#it's either a gift from her mother because she wants the best for her daughter

[kagamikoi]

prompt for @clintbeefwoods

modern au transfem!jin ling and lan jingyi sharing a lil smooch T4T LINGYI WE LOVE TO SEE IT 💛💙👏

[romanoffsbish]

Castles Crumbling

Natasha Romanoff x Fem!R

Natasha x Wanda / Others

Valkyrie x F!R

Royal AU Request | Natasha never was a fan of rules, so when sets were placed upon her love she pushed against them… Now she wonders if it’s too late to make it right again. | WC: 7,550

Warning: “Unrequited” Love | Jealousy | Mean Fuckboy Natasha / Sad R | Abusive Parents / Fucked Systems | HE!

Smut: Virgins (In various ways) | Mommy (R) | Oral (R) | Strap (N) | Degradation | Unorthodox “BJ” (🤷🏼‍♀️)

Minors DNI | 18+

“Natalia, keep your chin up," Melina scolded her daughter who was too busy glaring across the ballroom to even acknowledge her mother fixing up her gown. The strap had suddenly tethered, if not for Melina's resourcefulness she'd have had to hold an apology in front of the kingdom for her daughter, the heiress to the throne's, albeit unintentional, lack of modesty.

Natasha's eyes stayed trained on you, who was giggling at a slightly older woman's words. You were her fiancée, yet there you stood enraptured by another's presence as if they hung the moon and stars for you.

———

The redhead had no throne to sit upon though, she very well knew that, this unbearable distance forged between soulmates was one she herself created half a decade ago. She'd regretted it from the start, living without your love was lonely, and in this moment she felt the regret double at the thought of losing you fully.

You were once hers, exclusively so...

The two of you were the best of friends until she found out the intense love she held for you wasn't meant to be organically woven. Instead, the two of you'd already been signed up for a life together, something she should have seen as a gift, but the idea that you were only ever going to be hers due to legalities broke her.

To think, had she and Yelena been born in reverse that it'd be a much different fate. The redhead loathed the idea that such a system would exist in the first place and vowed to never place that pressure on your kids.

The kids she now wondered if you'd still share...

Natasha, in her state of grief has been blinded to the familiar turmoil you'd also experienced. It had gutted you when your parents said you were in line to marry the Romanov's heir, to keep strong alliances between your Kingdoms. To have the Romanov name was a dream come true, but to have no say in it upset you just the same. Yet you were ready to live life the same, to continue to fall in love with your supposed destiny and to thank fate for guaranteeing your forever bond.

Natasha regrettably went the other route, letting her resentments fester, and in turn she pushed you away. It wasn't gradual either, you were really confused by the dynamic switch—it was like night to day, and for years you were faced with her venomous demeanor. Animosity that was rooted in falsehoods still hurt just the same, and now you two couldn't be further apart.

Just like the strap of her emerald gown, she worried that the tie between your confused hearts was near to severing. Natasha could actually feel her heart splitting at the thought, she never considered her horrid actions would lead to an eventual permanent loss of you.

But now that she sees the web she's sown she gets it.

For the last five years shortly after you hit puberty, you had to watch as the woman you wholeheartedly adored became a stranger that thrived on promiscuity. To hear about it too as the women of the kingdom never minced words about their nights with her, and with each rendezvous you lost more hope for a joyful forever with her. Natasha buried herself in other woman, and actually thought you'd just wait patiently for her to come back, but clearly you'd grown tired of it.

You once thought it was just a rebellious phase, many heirs to thrones go through them, and you knew Nat was a free spirit. You even understood her want to be free, to see whomever she wanted in her youth. It was a natural curiosity you didn't indulge in though, because your heart only beat for the redhead, but you never asked her not to have explored it. Especially because she was never going to listen if you did. Natasha was headstrong, a natural born leader, not so much a lover.

Well, at least not this version of Natasha. She'd lost her once sweet demeanor with you, every interaction turned tense and abrasive. Natasha used to hold doors open for you, now she was purposeful in closing them. As if she was letting you know that her heart was no longer in sync with yours. She'd shut you out entirely, it was the vindictive nature of it all that really broke you down over time, and lead you to this moment of despair. In your youth she was your greatest hope.

— • — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — • —

"If he doesn't stop staring at you I will have to gouge his icy blue eye's right out of his skull," your best friend grumbled loud enough for the Barnes boy to hear as you both passed him by. "Natalia!" You shrieked, tiny hand flying to your mouth as you tried to hide your smirk of inappropriate amusement. The older princess smirked as she watched you losing your composure. "You can't just say those things!"

Natasha smirked, the gesture entirely teasing, "Why?"

"It's not ladylike." Natasha grinned even wider at the challenge of your words. "Fuck being ladylike."

Natasha threw her head back as she laughed at the sight of your shocked face. Your eyes wide and mouth comical agape. "Natty, we're royals!" The redhead shrugged, and rebutted lowly, her tone chillingly grave, "Yeah, as is he but he doesn't respect us like we are," then she walked further down to the murky body of running water, you followed her in a rush, but in your hurry you tripped over a rock and fell towards the creek with a fearful squeal.

"Careful now detka," Natasha teased as she caught you with ease, using her body to push you up against a tree to have you upright again, and for a second in time you thought—hoped—she might kiss you. But life was cruel in a way as all she did was assess your face for injury before she slid her clammy hand into yours and guided you over to the bundle of rocks. Careful as she helped you climb up first then she settled behind you and the two of you watched the sunset as you did every Sunday to mark the week's cruel end.

— • — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — • —

Everything was hectic being the children of royalty, especially for you, but with Natasha at your side it was all okay. The redhead always used to sneak you away to the creek that connected the many kingdoms, to where she'd let you play freely, like a kid should. Then as preteens it just became your spot to get away together.

Now it was where you spent your nights alone, talking to the moon and asking her where it all went wrong.

The redhead used to afford you the space to be your true, wild-child self unlike your parents who were far more strict in comparison to hers. Melina and Alexei held their children to high standards, of course, but they also never prevented them from being children.

Your parents were more akin to royal traditionalists in many ways, they believed children were meant to be seen, never heard. To be flaunted like assets, but never loved by anything outside of the hired help, who did their very best, but it's not like they were treated much better than you. To be given away like chattel, and never acknowledged as a person with free will like the commoners were. To never exist outside of the castle's bounds, a prisoner of the most bleak circumstances.

Natasha was your beacon of peace, she had always cherished your friendship, and held you in the highest of regards. Her biggest goal used to be to make you laugh, she'd tell you stories of Yelena's chaos, and on rare occasions she'd even let the blonde tag along so you could feel true joy. Then all of a sudden she cast you away too, you were obviously hurt by her choices, but even with her sudden animosity towards you you'd never shown her anything but respect and kindness.

Fellow royals called you a pushover, others a hopeless case, but truth be told, there were small cracks in her resolve at times that told you she must've still loved you. It was in the glances she'd cast your way when you were usually preoccupied. You'd always look up just in time to catch the traces of longing before her steely composure returned. She also was insanely protective of your womanhood, as if she had any right to claim it.

Like when the older Stark brother tried to get you to follow him to his quarters one night months back when his family was visiting. The redhead followed your naive form, then just as he went to escort you into his room she'd punched him so hard that his nose cracked, and his once white polo was soaked in crimson.

Before you could question anything she spat, "Don't ever try to sleep with my girl again Tony!" Then before you could savor the warmth of her claim to you she swiftly added her hypocrisy: "It ruins the appearance we must keep up for the public." She was gone in a flash, and you apologized to the man before running off to your quarters to sob over the loss of warmth.

It was a consistent cycle too, every time someone like Danvers, or Barnes tried to court you she was there, dauntingly lingering like a viper prepared to snap. Her gaze was always piercing, and they'd learned quickly to run to avoid needing to be physically removed.

Natasha's promiscuity obviously flourished, while your potential was always curbed at every turn. Not only did you hear the women whispering her praises, but just last week, after a pre-nuptials celebratory dinner with all the neighboring kingdoms you watched her leave the follow up gala with Wanda Maximoff, the gorgeous princess of Sokovia, in a fit of drunken giggles. Her brother, Pietro, was the heir marrying your brother.

You've now reasoned that you two would be entering a loveless marriage (on her end), just like your brother. All in the name of diplomacy you'd reminded yourself this morning, so you believed you'd both have your own partners. Which is why you were finally indulging the vivacious soul of Valkyrie, the shockingly single King from the neighboring kingdom of Asgard. She was beautiful in her own right, incomparable to your hearts muse, but undeniably gorgeous nonetheless.

It never once crossed your mind that Natasha would be fuming, and even if you'd maybe known she would be, you didn't really care anymore. This was the game she started, and you're fed up, so you'll gladly play along.

Why should she get to have all the fun?

Melina gripped her daughter's clenched jaw softly, and sighed in annoyance as she had to forcefully bring her gaze down to face her instead of you. "You did this to yourself Natalia, woman up and face the ugly truth that you alonenpushed your beloved into another's arms."

"Mama," Natasha whimpered pitifully, she always hated how serious and practical her mother could be. Never seeing between the lines, or trying to understand the reasons why. "No, there will be no pity from me, your father might coddle you girls, but you broke Y/N too many times for me to sympathize with you. Now fix your face, and go mingle with your people, Queen."

For the next ten minutes the redhead held her head up high, and conversed with the elders in the crowded room. It was the night before you were to be wed, so of course there was a pre-nuptials party. "Where is your fiancée?" Natasha cast her gaze to the corner you were in moments prior only to find it empty. Her body was actively panicking at the prospect of you slipping out, but she kept her voice steady. "I'm sorry, but please do excuse me. I actually need to go find her, she is really good at getting lost in the ballroom after a drink."

The man nodded sympathetically, and Natasha practically sprinted away from him as she frantically looked around. She nearly tripped over the gowns of the attendees as she haphazardly made her way over to you. Her blood boiled as Valkyrie's hands were holding you close by the hips, your gorgeous, genuine smile on display for a woman who held no claim to you.

Natasha was genuinely near to tears when she saw the way the suave woman whispered something humorous into your ear, making you laugh aloud so freely, with your head thrown back and a hand on her shoulder.

Her heart ached at the memories of all the times it was her making you laugh until you cried. She yearned to go back in time with every step she took to get to you, if she could undo her mistakes she would. Oh would she.

"Sweetheart, we've got incoming," the beautiful woman spun you out, and you saw a flash of red before you were back against her chest. Natasha's jaw clenched just the same as yours, how dare she even consider ruining your moment to move on from her once again.

"Y/N, we need to go mingle with the crowd," Natasha tried to grab your arm to pull you away from Valkyrie, but you roughly shrugged her off. "I'm having fun here Romanov, so you can speak for the both of us, you've done well enough at it so far. Feel free to continue on."

Valkyrie leaned in to press a gentle kiss to your cheek and Natasha quietly growled, "Unhand my fiancée Brunnhilde," to which the older woman merely rolled her eyes before she was whispering in your ear again, "Just go and talk to her Y/N, I'll be right here if you need me sweetheart, but don't let her upset you enough that you cause a scene in front of your parents."

You suddenly remembered your place, and silently parted from the woman with a sad smile that actually broke Natasha's resolve. Valkyrie scoffed as pools of brown met hers of green, "You're wasting a good woman," she shook her head and walked off towards the bar leaving the redhead to stew in her shame.

Seeing you so sad to be left alone with her was jarring, then she saw the evil glare of your fathers and wondered if things had gotten worse since she no longer really knew. She'd left you alone, and if she was right, he likely blamed you for her own promiscuity.

She could hear his morose voice clear as day, "Well, if you were more inclined to put out, she'd have stayed." He was always blunt, and degrading—never kind, and to think she'd given him a reason to hurt your feelings devastated her. She'll never really forgive herself.

But for some reason she hoped you still would as she calmly exited the ballroom, her feet moved faster as soon as the doors blocked the patrons view though. All the redhead wanted was to reach you, and apologize.

"What was that Natasha?" You inquired just as soon as she entered your soon to be shared room. "I mean honestly, you have some nerve staking your claim to me as if you even mean it. I am my own person, and quite frankly Romanov I have needs you don't satisfy!"

It was insane what she said next, the woman should be begging on her knees for your forgiveness, like she had planned, but instead she put her foot in her mouth.

"Please tell me you're still a virgin..." Your eyes went wide, and you rightfully scoffed, "And what if I wasn't? Is that a dealbreaker for you Miss Chastity Belt?"

Natasha's eyes welled with genuine tears that made you melt ever so slightly, apparently the idea that you'd given yourself to another devastated her, even if she was a bit of a hypocrite. You too were reacting like you were unwell, feeling warmth at her weak show of love.

"Y/N, please just answer me..." You rolled your eyes, and shrugged nonchalantly. "No, I am not a virgin."

"Fuck!" Natasha collapsed to her knees, her gown layered around her beautifully yet tragic. This was her worst fear. "With who? I-I, please just tell me now."

You rolled your eyes at the dramatics, as if she had any right to question you like this. Still, seeing her broken hurt you, it was truly unfair to you, and even if it would be embarrassing you reached into your bedside table, and threw a worn down painting, and a strap at her.

Natasha's jaw clenched at the sight of the plastic, wondering who took your innocence with the device, picturing their demise, but then she lost her breath as the painting flipped over to reveal her obvious likeness.

"I-I don't understand Y/N," she spoke softly, her head tilted up and you bit back a smile at seeing the confused, adorable little pout that she wore. "It's called steadfast loyalty Natasha, plus, it's not like you didn't run off every prospect I've ever had over the years."

"Y/N, I," she cut her apology off as she sobbed even harder. You wanted to remain furious, but you could feel her pain reflecting in your heart, so you gently caressed her glistening cheek, and weakly smiled. "Get off the floor Nat." The redhead jumped to her feet in seconds and clumsily crashed into you, making your body stumble backwards until you were flat on the bed with the breathtaking woman hovering. The beautiful image of karma unfolded before you, it hurt your heart to see her sad, but you couldn't deny that the flushed skin and glimmering eyes added a layer of palpable attraction to her overall perfection.

The moment was the perfect time for her to finally kiss you, to break that distance, but she once again missed it as she collapsed and cried against your chest," I-I hear the people talk about me like I'm a monster." Natasha paused as she did her best to contain her devastation, but it was no use as she continued to speak in a cracked voice, "They used to chant my name, but now they all hate me, and I deserve it..."

You sighed, reluctant yet ready to console her, but she just kept going, "I hurt the one person I always vowed to protect." Natasha sobbed, but this one caught in her throat as she choked on the brutal honesty. "Oh God," her position shifted and she pressed her forehead against yours. "I never wanted you to hate me!"

"I do—."

"My love..."

"Natasha..."

"What have I done to us?!"

You groaned in frustration, "Are you done with the dramatics? May I speak now?" Natasha froze then squeaked out an mhm. Seeing her submit so easily nearly made you laugh, but this wasn't the time to tease. This was a time to fix what she recklessly broke, and to ensure she knew that to mend this took effort on her part. "Our foundation is undeniably cracked Natasha, but that doesn't mean we can't rebuild to a place of total equity. Remember that I am your partner, and not some consolation prize you can flaunt. You own my heart, yes, but not my mind or body."

"You still want me?" She asked in shock, and flinched as you sadly met her gaze and sighed, "I'm cursed with the inability to love another." Natasha smiled like a kid who just got out of time out, "So we'll rebuild?" You rolled your eyes and nodded, "Our castles very well crumbled but with time we'll build it even stronger."

"I'm so sorry," she tried, but you hushed her with a finger over her lip, tired of the words and more so ready for the action. "I forgive you, it is enough for me that you sobbed on the floor. What a filthy girl..."

Natasha's cheeks flushed and you once again found yourself amused, she was incredibly shy, and not at all like you'd pictured her to be from all the rumors.

"C-can I kiss you then?" You giggled, then allowed her to do so after a moment of recomposing. It was a bit sloppy, but you didn't mind, because she tasted like heaven. With how tentative she was to deepen the gesture you were under the impression that she wanted to slow down, maybe even wait for the wedding night.

After a moment of reprieve was taken you moved to sit you both up, her body forced to straddle yours so as to not fall off the bed. "Wait, please don't stop," Natasha pleaded, her hands connected behind your neck and suddenly she was that same nervous teen again, the one who ran from her feelings. "You're the one with all the experience here Nat." Natasha gnawed on her lip, and bowed her head in a mix of shame, and sadness. "I never kissed their lips, or let them touch me."

"Wait," you momentarily paused to process, "Are you?"

"I'm a virgin in the ways that count," she admitted with her gaze cast down at your lap to avoid your potential expression of judgement. "Look at me Natalia."

There was no room for disobedience, she knew that she was lucky enough to even have your forgiveness, she wouldn't dare try to test your patience as well. It was difficult, but she lifted her head, and her heart skipped at the sight of your soft expression. She felt silly for ever doubting you'd be kind—of course you would be.

Meanwhile in your chest you could feel the way your heart danced with excitement. Not only did you have a leg up on her with experience—thanks to Maria Hill, who made out with you for hours last fall after you'd drunkenly cried about never being kissed, but you also just found out she'd never been pleased by another. It stung less to know you'd be her one and only lover.

In the ways that count of course...

"I can lead," you smirked at the flash of understanding in her eyes, it was only fair that she knew, and honestly it served her right to not be your first everything. The same way you wouldn't be her first encounter, the way her nails dug into the skin of your neck said she got the message. "Who was it with?" The disappointment laced her tone heavily, even with as many times as she'd laid with another, she regarded a kiss more intimately.

"Why ask a question that will only hurt you Nat?" Natasha's jaw clenched, but she kept her temper at bay, not wanting to sound off like a hypocrite would. "It's important to me detka, I deserve this pain."

You contemplated answering her, but were too smart to fall for the bait. You realized that sweet old Maria deserved protection from your stewing bride to be.

"She is irrelevant, just a maid father had hired," you facetiously admitted, "Said that maybe if I learned how to clean from her that maybe I'd be a good wife... I am honestly not sure how he ever bagged my mother. In what world does a Queen clean the fucking castle?"

Natasha gasped, "Y/N, that's not very ladylike..."

"Fuck being ladylike," you mirrored a fond memory, and she couldn't help but to smile, but her eyes grew sad the longer the silence dwelled. "You've changed."

You nodded. "I had no choice. I had to grow up, and when I did I realized life is nothing short of cruel." Natasha hummed and nuzzled her nose to yours. "Does that bother you Nat, that I'm not the same innocent person? I always thought that was why you left..."

"No," she frantically spoke, "I was just being an idiot, too rebellious for my own good, and your heart being caught in the crossfire is my biggest regret to date."

"Biggest regret, hm?" She nodded. "Any others?" Natasha smiled bashfully, her cheeks turning redder than they already were from the current proximity of your bodies. "Not kissing you before the nth hour."

"I'm that good, huh?" Natasha laughed nervously, and you watched as the woman nibbled on her bottom lip. "It's okay to admit it Natasha, it's just you and me."

The redhead surged forward, her forehead collided with yours but you hadn't the time to care about the pain when her lips sought to devour your very own. You once again found your body pressed into the mattress, but this time her tongue took a calculated risk entering your mouth. Once she passed your lips she froze, the feeling and taste of you absolutely drove her mad, and she felt her underwear growing sticky.

Following a natural flow you found your naked bodies were soon pressed together, with your back against the queen sized mattress. Natasha's mind went blank at the feel of you, so she let you take over the kiss that had divulged more so into your collective sharing of breaths as you ground her pelvis down into your own with two firm hands on her silky smooth hips.

Natasha pulled away from your lips with a groan, her back arched and pressed her wetness into yours as she desperately craved more friction against her core. You were ready to grind her hips at a more brutal pace, but then she pressed your hands into the bed and kissed you roughly instead. There was no way she'd be selfish enough to take pleasure before giving you some first.

Her lips naturally traveled down your body, and with each nip of her teeth, or suckle to your bare skin she managed to pull the sweetest of moans from you. It drove her even crazier, her arousal literally dripped onto the sheets beneath her body but she kept her focus solely on you. To taste you was a dream that she had never let go of, and she'd no longer squander.

"Holy shit," you cried as her deft tongue lapped up the moisture that had collected along the slit of your core, it was the softest of stimulation but you still writhed. Having her mouth on your pussy just felt prophetic, her name dripping from your lips like a stolen prayer as she proceeded to dive her muscle deep within you.

Explore as you have, you'd never made yourself feel half as good as her animalistic tongue was doing, which was a bittersweet notion since this was where her obvious experience became a lingering thought.

The sadness dissipated fast though as she tipped your body into a state of unnerving pleasure, your body felt both hot and cold at the same time. The chill in the air had highlighted the beads of sweat on your skin, and sent a sharp shiver down to the base of your spine. It was all too much, and yet, somehow it was not enough.

Natasha greedily slurped up your cum, it was like she couldn't leave her place between your legs until you had stopped spilling for her, which consequently never happened because she continued to overstimulate you. It was only when your hand fought to slip from her weakened grasp to shove her bobbing head away that you were finally able to shakily intake some oxygen.

"I need more," she groaned, her wild eyes bore into your own as she hovered over you in a split second. Even with the overstimulation your thigh clenched at the sight of her hunger. "Please, I need you."

In a moment inspired by pure adrenaline you flipped your bodies and jumped off the bed onto wobbly legs. Natasha grunted as her back hit the mattress, her body was soon propped up onto her elbows so she could find out where you'd gone to in the blink of an eye. Only for her to be met with the glorious sight of you slipping a side of the strap between your puffy, cream coated lips.

Natasha fell back on the bed with a raspy groan being torn from her throat as the deliciously sinful image was permanently etching itself into her mind. Her entrance pulsed with need, warm slick trailed down between the plump cheeks of her ass and she whimpered for you.  You clumsily climbed above her, and pressed your lips to hers, feeling this strong urge to take control, but not knowing exactly how to do that, all you could really do was slip your tongue into her mouth and kiss her into a state of desperation. Her tongue was velvety, and tasted like a mix of something sweet and bitter.

"I-I want to taste you too Nat," you confessed, a bit too intrigued by the taste of you on her tongue to hold any patience, but the redhead also couldn't wait. "After, please, I need you inside now detka, I'm dripping!"

You chuckled softly, "That's a virgin hole angel," your eyes sparkled as you watched her skin flush even more, you would've happily waited the rest of the decade for this if you knew she was going to be so easily flustered. "You have to let me build you up to the stretch," you teased her hole with just the tip and she winced, but before you could pull away she firmly gripped your shoulders and gulped down her fear. "I can take it detka, I've been waiting for so damn long, fuck me."

"Beg," you flatly said, an air of confidence to you that the redhead found alarmingly attractive. "Tell me what you want baby, let mommy give you what you need."

Natasha's entire mind blanked, her eyes frozen in place as she stared up at your smirking face. Something inside of her was clicking, and she didn't know if it was her own desires or seeing you living out yours that got her so hot right now, but she didn't care. The sudden confidence radiated off of you and oozed out of her cunt, her pussy slick enough to push your strap out.

"Mommy please," her nails dug into your flesh and she angrily yanked your face down to hers, the tip and then some of your strap nestled back inside of her and she moaned her own interruption against your cheek. "I, fuck, mommy I need to be full, please, I need it so —."

Natasha's breath hitched as you delicately circled your fingers around her clit, then she huffed the air against your smirk as she sucked even more of you in. It was messy, and loud as her cunt sobbed joyously and her moans echoed throughout the master bedroom. In only five seconds did you have the ability to slip the rest of it inside of her, your lips sloppily landed on her chin as the strap perfectly curved against your walls. A gasp of joy left you both as your slippery cunts kissed, flaps rubbing as the both of your hips jolted in need.

Natasha's eyes rolled as your clit brushed hers, and a low rumble sounded in her chest as the swollen nub was electrified by the merest of grazes. The redhead appreciated the way your hips stilled, allowing her to feel out the stretch of her walls, but then you didn't move and her eyes fluttered open to ponder why.

You were nervous... Her heart absolutely melted.

"Just do what feels natural," she rasped, hands raising to cup your cheeks and pull you in for a needy kiss, her fingers slipped into the base of your hair and tugged, you could feel the urgency rolling off of her as her hips canted off the mattress. You both moaned into the other's mouth, it took you a second to recover from the stimulation; to build your confidence back up so you could properly fuck her like no one ever had before.

All it took was one involuntary twitch of your own hips, she moaned and you suddenly knew how to make this the best night of your lives. Natasha whined as you slid out of her, but then she squealed as you yanked her to the edge of the bed and thrusted right back into her.

"Oh god," Natasha cried, "Mommy it feels so good."

"I know baby," you panted, "Mommy loves feeling you, so wet I didn't even need to prep you for my cock."

Natasha's eyes rolled and slammed shut as she thought of what created the glorious mess between her legs; you—the way you moaned her name, how you tasted and what she wouldn't do to live between your thighs.

"I-I," Natasha couldn't speak, the pleasure building inside of her was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. Something she knew she'd only ever feel with you, heat spread from the depths of her pelvis to her heart as she imagined getting a second chance to love you, fairly.

You'd been here before, on the precipice of a release you weren't expecting. Your first time, when you used your strap with her portrait was a tad bit messy.

It felt like you were on fire, and like you needed to pee, but even with the potential of such a thing you couldn't stop the thrust of your desperate hips. It was heavenly. You wanted to see her wait, but not as much as you needed to be the reason she thinks she's dying. So you knew by the confused look on her face that she needed to be given permission. "You need to let go baby."

Natasha whimpered, but her body turned down the offer, it wasn't ready, something was missing.

Your hands firmly gripped the skin of her thigh and used your unexpected strength to push them up and into her chest. The new angle was optimal in bringing you both insurmountable amounts of pleasure. You had hardly any warning as her cum drenched your thighs, her walls held the strap still and caused your end to press even deeper into your sensitive spot.

The moan that left Natasha's throat was carnal, anyone within a hundred feet of the room would know that she just had her soul cleansed. Yours directly followed as your pussy spluttered against hers. They were short, and breathy, the heat of them fanned over her racing pulse point and her body shivered with aftershocks.

For a moment you both panted out of sync, yours were far less refined in comparison with the athletes. It'd made you insecure to think about, but the way her hands roamed over your curves was affirming. When she squeezed your hips and soft skin rippled between her fingers you could feel the way she loved you.

Her lips were on yours the entire time she'd been feeling you up. You nearly busted again just because her lips touched yours, there was not much urgency down below as you devoured her whole up above. Then your hips started rocking slowly, a natural rhythm of the game at hand, but then she whimpered softly and you pulled out of her puffy, glistening core. Tears fell from her eyes and you apologized as she thanked you.

Thanked you for fucking her so well that she could barely remember her own name, but she promised she'd never forget how to scream yours. She was overstimulated, but pushing you anyways, so you silenced her with the side of the strap that was once stretching out your tight, hollowed walls. Her eyes glazed as they rolled back, and you felt liberated.

A hoarse, “Oh fuck,” vibrated around the silicone and you chuckled devilishly, reveling in the foreign power, “Such a slut for a little taste of me, aren’t you kitten?”

Her eyes muddled even further and you felt godly. “Tomorrow you'll be sworn in as the leader of our merging kingdoms," you chuckled, "but look at how quickly you submit to me baby, that's concerning."

Natasha whimpered around the strap, and you smiled broadly. "There, there honey," you coo'd mockingly, tongue flicking over the salty tears trailing down her rosy cheeks. "Mommy will take charge for now..."

You continued to fuck her throat with the strap, it was mesmerizing to see her cry, her eyes glistening, sorta reminding you of a lively leaf beneath a raindrop. It was as if you brought her back to life, you could see the love uncovering beneath her outwardly guarded eyes as they bore into yours. Your Natty was reviving…

But her Y/N not so much, there was an unfamiliar darkness that surrounded you. The love you held for her was there, burning bright, but she could see the unresolved pain trying to dim it, the darkness controlled you and the tenderness was broken, as if it was simply switched off. With every thrust the redhead now gagged, there was a bit of vengeance in your eyes as you drew the reaction from her. You were truly enamored by the experience, you watched as her drool trailed down the sides of her chin and coated the skin of her jawline, staining her with a mix of you and her.

The longer you watched the more interested in getting a taste of her essence you became. Without removing your gaze from hers you lowered your head, tongue flicking out to lick up what you could of her essence, but it had dried some under the rooms dry breeze. It only made sense for you to sink down, the redheads eyes widened in shock, or alarm—maybe it was both.

The warmth of your mouth did the trick in softening her slick, and you moaned at the taste as she gagged, her end being now pressed beyond her throats tight hole. She spluttered as she felt the painful stretch, one would think your goal was asphyxiation, but as she focused on your softer gaze she was able to mirror you as you breathed through your nose. Even in her hazy state it was clear to her that you’d done this before.

Envy gripped her heart as she realized you were the first person to drink from the well she deemed hers. Bittersweet solace wrapped around yours in the same blink of time, you were still so unsure about trusting her again, but you fought the temptation to run. If she was truly back, you could find it in you to stay as well.

Once your lips met you stayed still, the air was charged with a need for more, her green eyes begged for you to kiss her truly, but you made her wait a breath longer. Then you slowly pulled back, your own mess of drool slid down the strap and into the hollows of her cheek. As much as the redhead wanted reprieve, and you, she also found some comfort in the suckling of the plastic.

Once you reached the tip you gripped it with your teeth and abruptly pulled it from her mouth, trails of spit, cum and blood followed and your eyes widened some. But Natasha’s were unwavering as she pulled you down and into a kiss that gave way to her every single fear.

The redhead flipped your positions and pressed even further into you, her lips firmly kept their rightful spot against your own, and the two of you made out like there was no plans for tomorrow. Her love and your pesky frustration bled together as your tongues met.

Natasha wanted to keep going, but it was too much to ask of either of your bodies, so she pulled away after her lungs gave her no choice, and fell on top of you. Silence followed, aside from the soft, labored pants of a job well done. It was eventually Natasha that broke it.

"We've done everything backwards," she whispered against the skin of your throat, you'd barely heard her from where she'd burrowed, but you fortunately did. "That's the price to pay for all other parties decisions."

"I-I was just so mad," she morosely admitted, "they made decisions for us that only we should have."

"I know," you acknowledged with an edge to your tone, discussing this was likely going to be charged with the anger that only just began to settle down in your heart.

"I was upset too Natasha, because I dreamed of the same thing but they tainted it with their diplomatic nonsense. It felt spiteful, as if they knew what I was only just discovering. Using my feelings against me, and then, what I didn’t expect was the next day when I woke up to find you suddenly didn’t want me around.”

“That’s not—, Y/N, of course I wanted you around…”

“Your actions said otherwise, and they only left me shattered and then the foreseen inevitably, alone."

"I am so sorry," she softly cried and you hummed, “I know,” your hand was rubbing her back gently in a soothing manner, your tone a little less on edge now, "I'm trying to forgive you Natty," you admitted, a bit of a fall back from your earlier spoken sentiments. In that prior heated moment it felt resolved, but the more you thought it over, the more you felt she'd need to work towards making this destiny work out harmoniously.

Natasha ached at the realization, no matter the way she preserved herself for you, it obviously wasn't enough. A juvenile thought coming back to bite her in the ass she supposed, but she didn't care about the consequences just as long as she had the chance to make it right. She would do anything to, no matter the cost, whether it be monetary, or her soul; she’d even kill another for you.

"Can I take you somewhere?" Natasha meekly asked after another bout of silence, you’d honestly thought she fell asleep, but she was stewing just the same.

The gala likely ended an hour ago, with your collective parents, yours most certainly begrudgingly, dismissing the crowds in your place, with some excuse, like your need for sleep as the wedding of the century occurs tomorrow. Yet you weren't sleeping, instead you were accepting the invitation from your fiancée, allowing her a chance to get started on fixing your relationship.

Which started with a sweet shower, she washed your body with care, the rag slid over your curves and the love you'd been missing was back as if it never left. A truth of sorts as Natasha only hid her abundant love.

Once the both of you were clean, she guided you over to her tub, and left you to soak your aching muscles for a bit longer in a bubble bath while she set off to plan.

Natasha rummaged through her wardrobe and pulled out a few of her fleece sleep linens. You walked out of the bathroom with only a towel for your hair and the redhead shamelessly stared at your gorgeous body.

"My eyes are up here Natasha," you reminded and she carelessly shrugged, "I know. I'm starting at your tits."

"If you're not ready for my hand in marriage," you began to scold in jest but the redhead swooped you off of your feet and into a silencing kiss instead. She softly laid you onto the fresh sheets and just as gently kissed down your body, her tongue ran through your folds as a tease and you choked on your breath. Natasha just wanted to taste you over the mint of her toothpaste. “I’m ready for everything the world will throw our way just as long as I get to taste your divinity, my queen.”

“Natasha,” you whined and pulled her up so that she could meet your glare, she chuckled as her lips gently pecked your own. “We’ll continue this tomorrow.” She winked, then made quick work to dress you in her navy blue pjs, kissing the skin of your stomach and under boob as she settled the fabric against your skin. Then she slid into her crimson set and guided you into a pair of boots before she helped you sneak out of the castle.

The two of you were hand in hand as you ran across the massive courtyard, nearly tripping over the wet grass while giggling like little kids as you approached the creek that held your fondest memories.  The moonlight was beautifully shining off of the murky water and illuminating your face just right. Natasha tripped as she was stepping over a root, and just as she came to terms with the incoming impact she was fine. Just when she was about to hit the dead shrubbery you hooked your arms beneath her armpits and yanked up.

"I'm already yours Natasha, there's no need to fall." You pushed her petite, muscular frame against the tree and she smiled as the memory of a lost opportunity passed through her mind. Part of her regrets not kissing you back then, but most of her thinks the path that led her to you was just as it should be.

Her lips lovingly met yours, the both of you smiled as you felt the dynamic changing, it was as if all the stars and planets had finally aligned; destiny sealed shut.

[thetriumphantpanda]

where you want your gift, girl? | Joel Miller

Summary | It’s your birthday and Joel, knowing it’s not your favourite celebration, is keen to show you that it‘s not always going to be a bad day, not if he can help it.

Warnings | birthdays, allusions to strained parental relationships, food & alcohol consumption, smoking of (1) cigarette, no/pre-outbreak AU, gift giving, explicit smut, rough sex, choking/breath play, brief spit play, oral sex (F Receiving), safe unprotected sex, dirty talk, creampie, cumplay, literally just filth tbh, no use of y/n.

Word Count | 4.2K

Authors Note | Honestly? It’s my birthday today and all I want is for Joel Miller to fucking rail me to celebrate - we can’t have everything we want I suppose, so we’ll have to deal with writing our fantasies instead! Happy Birthday to me - Enjoy!

Masterlist | Ko-Fi

You’d never really enjoyed birthdays. Other people’s, sure. The opportunity to treat your friends and make other people happy was something you’d always loved, but when it was you as the centre of attention, you almost hated it. The way people would train their eyes on you as you opened their gifts, the anxiety that you felt not knowing what it would be and whether you’d have to pretend it was the best thing in the world when you could think of a million things you needed above what they’d given you. It always made you feel ungrateful. Birthdays aren’t as exciting as you get older either, just another reminder of how far behind the rest of your friends you are, how little you seemed to have accomplished next to them in the same amount of years. 

It was no different this year, not really. Your mother had phoned you before you’d gone to work, asked if you received the card she’d sent in the post that had the customary $100 stuffed into it, before chiding you for not doing as you said you would last time you spoke and find a new job, something more challenging, related to that degree you’d spent all her money on. You sigh and hang up the phone before she can say anything else, a mumbled sorry that you were running late but thank you for the card. 

The only saving grace for your birthday this year was the fact it was a Friday, so you didn’t have to worry about drinking too much beer and having to go to work the next morning with a hangover. To their credit, your work colleagues had been quite nice to you - they’d pooled together to get you a gift card for you to spend on whatever you’d like, and Sandra from accounts had made you a birthday cake – red velvet because it was your favourite. Once everyone had eaten a slice, she put a Tupperware on your desk with two more generous slices in it, winking at you before walking away. 

“For your handsome boyfriend.” She’d said, giggling as she walked away. 

There was another saving grace for your birthday, you supposed. Joel Miller. Who had burst into your life in a whirlwind eight months ago when his beautiful daughter had spilled her hot chocolate all over your crisp new shirt in her hurry to get to the table so she could drink it. He’d been the most apologetic you ever thought you’d seen a man, helping you to wipe the worst of it off with napkins whilst Sarah profusely apologised next to you. You’d put a comforting hand on her shoulder, told her it was okay, and that you understood entirely, you’d have been as excited as her to drink hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows. Joel had insisted on paying for your dry cleaning, something you’re pretty sure only ever happened in films, and when you’d phoned him to tell him it really had been a minimal amount, he’d asked to take you to dinner instead, and the rest really was history. 

He’s phoning you now, his name popping up on the front screen of your phone, you smile as you answer it. 

“Hello, handsome.” You greet. 

“Good afternoon,” His southern drawl hits your ears, “Happy birthday, my darlin’ girl.” 

God, he makes you so happy, “Thank you, cowboy.” 

“You want me to pick you up and take you for dinner?” He asks, “Tommy is gonna look after Sarah tonight, so I’m all yours, whatever you wanna do.” 

You think for a second, sure, dinner out is a nice idea, but it’s been a long week, and you think what you want most is to be at home with him, “You think you could grill me a steak and let me drink beer on your couch instead?” You ask, slightly embarrassed that this is all you want for your birthday. 

“If that’s what you want, darlin’, then I’ll grill you the best steak of your life,” He chuckles, and then you can hear him cover the phone and speak to Sarah, who must be just back from school, “Sarah wants to speak to you real quick.” 

He passes the phone and it’s Sarah’s sweet voice that greets you next, “Happy birthday!” 

“Thank you, honey,” You smile, “You looking forward to some time with your Uncle Tommy?” 

“He’s gonna take me to the movies,” You can hear the grin on her face, “I already heard dad telling him not to feed me too much candy, but he never listens,” You chuckle, “I got you a present,” She speaks again, “I gave it to dad so you can open it later.” 

“Ahhh you sweet girl,” You coo, “I’m sure I’ll love it,” You reassure, “And I’ll be there tomorrow so I can thank you in person.” 

“Alright,” She replies, “Dad wants the phone back, but have a nice birthday with him!” 

You say goodbye to her, and then Joel tells you he’ll be waiting for you when you finish to bring you home. It’s only two hours until the end of the day, but you struggle to focus on the emails you’ve got to answer – you get through as few as is acceptable before the end of the day, logging out at exactly 5:30pm, box of cake clutched in your hand, handbag slung over your shoulder as you head out. 

Joel is leaning against the side of his truck, arms crossed over his chest so his biceps are bulging in the flannel he’s wearing, he’s also got one of his ankles crossed over the over. He looks so casual but as devastatingly handsome as he always is. He slips an arm around your waist when you’re close enough, pushing his palm into your lower back to press your body to his, dipping down to press his lips to yours. He’s gentle with it, opening his mouth against yours so he can slip his tongue into your mouth, letting his tongue meld with your own, kissing you slowly, like he’s got all the time in the world. 

“Get a room, you two!” It’s Sandra from accounts. 

Joel pulls away just enough to laugh against your lips, pressing his to yours once more before pulling away properly, opening the car door for you to get in, pressing a light swat of his hand to your ass as you hoist yourself up into the truck. 

Once he’s slipped into the driver's side and settled one of his hands on your upper thigh, he starts the drive from the city out to his house. It’s a quiet drive, Joel’s humming along to whatever is playing on the radio, you’re occupied with looking out the window. This is what you love about Joel, that he’ll sit in silence, won’t feel the need to make you talk, it makes you feel comfortable, knowing that he’s there when you need him, but he’s not going to force you to speak when you don’t want to. 

He’s pulled into the drive in no time, picking up the grocery bags from the backseat. You try and peak inside to see what he’s bought; you’re hoping he’s got the ingredients to make those mashed potatoes you like, and mushrooms that he’ll cook on the grill too. 

When he opens the door, you’re almost overwhelmed by the sight that greets you. There are gold and black balloons littering the floor, with one bigger helium balloon, weighted down so it doesn’t float along the ceiling, set in the corner with big ‘happy birthday’ lettering written on it. There’s a birthday banner pinned to the wall, and a selection of wrapped gifts on the coffee table. You have a sneaking suspicion that most of this is Sarah’s doing.

You giggle a little as Joel presses himself against your back, kissing at your neck, “How much of this was Sarah?” You ask, following him through to the kitchen. 

“She blew up all those balloons before she went to bed last night, and she did all the wrapping, but the banner and the big balloon, that was all me, baby.” 

You press your lips to his cheek, smiling as he starts unloading the grocery bags. Two ribeye steaks, and just like you wanted, mushrooms to grill, and potatoes to mash. He leaves you in charge of watching the potatoes whilst he grills the rest of the food outside. Whilst it’s resting, he mashes the potatoes with enough butter to clog your arteries, but when you sit at the table, and those potatoes are in your mouth, you can’t find it in you to care - it’s your birthday after all. 

“Everythin’ alright, baby?” He asks, cutting into his steak.

“It’s perfect,” You grin, spearing a grilled mushroom onto your fork, “Better than sitting in a stuffy restaurant anyway.” 

You finish your food in relative silence. Joel insists on doing the dishes even if he did most of the cooking, before he’s leading you back to the living room. 

Joel sits you down on the couch, treading as carefully as he can through the trail of balloons to get you a fresh beer. He kneels down on the floor between you and the coffee table, taking a glug of his beer, before reaching across the table for the first gift, setting it in your lap. 

“That one is from Sarah,” He explains, “She made me promise you would open it first.” 

“Rules are rules,” You shrug with a chuckle, carefully tearing open the wrapping paper. 

When you pull the paper from the material it was wrapped in you feel overwhelmed. It’s the exact same blouse that Sarah had tipped her hot chocolate over, just in black instead of white. The shirt had been a write off from the start, the chocolate leaving a stain that even the dry cleaner couldn’t get out. 

“She saved her pocket money for months to buy this,” He murmurs, pinching the silky fabric between his fingers, “Said if it was what brought us together, she wanted you to be able to wear it.” 

You can feel tears prickling at your eyes as you fold the material up carefully, “She’s such a special girl, Joel.” You whisper, watching as Joel leans back over the table to pick up another gift. 

“This one’s from Tommy.” He murmurs, handing you the largest box on the table. 

You rip the paper off and open the box, revealing an actual cowboy hat. You laugh, because Tommy has always said in order to properly fit in, you’d need a cowboy hat. Joel reaches into the box, pulling the brown Stetson out of its box, placing it on your head. 

“Suits you, cowgirl,” He growls, leaning under the brim of the hat to kiss you, nibbling your bottom lip as he pulls away, “Keep it on.” He demands when you go to take it off. 

“He didn’t need to get me a gift,” You mutter as Joel moves the two final gifts towards you, “And it’s a proper Stetson, this must have cost a fortune.” 

“Not that it matters, because everyone in this household thinks the world of you, but he thrifted it, mainly because you’ve rubbed off on him and he thinks getting a pair of Levi’s for half price because someone doesn’t want them anymore is the best thing since sliced bread.” 

You tilt the hat on your head a little so you can see under the brim, as he hands you an envelope this time, “These are from me.” 

You open the envelope and pull out a postcard with a from New Orleans. You turn the card over, Joel’s handwriting scrawled on the back. 

“Pack a bag baby, and let me take you away.” 

“Are you for real?!” You exclaim, “You’re going to take me to New Orleans?!” 

“Course I am, darlin’ girl,” He grins, “I know you’ve always wanted to go, and we’ve never been away together.” 

“Are you even real?” You ask, wiping your tears away, because you’re overwhelmed, no-one has ever been so thoughtful. 

“Last time I checked I was,” He chuckles, taking the postcard from your hands, replacing it with the last gift, a small box, “Go on, last one.” 

You take it from his hand, tearing the paper off it to reveal a small box. You open it, and sat inside is a silver necklace, a silver hoop, entwined with a smaller hoop. You’d recognise this anywhere. You’d spotted it in the window of the jewellery shop downtown. You’d spend so long looking at it in the window before deciding you couldn’t afford it, yet here it is, in your hands. 

“Joel,” You breathe, running your fingers over the delicate silver, “This is too much.” 

He presses a single finger to your lips to shut you up, holding his hand out for the box, taking the necklace out as he pushes himself up onto the couch, putting the delicate chain across your neck, “Do you like it?” He asks from behind you, mouth right at your ear, breath hot on your skin.

You turn around, wrapping your arms around his neck, feeling your hat fall off your head as he returns the embrace, “I love it Joel,” You murmur into the skin of his neck, “I love you.”

“I love you too, darlin’ girl.” 

You spend the rest of the evening curled up on the couch together. You eat the slices of cake that Sandra had sent you home with, drink more beer, Joel even sits with his guitar outside, playing some of your favourite songs whilst you smoke a cigarette. When the sun has fully set and you’ve let out a particularly loud yawn, Joel closes up the house, takes hold of your hand, and takes you to bed. 

You’re led against the sheets, getting yourself comfortable, when Joel comes back from the bathroom, leaning against the door with his thumb resting on his belt. He’s lookin at you with those deep, coffee-coloured orbs as you turn onto your side, propping your head up on your palm to look at him. 

“How do you want it, baby?” He smirks, taking slow steps towards the bed. 

You take your bottom lip between your teeth, because that is a very good question. Do you want him to be soft and slow like he had been that first time? So concerned he was going to hurt you with his size and strength that he refused to go any harder or faster than was strictly necessary? Or the time he made love to you after you’d looked after Sarah when he had to work late. When he’d walked into his house and found you painting her nails for her, watching a film that he’d never had sat through, his heart bursting with so much love that he had to push it all into you, whispering promises into your ear as he did so. No, you think, that’s not what you want right now. 

“I want you to fuck me, cowboy,” You rasp, “Hard.” 

He’s stood at the foot of the bed now, eyes dark with lust, “Well, what the birthday girl wants,” He murmurs softly, wide, warm palm clasping around your ankle, “The birthday girl gets.” 

He tugs at your ankle, pulling you down the bed in one swoop, your legs dangling over the edge as his fingers work the button of your work trousers loose. You lift your hips up so he can drag them, and your underwear off your body, before he tugs you into a sitting position to work your blouse over your head. Your palms cup his face as you kiss him, your lips giving attention to his plush bottom lip as his hands reach behind you and work the clasp of your bra undone, dragging that off your body so you’re finally bared naked to him. 

He pulls back, trails his eyes over your naked body, before placing his hand on your chest, right between your breasts, pushing you back down onto the bed. He trails his hands down the expanse of your sides, coming to the meat of your thighs as he settles his face between them. Normally this is where he’d tease you, use that mouth to trail soft kisses up and down the inside of your thighs, stopping to nip at the soft skin every once in a while, but he surprises you tonight. 

Joel uses the flat of his tongue to lick a single stripe up the seam of your pussy. Then, he takes his hands, puts them on the backs of your thighs to push your legs back towards you, spreading them open further, baring the entirety of your spread, aching cunt to his face, before that tongue of his is diving into you, licking the slick that has been slowly gathering there from you, groaning at your taste. He drags his tongue up to your clit, using the tip of it to lightly flick at your clit, which has a quiet whimper leaving your lips as you tangle your fingers in his soft curls to keep his head anchored right where it is. 

You’ve never really known a man quite as enthusiastic about eating your pussy as Joel Miller. The way he groans into your cunt as he laps at you, the way his fingers dig bruises into your skin as he holds your legs open for him, it all adds to the way he has your teetering on the edge of your first orgasm of the night in minutes. You’re bucking your hips into his face, chasing that burst of pleasure you know is so close to you. 

You can hear the obscene sounds from him, the way he sucks your clit into his mouth, rolls his tongue over it before letting it go with a pop, or the way he literally slurps the slick from your entrance. It’s when he slips two of his fingers inside your slick cunt that you’re really done for – fingers stretching you open, a poor substitute for what’s to come, but it’s good none-the-less. 

All of a sudden, that fiery burst of pleasure is setting your skin alight. Your body is arching off the bed, pushing your cunt further into Joel’s face as he sucks your clit through your orgasm. You can feel yourself clenching around his fingers as you let out as high-pitched shriek of his name as your body wracks with pleasurable aftershocks. You lie there, warm and pliant as Joel stands once he’s worked you through your orgasm. He takes off his shirt, and you marvel at that body, the one you get to enjoy, broad and strong for his work, but soft around the middle, just like you love. He’s looking you directly in the eye as he undoes the button on his jeans, belt from earlier seemingly lost in the bathroom before. You’re smirking as he drags his jeans and boxers down his legs, stepping out of them, stood before you in all his God damn glory. 

He is, quite possibly, the most handsome man you’ve ever seen. Especially when he’s got his cock gripped in his fist, pumping himself as you spread your legs for him, pushing yourself up the bed so he can settle between your thighs. 

You can feel the throbbing length of him slipping between your soaked folds as he finds a position, he’s comfortable with. You’re the one that reaches down between you and lines his cock up with your aching core, but it’s all Joel when he thrusts himself inside you, right to the hilt, in one go. He’s leaning forward, head rested in the crook of your neck, your name hissed out into your ear as he adjusts to the tight clench of your cunt. Your nails are already digging into the meat of his biceps when he drags himself out of you, before slamming back in. 

He revels in the way his rough thrusts make your tits bounce, dipping his head to take one of your nipples into his mouth, gently nipping at the puckered bud with his teeth before soothing it with the pad of his tongue. He laves the same attention to the other, never once letting up the pace of his hips. 

“This what you wanted, darlin’ girl?” He chokes out, looking down at you writhing in pleasure beneath him. 

“More.” You gasp, hand reaching to grab at his wrist which is planted by the side of your head, propping him up. 

He puts most of his weight on his other hand, letting you drag his other palm to the delicate column of your throat, where the sheer size of his hand covers it in its entirety. He rests it there for a moment, continuing to pound his cock into your pussy, but then he’s adding pressure to the side of your throat, giving you that delicious dizzy feeling to your brain, before he’s releasing the pressure. You’re grinning up at him, moaning his name as his hips continue to slam into your own. 

“Like that, don’t ya?” He asks, “God you look so fuckin’ good with my hand around your throat, pretty girl.” 

“Always fuck me so good, Joel,” You cry out when he shifts his position slightly, cock brushing that sweet spot inside you, “Do it again.”

So he does, he squeezes his fingers around your throat again, your mouth dropping open as a crazed giggle leaves your mouth. You wish you could step outside your body right now and watch, watch what the two of you look like – his hand around your throat, the way he’s pounding into you so hard you’re sure you’ll be sore in the morning. 

You’re both breathing heavily as he trails the hand that was around your throat to grip at your jaw. He squishes your cheeks together, pursing your lips as his mouth claims your own, growling into you as his tongue licks at yours. He’s so fucking overwhelming right now, thick cock splitting you in two, strong body laid across your own, mouth on yours, and it’s still not enough. You want to peel his skin off and climb inside him, let him consume you whole. 

Joel pulls back, hand still on your jaw. 

“You my pretty girl, huh?” He asks, and you can only nod, his hand stopping you from talking, “Belong to me, right?” 

His hand goes back down to grip your throat, gently though, with no pressure, so you can talk to him now. 

“All yours Joel,” You purr at him, “Only ever gonna be yours.” 

“Open your mouth,” He demands, using his hand to gently shake you, so you do, “Stick your tongue out.” 

You do just that, staring straight into his eyes as he leans down, ever so slightly, and spits into your mouth. It’s warm, wet and utterly filthy, and you think it’s the entire reason that you can feel your slick dripping down onto his sheets now. Joel doesn’t even give you the time to swallow, chasing the saliva he’s just put into your mouth with his tongue, giving you the sloppiest kiss you’ve ever received. 

“Fuck,” He spits out, pulling back from your mouth, “Ain’t gonna last much longer, darlin’ girl,” He confesses, those rough thrusts slowing ever so slightly, “Put your hand on your clit for me, let’s do this one together.”

Your hand slinks between your bodies, seeking out that sensitive bud, still reeling from the orgasm he pulled from you, it doesn’t take much work from your fingers to have you teetering on the edge, but you want to do this together, you have to hold on for him. 

“Where d’ya want it?” Joel chokes out as your pussy flutters around him. 

“Inside,” Comes your begging plea to him, “Come inside me, Joel.” 

Your work your fingers across your clit a few more times before you’re coming around his cock, the nails of your free hand digging half-moon shapes into the meat of his shoulder. He manages three, maybe four more thrusts before he’s stilling inside of you, grunting out your name as the white-hot spurt of his spend fills your aching cunt. He fills you up so perfectly, holding himself there for a moment before he lets out a slightly pained sound, pulling himself out of your pussy. 

He sits back on his knees, watching the white trickle of him cum seep from your spent hole. He takes one of his fingers, scooping his cum on it before bringing it to your lips, where you suck it into your mouth, running your tongue over it to catch every bit of the taste of him. He falls forward, forehead pressed to your own, kissing your lips softly, before he moves to lie on his side of the bed. 

You push yourself up into a sitting position, leaning over to kiss him softly, mumbling that you’ll be back in a minute as you pad to the bathroom to clean up. When you come back to his room, he’s already under the covers, your side pushed back and waiting for you, so you clamber in, seeking out his torso under the covers so you can wrap your arm around him. He pulls you flush to his body, slick and warm from sweat, but you don’t care. 

His arm is draped across your shoulder, his fingers tracing slow and soft across your skin, as he presses a kiss to the crown of your head.

“Happy birthday, darlin’ girl.” He whispers to you as he turns out the light. 

“Best birthday ever,” You mumble softly against his chest as you let your heavy eyes closed, “All because of you, cowboy.” 

[deconstructthesoup]

Personal Ranking of the Fantasy High Moms, From Worst to Best:

Arianwen Abernant: -19999/10. She's not as bad as Angwyn, since she's convinced herself she's a good mother, but her "I just want the best for you" shtick isn't any better, and the fact that she's ignorant about how horrible she is doesn't make up for years of neglect. And she also attempted to rope her daughters into raising a being of pure nightmares because she lost her status, so.

Donna Applebees: 0/10. Conservative, racist, judgmental, only loves her kids conditionally... you get the gist. Also, she's absolutely a Karen.

Hallariel Seacaster: 3/10. Yes, I know, she's a MILF, she's got such an iconic vibe, she's a badass with a sword, but none of that excuses years of being emotionally absent from your son's life. She's not a bad person, but she unfortunately doesn't know how to be a mom. Sorry, Hallariel. I wish I could rank you higher.

The Last Phoenix: 5/10. Bird. She's a bird. We don't know enough about her except for the fact that she is the last phoenix, she started out as a "haha Arthur Aguefort is a crazy motherfucker" gag, and she gave us the incredible gift that is Ayda. I cannot rank her fairly, but given that she is Ayda's mom, she goes on the list.

Roz Last-Name-Unknown: 6/10. Same deal with Gorbag---we don't know enough about her for me to properly rank her, but we do know that she was a teen mom, and she's made the choice to reconnect with her son and be in his life. Props for that.

Sandralynn Faeth: 7.5/10. I am ranking her realistically, but let it be known that I love her so much. She is such a beautiful example of a flawed person who consistently tries to be better, and even though she does relapse into old behaviors, she's still growing---and outside of the serial cheating (that is a response to trauma, by the way) and occasional lapses in social skills, she's a pretty damn good mom, all things considered.

Cathilda Ceili: 8/10. She's the parent that Fabian needed, even if he didn't always realize it. She's sweet, she's caring, and if anybody hurts her boy, she will fucking rock your shit. (Also, the reveal of Cathilda being an incredibly fearsome and ruthless pirate outside of Solace was one of my favorites.)

Wilma Thistlespring: 9/10. She's a caring and supportive mom who writes songs, is sex-positive, and loves her son! Again, she does need to recognize when she's embarrassing Gorgug, and she needs to recognize that he's gotta learn how to be angry, but still! We all love her!

Lydia Barkrock: 9.6/10. While she doesn't quite get the full score due to the fact that her son was briefly an ass, it clearly was not her fault, and from what we've seen of her, she is a fantastic mom. She's a badass disabled powerhouse who cooks incredible spreads and cares about her son and his friends a lot. I love her a lot. She's amazing.

Sklonda Gukgak: 10/10. She took that spot in her very first scene, where she poured water in her cereal so Riz could have milk in his, and she's been holding it up ever since. Despite the fact that she's constantly swamped with work, Sklonda is literally one of the best moms you could ever ask for. She deserves the world and it's a constant injustice that she's not getting it.

Bonus: Garthy O'Brien, while having transcended gender and therefore not being able to fit into either of the "mom/dad" rankings, is an 11/10 parent---not just to Ayda, but to everyone younger than them who they've essentially adopted. Words cannot express my adoration for this person.

[astrid-sama]

What if a reader x carmilla but reader sold their soul to Carmilla as a show of love and devotion to her? Like either they were already dating, or they confessed and gave her their soul when she accepted.

(Hi, thanks for your request, I'm sorry it took me so long to write it, but I wanted to give context to your request)

Carmilla Carmine x fem reader

The first thing I thought of when I realized I was in hell was "what did I do to deserve it?", even today I can't give myself an answer, while alive I had always been told that to end up in hell you had to have accomplished horrible actions, but I had never done anything wrong; the only blame that can be attributed to me is my death, I was killed, due to my naivety, by what I believed to be the love of my life.

At first I was quite surprised by hell, I imagined it as a great chasm that descended to the bowels of the earth inhabited by sadistic demons whose aim was to make your eternal damnation an agony, but instead it was a large city and to make your eternal damnation and torment were not demonic creatures but other sinners.

When I had resigned myself to my eternal "life" of suffering, I met the person who made me feel like I was in paradise without ever having even seen the golden gates of heaven.

The first time I met Carmilla was during the extermination, I had recently arrived in hell and I didn't know that once a year the angels came to kill sinners.

I was about to be killed by an exterminating angel but then she came and saved me.

When, after having made the angel flee, she held out her hand to help me stand up and asked me how I was, I felt my heart skip a beat. I don't know exactly what Carmilla liked about me, but after that day I was no longer alone in hell, at first I found an acquaintance, then a friend and finally a lover.

Carmilla had introduced me to her daughters before we even got together, she was very happy when she saw that we got along well, in fact within a few months I had become their "second mother".

The day Carmilla confessed her love to me and asked me if I wanted to be her girlfriend was the best day of my life.

Our relationship was perfect and made me realize how different our relationship was from what I had had in the past, Carmilla was always kind and loving to me, she gave me black roses (my favorite flowers) because she wanted to and not as as a sign of apology for hitting me, she never had outbursts of anger because I went out with my friends or because I didn't answer her phone calls; and the more time passed the more my fear grew that one day all this would end, it wasn't often that I was able to express my love for her to Carmilla and I feared that if I wasn't able to show her that I would be hers forever she would get tired of me (like my ex who had finally killed me).

I began to think about the best way to show her my undying love for her and finally decided that I would give her my soul.

I had organized a romantic dinner at our house and asked Clara and Odette if they could leave us alone for the evening.

My heart begins to beat faster with anticipation when you hear the door open symbolizing Carmilla's return.

-Welcome back-

I said and Carmilla greeted me by kissing me tenderly on the lips.

-How was your day?-

-Good now that you are here with me, mi amor-

I felt my cheeks heat up at the cute nickname, oh how I loved when she spoke to me in Spanish.

-Come love, I gave you a surprise-

-Did I do something special to deserve a candlelit dinner?-

-Why can't I treat my girlfriend well? Come let's go eat-

The dinner was very pleasant and Carmilla's hand remained on top of mine the entire time.

After dinner, Carmilla and I sat on the couch so close our knees were touching.

-Carmilla, I wanted to give you a gift, since you usually give me gifts-

-Mi amor there was no need, you are enough for me-

Carmilla said and then kissed my hands.

-Of course there is a need. I wanted to give you something that could show you how much I love you and that I would do anything for you; I want to give you my soul-

I expected Carmilla to be happy, but instead the emotion I saw on her face was bewilderment.

-Mi amor, don't joke with certain things-

-I'm serious -

-Why do you want to give me your soul?-

-I want to show you that I love you and that I will love you forever and there is no better way to do it than to give yourself to you-

-Mi amor why do you think you have to prove something to me?-

-I I...-

I didn't know what to say, I wanted to show Carmilla that I loved her as she always did for me and I had believed that giving her my soul would be the best path, I wanted to avoid having doubts about our relationship, I wanted to avoid it ending up the way it ended with my ex because maybe if I had shown him how much I loved him he wouldn't have had any doubts about us maybe he wouldn't have killed me maybe...

-Mi amor please tell me what pushed you to do something like that, you know you can tell me everything.-

Carmilla looked very worried.-

When I was still alive I had a relationship, he was very possessive and wanted me to prove to him that I was his but I didn't do it and I ruined everything and in the end he killed me; I was afraid of ruining everything with you too-

-Mi amor possessiveness is not a sign of love, the person you were with before was toxic and if he had really loved you he wouldn't have killed you. I don't need you to give me your soul to love you, I just love you-

-Please forgive me, I didn't realize how toxic what I wanted to do was-

-It's not your fault mi amor, it's the fault of that bastard who made you believe that those things were normal in a relationship. Mi amor I love you more than my life, if you want I will always be by your side and I will help you overcome the wounds that your past reaction has left you.-

[deadpool15]

Overshadowed Ch.1

"Hey, look at me. I don't expect you to the most perfect fucking man. There is no such thing. You have scars from the stuff you've been through. It's understandable. I understand you, si-o. I don't want you to change your plans or anything unless you truly want that. I won't expect anything from you except to be honest with me." I slowly clasp my hands upon his face, holding him with my gentle touch to let him know I wouldn't hurt him. After all he has been through, I want him to know I'm the last person who would want to hurt him. "I want you to trust me, I know I must earn your trust, and I will do everything in my power to show you how much I care for you. No more pain, ok? I'm not leaving."

I needed him. For the first time in my life, I had felt like I was wanted, loved. This feeling couldn't be replaced by anything my mother had gifted me over the years to make up for her lack of parenting. Though, I knew si-o had never felt such love either. He was used to pain and resentment. I wanted to be the one who showed him there was more to life than those things. I didn't want to change him. Sure, he had flaws and issues, but I wanted to embrace all of them. They were a part of him, making him who he is today. My father once told me he adorned the villains in fairy tales. Younger me had questioned that for a long time, though know I see it. A hero would sacrifice you for the sake of the world as if you meant nothing. One casualty means nothing compared to thousands, yet a villain would sacrifice the entire world for you. Thinking more about it, why was the villain deemed bad in reality? The hero was selfish, thinking one could have it all with no consequences.

Imagine someone's love for you to be so passionate and devoted that they would sacrifice everything for you without a second thought. I had never seen a love story in real life. My parents went divorced because my mother prioritized work over her family and because my older sister had gone missing in a foreign country. They made it seem like their love died, though I always felt like my father held more love for my mother. My mother cared for nothing but money and having a daughter. She had two, one that possessed the strength of the many generations before her, then there was me. I was adopted at age 2. I can't remember a thing about my biological parents, but I had an amazing relationship with my father. He was the one who loved all of his children equally despite only the three of us having superpowers. In my mother's eyes there was only nam-soon.

Completely neglected by her my entire life. I was invisible, one would say. Whenever she missed a dance rehearsal or important event in my life, she loved to buy gifts. Overly priced gifts, hoping it would make 4 year old me forget that mommy hadn't bothered to show up again because of work. Money was everything to her, and I wasn't. I grew envious of my sister. Of course, I missed her while she was gone, but would it be an evil thing to say a small sick part of me was happy, thinking mother would have no choice but to pay attention to me. I was wrong. Nam-soon this, nam-soon that. Hosting strength competitions and constantly fixing her favorite dishes at dinner. I hated myself, why couldn't I be happy she was back? Why was I so jealous of her? And why can't I make my mom love me?

When I met si-o, all that changed. I had shown up to give nam-soon her lunch for the day. She had been undercover working with some cop she liked, and it was obvious he liked her as well. Now no one in the public knew of me, after nam-soon went missing our parents thought it would be best to shield the world from us. I was known as the spoiled rich daughter of some famous ceo. No one bothered to ask who? I stumbled upon this man, taller than me. Bumping into his chest, which was as far as my head could reach, even in heels. He was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. I wanted him to be mine.

Chapter 1: Overshadowed

Chapter 2: To be loved

Chapter 3: You and me

Chapter 4: Second place

Chapter 5: Love is hard

Chapter 6: No matter what

Baily Bass(oc)- Danny

Byeonwooseok-Ryu-si

Other characters are their respective characters.

[queeraroace]

coming out in ten christmases

The first Christmas 

I have an inkling of my gender

My boyfriend brings me home to his family

We drive an hour in the snow to buy Pokemon X and Y on Boxing day

I introduce him to my grandparents down the road

It’s the last time I will see them alive

In a quiet voice, in an even quieter house

I ask if he would date me, if I came out as a man

He says he wouldn’t

I don’t believe him

He keeps his word

Next year, 

my family knows

The aunt who tells me the next generation may get this “transgender stuff”

Buys me a shawl from the women’s section

My jock brother says it’ll make a nice housecoat

And wears it for our family photo.

It’s the last one I will be in

Next year, 

my friend takes me in

Her family gives me small gifts,

Hidden sad smiles at the table 

And never get my pronouns wrong

It is my first introduction to feeling like an alien

Posing as a lost cousin at a family reunion

Next year,

I try friendmas

I get everything I could think to ask for

And a few I couldn’t

The tradition doesn’t stick

Neither do the friends

It’s more of the same next year,

My mom asks me to come home for Christmas

Asking me to patch things up with my dad

I ask why that’s my job

She keeps me in the car after Chinese food,

Driving around our old neighborhood to look at the lights,

No matter how much I beg to go back to my apartment

I scream at her until I can’t speak anymore

We don’t speak for the rest of the year

Next year,

I fly halfway across the country 

to spend Christmas with my favorite aunt

She gets me everything my heart desires

Doesn’t ask why I spend all my mornings in bed

And gets me winter socks from the men’s section.

She hands me the phone on the 25th, 

asking if I want to speak to her brother,

My father

I will never get to spend Christmas with her again

Next year,

My best friend introduces me to her family

I get a vegetarian meal all to myself

I accidentally eat the wax

Coating the outside of their fancy cheese

We watch Jim Carrey’s Grinch,

Reciting the lines from memory,

And it almost feels like home

Next year,

My roommate and I are trapped inside

The pandemic has struck

And we don’t talk about the fact 

Neither of us would be seeing our families

Even if the whole world was well

Next year

Covid roars on

Either way,

I am not invited to family dinner

I shave my head on Christmas Day

Just to feel lighter

Last Christmas,

Both my grandparents have died

And I was not at their funerals

My cousin reaches out,

to bring me home for the holidays,

I say yes.

The invitation is revoked by her mother,

As I’m getting dressed to go to their second home.

This Christmas,

My best friend is staying in her apartment,

To keep her family alive

And I stay home, away from my family,

To keep myself alive

We will spend it together,

Keeping each other alive

It will always be like this

I feel as distant from the twinkling lights,

And season’s greetings

As I do from being proudly called a daughter

Christmas is an open wound

It cannot close,

Because Christmas is never over

[sleeplessdreamer123]

Fanfic Idea! (ABO Lucemond, where Alicent overused her authority to send Rhaenyra's un-velaryon looking children to the sept)

Luke has lived in the sept all his life. He was told that he was a bastard, and that bastards were sent to the septs in order to apologize to the seven for being created. They were stains needed to be clean, and although this sin would never leave their souls, they would at least be used to work for the gods forever, as either as septon or septa, depending on what they are, and if they truly don't try to change their lustful ways, they would be sent to the silent sisters, or the wall.

Luke flowered into an omega three namedays ago, and was made to train as a septa. Omegas were rare, which meant he must have been a bastard of one of the "nobler" houses, something he just learned recently. He was a special case, because omegas are usually returned to the noble houses they came from, and Luke had hoped he would be returned, his wants for a family strong. He wasn't, however, and was only given certain scented clothes said to be from his family, but nothing more. Soon, even those dwindled, and the scents long gone. He has, however, kept the clothes as a reminder that he has a family somewhere.

Being an only omega has brought certain privileges, being given a room of his own (despite how small it was), and having to worship two specific gods, the Maiden and the Mother, instead of all seven. One who values omegas' chastity, the other who gave the omegas their ability to produced children. What's more is the fact that most of the worshippers of the Maiden and the Mother are often women, betas and omegas, and marked alphas, rarely an unmated alpha that Luke could "seduce", bastard that he was despite his omegan gift.

Luke would pray with them, and they would ask him to pray for them specially. He would agree, doing his best to remember their names, and would pray for them all. One of the most who prays to them came in the form of Queen Consort Alicent, who usually brought along her daughter Helaena, who Luke miraculously befriended (he was the only one who talked to her kindly, and included her in his prayers without being asked). She comes to pray almost every moon, leaving King's Landing in favor of Oldtown, finding comfort in her childhood Sept.

This moon was no different, her entering the prayer hall of the Mother, where Luke was praying in. It was only when he was done praying did he notice a different figure beside her. Instead of soft Helaena, he sees a large man with white hair looking straight at him. The incense burning might have been able to disguise most of their scents, but Luke didn't need scent to know that the man was an alpha.

Though strange, he ignored him. He had been in the sept for years, there have been alphas praying to the Mother, but never an unmarked one. Still, he was sure that, since he was with the queen, he would be respectful. After the prayers, he went to greet the Queen, as he often do. He gave a polite nod to the man beside her, who the Queen introduced to be her son, Aemond.

After a small chat, and learning that Helaena is with child once more, the queen and her son left.

Then a few days later, a letter was sent to the sept, asking Luke to be one of the septas watching over the twins Helaena already had. Though a bit overwhelmed, he along with the others chosen were placed on a boat and sent to King's Landing. Luke was greeted by a sight of a large dragon. Though the others cowered, he did not. He was quite fascinated by the large beast, who flew to who knows where. He thinks he might have caught a glimpse of white hair, but that doesn't really tell him anything of the rider. All Targaryens have white hair, he was taught that in passing.

He slowly became the favorite septa of the twins out of all the others. They shared their mother's oddity, their liking for creeping, crawling little creatures, so while the others could barely keep themselves from running once they see the large spider, or the flying moth, Luke, though a bit hesitant, wasn't as easily scared.

What the twins like the most was him not fearing their dragons. The dragons in turn also don't seem to dislike Luke as much as the others, to his confusion. Mayhaps they are more inclined to omegas?

Other than taking care of the twins, Luke spends time with Helaena, who was getting bigger with each month, her stomach bulging to quite the size, and the kicks looking quite visible at times, which scared and intrigued Luke. The babe aside, Helaena was still quite normal, or about as normal as Helaena could be. Luke enjoyed talking to her, though her words were often confusing, he enjoys the bright look in her eyes when he manages to translate some of her words. She speaks in riddles, can't seem to stop, so it felt very rewarding whenever he managed to guess what she meant.

The there was her brother (the younger one, not the one she's married to), who seemed really close to her with the amount of times he visited only to find both of them talking. When Luke tries to stand and bow, before leaving them to speak, he (prince Aemond) would stop him, saying he would simply wait until their discussions were over, before leaning on the wall, watching them. Luke doesn't really feel comfortable after that, so he would cut their meeting short, despite Helaena showing sadness, and leaving in a haste back to the twin's room.

Usually he would only see prince Aemond during those encounters, but lately, he has been seeing him everywhere. When he takes the children to the garden, he would be there, when he gets called by the Queen, he would just so happened to be there in the same hallway to accompany him, as they were going the same way. When he goes to the library to look for certain books he would read to the twins, he would magically appear at his side, willing to hold them for him. Now he knows this could be all be just a simple coincidence, but even one of the queen's guards told him not to be too close to the prince as it would be a greater sin as a septa.

So he does his best to be with another septa at all times. When he sees him at any time, he would suddenly remember he needed to do something, a snack he wished to make the twins, a book he accidentally left at the library, a certain insect they wished to see, and he would leave the other way, dragging the other septa with him.

This went on for weeks. He was a bit more agitated now, however, because when he opened his drawer next to his bed, he found that the herbs for suppressing heats weren't there. His was quite a special blend, his body being different from a female omega, and would take some time to make. He hesitantly told Helaena, who was most understanding, even giving him her own suppressant, hoping it would at least ease his pain. The Maester says he could make another batch, though it would take a few days to gather the ingredients needed. A few days he didn't have.

So there he was, in his room, sweating profusely, the herbs given long gone. Helaena told him she has sent someone trustworthy to watch over him, and to guard the door to other unmarked alphas from barging into his room. He was immensely thankful, as this heat would be the first one outside the safety of the sept.

When he felt the worse was over, though still groggy, he opened the door for a little while to ask for some food and water. What he got was a slap in the face as a fairly familiar scent wafted through causing his symptoms to return. He quickly slammed the door and groaned, returning to his bed for comfort.

Of course Helaena asked Prince Aemond to watch over his door.

-----------

(so, I'm back to writing again 🥳 might take it a bit slow though, writer's block is still there. Hope you guys enjoy this in the mean time🤗)

[ladyofthebears]

I am genuinely, consistently confused by people who are team green solely based on the argument that Rhaenyra should have saved Alicent. Not only because the dance of the dragons is meant to directly parallel the Amethyst Empress and the Bloodstone Emperor but also because it seems their arguments are built on this very shakey ground of “Rhaenyra should have stopped her father from marrying alicent and everything that happened after that was because of her inability to act.”

Lets take a second and look at it from both a book and show stand point.

In the book, Alicent is much older then Rhaenyra and consistently has beef with her 8 year old step daughter. Perhaps she was coerced into marrying Viserys, perhaps she was abused in the book, but what was a literal child meant to do about it? A child who just lost who own mother to be placed on the knee of a knew women who tells her to call her “step mother”.

In the show, Rhaenyra and Alicent are at a similar age. In the show, both of them are being taken advantage of and changed by older men. Unfortunately, Alicent is being taken advantage by two man and ultimately is married to Viserys. Rhaenyra had only lost her mother half a year earlier and whilst Alicent was her closest friend, she very obviously felt blind sided and hurt by the revelation. Perhaps if Rhaenyra was older and not so emotionally fraught, she would have been able to take a step back and realise that Alicent was the victim in that situation. Unfortunately, she was also just a girl, a girl who felt alone and now felt her best friend was abandoning her as well. I am not saying Rhaenyra was right to push Alicent away, I am saying her feelings were valid. I think what further made it worse was the fact that Alicent was so quickly giving Viserys everything he had ever wanted- a son. Ultimately, both of these characters are but girls, they make mistakes, they misspeak, they lash out. Rhaenyra distances herself from Alicent not realising Alicent is a victim, Alicent is forced to bear children and bears a healthy boy and is pregnant with another, Rhaenyra feels discarded and unwanted and becomes even more distant and angry. Alicent tries to offer an olive branch but Rhaenyra indirectly insults how Alicent is being forced to live. Granted, Rhaenyra apologises afterwards but those words had to have hurt Alicent. Rhaenyra, in her ignorance of the truth of Alicents situation, cannot move past the apparent betrayal of her best friend. Alicent tries again to bridge the gap but ultimately stumbles and accidentally brings up the fact she had a male heir with no problems, something Rhaenyras own mother was unable to do. And around and around they go, with Rhaenyra and Alicent both tryingbut ultimately alienating eachother. The breaking point is when Rhaenyra is taken to a pleasure house with daemon. You can argue with me all you would like, but Alicent was a victim to Viserys and Rhaenyra was a victim to Daemon. She famously says that they were meant to burn together, but that is only so because Daemon made it so. From a young age, he favours her, he takes liberties with her, he gives her gifts and makes her feel special and scene. He is TEXT BOOK grooming her. So when Rhaenyras uncle (who has always been so special to her and given her rare gifts and indulged her) invites her our for a night of fun, she says yes. And when he initiates sexual contact with her, she reacts. She feels wanted and seen by him, and she is a 17 year old girl coming into her own, and she reacts to his escalation of grooming. And ultimately, when he once again plays with her emotions to make her desire him as he desires her, she leaves and finds her pleasure elsewhere. I am not here to argue about Criston Cole- they were both consenting and whilst one could definitely make an argument about the power dynamic on either side, I am not that person. During the confrontation, Alicent lashes out at Rhaenyra for having freedom she did not have and seemingly squandering it. She immediately is on the attack accusing Rhaenyra of things loudly and harshly. She insults not only Rhaenyra but also Rhaenyras family which she is now a part of. And in doing so, completely alienates herself from Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra, feeling cornered, tells a half truth and evades Alicent. And when Alicent speaks to Criston Cole, she does so softly and kindly. Looking at the two confrontations, it is no wonder one party was more willing to be completely honest as opposed to another.

At the end of the day, Alicent and Rhaenyra started out loving each other. Ultimately they are forced apart by the decisions and actions of men around them until what they had is so broken and unrecognisable it can no longer be fixed.

Alicent, at her core, was a victim. Unfortunately, her pain leads her to continue the cycle of abuse until she is almost unrecognisable from the girl she once was. She over reaches and abuses the excess of power she has from her husband (and rapists) sickness. She instills fear and hatred into her children, and continues her own parental abuse onto them. She became the abuser she once sought to escape.

Rhaenyra, was also a victim. She was much more privileged than Alicent in many ways, which is what allowed her to not be trapped in a loveless and painful marriage as Alicent was. She manages to make the best out of her situation, loving her husband as a life partner and not a lover. She breaks the cycle of abuse started by Targaryens generations before by not marrying her children at 13, by not picking favourites among them, by loving them and teaching them to be honourable boys. She ultimately is caught in the trap of her groomer and marries him, and he unsurprisingly abuses her. Whilst he fought for her and stood by her side, he ultimately hurt her too. Rhaenyra spent her entire life feeling discarded and alone, first by her father, then by her mothers death, then her friends apparent betrayal, by her uncle time and time again coming and going and speaking ill of her dead brother and taking his egg, by the realm once Aegon is born. She manages to be a healthy and loving parent despite her very obvious abandonment and attachment issues.

Unfortunately, all the children grow under their respective parents cycles, and the dance happens because ultimately, evil men did evil things.

Rhaenyra was a girl. A girl who could not realise her friend needed saving, a girl who felt alone. And Alicent was a just a girl, a girl forced into a widowers bed by her father, a girl who only knew pain until she thought it was normal and expected. They both deserved so much better at such a young age.

But ultimately everyone must grow up and change, and they changed so much and grew so separately, they could never again fit together as they once did.

[randomisedmongoose]

I've been thinking about parents and kids in Disco Elysium.

Fathers first: who actually has a present, positive father figure?

Kim never knew his, and says that he thinks his father wasn't that great of a person anyway. Harry doesn't remember his, and doing the fascist route and talking with Measurehead indicate that he wasn't around, if not actually abusive. Little Lily's dad killed himself, and wasn't that much of a help before that anyway. Judit's husband is, according to her, half a husband and probably not that good of a dad. Acele's dad was a drug lord and "a bad man". The paledriver says she "never had a father" - she might have forgotten him, though. But the father she remembers definitely isn't hers. Plaisance's husband, Annette’s dad, is distant and quite possibly emotionally abusive. Cuno's dad is... uh. Yeah. No. Abusive and pretty much gone. Easy Leo and his mum had to move from Iraesh because his da was too violent. Billie's husband Victor doesn't seem to be that good of a father to their kids, even if she clearly loves him and will miss him awfully. The racist lorry driver has three kids. Wonder how good of a dad he is (my money is on not that great). Tommy Le Homme has children that he misses dearly, but he's still distant from them.

Fathers are distant or gone, and that’s almost universally seen as a good thing that they are, because when they're actually there they're awful. The only positive, present father figure we get on screen is Trant. He's supportive, interested in Mikael's hobbies, protective and inclusive. We get one possibly positive father figure story from Measurehead, but the man himself is described as the perfect pinnacle of masculinity, which in this setting probably isn't that good really, when not seen through his son's eyes.

Also, Harry's own relation to fatherhood. We don't know what happened when Dora got an abortion, if Harry wanted her to or not (and it doesn't matter really, it was her choice to make) but it does mean he's not a father now. And judging from what the game tells us about fathers and everything we know about him pre-game, this is probably a good thing.

Mothers, then? Much more present, and a bit more complex.

Kim doesn't remember his mother, either. Harry has a fond memory of his, being loved and cared for, but she's spoken of in the past tense. Lilienne does her best and seems to genuinely care for her children, but she works all the time to put food on the table. Joyce is a mother, how good she is is up for interpretation. In any case she's not present, but considering her age her daughters are probably adults. Billie clearly loves her girls and knows and supports what they do, she's present in their lives even though they're nearing adulthood. Judit is an overworked cop with a partner that doesn’t seem to contribute much – not the best of circumstances for a kid, but we have no idea who helps her and her situation outside work.

The only mother we get an explicitly bad picture of is Plaisance’s, Annette’s grandmother, and by extension, Plaisance herself (hello, generational cycle of abuse, we'll get back to you). There are two bad mothers that are more metaphorical: the Mother of Silence, aka. the 2 mm hole in reality, that will eat you whole and never spit you out, and Dolores Dei, who is described as Humanity's Young Mother – nurturing and abusive at the same time, granting humanity the complete world while murdering the parts of it that rejected her gifts.

So mums run the entire gamut from godly to shitty with every flavour of overworked from all social classes in between. Despite the caring mother figures, we're left with a complete picture of children as largely abandoned by their parents emotionally or practically, if not outright abused.

Distant and abusive parents tie very nicely into the theories of the Pale that says that it consists of recycled memories, and part of what makes the world stagnant. Everybody's stuck in a perpetual cycle of generational abuse with no way of getting out. It takes drastic action to change it, because you're not just working against your own trauma and ingrained habits, but against the grain of history.

But, here's the kicker, we as a player can do that – to some extent. We can try to break Harry out of the cycle. We can make him kinder and calmer and less violent. But he had to literally erase every aspect of himself, and he didn't even manage to do it completely.

We can save some kids, but no matter how we play the game, we're not allowed to save some of them. The ravers, we can help them. Cindy, we can give her a little bit of artistic inspiration. Mikael is set already, he doesn't need us. We can do our best to make sure Little Lily and her brothers aren't evicted. We can even give Cuno something other (better is debatable) by recruiting him to the RCM.

Cunoesse though? She's lost to us in all futures. She's the only person in the game besides ourself that we can actually kill (not counting the mercs), and the only one beside ourself that actively wants us to do it. There's already been circumstances that led her to where she is, and we the player can't break her cycle. All we can do is hope that there's someone else who can. And boy does it seem bleak.

[justallihere]

I️ LOVE and ADORE Xaden going from “I️ don’t care about you or your feelings 🙄” to “Why wouldn’t I️ come for you and take you home? 🥺”

It really reminds me of this post where someone made the commentary about Xaden refusing to coddle and be nice to Violet, even downright being an asshole about it

To giving her his flight jacket because gods forbid Violet be cold for the 2-3 minutes they would’ve stood in formation!

Love love love that growth for him, like yes king! Tell us how much you love her through your actions! Give her that flight jacket and everything!

Chapter 35 was such a GIFT! I️ loved it so much! From Mira and Xaden shelving their dislike for each other for V’s sake and just mother henning her! Loved Xaden taking care of her and reaffirming that she can be upset at the threat against her hair and the autonomy she would have been robbed of, had Aetos actually cut it. I️ love how gentle he was, making sure she was okay, even arguing with Tairn about it on the flight home because their whole dynamic in canon is just over protective dragon meets over protective enemy to mutually assured destruction to lovers, and amari give us mercy that Violet gets injured around either one of them.

I️ was so shocked and legit almost cried at the confession because bby boy X was NOT letting her think that he didn’t love her! Really gives a whole “Aretia could burn and I️ wouldn’t care as long as I️ had you.” vibe to it and I️. Am. Not. Okay!!! I️ am not normal or sane about this love confession! V is getting some HONESTY out of this man without having to jump through 5 million hoops or questions about it. X really just said it with both tiddies and his full chest!!

I️ also really loved the display of Rhi and Xaden’s conversation. He knows how much Rhi means to Violet, and having her best friend with her is the best thing for her! I’m so nervous and excited to see if you include a convo with the rest of the squad about her torture sessions and just showing how much they all love her! Cam was right! Everyone who knows Violet Sorrengail is a little bit in love with her!!

I’m curious if Violet is gonna think about how she basically begged for her mom to come with them to Aretia, when she was freed and I️ wonder what Xaden would have done if Lilith had actually planned to go with her daughter… thoughts and theories I️ suppose!!

God Alli, there are so many little things about this chapter that I️ adored and so little time to write about it! I LOVE this fic so much that I️ always am ready to read the next chapter immediately! So ready!! I️ hope this doesn’t pressure you too much but I️ did want to say that I️ adore this fic so much!! 10/10 would highly recommend!!

Also I️ hope my sleep-deprived ramblings made sense lol! Thank you for such a wonderful story and I️ cant wait for the next chapter 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

Xaden’s growth has been so fun to write. Just the little moments of his growing respect for Violet, realizing he actually likes her, falling in love—it’s been one of my favorite things about this fic

Thank you! I had a great time with the two contrasting sides of Xaden in this chapter: the version of him who loves Violet and will wipe her tears and do anything for her, and the version that is just an absolute asshole to anyone who isn’t her 😂 if your name isn’t Violet Sorrengail he really doesn’t give a fuck

There’s some squad bonding next chapter 🫶🏻

Violet will definitely be reckoning with that conversation with her mom at some point—Lilith said she’d come, but will she really? Xaden would let it happen for Violet, of course, but it wouldn’t be an easy adjustment lol

Thank you so much for reading and for this ask, I appreciate you 🩷🩷🩷

[pinkydevil16]

Sunshine Aemond Targaryen x reader: part 21

18+ death

Daemon did not forgive Aemond as Y/n had, he was angry and ready to attack, the greens had started the war even without the blood shed. Rhaenyra did not wish to start a war but Daemon had waited long enough to finally be rid of the leeches that plagued his family since Viserys married Alicent. He wanted revenge for Aemond's attack on Lucerys, it did not matter to him if Y/n saved the child, it was a challenge and a call to war. Rhaenyra and Daemon began rallying their supporters, Jacaerys had gotten the north to be allies, using Lucerys attack to fuel his argument. The north supported Rhaenyra, a great ally for her future conquering of KingsLanding. Daemon decided he did not want to wait for his revenge, he hated how afraid Rhaenyra was of Aemond coming for her sons now, he was the greens only defense. Besides Y/n and Cannibal but she had been clear she did not wish to fight or shed blood by her actions, but she would defend Aemond. Daemon sent two assassins to kill Aegon's child, it had been 2 moons since Lucerys had been brought back to them but he still had terrors. Daemon wanted the Green's to feel what Rhaenyra felt, she had birthed their daughter Visenya but she passed a few hours later. Daemon decided this was because of the Green's, the maesters said it had been caused by stress to the baby. Rhaenyra was broken as she held her baby, Lucery hugging her trying to comfort his hurt mother. 

Y/n had not bled since her wedding, with all the stress she had not taken notice until her mother sat her down and asked her when her last blood was. Y/n's eyes widened as she realised it had been atleast 3 moons since she had bled, Alicent taking her to the maesters who confirmed their suspicions. She was ecstatic at the news, she had always hoped to be a mother to Aemond's children and now it was finally coming true, her mother hugged her tightly congratulating her. Y/n raced to tell Aemond finding him sparing with Sir Criston, Y/n glowing more than she had in the last 2 moons, the whole red keep felt lifted and high on her happiness. Aemond turned to her as she ran at him, landing in his arms and squealing with joy as she rushed out her announcement. Aemond grinned largely picking her up and spinning them both as she laughed loudly and clung to him.

"My beautiful, beautiful Y/n, you have gifted me the best news since the day you married me." He declared, tucking his face in her hair to hide his glowing demeanour, her happiness seeping into him, the two matching in pure joy. Aemond placed her down kissing her deeply, pulling back and placing his hand on her stomach, he felt foolish for not seeing how she had slightly grown. Her skin had a natural radiance and her eyes seemed to sparkle with life, he was so proud as he looked at her stomach. His child was growing inside her, their own child who would grow to be a legendary dragon rider as their parents. He hoped for a boy, to carry on their namesake and be wise and brave as Aemond. A girl would be a blessing as well he imagined she would take after Y/n, glowing as she smiled and inheriting Y/n's ability to brighten everyone around her. Either child would be widely loved and adored by all the lands Aemond was sure, he could not wait to see Y/n swollen fully, he would never leave her side. His gaze showed pure love as he looked at Y/n, her grin wide almost splitting her cheeks as she watched him look at her stomach. 

Aemond hugged Y/n impossibly close as they slept, his hand spread over her stomach protectively both fast asleep from the excitement of the day. The red keep asleep in the deep of the night, Aegon passed out drunk with his whores, Halaena fussing over her youngest who would not cease his crying. Two large men crashed into the room, dragging the two boys away from Halaena who screamed and cried for them. Blood held her youngest who cried against the man, her oldest trying to hold in his fear as he watched his mother, Cheese's grip on him bruising and the blade harsh against the skin of his neck. 

"Choose." Blood spat out, the two boys now crying as the men pressed sharpened blades against their gentle and young flesh, Halaena crying out begging to be killed instead, offering herself to any torture they seemed fit.

"Choose a child or they both die." The men gave her little time, counting to five as they slowly cut into their necks drawing blood. Halaena screamed out her youngest's name, not able to give an explanation but she prayed her son would not understand, he was so young and inexperienced with life. Blood pulled the youngest closer to whisper in his ears, the boys crying louder completely hysterical at the fear of death looming over them.

"Do you hear that boy? Your mother wants you dead." He stared at Halaena as he spoke to the boy, Cheese laughing before slicing the older boys throat, expertly killing the child. Halena wailed as she collapsed to her knees, catching her son as the two men left, her sons blood covering them from the brutal attack. Guards hearing her screams and running in, Aemond awoke by the high pitched wailing both him and Y/n running to find Halaena hunched over her sons body. Y/n covering her mouth as she turned into Aemond's body, a sob coming from her as she begged the gods for it to be a lie. Aemond's face turned to stone as he knew who was responsible, there was only one reason a strike upon Aegon's son would be made. A son for a son, except this time The Black's succeeded and spilled the first blood of the war. Y/n pulled away, trying to grasp her sister who only cried louder begging for Aegon and her child, her sons blood covering her yellow gown. Aemond stormed out finding his brother and chucking him to the ground, demanding he awaken. Aegon drunkenly rambling for Aemond to leave him be, Aemond kicked him harshly.

"Your son had been murdered you drunken fool. The time for war is now." Aemond shouted, forcing his brother to his feet as he watched Aegon's drunken haze leave and a deep sadness take over realisation of his son's murder hitting him harder than anyone ever could. Aegon pushed himself from Aemond's grasp, running to Halaena's chamber finding Y/n hugging his children as his wife cradled his oldest, the blood pooled around her mixing with the never ending tears she produced. Aegon froze as he watched the scene, both children crying into their aunts arms turned away from their mother. His eyes darkened as he turned, pulling Aemond with him and demanding a council meeting instantly the two marching in ready to burn every black to the ground. 

"I want the streets searched, any supporter is to be slaughtered with no mercy, find the bastards who murdered my son or i will have all your heads!" Aegon slammed his hand on the table, his eyes red and blood shot as he stared down everyone in the room, Aemond nodding and taking charge. Aemond led the guards to the search, ripping everyone from their houses and killing anyone he could justify. How dare they take his nephew from him, Halaena did not deserve her child to be killed because of him, Aemond swore he would avenge his sisters loss. He feared his own childs life, if any blacks were alive Y/n and the babe would always be in danger. The war had begun and Aemond had only pure anger in his soul, revenge coursing through his veins. 

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[fortheloveoffanfic]

The Holiday Arrangement

Andy Barber x Reader

Author's Note: I am so sorry about this disappointing final chapter. Summary: When co-parenting during the holidays becomes difficult to navigate, Y/n brings a proposal to her ex-husband, Andy; spend Christmas together- for the sake of their daughter. Their already complicated arrangement becomes even more messy new memories dredge up buried feelings. Masterlists Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter Summary: Andy gives Y/n a sentimental gift on Christmas. A week later, on New Years Eve, an impromptu discussion on the end of their arrangement prove that Y/n and Andy may not be on the same page when it comes to the future of their relationship. Warnings: Angst

Christmas Day Andy had sneaked out of Y/n’s room at the crack of dawn, mostly because he knew that Grace was probably going to be up earlier than usual and barrel into the room, eager to open presents, but also because he wanted to get their traditional, Christmas morning breakfast started. Crepes with orange cream cheese, cranberry sauce and hot cocoa. Usually, it was Y/n that was up at seven, making breakfast while Andy kept Grace entertained, but that morning he was desperate to beat her to it.

Maybe she’d heard the dishes shifting around in the kitchen, or smelt sauce on a low simmer, but instead of heading to Y/n’s room, Grace had joined him downstairs instead of going to wake her mother- a fact that he was grateful for. He and Y/n had both been up late getting the finishing touches done, but he figured that she deserved the extra sleep a little more than he did. So, instead of letting Grace turn on the television and watch whatever Christmas film was on, Andy had encouraged her to help with breakfast; he charged her with setting the table, promising that however she did it- as long as she tried her best- would be great. 

“You two are busy,” Y/n noted almost an hour later as she reached the bottom of the stairs, bundled up in a thick robe thrown over her pajamas and fluffy slippers. 

Andy was just turning off the stove and turned to lay the final crepe on the serving plate, grinning at the sight of Grace practically leaping into her mother’s ready arms. “Merry Christmas,” he greeted, taking the serving plate over to the table. 

“Merry Christmas,” she flashed him a soft smile after kissing Grace on the cheek. “This all smells amazing,” Y/n complimented, and then quickly deducing that Grace had set the table, she added with the same enthusiasm, “And the table looks beautiful.”

“I did it all by myself!” Grace informed her proudly, still hanging onto Y/n tightly. 

“She did,” Andy confirmed, briefly returning to the kitchen to collect a wooden tray decked off with three mugs of cocoa, “I’ve had the best little helper all morning.” 

Beaming, Y/n pressed another kiss to Grace’s cheek, “Great job, Bunny.” When Y/n set her down, Grace excitedly pulled them both to the dining table, ensuring that they were seated on either side of her. 

Over breakfast, which went by rather quickly since Grace was anxious to get started on opening presents, they chatted quietly and for a moment. It felt like nothing had changed- like everything was the way it was meant to be. A happy couple in love and a young child that was adored by, and adored, her parents. 

Not the family they’d been one year earlier, a quiet little girl who could probably sense the tension between her parents, an emotionally distant husband who’d made a habit of bringing work to the table and a furious wife who’d been led to her wits end. Not that family. 

When they were through, Andy somehow managed to wrangle a bubbly, over-excited Grace- who’d probably already had way too much sugar- into washing her hands before letting her head to the living room to wait for them. Y/n had started cleaning up immediately upon standing and instead of joining their daughter, he decided to help out. 

“Hey, no fair,” she scoffed with a breathless smile, trying to take a trio of stacked plates from his hands, “You know the rule.”

“Its just some plates,” he shrugged nonchalantly, “Besides, if we’re not there in fifteen minutes, she might start without us.”

Y/n chuckled, “I’m surprised she hasn’t already.” Resigning to leaving Andy with the plates, and subsequently letting him do the dishes, Y/n moved on to cleaning down the counters and packing away the bits of leftover cream cheese spread and cranberry sauce. “Thank you for taking over this morning,” she eventually offered softly, “That was….really sweet of you.”

“It was nothing,” Andy shook his shoulders, “Just breakfast.”

When he glanced at her between soaping and rising off the pan, Y/n was shaking her head as she returned the flour and sugar to the small walk-in pantry, “Its more than that,” she moved on to stowing the butter and milk in the refrigerator, “You’ve really changed. I don’t know if its what you want to hear but its true, you’re present and you talk to me.” Shutting the door, she sighed softly, “I don’t think I’ve felt this close to you in…..years.”

Years. 

The word made his heart sink a little; he hadn’t realized that he’d been checked out of their relationship for so long. Andy had been so focused on trying to reclaim his former professional glory that he’d never realized how much time had passed since he really let his wife into his life. 

Had it been more than a year? More than two? Did his reinvigorated ambition return when Gracey was old enough for daycare or had he deserted his wife even before then? 

The truth was all he could offer, “I’m trying.”

When Y/n came to stand next to him as he packed the last dish onto the counter near the sink to dry off, she touched his shoulder blade, prompting him to look at her, “I know, and it means a lot me,” she glanced at Grace in the living room, “To both of us.”

They lingered in easy silence for a handful of precious moments, eyes locked and matching soft smiles tugging at their features. They might have been inclined to do more than just stare, but after their silence had been caught by Grace, she called them over while bobbing on the sofa, encouraging them to join her in the living room. 

Chuckling at her excitement, Andy moved off just after Y/n had. “Alright kiddo,” he huffed, resigning into the center of the sofa, only for Grace to clamor clumsily into his lap. In an absent gesture, he shifted her hair away from her face, neatening it at the back with his fingers, while Y/n took a seat in the armchair, crossing one leg over the other. 

"Me first!" Y/n interjected, stretching to reach a large box under their red and gold adorned tree. Collecting the present in both hands, she leaned over to where Grace was sitting in Andy's lap and handed it over, "Merry Christmas, Bunny," she reached a bit further, almost lifting herself off the chair, and kissed her daughter on the cheek.

After Grace offered and excited thanks, Andy held it for her when she barreled excitedly off his lap and onto the ground so she could quickly reclaim the present and start ripping into a brightly coloured paper. "Woah," Andy chuckled at her apparent haste, "What is it, Gracey?" He asked, like he hadn't been there when Y/n had wrapped it the night before. 

"I don't know daddy," Grace giggled giddily, right before tearing a strip of wrapping paper off the front of the box. Her eyes lit up at the sight of what it was; an art set she'd seen advertising on television, equipped with a series of glow in the dark water colours, an easel to be mounted up, a large sketch pad, some stencils and a collection of brushes. "So cool!" She exclaimed. 

As Grace fumbled to get the box open, Andy reminded her to thank her mother and she did enthusiastically. He was really trying his best to be more than just a fun dad who let the bulk of the parenting fall to Y/n and he hoped she saw that. 

He was desperate for her to know that he was putting active effort into reshaping himself into the man she and Grace deserved. 

Temporarily, he rose from the sofa and reached under the tree for a rectangular box the size of his hand, bought in secrecy just a few days earlier during a solo mall trip to finish up his gift shopping and wrapped in red and green paper with a shiny gold bow on top. “This one is for you,” he offered it to Y/n, kissing the corner of her lips quickly, before Grace could catch them being a little too intimate. 

A private smile crept to her cheeks and she flashed him a curious look, “Andy,” she chuckled wearily, “What is it?”

“Open it,” he encouraged. It wasn’t what Andy  had initially intended for her, but when he’d seen in in the store window, it had just seemed like the perfect present. 

“Alright,” she laughed, soft and breathless, as she began tearing the paper. Her fingers employed significantly more care than Grace’s had, but the way she gnawed on her lower lip and the light in her eyes proved that she was just as excited as him. 

Under the paper was a gray, cushioned leather box with the name of a high end brand printed on the front. “This is…Oh my God, Andy-”

“Open it,” he pressed with a quiet chortle. 

Upon finally thumbing the box open, Y/n gasped. A trio of interlinked, diamond encrusted hearts on a delicate hung on a white gold chain. Small diamonds occasionally interrupted the tiny links and the connected hearts dropped down a vertical line. “Three hearts,” she whispered, gently ghosting them with the tip of her finger. 

“Connected; just like ours,” he reached to lay his hand on the back of hers, prompting Y/n to glance up at him, eyes shining. “Do you like it?” He peered, suddenly eager for reassurance. 

“Like it?” Y/n stuttered, “Its gorgeous, I love it but-”

“Here,” he stood again, “Let me put it on you.” Without protest, Y/n let him ease the necklace out of the box and guided it around her neck. As he did, Y/n clasped her hand over the stunning pendant and stole another glance at him, though that time he couldn’t quite read them. Still, their eyes locked and Andy thought he saw something in them that hadn’t been there in a long time; that quiet glimmer that used to be reserved for him.

That little light that was impossible to miss; that he could recognize from across a room with a hundred people between them. 

“Thank you,” she said softly, voice unsteady as his hands brushed her skin. 

“Who’s the big one for?” Grace peered, just as Y/n moved one of her hands to grasp his.

Startled out of the trance they’d accidentally slipped into, Y/n turned back towards Grace and Andy pulled away, rubbing his palms on the thighs of his flannel pajama pants. “Um,” Y/n blinked quickly and Andy cleared his throat. “That’s uh, that one’s for you Bunny.”

“It is?” Her big eyes lit up and Andy approached the tree to lift the huge box and bring it closer, biceps bulging under the weight of the enormous present- which had truly been a pain to wrap. 

“It is,” Andy huffed, setting it down in front of Grace, “This one is special because it's from me and mommy.” They’d spotted it at the Christmas village, and both amazed that it was almost an exact replica of the house, with only a couple architectural  differences, they’d decided to go in on it together. They’d paid for it in full that day, just to make sure no one else had a chance to snatch it up, and Andy had picked it up on the same day he'd gone shopping. 

Grace squealed excitedly when he and Y/n finally got it out of the nondescript, cardboard box. “Its so big!” She marveled with alight eyes. It was about Grace’s height and about three and a half feet wide. The inside was semi furnished, but there were still ‘rooms’ that could be furnished to her liking, and the layout was very similar to their- well, Y/n’s- house. 

“Do you like it?” Y/n clasped her hands together, anticipating their daughter’s next words, so much so that when Andy absently laid his hand on the small of her back, she didn’t even seem to notice. 

“I love it!” Grace beamed, and her broad grin alone was enough to prove at almost slipping on ice while trying to take it to his car was totally worth it. “Thank you,” she deserted the doll house for long enough to run up to them and hug their hips, small arms stretching as wide as they could. 

Both matching Grace’s wide smile, Andy and Y/n bent over to hug her back, resulting in what could only be described as a clumsy- but cozy- jumble of limbs. The minute they let her go, Grace hurriedly returned to her new doll house, gently pulling it open so she could examine the inside. “It came with dolls?” She turned to them as she reached inside what would have been the ‘living room’, where three pretty, handcrafted dolls sat on a sofa. 

“What?” Y/n glanced at Andy, who in turn threw her a confused look, “You bought dolls?”

“No,” he scoffed, furrowing his brows. When they’d paid for it, the dollhouse hadn’t been equipped with dolls. The salesperson must have put them in after, Andy hadn’t opened it upon collection and neither he nor Y/n had opened the box before wrapping it. 

“Look,” Grace shoved the dolls towards them as they both sank to the floor, “They’re just like us.”

“Huh,” Y/n took one and Andy the other two; they did look like them. Two grown ups and a little girl with dark hair and blue eyes. “That’s….”

“Weird,” Andy finished for her, examining Y/n’s tiny likeness, only handing the dolls over when Grace put her hands out to retrieve them. Intently, Andy watched as his daughter replaced the dolls in the living room, that time trying to make them sit on the floor, just like they were. 

He knew better than to take the whole experience as some divine sign that everyone would be okay, Andy wasn’t even sure if he believed in divine signs, but he did know that in that moment, watching that perfect little wooden family, in their picturesque home he felt a little more hopeful than he usually did. 

New Years Eve After shutting off the engine, Andy got out of the car and rounded the front to the passenger’s side, managing to get the door just in time to help Y/n out. When she stood, and subsequently stumbled into him, she chuckled softly and tapped the center of his chest; they were both a little worse for wear- not near drunk, but not exactly sober either- and they only reason Andy had driven them home instead of having them call a cab was because the restaurant they’d gone to was only about fifteen minutes away from their block. 

“I had a nice time tonight,” she hummed, struggling to get the chain strap of her purse on her shoulder as Andy carefully shoved the car door closed, “I can’t remember the last time we did that.”

Their New Years Eve date; they must have stopped when Grace was about three, but on a whim that evening, Andy had suggested they go out. Getting a sitter on such short notice had been a struggle, but in the end one of the neighbors, an older woman who lived alone had agreed to come over and stay with Grace. 

“Neither can I,” Andy absently shoved his car keys into one of the pockets of his new, Italian leather jacket; a gift from Y/n just a week earlier. “We should do it again. Or just date night,” he huffed a chuckle, “Like we used to,” Andy waited for her response, though when she didn’t offer anything further than a hum as she reached for the doorknob, he frowned. 

Suddenly, it was like the mood had done a complete one eighty; Andy could feel the uncomfortable awkwardness that descended upon them and he couldn’t help but feel like they weren’t exactly on the same page anymore. “What?” 

“Nothing, its nothing,” she said softly, “We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” She didn’t even look at him, and it might not have been his proudest moment, but Andy came to stand next to her and closed his hand over hers- not harshly, just so he could get her to look at him. 

“I want to talk about it now,” she glanced at him, glassy eyes meeting his- that was how he knew that something was definitely wrong. 

Y/n sighed, quickly glancing at their hands, unintentionally joined, before pulling hers away, “I just….I don’t think we’re expecting this to…..end the same way.”

Andy dropped his hand and exhaled audibly, “End, right,” he sniffled, warding off a wave of emotion. After everything they’d been through over the past month- how much closer they’d gotten- they were still going to end. “I guess I thought that everything would be different now.”

Huffing, Y/n shook her head, “Different?” She licked her lips, “Different how?”

“Well first of all, we're different- better even,” he pointed towards his chest and took a couple steps back towards the car. 

“Yeah, but we agreed that this was just for the holidays. After its over-”

“We go back to being divorced,” Andy ran his hand through his hair, and swiping at her eyes, Y/n cast her head down, “And you can go back to hating me.”

“That is not fair- I don’t hate you. I never hated you,” when Y/n glanced up at Andy again, she could see her eyes were filled with water, but he was a little too hurt himself to be sympathetic. 

“Yeah?” He hit the side of his thigh with his fist, “Well you don’t like me enough to give me a second chance. I’m trying- you said it yourself, I’ve changed,” he gestured towards his chest again. “I thought this," he gestured between them, "Meant something to you,” his voice dropped defeatedly

Turning away so her back was to him, Y/n folded her arms across her chest, “Of course it does, but you can’t just show up for a month, ignore a couple work calls, make breakfast and expect that to be enough. Our marriage suffered for years; you can’t undo that kind of damage in a month, Andy.”

“That's not what this is. I’m not trying to change everything that’s happened over the last few years, I’m trying to change what happens tomorrow- next year. And the every one after that. I’m trying to show you that I understand where I went wrong, why you made the decisions you did,” he paused, hoping she’d see his point and inject, but when Y/n didn’t, he continued, “The man who signed those papers last year…..he isn’t me. That man didn’t realize what all this was worth, but this one does,” even if she hadn’t turned, Andy took a couple steps closer, leaving about a foot of distance between them, “He didn’t fight for you,” he moistened his lips, “But I want to; I will. From now till…..” He gestured in a circle with his pointer, “Till I’ve got nothing left in me, because our family means more to me than anything else ever will.” 

When he was through, Andy swallowed thickly and he heard Y/n emit a hitched sob,which was followed by a stretch of silence that was so long that it made him contemplate weather or not he should go inside and gave her space.

But then she spoke and it was like a weight crumbled off his shoulders.

“You have to be home by seven every evening, unless there’s some kind of crazy court emergency,” she turned, hastily swiping at her eyes but unable to keep up with the steady stream of tears, “Weekends are ours, date night every Friday. Gracey and I do not come second-”

“Ever,” Andy approached Y/n gently taking hold of her shoulder. 

“But especially her. You have to show up for everything.”

“Every recital, every birthday party, every parent teacher conference. Doctor’s appointments- you name it, I’m there.”

“We’re not getting remarried,” she added pointedly. 

“Yet,” he chuckled with wet eyes, lifting one of his hands to cup her cheek. When Y/n leaned into his touch, a breath of relief seeped off his lips and he dragged his thumb under her eye.

A somber chortle fell off her lips and Y/n sniffed, “Yet. And if you break my heart again or hurt our little girl, I will definitely hate you, and you won’t get a third chance.”

“Won’t need one,” Andy’s other hand slid from Y/n’s shoulder down to her hip, “Can I kiss you now?” Y/n nodded and he smiled faintly, “Good,” he murmured, guiding his lips closer to her just as she tilted her head to grant him better access. Their kiss was slow, through and through, like snowflakes drifting to the ground- but so much warmer.

“I love you,” Andy whispered against her lips when they broke for a second. He hadn’t realized how long it had been since he’d last said that to her and uttering those words to her after so long felt like saying hello to an old friend that you’d spent everyday missing. 

And hearing her say it back was so much better. 

Like rain to break a thick summer heat, or power after a night long blackout. 

The first threads of sunlight after a storm had passed. 

“I love you too,” Y/n cupped his face, “I want this to work,” she professed between slow, short kisses, “That’s all I’ve ever wanted; for the three of us to be together.” 

Slowly, Andy’s hand inched downward from her face, down her throat, eventually reaching her neck. His thumb ghosted the familiar pendant; three interlocked hearts, “I think we’re meant to.”

Y/n smiled faintly, nodding, “I think so too,” they kissed again, that time lingering longer for a handful of seconds. “We should get in,” Y/n’s fingers found his nape and she planted one final peck on his lips, the taste of champagne from their dinner melting onto his tongue, “I promised Gracey we’d be back to watch the countdown with her.”

Reluctantly, Andy pulled away but took her hand, “Then what are we waiting for?” He flashed her a crooked grin, leading her through the garage door into the house. 

They’d barely made it to the kitchen counter when Grace came running out of the living room, already dressed in warm pajamas with her hair combed through. Their neighbor was sat on the recliner, glasses perched on the bridge of her nose and he set down a bag with a bottle of cider they'd brought home, Andy caught her marking the page of her book. “You’re back!” Grace exclaimed, just as he was helping Y/n out of her coat. 

“We’re back!” Y/n beamed, setting her purse down on the counter, “Were you good for Miss Ward?” 

“Uh huh,” Grace nodded astutely, and Andy watched their interaction unfold with fondness. “We played Go Fish and I played with my doll house,” which they’d temporarily set up in a corner of the living room until they could find a spot for it in Grace’s room. 

“Sounds like you had a good time Bunny,” Andy touched the top of Grace’s head before going over to thank their neighbor and offer her some money for her time- which she graciously refused, citing that watching Grace had made for a nicer time than watching game shows on cable. After she’d refused, Y/n had interjected to offer an invitation to stay for a little while longer to celebrate with them, which she also refused, not wanting to intrude on their time as a family. 

After walking Miss Ward to the sidewalk, Andy  returned to the house, shrugging off his coat and draping it on the marble counter next to Y/n’s before joining her and Grace on the sofa. “Someone’s tired,” Andy remarked when Grace yawned and rubbed her sleepy eyes. It was way past her bedtime, but she’d begged all day to stay up. 

“No I’m not,” Grace protested as Andy lifted her and brought her to his lap. She yawned again, that time settling against his chest. “I’m not tired,” she countered further, though when he angled his head to see her face, he could see the heaviness in her eyes. 

“Bunny, are you sure?” Y/n scooted closer, and Andy instinctively  draped his hands over her shoulders. 

“I’m sure,” she mumbled, glazed over eyes fixed on the television. There was still about fifteen minutes left before the countdown, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that Grace was much too tired to make it, but knowing her, she was stubborn enough to try. 

Two more performances went on before the screen changed to focus on the huge, crystal ball in Times Square that was making its slow, sixty second descent to the ground. Another check on Grace proved that by then, she had in fact, fallen asleep, and after noting that with a tired smile of her own, Y/n suggested in a whisper, “We should take here there one day, when she’s older,” she met his eyes, “Together.”

Just as the word vacated her lips, cheers and music rang out on the television, signaling the start of the new year, and Andy matched Y/n’s soft grin. Leaning in, though careful to not disturb sleeping Grace, he pressed his lips to hers in a deep, impassioned celebratory kiss. When they broke, the tip of her nose was still touching his and their foreheads were pressed against each other,

“Together.” 

Tagging: @patzammit @what-is-your-plan-today @royalwritersoftheuniverses @talesofadragon @whiskeytangofoxtrot555 @funfickgirl22 @pono-pura-vida @mdpplgtz03 @shipheart @chrismasevans @marvelmenwhore @findthebeautyinbreakdowns @bemysugarbean @wintasssoldier @elrw24 @imyourbratzdoll @chasingsnowintheshadows @sarahdonald87

[haitaniapologist]

A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE. ( zhongli x reader )

╰┈➤ you always believed in christmas miracles, but he took this concept to another level for you.

pairings — zhongli x fem!reader.

warnings — reader and zhongli are single parents before meeting each other, t*xic relationship (not with zhongli), mentions of domestic v*olence and ch*ating, a bit of misogyny and overall prejudice of the society with single mothers, fluff with children and between the parents, sugestiveness at the end.

word count — 5k

notes — this is a repost from the beggining of the year bc i had some problems back then, but this fic was supposed to be a christmas one and for zhongli's birthday. either way, it's now here! reblogs and feedbacks are appreacited <3

you’ve always loved christmas. 

it was a time when everything was magical, especially when you were a child, but such a magic didn’t die when you were growing up — it actually only grew, especially after you had your daughter. her father, your ex-husband, wasn’t the biggest fan of christmas. zandik was a doctor, and a logical one, and he almost spilled to your daughter that santa wasn’t real in the last christmas you three spent as a family, though you couldn’t tell if he was being mean or the idea of santa claus was so illogical that he didn’t comprehend why your daughter should believe it. 

either way, nahida still believed in santa, and you were sure your boyfriend and his children would do anything to keep such magic in your daughter’s life — and you couldn’t be more grateful. 

ganyu and xiao were two sweet hearts, accepting to go shopping with you to buy presents for your daughter and their father. it was a tradition that was passed down from your father to you, always bringing you along when he went to buy presents for your mother and siblings — you loved nothing more than to choose what they would be given, and seeing their eyes lighten up with the perfect gifts you had chosen. you used to take nahida with you, too, when you and zandik were still together, and you knew she loved to see the small smile on her father’s face when he opened his gift and saw the shirt or the new white coat his daughter had chosen for him. 

but that was in the past now, and your ex-husband didn’t want anything to do with nahida now. 

it was a shame, though. despite the bad way your relationship ended — with him cheating on you with one of his coworkers while you stayed at home taking care of your little treasure and doing everything to please him — nahida was still his daughter, a child that he had spent hours and hours talking when she was still in your belly, a child that he had treasured and did lots and lots of plans with you while she laid on his bare chest in a warm night of summer. but ever since your divorce, he hadn’t made any effort to be present in his daughter’s life again, but it didn’t seem like nahida was missing him. 

your boyfriend was a better father figure to her, anyway. 

after your divorce, you didn’t have anywhere to be — your ex husband made you quit your job after you got pregnant, so you could put all your energy into taking care of your baby and raising her the bestest you could. your best friends, cyno and tighnari, offered you a place to stay until you had a job and a good income to be able to live on your own with nahida, and you couldn’t be more grateful to them. if it wasn’t for them, you wouldn’t have been hired in your boyfriend’s company as his secretary and become the neighbor of his younger brother, who played matchmaker for the both of you. 

zhongli was a kind boss, always understanding when you needed to call a sick day whenever nahida needed you, to the point that rumors about your involvement began even before you two were actually together.

apparently, he had always looked at you with a lovestruck expression that everybody saw except you — because, in your head, how could a man as successful as him, as handsome and kind as him, would look at you with love in his eyes instead of pity? with a failed marriage and a little girl to take care of, you had already made up your mind that you would never find love again. but zhongli was stubborn and would do anything to show you that he was different than your ex-husband, his plan coming to fruition when you found a job in your actual line of field, with venti’s and ei’s help. 

you were, at first, a bit hesitant in opening your heart again for another man. but you came to know that you and zhongli had passed by the same situation, a cheating wife that left him for her new affair, leaving two small children for him to take care of. if it wasn’t for venti and ei, in the words of the said younger brother of your ex boss, zhongli wouldn’t be able to raise his children to be such good kids. another thing that made you more prone to open yourself to him was the way he treated nahida, in such a care that you never saw your husband treating her — zhongli always coaxed giggles and giggles from her, and you knew you were in love with him watching him play with your daughter as if she was his own. 

now, after one year of being together and two months of living as a family, it was the first christmas you five would spend together. 

“aunt y/n, do you think daddy will like a new shirt? we can buy it blue to match with my hair!” ganyu’s excited voice took you from your thoughts, and you smiled at the young girl, nodding at her words, like xiao glared at his older sister.  

ganyu and xiao were nine and seven, and the kindest children you ever met. they had accept you and nahida in their lives as if you both had always been a part of it, and the three of them had a very special bond — none of your friends had children on nahida’s age, and it was good to see the sibling bond she was forming with zhongli’s children. she and ganyu became sisters in less than a day, and while xiao was shyer than his sister, nahida was already calling him big brother by the end of the first week you all were living together. you and zhongli couldn’t be happier, being able to be together and watching your children getting closer — he’d always whisper how good of a mother you were while kissing your forehead, making you hide your face on his chest due to embarrassment. 

“i think he will love one.” you agreed, hand messing ganyu's blue curls. “but maybe for his birthday? we need to remember that we need to buy two gifts for daddy.” sometimes it was bothersome the fact that your boyfriend's birthday was in the new year's eve, a date when people were already celebrating, but you tried to make it more special for him — zhongli's birthday celebration started as soon as he wake up, and it went through the whole day. he would turn thirty-four this year, and you wanted to make it as special as you wanted christmas to be. 

“why didn't daddy choose a better day to be born? like us, or nahida!” xiao's complaint was cute, his hand clutching your skirt and his brows furrowed in an unhappy face. 

you smiled at the younger boy, watching as ganyu looked at the dress shirts in the store. “we don't choose the day we're born, little man.” it was cute how he still flushed at your pet names for them, and you wondered if someday he'd grow too tired of them and ask you to stop. you hoped not, because both of them, ganyu and xiao, already had their special places on your heart — right at nahida's, but you feared it was too soon to call them like that.

“hmpf.” he pouted and you giggled, fighting the urge to pinch his cheeks and call him cute. 

“aunt y/n!” ganyu called you, a beautiful blue dress shirt in her small hands. “i'm sure daddy will like this one! it's like my hair!” she proudly exclaimed, a smile full of white teeth adorning her chubby cheeks. but before you could answer, you heard an irritated sound coming from xiao’s mouth, who was still clutching your skirt, narrowed eyes looking at the shirt his sister chose. 

“what about my hair then?” he asked and you sighed, knowing it would take a while to make those two agree on something. 

— 

zhongli smiled seeing the christmas’ lights shining on nahida’s green eyes. 

he had always worried about his relationship with your child, even before you two were a thing — it was embarrassing how much he had daydreaming about being in a relationship with you, a thirty two three old man fantasizing about his twenty-seven secretary, but he couldn’t help himself. not when you smiled so sweetly at him, always making sure that he had a cup of water and coffee with him and that he wasn’t overworking himself. you were zhongli’s dream woman, and he knew he needed to court you properly. 

you first told him about your daughter in a rainy day, after you had received a call from your friends, eyes glossy with tears — you explain that she had a fever through the whole night and you left her with your best friends so you could work, but it seemed like her condition was worse since you left. zhongli didn’t think twice about offering you a ride to your friends’ house then to the hospital, his heart contracting itself seeing your distressed face. you reluctantly accept, and the rest was story. 

that day was the confirmation that you needed that you should accept his moves on you, already searching for a new job so you could fully welcome zhongli in your life. the way he made nahida feel safe, despite the doctors' scaring and the needles in her little body, made the tears you were holding back to fall from your eyes — your ex-husband’s last words ringing in your head, of how much of a bad mother you would be without him and his help.

now, zhongli was walking hand in hand with your six-year-old daughter through the jewelry store, trying to look for the perfect ring to propose to you. 

“what gem do you think mommy would like, nahida?” he asked, his amber gaze eyeing some diamond’s rings on display, hands unconsciously reaching to take nahida between his arms so she could help him choose. she nuzzled between them, sighing contently before casting her green orbs on the rings and gasping softly. zhongli suppressed a chuckle — he missed when his children were small and innocent like her.

she pointed to a gold one with some green details, the diamond shaped in a heart with some emeralds around it. he wasn’t surprised though, as her favorite color was green — even the tips of her hair were dyed green, a courtesy of the day she, ganyu and xiao spent with venti. “that one, uncle ‘li!” she exclaimed, her face lightening up at the thought of your finger adorned with it. “but why are you gifting mommy it, uncle zhongli? my papa used to give her clothes or books.” nahida was the most intelligent and curious kid zhongli ever met, and he knew she’d ask why he wanted to give you a ring — though the mention of her father brought a sour taste to his mouth, he could never be angry at her for bringing him up. 

she was too small to understand how much her father made her mother suffer. 

“well,” he started, smiling at the vendor and pointing to the ring nahida liked. “i want to marry your mommy, and i’m going to ask her with the ring i’ll buy today. do you think she’ll accept it?” 

he didn’t want to admit it, but his heart was hammering inside his chest like he was a teenager once more — nobody knew about his plans of proposing, and zhongli wanted to keep things a surprise to everyone, but he knew he needed to ask nahida’s permission first. she was your entire world, just like his children were his, but he wanted to make a space for himself there, like you and your little girl had on his. and nahida’s acceptance was what he needed to feel confident enough to ask you those three little words. he knew you wouldn’t do anything that would hurt or put her in danger, and he couldn’t blame you. you were a single mother in a world that looked down at you with disdain in its eyes. 

though, nahida’s words caught him by surprise. “you promise you won’t make mommy cry like my papa did?” he looked puzzled at her, though he understood what she meant. “mommy thinks she hides things from me, but i’m not dumb. i remember when papa left us, she cried so much! and i don’t want to see her crying again.” she hid her face on his neck and zhongli sighed, stroking her back. 

“i promise, my sweetness. i will never make mommy cry sad tears, alright?” he almost didn’t notice her small nod, but he felt her small hands gripping the back of his dress shirt tighter. “does that mean i can marry mommy?” 

his heart felt more at ease when he heard her giggles. “of course!” nahida exclaimed while coming out from her hiding spot, a big smile on her face. “does that mean you’ll be my daddy, too?” as much as her voice had excitement on it, zhongli could recognize a bit of shyness, alongside the soft pink dusting her cheeks — but he felt his heart warm, and even though nahida didn’t know that, he already considered her his child, his youngest daughter. and to know that she wanted him to be her father figure was better than any other scenario he could think of. 

“yes, i’ll be your daddy too, my sweetness.” 

—

you looked down fondly at ganyu and xiao, both of them looking at their ice creams as if they were the richest treasure in the world.

at the end, they decided to buy a blue shirt as zhongli’s christmas’ present, and a gold wristwatch, with his black ornaments, as his birthday present. it was adorable to see how dedicated they were to find the perfect gift for their father, debating and arguing to try to find what he would like the most — in the end, you knew zhongli would use his gifts to work, showing his employees how cute and thoughtful his little angels were. 

“this ice cream is so good, mommy.” you smiled, at first, hearing xiao’s words, napkin ready to clean his lips off the almond cream around it — but you stopped dead in your tracks when you noticed how he called you. 

you never wanted to take their biological mother’s place in their lives, though zhongli always said that she never loved them like a mother should — she saw them as a way for him to continue married to her, so she could maintain her lifestyle as a ceo’s wife intact, partying and cheating on him behind his back and leaving his children to be taken care by nannies. once, he admitted to you that his biggest regret was choosing such a woman to be the mother of his children, whispering soon after that what happened to him and her led him to you, and zhongli couldn’t be more grateful. hearing him calling you that, although, filled your heart with warmth and your smile grew wider. 

xiao was more introverted and reserved than ganyu, perhaps because of the so little time he spent with his mother before she and zhongli divorced. you thought he would be the last one to call you that, and you would be alright if he never did — the love you felt for them and the love they felt for you couldn’t be described in just a simple title. 

“you’re getting your mouth all dirty, dummy.” as a good older sister, ganyu scolded him gently, though her mouth was dirty with some of the chocolate toppings of her ice cream. “it isn’t mommy’s job to clean you.” 

you didn’t know if it was influence of her brother or just the mood that made her call you like that too, but you swallowed the lump in your throat. “it is mommy’s job to clean him, baby. it’s mommy’s job to look after the both of you, and nahida, and daddy too.” you tried to explain, napkins ready to clean them both. they giggled and, to any onlooker, you looked like a happy and small family — as you were, though two components of it were missing. 

however, your giggles died down when you spotted familiar curls of light blue hair and a pair of red eyes looking straight at you. 

you could recognize zandik’s eyes anywhere you went — they were sharp and calculating, the emotion shining on them always indecipherable. you used to find them beautiful, especially in the early days of your relationship with him, when they used to shine and sheer adoration, but now they only brought a sour taste to your mouth. but as soon as you noticed his presence there, you returned your eyes to your children, continuing to smile at them. 

“mommy!” before you could say something, you heard your sweet girl’s voice, her small hands waving at you while she was perched comfortably between zhongli’s arms.

“daddy and ‘hida are back, xiao!” ganyu exclaimed, feet already taking her to where her father was standing. you offered your hand to xiao, who took it with more enthusiasm than normal, you two followed his big sister to finally find the two other members of your family. 

though you could still feel your ex-husband’s gaze on your back. 

you sighed relieved when zhongli’s arms embraced your body, burying your face on his neck — his sandalwood scent managed to ease your heart a bit, though you were still waiting for disaster to happen with zandik around. you heard the girls’ giggles and xiao’s little ‘tsk’ at your display of affection, and you could feel your boyfriend’s smile while he kissed your lips. 

“i hope these little rascals didn’t give you any trouble, my dearest.” he spoke, voice deep and soothing, as if he could sense your distress at the moment. you smiled, shaking your head, while ganyu and xiao snuggled themselves in your sides. 

surprisingly, xiao was the first one to speak. “we would never give mommy any trouble, daddy.” you watched as surprise and pure love passed through zhongli’s features, his eyes the warmest you ever saw — it was as if he had dreamed about the day his children would finally acknowledge you as their true mother, despite the blood running through his veins. ganyu nodded and joined her brother’s chorus, nodding. 

“you’re the only one who we give trouble to, daddy!” 

you ruffled their heads. “i hope my little rascal didn’t give you any trouble, my love. i know how curious she can be.” you returned his question to him, hands still caressing xiao’s and ganyu’s hair, winking at your little girl who giggled between zhongli’s arms, that being your favorite sound in the world. she looked so at ease and at her place being nursed and loved by him, as if he was the one supposed to be her father from the very beginning. 

“my fault. she inherited it from her father, i suppose.” 

you didn’t remember his voice being so cold, as if it was the chill of the first snow of the year — it wasn’t fitting no, as your husband hailed from the west, from a place that never snowed. maybe it was the influence of some of his coworkers from the north, but you still remembered when that voice used to be your source of peace and comfort. “zandik.” you greeted him, not bothering to turn around to look at him, more concerned in protecting your children from his venom. they seemed to understand how dangerous he was, clinging to you even more. 

though, the worst part was watching nahida’s expression seeing her father after so long. her eyes were wide, but her lips were trembling and her small hands were clutching zhongli’s shirt with a strength you never saw before. you wanted nothing more than to just take her away from here, but zhongli’s expression told you he was willing to protect her like you would. it hurt you to know that your daughter was aware of the monster her father was, and you felt as if you had failed your mission to protect her childhood innocence. 

he chose to ignore your presence, focusing his attention on zhongli and nahida, as if his ego was hurt by the fact his daughter didn't run straight to his arms. “why a strange man is holding my daughter, y/n?” you turned to face him, instinctively putting ganyu and xiao behind you, hoping to protect them.

“he's my boy—” 

“he's my daddy!” nahida's voice cut you off, leaving everyone speechless. “he's going to marry mommy and not make her cry like you did, papa.” she explained, voice quiet like a feather reaching the ground after failing — though, to you, her words resonated inside your head, for two reasons: she was too young to be worried about someone making you cry. 

and zhongli wanted to marry you. 

zandik answered with a dry chuckle, his eyes shining with the same anger it did back then. “what poison about me did you feed to my daughter, you bitch?” you watched as his hand started to move towards your figure, and you closed your eyes, memories of the day when you confronted him about his cheating played in your head — the screams and the tears, the harsh words and his hands bruising your face. 

though, the impact of his fist in your jaw didn't happen again. 

you opened your arms to see zhongli in front of you, nahida being supported only by one of his arms but looking worried at your shaking form, his other hand holding zandik's arm, fingers squeezing your ex-husband’s wrist — even ganyu and xiao got away from their hiding place, now in front of you, as if they were ready to protect you. 

“do not ever dare to touch my wife like that again, scum, or i will make sure you regret messing with my family again.” zhongli said, voice firm and demanding. “get out of my sight or else nobody in this world will make me stop hunting you for hurting y/n.” 

— 

it pained him to see you like this. 

zhongli could see how strong you tried to look for the children, especially nahida. after the encounter with her father — and his boyfriend now, the same man who zandik had cheated on you with, who was lurking in the shadows until zhongli stepped up — she was visibly shaken up, not leaving your arms until your little family arrived home. in the walls of her safe place, nahida regained her light, and xiao and ganyu seemed relieved, ready to play with his little sister. 

nor you or zhongli touched the subject in front of them, and he was waiting for night time, the only time when he was alone with you in the confines of your shared room, to extract your real feelings. he could see how your smiles didn’t reach your eyes, or how your laugh seemed forced — it seemed like the kids did too, all three of them snuggled in your arms during the movie you were watching, while you were snuggled at his side. he couldn’t ask for anything better than to have the love of his life and his children safe in his arms, though his mind was running miles trying to find a way to make your husband pay for what he made you and nahida go through.

another thing that he wanted to discuss was the little secret nahida spilled. 

he didn’t blame her, of course. zhongli understood it was her way of protecting him and her mother from her father’s words, and he couldn’t be more grateful for her actions — it was a testimony of how well you were raising her, and also a testimony that you both were better without the shadow of zandik looming over you. nahida now had space to grow her opinions and be whatever she wanted, and zhongli was happy that he was able to provide such an environment for her, alongside you. 

the sound of the door opening made him tear his eyes from his book, gentle gaze now focused on your form. you were wearing some pajamas pants and an old t-shirt of his, and he swore you looked the most beautiful you ever did looking like that — perhaps, you in a white dress walking down the aisle to meet him could beat such a sight. he opened his arms and you took no time to just jump between them, face nuzzled on his neck, his warm hands drawing circles on your lower back. you sighed contentedly. “how is she?” he knew you were putting nahida to sleep, being the one who aided you in putting the children in their respective rooms, staying a bit more in her room to make sure she was alright. 

“she’s still a bit shaken up.” you answered, voice muffled by his shirt. zhongli tightened his arms around you, kissing your hair. “i explained to her that zandik will never take her away from us, but she made me promise it at least three times.” your chuckle was a sad one, and he feared you bursting into tears for someone who didn’t deserve it — though, he couldn’t help and feel warm inside by the fact you included him and his children in your family. 

he kept his silence, only humming, knowing you had to say more. “why is he like that? why i couldn’t see how horrible he was from day one?” you seemed defeated, and his blood boiled at the sensation of your tears soaking his shirt. 

zhongli knew very well how you felt. “love normally clouds our senses, dearest.” you took your face from its hiding spot, meeting his amber eyes — gentle and shining with endless love for you, making your heartbeat race just like in the first time you saw them. “but he will never try to approach you or nahida again, do you hear me?” he held your face between his large hands, thumb caressing your cheeks in a loving way. you nodded, giving him a smile that resembled your normal ones. 

“i wish you were nahida’s father from the start, ‘li.” you admitted, a pout on your lips. he pecked them briefly, almost giving you no time to melt into the kiss, kissing your forehead soon after. 

he helped you to get up from his embrace, legs straddling his thighs, while taking a small black velvet box from under your pillow. “if you say yes, i can.” 

you looked between him and the velvet box as if you didn't understand what was happening, but in reality, you couldn't believe it. why zhongli, a man so fine like the most delicious wine, wanted to marry you? a poor excuse of a woman and mother, who still got shaken up with the presence of her ex-husband? you knew he deserved someone so much better than yourself, but you wanted to be that person — but the tears were already glossing your vision and your head came to rest on his chest, his hands holding you close to his body.

you cried like a child, the velvet box between your hands and zhongli's long fingers between your hair. his warmth was almost soothing you, almost whispering that you were made and born to be in that position, between his arms and feeling his love for all eternity. 

your sobs calmed in the same intensity zhongli's love professions became more and more passionately, his words making you see that even if you didn't feel like you were deserving of his love, he felt like you were. and that was enough, you came to realize — zhongli's love was his to give to anyone he deemed worthy of, and he deemed you and your daughter worthy of his endless affections. 

“yes.” you whispered against the pale skin of his neck, now a bit red from the small love bites you gave him after you calmed down. the velvet box was still resting in your hands, and after giving his neck another kiss, you positioned yourself to face him and his amber gaze, eyes already tearing up by the love shining on them. 

zhongli's hands were ready to open it, showing you the most beautiful ring you ever saw in your life — a gold band with a heart shaped diamond in the middle, some emeralds, as the same color as your sweet girl's eyes, around it, making the ring perfect for you. you nodded again, heart racing when he took your hand in his and put the ring on your finger. as soon as you felt the cold band in your warm skin, you cupped his face, bringing his face to meet yours in a passionate kiss.  

“thank you.” zhongli whispered against your lips after he broke the kiss, and you smiled, though not ready for his next words. “thank you for loving me, for choosing this scarred and brute man to be your husband.” you just stroked his face, letting him talk his heart out. “thank you for being the best mother for nahida and now to ganyu and xiao.” his lips soon found your face once again, now caressing your cheek. “i love you.” he whispered with his nose on your cheek, his plump lips pressing a big and sloppy kiss there, his hands now roaming through your body — you knew what he wanted, already grinding your hips against his. 

“you'll make me cry again.” you managed to say between the shaky breaths leaving your mouth due to his wandering hands. “i— ah— love you.”

both of you couldn't wait to be intertwined as one for eternity, expressed by the sounds and movements of your bodies — and the proposal would always be remembered by you as one of your christmas's miracle.

[tropes-and-tales]

Rematch

December 9:  Coat/Bundle - Blind Date (Frankie Morales x F!reader)

(From the winter prompts found here)

CW:  Slight angst; slight fluff.  Squint to find the “coat” and “bundle.”

Word Count:  1806

AN:  A sequel to this!

AN2:  Requested by anon!

Frankie tries to move on.  He goes to work, he goes home.  He takes his daughter on the weekends and tries to create memories with her even if she is so young.  He takes her to parks, plays with her, snuggles on the couch when she’s drowsy.

Those are just the weekends.  His weekdays are lonely and bleak, but he drives forward.  He keeps working at his recovery.  He doesn’t let the darkness push against him too much.

It’s a month later when Tom and Pope try to make plans with him.  There’s a new brewery in town, and they cajole Frankie for a guys’ night out.  It takes a lot of convincing; Frankie’s not feeling especially social, but he finally agrees to it.

He realizes way too late that he’s been set up.  He should have known better.  Tom was just a shade too eager to go out, and Pope was just a shade too curious about Frankie’s arrival time.  

When Frankie arrives at the brewery, he doesn’t see the guys.  He stands awkwardly near the entrance and cranes his neck to see if he can find them…but he finds you instead.  You’re sitting alone at a table, and you’re looking right at him with an expression of resigned dread.

Frankie’s phone pings:  a message from Tom.

She wanted to apologize, Fish.

Then one from Pope.  Wouldn’t hurt to hear her out.

Frankie may be a lot of things, but he’s a nice guy.  Other men, egos wounded, may have turned and walked out or stayed and made a scene.  But Frankie offers you a small smile from across the room and then goes to join you.

****

To say you feel terrible would be an understatement.

You feel awful.  You feel like the lowest, rudest piece of shit to ever walk the earth.

You never meant for Frankie to overhear you, but that’s the thing—the lesson your mother tried to instill in you:  never say something behind someone’s back that you wouldn’t be willing to say to their face.

At the party, after Frankie left, Tom was the one to chew you out.  He pulled you aside, let you know that Frankie overheard your unkind words.  He gave you an exhaustive list of why the man was a good one, one of the best, and when you got home that night, you cried.

You hated to hurt people, especially perfectly nice, perfectly kind people like Frankie had seemed to be.

And he does seem perfectly kind, because he has no good reason not to turn around and leave or to march up to your table and yell at you, but he doesn’t do either of those things.  He walks over and sits down, and he even manages a smile.  It doesn’t reach his eyes, but it’s something.

*****

“Hi,” you say.

“Hi.”

“I’m sorry for the subterfuge.”  You pause, swallow nervously.  “I wasn’t sure you’d want to see me again, so I asked Tom to set this up.”

“You could have just texted me.  Gotten my number, you know?”

You nod.  “Yeah, but I wanted to apologize, and a text apology is lame.  Or a phone call.”

“You don’t have to—”

“Stop.”  You hold up a hand to silence him.  “Yes, I do.

“It’s not the worst thing I’ve heard from a woman.”

You frown.  “It doesn’t mean I shouldn’t apologize to you though.”  You reach down into the empty seat beside you, and you pull out a mixed bouquet of flowers.  You lay them gently in front of him, the little bundle of cheerful orange and yellow flowers.  

It’s absurd:  flowers as an apology, flowers gifted to a man from a woman…Frankie’s never gotten flowers before, but he finds himself touched by the gesture.  Charmed by it.  He reaches out and touches the velvety petals and wonders at the warmth of someone who would buy flowers for the person who could serve them a helping of crow.  He murmurs his thanks, and you murmur back that it’s nothing, it’s the least you can do.

He sits back in his chair and fixes you with a curious look.  “You know, just setting this up is more than enough.  I appreciate the gesture.”

“Can I buy you a beer?” you ask, looking around the room for your waitress.  “And something to eat?  Can I at least do that?”

He looks at you a beat longer and then nods.  “Yeah, sure.  That’d be nice.”

-----

There’s a moment early on when Frankie looks at you, and you gaze back at him so earnestly—pleading for a chance to apologize, so sincere that it seems like you might cry…he actually feels ashamed of himself.

That this entire thing became a thing.  That you stewed for a month while he wallowed.  That Tom and maybe Molly too gave you hell.  It wasn’t like you’d said anything overtly rude.  You had just expressed a desire to not get involved with a recently-divorced father.  Who could blame you?

He’s ashamed that this got blown up on his behalf, that you felt like you needed to trick him into a blind date (though he’s not sure it counts, since it was only blind on one side) to apologize.

But when you each get a beer in you, and when you split an order of loaded nachos, the tension between you eases and he finds that he’s enjoying himself.  Against all odds.

And he finds that he can listen to your apology, finally.

“I am really sorry, Frankie,” you say, and you look him in the eye when you say it.  No blinking, no glancing away.  “It was unfair of me to say those things about you.”

“You just said facts, though,” he replies softly.  “I am divorced.  I am a single father.”

“I put a value judgement around those facts with my tone.”

“Eh.”  He shrugs, reaches for another tortilla chip.

“Frankie, I hurt your feelings.  I feel terrible about it.”

He chews, swallows.  Takes a sip of beer and shrugs again.  “It’s okay.”

“Look.”  You lean forward, hands on the table and you look at him.  “I really enjoyed our conversation that night.  But when you told me that you just got divorced, that you have a baby at home, I sorta panicked.  I’m not saying this as an excuse, because I did hurt your feelings and it’s inexcusable.  But I did the whole “date a single father” thing before, and it ended really badly.  He was military too.  It just felt like…”.  You trail off, shift your gaze towards the ceiling as you try to put it into words.

“It felt like history repeating itself?” Frankie offers, and your eyes snap back to him as you nod.

“Yes!  Exactly.”  You reach for your glass and take a deep swallow of beer, then continue.

“It just got overwhelming in the span of…minutes.  You and I split up for a bit—you went off to get more drinks—and it was just…runaway thoughts.  Like, here I am talking to this cute guy, and he’s super nice but he just got divorced and his daughter’s still a baby so his ex-wife is still in his life, and it just…felt like I’d be signing up for more heartache.  So I panicked and pulled Molly aside, and that’s what you overheard.  You overheard me reliving the past and thinking it was about to repeat itself.”

Frankie’s head gets a little big, hearing that you think he’s cute, but he nods seriously and asks, “what happened with the other guy?”

You drop your eyes down to the table, and you trace your finger through a ring of condensation there.  “He got back together with his ex-wife.  I did…oh, about two years with him, playing second mom.  I did the sleepless nights and diaper changes and that really shitty period where the baby’s molars were coming in rapid-fire…and then he just up and got back together with his ex.”

Frankie clucks his tongue in sympathy.  “And he was military too?”

“Army.”

“Ah.”

You sigh.  You glance at him and then drop your eyes again.  “That was a year ago.  I finally thought I might be ready to date again.  I asked Molly if she knew anyone and she mentioned you.  She didn’t give me much about your situation…”

Frankie sits back in his chair and studies you for a moment.  The misery is written all over your face as you gaze fixedly at the tabletop.  Molly gave him none of this backstory.  Not a single bit of it.

“Well, shit.”  He chuckles, and it pulls your gaze to him.  “No wonder you panicked.”

You smile ruefully.  “I’m so sorry, Frankie.”

“It’s fine.  Really.”

You shake your head but the smile stays on your face.  “Can you just say you accept my apology?”

He smiles back at you, leans forward in his seat.  “I forgive you.”

-----

The rest of the evening is nice.  Maybe it doesn’t qualify as a date; maybe it was just a chance for you to apologize in person, but it’s still a nice evening out with a woman.  

The two of you commiserate about your failed relationships—you and your ex, Frankie and his marriage—and he feels that filament of hope flare up bright in him.  He understands how your past hurts drive you.  He thinks you maybe understand him a little bit too.

When the waitress brings the check, you reach out lightning-fast and swipe it from Frankie’s hand, and when he grumbles about it, you laugh and say “don’t you fucking even think about paying, buddy,” which makes him laugh too.

Frankie laughing with another woman.  The filament of hope burns brighter.

You each stand to leave, and when you struggle to pull your coat on, Frankie takes it from you, shakes it out.  Holds it for you, and it’s the briefest bit of touch—his fingertips against your shoulders—but it’s touch.  He hasn’t touched another woman since his ex-wife left him.

Outside, he walks you to your car and you linger, unsure how to part.  You kick at the gravel of the parking lot and then mutter, not quite able to meet his gaze, “so, you wanna meet up again sometime?”

Frankie’s been in plenty of scary situations with the military, but it occurs to him how terrifying this night must have been for you.  Despite Tom and Molly’s reassurances to his nature, this could have gone terribly.  You’re brave, he decides, to have wanted to make amends face-to-face, and you’re doubly brave now to put yourself out there and ask him out.  Now is the moment he could have his revenge if he wanted it, but he’s enjoyed his evening…

“Absolutely,” he says.  “Let me give you my number.”

[rouecentric]

Hello! Your posts are really fun and enjoyable to read. If you don't mind, may I ask Platonic yandere Florentia and Perez from I shall master this family manhwa? Maybe a little romantic yandere Gallahan? Thanks in advance ^ω^

WFHQFJEWGEWGW- HELLO?? i'm a big fan of your writing!! thank's for reading my posts, two platonic yanderes and one romantic yandere is on the way! <3

now how did you even get a prince and a daughter of the infamous lombardy family attached to you??? AND a respectful and puppy-like father having a crush on you?? damn you must be special

-You have worked in the Lombardy dukedom ever since Beatrice was pregnant with Florentia, being her personal maid and both a voluntary library assistant, taking care of her was your top priority as well as hanging out with her whenever she has free time

-Well, you were bound to be acquaintances with Gallahan as he was her fiancee, although not being seen as one by his family

-Although only being officially as her maid, you taught yourself both swordsmanship and archery in case the lady was ever in danger or in an uncomfortable situation

-When Beatrice died during labor, successfully giving birth to Florentia, Rulac gave you some time to take care of the baby, as one of Beatrice's last words were to assign you as Florentia's godmother

-After that, the head assigned you a new job, requiring you to go work with the imperial family, becoming one of the second prince's maids

-Although you left, you wrote letters to Gallahan regarding Florentia and how she's doing, sometimes going as far as to sending gifts that you thought she'd like

-Despite working under the empress, you disregarded her ordering the staff to slowly poison Perez, instead you started growing crops and vegetables in a nearby place but hidden well enough to be hard to notice, as well as foraging for various berries and edible mushrooms to cook or boil for the second prince to eat without other's knowing, as well as making random medicines from a book you read back in the lombardy dukedom

-Thankfully, no one caught you, making the prince get healthier overtime, but you had to ask him to pretend that he was still sick, promising to give him candy by the end of the day, which worked!

-Your friendship with the second prince, Perez, is seen as rather tight knit, with him either calling you by your nickname, or in rare cases, mom, he started saying it more after his own mother died

-I mean, why wouldn't he? You practically raised him together his mother, you even tried nursing her back to health! You told him that you wouldn't leave him! He's really dependant on you, but won't you let him do that in his crumbling childhood? No one here is on his side, except the kind and loveable you

-When he first met Florentia, you two were foraging in the forest, disguising it as the prince wanted to go outside, but you were hiding between the trees when the young lady introduced herself, then going to the prince right before they could end their conversation

"Well thank you, miss Florentia, for taking care of Perez for me," you announced, standing beside the boy, handing out a white envelope to her "Bring this to Gallahan when the two of you are back home." you ordered.

Before Florentia could say anything, there were shouts from the front, seemingly looking for the young Lombardy. So she said her goodbye's and went back, hiding the letter from everyone.

.

.

When they were back home, Florentia tugged on her father's, Gallahan's, hand.

"Do you need anything, tia?" the older man asked, looking at her with a happy expression, but that soon changed to one of an apalled face when the younger Lombardy gave him a letter, immediately recognizing who it's from because of the stamp.

He rather quickly took the envelope from Florentia, saying a quick 'thank you' before going to his room, seemingly going to open it.

-After that, you waited while taking care of the young prince to the best of your abilities, telling him stories you made up on the spot whenever he had a hard time sleeping, even sometimes singing a lullaby if it seems he has a nightmare

-But after multiple weeks, Florentia and her grandfather, Rulac, went to the front of the second prince's living place outside, talking just outside the door. So you and the prince immediately went outside, greeting the head of the Lombardy dukedom while Perez ran up to Florentia and hugged her

-When the prince was given an actual palace and finally acknowledged by his father, it was time for you to go back to the Lombardy dukedom, as your job here was finished, of course, Perez first tried to argue with you that you were his maid, but the palace already had every worker they needed, leading you to resign from being Perez's maid, which practically broke his heart, how could you? Why are you throwing him away? Was he not good enough?

-Of course, you weren't swayed by his attempt at manipulating you, and so you went back to the Lombardy dukedom, becoming Florentia's guard due to your immense power and knowledge in swordsmanship and archery

-When you fully introduced yourself as her mother's ex-maid, her godmother AND her bodyguard, safe to say Florentia was not only at awe, but shocked!

-Gallahan was overjoyed when you returned back to the dukedom, happy to see that everything went well, but what he won't be happy about is you teasing him

-As the godmother of Florentia, you gained a habit of spoiling her, anything she looks at for longer than four seconds will be brought to her bedroom on her table

-Because of how close the two of you became, Tia became rather quickly obsessed with you! She's constantly singing praises about how strong and talented you are, comparing other staff members to you as if you're the standard! She want's others to know how amazing you are! and trust me, they will listen, no matter what time it is or what's currently happening, you're top priority

-Now let's go back to you and Gallahan

-Although he can be serious and intimidating at times, he's usually soft and submissive(sobbing) like a puppy, so you always take that to your advantage whenever you want to harmlessly tease him, of course, his face always heats up, looking like a tomato and starts rapidly stuttering

-But don't be discouraged, he really likes it! Even though he wishes he could do the same to you back, it always backfires with you returning the teasing!

-From teasing to him staring at you for long amounts of time whenever you're in the same room as him, seemingly dazed

-Florentia, as always, catches on and decides to help her father, as she always wanted you to be her other parent, so, she drops hints! Like how nice that hairstyle fits you! "those colors look stunning on you today (nickname), right, dad?"

-Basically does anything in her power to get her father to realise his feelings

-But he realised them when he was sick, because you took care of him, not caring if it makes you sick in the end

-Once he realises it, Gallahan gets protective over you, he absolutely dislikes it if any other man is looking at you and tries to hide you from their view with his body

-Another thing that changes with Gallahan is that he gets clingier, basically, get the number of how much he was clingy, but duplicate it a thousand times

-He has multiple pages of you in various wedding dresses he prepared ifwhen you two get married

-Did I mention that he daydreams about you?

-Once you and Gallahan get married, prepare to not be able to leave your chambers, I'm not joking