the mail you left on the table. Bills, spam, a few unknown addresses written to you and he could only assume you found more photocards and you’d show them to him later. “How was work?”
“They wanted me to stay a little longer but I told them I couldn’t.”
“So just about the same as me.” He tore up the junk mail, and threw it in the trash. “What’s that smell?” He asked, wrinkling his nose.
“I might have burned the first batch of cookies, while I was in the shower. But don’t worry, thes ones in the oven are almost done and they’ll be good for dinner.” You turned around to wave at him, but he stood up, opened a pack of peach gummies for you and fed you one. “Speaking of, what sounds good?”
He wrapped his arms around you, back hugging you while you resumed your chores. “I’m not hungry right now. How about you throw these in the dishwasher and we can just watch movies and we’ll make food later?”
“Vacuum the living room first and then I’ll go meet you there. I have to clean the bathroom after this and dust my shelves and-” you sighed, “-so much to do.”
“But you’re not working tomorrow. Can’t you do that?”
“I have plans tomorrow and I won’t be home until late.”
“Fine, I’ll help you do our chores so you can finish and then we’ll watch something that Wonwoo swore was good.” 
He kissed your cheek, only to jump slightly when you yelled out, “Ateez present!”, followed by, “Turn the TV up. I love this song!”
He nodded but didn’t say anything else, instead running around the apartment with the vacuum cleaner and you occasionally scolding him because you couldn’t hear your favorite songs, and after that, collecting all the trash to throw out so you wouldn’t have to go outside and lose whatever motivation you had. He liked when you had energy like that; it usually made him wonder what other things you had done, like the fact you changed the bedsheets this time, washed his clothes, and baked some dessert. You worked extra hard today and he couldn’t wait to have you sit next to him and watch something that you wouldn’t focus on, but you’d have a good night’s sleep if that happened. He wished he could do what you did in the short amount you’ve been home.
You somehow managed to finish at around the same time, but he could see you weren’t tired because you were teasing the cat with all its toys. (The cat he said he didn’t want when you bought the apartment, but for some reason couldn’t bear parting with the stray so now, he was an active member of the family, but he wasn’t complaining. The feline kept you company when he was gone and it strangely put Jihoon at ease.) “Haha, you’re too slow. Come grab it now.” You picked him up, trying not to wince when one of the claws came out. “Come on pretty boy. You’re gonna watch a movie with us tonight.”
Jihoon was already waiting for you, your favorite blanket ready to be claimed and the snacks ready to be eaten. “Come on Jagi. You don’t know how long I was waiting to do this with you.” He extended his arms wide enough for you to fall into them, and when you did, wrapped them around you, sighing contentedly. “You know I can stay like this forever, right?”
He kissed your forehead when you nodded, and you could feel the tiredness creeping in. He always made your long days a little better and you often wished you could be the beacon of energy he needed, and you tried really hard to be that. Your work’s complaints could wait for another day, but this couldn’t. “Thank you for coming home early.”
You could feel yourself falling asleep a little into the movie, not because you were bored, but because you were so warm and comfortable and you didn;t wanna break your little bubble. Jihoon played with your hair, further lulling you into a slumber and when he placed random kisses on you, you just silently asked for more. So it surprised you when the doorbell rang and you looked at him. “Did you order dinner?”
“No. Did you?” Then came the hard knocking and you recognized it immediately, and you let out a laugh.
“They didn’t,” Jihoon groaned. “I told them no. Just ignore them and they’ll go away.”
“Is that why you turned my phone off earlier?”
“Yes. I don’t always get this time with you.”
“Should I just let them in? You know they won’t stop until we open the door.” You didn’t know how long you stayed liked, but you reluctantly got off of Jihoon and opened the door, him muttering profanities and threatening to put them through hell the next time they were due to record.
“Y/N, you’re here!” Seungkwan pushed through everyone to hug you. “How come you don’t visit us? Don’t you love us anymore?”
“Dude, I’ve been so busy lately. I’m sorry.”
“WAIT!” Chan cried loud enough to wake your neighbors so you put a finger to your lips to quiet him down. “So Hyung was telling the truth when he said you weren;t doing anything?”
“We literally just cleaned the house and we were gonna watch a movie until bed.”
“Wow, you’re not fun.”
You counted all the heads, multiple times, frowning a little when you counted the 12. “I haven’t made dinner and we were just gonna have noodles.”
“Oh good! We’re starving.” Someone pushed Wonwoo and they all rushed inside, quickly making themselves at home. Jihoon shot you an apologetic look and you smiled at him. You enjoyed Seventeen’s company, but Jihoon shook his head, trying to look annoyed at their presence, but the smile he tried to hide was confirmation enough to have them here for a little. 
“Everyone is having ramen form the packet and if you don’t like it, then you can go and get your own food.” Your eyes widened when you saw the time on the stove. It felt so much later than it actually was.
“I just wanna know why you guys are here and not at home.”
“Hyung, you invited me earlier, remember? While I was working on the choreo and you were looking for your phone.”
“That reminds me. Catch Woozi!” Soonyoung fished the phone out of his pocket and threw it at his best friend, snickering when he failed to catch it.
“I didn’t invite you. I said I wish I could, but I don’t want to.”
“Well, we’re already here and Y/N said we could stay.”
“But please not so late; I’m working tomorrow. But later this weekend, you can go nuts.”
*
“I thought you weren’t working,” Jihoon asked after the unexpected guests left.
“I’m not, but like you said, we don’t always have time to do this.”
“You’re the best. Go play the movie; I can finish right here. Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Not kicking them out. You could’ve done that.”
“They were already here.” You shrugged. “I guess you guys still need each other sometimes.”
“Still, I appreciate that.” He lightly pushed you to the living room, though you couldn’t actually sit down. There was a small mess you could’ve ignored, but you were already up and you didn’t know how long it’d be until Jihoon finished. Plus it wouldn’t take long, especially since your favorite boy was sound asleep on his tower after Jun and Vernon chased him around. 
And you also also had to change Netflix accounts so no one would be confused about anything. Luckily, no one touched your stuff, so you were able to find your spot fairly quickly and Jihoon came by just in time, with two of your cookies in his hand, and handed one to you.
“I love you, you know that?”
He nodded. “Let’s finish watching this, so we can go to sleep.” He flopped on the couch, once again extending his arms to you, where you met him with small pecks and flushed cheeks. 
You finally pressed play again, hoping for no more interruptions until the next day, quickly falling into your previous state of almost falling asleep right then and there. “I love you Jihoon,” you mumbled to him again.
He shut his eyes in his euphoric state, letting your words warm him up before he responded to you, quietly enough that not even your favorite boy could hear.
“You are my miracle.”
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haikyuuthots · 4 years
Note
hi there! i’ve been a follower for awhile but i’m asking this anonymously bc i dont feel like exposing myself lol. but i was wondering if i can get an emergency request. i have been in quarantine for a year (since March 12-so almost a year) because i’m considered a high risk person during the pandemic, and i’ve been quarantined with my parents who can be extremely toxic at times. On top of that, I’m a full time college student and am experiencing burnout and am just overall at an extreme low right now. It’s just pilling on top of one another and is just weighing so heavily on me—i’m not sleeping, i’m barely able to focus and i’m just in such a self-hatred state of mind because of my parents and school. I just feel like its too much at this point and I just want everything to pause for a moment so i can breathe for even just a moment. If it isn’t too much trouble can I just get Ushijima (and/or Sakusa or honestly anyone you want to add) and how they would help out their s/o? thank you so much, your writings make my day brighter so please keep up the good work :)
A/n: Thank u so much for trusting me enough to help u feel better. This is for u love, i know life can be so hard, I truly hope you feel better soon, please if u ever feel comfortable enough to talk, don’t hesitate to message me!❣️i appreciate u, more than u could ever imagine. Thank u! Hope you enjoy this 🤍
Warnings: talk about being sad and stressed, but not very explicit.
Characters: Ushijima Wakatoshi & Sakusa Kiyoomi
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For the first time in a while, nothing in the world mattered. - Ushijima Wakatoshi
———————————————————
Life was overwhelming, it truly was. The more you thought about how many issues you had the more stressed you got. The last thing you wanted was to be consumed by this negative energy, you hated it and all you wanted to do was stop feeling this way but the more the days passed the more evident it got that you weren’t feeling like yourself, and your boyfriend was the first to notice your change in attitude. Ushijima was very observant, he rarely ever said much but the minute he realized you were down he wanted to do everything in his power to lift your spirits up. He would do anything to see a genuine smile on your face again.
You were surprised to see you boyfriend when you woke up Tuesday morning, making breakfast in the kitchen usually by this time he’d be gone, training for the majority of the day.
“Toshi? What are you doing?” You asked, a bit confused by the sight in front of you.
“Y/n, love, I’m making you breakfast.” He says lifting up the pan a little, showing you the scrambled eggs.
You giggle a bit, “yeah baby I see that, but I mean what are doing here now? Shouldn’t you be at practice?”
Ushijima lowers the heat on the pan and makes his way over to you, “i asked for today off, I want to be with you.”
You’re looking up at him with a shocked face “w-hat, why?”
He’s cupping your face, looking down at you lovingly “I love you. You don’t have to say anything now, but it’s been hard to ignore how down you’ve been I just want to be here with you, because I will always be with you, no matter what.”
Your vision begins to blur form the tears that are threatening to come out, you roughly wrap your arms around his body, and nuzzle your face into his chest. He holds you tightly, resting his chin on your head.
“I’m just- so tired. I feel like everything is falling apart.” You barely whisper out, tears prickling down your face.
Ushijimas heart breaks at the sound of your voice, but he tries his best to keep a strong tone, for your sake.
“Love, I’m here for you. Today, tomorrow, and every day after that. I won’t ever let you feel this alone.”
He pulls away, slightly wiping your tears, smiling down at you “I made you your favorite, would you like to eat now?”
You smile up at him, before you answer you give him a small peck on the lips “yes. I would love to eat with you.”
Your boyfriend spent the rest of the day by your side. He planned out all your favorite activities, starting with going to the movies, later getting frozen yogurt, and finally going to your favorite pond to feed the ducks. During that entire time you forgot about everything that negatively weighed on you, you were beyond grateful for Ushijima , because for the first time in a while, nothing in the world mattered. He kept his word too, every day he never failed to remind you that he was there and he would always be there, for you, for anything you ever needed.
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I’ll be here for you, til’ the end. - Sakusa Kiyoomi
——————————————————
It was 4Am and you rolled over again, looked like it would be another sleepless night. You couldn’t remember when the last time you got a good 8 hours of sleep was. It seemed that the stress of everything going on your life was specifically haunting you at night.
Looking over you see your boyfriends sleeping figure, you sigh thinking about how disappointed he’d be if he saw you awake at this hour. You quietly head over to grab your phone, trying to distract your negative thoughts by watching videos. After 15 minutes youre startled by your boyfriends sleepy voice
“y/n? Why are you up?”
“I can’t sleep, but don’t worry about it, you just go back to sleep oomi.”
You resume your video, watching until a hand begins hovering over the screen and your boyfriend briefly snatches your phone away from your hold
“Oomi, what?” You asked a bit confused,
Sakusa is now sitting up as he turns on the lamp beside your nightstand, he’s more awake now, gently rubbing his eyes
“Baby. What’s wrong?” He asks you,
“N-nothings wrong, I just can’t sleep tonight. But I’m okay.” You try your best to fake a smile, in hopes to not worry your boyfriend, but he knew you like the palm of his hand, he could tell when something was wrong.
Looking at you, more intensely he gently runs his finger under the bags under your eyes “you haven’t been sleeping have you?”
You audibly gasp at his realization, “I-I’m trying too, I am but”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Concern is laced all over his words
“I-I, just didn’t want to worry you.” You’re looking down as tears start falling down your face
Sakusa is looking at you with soft eyes, immediately he brings your body towards his and engulfs you into a hug. He’s holding you tightly as he speaks
“It’s okay, you’ll be okay.”
You continue crying on him, as you release your built up frustrations. He made it easy to cry, you couldn’t keep wishing things would be different, you’ve been so hard on yourself lately, but Oomi here comforting you was all you needed to help relieve that.
You two stayed in that position for a few minutes before you finally regained your composure, Sakusa holding you the entire time.
Finally pulling away he wipes your tears, looking deeply into your eyes
“I love you, you’re my entire world y/n. And I’ll be here for you, til the end, anytime you need me. Please never forget that”
You smile at his genuine words. Sakusa leans down to connect his lips with yours, kissing you lovingly.
Pulling away, Sakusa finds the remote control turning the tv on. You’re a bit confused by his actions
“Wh-?”
“I won’t fall asleep until you do.” He cuts you off, his eyes still looking at the tv.
“Kiyoomi , don’t do-“
He looks back at you, “I mean it, I’m staying up with you, until you’re asleep.”
And he did, he didn’t sleep until he made sure you did first. Every night after that, he made sure to stay up with you until you slept, not only that but he was very attentive with anything you needed, caring for you, listening to you and reassuring you that you’d be fine. You were beyond thankful for him, because your boyfriend showed you time and time again that he would do absolutely everything to make sure you were aware at the fact that you were never alone.
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poc-movie-supremacy · 3 years
Text
I’m coming home to you
Christopher wanted to see his Buck today and who was Eddie to refuse? They picked up Buck for a nice day at the pier. When things go from great to catastrophic, will Eddie reunite with Buck and Christopher. Based off this tumblr post by @sexyapplemilk
This story is for @sexyapplemilk/ @fandom-101 @its-like-looking-in-3d
Thank you to @not-falling-but-flying for reading over this long long fic!
I hope you guys like it!
----
Eddie and Buck had the same day off. Well Eddie had the day off and Buck didn’t have work but potato potatoe. It was Saturday so Chris didn’t have school today either. 
Eddie was sitting across from Chris at the breakfast table munching their way through breakfast. It had been a quiet morning so far, Chris was lost in his own thoughts. Eddie wondered if his kid was planning anything, but decided not to put much thought into it. 
“Daddy can we see Bucky today?” The question made Eddie cock his eyebrow. He knew that Buck had been wallowing in his bed for the past few days after he got the news he couldn’t go back to work just yet. Part of him didn’t want to disturb the younger man, but the other part of him figured this could be good for Buck. Also he can’t say no to his kid. 
“Let me ask him if he’s free.” Eddie will probably come over anyways, Buck can’t get mad at him, he had Chris. “Finish your breakfast first though mijo.” Chris shouts in joy and resumes eating his breakfast, bagel with fruits cause eddie can’t mess that up, with renewed rigour. Eddie smiles fondly at his kid while he takes a bit of fruit. 
Eddie made Chris finish getting ready for the day. They had to do Chris’s PT, get changed, fix their hair. Eddie combed his hair back, put on a nice white shirt and a plaid button up, jeans, and some sneakers. Chris put on a yellow stripped shirt and blue pants. He waited impatiently for his dad by the door. Eddie chuckled, unlocked the door then walked with his kid to the car. “What do you want to do for today Chris?”
“We can color or Bucky says he got a new video game!”
“You don’t want to go outside?” 
Chris looks at his dad curiously. Eddie helps him into the car then doubling back to get into the drivers seat. He starts the car and starts to drive. “What could we do outside?” 
“You could go to the park, play on the play structure?”
Chris wrinkles his nose. “Bucky can’t fit on it though, I know, we’ve tried.” Eddie laughs out loud at that. The idea of Buck trying to fit into a play structure is way too amusing. 
“Well okay then, no park, we could… go to the laser tag?”
“I promised I’d go with Denny next week though.”
“Hmmm yea we gotta keep our promises don’t we?”
“That’s what you always say.”
“Well maybe Buck will have better ideas huh?”
“Bucky has the best ideas!” 
---
They get up to Buck’s apartment and Eddie doesn’t knock, instead he just lets himself in. The apartment is eerily quiet and Eddie wonders if Buck wasn’t home. “Buck, Hey Buck me and Chris are here to hang out.” He looks around the apartment for any signs of his best friend. 
“Daddy look.” Chris points up to the loft to the mass on the bed.
Eddie smiles proudly at his kid. “Good job mijo. Go sit in the living room while I go rouse Buck.”
“Can I watch tv?”
“Sure kid.”
Eddie sets Chris up in the living room before heading up to Buck. The bedroom is a bit messy, loose clothes strung everywhere. The blinds are closed and all the lights are off. Any evidence Buck is here is the gigantic mass on the bed. Eddie frowns in worry, before getting to work. He opens up all the blinds and repeatedly pulled the covers off of Buck to force him to get up.
“Dude I have nothing to do today.”
“Nope, you're taking me and Chris, more importantly Chris, somewhere today. Heads up, he’s vetoed the park and laser tag and he’s downstairs. Get changed and start thinking of places to go. I’ll make you something to eat.”
Buck looks at him incredulously. “Eddie, you can’t cook.”
“Yea it’ll probably be toast or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but food is food and you need to eat.”
Eddie watches Buck calmly. Anger, confusion, acceptance and happiness flit across his face. He gives Eddie a smile before turning around. “Okay Eddie. Anything for my favorite Diaz.”
Eddie knows he means Chris, he still leaves the loft with a small smile.
---
The Diaz’s make Buck a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with some strawberries Eddie found in Buck’s fridge. Buck’s in a white shirt and a plain pink button up. His hair is slightly gelled up and any trace of sadness was gone from his eyes. Happily he let Chris pull him to the kitchen table. “Wow this all looks so good buddy, did you make it?”
Chris beamed. “No Dad helped a bit.”
“You coulda convinced me otherwise.” 
Chris giggled as Eddie rolled his eyes, “I cut up the strawberries.” Buck made a small noise of understanding before starting to eat. Chris quietly colored beside him. Occasionally he stole Buck’s strawberries. If Buck cared he didn’t comment on it.
“So have you picked where we’re going Buck?” Eddie asked.
“Yes actually, May’s been talking about visiting the Pier with her friends and I figured  if it was good enough for her, it’s good enough for us right? You wanna go to the pier buddy?”
“What’s on the pier?”
Buck’s face lit up in a blinding smile. Quickly he starts listing off all the unhealthy snacks sold at the pier. Eddie shakes his head and mock glares at Buck, but he only gets a cheeky grin in response. 
“You’re going to give him such a sugar high. Ugh, if you want to do this you have to put him to bed tonight.”
“You’re going to stay with us for the whole day?!” Chris smile could put the sun to shame. He looked eagerly between his father and his Buck.
“Sure Buddy if that’s what you want.” Chris nodded his head so fast he looked like a bobble head. 
Buck chuckled, “Okay buddy, I’ll hop you up on sugar then have the pleasure of tucking you in.” Buck sent Eddie a teasing smile, only to receive an eye roll in response. 
Once Buck finishes his food, the boys head for Buck’s jeep. They could’ve ridden in Eddie’s truck, but Buck likes driving more than Eddie. Chris’s car seat is transferred to the back of Buck’s jeep and they all pile in. Some top 40s song blares from the radio as they head to their destination. 
The wind feels nice in Eddie’s hair. He stares out the window as he listens to Chris and Buck have an animated conversation. Eddie doesn’t really pay attention to it, but it still sounds nice, his son and best friend being happy.  
“Will you ride with us Eddie?”
“Hmm?”
“The bumper cars? Do you want to ride on the bumper cars with us?”
“Oh why not. You sure though, I’ll kick your butt.”
Buck squacks offendedly. “As if, I’m a pro at bumper cars Diaz. In fact I should be asking if you’re okay going against me.” Buck flashes him a cocky smile and Eddie gives him a deadpan stare. He’s impossible yet so endearing. Eddie can’t bring himself to hate it, any of it for a second. 
----
Going to the pier, Eddie will admit, was a very good choice. The smell of fried food and the noise of the amusement park rides was relaxing. It felt like being back at the state fairs in Texas. Buck and Chris dragged him along to every ride and Eddie went willingly. He doesn’t remember the last time he had so much fun. 
Eventually they tired down. Eddie was sitting on a bench next to Buck with a frankly gigantic brown bear on his lap. Chris is watching the surfers surf the waves down below with Buck holding onto his shirt. Eddie let himself relax after spending a whole day running after a child and a golden retriever. When Chris comforted Buck, Eddie snuck a photo of the moment. Buck was smiling sadly up at Chris while Chris held Buck’s chin in his hand. It was so sweet Eddie could’ve gotten a toothache.
He went about saving the photo when Chris started talking again. “Where did all the water go?”
---
So there was a Tsunami in California, and Eddie was in the middle of it. He really can’t have nice things. Immediately Buck grabbed Chris and together they started running off the pier. Man can’t outrun nature though and they were barely halfway across the pier when they got swept away.
---
Buck tightened his hold on Chris as he felt the water slap them around. As much as he wanted to keep Chris with him, he wasn’t stronger than the water. Eventually Buck felt Chris get torn away from him. Debris the tsunami picked up hurtled toward him. He could feel little nicks appear on his arms and legs. 
When he finally broke through the surface, he spotted Chris clinging to a pole twenty feet in front of him. Carefully he angled his body so the water would take him to Chris. When he got close enough he leaped and wrapped his arms around Chris. With the same intensity, Chris clung to Buck tightly. It was nice to have proof that Chris was safe. After hearing the little guy cry out for him and Eddie, he wasn’t letting Chris go anytime soon. 
For a while the duo was at the mercy of the water, but when Buck spotted a half submerged fire truck, he used his reserved energy to swim towards it. Once there, he lifted Chris onto it and then lifted himself onto it. The whole act hurt his leg, but Buck didn’t voice his pain. Quietly he breathed a sigh of relief. The open air stung his fresh cuts and his soaked clothes clung to him uncomfortably. Chris climbed into his lap and rested his head on Buck’s chest.
“Bucky, where’s my dad?”
Buck sighed, not wanted or knowing how to answer this question. “It appears that we got separated when the wave hit, but that can’t be permanent right buddy? When the water recedes we’ll go search for him okay?” Silently Chris nodded. Buck carded his hand through his curls and let his head gently hit against the truck. He breathed deeply once before getting into action.
“Hey superman, can I give you a quick check-up? I wanna make sure you aren’t too injured.” Chris nodded and Buck went about a modified version of the paramedic check up. (He’s been around Hen and Chimney to know it by heart. He also is a certified EMT.)
“You’re all healthy, kid, just a few cuts but that’s okay. Pretty amazing, I need to know your secrets.” Buck poked Chris’s cheek to make him giggle. He succeeded.
“I had you. You saved me.”
---
Somewhere along the way Eddie got separated. In the water he tried to reach for Chris or Buck, but his hand kept getting smacked by debriefs. He did it enough times that he was sure his wrist was sprained. 
When he finally broke free from the waves he couldn’t tell where he was. There were string lights hanging above him and a row of nondescript red buildings. Eddie let himself be dragged along with the waves while he thought of something to do. Buck and Chris weren’t beside him, making him officially alone. He hoped they were still together, the thought of all three of them trying to survive this on their own was enough to puke. 
He clutched onto his St. Christopher’s medal as he searched for someplace to grab onto.  There were inflatable toys, scraps of metal, and spare tires; but nothing safe to actually hold onto. Eddie tries to groan in frustration, but he ends up swallowing a mouthful of water instead. 
After another half-hour he finally sees an awning of a restaurant. He makes his way over and lies down on the awning. He breathes in deeply and lets out a slow breath. He’s safe. He’s safe and alive and all alone. Dread tries to settle in his stomach at the thought of his son. He knows he can’t think like this, but god it’s so easy too. He can only hope that Buck is with Chris, Buck will keep Chris safe. 
--- 
When the water finally recedes, Buck climbs down the truck. The nice lady, Mrs. Violet, hands Buck Chris before climbing down herself. “Stay safe you two. Good bye.” Chris waves goodbye and Buck gives her a megawatt smile. She’s nice company while they were stuck on the truck. Buck hopes they find their husband. He waits to make sure everyone else gets down safely too. 
The winds from earlier have died down. The warmth from the midday sun beaming down on him feels nice. His clothes have dried into uncomfortable messes, but it’s fine. He gave his pink button to use a tourniquet for a man with a bloody arm. 
Chris tightens his hold on Buck, shifts around to get comfortable, then goes lax in his arms. “You don’t want to be let down buddy?” Chris shakes his head. Buck hmmed in acquiescence . 
As an eight year old, Chris is hesitant to let people hold him. He says he’s too old for it now. The first time it happened Eddie called Buck to drink with him. Buck agreed and listened as Eddie complained at how big his kid was getting. The fact that Chris was willing to be held right now meant that he was more scared than he appeared. It made Buck worry and want Eddie. He shouldn’t be here, Eddie needs to be here to console his kid. 
Buck hiked up Chris further up his hip then started walking. He didn’t know which way he should go, just hoped wherever he went would lead him to Eddie. 
---
Eddie fell asleep. He fell asleep on top of the awning waiting for something to happen. It wasn’t a great sleep, he kept seeing Christopher get torn away from him. Eddie shocked himself awake and took stock of his surroundings. The water was gone, leaving in its wake the debris it swept away. Also dead bodies. If Eddie had anything to puke up he’d be hurling. 
Okay, okay, you can’t stay here. You gotta go find your kid. How… Eddie thought. Call someone? Call Buck! Or Bobby or Carla! Hope invigorated him to pull his phone out despite the fact that his wrist was definitely broken. Hope left him when he saw his completely waterlogged phone. Okay Plan A was bust on to Plan B… whatever that was. 
The awning was connected to a pole that he could climb down. Best way to find his kid and his best friend was to look for them. Slowly he made his way to an edge of an awning. Then he edged himself off the edge slowly and feet first. Eddie wrapped his feet around the pole and shimmied down. 
There were a few stranglers around him, similarly confused and lost. He tried asking them if they’d seen his lost kid or best friend. Unhelpfully they shook their heads no. Eddie sighed and continued walking. 
----
Buck’s arms were on fire. His leg was also on fire. He’s pretty sure he was also bleeding something… not good. Holding Chris and walking around for hours in the hot sun hadn’t been kind to him. Buck was still searching for Eddie or a hospital. Finding Eddie was better than finding a hospital, but at this point he’d take either.   
Technically he had found two hospitals already, but they were filled to the brink. The wait was astronomical and there was no place to sit. And there was no Eddie. He let a nurse check Chris out and give them some supplies, water and granola bars, before heading out. In hindsight he should’ve also asked for a phone to call someone but he forgot. 
Chris had long since passed out in his arms. The kid's soft breaths on his necks was very reassuring. It was part of the reason Buck didn’t want to let him down. Another reason was because he wanted to physically pass Chris off to Eddie. Who is fine. He’s healthy and fit and able to carry his kid when Buck finds him. ‘Cause he will find him, Buck can’t not find him.
Chris shifting in his arm brought Buck back to the present. “Bucky? Bucky, I'm tired.”
“I know superman, you’re okay. I heard there's a new hospital a few blocks from here. They’ll be able to help us.”
“Okay Bucky. Can I have ice cream when we get there?”
“We deserve it don’t we? Still need to ask your dad though buddy.”
“Why? He’s not the boss of you?”
“This is a trick.”
--- 
After searching for Buck and Chris for five hours (and getting nowhere his evil mind adds) he’s starting to lose hope he can find them on his own. No one has seen a tall man in a pink button up nor a little boy in a yellow striped shirt. Eddie’s poor heart doesn’t know whether or not to implode at that. By now the sun has started setting. The winds aren’t as refreshing as they once were. 
As he made his way down another debris filled street, two first responders found him. Eddie resists their attempts at checking him over for any injuries at first. He needs to find his partner and his kid, but he’s also tired. The first responders seem to pick up on this. They promise him that they’ll help him find his kid and partner if he just cooperates. This is how they cajoole him into going to a hospital. With promises of phone calls to his kid and a message passed around to the other first responders that Firefighter Eddie Diaz of the 118 is looking for his partner Evan Buckley and his son Chris Diaz. 
This satisfies Eddie a great deal and he then becomes a much better patient. (He’s still grumpy and aloof, but now he’s tolerant). He’s almost fine, acquired a cut on his right arm, broke his left wrist, is dehydrated and exhausted. One of the first responders tosses him a bottle of water on the way to their destination. Eddie finds out when they arrive that it’s a VA hospital set up specifically as a halfway point for the sick and wounded. 
The first responders usher him in through the door and into the hands of a nurse. They describe his injuries, and tell her about his missing family. He’d correct them but the statement doesn’t feel wrong anyways. The nurse takes him to a free cot before giving him a check up too. 
The first responders hit the nail on the head with his list of injuries. Since it’s not severe he doesn’t need to be transported to the hospital right away, although it is recommended. She leaves to go get him pain meds and once again, Eddie is alone. The people in the cots beside him don’t count. Hell one’s unconscious and the other one is having an intimate looking conversion with a loved one. There are tears, Eddie looks away.
To keep himself busy Eddie makes a to do list of what he needs to do next. Find Christopher. Give him a big hug. Give Buck a big hug. Sleep. Tell people he’s okay. Buy a new phone. Buy ice cream. The last one isn’t technically an emergency but forgive him he’s in pain. 
The nurse comes back with a wrap for his wrist and disinfectant and band aids. He finishes his water while she works. The nurse tells him he’s lucky his wound isn’t infected. Eddie nods, mind focused on something else.
“This is awkward, but my phone got damaged in the tsunami and I need to tell some people I’m okay. Is it alright if I borrow your phone and make some calls?” 
The nurse smiles and nodds. She gets out her iphone, unlocks it and gets out the phone app. Eddie takes it gingerly and thinks of who to call first. His parents? Ha. He could call his sisters, but if they don’t know then he didn’t want to worry them. He’d call Tia Pepa but she’s probably with Abuela already so calling Abuela’s home phone is the best bet. 
She’s calm if not incredibly saddened when she picks up the phone. Abuela  lets out a fast stream of spanish that’s said through tears once she realizes its him. He waits patiently for her to finish talking before reassuring her she’s fine. Eddie wants to tell her about Christopher, but he’s worried about Abuela having a heart attack so instead he promises to bring Chris over for lunch tomorrow. He then talks to Tia Pepa for a bit, but there’s not much new to say because Abuela had the phone call on speaker. She thanks god that he’s okay and that he better see her as soon as possible.
When they hang up he immediately calls Bobby. As he waits for him to pick up the phone he gives the nurse a sheepish smile and promises that this is the last call. 
“Hello Bobby Nash, who is this?”
“Bobby? It’s Eddie, listen, my phone got damaged in the tsunami. Buck, Chris and I were at the pier and I can’t find them anymore Bobby.”
“Hey, hey, hey, Eddie, you need to breathe. Okay breathe.” Eddie rubs his hand over his eyes as he takes a deep breath. 
“Okay Where are you right now.”
“The new VA hospital they set up.”
“Okay I know where that is. I’m going to send out a message to keep an eye out for Buck and Christopher. I’ll also ask Maddie to start calling the hospitals to see if they have Buck. We’re going to find them okay Eddie. Buck’s a fighter, we’re going to find him and Chris.”
“I know Cap it’s just-.”
“Hey Hey, this isn’t your fault, you can’t blame yourself for this. Stay there at the hospital so we know where to send Buck and Chris when we find them.”
“Yeah okay, okay, okay.” 
“Okay, are you okay?”
“Umm yeah I’m fine, shallow cut and sprained wrist. I’m fine Cap, it's Buck and Chris.”
“I know that, but I worry about you too. I gotta go, they need me, but take care of yourself okay? Stay safe?”
“Yes sir.” Bobby hung up and Eddie gave the nurse back her phone. 
The nurse left almost immediately to tend to other patients. Eddie took a deep breath before taking the next step. He knew someone had to have a list of patients at this hospital somewhere, he just had to figure out who. Eddie got up from his cot to start looking around. 
The first few people were a bust. Lady #1 was actually a nurse who just finished tending to a patient. Man #2 was actually an off duty first responder helping out. Lady and Man #3 and #4 were family of some of the victims of the tsumai. Eddie was starting to get frustrated. He needed to find his son and partner quickly. The longer they were out there the more Eddie’s insides turned into knots. 
He walked forward towards the entrance and saw a woman with a clipboard. “Hello ma’am is that a list of patients for the VA hospital?”
The woman turned toward him and smiled politely. “Yes it is. Who are you looking for?”
“My son Christopher Diaz. He’s 8 years old and about 4 feet 5 inches tall. He was wearing a yellow striped shirt and khakis. I’m also looking for my partner Evan Buckley. Late twenties 6’2’’ wearing a pink button up, white shirt and some jeans. He has an identifiable birth mark on his right eyebrow that could be mistaken for a burn scar.”
The lady pursed her lips as she scanned through the papers. Eddie tried not to loom or tap his foot as he waited. When her face fell and she frowned he tried not to cry or get violent. “No, I’m sorry sir, I don’t have anyone like that listed here. They could be at another hospital, or,” the lady pointed to a nearby tent, “they could be there.” 
Eddie followed his gaze to the place she was pointing at. “The, the-” black trash bags were piled in front of a stark white tent. That could mean it was only one type of place. 
“I’m so sorry sir, if your family is actually there.” Eddie barely nodded at her, listlessly making his way over to the tent. Part of him wanted to believe that Buck and Christopher was at another hospital, but if they were, wouldn’t they have been found by someone. Wouldn’t Eddie have tangible proof that they were alive? Tears started streaming down Eddie’s face. His knees started to wobble as he started scanning through the list of the deceased kept just outside the doors of the tent.
---
“Eddie! Has anyone seen an Eddie Diaz?!” A loud voice echoed in the background. Eddie frowned. It sounded a lot like Buck, but he- the lady said he was-
“My name is Evan Buckley, have you seen Edmundo Diaz?” The voice was slightly softer this time. Eddie turned around and almost fell to his knees. There, bathed in the LED lights was his best friend clutching his child in his arms. Eddie sobbed and started running to them.
“Buck! Buck!” 
“Eddie?” Buck wanted to run to Eddie, but walking was hard enough. He stayed where he was and let Eddie run into him. It didn’t take long. Buck quickly felt Eddie wrap his arms around both him and Christopher. 
It was then in his best friend's arms that Buck finally let the weight of the day catch up to him. His knees buckled and he went boneless in Eddie’s arms. Said man took it like a champ, first he made sure he had a secure hold on Chris, then he let himself sink to the ground with Buck. The younger man rested his back on Eddie’s chest and relaxed. The uncomfortable, burning pressure on his legs and arms was finally eased. Buck made a happy little sigh and burrowed further into Eddie, just as Chris was doing in his sleep. Maybe he should’ve been embarrassed by it but he just spent over five hours slowly losing hope that he would ever find Eddie alive. It would take the fear of God to separate them. 
Eddie seemed to have the same idea. The arm that wasn’t around Christopher tightened around Buck’s waist. The younger man could hear his partner murmur prayers in what he thought was spanish. Tears, of what Buck hoped was relief fell from Eddie’s face onto Buck’s shoulder. 
“Oh god, oh my god, I thought- I-” Eddie rambled, finding his voice again.
“Hey, hey hey, I’m fine. Me and Chris are all right.”
Eddie made a disbelieving noise. “Okay my leg hurts like a bitch and I probably have one too many cuts, but it’s nothing life threatening.” 
“You wouldn’t lie to me?”
“Not after the day I’ve had.”
“In a minute we should get you checked out.”
“Aww you can’t do it for me?” Buck shifted his head slightly to bat his eyes at Eddie.
“No, an unbiased professional should handle you,” Eddie whispered hoping the night sky would hide his blush. Buck nodded and listened to Eddie breathing. 
“We’re okay, we’re okay, we’re okay,” Buck whispered, like a mantra. He brought Eddie’s hand up to rest above his heart so Eddie could feel his heart beat. “We’re okay, we’re okay, we’re okay,” Even though Buck actually did need medical help, the trio stayed like that a little while longer, basking in the fact that all three of them were lucky enough to make it out alive and to return to each other. 
34 notes · View notes
waveypedia · 3 years
Text
the more things seem to change, the more they stay the same.
Ao3
Miles Edgeworth and Phoenix Wright have loved one another since the day they met.
-
Against all odds, Miles returned the smile in full. “Then I suppose we shall just have to discover the truth together. Shall we, Wright?”
The grin Wright gave him in return was blinding enough to replace the sun. “We shall, Edgeworth. Now just take it easy.”
-
Four non-linear glimpses into the lives of Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth over the years.
Written for Narumitsu Week Day 7: Seasons
Winter
  [December 31, 2016
5:32 PM
Edgeworth’s Apartment]
 Bang, bang, bang.
Miles jumped out of his armchair, nearly throwing his book. 
Bang, bang, bang.
Someone was knocking at his door. Rather thoughtlessly, it seemed. Miles was always careful to scare any solicitors that dared pass the signs far away. Maybe his reputation simply hadn’t spread to this one brave solicitor.
The knocking continued, relentless. Miles dropped his book and stalked to the door. If this solicitor was blissfully unaware of how terrifying the Demon Prosecutor could be, they soon would not be.
“Oi, Edgeworth, open up.”
That… was not a solicitor.
Miles froze in front of the door, one hand on the handle. What could he possibly want?
Stubborn as ever, the knocks continued. Miles’ frustration outweighed his wariness, and in a burst of fury, he wrenched the door open, seething. 
On the other side of the doorway, Wright frowned at him. He was slumping, exhausted, with one hand still poised to knock. His ever-present cheap court suit was rumpled and wrinkled, like he’d slept in it - not uncharacteristic at all. Yet he was bright-eyed and sported the same expression on his face as when he was about to uncover a tangled mystery in court.
“Edgeworth,” Wright said, breathless and half unbelieving.
“What do you want, Wright,” Miles sighed, unable to conjure up the energy to properly rebuke Wright. Or engage in… whatever little tête-a-tête he had planned. 
That seemed to break whatever spell Miles had cast upon Wright by opening the door. The other man straightened, shaking out his wrist. “Can I come in?”
Miles stared, the query not quite processing for a minute. And when it finally did, he found himself unable to make sense of it.
“I suppose,” he supplied awkwardly, after he realized he had been staring blankly at Wright in lieu of a response.
Wright ducked his head abashedly, a small, awkward smile making its home on his face. “Great. Perfect. Um…. Yeah,” he said eloquently, ducking around Miles (who seemed to have forgotten all of his politeness and social skills, the one proficiency both his father and von Karma had imprinted on him) and into the house.
After a minute, Miles shut the door and followed, feeling hopelessly lost in his own home.
He found Wright in his kitchen, pulling some items out of his cupboards seemingly at random. 
“May I ask what you’re doing?” Miles said, feeling unimaginably out of place.
Wright Jumped as if he’d forgotten Miles was there at all. He glanced over, his mouth forming a small ‘o’. He frowned, seemingly turning over words in his head as he worked.
“Well,” Wright began, somewhat hesitantly, “When Ch- When Mia died, I never had the energy to cook.” He paused, glancing over at Miles to gauge his reception. After a moment of deliberation, Miles gave him a small nod, urging him to continue.
“Yeah,” Wright said, half to himself. “And after Do- Well. When these hard things happen, it’s… well, it’s difficult.”
“...Difficult,” Miles muttered, half to himself.
“Yeah, difficult,” Wright said, with a flippancy he didn’t completely feel.
Still feeling indescribably inept for the moment, Miles pulled out one of the chairs at his kitchen island and dropped into it. He resigned himself to staring awkwardly at the floor as Wright worked.
“Um, do you have a speaker or anything?” Wright asked after a minute. “I don’t listen to a lot of music, but Maya has a playlist she likes to put on while I cook, so…”
Wordlessly, Edgeworth retrieved the speaker from where it’s been collecting dust in one of his closets and passed it to Wright. “You cook for Maya?”
In a similar gesture to when he’s flustered in court, Wright laughed nervously and scratched behind his head. “Yeah, well, someone’s gotta, right? Neither of us are gonna get our own cooking show anytime soon, but we manage. And between the two of us, I’m the one who’s used to living on my own. She’s learning, though.”
“She doesn’t know how to cook?” Miles asked.
“Eh, not really,” Wright replied, plugging the speaker into an outlet and fiddling with his phone. “Apparently they have this fancy system where the elders of Kurain cook for them. I doubt Maya would be too interested in cooking if it weren’t for the fact that she’s not really allowed to. She’d much rather go out for burgers every meal.”
Miles hummed in response. 
Seemingly, Wright finally figured out how to connect his ancient brick of a phone to Miles’ speaker, since his face broke out in a grin and he waved his phone in the air triumphantly. It was similar to the grin he wore in court, when he discovered a key piece of evidence or broke a witness’ testimony. 
Wright pulled up Maya’s playlist. Miles expected something bright and bouncy, much like the girl in question, but the notes that filtered through his speaker were far from it. Low and elegant, a familiar orchestral score filled the highest arches of Miles’ kitchen. Before he realized it, he relaxed into his seat, the familiarity of the music making him feel right at home. A millisecond later, Miles’ brain caught up to him.
“Is this the Steel Samurai soundtrack?!” Miles practically screeched, unable to believe his own ears.
Wright’s head, bowed in careful concentration as he chopped vegetables, snapped up in surprise. His eyes were blown wide. “Yeah, Maya really likes that show. It’s why she dragged me off to defend Will Powers that one time.” As he processed, a playful smirk began to worm its way onto Wright’s face, much like the pit of dread making itself at home in Miles’ stomach. “Why, do you watch it?”
“Nghoooh,” Miles groaned, burying his head in his hands.
Wright laughed, throwing his head back empathically. A few pieces of finely chopped carrot flew off of his knife and hit the counter in the back, making Wright and Miles wince in tandem. Miles made a mental note to clean his kitchen as soon as possible, since it was now certain Phoenix Wright would make a mess of things once again.
Although, was it really all that bad?
“It’s okay,” Wright said, still choked with giggles. “It makes sense, you know?”
Panic flashed in Miles’ gut. He wondered if he had been dropping unintentional signals. If that’s the case, what other subjects have I been dropping unintentional signals about?! But Wright simply smiled, completely comfortable.
Wright’s eyes sparkled, both with mirth and affection. Affection?! “Don’t you remember watching the Signal Samaurai with me ‘n Larry when we were kids? Signal Red, Signal Blue, Signal Yellow, remember?”
“Larry and  I, Wright,” Miles  sighed, massaging his temples. It was unimaginably easy to slip back into their courtroom personas, with Miles latching onto the tiniest contradictions to tear his argument apart.
Except here, there was no argument. Only a nostalgic window into the past and a dangerously comfortable relationship with his friend-turned-rival-turned-maybe-friend-again. 
“Whatever, whatever,” Wright said, waving the knife perhaps a bit too carelessly for a blade that size. Then again, Wright had always danced a little too close with danger, hadn’t he?
It wouldn’t stop Miles from worrying about him, though.
“I do remember watching the Signal Samurai with you when we were little,” Miles admitted. “I… I kept watching it, even after I… moved to Germany. Von Karma was never fond of it, unsurprisingly, but music and television were some of the only things from my home I found a way to keep.”
Wright set down the knife and leaned his elbows on the polished counter. He said nothing, but something in his open and earnest expression urged Miles to continue more than any prompting ever could have.
“I tried to get Franziska to watch some of it with me,” Miles resumed, embolded. “She never cared much for it, but she watched it with me. Sometimes. Usually after a nightmare.”
“Franziska?” Wright questioned.
Miles simply waved a tired hand in response. He knew better than to leave Wright in the dark now, after that mess of a trial, but Franziska’s tale was a long and complicated one that he simply didn’t have the vitality for. He could feel his already-low energy level slipping, as if willpower was bleeding out of his body like grains of sand in an hourglass. He dropped his head into his hands rather roughly, and his eyes began to droop closed.
In a rare stroke of luck, Wright seemed to understand him immediately, without Miles needing to summon energy he didn’t have to explain. Somehow Wright had always been able to do that - always been able to read Miles effortlessly. Additionally, he could pick up on what he  needed instead of what he wanted, even if he didn’t even know itself. 
Wright set down the cooking tools and carefully stepped over to where Miles was sitting at the bar. “Maybe that’s enough for tonight, hmm?”
“But your cooking,” Miles croaked, fighting to keep his eyes open. Exhaustion from the previous days, which he’d already thought he’d been suffering from, suddenly hit him like a truck.
Wright grinned at him, triumphant and crooked, like when he caught a witness in court. “Aha! You want to eat my cooking! You’re happy I’m here!”
Miles flashed his darkest, most terrifying scowl, coveted and perfected by the Demon Prosecutor himself. “I am simply trying to be a good-” He cut himself off with a yawn, frustratingly ruining his acerbic facade. “-host.”
Wright rolled his eyes, smiling fondly. Fondly?! “Please, Edgeworth. If anyone’s hosting here, it’s me.”
“In case you have not noticed, Wright, we are currently inhabiting my house,” Edgeworth said, unimpressed.
Wright beamed, unrepentant, and flung his arms out to both sides. “Yeah? And I’m the one cooking. I believe that’s what they call a  contradiction in court.”
“Absolutely not,” Miles grumbled. “This is ridiculous.”
Wright chuckled softly. “You just don’t want to admit I beat you again.”
“Hardly,” Miles groused, disgruntled. “When we go head to head again, Phoenix Wright, I will arrive with a guilty defendant. And I will achieve my guilty verdict.”
“And what if your defendant isn’t guilty?” Wright asked, tilting his head to the side with a small smile.
Against all odds, Miles returned the smile in full. “Then I suppose we shall just have to discover the truth together. Shall we, Wright?”
The grin Wright gave him in return was blinding enough to replace the sun. “We shall, Edgeworth. Now just take it easy.”
Miles rested his chin in his hand and watched Wright finish with an easy smile.
  Spring
  [May 25, 2019
11:03 PM
Wright Talent Agency]
 “You know what they say about spring?” Phoenix asked, apropos of nothing.
Edgeworth glanced up from the files he’d been annotating. He won’t let Phoenix look, but he knows they’re files for the case he’s prosecuting. A locked-room murder, Edgeworth called it. He’d offered Phoenix the coveted spot of co-counsel, but Phoenix had turned it down. There was no way he could accept that offer. He had thought both he and Edgeworth knew that well, but it seemed Edgeworth was still holding out hope.
Oh, how the tables had turned.
“What’s that?” Edgeworth asked, setting down his pen to give Phoenix his full attention. Oh, Phoenix could never quite handle this version of Edgeworth, the one full to the brim with careful kindness. Not like he was stepping on eggshells (which he, and everyone else, did a little too often around Phoenix for his liking, even if it was deserved).
Phoenix spun one of Edgeworth’s spare pens between his fingers. “It’s a time of change, and new beginnings.”
“Oh?” Edgeworth’s tone was carefully measured, knowing and wary of the minefield Phoenix was leading him into, yet following placidly all the same. “That is a nice sentiment. It most likely stems from the many agricultural plants that must be planted during this season, as well as many animals’ mating and birthing season during this time.”
“Yeah.” Phoenix scruffed his foot on his already dirty carpet. The hollow pang of pain he receives in response felt staticy and cloudy, like it was muffled through several layers of unreality. He barely processed it. Everything felt like that these days.
Everything except for Trucy, his light. Who was now fast asleep, hopefully dreaming peacefully and free of the nightmares that had plagued them both ever since the Gramarye trial.
And now, Edgeworth, apparently. To prove his point, Phoenix turned his focus to Edgeworth. The fuzz receded, and he could see clearly again. Just in time to focus on every smooth, unwrinkled thread in Edgeworth’s suit jacket that cost more than a year’s worth of rent, even though he’d been working tirelessly for the entire day. Or his grey eyes, sharp with focus as he examined the file for any hint of a clue or contradiction. Not sharp like the Demon Prosecutor’s eyes had been, glaring daggers from an unassuming newspaper photo and then again in the courtroom. No, Edgeworth was only dangerous to his enemies, and his enemies were the villains who stood in the way of truth and justice.
Like Phoenix himself, if the newspapers were to be believed, anyway. Everyone thought they were.
Sometimes he wished Edgeworth thought the same. It would make things easier, in a sense. Spending time with Edgeworth is tricky, but rewarding.
Rewarding enough that Phoenix continues to humor his old friend, even though he can barely bring himself to answer Maya’s stubborn calls. He can’t quite put his finger on  why .
(He knew the answer - he’s known since he changed his career path. Since he stubbornly kept writing letters to a boy who never once gave any hint he was reading them. But he’s not willing to break that black lock yet. Not with the hand the Gramarye trial has dealt him.)
“Yes, but when one examines the issue closely, one finds it does not have the negative connotation it appears to,” Edgeworth said, breaking the silence Phoenix hadn’t realized they’d fallen into. He punctuated his words with a quiet, thoughtful hum that always made Phoenix melt inside, even though their conversation topic was less than comforting. “It is true that some instances require an end of another in order to begin anew. Such is the cycle of life. Yet, the focus of the saying is always on the beginnings - the good in this hypothetical relationship. Life is a give-and-take of tragedy and joy.”
“Huh,” Phoenix blinked, stumped. “That’s awfully poetic, Edgeworth.”
Edgeworth chuckled awkwardly, clutching at his elbow. “I… may have given it quite a bit of thought.”
Phoenix’s lips quirked up in the tiniest hint of a smile. It was self-deprecatingly vicious, sure, and a little sorrowful, but there was genuine surprise and happiness there as well. “Nice to hear I mean so much to you.”
Phoenix fully expected a  “Don’t flatter yourself, Wright, I was merely pondering my   own    tragedies. Did you forget that? That my life is worse than yours?”  or a  “I was merely thinking of Franziska, or Ms. Fey. They have both been through quite a bit. Wouldn’t you agree, Wright?”
Even though he knew Edgeworth well, had watched him change and evolve from the Demon Prosecutor into the comfortable person he was today, nothing could prepare him for Edgeworth’s reaction. The prosecutor set his papers down and shifted so he was facing Phoenix. Quicker than Phoenix expected, he reached out and gripped both of Phoenix’s shoulders in a strong hold.
The contact shocked Phoenix out of his stupor. He blinked at Edgeworth, mouth partly open in shock. Edgeworth, for his part, seemed slightly surprised at his own brevity. A scarlet flush dotted his cheeks. Phoenix was sure his own face was much worse. Yet Edgeworth continued, strong and true.
“Wright, you must know by now that I hold you in high regard,” Edgeworth said, with only the smallest touch of awkwardness Phoenix would expect for such a declaration from the man who had once declared unease and uncertainty unnecessary feelings. “I will do everything in my power to see you properly reinstated to your rightful place behind the defense bench. Moreover, I… care for your well-being, very much. It does not do me any favors to witness you in such pain.”
“O-oh,” is all Phoenix could manage. How could he, in the wake of such a blunt confession? How could he possibly follow up to that?
The gravity of what he did seemed to catch up to Edgeworth, and he dropped his arms in a rush. Phoenix missed the comforting weight of his hands almost immediately.
“I… apologize if I was too forward.” Edgeworth cast his gaze to the ground, cheeks burning. “I mean every word I said, however.”
“I… thanks, Edgeworth,” Phoenix said lamely. “I feel the same way.”
Edgeworth smiled, comfortable and soft. “I… yes. I appreciate the sentiment. Thank you, Phoenix.”
I appreciate the sentiment. A bolt of surprise shot through Phoenix. He jerked up, filled with renewed energy and adrenaline, and gave Edgeworth a hard look. All static had completely disappeared now; dissipated in the wake of his shock. “You don’t believe me?”
It wasn’t quite a question, wasn’t quite a statement. Yet Edgeworth just frowned, confused, and shook head. “The opposite, in fact. I believe you wholeheartedly. You have proved it to me many times over.”
“I have?” Phoenix echoed.
Edgeworth gave a controlled, tight nod. “That is correct. Your boundless care manifests itself in your tenacity. That such trait became apparent to me in your many attempts to befriend me as a child, and later to secure my friendship once I had left. Yet again, when we faced off in court. I found myself on the other side of your tenacity, for I stood in the way of safety for the ones you cared for. You cared so much for me in my own trial that you refused to accept my confession, even though I wholeheartedly believed it to be the truth. If I had secured any other lawyer, well…” Edgeworth trailed off, a small smile gracing his face, but his eyes were hard and cold.
Phoenix chuckled mirthlessly. “You did everything you could to refuse my services.”
Edgeworth’s gaze met his once again. His eyes were still steely, but his smile grew. “That I did. I am forever grateful I folded when I did.”
Light footsteps padded down the hallway. Phoenix started, but relaxed when the door creaked open to reveal Trucy, still blinking away the last vestiges of fleeting sleep. “Daddy?”
“Hey, Truce.” He gave her an easy smile. “Uncle Miles and I are just working on one of his cases.”
Trucy stepped fully into the room and joined him on the couch. She leaned into him, and he wrapped her in a bear hug, relishing the comfort of his daughter in his arms and the fading warmth from her bed. She fit perfectly in his embrace, like a missing puzzle piece he never knew he needed.
It wasn’t quite perfect, though. Not yet. Phoenix cracked one eye open and, after a terrifying moment of deliberation, risked taking a hand off Trucy to beckon Edgeworth in.
Edgeworth startled at the invitation, eyes blown wide. He stood awkwardly next to the couch, case files forgotten. At first, it seemed like he would refuse. But Trucy, perceptive as ever even with her eyes closed, reached out and clamped a small hand around his wrist. Phoenix was fully aware of her surprising strength for an eight-year-old (although easily used to it, from Pearl - was this just how eight-year-old girls were?). Edgeworth, on the other hand, resided in Germany half the time and spent another chunk of his free time traveling the globe in his research of foreign judicial systems. His time with Trucy was much more limited (especially since Phoenix was loath to put Edgeworth in any danger from his mystery nemesis) and he was thus much more susceptible to her charms. Trucy successfully pulled Edgeworth in.
He fit into the hug perfectly. It felt like a tuning fork turned over Phoenix’s sternum. Home. Safe. 
Phoenix knew then, deep in his gut. This was his family. This was how they were meant to be.
For the first time since the Bar Association had stripped him of his attorney’s badge, hope sparked inside Phoenix. Times may be dire, but he had the people he needed right around him.
Tomorrow he would finally call Maya and Pearl back. He would call in all the favors Gumshoe owed him, and bring over Larry for old times’ sake. They would begin planning. They would begin fighting back. For Trucy’s safety, if nothing else.
But most of all, Phoenix just wanted to hold Edgeworth without worrying about the consequences.
  Summer
  [July 6, 2001
2:02 PM
Watterson Neighborhood Pool]
 “Don’t you wanna come play with us?” 
Miles peeked over the top of his book to see Phoenix, grinning at him toothily. He leaned forward, cupping a hand around his mouth theatrically. “I wanna push Larry in the pool.”
The friend in question had seemingly abandoned Phoenix. Across the pool deck, Larry was unsuccessfully attempting to chat up the lifeguard, who was clearly at least ten years older than he was.
“He was supposed to be getting us ice cream,” Phoenix said, the pout audible in his voice. But when Miles glanced back at him, he was smiling. Still having fun, despite it all.
That was Phoenix for you.
“I… might be amenable to that,” Miles confessed, hiding his small smile behind his book. His efforts were rendered futile when Phoenix broke out in a full-blown grin and punched his fist in the air, dancing around Miles’ beach chair. Phoenix’s excitement was as infectious as always.
Carefully, Miles bookmarked his book, noting where the last word he read was located, and set it down on his chair. After making sure it was safely in the shade, he followed Phoenix around the deck of the pool.
Larry turned at the sight of them. “Hey, dudes! So I know I said I would get ice cream, but I got something better! You see, I met this girl…”
The lifeguard sighed, dropping her head into her hands. “You are ten years old.”
Miles wasn’t really sure how they were going to go about this, but it seemed Phoenix had no patience. Cutting Larry off mid-sentence, he simply reached out and shoved Larry in the pool.
Miles choked on his laughter.
“Hey!” Larry emerged from beneath the surface, coughing and sputtering, his usually-voluminous hair drooping and plastered to his face. “Miles! Nicky!”
“You said you would get us ice cream!” Phoenix yelled back, fists propped on his hips. “Stop flirting with the lifeguard!” The lifeguard snorted at that.
“I was on my way over!” Larry protested, paddling over to the side of the pool. He gripped onto the side, right below Phoenix and Miles. He paused, and a mischievous grin grew on his face.
Phoenix’s eyes widened and he stepped back. “Larry, wait-”
“Hahaha! Take that!” Laughing, Larry splashed hard, splattering the shrieking Phoenix and Miles with droplets of water. “That’s what you get!”
“Hey!” Unrepentant, Phoenix leaned forward and stuck his hand in the water, splashing Larry back. After a moment of deliberation, Miles dunked his foot in and kicked water at Larry.
The lifeguard, sitting above them, rolled her eyes and leveled the three of them with an unimpressed glare. “Okay, you three. Until you can learn proper water safety, take it away from the pool.”
“Sorry, miss,” Miles said, properly chastised.
At the sincere apology, the lifeguard’s lips curled up in a small, amused grin. “It’s fine, kid. Just go have fun somewhere else where you won’t get hurt.”
“Will do,” Miles promised, smiling.
“C’mon, Miles!” Phoenix grabbed his wrist and pulled him along in a run after Larry. “We have to get Larry back!”
“Was he not getting us back for pushing him in the pool?” Miles pointed out, smiling ruefully. Yet he kept pace with Phoenix, lagging slightly behind so Phoenix wouldn’t let go of his wrist. Miles was no stranger to affectionate physical contact (Uncle Ray alone would fill that void), but Phoenix’s friendly taps and touches always felt... Different. He couldn’t quite articulate why he felt the way he did, or how Phoenix’s touch felt different from anyone else. Logically, if he had to choose whose love meant the most to him, it was his father’s, no contest. Yet Phoenix’s mere presence made him feel something different from his friendship with Larry, and even from his relationship with his father. He had no idea what it was. It frustrated Miles to no end. 
(Of course Miles knew about crushes. He read books all the time! He was no stranger to love, as he watched it dominate the society around him. His father was never specific, but he’d told Miles many times in no uncertain terms he loved him no matter what. For that matter, he’d explained his own aromanticism and asexuality to Miles a while back. It was more that Miles never realized he  could get crushes yet, much less on his already-established friends. He always figured if he fell in love, he would know it.)
(In his defense, he would know it, just… much later.)
Phoenix glanced back to catch Miles’ gaze, shaking him out of his stupor. At the sight of Phoenix’s euphoric grin, all of Miles’ musings fled his mind all at once. 
“Come on, we almost have him!” Phoenix called, urging Miles onward. Miles complied, sporting a playful smile of his own.
As Phoenix and Miles rounded a bend in the path, Larry appeared in their sights up ahead. When he spotted them, he let out an undignified squawk and quickened his pace, waving his arms wildly.
“You can’t run forever, Larry!” Phoenix yelled through peals of laughter. “Miles and I will catch you!”
“Just try me!” Larry squealed from somewhere up ahead. “You’ll never catch me!”
It was at that moment that Phoenix and Miles rounded another corner and caught Larry at a dead end. 
“Objection,” Miles said, in the poised and dignified way his father did in court and certainly  not broken up with snickers. “You have reached the end of the path.”
“Nowhere to run, Larry.” Phoenix grinned, a sharp and dangerous thing that sent a strong bolt of  something running through Miles’ veins. The threat was slightly undercut by Phoenix’s free hand, held out towards Larry, fingers wiggling with a treacherous promise. “It’s the end of the line.”
In the end, Miles’ only regret was that Phoenix let go of his wrist to ensnare Larry in a tickle fight. 
He missed the comforting warmth encircling his wrist, but it was worth it to affectionately terrorize Larry. Within minutes, they had dissolved into an all-out tickle war, punctuated by euphoric giggles. They ran circles on the field above the pool, the short grass tickling Miles’ bare feet. Together, Phoenix and Miles lay waste to a dead-in-the-water (which was a phrase Miles had heard his father use to describe certain trials and culprits, but didn’t know the full nuances of its definition yet) Larry, laughing all the while.
By the time they were all tired out, the sun was low in the sky, tinting the sky cotton-candy pink. The pool water’s vibrant blue was replaced with a creamy orange when they ran back down the path to it. The lifeguard smiled wryly when she spotted them, and Miles smiled shyly back.
Instead of going back into the pool, they chose the ice cream stand, finally getting their due. Phoenix and Larry watched with starry eyes while Miles carefully counted and paid with the money his father had pressed lovingly into his hand. Ice cream in hand at last, Larry found a place to sit on a big rock overlooking the pool. They sat, shoulders pressed against each other, swinging their bare feet in the air.
Phoenix nudged Miles with his shoulder. “Hey, Miles.”
Miles glanced over. “Hmm?”
In the fiery glow of the setting sun, the sight of Phoenix made Miles’ heart skip a beat. His heterochromatic eyes were soft and glazed over with faraway thoughts, and his spiky hair fluffed and mussy from hours running around and Larry ruffling it in their fight. A drop of vanilla ice cream was smeared at the corner of his lip, and it took all Miles had to keep from primly wiping it away.
“Thanks for playing with us,” Phoenix said, smiling softly. He turned the full force of his kind gaze on Miles, who suddenly felt the urge to shield his eyes from the metaphorical light. “I had a really good time today.”
Miles replied with an affectionate smile of his own. “I did as well.”
“Hey!” On Phoenix’s other side, Larry elbowed him with a bony arm, causing Phoenix to squawk indignantly. “I had fun too!”
Phoenix ruffled Larry’s thick hair with his free arm. “I’m glad, doofus.”
Larry grinned. “You’d better be.”
Without realizing it, Miles leaned further into Phoenix's shoulder as he squabbled with Larry. He froze for a second, then continued like nothing had happened. When Phoenix didn't react, Miles relaxed, slumping against his friend. Phoenix's hand brushed against his own. As Larry and Phoenix chattered excitedly, Miles zoned out, staring off into the ever-changing sunset. He rarely felt so comfortable.
A half an hour later, Father ceased his conversation with Phoenix’s mother and Larry’s older cousin and walked over to them, smiling. “All right, Miles. Ready to go?”
Miles nodded, jumping off the rock. “Yes, Father. Goodbye Phoenix, Larry!”
“Bye, Edgey!” Larry called, waving. 
“Stop calling me that,” Miles muttered under his breath, but without much heat behind it. They both knew Larry would not stop calling him that.
Phoenix jumped off the rock to join him. “Bye, Miles! I had a lot of fun today!”
“Me too,” Miles replied, smiling.
Father took Miles’ hand in his, and together they walked out of the pool. As Father opened the pool deck door, Miles turned around and waved to his friends. Larry was preoccupied bothering his older sister (until Phoenix elbowed him pointedly), but Phoenix waved back enthusiastically, beaming.
“So, did you have a good time with your friends?” Father asked, once they were both situated in the car.
Miles thought of sweet ice cream in his mouth and the feel of shorn grass underneath his feet and Larry’s wriggling form avoiding his hands. He thought of Phoenix’s smile, as bright as the summer sun. “Yes, Father. I did.”
Father smiled, soft and affectionate. “Oh, Miles, I’m so glad.”
Fall
  [October 9, 2029
5:04 PM
People Park]
 The crisp crunch of leaves underfoot filled the air, dominating as the loudest sound once Athena and Trucy’s laughter faded into the distance. After their latest case finished up, Phoenix had driven his junior partners (and daughter/co-counsel) to the park to let off some steam. Some prosecutors had deigned to join them, and thus (somewhat disgruntledly, in Blackquill’s case) fell in with the kids running on ahead. Apollo, back from Khura'in on an extended vacation, was more than happy to join them and catch up.
Phoenix was content to let them run on ahead. He wasn’t as young as he used to be (even if he was only thirty-five). He strode through the park in a casual, easy gait, hands in his pockets. 
It was nice. The fall breeze rustled through his spiky hair, and he closed his eyes in contentment. The wind was quite noisy, whistling through crinkly leaves and thin branches.
As he listened, he caught the telltale crunch of footsteps on fallen leaves. Phoenix opened his eyes with an easy grin to catch Edgeworth, stepping in time with him.
The late-afternoon sunlight, dappled as it filters through the tree cover, lit Miles’ dark gray coat in warm shades of silver. His hair and glasses shone in the light. Phoenix melted at the sight of him.
Miles had changed in the many years they’ve known each other. His shoulders got broader and his form more filled out, his hair became smoother and shinier, and the glasses perched on his nose made the changes all the more apparent. But to Phoenix, the real changes lay in the way Miles carried himself. He still had the confidence he had as a little kid and a prodigy prosecutor, but it manifested differently. Now his confidence was self-assured. Miles knew he’d worked hard for everything he had. He knew he deserved it. 
“Hey there,” Phoenix said, eyes sparkling. “Nice of you to drop in.”
“Hello, yourself,” Miles replied. He met Phoenix’s gaze with an Edgeworth-brand warm, affectionate smile that never failed to make Phoenix all gooey inside. 
Phoenix stepped closer, bridging the gap so their shoulders are brushing. Miles intertwined their hands, smiling so sweetly and chastely it made Phoenix’s entire face turn red.
Phoenix squeezed their joined hands
“Phoenix,” Miles sighed contentedly. “I am so happy to be here with you.”
Phoenix knew his face was lighting up, mostly because of the lovesick look Miles always made when it did. They melted in tandem, always together. “Love you too, Miles.”
As they walked, Phoenix tipped his head back, letting the dappled sunlight wash his face alight. He’d heard talks of love manifesting itself in a joy that made you feel weightless - hell, he’d felt that way himself, many times. Almost always with Miles himself. All the times that counted, at least. But today, like many other days, Miles’ hand in his was a comforting, grounding weight. He never felt trapped or limited, yet tethered to the ground all the same. It was the promise of someone there to catch him if he flew away again.
Dahlia (or Iris, really) made him feel unmoored, floating aimlessly without control. It was a dangerous game and he paid the price, but the honeymoon phase of love blinded him to the truth. With Miles, Phoenix still felt like he could float. But this time, he knew where he was going. He knew how to come back to Earth, where Miles would be waiting for him.
Phoenix dropped his head onto Miles’ shoulder, smiling as he heard the other hum contentedly. He could’ve stayed there forever, if not for the crick building in his neck. Stupid limited human body, breaking at the old age of thirty-five.
On the other side of the park, Trucy’s joyous shout caught both of the fathers’ attention. Their little posse of children, both official and unofficial, emerged from under the tree cover. Athena’s bright orange hair, usually so distinctive, blended in seamlessly with the fiery-golden autumn leaves. Phoenix would bet money the other kids had taken notice of this, if just for Blackquill’s smirk as he tugged gently on the tail end of Athena’s ponytail. Behind them, Klavier was laughing, beaming at Apollo with a lovesick grin Phoenix himself had mirrored many times looking at Miles. Apollo himself was blushing as red as his suit and fighting a ferocious smile. Trucy danced around them, light as a fairy on her feet as her pastel blue magician’s outfit floated around her. She caught everyone’s eye, sparking each of their smiles. At last, she spun, glancing across the park and finding Phoenix and Miles immediately. Her smile only grew, and Phoenix’s with it.
“We got lucky, didn’t we?” Phoenix murmured, squeezing Miles’ hand. “I don’t know if I could be happier.”
Miles hummed contemplatively. “I don’t know if luck is the right word,” he pondered. “It took a lot of hard work to get where we are now. Don’t sell yourself short, Phoenix.”
Phoenix huffed a small, breathy laugh. “I’ll try not to. The world certainly does too much of that.”
“Maybe so,” Miles agreed, but he pursed his lips thoughtfully like he didn’t quite believe himself. He spread his arms, gesturing to the pack of young attorneys across the park. “But look around you, Phoenix. You are surrounded by people who love and care for you. Not just here, but all over LA, and the world.”
Phoenix gently knocked his shoulder into Miles’. “That’s true,” he said, gazing softly at their faraway companions. “But the same’s true for you, you know?”
Miles followed his gaze, locked on the next generation of attorneys, so to speak. “I do,” he said, soft and full of love. “I never would have come this far if not for you in particular, Phoenix.”
Phoenix squeezed his hand. “Likewise,” he said warmly. “We’re good for each other, aren’t we?”
Miles smiled softly. “I would certainly say so.”
They lapsed into a comfortable silence as they continued their circle around the park. In the distance, the kids had passed three-fourths of the way ahead of Phoenix and Miles, and were disconcertingly close to lapping them completely.
“I want to have a get-together,” Phoenix said suddenly. He noticed Miles’ head snapped towards him in his peripheral vision, but his focus was far away. “It’s been too long since we’ve seen Maya and Pearls. And there’s a bunch of people who live right here in LA that we never see! I’m tired of it.”
Miles smiled fondly, brushing his thumb over Phoenix’s knuckles. “I am in complete agreement. I will do my best to secure my sister from her Interpol business.”
“Maya’ll like that,” Phoenix said, the corners of his mouth twisting up in a teasing grin, even though the object of his mirth was far away. “As will I.”
“Good, then it’s settled,” Edgeworth declared. He pushed up his glasses so they flashed in the light. “We shall begin planning immediatel- Nghoooh!”
Phoenix noticed the pounding footsteps and peals of laughter from behind a second too late. He turned just in time to see Trucy, Athena, Blackquill, and Klavier (Apollo was pointedly hanging off to the side and trying to pretend he wasn’t watching), sporting matching mischievous grins, barreling into him and Miles. They landed in a pile of fallen leaves just off the path, sending leaves and twigs flying.
Phoenix coughed and groaned, stretching his poor back. “What the heck was that for?!”
“Just for fun, Daddy,” Trucy giggled. “You and Papa looked a bit too serious. We just wanted to lighten the mood!”
“Objection.” Miles sat up, coughing. “We were quite literally discussing our affections for each other.”
“Aww,” Klavier and Athena cooed in tandem. Apollo rolled his eyes.
Trucy shrugged, unrepentant. “Well, it still lightened the mood, didn’t it? Anyway, that’s what you slowpokes get for ditching us!”
“You ditched us!” Phoenix protested.
“Either way,” Athena said as she offered a hand to Phoenix, who gratefully accepted, “You should walk the next lap with us. We’ll slow down for you,” she added cheekily.
Phoenix grumbled good-naturedly. “Fine, but we’re setting the pace.”
“How many laps are we walking, again?” he heard Blackquill mutter to Apollo.
As their newly-merged group set off, Phoenix slung an arm around Miles’ shoulder. Trucy’s hand found his free one. Phoenix smiled and tipped his head back to the sky.
There was nowhere else he would rather be. There was no one he would rather be with.
"Thank you for being in my life," he whispered into Miles' ear.
Miles glanced back at him, curious. "I bestow the same compliment onto you," he replied, smiling. "Tenfold."
"Oh, shush, if you get to increase it so do I," Phoenix snorted, swatting at Miles (which was a little difficult since his arm was still wrapped around Miles' shoulder). "Let's just say it's equal, okay?"
"The prosecution accepts the defense's proposition," Miles agreed. "I love you.”
~
hello, everyone! this is my first completed and published work in the ace attorney fandom, and i'm really excited about it!
if you saw this work pop up on ao3 yesterday for like five minutes... no you didn't ;) i was up at around midnight two days ago night working on this. i double-checked the timeline for narumitsu week and i was like hey wait a minute. it's the sixth. tomorrow's the seventh. oh fuck i am nowhere near done. i was hoping to publish this early in the day too, so it would be in the tag all day. i may have rushed through the ending of this fic yesterday thinking it was the final day of the week. i published it on ao3 and then checked the narumitsu week tumblr blog to see how i'm supposed to tag and publish tumblr posts. i was like hey there are no day 7 entries. that's really odd. i checked tnhe blog, the tag, the blog again, etc etc. i was freaking out akdhksla! i finally glanced at the date and i was like hey wait a minute. it's only the sixth. i screwed myself up khfkala;sdl. also i almost forgot about narumitsu week until day 2, when i speedran this fic (and a couple other snippets based on prompts i might finish and publish later). i figured i'd try and get at least one contribution for the final day, which seemed easy enough, but i got distracted a lot haha.
god the amount of times i accidentally wrote in present tense and had to go back and edit aaaaaaaaa
im pretty sure edgeworth was never actually there in july, but this was the perfect setting for the kiddos, so... just suspend your disbelief for a lil bit. they deserve a summer pool day. the pool in question was based a lot on the community pool near my house, where i grew up swimming competitively for five or so years! it's built on a hill, and the upper part of the space is taken up by a grassy field and a clubhouse. so in my mind that's where phoenix, miles, and larry go for their tickle fight.
also the bit about edgeworth not knowing he's supposed to get crushes when he has one is basically the reverse of my personal experience skdfhks. i'm aroace, and around fourth/fifth grade i got nervous around a guy who intimidated me and i was like hmm. this person scares me, but he's funny and i want to be friends. he's a boy and i'm a girl (or so i thought LMAO). is this a crush? autistic kids who don't understand the social norms of crushes solidarity is real. it's between me and a game character but it's real.
title is from put your records on by corrine bailey rae! i've been saving this particular lyric for a title for a long time, and i'm really happy to finally find a fic where it really fits!
this is a bit messy and i'm still getting used to the characters' voices but it was really fun to write. if you read this far, thank you c:
if you ever wanna talk ace attorney, writing, these amazing characters, or really anything hmu here on tumblr or on my twitter! i have terminal ace attorney brainrot and i cannot talk about it enough. i really need more aa friends, haha. thank you for reading, and please leave a kudos/comment if you enjoyed it!
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saynotoshityouhate · 3 years
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Chaos
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Summary: Everyone was convinced you’d never meet your match. That was, until you got the literal kick to the head of a lifetime. 
Word Count: 1726
Tags/Warnings: alcohol, possible concussion, slight illegal behavior, just a little smutty
I’m feeling chaotic, let’s go dancing. Who’s in?
Your friends were used to you starting craziness as soon as you clocked out on Friday afternoon. You were sure they all got your text and rolled their eyes, but they were stuck with you at this point. 
You got all ready - glam but also comfortable - you never knew where the night was going to go. Last time you went out, you ended up dancing until 2am, and then watching the sunrise from the rooftop of an abandoned warehouse. You weren’t sure how many of these weekends you had left - your friends had started settling down and were less enthusiastic about joining you in your shenanigans. They all had tried (and failed) to set you up with their boyfriend’s friends - unable to find someone who could match your energy. But at the same time, you loved your life. You could do anything you wanted, whenever you wanted. You were financially stable, had a good job, a nice apartment...you weren’t really looking for anyone or anything to come in and change things. 
You met the girls at the club, wearing the dress that made you feel most confident, paired with your worn in Converse high tops. “HEY BITCHES!” You gave each friend big sloppy kisses on both cheeks. They handed you a drink - you were last to arrive, as usual. “Y/N, I was just telling the girls about the engagement party my future mother-in-law is planning. You wouldn’t believe how tacky it is going to be! The invitations alone…” You cut her off after pounding your drink, and pointed to the dance floor. “I’m gonna go there now. Bye!” Setting your empty glass on the nearest table, you ran over to the middle of the dance floor. 
You loved the feeling of the stereo bass pumping in your chest. The ringing in your ears blocking out your inhibitions as you moved your body without care, your skin lit up in colors and sparkles. Here, in this moment, you were truly happy. Not a care in the world. No thoughts in your head saying you were unworthy of the love your friends had found. Complete and full contentment at the life you had chosen for yourself. And it was then that you received a swift kick to the side of your head. 
A few seconds later, you opened your eyes to see the hazel eyes of a wild haired, sweaty man. “Fuuucking hell, kid! I thought for sure you were dead. Are you alright?” You blinked up at him and nodded, unsure how you got to be flat on your back in the first place. “I’m so sorry, I was carrying my best lesbian friend on my shoulders, and when we spun around, her fucking foot hit you in the head.” He wipes his hand down his shirt before handing it to you, helping you up off the floor. The man was tall, dressed in a hilarious mismatch of clothes, with a mop of brown hair that stuck to his sweaty forehead, partially covering his eyes. He sported a patchy moustache/goatee combo which brought your attention to his plush, pink lips. 
He leaned down to look you directly in your eyes, examining them closely. “I don’t think you have a concussion...are you sure you’re alright?” You took a deep breath. “Yes. Totally. Super duper alright. All good.” He chuckled a deep laugh, showing off his imperfectly perfect teeth. “Awesome. I’m Adam - we’re going to go find shit to throw off the overpass. Wanna come?” You nodded enthusiastically, never having been this lost for words in your life. He grabbed your hand and dragged you out of the bar, barely giving you the chance to smile or wave at your friends as you exited. 
Adam and his friends brought you all across the city. Finding items to keep or to toss, literally, off of the highway overpass. Your group steadily dwindled as you explored the city’s hidden pockets, eventually leaving you, Adam, and a reusable grocery bag full of spare car parts and rotten vegetables alone on the pedestrian bridge that crossed the city’s busiest highway. Standing together, you looked upon the city skyline, standing proudly against a dark sky that was littered with stars. It was your favorite view. Feeling Adam’s gaze on you, you turned to look up at him. “Everything okay?” you asked, unsure why he was making such a face. “Yeah, kid, just making sure you’re not gonna have a seizure or somethin’ dumb.” He chewed the inside of his cheek as he resumed looking at the city. 
With the early morning hour, there wasn’t a ton of good targets to toss your garbage at. “Wanna split a pizza?” You asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Adam smiled and nodded, giving you the chance get him back for earlier, to grab his hand and run. You took the long way, zig zagging through dark alleys, running up and down stairs, eventually landing at your favorite, hole in the wall 24-hour pizza parlor. “Jimmy!!!!” You squealed are the shop owner, waving at him and jumping up and down. The proprietor groaned, pushing himself out of his chair and walked up to the window. “What can I getcha, y/n...and friend?” Adam smiled at Jimmy, and then you, and then Jimmy again. Nervously laughing and still trying to catch his breath, he shoved his hands into his pockets. “Anything but fucking green peppers,” you both said, almost simultaneously. Jimmy rolled his eyes and headed back to the kitchen. 
“Jimmy’s the best. He almost single handedly fed me all through my senior year of college. I was building this Trojan Horse out of Amazon boxes inside my apartment and I couldn’t access my kitchen because it was full of boxes so…” Adam grabbed your face, pulling you in for a rough kiss, his pillowy lips absorbing the blow. Your eyes were wide open, arms limp at your side. Sensing you weren’t reciprocating, Adam pulled back, hands still on your face. “I’m building a boat in my apartment right now, gonna sail down the Hudson. I’ve never met anyone like you before, like me - someone who could keep up with me and not be some fucking loser.” Adam looked deep into your eyes. “We were meant to meet tonight, Y/N. I was supposed to hit you in the head with my best lesbian friend.” Adam squeezed his large hands together, smooshing your face. “Fuck the pizza, come see my boat.” 
Jimmy walked up at that moment, pizza box in tow. “No, no fucking my pizza. Here - on the house - now get out of here. And y/n, I don’t want to find this pizza on some roof or in a tree or whatever the fuck you’re planning on doing tonight.” You turned your head towards Jimmy, with Adam’s help, and said through your smooshed face “Fanks Jummy.” Grabbing the pizza, you looked back up at Adam. Adam moved your head up and down, speaking in a high pitched voice “Yes, Adam, I’d love to see your boat!” Looking down at you with a cheesy grin, you started to laugh. “Fwine, but wet go uf my fwace.” Adam flailed his arms into the air. “Well let’s fucking go, kid!” 
Adam wasn’t kidding, he really was building a boat in his living room. It was the coolest thing you’ve ever seen. “Are these old pallets? Is that a fisherman’s knot? Did you repurpose 2x4s from…” “Whoa whoa y/n don’t get a lady boner over my awesome ass boat!” Your eyes were sparkling, climbing over piles of wood and fabric and an overused power strip. “When is she going to be ready to sail?” you asked, your voice giving away your excitement. “Why,” Adam stalked towards you, backing you up against the mast, “wanna be my sexy first mate?” Your heart was beating through your chest. This wasn’t your average one night stand, this was different - you could tell. This wasn’t the plan. But you couldn’t deny that he was your match. He was right, you were meant to meet tonight. You took a deep, shaky breath, looking into Adam’s eyes. “Aye, aye, captain.” 
Adam growled, wrapping his arms underneath your bottom and lifting you up. You wrapped your arms around his neck and legs around his waist, squealing in surprise. He slammed your body harder against the boat’s mast, shoving his tongue into your mouth and squeezing your ass as he ground his rock hard erection into your pelvis. You lifted one hand from his neck, reaching down to unbutton his jeans, the slightest graze of your fingers causing Adam’s hips to thrust. The energy of that motion cracked the fragile integrity of the mast, causing Adam to fall forwards, landing on top of you, the broken splinters of wood scratched along your back. 
You both groaned. “Fuck, kid, you ok? How’s your head?” Opening up to the same concerned, hazel gaze from earlier in the evening, you replied “Yep. Super duper.” That was good enough for Adam, who stood up quickly, ripping his jeans and underwear down, kicking his legs for assistance. You lifted your hips to shimmy your own panties down to your ankles. Adam returned to his place between your legs. Looking up at him with a grin, you laughed “ahoy, matey. shiver me timbers.” Adam grunted - “you’re so fucking weird, and so fucking wet,” he ran two fingers through your slick, “and just for me.” You whined, moving your hips to meet his hand.  “Gotta make sure you’re ready for me. Gunna drop anchor in this hot cunt.”
Adam spent the rest of the night straddled over your back, where you laid on your stomach on his bed. Using a tweezer, he removed the hundreds of tiny splinters that had embedded themselves into your skin. You sighed contentedly, taking a large sip of milk, unsure what the future held. But for the first time, in a long time, the thought of sharing that future with someone didn’t make you sick to your stomach. You turned your head to take a look at him, wearing lab safety goggles “in case one flew out at him.” Smiling, you rested your head on his pillow, before falling asleep and dreaming of sailing down the Hudson together. 
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bellaireland1981 · 4 years
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New Beginnings: CH 6
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Characters: Andy Barber x Single Mom! Briella James (Named Reader), Jacob Barber, Ava James
Summary: Briella James is a HS teacher and has Jacob in her class. Jacob meets Briella’s 5 year old daughter and they form a bond. Andy is interested in Briella but her ex (and Ava’s dad) is becoming a problem!
Warnings: Mostly fluff, some angst, jerk of an ex that harasses Briella, kissing… will update in future chapters.
Word Count: 4084
A/N: I do Not own Andy Barber or Jacob Barber, they are fictional characters. I do not give permission for anyone to repost my work or translate it to another site. Reblogs always welcome!   This is my FIRST EVER attempt at writing for Andy…or any character, so be gentle!  THANK YOU to my friends for supporting me and encouraging me! I’m my own worst critic so I love their feedback! @denisemarieangelina @fluffymisha97 @jamielea81
Chapter 5     
Thankfully the rest of the week went pretty quickly. Friday morning, Ava was a ball of excited energy for dinner with Andy and Jacob. She wasn’t the only one. You couldn’t wait either.
Unfortunately, throughout the day you were inundated with texts and calls from your ex, which set you on edge. You managed to make it to your lunch before you broke down and actually called Andy. You planned to just leave a voicemail, as you were sure he was busy. You were happily surprised when he picked up.
“Hey, Sweetheart.” He said, “Are you on lunch? How’s your day going?”
“Yeah.” You said, “It’s much better now that I’m talking to you. I was just going to leave you a voicemail, but this is much better.”
“Everything ok?” He asked, concerned, “And unless I’m in court, I’ll always answer for you.”
“I’ve been getting a lot of texts and calls today from the ex.” You replied, shakily, “It’s just getting to me. It’s exhausting.”
“Forward me the messages,” he said, “I promise you, this will be over soon. In the meantime, we have tonight and tomorrow night together to look forward to.”
“That’s what’s getting me through.” You replied, “I can’t wait to see you. Ava is beyond excited as well.”
“Only a few more hours.” He said, “I can’t wait to see you and Ava either. How about you both come over at 4:30. Gives you time to get her picked up and I’ll leave work early and meet you at my house.”
“Sounds perfect.” You agreed. “I’ll let you get back to work, and I’ll see you soon.”
“I’ll see you soon.” He said, “And you can call me whenever you need to.”
The rest of the day went smoother. The calls and texts tapered down so you were at least able to focus. Once your last class was finished, you wrapped up some last minute emails to parents, then shut your laptop, grabbed your stuff and headed out of the building.
You got Ava picked up from school and headed home to change before going to Andy’s. Ava insisted on wearing her Elsa pajamas, even though you repeatedly told her it was not a sleepover.  One thing you were sure of, the child was headstrong.  You changed into jeans and a lighter weight sweater. It was starting to get cooler, especially at night.
You arrived at Andy’s and parked behind his black Audi. Getting out of your car, you made your way around to get Ava out and the two of you walked up to the front door. Andy was already there waiting with the door open, smiling at the two of you.
“Hi Andy!” Ava exclaimed, bounding up the step and throwing her arms around him. He hugged her back, smiling at you over her head.
“Hey, Princess.” He said, “I hope you’re hungry. We’ve got lots of pizza on the way, and enough snacks to rival the movie theater.”
“I’m starving.” she confirmed, beaming up at Andy. “Where’s Jacob?”
“Right here” He said, coming up behind his dad. “Come on, let’s steak out the best seats for the movie.” Jacob reaches for Ava’s hand, helping her into the house.
“Hey, Beautiful.” Andy said smiling at you, “Come here.” He gently pulled you up the step into the house and into his arms. You felt your whole body relax into his embrace. The stress of the week and everything with your ex melting away.
“That was exactly what I needed.” you said smiling up at him, “Thank you.”
“If I’m being honest, I needed it too,” He replied, “It was a long day. I was more than happy to leave it all behind. Come on, let’s go inside, I’ve got wine or beer. You’ve earned it.”
Andy led you into the house and to the kitchen. It was a very nice house from what you saw of it so far. It was definitely larger than yours. Surprisingly, it looked very homey, not the bachelor pad you were expecting with two males living there. Jacob and Ava were seated in what looked like oversized bean bag chairs on the living room floor flipping through Disney+, deciding on which movie to watch. It was cute that Jacob was patiently flipping through them all, even though everyone knew the choice would be Frozen.
You’d decided beer sounded better for the evening, especially with pizza coming. You and Andy sat at the island in the kitchen sipping your beer, enjoying each other’s company while you waited for dinner to arrive.
“I wasn’t sure where you’d like to go tomorrow night, but some of the other lawyers at the firm suggested the new sushi and steak restaurant KoFusion. I made reservations but we can always go somewhere else if you’d prefer.” Andy said, taking a sip of his beer.
“That sounds perfect.” You replied, smiling. “I’ve actually been wanting to try it, but Ava isn’t really open to trying sushi or steak.”
“I don’t think I would have been much for them either at her age.” He laughed, “Jake may eat steak now, but I doubt I’d ever get him to try sushi.”
“I was planning on making them a mini taco bar for dinner.” You said, “It’s easy to make.”
“I know Jake loves tacos so he’ll be happy.” He replies.
The doorbell rang, signaling dinner’s arrival. Andy grabbed the pizza and paid the delivery person, bringing the pizza back to the kitchen. We loaded up plates for everyone, grabbed drinks for the kids and brought it all to the living room.
“We’re going to watch Frozen!” Ava declared, “Jacob said they haven’t seen it yet!”
“We were just hoping to get to watch it with you, Princess Ava.” Andy said smiling and winking at Ava, while handing Jacob his pizza.
“Be careful, Monkey.” I told her, handing her a plate.
“Mommy, I want a Princess party this year for my birthday!” Ava said, “And I want Jacob and Andy to come to my party!”
“When is your birthday, Ava?” Jacob asked.
“November 6th!” Ava said excitedly, “And guess WHAT?”
“What?” Jacob humored her smiling.
“I’ll be 6 years old!” She replied, “Mommy said it’s special because it’s my golden birthday!”
“That is very special, Ava!” Andy said, “We’d love to come to your extra special princess party.”
“We’ll go get the invitations next week and fill them out so you can pass them out to your friends.” You told her, “
Jacob starte the movie and we all watched while eating our dinner. Once everyone was finished, you stacked the plates on the coffee table until the movie was over. Andy scooted closer to you on the couch, pulling you into him. His arm was round you and relaxed against him, enjoying just being with him.
Halfway through the movie, Andy paused it and declared it was ice cream sundae time. Everyone went to the kitchen and built their own sundae before carrying it back to the living room to resume the movie.
After the movie was over you helped Andy to carry all of the dishes to the kitchen. You offered to help him with the dishes but he said he’d have Jacob help later. Ava was starting to get sleepy, so you got her tucked into the car and said goodnight to both Andy and Jacob. You were definitely looking forward to your date the next night.
“Drive safe and text me when you get home.” Andy said leaning in to kiss you gently through the driver’s side window.
“I promise” you replied, smiling.
By the time you got home, Ava was fast asleep. It was a good thing she’d worn her pajamas afterall. You didn’t want to wake her enough to brush her teeth, you figured one night wouldn’t hurt. Thankfully, she was still light enough you were able to carry her into the house and get her tucked into her bed. Once you finished that you text Andy to let him know you made it home. You exchanged a few more texts back and forth and then you too, decided to call it a night.
You spend most of Saturday getting errands run and household chores you’d neglected over the week completed. Ava spent a few hours with your parents while you got everything done. They were used to getting to spend time together on the weekends. Later afternoon you swung by to pick her up so that you could go home and get ready for your date.
“She’s welcome to spend the night here if you want, Sweetheart.” Your mom said, “That way you don’t have to rush home from your date.”
“Jacob is coming to the house to hang out with her while Andy and I go out.” You replied, “Those two are thick as thieves already.”
“All we heard about today was Jacob and Andy.” Your mom said smiling, “I can’t wait to meet them. Just be careful, Bri. I’d hate for Ava to get attached just to get her heart broken. You too for that matter.”
“I wouldn’t let her get attached if I wasn’t sure about this, Momma.” You reassure her, “I know it seems fast, and really, it is, but the connection is there… and it’s strong. Wait until you meet them, you’ll see.”
“How about you bring them over Sunday for a family dinner.” Your mom suggests.
“I can ask him.” You replied, “If this Sunday doesn’t work, we can always schedule for next week.”
“Just let me know.” she said.
Ava came in with her jacket already on, bouncing in excitement.
“Come on Mommy! Andy and Jacob are coming over soon!” She said. She ran and gave your parents hugs, “Bye Nana and Papa! I love you!”
“I’ve ever seen her in such a hurry to leave us before.” Your dad pouted, “We’ve got competition now, Honey.”
“That we do.” Your mom laughed, “Have fun tonight Baby doll! You can tell me all about your fun night with Jacob tomorrow, ok?”
“I will! And Mommy can tell you about her date with Andy!”
“I can’t wait.” Your mom said, winking at you.
“Love you both” You said, “I’ll call you about dinner.”
“Have fun, Sweetheart,” She said,”I’m really happy you’re getting back out there.”
Ava was already in her seat and buckled when you got to the car. On the ride home you glanced in the rearview mirror to look at Ava and noticed the same car had been behind you for several blocks. You shrugged figuring it was nothing and continued on your way home.
Once you pulled into your driveway and parked, you got Ava out and the two of you headed inside. She immediately started setting up the living room for a movie and game night. Poor Jacob would be kept busy for sure.
You decided it made more sense to get the taco meat cooked up and veggies chopped before getting ready, so you got to work on that while Ava was setting up the living room. She finished before you and came into the kitchen while you were getting everything ready.
“Mommy, can I have a snack?” She asked.
“There are apple slices and grapes in the fridge,”You told her, “Grab a bowl and you can put some fruit in it.”
“OK!” She carefully grabbed one of her bowls from the cupboard on the island and went to the fridge.
Twenty minutes later, all of the food was prepped and the taco meat was finished. You settled Ava on your bed  with her tablet geared up to one of her learning games and you started looking through your closet to decide what to wear.
“Mommy,” Ava said looking up from her tablet, “You should wear the pretty blue dress you wore to Nana and Papa’s party. Andy wears blue lots, I think it’s his favorite.”
“You think so?” You asked, smiling, “I like that dress a lot too. I think I will wear it! Thank you my sweet Monkey!”
She beamed then went back to playing her game as you quickly changed into the dress. It was a short sleeved, chiffon fit and flare dress, simple yet elegant. Most importantly, it was comfortable so you wouldn’t be readjusting it all night. You chose the diamond pendant necklace your parents gave you when you graduated college, and a pair of silver drop earrings to match. Once you were dressed, you went into your bathroom and did your makeup. You decided to leave your hair down, but quickly took the curling iron to it give it a little bounce. Finally you were as ready as you were going to get.
Satisfied with the end result, you finally stepped out of the bathroom.
“You look pretty, Mommy!” Ava said, “Is it almost time for Jacob to come?”
“Almost!” You confirmed, “And thank you, Monkey. Let’s go downstairs, I need to check my phone.”
Ava made herself comfortable on the couch, while you went to your phone. You had several messages from your ex. You chose to ignore them for now. You didn’t want anything to ruin the night with Andy. You had one message from Andy, which you tapped to open.
Andy: We’re leaving now, be there shortly. See you soon. XX
You checked the time stamp and the current time and realized they’d be here any minute.
“Mommy! They’re HERE!” Ava exclaimed, launching herself off of the chair by the window where she’d apparently taken up watch.
“Give them a moment to get to the door, Monkey” You laughed, “Don’t go flying out of the house.”
You started to head to the door to open, but Ava flew past and beat you to the door. She remembered to look back and check that it was OK for her to open the door. Once you’d given permission she quickly pulled the door open. Andy and Jacob were just getting to the door.
“Hi Jacob!” she greeted him, happily, before launching herself at him to hug him. Jacob chuckled, bending down a bit to hug her back.
“Hey Ava!” He replied, “Ready to watch movies, eat junk food and stay up past your bedtime?”
“YES!” She confirmed, “Can you always be my babysitter? Not even Nana and Papa let me do all that!”
“I’m not sure you’re supposed to reveal your master plan while the parents are present, Jake.”  Andy laughed.
“Hi Andy!” Ava said, breaking away from Jacob to hug him, then looking at the button up dress shirt he wore, added, “I knew blue was your favorite color! I told Mommy  to wear the blue dress because she would be pretty and it was your favorite color!”
“Blue is my favorite color,” He confirmed smiling at her, then looking up at you, he said, “And your mommy looks beautiful.”
“Told you, Mommy!” Ava beamed, happy having helped you out.
“You did tell me, Monkey.” You replied smiling, then to Andy said, “You’re looking pretty handsome yourself.”
“Ok, Ava,” Jacob said, playfully rolling his eyes, “Let’s get away from these two.” The pair headed into the living room, Ava already chatting a mile a minute.
“Hey, Sweetheart.” Andy smiled, stepping into the house, and closing the door. He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you in close and dropping a quick kiss onto your lips.
“Hi.” You replied, smiling up at him, “Looks like we’ve learned how to clear the kids out of a room.”
“That’s going to be a handy skill to have.” He agreed, laughing. You both made your way into the living room where the kids were.
“Ok, the tacos are all ready to go, although you may want to reheat the meat. There are drinks in the fridge. Ava knows where all of the snacks are. Just make sure she isn’t bouncing off the walls from too much sugar.” You laugh, “There are emergency numbers on the fridge. If you need anything, just call or text.”
“We’ll be fine” Jacob assured you, “I’ve got this. You guys go have fun and don’t worry. We’ll be having too much fun here to even miss you.”
“I’m feeling the love here.” You teased him. “I know you’ll be fine, I’m not worried in the slightest.”
After hugging them both, they pretty much shoved you and Andy out of the house.
Once you arrived at the restaurant, Andy quickly came around and opened your door. He held your hand as the two of you made your way into the restaurant, only separating for him to open the door and then his hand landed on your back, gently guiding you into the building. Once inside, he took your hand in his own again.
You were seated at a semi-private table toward the back of the restaurant. Your waiter took your orders for drinks and then left you to look over the menu.
“This all looks amazing.” You said, “How is anyone supposed to make a decision?”
“I was thinking the same thing” he laughed, “How about we get a variety and we can try it all?”
“That’s a brilliant idea.” You agreed.
The waiter returned with your drinks and you placed your orders. You took a sip of the wine to help calm your nerves. You weren’t nervous around Andy, just being on a date after not dating for over 5 years was causing a little anxiety.
“I haven’t been on a first date since college.” Andy said, as if reading your thoughts. “I have to say, this one is already far better.”
“I haven’t been on any date of any kind since before Ava was born.” You replied, “But I can say with certainty that this one is already better than any date I’d been on before that.”
“Here’s to many more dates together.” Andy said, raising his glass to you. You raised yours toasting.
“And possibly to last first dates.” You said, smiling.
“I’ll definitely drink to that.” He agreed, smiling back at you.
“Ava spent the morning with my parents while I was running errands and according to them she didn’t stop talking about you and Jacob.” You told him. “They offered to keep her tonight but she wasn’t trying to miss out on time with Jacob.”
“I think Jake would have been bummed to miss out on time with Ava too.” Andy said, “I think he really likes having someone look up to him.”
“They’re good for each other.” You agreed, “My mom invited you and Jacob to dinner tomorrow, I told her I’d pass along the invite. It feels weird to say that on a first date. You don’t have to accept, I know it’s really soon.”
“We’d love to.” Andy reassured you, “It might be soon by others’ standards, but I’ve had enough of living by others’ standards. I think we just need to do this our own way.”
“I like the sound of that.” You agree, “We can make our own standard.”
The waiter brought the dishes to the table. You and Andy enjoyed the variety of sushi, trying different kinds. Conversation continued to flow during dinner. It honestly felt like you’d been on many dates by the time you were finished eating.
“I don’t think our kids want us home yet, and I’m not ready for this date to end.” Andy said, “Do you want to go for a walk by the lake?”
“I’d love to.” You said, “I’m not ready to go home yet either.”
After paying the bill, Andy leads you out to where the car is parked. He opens your door for you, and you slide into the passenger seat. He quickly walks around to the driver’s side and gets in. The drive to the lake doesn’t take long and being pretty deserted, it’s easy to find parking. Andy once again comes around to open your door and offers his hand to help you out of the car.
You’re glad you thought to grab the lightweight sweater to wear with your dress. It provides enough cover to where you’re not going to get cold while enjoying time with Andy.
You make your way to the path that leads along the lake, Andy taking your hand in his, your fingers intertwining.
“I’m really enjoying the milder fall weather this year.” You said, “It’s been really nice to be able to be outside longer. I’m hoping it holds through Ava’s birthday before it gets cold.”
“I imagine it would be easier to hold the party outside as opposed to all of those kids inside the house.” He chuckled, “I’ve really loved the weather being so mild too. It allows me to go for walks by a lake with a beautiful woman.”
“Smooth, Mr. Barber.” You laughed, “And yes, holding the party outside would be much less of a headache.”
“I’m only stating facts, Sweetheart.” He smirked, “And whether the party is inside or out, Jake and I can help wrangle kids.”
“That would be most helpful.” You said, smiling.
The two of you continued to walk along the path, stopping when you arrived at a pier. Andy led you to the end where there was a bench and you both sat down, close to one another. He wrapped his arm around you, pulling you in close, and you relaxed into his side.
“I haven’t been this happy or relaxed in a long time.” Andy admitted. “Even before everything exploded with Jake and then after...with the accident… I wasn’t happy. I was trying. I wanted to be happy and to want the life we had, but it felt too forced. I can’t remember the last time I was happy. Meeting you and getting to know you better, has changed everything. I don’t know if I deserve to be happy, but I’m going to hold on to this.”
“You deserve to be happy, Andy.” You said, turning slightly so you could look into his eyes. “I thought I was happy with my ex, I thought I wanted to marry him, but once he walked out when I got pregnant, I realized that I wasn’t actually happy with him. I don’t know that I ever really loved him. Being with you though, makes me happy.”
His hand comes up to cup your face, his head lowering to yours. His lips connected with your own, his beard rubbing against your face. His tongue licked at the seam of your lips, asking for entry. You allowed him access, your own tongue snaking out to meet his. The kiss deepened, he pulled you closer into him, your arms wound around his middle. You continued to kiss until you finally had to break apart for air. His hand stayed cupping your face, his thumb brushing against your kiss swollen lips.
“Maybe we should have had your parents keep Ava,” Andy teased, his voice husky, “We could have continued this without a curfew.”
“Maybe next time,” You smiled, “Depriving Ava of Jacob wouldn’t have won you any points.”
“I wouldn’t want that.” He agreed, “I need her on my side.”
“I think you’re good on that front.” You assured him.
“As much as I would love to stay out here with you, we should probably start to head back.” Andy said, reluctantly.
“We probably should.” You agreed.
You walked back towards his car hand in hand. On the drive back to your house, Andy kept your hand in his own, driving one handed.
Once you arrived back at your house, Andy parked and came around to you. This time when he helped you out of the car, he pulled you into him and kissed you again.
“I can definitely get used to that.” You said, smiling.
“Me too.” He said. “Shall we head in to see what the kids are up to?”
You nodded, turning to head to the front door. As you turned, movement caught your eye on the street. You turned your head to investigate and felt your stomach drop. In the street light, you were able to see the same car that you’d thought had been following you yesterday. With the light, you were able to see the driver.
“Andy” You said shakily, “It’s him. That’s my ex in the car.”
“Are you sure?” He asked, turning quickly to see the driver before he drove off down the street.
“Yes.” You confirmed, “I think he followed me yesterday too.”
“Let’s go inside.” He said, guiding you up to the door.
@nickysurfer28  @waywardodysseys​ @thesecretlifeofdaydreamss​
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flowercrown-bard · 3 years
Text
To give without knowing (10/?)
word count: ~5k
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Geralt sat on the forest floor, doing his best to sort their equipment. For the past weeks, Geralt had carried most of their things. Jaskier claimed it was because he couldn’t possibly carry his lute while having the weight of all the things Roach used to carry on his back. Geralt had snorted at that, saying that if that were so, maybe Geralt should let him carry everything to get him to quiet down.
It had been an empty threat and they both had known it. When Geralt had relented with a grunt and shouldered everything he could carry, Jaskier had smiled at him. The next hour had been spent with Jaskier composing ditties praising Geralt’s strength and selflessness and with Geralt scowling in order to hide the way his face warmed at Jaskier’s words.
Walking the Path without Roach was strange. Geralt found himself missing the comforting click-clack of her hooves and the way she would nibble at his shirt when she was happy.
Jaskier did his best to distract Geralt. He didn’t state his intentions, but they were clear as day. Jaskier was louder than usual, sang more songs and nudged Geralt’s arm playfully whenever he passed him. It wasn’t much, but after having to let go of so many other Roaches all on his own, Geralt was grateful for his efforts.
Well. Not that one could speak much of Jaskier’s efforts now. In fact, Geralt was the only one working, trying to figure out which of their stuff should go into the saddlebags and which they should continue to carry themselves.
All the while, Jaskier was still his bright, loud, distracting self. Only this time, he didn’t sing about Geralt. Oh no. He was singing an ode of the most beautiful lady with chestnut hair and kind eyes. One who was loyal, lovely and would get to spend a long portion of her life with Jaskier. A lady who wouldn’t bite him in the fingers when he offered her treats in her greed or stomp her hooves threateningly when he wanted to plait her mane without bribing her first.
Geralt shook his head and grinned when Jaskier’s song was cut off by a yelp when the new Roach started nibbling at his hair.
Jaskier was squawking indignantly at her. “Dear lady! You have no appreciation for the arts! Here I am trying to serenade you and already you interrupt me.” He swatted at her neck, but ended up running his hands over her soft fur and cooing at her instead. “Truly, you are a mare after Geralt’s own heart.”
Geralt’s chest warmed and his grin turned into something gentler as he watched Jaskier do his best to win their new companion’s favour.
When Jaskier caught his eyes and winked at him, Geralt had to force himself to look away. If he kept staring at the ridiculousness unfolding before him, he would never get to finish his task. Still he listened with half an ear as Jaskier picked up his song again, this time telling Roach about all the adventures her predecessor had been a part of. He promised her that one day she would get to meet Old Roach, just as he had promised Basia that they would visit her and Roach again some time.
Geralt had just put their cooking supplies in one of the saddle bags, when he paused. There was only one thing left. Something that he had carried ever since saying goodbye to Old Roach.
The bag with the animals he had carved for Jaskier. They weren’t heavy, but still Jaskier had insisted that Geralt should carry them. He hadn’t told him why he was so adamant about it, but Geralt had had the suspicion that this was yet another way in which Jaskier had tried to comfort him. It had worked.
As right as it felt seeing Jaskier with Geralt’s gifts, it felt right holding them himself – being allowed and trusted with something so important to Jaskier. There was no doubt that the figures were Jaskier’s through and through and holding onto them gave Geralt an irrational sense of having a part of Jaskier with him. It was reassuring, even though the real Jaskier was never more than a couple of steps away from him. It was the carvings that had made Jaskier decide not to leave Geralt’s side even once until winter and Geralt was holding onto this promise, reassured by the weight of the animals.
And now they had a new Roach. A horse with big enough saddle bags to stow away the figures.
Geralt hesitated – and put the carvings back to his own belongings. He would hold onto them, claim that he had forgotten about them when he had sorted their stuff if Jaskier asked. If Jaskier demanded that he put them in the saddle bags, he would do so, of course. But if Jaskier didn’t…. well, Geralt could live with carrying a little more weight than normally, if it meant he still got to hold the reminder that Jaskier would stay with him close.
He willed his heart not to speed up and closed the last of the bags before standing up. He leaned against a tree with his arms crossed in front of his chest, watching with a bemused expression how Jaskier switched to telling Roach about his own great accomplishments as travel companion and bard.
“You forgot to mention that you are also incredibly humble,” Geralt chimed in when Jaskier needed to take a breath before he could continue telling Roach about what an invaluable friend he made.
Jaskier narrowed his eyes and wagged a finger at Geralt. “No need to be so sarcastic about it. My humbleness is one of my best qualities.”
“As is your ability to be quiet.”
Jaskier huffed and put his hands on his hips. “Oh, mock all you want. I know you’re just scared that by the end of the day, I will be Roach’s favourite.”
Geralt grunted in amusement. “Good luck with that.”
Jaskier’s grin got broader. “Good thing I have my lucky charms then.” He lifted his chin triumphantly. “And once Roach and I become inseparable, you will always have to let me stay with you or else you will risk breaking the poor girl’s heart.”
Geralt melted a little and he unfurled his arms. “If that’s your plan, then there’s no need to suck up to her.”
Jaskier scoffed. “So eager to get rid of me that you’d deny me a friendship with your horse?” he asked playfully, but there was an edge to his words that cut into Geralt’s chest.
Geralt shifted his weight and pushed himself off the tree, walking towards Jaskier. He petted Roach’s neck, so he didn’t have to look at Jaskier when he said, “I would keep you around even if Roach didn’t like you. So you can save your energy and make yourself useful. Gather some firewood.”
For a moment, Jaskier was quiet, stunned. Then he put his hand on Geralt’s that was still resting on Roach’s neck. He hinted at threading their fingers together for a moment, before pulling back again.
Geralt tensed up. He almost reached out to take Jaskier’s hand again and really hold it this time. Instead, he let his hand drop to his side and clenched it into a fist.
Jaskier must have sensed how uncomfortable he suddenly was, for his soft expression vanished and was replaced by a smug grin.
“No, I don’t think I will,” he said playfully and demonstratively resumed petting Roach.
“Jaskier,” Geralt warned without heat.
“Oh no, my friend. You just said that I don’t need to do anything special for you to want me around.” He threw Geralt a playful wink that did something funny to Geralt’s insides. “You like me. I don’t need to be useful.”
Geralt growled, but he didn’t disagree or take his earlier words back. Not when Jaskier looked so gleeful at the prospect of Geralt saying that he liked him. Not when that was the truth.
“Fine.” Geralt shrugged his shoulders. “Keep doting on Roach and you’ll be cold tonight without a fire.”
“But Geralt!” Jaskier turned his pleading eyes to him, not even bothering to hide the mirth in them. “You, as my dearest friend that likes me and wants me to stay with you, would surely not let me go cold in the night?” He tilted his head a little and Geralt would have called his smile downright devious if it hadn’t been so infuriatingly endearing. “Besides, I have it on good authority that you are wonderful at cuddling to keep your friends warm.”
Geralt choked on the air and had to turn away forcefully to hide the thoughts flashing through his mind.
He hadn’t held Jaskier close at night ever since the storm. But oh, how he wanted to. Every night he looked at Jaskier, only a few feet away from him but still too far, and had to bite his tongue to not ask him to come closer and allow Geralt to hold him again.
Nothing good would come of that. If spending one night feeling Jaskier’s heartbeat against his own had such an impact on him that the thought of it consumed his mind every waking hour, then what would happen if he allowed himself to have this again? He didn’t want to find out.
No, that was a lie. He wanted more than anything to find out, but he’d be damned if he ever let himself be that weak again.
So instead of risking saying something he might regret, he scoffed. “Why don’t you ask your new best friend Roach if you can cuddle up to her? Maybe if you sing another song about her grace and beauty she’ll let you sleep next to her just to get you to stop singing.”
Surprisingly, Jaskier didn’t rise the bait. Unsurprisingly, the teasing grin on his face grew wider.
"Speaking of Roach‘s beauty, I'm surprised you didn't succumb to the temptation of buying a black horse instead. You know, to really sell that dark, brooding loner thing you insist on putting on when you’re not showering your dearest friend with affection."
Geralt huffed.
"Oh come on, Geralt We both know that deep down you're as dramatic as can be. There's no use denying it."
Geralt only gave him a blank look and Jaskier rolled his eyes.
"Alright then. I see a black horse would have been a bit too much even for you. But why, oh why didn't you even look at the white horses?" Jaskier whined. "It would have made for such a good song! The White Wolf, a knight in shining armour and his trusty steed the white stallion!"
Roach chose that moment to nudge her head against Jaskier's back, making him stumble forward.
"Alright, fine," Jaskier relented and lifted his hands in surrender. "I admit, no other horse could come close to your beauty."
"I don't choose my companions based on how pretty they are," Geralt grumbled.
Jaskier shot him a sly smile and a wink. "And yet you travel with me."
"I didn't choose you, did I?"
Jaskier's eyes shone with glee and Geralt felt as if he had stepped into a trap he should have seen coming from miles away.
"I don't hear you disagreeing. You do think I'm pretty. My, Geralt, you're full of compliments today. What did I do to deserve such generosity?“
Geralt didn't answer, though his mind and foolish heart supplied him with a myriad of memories of things Jaskier had done for him that warranted praise and compliments that Geralt would have given if he knew how to.
Jaskier seemed to take his silence as his cue to sigh wistfully and turn to Roach for support.
"You truly are the only one who understands me. It's the two of us now - you and I suffering from Geralt's lack of taste," he declared in his overly theatrical voice that made it clear he was just having fun and wasn't truly offended. He hung his head in mock-lament. "It's such a pity that a gorgeous lady such as yourself has to suffer the shame of being named after a bug."
Geralt scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. I wouldn't name her after a bug." His lips twitched and he was sure in his eyes was the same sparkle of mischief he had so often seen in Jaskier's. "She's named after a fish."
For a long moment Jaskier gaped at him, not unlike the fish Roach was named after.
"Are you telling me all these years you let me live a lie? You didn't name her after - no wait, a fish isn't much better. Geralt, what on this sweet earth possessed you to name your horses after a fish?"
"Why did you name yourself after a flower?" Geralt shot back, thoroughly enjoying himself.
"That is not the end-all argument you think it is," Jaskier said haughtily. "I'm not sure if you just said that to prove a point, but I assure you I could spend the next hour elaborating on the meaning of my name."
"Please don't," Geralt said, though he put no heat in it. He wouldn't mind learning why Jaskier had chosen that name for himself. He hadn't wanted to push him for an explanation. It was none if his business, but if Jaskier were willing to tell him one day, Geralt would be more than happy to listen.
That day, it seemed, was not this day. Jaskier's grin turned impish, making him look like a cat ready to pounce.
"I shall spare you the tale. On one condition. You tell me why you name your horses Roach."
Geralt turned away slightly, crouched down and pretended to be busy with the bags again. He knew the act fooled no one. "If you're expecting a dramatic or tragic tale you’re going to be disappointed. There's not much to tell."
"Humour me."
When Geralt chanced a quick glance at Jaskier out of the corner of his eye, Jaskier looked genuinely curious. Gone were all traces of teasing and challenging. All he wanted was to learn more about something that was important to Geralt.
"It's... My first horse didn't have a name for a long time. I didn't plan on ever giving her one. Don't look at me like that, Jaskier. I know what you're going to say. Don't."
"No, I..." Jaskier trailed off. After the slightest hesitation he sat down next to Geralt, brushing their shoulders together. "I'm not judging you. It's just… You didn't call me by my name too for a long while either. I think I understand and I'm glad you do now."
Geralt nodded, unable to give any other response. So he just continued his story. "That horse was the worst. Stubborn and mischievous. Wouldn't listen to a single thing I said." He couldn't keep the fondness out of his voice and when he briefly looked up he saw Jaskier look at him with an affection in his eyes that made Geralt's chest ache. He couldn't tear his eyes away and for a heartbeat all thought left him.
"She sounds wonderful," Jaskier supplied when Geralt stilled.
His words shook Geralt out of his reverie.
"Of course you would say that." he swallowed thickly and kept his face carefully blank, unwilling to show a hint of hurt that next part still caused him sometimes. "I got chased out of town a lot back then. I didn't know yet to recognise the right moment to leave before things turned bad. So I ran. Had to leave all of my supplies. I had nothing to eat, nothing to keep me warm. Only my swords and that bastard of a horse. Without my crossbow or any gear to set up snares, all I could think of doing was to try to fish."
Jaskier's hand found his and this time when he linked his fingers with Geralt's, he didn't pull back.
"You caught a roach?" Jaskier guessed.
Geralt's lips twitched into a half smirk. "Something like that. Turns out fishing is damn near impossible without a rod or some kind of spear. I still tried to catch a fish with my bare hands."
Jaskier's eyebrows shot up. "That's impressive."
Geralt hummed in amusement. "Maybe it would have been, if the horse hadn't found it funny to nudge me with her head right as I was leaning over the water."
Jaskier let out a startled laugh. "She didn't!"
Geralt's grin became wider. "Made me fall right in. I landed on a roach; pretty much squashed it against a rock somehow." He scoffed. "I swear that horse was laughing at me the whole time."
Jaskier snickered. "Can't blame her."
Geralt shot him a false glare that only made Jaskier laugh harder.
"Of course you would take her side."
"Of course,” Jaskier echoed. “How could I not adore anyone who managed to shove the great Geralt of Rivia into water? I know how near impossible a feat that is. First Roach has all my respect." For a moment he was silent and as they listened to Roach's huffing and scraping at the dirt with her hooves. Jaskier squeezed his hand. "Thank you for telling me, Geralt. That means a lot to me."
Geralt nodded. He thought that was all the reply he would be able to give, but something tight in his chest was begging to be released. After a small pause he whispered back, "Thank you for listening."
-
After that, Geralt was once again filled with that burning need inside him that made his fingers itch to take up carving again. And so he did. After so long of not picking up his carving tools, his hands felt a bit rusty and clumsy, like when he had first learned to use those tools, but the wood felt familiar and right in his hands.
He thought of his first horse- his first Roach- as he carved. The familiar motions felt smooth and sure as he was cutting away wood piece by piece until Geralt held his new creation in hand. He smiled as he looked at it. It was exactly how he had wanted it. Now all he needed was to find the perfect moment to hide it for Jaskier to find. With this carving, he felt the need to perfect the execution more than with any other. He owed it to his first Roach.
So he carried the figure with him for days, separate from Jaskier’s collection. Jaskier had noticed how Geralt carried the other carvings still, but he hadn’t mentioned it. If anything, he had seemed pleased for some reason.
Geralt couldn’t wait to see Jaskier’s face when he saw this newest carving for the first time.
It wasn’t until one day the sun shone unusually bright – probably the last hot day of summer before autumn winds would chase the warmth away – that Geralt knew the time had come.
Geralt sat on a riverbank, holding a provisional fishing rod in hand and waited for what felt like hours, even to him. Jaskier must be going mad with the wait. It sure seemed like he was about ready to tear his hear out, from the way he had flopped down on the grass, too bored to even sing anymore.
“Does this always take this long?” He whined.
Geralt forced the smile that tried to twist his lips to stay hidden. “You’re the one who thought it was a good idea to fish for our dinner.”
“That’s what I get for trying to be sweet and honour Roach.” Jaskier groaned. “And in my defence, I suggested fishing before I knew how boring it would be. Are you sure you’re even doing it right?”
Geralt hummed in the affirmative.
Jaskier didn’t look convinced. “Really? Because from here it looks like you’re not even doing anything. You’re just -” he gestured vaguely at Geralt, “ -sitting there. One could almost think this is just an excuse for you to do nothing and be quiet for hours.”
Geralt couldn’t keep the grin off his face any longer. “Maybe you should try it then.”
Jaskier made an outraged sound, but before he could come up with any colourful protests, his mouth snapped shut and he narrowed his eyes.
“You know what?” he said and held out a hand demandingly. “Fine. I’ll do it. See if I don’t catch something faster than you.”
Geralt snorted and scooted over to let Jaskier sit where he had just been. He handed over the fishing rod.
“And just so you know,” Jaskier added, “I know what you’re trying to do here. And I tell you, you will not find me sitting all quiet.”
“There goes my masterplan to get some peace,” Geralt deadpanned.
“So how does this work then?” Jaskier asked, giving an experimental tug at the rod.
Geralt’s brows knitted together and he put his hand over Jaskier’s, holding the rod in place. “You’re not supposed to move it.”
“You sure? Because not moving it hasn’t brought us dinner yet,” Jaskier teased.
Geralt let go and took a step back. “Alright then,” he said, barely able to keep the amusement out of his voice. “Figure it out on your own then.”
Jaskier rolled his eyes. “I will. Can’t be too hard. I’ll just –“ He gave another tug, only to stagnate mid-motion. His eyes became wide and Geralt could see the moment he realised what was happening, as unbridled joy and triumph bubbled up in Jaskier’s chest with a loud laugh. “Geralt! I caught one! Ha! I told you I’d better at this then you.”
Geralt watched with raised eyebrows how Jaskier gave another harsh yank, until suddenly the something came flying out of the water with a splash, attached to the fishing line.
“Look! Geralt, I did it! I-“ Jaskier’s smile turned into a confused frown and he did a double take. “The hell is that?”
Jaskier grabbed the fishing line with one hand and brought the thing at the end of it closer to his face. Geralt’s heart was hammering in anticipation as Jaskier let out a small gasp, finally realising what exactly he had caught.
“I’ve got to say,” Jaskier said slowly, “the fae are getting more creative in their delivering.”
“Oh? It’s another gift then?” Geralt asked as nonchalantly as he could. “What is it this time?”
“A fish,” Jaskier said, baffled. “What even… is it a cod? A carp maybe?” He made a face. “I’m only just realising that I know absolutely nothing about fish.” He paused. “Pike?”
Geralt snorted at Jaskier’s silliness and rolled his eyes. One would think that less than a week after talking about this very same thing, Jaskier would have a clue as to what this could be.
“It’s a Roach,” Geralt deadpanned.
The palm of Jaskier’s free hand met his face and he huffed out a single laugh, before his face took on a look of mock-annoyance. “Oh very clever. I sure hope the fae think they’re funny.”
Geralt grinned openly. “I think they’re hilarious.”
“I guarantee that you are the only person who would think so.” Jaskier’s shoulders were shaking with poorly supressed laughter, giving the lie to his words.
“You better not let the fae hear that,” Geralt warned, “or they might stop giving you gifts.”
“Nah, they like me too much to forsake me.” Jaskier waved a hand through the air with a self-assured grin. “And I’ve complained about your terrible sense of humour for years and you’re still here, aren’t you?”
Of course Geralt was. As if Jaskier could do anything that would make him want to leave.
Jaskier didn't seem to expect or need an answer. His focus shifted back to the roach in his hand. He turned it over and admired the scales Geralt had carved into it.
Jaskier seemed to hesitate but then his brow set in determination. He lifted his head and looked Geralt dead in the eye.
"I'm naming the roach Horse."
Geralt didn't think about what he was doing. All he knew was that Jaskier was bursting with laughter and that he was being so ridiculous and suddenly Jaskier's laughter turned into a surprised shout when Geralt nudged him just enough to make him stumble right into the water.
Vaguely he registered Jaskier dropping Horse, the roach, on the grass before he hit the water.
After a heartbeat Jaskier emerged from the water with an enraged look that would have been much more effective if he didn't also look like he was doing his damndest to hold in his laughter.
"Geralt of Rivia!" Jaskier shrieked accusingly and wiped the wet hair out of his face. He reached out one hand to Geralt. "You help me out of here right now!"
Geralt shook his head with a grin. "You know you won't be able to pull me in with you."
"I won't try to do that. Promise." The mischievous twinkle in his eyes betrayed him but Geralt still grabbed his hand and hauled him up.
Jaskier hadn't been lying. He didn't try to pull Geralt into the water with him.
What he did instead was practically throw himself at Geralt with the momentum from his pull. Jaskier wrapped both arms around him, soaking him thoroughly. For good measure he rubbed his dripping wet hair into Geralt's face.
Geralt let out a startled laugh. After a second of stunned immobility, Geralt wrapped his arms around Jaskier as well, his laugh ghosting over Jaskier's hair.
He could feel Jaskier's pout where his face was pressed against him.
"You're not supposed to like this," Jaskier said accusingly. "This is my revenge."
"Yes, you're being very evil right now," Geralt grinned and chuckled when Jaskier only scoffed.
This was so petty. Jaskier was just utterly ridiculous. Geralt loved him so much.
Oh.
He froze and his heart refused to beat in its normal rhythm.
Oh no.
This...this wasn't really what he felt for Jaskier. It couldn't be. Jaskier was his friend, his travel companion, the one person who was always by his side without ever asking for more. Geralt couldn't want - he couldn't be in love with him. He couldn't.
And yet the burning in his chest where Jaskier's heart beat against his own, already knew what Geralt's mind was still trying to deny.
Geralt's body wanted nothing more than to stay right where he was, in Jaskier's arms, but he needed to know, needed to see.
Painfully slowly, Geralt pulled away from Jaskier until he was only holding him on the shoulders.
Jaskier's eyes crinkled with his laughter. "Changed your mind then? My revenge was effective?"
Geralt's mouth was too dry to answer. All he could do was look at Jaskier and know, feel, wonder how he could have not seen this before.
All this time Geralt had stared at Jaskier like an enigma and now it was revealed to be as easy to solve as a children's puzzle. It had always seemed so complicated, so impossible to understand and now within the blink of an eye, the meaning of it all had become so clear, so simple, so inevitable.
Because that was the thing; Falling in love with Jaskier had always been inevitable.
And yet Geralt had wasted so much time not knowing, not wanting to know. He had told himself improbable lies when all this time he had - just how long had he felt like this?
Long enough that Geralt couldn't remember what it had felt like getting touched by Jaskier without having chills race down his body. Long enough that the mere thought of not getting drunk on Jaskier's smiles, his words, his closeness seemed impossible.
Geralt felt Jaskier slip from his grasp and immediately his hands felt painfully empty. He watched as if from far away how Jaskier bent down to pick up the roach again and brushed the dirt off, throwing a grin at Geralt as he did so.
The sight alone was enough to make it impossible to form a single coherent thought.
Every stutter of his heart, every tightening of his chest, every time he had yearned for Jaskier's touch... it had always been this. This simple word.
This word that flared up when Jaskier complained about dirt on his clothes. The word that wedged itself between Geralt's thoughts when Jaskier composed a ditty about Geralt's hair when the wind had made it shaggy like a wolf's coat.
Geralt had loved Jaskier as if it was the easiest, the most natural thing in the world to do. So easy that he hadn't even realised he was doing it until he was in so deep that he couldn't turn back if he wanted to.
He didn't want to. He wanted this, this feeling, this knowledge every moment of every day.
Geralt watched with an aching softness that he finally could give a name to, as Jaskier introduced his wooden fish to Roach as if he was announcing an honoured guest at a ball.
In this moment, Jaskier was utterly undignified. And Geralt…Geralt knew without a doubt that he was utterly in love with him.
---
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I know you guys are always swamped with requests and asks but can you do more vinca fics or hc fluff or smut plz? I feel like Vinca is a underrated character other than waiting till the day she gets a route
Pairing with: Vinca realizing she had fallen in love with SWM MC when Yvette asked her about MC
Yvette smugly tells Vinca that the latter totally has romantic feelings for mc. Pride continues to deny it until got kicked of home out cuz Greed want her to go to the bike shop to confess to mc 👀👀👀
Vinca taking care of MC sick?
...
Written by @an-awkward-ghost
“You seem excited for tonight’s show, Vinca.”
“When aren’t I?”
“No, I mean… more than usual.”
Vinca’s eyes flick upwards, instantly wary when she sees Yvette’s lopsided smirk, the one she gets when she’s planning something that will ultimately unveil in pure chaos she can smugly observe from afar with amusement.
She pauses the videogame she’s playing, squinting at her best friend.
“Out with it, Yvette.”
She looks down at her gloved nails with false nonchalance. “Whatever do you mean?”
“You don’t get to play that game with me. Be direct.”
“I have nothing interesting to say, Vinca.” A small shrug, which tells Vinca she definitely has something interesting to say. “I just think you should know MC just texted me. She can’t make it to the show tonight.”
There are several things wrong with that statement. Vinca narrows her eyes without realizing, hand snapping up towards her phone before she catches herself. There’s a sudden, strange, burning feeling in the pit of her stomach that makes it hard to think clearly.
“Why?” Slips out of her like a bullet. She freezes for a split-second, and then adds, perhaps a bit too hastily. “Pff, I knew she was bluffing when she said she could endure whatever I threw at her during the show.”
Yvette’s smirk remains in place. “There’s always next time.”
“If she couldn’t gather enough courage for this one, I don’t have much faith in the next one.”
“Then again, the act you had planned for tonight was specifically for her. If the guest of honor won’t show up, I’d say there’s not much sense in your part of the show for tonight.”
Vinca blinks at her. “Someone else can volunteer-”
“But it wouldn’t be the same, would it? You want that act to be for her and her alone.”
“…The pipsqueak is hardly that important, you know. I didn’t plan that act only for her.” Except Vinca had pictured MC’s face under the spotlight, expression fierce and defiant, spirit blazing and unwavering despite the hundreds of eyes that would be on her. Her eyes would be fixed on Vinca’s, tracking every little movement with a concentration that would make a hunter jealous. She had been looking forward to the banter that would spark between them with the same energy of a crazed storm, something Vinca couldn’t get enough of.
She hadn’t even considered the act with anyone else, and when she tries to imagine, everything falls apart. There’s no point. No excitement. The volunteer would be a jittery mess and Vinca wouldn’t get anything out of it. It’d be plain boring, because it wouldn’t be MC standing on stage.
The entire show would be plain boring. It wouldn’t be the same without MC watching. Vinca had expected to spend quite some time with her, too, after the show, ready to mock MC’s inevitable failure in the act despite the fight she would give her.
Yvette didn’t need to know that.
“I can still do my part of the show.” Vinca says, shoving her thoughts aside. Despite being the one with the mind-reading abilities, Yvette could be unnervingly sharp when she wanted to, and Vinca preferred not giving her anything to work with. “I have plenty of acts to work with.”
Yvette pauses. Gives her a pointed glance from her side of the couch when Vinca resumes her game, obviously considering the conversation over.
“You can take the night off. Lazareth and I can handle the show just fine.”
Vinca huffs. “You aren’t trying to kick me out, are you? Besides, what the heck would I do for the night? I’d just bore myself to death here. There won’t be anything interesting to watch on TV.” The casino wouldn’t even offer a great distraction anyways, since Vinca would just be too stuck on the ‘could have been’ to properly enjoy it.
Yvette’s glance turns into a full-blown stare.
“What?”
“You won’t stay here.”
“Oh yeah, sure, kick me out of our house just like you kick me out of the show, no hard feelings-” Vinca pauses, suddenly realizing where this is going. “You want me to go see the pipsqueak?” She pauses the game, suddenly grinning as a plethora of ideas come to her mind. “Of course! I can go mock her for chickening out! Oh, it’ll be glorious-”
“You’re excited again.” Yvette notices, as if it’s a world-changing observation.
“I mean. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Oh yes.” Yvette’s smirk turns predatory. “Why wouldn’t you be excited to see your crush?”
Vinca stares at her. Yvette’s words don’t click right away, because the idea seems too ludicrous and definitely not the right thing someone as sharp as Yvette should come up with. But the clock ticks away in the background and Yvette’s expression remains unchanged, and Vinca feels like she should rectify this horrible misunderstanding before it gets out of control, because honestly, falling in love with the pipsqueak of all people?
Vinca snorts. She has better tastes than that.
“Uh, hello? This is MC we are talking about. The girl who crashed her bike during my shoot and forced us to do the whole thing over again? The girl who can’t take two steps without breaking something? A rock has better fashion sense and finesse than she ever could. That girl?”
“Yes, the girl you are always visiting.”
“That’s only because she gets in so much trouble. You’ve seen it, she attracts demons left and right.”
“The girl you’re always talking about during dinner.”
“C’mon, I always let you vent when someone gets on your nerves, why can’t I do the same?”
“The girl who you know wouldn’t cancel something like this without good reason.”
That makes Vinca pause, because it’s true. The whole reason Vinca had even gotten the idea for the act was because she knew MC was up to the challenge. That she would rather give up a limp than back out and give Vinca the satisfaction of winning.
That burning feeling was back. Vinca swallows.
“Is she okay?”
If something had happened, why hadn’t she told Vinca? Why did she text Yvette instead? Did she think Yvette cared more than Vinca did? Why would she-
“Nothing plenty of rest can’t fix.” All hints of smugness are gone. Yvette’s expression is carefully neutral, her voice gentle. “But you should go see her, if you’re worried.”
“…Thank you for telling me, even if you were annoyingly slow about it.” Vinca says, half-way to the door before Yvette can finish speaking. “I just- want her to be in the show, is all. I’m not doing this any other reason.”
“Sure.” The faint amusement Vinca can detect in her response makes Vinca huff and quicken her pace.
She knows something is wrong when she enters the shop and sees Joyce on the counter, chatting with a costumer. MC usually takes the morning shift on Thursdays.
She’s tempted to fish around Joyce’s mind for an answer, but the idea makes her uncomfortable, just like reading Yvette and Lazareth’s minds made her feel. She blinks, equally parts annoyed and surprised. Since when had she begun to care about other people’s privacy? Was it just because Joyce was MC’s mom? Joyce wouldn’t even know if Vinca read her mind, and their relationship was rocky enough that it wouldn’t surprise her if Joyce flat out refused to tell her what was going on.
…so it would make it all the more special if she did tell her on her own volition. Not that Vinca hoped she would.
“Vinca.” Greets the older woman, voice less warm than it had been a second ago.
“Miss.” Is all she says in return, meeting Joyce’s gaze in kind, refusing to back down.
“You’re not here to buy a bike, are you.” It’s not a question. She almost looks resigned. When Vinca shakes her head, she pauses for a second, like she’s mulling something over.  She lets out a long sigh. “Fine. Go on upstairs.”
Vinca blinks. She hadn’t been expecting this to be so easy. It usually wasn’t. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.” Joyce narrows her eyes and gives her another look. Her stern expression melts into a small smile. “It took me a while, but I can see you care about her. Go. Her room is down the hall.”
Vinca shuffles awkwardly, not sure how to process this new development. She nods mutely, infinitely grateful, and makes her way upstairs. She still doesn’t know what was up with MC, but if Joyce didn’t look overly worried, it was probably nothing too serious.
She frowns again, deeply bothered by the fact that MC hadn’t texted her. She’s in front of the door to the apartment in less than a second, emboldened by her need of answers and growing concern.
She goes in without knocking.
MC’s head snaps towards her, so startled that she loses her grip on her phone. It falls and bounces on floor with a dull thud, cat videos on full display for the world to see. Vinca smirks.
“What… Vinca?!” She splutters. Her expression is pure gold, all wide eyes and open mouth. Vinca doesn’t get to admire it for long, instantly distracted by her pale, miserable complexion. There are dark circles under her eyes, like she couldn’t sleep well, and her voice sounded wrong, as if she were holding her hand over her nose. “What the heck are you-?”
“Shut up, pipsqueak.” Vinca hisses, leaning down to retrieve the phone. Her eyes roam over MC’s body, taking in the sweat on her skin, the way she’s shivering. “You’re sick. You should be in bed.” Her eyes shift to the pot in MC’s hands, and she instantly reaches out to take it. “Let me take care of that.”
“No!” MC takes a step back, glaring. “Why are you even here? I can take care of myself just fine.”
“You’ll just get worse. Look at you, you can barely stand.”
“Don’t exaggerate, I can-”
Vinca pokes her directly in the chest and watches her flail around, trying to recover her balance. She steadies her with a pointed glare.
“You were saying?”
“That’s… I wasn’t…”
“Go back to bed, I’ll make you something.”
MC freezes under her hands, looking up at her warily.
“What? Are you deaf now, too?”
It feels natural to offer this. It’s something Vinca would do for her friends and sister in a heartbeat, without really thinking about it. Only when MC continues to stare does she realize what just happened.
When had she begun to care so much for her, anyway?
“I mean. I-if I want you to recover for the next show, I need to…” She trails off, feeling stupider by the second.
MC’s lips curl into an amused smile. It’s so similar to the one Yvette gave her earlier that Vinca instantly looks away, annoyed. They usually only smile like that when they know – or think they know – something Vinca doesn’t.
“Need to make sure you… don’t do anything stupid. It’s a cold day. You should be in bed.”
“You won’t poison it, will you?” MC says.
“If you keep bothering me, I will. I’d be doing the world a favor, anyway.”
“Maybe I should stay. I’ll go quicker if we both-”
Vinca grabs her by the wrist and drags her down the hallway before she can finish, ignoring her protests. She needs some time alone to process everything, anyway, and MC would just make everything worse. As per usual.
“Rest.” She barks, all but closing the door in MC’s face. She hopes she shoved her in the right room.
The next half-hour goes by in a blur, but it’s enough time to ponder the strange effect MC has on her. She doesn’t know how, she doesn’t know when, but MC had become someone important to her. Almost as important as Yvette and Lazareth were, just in a different way. There was something else there. Something that made her yearn for presence, for her witty responses, for the way her eyes sparkled, for the way she laughed. The sound has been with Vinca for ages, stuck in her head, refusing to come out.
And now here she is, skipping both the show and whatever lame thing would be on TV at this hour, just because MC was sick and Vinca cared too much.
Vinca scowls down at the soup. Swears loudly.
Vinca’s tastes must be shit, because she definitely is in love with this insufferable pipsqueak. And that’s another thing Yvette – or anyone, for that matter – didn’t need to know.
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