#let’s make it happen Petra!!!

[baldursgate3tempobsessed]

Kidnapped Astarion

I have a very specific thing I can't stop thinking about. That involves Astarion getting kidnapped by Cazador for the ritual and him taunting him over the lie that Tav gave him away. Sold him even.

Tw: Lies, manipulation, mentions of torture, bad times had all around, it's long as fuck, betrayal (or at least the lie of it). Like Cazador is involved so all bad. Very bad. This also has VIOLENCE. Like canon game violence but it is BLOODY. You've been warned. Also happy ending :)

So now let's get to that angst:

It had all happened so fast.

One moment Astarion was laid back in the tent you share, reading a mediocre book as he impatiently waited for your return. He loathed when you went out without him, even if it was for good reason. He wasn't exactly welcome company when it came to solving Gale's problems, especially when it came to the bomb nestled in chest. You both knew his inability to keep his sarcastic quips to himself would not be an asset while exploring a sacred library. Besides, he didn't have much room to complain, not when he accompanied you on ninety-nine percent of your outings.

But that didn't mean he had to like it. Even if it was shaping up to be a nice, uneventful evening. He had set your tent a little farther away from the others, considering the complaints that some....well most had made about the volume of your nightly activities. It was quiet, peaceful even. The atmosphere tranquil enough for him to fully relax.

What a mistake that had been.

When the flap of the tent opened he didn't even look up, fully expecting it to be Shadowheart or Lae'zel coming round to dig about in his darling's things. It made sense, considering how it was one of the few times they wouldn't be risking walking in on something. You had such a bad habit with that "open door" policy of yours. One that had exposed nearly every party member to quite the show. Though in Astarion's view, they were just unreasonable. When you were both loud they complained. When you were quiet and they walked in on it they would whine even more. How could you win with people like that?

Perhaps a sign on the door would have done the trick, but Astarion would be lying if he didn't enjoy the others being fully aware of who could make you cry and moan. The risk was just more thrilling, if not the slightest bit annoying.

But the intruder was staying still at the opening, quiet as could be. It was odd enough to have Astarion glancing upward, his heart stopping in his chest at what he saw.

It was a man, frantically muttering something under his breath. A man that he recognized. The idiotic Petras, trying to cast some kind of incantation. It had Astarion scrambling upward, reaching for his dagger. But it was already too late. The spell was finished and Astarion could feel his senses start to fade away, one by one.

He had gotten sloppy, relying on the safety of camp that had never existed. And now he was paying the price, and what a price to pay. Even as he fell to the magic, one feeling managed to stay in place until the bitter end.

Terror.

And then, he felt nothing at all.

The next thing Astarion knew he was being awakened by a slap of cold water to his face, blinking up into horrifyingly familiar light. He immediately recognized where he was. The torture room, his arms hanging from the ceiling, his toes barely scraping the floor. It hurt to be suspended like this, a pain he was still so familiar with despite going months without. And in front of him was the cause of it all, sneering at him like the maniac he was.

Cazador.

"You're finally awake," He grinned, dropping the bucket that was in his hands, "You've been a very bad boy Astarion. Just what am I to do with you?"

Astarion wanted to answer, to curse at him, maybe even beg to just be left alone, but nothing came out. He was too stunned, too stupefied that he ended up here after everything he'd gone through. Everything you'd gone through. How could it end like this?

"I don't fully know what you were up to with all that time away from your family," Cazador continued, stepping close enough for Astarion to feel his disgusting breath on his skin, "But I think I may have the gist. Galivanting around with your merry-band of degenerates. Seems fitting."

Astarion gave a full-bodied flinch when Cazador started to graze along his collarbones with a gentle finger, his touch freezing and revolting. The gentleness wouldn't last, Astarion was surprised it was even there to begin with.

He should have realized there was a reason for it.

He trailed up his neck, stopping to trace a bruise you had left the night before. If only he had known that it was almost certainly the last time he would get to touch you. The realization was nearly enough to bring tears to Astarion's eyes, but he refused to cry in front of this creature, not if he could help it.

"Seems like you may have even found yourself a favorite amongst them. Tell me pet, who was it?"

"Fuck you." Astarion spat out, his fury managing to shine through his despair.

Astarion expected a hard slap for the insolence, but instead Cazador just laughed, loud and full-bellied, "You've gotten quite the temper since you've been away, haven't you? I wonder where that came about?"

It was a false question, Astarion could tell from the way his eyes were crinkled. Like a child excited to reveal a surprise. Cazador answered it for himself, "Is it that lovely little thing that you've been following around. Gods, what's their name again...Tav, is it?"

"Don't you dare say her name," Astarion growled, his righteous fury overcoming the ever-growing terror and dread, "They have nothing to do with this!"

"Oh but they do," Cazador grinned, stepping back to do one of his famous gloating sessions, "Just how do you think I found you? Luck? No my dear, you were given."

Astarion's answer was as immediate as it was hateful, "You're lying! You know nothing of them. Nothing of us."

He won't believe it, he has no reason to. You...you loved him. And you were probably looking for him as they spoke. You would never betray anyone like this, least of all him.

But Cazador remained unphased. If anything he was looking at him with pity, "Oh you poor thing. You think she cares? You think she loves you? I'm disappointed Astarion, it seems you've learned nothing from our time together. What is there to love, hm? Nothing that I can see. Though...they sure did seem to love the gold. You fetch quite the high price my dear. But it will be worth it."

Lies. It was all lies. It had to be. Astarion shoved his uncertainty back down, bellowing out, "Liar!"

It was forceful enough to even make Cazador falter for the briefest of moments, a split second that anyone else would have missed. But he pressed on, shaking his head, "Darling, don't you find it strange that you were all alone that day? That no one came to your aid? Where do you think you're love was, hm? Wait, don't tell me. I can remember...ah yes! With Gale, correct?"

Astarion swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry. How...how did he know that?

"It was a fabulous excuse, was it not?" Cazador continued with a laugh, "We came up with that one together. After a little fun that is. I can see why you fell for their treachery Astarion, they are quite lovely, aren't they?"

No. No, no, no.

"Stop it," Astarion hissed, "Shut your mouth. I-It's not true."

"Oh but it is. I'm not sure if you're aware but you're quite the headache darling, not many can handle it. Not including myself. She even told me of that hilarious speech you gave. About wanting something real. It was just as funny to her as it was to me."

Astarion stared at him, at a complete loss for words. It couldn't be true. It couldn't. But...how else would he know that? In a camp full of people why did no one come to his aid? But the cruelty of it all...it was exactly the type of thing Cazador was versed in.

Setting up the same type of trap that he'd trained Astarion for, that he had used on others countless times. And he fell for it, he lost the game he thought he'd mastered.

His faith was slipping, hard and fast when he asked the horrible question, "How do you know that?"

"Because I sent them to you," He said with that disgusting grin, "It was no coincidence that you met. You were kidnapped, I needed you back, so I hired some help. It's a pity that they were captured as well. The pause to our plans was quite inconvenient. Our Tav just can't help but get distracted, can she?"

"No..." The word slipped out of Astarion without his consent, his mind racing. That couldn't be true. It didn't make sense. T-There had to be another explanation. If he could just think he'd find it. But...what point was there? He was already captured, taken. If anything, all of this being a grand scheme from Cazador was more logical than someone loving him.

He had gone through many, many tortures during his time here. Unspeakable, horrible things that he would never wish on anyone, excluding the man in front of him. But this...this was the worst thing he'd ever done to him. He had tricked him, you had tricked him, and he whole-heartedly fell for it, like the fool he was. The fool he would die as.

He didn't know it was possible, but this would be the greatest pain he ever knew. He was sure of that. Cazador had managed to do it. He had broken him, finally.

His tears were falling on their own accord, plentiful and pathetic. Cazador cooed at him, tracing his cheek with his horrid hand, "It hurts, doesn't it? I missed that expression on you my boy. You were always at you're prettiest when you had given up."

He wiped Astarion's tears away, gently holding his face as he spoke, "If only this was enough. The things I want to do to you for running away... I want to make you scream, make you beg for death. Just like how things used to be. If only we had the time."

Cazador let go, stepping back with a sigh, "How I wish that they had gotten you to me earlier. Though it's too late to pout about it now, the preparations are almost complete. But don't fret my boy, your end will have the meaning that your life failed to posses. Come along now."

Astarion hung there, limp as Cazador unhooked him from above. This was it. He was going to die here, as nothing but a pawn. He didn't even try to fight it when he was led down, deep into the palace to a place he'd never known existed. He kept his eyes closed for most of the journey, simply for the fact that he didn't have the strength to keep them open.

It was...a horrendous feeling to be incased in that red energy, floating in the air with all of his brothers and sisters as Cazador finished his preparations. It forced his eyes open against his will, making him see the hell that had been hiding beneath his feet all these years. He had been wrong about the sacrifice it seemed, it wasn't just them. There were thousands of bodies, barely alive in hanging cages, strewn throughout the place.

It was horrible, but fitting. Where else would something like him die? All he wished was that Cazador would hurry, so he could be done with it all. He has to much time to think in these last moments, too much time to examine your betrayal.

He...hates you. For it all. He hates you more than anything, enough for that same fury to come bubbling back to the surface. How dare you do this to him, after everything you'd been through. He should have killed you while you slept, while you let him drink from your throat. He should have killed them all, the vile sacks of shit.

If his soul ever found it's way back from the hell it was about to be damned too, he'd find you. His revenge was no longer reserved for Cazador, but for the wretched bitch hat tortured him in ways he didn't even think were possible. He'd do worse to you than anyone could imagine.

You were the cruelest thing to ever exist, as heartless and horrid as the monster before him.

So why was he still crying over it?

It didn't matter anyway. Not now. Now, all he could do was wait for the bitter end.

But then...he felt something. A familiar presence tickling the back of his mind. A barely there whisper, no words that he could make out. But it was getting stronger. Clearer.

It...it was you. Calling out to him with your illithid connection, begging for an answer.

My love, where are you? Astarion please, please tell me your there. Help me find you.

He can scarcely believe it. But he wasn't going to wait for his emotions to catch up to what could be an escape. He was screaming in his brain, trying to send out any signal that he could.

I'm here. I'm here. Don't let him take me. Please.

He could hear you in his head, the sheer relief from your mind nearly overwhelming, I'm coming. Hold on, I'm coming.

Astarion didn't even have the time to doubt. Because the next moment you were bursting through the ornate doors, nearly your entire team in tow.

Astarion had never seen you look the way you did then. He was so used to your kindness, the warmth and light that you tried to spread everywhere you went. You were always smiling, always laughing, always trying to share the same with others.

But now you were breathing hard, near feral in your posture as your eyes darted around, landing straight to the shocked Cazador. You looked murderous, vicious enough to send a shiver down Astarion's spine. Your teeth were bared, your whole body trembling with rage as you started to advance, weapons already drawn.

And in that moment Astarion was sure that you were the most gorgeous, perfect thing he had ever seen. Or ever would.

It was brutal, bloody battle. One that ended with you slitting Cazador's throat as Astarion watched in awe. You let the body fall to the ground, blasé before you finally ran to him, releasing him from his prison.

Then he was being pulled into the most crushing hug of his entire life. One that he was helpless to return. He clung to you, uncaring for their rather large audience.

He was too busy burying his face into your hair, breathing you in as you whispered into his shoulder, "Thank the Gods that you're still here."

The pain in your voice was so raw, so real. Astarion needed no other evidence to be sure that every word from the dead man's lips had been a lie. He was also positive that he had never cried this much in his life, but now it was a different kind of sob he was trying to choke back. The flood of relief was crushing, the truth that your love was real was nearly enough to destroy him all over again. Not for cruelties sake, but to make something new. To kill every last doubt he had that he was nothing, worthless. How could he be when you were here? When you came for him?

He pulled back reluctantly, smiling down at you with tear tracks on his face. He kissed your forehead, covered in sweat and blood, and gods knows what else.

It was all finally over. You both turned to the rest of the group, your hands clasped together as you made your way to where Cazador lay dead. It was satisfying to see, but such a shame that Astation wasn't the one to do the deed. A regret he'd have for the rest of his days.

Or so he thought.

But then you were turning to Shadowheart, your sweet face curling back into the disgust from earlier when you ordered, "Revive him."

Astarion watched, wide-eyed as she did what she was told. Cazador came back into consciousness, in what looked to be an extremely unpleasant experience. He was coughing blood, the spell doing just enough to mend his mortal wounds, but not nearly powerful enough to give him a fraction of his strength back. He stared upwards, his eyes wide at the sight of you lording over him.

And for the first time in two hundred years, Astarion saw fear in the other man's eyes. Wonderfully delicious fear.

He felt you squeeze his hand as he stared at him, speaking quietly, "He's yours. To do with what you please. Do...do you want us here for this?"

He could hear the hidden meaning in your words. This wasn't just a choice of what to do with him. It was a choice of what to do with them all. He had taken notice that he was the only one that you had freed, his brethren still suspended in air.

He turned to you, his voice strong for the first time since he'd come back to this pit, "I want you here for this."

You nodded before looking back to the others to tell them to wait outside. They did so reluctantly, obviously without confidence in his decision making abilities. He ignored the especially worried look Karlach sent his way, too focused on the piece of vampiric trash in front of him.

Cazador was still coughing, his mouth forming more vile words, "Y-You don't have to do this. I can-"

"Silence," Astation seethed, partly surprised when it worked to shut him up. But then again, he had never been placed in a position to see his master be the one without an escape, "Your life is in my hands now. Tell me the truth. How did you find me?"

Astarion could see the fury behind his eyes, the humiliation of being ordered around by his own spawn. But his desire for life won out in the end.

"Luck," he spat out, "Sheer luck. Yomen saw you in the city, at Shar's Caress with this one. He followed you, found your camp and reported back. I sent Dalyria and Petras to fetch you, gave them a powerful sleeping scroll to knock out your allies. And then you were mine again."

Astarion shouldn't have been surprised that he had the audacity to glare at Tav, seething, "Or at least you would have been."

"And my memories?" Astarion pressed, "How did you know of us?"

"The tadpole squirming behind your eyes doesn't change the fact that I am your master," Cazador said, "Your mind is mine to shape, to understand. It was more difficult than before, yes. But I had enough to know what to say."

Of course. He should have known, "So that was your last torture then?"

"Yes," Cazador said simply, a sneer managing to appear on his bloodied face, "And you have to admit, it worked wonderfully."

"You can kill him now if you'd like," You piped up from his side, staring down at the vampire like the trash he was, "Or...you can take his place."

You hesitated for a brief moment before steeling yourself, looking Astarion in the eye, "Whatever you choose, I'll be here for you. I promise."

Astarion nodded, weighing his options. It was so very difficult to not just kill him where he laid, like the pathetic dog he was. But then again...the ritual would mean endless power. Power that he could use to protect himself, to protect you. So nothing like this could ever happen again.

Astarion looked up, his eyes searching every last one of his brothers and sisters faces. They looked scared, perhaps even resigned to their fate. Just at the hands of another. Astarion hadn't expected the image to make him feel ill, yet it did.

Could he do it? Sacrifice them all, along with everyone else trapped in the bowels of their personal hell? He could. He knows he could. Yet...

He looked back at you, the only thing he had ever loved. The one person to show him a different way to live, who was giving him the freedom to be his own person. But... he wanted that person to be someone worthy of you. Someone who would make you proud.

And there was only one way to do that. Astarion let go of your hand, reaching for the dagger you kept at your belt before striding over to Cazador. He stabbed him with little fanfare, no warning, no chances to beg. And then he did it again, and again, and again. Until he lost count, until the body of his former master was mutilated, his chest nothing but unrecognizable gore.

He wasn't quite sure when he started crying again. He only realized it when he could barely breath through his own screams, every bit of rage, hurt, and humiliation that had been beaten into him coming straight to the surface. He sunk to his knees as he sobbed, tossing the knife to the side.

The whirlwind inside of him was too much, so overwhelming that he was afraid he'd be lost to it. But then he could feel it, you wrapping your arms around him, kneeling next to him as he broke down.

He clung to you, burying his face into your neck as he cried, desperate for your comfort, your touch. You were crying too he realized, your voice breaking as you gently spoke to him, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I should have been there to protect you. I love you, you did the right thing. I'm sorry."

You had nothing to apologize for, but that didn't stop your words from acting like a soothing balm to all of his internal wounds. But he would get through this. Because for the first time Astarion knew, without a shadow of a doubt he wouldn't have to get through it alone. With you by his side, he would never be alone again.

He wasn't sure how long you both spent there, kneeling in a pool of his tormentors blood. But he knew he felt different when he pulled away, changed.

Free.

He cupped your face, wiping away your tears while only managing to smear the mess about. But it didn't matter that you were both covered in blood and viscera, not when he had you.

"I love you too," Astarion whispered, finally allowing himself to unload the burden of hiding away from you. No more of that. He was yours, fully and completely, "I love you so much. I-I thought that this was it. That I'd never see you again. That you betrayed me-"

"Never," You interrupted, your voice fierce despite how it was breaking, "I never will. You're all I want, all I need. I should have been there, I'm so sorry-"

"No more apologies," Astarion murmered, pressing a quick kiss to your bloody mouth, "No more. We're here. That's all that matters."

You nodded, kissing him again, so sweet despite everything that should have made it sour. Despite his own words, Astarion couldn't help the white hot shame that passed through him. How could he have doubted you, even for a moment? Doubted this, the most beautiful that ever happened to him. Never again would he question what you had together, to let his mind be poisoned by others.

But there would be more time for the two of you later. The rest of your lives if he had anything to say about it. But for now...you freed him. And it was his turn to do the same.

Astarion pulled back, sighing as he looked around the room at his brethren. They were still hanging in the air, all privy to quite the show. He freed them, forgave them even, despite every horrid thing they'd done to eachother over the years.

But that didn't stop him from clocking Petras squarely in the face the second his feet touched the floor. The other man took it well enough, fully knowing that Astarion was capable of much, much worse. Though he was well aware that Petras had been compelled to kidnap him, it didn't change the fact that the punch was very satisfying.

As for the rest of the spawn, the thousands trapped here, he let them go as well. Down to the Underdark, where they could at least have a chance of controlling their feral nature before associating with mortals again.

Then it was time to leave this wretched place, forever. He would never be hurt here again, never controlled. He was free, finally. And with you by his side, what else could he ever ask for?

[carolmunson]

i'm the best thing at this party | e.m.

up and coming rockstar!eddie munson x girlfriend!reader (is that a picture of slash? sure, but we can pretend it isn't.) aka the first time carol ever wrote a fic based off a taylor song. but in my defense, it was a chase petra cover of 'you're losing me' that inspired it. this is not connected to my rockstar!eddie x actress!reader storyline, this is it's own oneshot in a separate story.

in the early 90s, when your boyfriend's band starts to make it in the big leagues, you start to come to terms with the fact that he might not want or need a small town player anymore. eighteen plus. established relationship. angst. hurt/no comfort-ish. open ending.

"and i'm fading, thinkin': 'do something, babe. say somethin'. lose somethin' babe, risk something. choose somethin' babe. i got nothin' to believe, unless you're choosing me.'"

The Hideout was hot with all the bodies packed in like sardines; stark contrast to the icy chill of winter outside. Glowing on the screen was The Tonight Show, everyone’s eyes glued to it while Corroded Coffin made their first national televised debut. 

No one’s totally sure how their manager Richie was able to finesse this slot �� but they went to New York to film earlier in the week and didn’t ask any questions. With Richie, it's better to not ask questions and just let it happen. Eddie came home with an adrenaline rush so intense that he barely slept for three days. No matter how much you tried to keep him in bed and tire him out. 

And sure, it was hard to have him be gone while you drove out to Indy and took a friend to see the new graffiti art exhibit that came in from LA when it was supposed to be with him. It was hard to have him miss a lot of things. His return from the city only started another big talk about it, one you've been having every few months the last two years. Even so, you couldn’t help but be proud of him, proud of all of them. Remembering that just four years ago they were barely getting fifteen people in here to see them play when you first started dating. 

The crowd erupts when the camera comes off of the band on the stage and back to Leno at his desk, the boys in real life all standing on the bar. You look up at Ed and smile, he finally did it, he’s doing it. The contracts are signed, the people saw him, he’s gonna make it. He’s making it. 

You duck out of the way when they start to spray champagne over everyone by the bar, “Not my hair, babe!” 

The two  bartenders pour shots of Jameson and flutes of Prosecco while the show cuts to commercial and it’s not long before you feel the sticky chest of your boyfriend up against your shoulder, “It was good? I did good?” 

“Ed you’re…you’re fuckin’ famous,” you grin, “You’re fuckin’ famous!”

You follow while he leads you through the crowd, settled in near the back where the stage doors lead to the dressing room and out into the parking lot. He looks over his shoulder twice before he sneaks you both behind the amps; heart pounding when he leans you up against the painted cinder block walls, noses mashing when he takes your lips in his. It’s feverish, desperate when he pulls at your hips, one arm wrapped around your mid back to keep you steady up against him.

“Lemme – mmm – lemme take you to the green room,” he breathes between kisses, moving your hand toward the bulge in his jeans, “C’mon I wan–” 

“The interview’s up!” Jeff calls from on top of the bar. 

“Where’s Ed? ED? Come on! The interview’s up!” Gareth calls, the crowd erupting in a cheer of ‘Edd-ie, Edd-ie, Edd-ie!’

“Come on, come on!” you squeal, pulling away to pull him toward the front of the bar again, “You said they were gonna cut it!”  

“It’s stupid, babe,” he assures, “It’s so dumb.” 

“Ed, you’re being interviewed by Leno, this isn’t stupid,” you urge, “This is like – this is it.” 

“It’s literally like two minutes, it’s not special,” he doesn’t move when you pull him along with you, a frown pulling on your lips. 

“Eddie,” your voice raises an octave, tugging on his hand – he lets go. 

“I’m gonna take a leak,” he shrugs, heading toward the green room while you watch him disappear behind the door. Your brows furrow slightly, but it doesn’t stop you from making your way back to the edge of the bar where everyone’s eyes are glued to the medium sized screen in the corner. 

The crowd cheers again while the band is re-introduced, Eddie and Jeff sitting on the chairs with Gareth and Grant standing behind them. You admire the way your boyfriend looks post performance, nearly glittering with sweat but glowing with pride – with accomplishment. You look over your shoulder to see if he’s back from the bathroom yet, but he’s nowhere to be seen.

“So we got a group of some – what looks like – nice, respectable hard core guys,” Jay smiles. 

“I don’t know about respectable,” Eddie scrunches his nose back at the host. 

“I don’t know about nice, either,” Jeff jokes. You marvel at how relaxed and natural they all look on camera, cracking wise and getting laughs from the audience. They talk about the album briefly, and the front cover which has all four boys in caskets with a red kiss print on their cheeks. 

“So, the debut is self titled, Corroded Coffin – but it looks like you all got a coffin kiss here,” he points out, “These from anyone special? You got the girls going crazy.” The audience erupts in cheers and screams, a bra finding its way flung into the sound stage. You giggle when Gareth and Grant  hold it up, making them both blush pink on the screen. 

“Well I got a girl at home, so, I don’t hear any screamin’ if it’s not her cheering for me,” Jeff’s smile is bright when the camera focuses on him and he winks into the lens. Sasha, Jeff’s girlfriend, screeches in the crowd of The Hideout. 

“You didn’t tell me you were gonna do that!” she beams, and your heart thunders while you watch them kiss on the bar. The promise ring that he gave her back in ‘88 shines on her ring finger, awaiting something much more flashy when that first big rockstar payday hits.

“It’s definitely a change of pace,” Grant nods on the screen, “Definitely wasn’t getting a lot of girls in high school.” 

“It’s wild,” Gare laughs. 

“And what about you, Munson,” Jay asks, “Frontman like you’s gotta be beating them off with a stick.” 

The camera focuses on him, his pink lips and smart grin, a flash of teeth before he starts talking. He’s so handsome, you feel your fingers and toes start to tingle when he opens his mouth.You weren’t expecting to hear your name on national television, or be alluded to. You’d never really prepared yourself for something like this. To be declared to thousands, maybe millions, as a rockstar girlfriend.

You swallow the nervous spit pooling in your mouth, heart pattering while you run through all of the scenarios of the outcome of being ‘announced’ in your head.  

“I don’t kiss and tell, Jay,” he smirks.

Oh.

Your hearing clouds and your vision blurs – unsure of what you just heard. If maybe you imagined it, but that proves to be untrue when you feel a few sets of eyes on you. A moment of silent confusion lulls on the crowd at the bar.

You swallow the lump in your throat, fingers and toes cold now while the blood rushes to your heart and head, to your lungs which suddenly forgot how to work. Through teary eyes you look around, drowned out by the cheers of the bar when Jay announces when the album will release. You sniffle, trying to hold it back – but there he is in the back of the crowd now, eyes rounded; pleading, looking straight at you. 

The tears spill over and you try to catch your breath as you make your way through the bodies on your way to the front door. You hear Gareth call after you, hearing him stumble over the barstools while he hops off the counter. Another ragged intake of breath shakes through you while you get closer to the sticker covered door, pushing through the first set and then the other into the dark blue night. Your breath puffs white in front of you, coat abandoned somewhere back inside The Hideout while you walk across the street to your car. 

You fumble with the keys, blubbering while you get the engine started and the radio blares Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together part way through the song. In the rear view you see him hustle out of the bar to search for you, catching the start of your car and getting to the passenger window before you can pull away. 

“Wait, wait, wait,” he strains, his fingers hanging on the edge of the half open glass, “I promise it’s not what you think. Richie asked me to answer like that, it wasn’t on purpose.” 

You press slightly on the gas, making the car lurch forward and inch.

“Wait! Please don’t – don’t just go,” he begs, voice breaking with desperation, “We can talk about it.” 

You look at him through wet eyes, the street lights haloing behind his head to feign his innocence. He can talk himself out of anything.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” you rasp out quietly, “We’ve done enough talking.” 

“I can…please don’t go,” he says again, “Not with you crying like this, c’mon. Don’t leave.” 

“I’m gonna go home, Ed,” you sniffle, “J-just go h-have fun inside. S’too cold to be out here.” 

“You don’t have your coat,” he states, “Come back in and get it. We can talk in the back, please.” 

“I don’t need my coat,” you garble out, “I’m going h-home.” 

“Well I’ll – I’ll bring it to you tomorrow morning,” he nods needily, “Okay? Is that okay?” 

You let out a shaky breath, fogging again against your windshield, “F-fine.” 

Eddie cracks a weak but winning smile, “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” 

“I love you,” he adds. It tastes like ash in your mouth. You pull away before you feel compelled to say it back. 

Eddie show’s up in the morning with coffee and your coat, a small carton of donut holes for you both to share. He’s all smiles, seeing you in the kitchenette cleaning out the coffee pot that you now no longer have to fill. 

“Morning, baby,” he grins, “I brought your coat.” 

“Thanks,” you mutter, keeping your eyes on the droplets of water that race down the side of the glass pout, “You can just hang it on the hook.” 

“Are you…are you still upset with me?” his voice is airy, surprised while he makes his way behind you. Calloused hands reach around to pull your back in his chest, nose nuzzling against your cheek. Your stomach rolls, bile inching up the base of your throat. 

“Enough, Ed,” you sigh, pulling out of his hold. 

“Sweetheart, c’mon,” he huffs, “I told you already. I didn’t want to say that. But you know how Richie is! He just wants what’s best for the band and so do I! Don’t you? I thought you’d understand.” 

“Jeff had no problem talking about Sasha,” you do your best to measure your tone, too early to start yelling. 

“Jeff has the wholesome thing going for him; plus – you know his family isn’t for him being considered like, a rogue or whatever. He’s already in a metal band,” Eddie explains, like this is a totally normal conversation, “Richie even said this morning that he was getting a lot of calls.” “Okay,” you nod, sitting down at the small table in your kitchen where your coffee sits. 

“And like, a lot of people wanna do interviews with us and get hype up for the release,” he half smiles, sitting down across from you, “I told you, it was…it was a good thing. They were saying y’know like, mysterious bad boy front man is a good angle.” 

“Great.” 

“It doesn’t…babe, it doesn’t mean we can’t be together,” he leans forward, hand reaching out to touch yours. His shoulders sulk when you put them both under the table. 

“Ed I –” you let out a breath, eyes tracing a pattern on the waxed canvas tablecloth, “I can’t even look at you right now. And you wanna tell me we can still be together?” 

“What like it’s…some consolation prize?” you choke out, “You made a fool out of me. The looks I got?”   

“I know, I know, but it was for the band. You know how I feel abo—“ 

“How you feel about me?” you hold back a bitter laugh. 

“Ed, the last year or so we have kept having the same conversation over and over again. You are so, so caught up in Corroded and making it and getting there and trust me I am so proud of you. If there is anyone on the planet who is more proud than me maybe it’s Wayne, but – this is just like, this is kind of it. We have nowhere to go from here.” 

He’s quiet for a moment, his brown eyes rounding and brows tilting slightly when he realizes what you’re really saying, “What do you mean no where to go? Are you not listening? I said we can still be together, just like befo–” 

“Before? Before when?” you get up and pace back to the kitchen where he can still see you, “Before when you would cancel dates to go practice? When you missed my awards night for work  because you wanted to fill in guitar for a gig in Ohio? When you didn’t come to my poetry reading with the guys like you said you would and instead got plastered at The Hideout after rehearsal?” 

“Well I apologized for all that, that was all in the past couple years and I – look, I said I was sorry and you accepted that,” his voice raises slightly, he stands up to full height with defense evident in his stance, “You can’t just throw it back in my face.” 

“When you were gone weeks at a time for mini tours, for opening for bands on the East Coast – god, all the work I took off to make sure I was there for you? When you canceled our three year anniversary dinner, without my knowledge, because you got a call for discounted studio time on the same night,” you manage to get out, the tears inching toward the edge of your lash line, “And I sat there at the table in my new dress and everyone looked at me the same way they looked at me last night. Poor girl. Must’ve got stood up. What an idiot.” 

“Yeah well that studio time is why we were on fuckin’ LENO, babe!” he pleads, “Don’t you get that? It’s for us!” 

“It’s for you!” you break, the shrill frustration coming out with your voice, “It’s always just been for you. It’s always about Eddie and the guys. I have done nothing but make sacrifice after sacrifice, excuse after excuse to play the part of perfect, understanding, cool, laidback girlfriend but like fuck Ed, when is it gonna be about me, huh?” He stands there, unsure, cheeks sucking in between his teeth.

“And what’s on the docket for you on Friday? Have any plans?” you ask, your voice softening while you cross your arms over your chest. You lean the small of your back against the counter while you watch him. He clears his throat, hands finding their way into the back pockets of his jeans. 

“Um, we have some meetings in the morning in Indy. And then um, we’re gonna take a late flight out to LA. The label’s excited – they’re really excited,” he breathes out, eyes finding the floor and your sock covered feet.

“Oh, that’s interesting,” you nod, voice still measured, “Since we’ve had the tickets for my niece’s winter school concert on the fridge for over a month. I guess I’ll have to tell her that her favorite bonus teacher couldn’t make it.” 

“Fuck,” Eddie’s eyes shut, pulling his lips in to run his tongue across them while he thinks of what to say next. Your heart thrums in your chest, throat getting tighter and tighter while you hold back a cry – this was just another thing to add to the list.

“I can make it up to her, I promise,” his raspy nicotine voice becoming garbled with desperation, “I can make this all up to you, too. I swear. I wish you had just told me about all of this.” 

“I have, Ed. We are always having the same conversation. I’m tired of having it. I’m so tired of this. Make it up to me? How do you make up for it?” 

“I…” he chokes on his words, ringed fingers running over his face and reaching to pull his hair back off his neck. 

“Go ahead,” you encourage angrily, “What’re you gonna do? Say something. Fucking, do something, Ed!” 

“Baby, I don’t know what to…” he swallows, tears pooling in shiny wells over his eyes, “What do you want me to do? I’ll do it. I’ll do anything.” 

You take a breath through your nose and let it out through your mouth, taking the three steps it takes to get to him. Your hands fall from being crossed, reaching up to cup each of his cheeks. Your thumbs run over the apples and drag softly over the stubble left over from the night before. 

His eyes shut while he keens into your touch, his rough hands covering yours. Calloused fingertips coasting delicately over your knuckles. You know what you have to do, even if his touch makes you want to do the opposite. 

“Go be famous,” you shrug, smiling weakly, “Go be the big rockstar I know you are. Like how you wanted. Go play The Garden and live in LA.” 

Your hands slide down his face, tears falling after them, “Go do all that, and just, um – just leave me alone. Please.” 

“But I don’t–” he starts, pulling in a sharp breath while a cry leaks out of him, “I don’t wanna lose you.” 

“Oh, Ed,” you shake your head while the ache spills over into your own leveled sob, “I’m already lost.” 

“No, please,” he begs, trying to catch your hands as they make it back to your sides, “Please, baby, I’ll fix it. I pro-promise.” 

“There’s nothing left to fix,” you whisper in finality, “You should go.” 

“I don’t want to,” Eddie’s soft pink lips quiver while he speaks, “Please. Please. I can fix it, the next interview, anything, it’ll be all you. I swear I can…I can…” 

When your face doesn’t change he knows there’s no way to pull you from your stance, voice trailing off in defeat. You watch as he rips open your storm door and goes to his van, his chest and back shaking with sobs that make the hardware on his jacket cry with him.

A year passes and you are not surprised when you find out that Corroded Coffin has made the cover of Rolling Stone. Wayne bought every copy from the gas station at the end of the road and put them in every mailbox early that morning. You don’t think there’s been a day in the last year that Wayne wasn’t seen beaming ear to ear; his boy finally getting everything he wanted. 

Life had gotten easier now that you weren’t regularly expecting disappointment. You went on few dates here and there, just trying to navigate your life after spending four years sharing it with someone else. Some nights were colder than others, but it was better than the frigidness you felt that night at the bar.

You did your best to avoid the tabloids – Eddie was certainly doing just fine navigating his life as a bachelor; some new model or actress on his arm every other month it seemed. Hardrock’s Resident Playboy. It stung the first time you saw it, and a little less each time after – heart breaker to the core; you would know, you were the blueprint.

In the same cold that matched the night at The Hideout a year prior; you sat on your steps wrapped in a robe – morning cigarette between your fingers. 

“Morning,” Wayne’s voice is gravelly when it sounds over you, still soaked with left over sleep. 

“Mornin’ Wayne,” you smile, taking a sip of the steaming cup of coffee in your other hand. 

“Wanted to uh, to let you know that the guys are playin’ a show in the city tonight. I could uh – I could get you a ticket if y–” 

“That’s sweet of you Wayne,” you smile tightly, “But I don’t think that’s a good idea.” 

“He might like to see you,” he shrugs. He hadn’t quite gotten over the break up the way you and Eddie had, convinced that this was the real deal – that he was watching young love flourish into something bigger. 

“He’s seeing someone, Wayne,” you take a drag of your cigarette, “Why would he want to see his ex-girlfriend who still lives in Hawkins? He’s got some actress girl now, right?” 

Wayne shrugs again, scratching at the back of his neck, “I never know what that boy’s got goin’ on in California outside of shows and gettin’ into trouble. Maybe he is seeing some girl but, y’know, seein’ an old friend could be good for him.” 

“He’s still got plenty of friends here he can see,” you let the smoke out to drift off in the gentle wind rustling through the line of trailers and mobile homes, “I don’t think I need to be one of them.” 

“Well, they’re gonna have a small after party at The Hideout tomorrow,” he offers, “Even if you just wanna do somethin’ fun. I never see you goin’ out anymore.” 

You laugh, “You work at night, what do you mean you don’t see me goin’ out anymore? I go out plenty.” 

His eyes linger on you, enough to encourage a thoughtful sigh – you might as well humor him. 

“I’ll think about it, okay?” you toss your half finished cigarette onto the browned grass before looking back up at him.

“Okay,” he smiles, eyes sparkling as he makes his way back inside. 

You spend the next day deliberating between making it to the bar or not, putting in the effort to get ready and showing up. Why bother? Just to sit awkwardly in the corner while everyone flocks to the boys and tells them how great they are? They already know they’re great, they’re crawling higher and higher up the ladder. 

You haven’t even talked to Eddie since the morning he left your trailer, and Wayne knows that. He knows how bad you hurt his nephew because he came over to talk to you a week after Eddie went to California and stayed for good. ‘So why should I show my face there? So I can relive the moment he made a fool of me over again?’ You think while the hot water of the shower glides over your shoulders and down your chest. 

‘Maybe it’ll be good to make amends or something, I at least owe it to the guys,’ you figure silently while you slather on some moisturizer at the bathroom sink. And you did – not seeing Eddie meant not seeing the rest of the band. Gareth, Jeff, and Grant were your friends too, and you sort of broke up with them in the same instance. Sasha moved out to California with them soon after – it would be nice to catch up at least. You hadn’t seen her since that night. 

‘But why would I want to bother? So I can see that engagement ring on her finger and hear her talk about her wedding plans?’ you swallow sourly while you use a touch of your lipstick as blush on the apples of your cheeks. ‘Remember all the times you thought you and Ed were gonna get married? Hilarious.’ 

Before you know it, it’s 11:30 and you’re standing outside of the sticky and stickered covered door of The Hideout. Even from where you’re standing the bar is a buzz like a hive, energy inside like a livewire when you get into the entryway, showing your ID to the bouncer at the inside door. 

‘Small after party my ass, Wayne,’ you think to yourself when you get in, shrugging off your coat. There was barely room to move and most of the lights were off or dimmed aside from the small stage in the back. By the looks of it, they must’ve played a small set – an intimate ‘home base’ concert for the real hometown fans. You push through some of the crowd, acrid smoke haze hovering over the room. A single bar stool sits empty at the end of the counter close to the wall and before you can think about it, you beeline straight there before someone else can grab it. Not that anyone would be able to see it through the six couples making out to Slayer blasting through the speakers. 

The bar tender notices you soon after, coming over to get your order while his two cohorts speedily pour shots and mix drinks. You almost don’t want to get anything just to make the night easier, but opt for a beer instead. 

“How much?” you ask over the music. 

“WHAT?” the bartender shouts, holding a hand to his ear. 

“HOW MUCH?” you yell back. 

“ON THE HOUSE. BAND IS COVERING DRINKS,” he shouts back. You take a few dollars out while he pours your beer anyway, sliding it across the bar with a smile. He smiles back, pocketing the ones with a wink before helping another person leaning over the bar. 

The TV takes your attention, a tape of their recent interviews and music videos playing on a loop with no sound. The beer is almost comforting as it passes over your tongue, it’s been some time since you just sat in a busy bar – and for the most part, no one here even knows you. For the most part. 

A call of your name snaps you back to reality, looking around to see exactly who you thought you would. Sasha. And low and behold a ring sparkles bright on her finger, a breathtakingly big diamond glittering in the neon lights behind the bar. 

“Hey!” you call back with a smile, sick crawling up your throat. You watch as she fights the crowd to get over to you, wrapping you in a tight hug while you stay seated on the stool. 

“How have you been? You look gorgeous,” Sasha’s tan skin glows back orange in green while the lights change, tight dark curls bouncing prettily around her face. 

“I’ve been good!” you nod, your voice hardly sounds like your own, “Y’know just – hanging around Hawkins. How’s LA? How’ that ring?!” 

She holds her hand out so you can really see it, her skin is warm in yours while you take her fingers. It’s more beautiful up close, the marquise diamond flanked by two smaller triangles in perfect harmony. 

“He did so good, Sash,” you giggle. 

“I slapped his arm so hard when I saw it,” she laughs, “I said, ‘Jeff we could’ve bought a freakin’ house!’ but you know how he is.” 

“I do, I do,” you nod, “Did you set a date?” 

“Probably not for another year or so if we do a big wedding,” she shrugs, “Maybe a little longer? We think it’s smart to actually buy a house first – with this kind of money coming in. And y’know, the industry is, uh, well, it can be wishy washy. What’s in today could be out tomorrow. We wanna be smart.” 

“Well thank god he’s marrying someone like you then,” you tease. 

“That’s true,” she beams, “Do the guys know you’re here? I can go grab J–”

“No, no, they don’t,” you interrupt, taking her arm gently while she turns to leave, “You don’t have to tell them I’m here. I’ll go find them, I promise.” 

Sasha gives you a half hearted smile, “Okay. Well – We’re sitting over by the stage if you wanna come say hi to the guys. Gareth would lose his mind, and Grant brought his new girl with him, she’s so cool. They met in LA and she’s like, got the sickest punky-goth type of thing about her.” 

“I love that he’s in love,” you gush. 

“Me too,” she nods, “The girls are obsessed with him out there.” 

There’s a silence, but it’s knowing – still one person yet to have been mentioned but you both seem to understand it’s not worth bringing it up. Sasha reminds you that they’re by the stage, giving her a wave while she disappears in the throngs of people in the crowd. 

Half way through your second beer and a couple of random conversations with people later, you see him in glimpses while people pass by. You can tell by the smirk on his face that he’s flirting, and when more people move and re-disperse, settling, you see glimpses of her, too. Some cute young looking thing, you wouldn’t be surprised if it was her twenty-first birthday. All doe eyed and giggly while he leans over her against the wall near the booths. I guess whoever he’s seeing in California isn’t too important.

He looks good, healthy, you can tell his clothes are tailored now – sort of comical that a tailor would fit and adjust ripped jeans and an old leather jacket. Not that he has to know you think it’s funny. 

Eddie leans forward and lets his finger tap her on the nose, a tell-tale sign of his that they’ll kiss later. He’s used that move on you more times than you can count. He did it the night you met, tipsy at a party at Gareth’s – tapped you on the nose, making you scrunch it. 

‘Aw, if I knew you’d make a face like that I would’ve booped you way earlier.’ 

‘What do you mean? What face?’ You scrunch again. 

‘That face,’ he bites his lower lip, blush on his cheeks, ‘It’s a cute face.’

You expected it to hurt more, to watch him active in his element; but it doesn’t. You know the motions, you know his tells, he next move. You can see it in the way he leans into her and then leans away – almost kissing her, but leaving her wanting more. You smirk into your next sip, counting down the moments until he puts their conversation on pause to do their rounds and finding her again later. Gotta keep her yearning, you guess. He certainly was always good at things like that. 

You don’t see their reunion, you assume it was somewhere near the stage where the band and Sasha were. At the end of the night, the boys play a goodnight mini-set, just three songs. You’d never seen Ed so in his zone in your life, fully basking in the glow of upcoming stardom. Every chord and every lyric punching out of him like the sweat pouring from his hairline and chest. This was what you wanted, what you told him to do. 

Go be famous. And here he was. Famous. Just like you said he would be. 

Water takes the place of your beer while they play; and you know better than to get up and join the crowd. Much happier sitting at the end of the now more empty bar just listening instead of getting potentially punched or tussled with amongst the bodies. 

People take their time leaving when the set is over, shrugging on their coats to brave the cold weather. 

‘Thanks for comin’ out to celebrate with us – now get the fuck out so our buddies at the bar can go home before four!’ 

You savor the conversations and music settling down to a much quieter murmur while you sketch on a napkin. A few people you shared niceties with tap your shoulder to say goodbye, new friends you’ll never see again. On the other end of the bar you hear Grant and his girl order a round of shots. Your head almost pops up at the sound of his voice, but that might bring attention to you that you don’t think you really want. Now that the night is over, you’re glad you came. If anything, just to see that they were making it just fine – and they would have with or without you. 

With less people in the bar you can hear Sasha’s laugh in the back where the stage is, and you laugh into your napkin turned sketchpad. Her laugh was always infectious, enough to make the crowd follow suit. You grab a fresh napkin from the pile next to you and start to doodle again while you figure out how to best leave without anyone catching wise that you’re here. Out of the last twenty people left at the bar, a little more than half knew who you were.

The tap of the pen on the bar top while you think blends in with the tinkling of hardware that gets a little louder the closer it gets to you. A squish of leather and drag of a barstool later makes you privy that someone’s next to you. Spiced cologne and sweat sheened skin. 

“You come here often?” 

Slowly, you turn your head – level with brown eyes you haven’t looked in for a year, just in the glossy pages of magazines you’d leave behind at the grocery store or Melvald’s. 

“I used to,” you offer a quiet tired smile, leaning your chin on your hand on the bar, “It’s been a while.” 

Eddie smiles back, soft, cautious, “Yeah, same for me.” 

You both don’t speak for a moment, adjusting yourselves on the barstools while a few more people head out to leave. The jingle of the door fades out, crunches of the parting patrons’ sneakers and boots in the snow sound outside.

He clears his throat, bringing your attention back to him – the curls of his hair, the slight stubble on his jaw and cheeks. His bottom lip tucks between his teeth for a moment before he turns his chest toward you. 

“Can I uh, can I get you a drink?” 

[sabersandsnipers]

A Trap Lies Ahead

Request:

How would romanced Astarion react to Tav (probably a bard Tav) offering to use themself as bait to lure out one of Astarion's sibling vampire spawn? Like, instead of just running into Dal and Petras, Tav preforms at where Astarion says are frequent haunts of his siblings, with Tav basically making themself seem like an easy target. Just an idea for a scenario.

You stare at your reflection in the standing mirror. Astarion flits around you, a tape measure hanging around his neck. His actions are precise and practiced, and you notice the focus in his gaze. 

His confidence does nothing to cure your nerves, though. After brainstorming for hours on how to lure one of his fellow spawn in for questioning, you didn’t think offering yourself as bait would be something to consider. You were even more surprised that Astarion even agreed it. But he’s determined to corner another vampire and get answers. 

Astarion lines the tape up with one of your arms, and you shiver as his fingertips brush against your skin. His gaze meets yours briefly. He studies you for a moment, and you hope he doesn’t notice the fear crawling within you. 

But centuries of studying people has made him an expert at reading expressions. He lets his touch linger on your skin a moment longer, a small gesture of comfort. You know he senses the worry in you. 

A few minutes later he pauses in front of you. You glance down at him from the pedestal he put you on.

“I have all the measurements I need,” he tells you. He plays with the measuring tape in his hands. “I’ll get to work on the dress.” 

His eyes flit around nervously, and he’s unable to meet your gaze. Your hands have started shaking at the thought of baring yourself to the danger ahead, and you know anxiety has started to grip him as well. You tilt his chin up, forcing him to look at you. 

“We’ll get through this,” you say, as much to yourself as to him. 

He sighs, but his stance remains tense. He steps forward a bit and buries his face in your chest, inhaling your scent. You lace your fingers in his curls and press a kiss to top of his head. 

“I’m sorry I’m putting you through this,” he says. Your heart clenches at the hurt in his voice. This is as much torture for him as it is for you. 

You cradle his face in your hands, stroking your thumb along his cheekbone. His eyelids flutter closed at the sensation. 

“I trust you, Astarion. And we have to do something. We can’t just wait for them to come to us,” you tell him, hoping your words will ease some of his guilt. 

He grabs your hand and places a kiss on your palm. His eyes meet yours, a new determination settling within them. 

“I will be close by, love,” he says. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” 

A smile pulls at your lips, and your body warms at his protectiveness. “I know. I just worry you might do your job too well with how that dress is gonna look,” you joke. 

He lets out a breathy laugh. “I will admit you’re going to have to look irresistible, but you don’t even need a dress to do that in my opinion.” 

Your cheeks flush with heat. “As long as you’re the only one that  gets to touch me by the time the night’s over.” 

His hands grip your hips and lift you up to place you before him. His gaze now looks down on you, but the way he looks at you doesn’t make you feel smaller. 

“If they lay a hand on you, they will know a different fear by the time I’m done with them.” His words are hard but his expression is soft. You can’t help the shiver of excitement that runs through you at his promise. 

His hand slides to the back of your neck, pulling your forehead against his. You let out a breath at his proximity, savoring the way his thumb strokes the sensitive skin on your neck. The stress that had gripped you so tightly before has vanished with Astarion’s words. 

And you can’t help but feel sorry for any enemy that has the guts to touch Astarion’s mate.

[texas-writes]

Special Girl

Cw: pining, mentions of masturbation, piv sex, protected sex, oral (m&f receiving), fingering

The sound of your front door opening and closing was normal, someone was always on the move, but your interest was piqued when you heard your brother laughing, indicating he probably had a friend over, and you prayed it wasn’t who you thought it was

Your brother’s best friend growing up was Leon Kennedy. He was just a year older than you, and you’d always had a huge crush on him. Actually, crush was a weak word for this.

You were

hand-in-your-panties-like-your-life-depended-on-it obsessed with him.

You were a slut for him and he was none the wiser.

You sat and thought for a moment before making up your mind. Timing it perfectly, you crossed the hall to the bathroom as your brother came up the stairs with his friend, letting you see who it was.

Fuck, it was Leon.

He seemed much more handsome than he was the last time you had seen him. Maybe it was because it was summer, but his skin was tanner and his hair was more blond than usual. He was Adonis in the flesh, everything you could ever want.

You spend a few moments pretending to use the bathroom, flushing the toilet and washing your hands to make it convincing. Then you duck back across the hall and into your room.

It’s begun to get dark and you're laying on your bed wrapped in just a blanket reading National Geographic. You’d gotten accepted to Penn State for anthropology, and you wanted to spend your summer preparing for when school started up. Your walls were covered in clippings from previous issues, the city of Petra, the carved churches of Lalibela, ancient statues, any picture that interested you honestly. You loved to look around your room at them all while you thought.

You’re pondering what all you’re going to take to your dorm when you hear the garage door rumble open. Your father was home, which meant it was almost dinner time.

A groan escapes your lips as you roll off the bed and shuffle to your closet to find clothes. You clutch your blanket around your shoulders like a cloak as you dig around, pulling out an oversized sweatshirt and a pair of basketball shorts. Not exactly the best dinner outfit, but decent. You knew if you looked too nice your brother would pick on you for being a try-hard later.

When you go downstairs to help your mother set the table, you're more than surprised to see Leon doing it already.

“Oh Leon, you didn’t have to do that,” you say, reaching out a hand for the remaining silverware.

“Oh, hello,” he mumbles. “Your mom said I could stay for dinner, so it’s the least I can do.”

“Honey, you can get the plates. You know, Leon goes to Penn State too? Glad to know I’ll have someone to look out for you.”

Your cheeks turn pink at your mother’s words, and you're grateful that your back is turned. Look out for you.

“So uh, how do you like it?”

“S’alright, I guess. Better than being sent to Harvard, like my old man wanted. He wanted me to be a lawyer.”

“That’s good. Are you going for criminology like you wanted?”

“Yeah. I’m really glad to have done it. It was nice, standing up to him for once.”

“Yeah…”

After dinner’s been served and you’re just sitting there, poking at your plate, halfheartedly pretending to listen to your brother ramble about the upcoming soccer season, you can finally say you’re bored. Your father replies to whatever it was David had just said when you feel a foot brush against yours.

At first, you thought it was an accident, but when it happens again, you look up, meeting Leon’s eyes as he chews before looking back down at your plate. A few moments pass without another brush, so you cautiously stretch your leg out and bump your foot against his. Leon doesn't react to your touch, he just keeps eating.

Maybe it was an honest mistake. You mentally berate yourself for thinking he would touch you on purpose. You jump slightly when you feel his foot on your calf, gently stroking it.

“You alright, y/n,” Leon questions, looking as innocent as possible while he torments you, unbeknownst to your family.

“Yeah, just a chill, that’s all.”

“Oh, okay,” he shrugs, turning his attention back to David and your father.

Your cheeks burn and you take a couple more feeble bites before asking to be excused.

You laid awake that night, wondering what the fuck that was all about. God, you really needed to piss.

You rolled out of bed and pulled on your fluffy robe before heading to the bathroom.

When you step out of the bathroom, you bump into someone.

“Sorry David, didn’t see you.”

“And where are you going, pretty girl?”

Fuck. Nobody told you Leon was spending the night.

“J-just back to bed.”

“Why d’ya sound so nervous, hm,” he questions, backing you into the bathroom and closing the door.

“You scared me, that’s all.” Your robe was riding up and the counter was so, so cold against your bare ass.

“Just like you were chilly at dinner, right,” he questions, you can hear the grin in his voice as he lowers his head beside your ear, lifting your chin with his finger.

“Leon…”

“What, baby? Say the word and I’ll stop.”

“Please, don’t,” you whisper

He leans away and takes a step back.

“No, wait- that’s not what I meant, Leon please.”

“Ah, so you do want me then?”

You nod.

“That isn’t enough, sweetheart I want you to say it.”

“Leon, that’s not fair, please. Need you.”

He chuckles to himself and returns to his original position, lips brushing against your neck as he speaks.

“You need me, hm?”

You nod again, slightly aware of how pathetic you’re being, but too caught up in Leon’s affection to care.

“What does my pretty girl want, hm? How bad do you need me,” he whispers, brushing his fingers up your thigh and under your robe.

“Nothing on under there. Was that intentional or did I just catch you at a good time?”

“I never wear anything to bed,” you murmur, bringing your hand up to rest in his hair, giving it a slight tug as his lips abuse the tender flesh of your shoulder, teeth grazing against your collarbone as he groans.

“Go wait for me in your room. I’m gonna make sure we won’t be bothered.”

You nod softly and poke your head out of the bathroom, making sure no one's watching as you scurry across the hall into your room while Leon hangs back.

After what felt like eternity, Leon comes into your room, easing the door shut behind him and sliding the lock into place. Your nerves are absolutely shot, and you shiver as you watch Leon come towards you, the way his tight shirt hugged his broad shoulders and slim waist, accentuating his silhouette.

“Is everyone asleep,” you question, pushing yourself up in the bed, tugging your robe tighter around yourself.

“Yeah,” he hums, sliding into your bed beside you, taking a swatch of your pink satin sheets between his fingers and feeling it. “Nice sheets, I see why you sleep naked.”

You giggle and rest your head on his shoulder. You had been awkward around Leon for as long as you could remember, In middle school, watching him from across the cafeteria as he flipped through an X-Men comic and filled out the mail-in sheet on the back, or in high school when he shrugged at every girl that tried to ask him out and you had been so sure he’d give you the same answer, so you’d never bothered.

Despite being dismissive most of the time, he was there when it mattered, like your junior year, when you had snuck out and gone to a local college party and gotten absolutely smashed. Leon had been there too and followed you around all night, shielding you from grabbing hands and switching your drinks out for water as the night wore on before driving you home and helping you sneak back into your window. Or when he’d come hiking with your family and you’d gotten water intoxication and he’d carried you back to the car to cool you off and taken you to get some extra salty fries while your family finished their hike.

But things were different now, you were both adults, and you knew that he wanted you as he tilted your chin up and pressed his lips to yours softly while his free hand went up to caress your cheek. His hands were calloused from his frequent visits to the gym, but they felt so good as they roamed your features, tracing the curve of your lips. The bridge of your nose, the arch of your brow. You wanted nothing more than to feel his hands all over your body.

“Leon,” you whine, tugging at the hem of his shirt, trying to get him to take it off. He finally takes the hint and pulls his shirt off and drops it on the floor. You yelp as he wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you into his lap.

“Shh, we still gotta be quiet, baby. Can’t get caught can we, then I can’t come visit anymore, hm?”

“Sorry, I just wasn’t expecting it,” you whisper, leaning in and kissing along his jaw.

“Mh, feels good,” he mumbles, exposing his neck to you as you trail kisses all across his throat, grazing your teeth along his Adam’s apple, making his breath hitch.

When you pull away your robe is barely covering enough of you to be considered decent. Leon looks up to meet your eyes, groaning when you untie your robe and let it slide down your shoulders, exposing your shoulders and the tops of your breasts. He allows his gaze to drop back to the soft plain of your tummy, the curve of your hips and the way the blanket wrapped around your hips pools between your legs just enough to cover the one thing he needs the most.

You can feel him, straining against his shorts as you cautiously lower yourself to brush your pussy along his sensitive bulge.

“You should take these off Lee,” you hum, tugging at the waistband of his shorts.

He nods and lifts his hips, allowing you to pull them down so he can kick them off. He groans as his cock springs free from the confines of his pants, standing at attention, so close to your entrance he can feel the warmth coming from you.

You shrug your robe the rest of the way off and drop it down with Leon’s clothes, moving from his lap, kneeling beside him and resting your head on his thigh and kissing it softly once before licking along the underside of his cock, making him grip at the sheets.

You tease him relentlessly, kissing and licking at the tip of his cock, your warm breath fanning against his skin. He lets out a deep groan when you finally take him in, tongue swirling around him as you take him deeper into your mouth. Tears prick the corners of your eyes as he tangles his fingers into your hair and guides you to take him into your throat.

“You’re such a good girl,” he whispers. “You’re taking me so well, fuck,” he moans bringing his other hand to caress your cheek.

Leon studies the way your body moves as you pleasure him, the arch of your back, the curve of your ass, the way you look up at him as you moan around him.

“M’gonna cum, fuck. You gonna let me cum in your mouth?”

You nod weakly as you take Leon deeper into your throat, pressing your nose against his tummy as he finishes. You lap at his tip, making sure you don't miss anything as you pull away, swallowing thickly and gasping softly as Leon pushes your hair out of your face and smoothing it down.

“You did so good for me,” he praises, stroking your cheek and motioning for you to lay back. “Let me return the favor, hm?”

“Please,” you whine, laying back on your bed, watching intently as Leon takes his place between your legs, right where you’ve always wanted him, tips of his fingers lazily trailing along your thigh while he looks up at you.

He teases your entrance before easing two of his fingers into you, making you whimper.

“I don’t normally do this, but you’re my special girl,” he whispers, ducking his head between your thighs and throwing one of your legs over his shoulder. “But you have to be quiet, okay?”

“I’m your special girl,” you question, a warm blush spreading across your cheeks as he rests his head on your thigh, his hair tickling the tender flesh there.

“Always have been. Why do you think I look after you like I do? You promise you’re gonna be quiet?”

You nod and give him a gentle smile, laying back into the pillows and running your fingers through his silky hair. He curls his fingers into you, testing the honesty of your statement, pleased when you only let out a soft whimper and lock your ankles around his shoulders.

Leon takes your encouragement and buries his face between your thighs, tongue lathing against you as his fingers continue their steady rhythm inside you. Your soft moans and the way you tug at his hair are more than enough to drive him insane, urging him to focus his attention on your clit to draw more out of you, his fingers lazily curling into your sweet spot as he grinds his hips into the mattress, looking for a little relief of his own.

“Leon, ah- ‘m so close.”

You can feel him grin against you as he nudges his nose against your clit before taking it back between his lips, making you shove your fist in your mouth as he draws an orgasam out of you. He chuckles and just keeps eating you, not caring about the way your legs shake around him, or your heels digging into his back, or the way you’re dangerously close to ripping out a chunk of his sandy blond hair. No, all he cares about are those cute little noises you’re making, accented only by the occasional whine when he brushes his fingers against that spot inside you.

Finally he pulls away, tongue darting out to lick his lips as he crawls his way up to you, his fingers still buried to the hilt in your dripping cunt.

“How was that? Hm? Anyone ever done that for you before?”

You shake your head and he grins, leaning down to press a sloppy kiss to your lips. You can taste yourself and it’s one of the hottest things you think you’ve ever experienced.

“You think you’re ready for me, baby?”

“Yeah… I can take it.”

“We’ll see,” he teases, pulling his fingers out of you, making you whine at the sudden emptiness, and brings them to his mouth, sucking all of you off of them. “You know baby, you’re just so damn good, don’t want to waste it.”

You reach up and wrap an arm around his neck, pulling him down into a kiss, teasing your tongue against his lip, smiling against him when he allows the intrusion. He pulls away and you reach for him, but he doesn’t yield to your grabbing hands, reminding you that he’s just been a willing participant in your arms until now.

“You have a condom?”

“I’m on birth control.” That’s what guys really wanted to hear, right?

“Not good enough.” Oh. He actually wanted one.

“Top drawer of the nightstand, not sure they’ll fit though.”

“You flatter me. Ah, here.” He rifles through the drawer until he finds one, tearing the little foil packet open with his teeth, hissing softly as he rolls it on.

He’s back on top of you as soon as he’s got it in place, grinding his hips against yours and pulling your legs around his waist.

“See, now you can keep those pretty legs of yours around me as long as you want and we don’t have to worry.”

You giggle and reach between your bodies, taking him into your hand and giving him a couple of strokes before lining him up with your entrance. He eases himself into you until he bottoms out, using one hand to lace his fingers with yours while the other grips at your headboard.

“Fuck, baby, you feel so good. Didn’t know what I was missing until now.”

He starts out with a slow pace, taking the time to pull almost completely out of you before sliding back in, relishing in the way you push your hips up to meet his. Taking it slow was almost unbearable, but you were his special girl after all, and he wanted you to know he’d look after you however you wanted, even if it meant torturing himself to get you used to him.

After a small eternity you tell him to speed up and he doesn't need to be told twice. His thrusts become short and deep, the sound of your bodies meeting filling the stuffy silence of your room as he keeps his lips on yours swallowing down the moans that tumble from your lips. He takes his hand from yours to knead at your breast, enjoying the way they bounce every time his hips slam into yours. He knows you’re close by the way you tighten around him, so he opts to lean back and grab your hips, digging his fingertips into the supple flesh there, setting a punishing pace as his own hips stutter and he lets out a whine as he cums, lazily thrusting to carry you through before pulling out and falling beside you, pulling the condom off and knotting it, dropping it into the trash can beside your bed.

“So,” he questions, propping himself up on his elbow. “How was that?”

You’re still laying there trying to catch your breath, so you just let out a choked sound of agreeance.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just-”

“Just what?”

“A lot of things. Good things. But-”

“Start small then.”

“None of my other boyfriends would kiss me after I sucked them off.”

“Boyfriend?”

“Sorry,” you laugh nervously, sure you’d already screwed it up.

“Don’t be. I’m not opposed to it. In fact I’d quite like to be your boyfriend, but what else.”

“And then you ate me out, and-”

“Go on.”

“I’ve never cum like that in my life.”

“Those other guys were missing out then,” he replies, wrapping his arms around you, pressing a kiss to the back of your head.

That’s what you always liked about Leon. No matter how much you could try to stroke his ego, he always took it humbly. You wiggle yourself around to face him and press a kiss to the tip of his freckled nose

“Hey, baby, I don’t want to just run out on you and ruin a good thing, but I gotta go back soon,” he whispers, resting his forehead against yours before slipping out of your bed and getting dressed. You watch with a twinge in your chest as he makes his way towards the door.

“I understand. Are you gonna come see me again?”

“You know it baby,” he grins, opening the door and slipping out before easing it shut behind him.

[abiatackerman]

Food fight and forgiven kisses

Just imagine you and Levi giving silent treatment to each other after you two argued. It's not like you two actually argued, I mean Levi never argues. But he's too damn good with his words and he said something rude and insulting to you... Which made you sad, angry and leave the place.

Also not to mention skipping meals. This is the thing Levi hated. You would always blackmail him by this. Every time you're upset you would throw your anger on your meals and make your stomach suffer. He noticed you didn't take your dinner last night, and also spent the whole morning sleeping. So technically you skipped your breakfast too. And when you refused Petra's invitation for lunch..... His worries won against his pride and ego.

Because no matter how much he hated it.... He knew how damn stubborn you are and he's not letting you torture on yourself for some shitty words he said to you.

"You haven't eaten last night and also you skipped your breakfast. Even you woke up at 1 fucking pm today and refusing to take lunch."

Levi speaks in his cold voice as he throws you over his shoulder like you weigh nothing and smacks your ass hard, making you yelp as he walks towards the main hall.

"I can walk, also what's with the smack?"

You ask angrily as you smack his back in response which felt nothing more than a little hard press on his strong back.

"That's for making me worry, idiot."

He grumbles, carrying you as he finally arrives at the hall, setting you down on a chair as he sets a tray down onto the table, a small frown forming on his face.

"You didn't have to carry me!"

You groan in annoyance.

"Hush or I'll smack your ass again."

Levi snaps back, pushing the tray of food towards you as he sits.

"And I'll smack you back. Also I won't eat. I'm mad at you and I need space so don't bother me."

You say, crossing your arms and turn your face away from Levi. Which felt so damn adorable and cute to him.

"Oi, you brat!"

Levi snaps as he grabs the back of your head, pulling you towards himself before slamming his lips against yours for a kiss, wrapping his arms around you as he pulls you to sit on his lap.

Levi keeps kissing, making the kiss deeper as he gently bites your lip, trying to make you feel bad for worrying him. Pulling back, he rests his forehead against yours for a moment before gently pressing a kiss on your forehead.

"I'm sorry for the shitty words… but I don't want anything bad to happen to you, idiot."

His words make you finally feel like you've won the battle. And that's when you feel the hunger in your stomach.

"Well, you should've apologised earlier.... I didn't eat for fucking 24 hours... I'm hungry as hell!"

"Then eat, stupid."

He rolls his eyes softly, gently shoving the tray in front of you as he lets you get off his lap. You sit beside him and start eating immediately.

"Well, I'm sorry for acting like a brat too."

You speak with your mouth stuffed with food. It results a gentle flicking to your head from Levi.

"If you keep talking with your mouth full, food will fall out, idiot. Don't speak until you swallow."

You roll your eyes.

"First of all, none of them fell. And secondly, no... Your insults are definitely not hot."

Well it is, at least to you.... But you'll never admit it.....

[lucrezianoin]

Approval and devnotes for Astarion act 3 (spawns, bloodmerchant, pre-Cazador)

I will check here only act 3-Astarion related quests, pre the final confrontation. I just wanted to see if there was anything interesting, and I will do confrontation and the two paths later on.

Act 1 is here, act 2 here. Keep in mind that for act 1 and act 2 I just checked some interesting and surprising approvals. My plan was to do the same for act 3 and I am, but I stumbled upon some devnotes so for act 3 I will check both!

SPAWNS (at tavern)

There is not too much about the tavern meet up with Dalyria and Petras regarding approval but there are some interesting notes. In particular, if the player agrees to help Astarion complete the ritual:

Astarion will say "You're a true friend" but think "lol, sucker". This is ONLY for non Astarion romance.

Another note that really clarifies what ascended Astarion will be:

The notes for the player asking him about who will really get the power are:

"Yes, technically only I will ascend" -> "Well yes TECHNICALLY only I will have the power"

"We're a team, if I become powerful then we become powerful" -> "emphasis on I and we as if speaking to a child"

"You're still with me?" -> "testing the player's loyalty"

BLOODMERCHANT (act 3): spawn vs ascended

First of all, I never allow Astarion to drink from her, but if you do, when he sees her he will comment that:

Which is pretty hearbreaking.

There is also the chance to meet her after Cazador, which changes Astarion's dialogue if he becomes the vampire lord. If the player talks about Astarion's feelings and how Araj made him feel last time, Ascended Astarion will reply "I appreciate the thought, but I am not the person I was the last time we met", vs the non ascended Astarion who says "I appreciate the thought, truly". Furthermore, Ascended Astarion will remarks on how NOW the player belongs to him, while last time Araj thought Astarion was basically the player's slave:

After this, the player can remark that maybe they should leave if Astarion is uncomfortable, and again you get different answers based on previous events:

Highlighted spawn Astarion says that she doesn't bother him, he pities her. In blue there is ascended Astarion (after that he says that they can leave her in a ditch), in red if you make him drink her blood he remarks about how NOW the player cares about him (the notes says that he is annoyed at the player), and the last one "Let's just get this over with" is for pre-Cazador Astarion.

If you made Astarion drink her blood, you will end up breaking up with him (or if you don't make him drink, but then you force him into sleeping with you). In this case the player can even accuse Araj:

Very proud of Astarion remarking on how "You mostly ruined it all by yourself".

Interestingly, the comment of Astarion worrying for the player, saying that the only think she can offer is pain is only said if Astarion did not ascend:

I suppose this is because ascended Astarion cares too much about power.

SPAWNS (attacking at night)

When Astarion comments that you are the only one and no one else looked out for him (post attack dialogue) it looks like this option is dependent on the blood merchant scene. I wonder if you get the confession and you do not visit the merchant, if this happens:

Interestingly, all the answers also get approval ("The world can be a kind place"/"There are many others who will care for you"/"I am rather special").

I also love that Astarion does EVERYTHING he can in this convo to differentiate himself and the player from everyone else. So he thinks the player is the only kind thing in the world (kind to him), no one else is like them. He refuses to admit that he is like the other spawns, "WE are better" (him and the player character). In this conversation there is a whole branch about him justifying killing his siblings because they are just spawn, and the player can basically call him out, telling him that in turn, what does his life mean, as he is just like them.

Ascended-Astarion-oriented talk is in general focused on the "me" =/= "them". He does see himself in the other victims but he refuses to address it.

A bit about a note: when you ask Astarion if he is really letting his siblings die, Astarion replies with "don't look at me like that disappointed" and the note is:

Next post will be about Cazador stuff!

I am also playing through act 3 now, so if I see any interesting approval I will add it too.

Btw, the Yenna thing is actually... every companion approve of giving her food or money, even Minthara.

[sasheneskywalker]

sladick explicit fic recs

To Conciliate a Tiger by Rubynye

Dick makes a deal. Slade gets a bargain.

E | Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Deathstroke/Nightwing, Slade Wilson/Dick Grayson

A Darker Stripe by Rubynye

It's been a long day, and it won't be over anytime soon.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Deathstroke/Nightwing, Slade Wilson/Dick Grayson

Twist in the Tail by Rubynye

Hell hath no fury like a supervillain scorned.

E | Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Deathstroke/Nightwing, Slade Wilson/Dick Grayson

In Flagrante Delicto by Petra Lemaitre (Petra), Rubynye

And if Slade had been quiet, Dick wouldn't be playing chess in the nude now.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Deathstroke/Robin I, Slade Wilson/Dick Grayson

Big, Bad by MissNaya

In order to keep Deathstroke from killing his current target, Dick has to agree to do something a little unorthodox.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Caught in Between by MissNaya

Dick, Jason, and Slade go cross-country in pursuit of a criminal they all have their sights set on. When Slade and Jason start to spend too much time together, Dick gets... frustrated.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Jason Todd/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Slade Wilson

Moonbound by MissNaya

Not only is Jason a werewolf, but Slade is, too. Dick wants answers, but in order to get them, he needs to stay the night with the pack. It doesn't take long for him to find out that there's more to being a werewolf than hunting and howling.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Jason Todd/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Slade Wilson

Merrier the More by MissNaya

Jason and Dick have a problem: Jason wants to teach Dick to come through prostate stimulation alone, but nothing they try seems to work.

Seems like it's time to bring in a third party.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson, Jason Todd/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd

bad desire by cheju

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Slade murmurs back absentmindedly, still focused on the knots at Grayson’s wrist.

Grayson makes another one of those sounds, somewhere between a gasp and a cough, like he’s trying to simultaneously swallow and eject something stuck in the back of his throat. “Jesus, kid, what the fuck is it this time?” Slade says.

“Yes,” Grayson chokes out. “What the fuck it is is yes, I’d like that, and stop asking me questions.”

-

Dick gets truth serum’d. Slade does not, in fact, stop asking him questions.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

a knife, baby, edgy and dull by cheju

Slade’s presence should be unsettling, and it is – don’t get him wrong. But it’s also finally something happening, a chance for Dick to work off some of this tension. He’d be lying if he said a part of him wasn’t itching for the fight he knows is coming.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

down together by cheju

I can help you, says Dick. I won’t let you, says Slade. Then they fuck nasty about it.

An alternate ending to Slade's attack on Titans Tower in Dark Crisis #2.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

listen to teeth by cheju

It usually goes like this: Slade teasing him, Dick responding in kind, until one of them backs down from the ledge they always seem to be teetering on. But today Dick is so not in the mood to be teased, still a bit prickly from his mission’s failure. Still trying not to think about how many bodies must be outside this room.

Dick's failing his mission, can't get out of his handcuffs, and guess who walks in the door. Just fucking guess.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

diesis by cheju

Dosed with Poison Ivy's pollen, Jason is losing control fast. Dick takes him to the closest safehouse he knows of and prays its owner won't show up. (His prayers go unanswered.)

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

dark corner by cheju

“I don’t think it’s a failure of imagination,” Slade says. “No, I’d say it’s a failure of desire. Why imagine what you would do to me when you’d much rather imagine what I would do to you?”

-

Robin visits Slade in jail. It doesn’t go as planned.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

fly on the wall by cheju

It’s just Cal’s luck that he’s on guard duty when Deathstroke the freakin’ Terminator comes to rescue their prime hostage. But Richard Grayson doesn’t exactly seem happy to be rescued. In fact, he’s being... snippy? And Deathstroke... isn’t shooting his brains out for it?

Who the hell are these people?

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Rescued Slut Thanks His Studly Savior by cheju

Kidnapped heartthrob Dick Grayson is in a lot of trouble—until bad boy beefcake Deathstroke the Terminator comes to the rescue. But his help doesn’t come free! Luckily, our grateful hunk is eager to reward his well-endowed savior…

Watch More Free XXX Videos On BatTube! The web’s hottest destination for things that go hump in the night.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

daredevil cartwheel by cheju

“You wouldn’t,” Dick says. Slade is bluffing, but it’s a damn good bluff, because Dick’s body still hasn’t got the memo—heart racing, breath coming quick, goosebumps dancing down his arms.

Slade leans his solid weight over Dick’s back, breath hot and promising against his ear. “But it would be so easy.”

-

Slade teaches Dick a lesson in self-defense.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

the paper-thin line by wingdingery

After Dick interferes with Slade’s job in Gotham (which, to be fair, he’d only done because Slade interfered with his first), he decides the best way to prevent future retaliation is to strike a deal: if Slade agrees to leave Gotham alone, then Dick will stay with him alone for one night, and no matter what Slade does, he won’t run.

Though that doesn’t mean Dick is going to go down without a fight.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

in the night we burn by wingdingery

Slade knows there’s no way in hell that someone like him should ever even dream about touching someone like Richard Grayson, and running into an alternate dimension version of them that’s for some godforsaken reason a couple isn’t going to change his mind.

Unfortunately, it seems like it might be changing Grayson’s.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson/Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson/Slade Wilson

no stopping ('til I break every rule) by wednesday

Dick can hear Deathstroke lazily walking down the line of handcuffed, terrified hostages trying to shuffle back even closer to the wall. He already knows where this is going.

There’s not enough time to decide which would look less suspicious—looking up or not. Slade grabs Dick’s hair and pulls him up, leaving him no choice but to move forward until he’s kneeling at Slade’s feet. He can hear shuddery sighs of relief from the other hostages and can’t blame them.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

reset the count by wednesday

Being kidnapped as Richard Grayson is mostly mind-numbingly boring, right up until Deathstroke shows up.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

that line of rage and romance by wednesday

It’s not that Dick has come here lightly—he considered and discarded a lot of options before he got to ‘release dangerous superpowered villain that almost destroyed the whole universe back into the world’ in his list.

But there’s something that feels almost inevitable about this. Like he was going to end up here, making this mistake from the moment Slade flashed through his thoughts as a possible ally.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

take the offer that wasn't made by wednesday

“That’s not what my contract is about.” Slade sounds out of breath, but not angry; if anything, he sounds smug. Dick’s thoughts screech to an unexpected halt. The arm around his neck tightens, making him lightheaded.

And for the first time since Dick found out Deathstroke had taken a contract in his city, Dick feels real panic, like white noise spreading through his veins. There’s a sting right above the collar of his costume, and Dick spends the last ten seconds before the tranquilizer knocks him out drowning in waves of fresh fear.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

put a gun in my hand by wednesday

“Uh oh,” Nightwing says when he looks up and sees Slade. He freezes, halfway to pushing himself up off the now unconscious guard. “Oops?”

Slade growls at him and wishes he didn’t have his mask on so Grayson could see exactly how close to murdering him Slade feels. Except not, because his mask is covered in splashes of the drugs that were supposed to be his paycheck and are now a collection of broken glass and violently luminescent slush.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

in every end (we start) by wednesday

At first, when he gets dragged downstairs and towards a metal door that screams cell, he’s relieved. They’ll leave him alone and he’ll be out in no time. Easy.

Then the badly suppressed fear and nervousness of the alpha guard a few feet away from the door registers. Followed by the impressive blood splatters on the floor and walls.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

this vice, this temptation by wednesday

Dick gets drugged during a party and finds a solution that might be his worst idea yet. But really, staying in the company of Deathstroke should work wonders at keeping everyone else away.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

counting all the lines (all your sweet lies) by wednesday

“Slade!” Dick exclaims cheerfully, and feels his own grin widen at the choking noise behind him. He sashays right to Slade’s table. “Fancy meeting you here!”

“You do not want to do that,” Slade says quietly enough that only Dick can hear him. He looks amused, though, and a quick look at the table makes it clear he’s eating alone. Perfect.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

can't help but be wrong in the night by wednesday

“Richard,” says a familiar voice to the accompanying tune of irregular gunshots. The shock of hearing this particular unexpected voice makes Dick overbalance and roll off the cushions and right onto the floor.

A burst of what sounds like machine gun fire brings him back to the real issue.

“Slade?” he asks, feeling a completely reasonable amount of apprehension settle in his gut. It can’t be anyone else, but Slade Wilson calling him doesn’t seem very plausible. The background noise is a cause for concern as well, but not more than the call itself.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Interlude by wednesday

On one hand, Slade has done his part as agreed, and owes Grayson nothing. On the other hand, Nightwing’s been less annoying than usual, and gracefully agreed to not involve the Bat, who would have snarled and bitched about Slade anywhere near his territory and fucked with his contract on principle, so Slade is feeling charitable.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Play-acting by wednesday

Dick being undercover as omega goes a lot further than planned.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

placed a gamble by wednesday

It’s clear the kid realizes he’s made a mistake the moment the cuff clicks closed on Slade’s wrist. Cuffing them together is inventive, Slade will give him that, but there’s a reason no one else has tried restraining him in this particular way.

---

Deathstroke and Nightwing, handcuffed together in a snow storm.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Break the Fall by wednesday

Getting rescued does not make Dick's situation better, not at first.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

for every mistake by wednesday

His first mistake, and Dick should absolutely have known it would end up being a mistake the moment he thought of doing it, is inviting himself back to Slade’s safehouse.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

shimmer silent by wednesday

Slade doesn’t stop at just crowding. He invades Dick’s space until there’s no air left between them. Until he’s pressed against Dick, tightly, shoulder to thigh. And kisses Dick.

Well, kiss isn’t an adequate description of the mess of violence, lust and tongue that happens. And biting. There’s biting going on, and that’s what kind of shocks Dick back into action. He bites back and pushes Slade away. What the hell?

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

still counting on my worst behavior by wednesday

Two steps from the door he freezes. There’s a feeling of being watched that he’s too well trained to miss. He puts on his friendliest smile and turns around.

“Looking for something, kid?”

Deathstroke in full armor, just the mask missing, is standing across the room, hands crossed and looking at Dick.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

ain't lived if you've got no regrets by wednesday

Around the time he’s trying to decide if some friendly chatting would make his chances of escape better or much worse, something smashes through the roof of the warehouse.

Someone, he realizes just a moment later. Before that someone even hits the ground, Dick recognizes him and regrets the lack of a panic button an order of magnitude harder. Because he can definitely feel some panic right about when Deathstroke starts shooting while still airborne.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Sabotage by wednesday

Too exhausted to fight, Dick discovers there is another way to distract Deathstroke from his contract. He really should have stopped after the first time.

***

Five times Dick uses unconventional sabotage methods and one time he doesn't.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

turn up the cards by wednesday

Dick smiles at the frazzled-looking girl by the register, most likely unused to the influx of customers that keep coming in and not leaving. He’s about to order, when he notices the one table that only has a single customer sitting at it. There’s a buffer of space around him, like everyone can feel some kind of aura of danger surrounding him and are choosing to keep their distance from him, from—a man with white hair.

Goddamn.

The warm cozy holiday-like feeling Dick was getting into evaporates.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

my lucky stars by withthekeyisking

Dick ruins one of Deathstroke's contracts, costing the mercenary half a million dollars. And Slade is damn sick and tired of Nightwing always getting in his way. Seems it's time to teach the little bird a lesson that might actually stick.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

The Irony of Life by withthekeyisking

Dick starts working at the strip club because of a case; he doesn't expect to run into Deathstroke the Terminator of all people while working.

Slade just wants to do his damn job; he's not expecting the perk that comes with it.

E | Underage | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

More Than What You Paid For by withthekeyisking

Slade only wanted to scratch an itch after a very long and grueling job. He didn't expect to have to face an assassination attempt from a prostitute.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Easily Worth by withthekeyisking

Dick is desperate to rescue his brother.

Slade is...an option.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Close Encounters by withthekeyisking

Running into Deathstroke at a BDSM was not the plan, but it seems to have an upside.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Guys My Age by withthekeyisking

Dick enjoys his frenemies with benefits arrangement with Midnighter. He enjoys the same such arrangement with Slade. He never thought it would be possible to mix the two, but it seems they're full of surprises.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Midnighter/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Midnighter

A Little Touch of Skill by withthekeyisking

When Dick and Slade run into Rick Flag while working on a joint mission, Dick sees no problem with teaming up with the man, considering they're all going after the same target. He should've accounted for Slade's possessiveness, though.

Or maybe he should've just relied on Slade's competency kink smoothing everything over.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Rick Flag/Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson, Rick Flag/Dick Grayson, Rick Flag/Slade Wilson

Eyes on You by withthekeyisking

Dick is counting the seconds until this mission is over and he can get the hell away from Deathstroke and Talia al Ghul, and all the danger and weird flirting therein.

The hotel they stay in the last night of their mission only has one bed, but that won't have any impact on the situation, right?

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Talia al Ghul/Slade Wilson, Talia al Ghul/Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Stopped Using My Head by withthekeyisking

Slade returns to Jump City after an extended period away, and his first stop is to check in on his favorite bird—not that said bird is doing too well at the moment.

Or, Slade's a smug bastard and Robin is getting the full force of that.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

A Memorable Send-Off by Skalidra

The first that Dick hears of the contract out on Nightwing's head, it's at the end of a long night, and with Slade's gun in his face. Slade doesn't have any intention of letting someone else claim the reward, but there's still a chance for Dick to make it out of the whole situation. If he can be... distracting enough.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Scripted Negotiations by Skalidra

The film was only ever supposed to be a one time thing, for Dick. An exorcism of one of his darkest teenage fantasies, played out in a relatively risk-free setting to get it out of his system, so he can put it behind him. Nothing was ever actually going to happen with the real Deathstroke, and no one else would ever find out about it. Problem solved.

Until he gets an offer to film a sequel.

(Slade's not expecting to find the real Nightwing starring in some C-grade porn flick, but when an opportunity drops itself in his lap like that, well... How can he not take advantage?)

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Taking Charge by firefright, Skalidra

Jason has a strict policy when it comes to his clients: no surprises. But there's one, Slade Wilson, who always seems to delight in pushing his boundaries. Never more so than when, on what should be an ordinary appointment, he brings along his partner, Dick Grayson, without calling ahead. One alpha at a time Jason can handle, but two? That might take a little more work.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Jason Todd/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Slade Wilson

Accidental Discovery by firefright, Skalidra

“Jason,” Dick says slowly, a little dazed as he straightens back up from retrieving Jason’s phone after accidentally knocking it down onto the carpeted floor of his safehouse, “Why do you have Slade Wilson’s number saved on your phone under the name ‘Daddy’?”

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson, Jason Todd/Slade Wilson

Lax by meaninglessblah

"You could fit anything inside me right now," Dick says, giggling around another drag on the blunt between his lips, "I'm so relaxed." "Bet," Slade answers.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

I'm Afraid Of All I Am (My Mind Feels Like A Foreign Land) by meaninglessblah

Dick, at his emotional low point, seeks out Slade for a scene.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Target Practice by meaninglessblah

Slade goes to buy a new gun, and Dick helps him test the merchandise.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Extraction by meaninglessblah

"You're familiar with the lay of the land. You've got experience with Mister Minos." Dick gets the impression he's missing the inside joke when she adds, "And you know the mark."

Dick frowns, thinking back to his time with Spyral and its many faceless agents. "Professionally?"

"Intimately," Adeline corrects.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Adeline Kane Wilson/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Adeline Kane Wilson

Takedown by Sandrine Shaw (Sandrine)

Deathstroke's heavy armor digs painfully into the sore muscles of Dick's back, flattening him against the bricks. Caught, literally, between rocks and a hard place.

Under Dick's ribs, his heart beats a frantic song of fear and exertion.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

he who thinks he knows no fear by Sandrine Shaw (Sandrine)

That dizzying sensation that feels a little like stepping up onto a platform to take a leap without a net underneath isn't quite fear, and Dick likes the thrill too much not to chase it.

Four times when Dick isn't afraid - even though he should be - and one time he is.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Mutually Beneficial by Sandrine Shaw (Sandrine)

"Slade? What the—"

"Quiet," he orders, not bothering with an explanation.

He clamps his hand around the back of Grayson's neck and gives it a rough squeeze in warning. Under his thumb, he can feel the kid's pulse jump, fast and erratic like a bird.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

A Very Good Bad Thing by Disniq

"Dick should… He should go. He should—

But… that’s Slade. Wilson. And Dick… Dick can’t leave Jason alone with Deathstroke the fucking Terminator.

Pressing back into the shadows, Dick reassures himself that he’s just making sure his brother is safe.

That’s all."

For YOTP2023 - December prompts: holidays together | crack treated seriously | moving in together | "That's my favourite thing about you" | forgiveness | tattoo/flower shop au

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Jason Todd/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Slade Wilson

Warm Me Up In A Nova's Glow by Disniq

Initially, Jason had thought having Nightwing tag along with Red Hood and Deathstroke would put a damper on what is usually an unrestrained riot of a time, but it turned out he was worrying over nothing.

And Jason has never been happier to be wrong.

For DickJay Week 2023 - Day 1 prompt: Praise Kink

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Slade Wilson

a matter of perspective by nightcycles

Dick has a problem. Slade decides to provide a solution. It’s not a solution that Dick wants—but, apparently, the fact that he doesn’t want it is the point.

E | Rape/Non-Con | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson, minor Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne

verisimilitude by nightcycles

Once it’s clear Lex’s Secret Society of Supervillains is poised to take over the world, Bruce decides to infiltrate them by faking his death and taking on the identity of Owlman, his supposed killer. Dick refuses to let him do it alone—even if it means taking on a role neither of them would have ever wanted for him.

E | Rape/Non-Con | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne

Open up and swallow on your knees by Naphorism

“It’s just business, kid.” Slade shrugs, brushing his fingers through Dick’s hair with surprising gentleness. “A deal’s a deal. You give me something, I give you something.”

“What more do you want?” Dick croaks. His eyes look even shinier than they were just a moment ago as he gazes up at Slade, but it could be a trick of the light.

“What are you willing to give?” Slade counters with a smirk, the camera behind Dick catching the mean glint in his eye in perfect resolution.

“Anything.”

E | Rape/Non-Con | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

The thing that keeps you up at night by Naphorism

When Dick falls asleep, Robin dreams.

E | Rape/Non-Con, Underage | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Slip ‘n’ Slide by Nightwang

“The first thing Slade noticed was that his safehouse had been broken into. The second was the smell - rich caramel and underneath something a little spicier that he couldn’t quite identify. Omega. An in heat omega.”

For the SladeRobin Week prompt Same Dynamic Omegaverse.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Ready or Knot by Nightwang

"Dick wasn’t quite sure how he’d ended up here, in a safe house on the edge of Bludhaven with Slade Wilson pressing him up against the wall, but he wasn’t complaining."

For the SladeRobin Weekend prompt Omegaverse

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Irresistible by Anonymous

A hit is put out for Detective Dick Grayson to be raped in his own home. Nightwing sees the contract and decides to leave it up when he sees Deathstroke is the one that took it. Based on a prompt from the DC kinkmeme!

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

[petrapalerno]

✨Free Monster & Alien Smut✨

Hi, I'm Petra Palerno and write filthy otherworldly smut. I mostly dabble in novels but have recently decided to give erotic shorts a try here and on my patreon.

Pretty much all content on this blog is NSFW. Minors do not engage. For TW/CW check individual stories.

✨MASTER LIST

CURRENT FREE STORY

✨Abducted by Moonlight

A werewolf stalks his newly found human mate in the forest when a ufo abducts them both. What happens when the alien tries to stake a claim on her as well?

TW/CW [a WIP, will be added to]: Stalking, consensual sex, shifting, breaking bones, abduction, aliens, violence.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Like my writing? Support me by reading my other works!

✨Love on the Korlyan Moon

Out now everywhere books are sold

A bubble babe is unknowingly dropped into a mysterious ocean by the Deenz transport ship. Lena, a tattoo artist from the Twin Cities, is sure she's going to die as the bubble she's in sinks deeper and deeper. She's rescued by Kitaico, a color-shifting tentacled alien, and unknowingly takes his mating venom. She must cycle through heats all while trying to resist her attraction to Kitaico.

✨All I Wanted Was Sushi but I got Abducted By Aliens Instead*

Book #1 in the Bubble Babes Series

Opal is trying her best in the Midwest after the sudden death of her parents. Everything comes to a crashing halt as she's abducted by aliens and forced to work as a human dancer for extraterrestrial enjoyment. A chance encounter with an alien prince while stuck in a traffic jam might just change the trajectory of Opal's new life in space.

✨All I Wanted Was To Become A Scientist But Now I've Got An Alien Boyfriend*

Book #2 in the Bubble Babes Series

“Sometimes I think it would have been easier if I hadn’t accepted the free shower at the hot alien’s apartment.”

☆JESSY

For the past few years, my life has kind of blown. On Earth, I dedicated my entire existence to science, even if my peers dismissed me as a pretty face. When I got abducted by aliens, I was forced to dance in a bubble for extra-terrestrial enjoyment.

I can’t get anyone to take me seriously even in space.

When I escaped by crashing my alien captor’s bus, Gra’eth saved me from drowning and even offered me a place to stay. He keeps telling people I’m his mate, even though I keep telling him the human word for what we are is roommates, but he refuses to say it that way. Sometimes I can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic or serious—and for my very literal neurodivergent brain, that’s a big problem.

☆GRA’ETH

I never expected to have to save Jessy, and I certainly never expected for this strange human to be my mate. Her idea of fun would be to take apart my data pad only to see if she could put it back together again, which sounds like torture to me.

I’ve convinced her to stay in my apartment as what she calls a roommate. The mating bond won’t let me let her leave, but humans can’t even feel it. I don’t know how to keep things friendly when just the smell of her hair is enough to send me into a mating frenzy.

I don’t want to make her uncomfortable, but I can’t keep fighting the pull of this bond. This little speckled human will be the death of me.

✨All I Wanted Was a Glass of Vino but an Alien Duke Kidnapped Me Instead *

Book #3 in the Bubble Babes Series

The Bubble Babe series continues in this standalone novel. 

Will an aquatic alien duke be able to reconcile the fact that his fated mate is a small, mouthy, human woman who can't swim? Will that human be able to love him despite his scars and the fact that he's keeping her captive? 

☆MARTA

The reality of being a mob boss' daughter is anything but glamorous, despite what one might think. In the absence of true freedom, my only companion was my loyal dog, Bruno. When he passed, I felt like my life had hit rock bottom. But when aliens abducted me from my pity party in a local wine bar, I realized how wrong I was. As if things couldn't get any worse, I woke up in an alien duke's closet, forced to rely on a giant alien pleasure toy as my only means of defense. All I know is that the gaudy duke can’t stand me…and the feeling is mutual.

☆RAF’ERE

Throughout my dukedom, I have dedicated myself to restoring the fi'len species to their natural aquatic habitats. How in the goddess's name am I supposed to do that when this human is my mate? Despite her mouthiness, the tiny human cannot swim. Did that stop me from stealing her cryopod from a crashed ship and locking it in my closet? Absolutely not. I also didn’t expect her to wake up and demand answers, either. But I can’t expect my people to look at me to lead if a human stands beside me, despite how much my body burns for hers. The dilemma arises: should I prioritize the goddess's wishes or grant her the freedom she deserves, joining the other human refugees?

This erotic alien romance is part 3 of the Bubble Babes series. It can be read as either a standalone or as a continuation of earlier books. This book features a 5’2” plus sized Italian-American female male character and a 7’6” aquatic alien duke as the male main character. Tropes include Kidnapping, size difference, enemies to loves, reformed playboy, alien romance, fated mates, and forced proximity. This full-length novel (67K words) ends with a HEA.

[lucysarah-c]

~ Holy Ground ch. 2: We were both young when I first saw you.~

Summary:

"Alright, get comfortable because this is going to be a long, crappy tale. Join me as we travel down memory lane, back when Erwin wasn't yet a commander, when Mike and Nanaba couldn't keep their hands off each other, when Hange was… well, Hange. And Levi? Well, Levi was a twenty-four-year-old man who didn't give a damn about the rules. Are you ready?"

Warnings: This story contains age gaps, time period misogyny and mentions of homophobia, strong and offensive language, underage sex, alcohol, smoking, implied/referenced of drug use. This is a very slow burn so everyhthing takes a while to happen. Explicit sex content. Virginity, loss of virginity, cheating, mentions of cheating, pregnancy but no by the main character, consensual sex, consensual underage sex, underage kissing.

Pairing: Levi x Reader x Erwin. Levi x Reader are end game. (this is not eruri). This story takes place after ACWNR but BEFORE season 1.

-> Masterlist to all the chapters! <-

I won't begin this tale like everyone else, saying, "I will never forget the first time I saw you." That's because I can't recall the exact first time I saw him. However, I do remember the first time I noticed him, and there's a difference between those two actions. Anyway, at first, it wasn't me who noticed him. It was someone else who forced me to search for him in a crowded room.

I was sitting in the mess hall after breakfast with Nanaba. If I remember correctly, we were discussing whether it's acceptable to make out with a guy on the first date. Nanaba, who was in a not-so-secret relationship with Mike at the time, was arguing that you should leave a man wanting more so that he'll come crawling back to you. But let's not dwell on that. What happened next is what we should focus on.

We were both seventeen, such an age to be alive! We weren't cadets, but we weren't superiors either. It was a mix in between that sometimes I wish I could go back to. However, there was a cadet, a young fifteen-year-old girl who joined the Scouts a few months after Levi did, along with the rest of the new cadets. If there was a fan club for Levi, Petra would have been a founding member. Even I, his girlfriend, don't think I worshiped him as much as Petra did. She sat down next to us, sighing loudly and staring dreamily at the ceiling.

"Isn't he perfect?" Petra exclaimed with the voice only a fifteen-year-old girl in love could muster.

"Perfectly short, if you ask me," Nanaba commented, and we chuckled together. "No offense, but Levi is far from perfect for me. On the other hand, Mike is perfect in a human body!"

"With that sorry excuse for a beard? I don't think so," I replied to the tallest woman in our group. "Girls, let's be honest, neither of them comes close to being a perfect man."

"Oh, you two are so mean! (Y/N), did you see him? Isn't he amazing?" Petra questioned, looking into my eyes, searching for an answer to a question she had asked the night before in our shared room.

The night before that morning, Petra had been worshipping Levi so much, and Nanaba had been trying so hard to bring her back down to earth that they asked me what I thought about him. Nanaba knew Levi because he was usually with Erwin, who was usually with Mike, and Mike was usually with her. But for me? The day Levi and his friends were introduced, I had the flu, so I couldn't be there for his "amazing speech."

I had told them that I had never really paid attention to him. He was like a background person in my life at the Scouts' campus. I’d promised them that the next morning, I would make an effort to pay attention to him during breakfast. So, I did. And now I can tell you that the way you look at a person when you're in love is absolutely different from the way you do when you're not in love.

As I mentioned earlier, I remember that morning, the first time I noticed him. His straight, ebony hair flowed in the air. Back then, he used to wear it slightly to the side more often than he does now. Levi never really had a completely middle-parted hair look, but when he was younger, it was more to the side... and he had more hair, but don't tell him that. He was short, too short for a man, but I figured Petra was shorter, so it wasn't much of a problem (she was even a bit taller than me).

What caught my attention was his porcelain pale skin, as if the sun had never touched him (well, I mean, there probably wasn't much sun to soak up underground). I wished I had his skin. His face wasn't the most masculine, but it wasn't feminine either—a perfect middle ground. I suppose some girls are into that. His eyes were sharp and light, but I couldn't discern the specific color from a distance.

I was in the mess hall as he made his way through. Were they blue or grey? Anyway, he was buffed; you could tell by the width of his shoulders (he used to be skinnier than he is now, probably because he didn't eat as well in the underground). I would have continued observing him if he hadn't turned around and locked his dead eyes with mine. Returning to my conversation with my comrades:

"I did indeed," I replied to Petra, and her eyes shone with expectation. "Let me summarize my thoughts: he's not my cup of tea, but if he's yours, go and talk to him. You have nothing to lose by asking."

"Oh, I could never do such a thing! He doesn't like to be bothered," the younger girl of our group said, her cheeks blushing.

"In my opinion, he doesn't like anything. He always has this face that says 'I'm too good for all of you,'" Nanaba said, attempting to imitate Levi's expression, which made me laugh.

I often wonder how things would have turned out if Petra had gone and talked to him. He wasn't my "type," so to speak, and probably would have never been if things hadn't taken the course they did. Life is a whimsical, bratty thing, and I was about to learn that.

Perhaps you didn't have to go through this because your arrival at the Scouts was a bit out of the ordinary, but the training process for cadets is somewhat different. After being part of the Legion for almost two years (like Nanaba and I back then) and just after the new recruits arrived, the one-year training to become a superior began. It involved both physical and theoretical practices. It taught you how to work with a partner and solve the situations you would encounter. Being a superior involved a lot of teamwork, which is why there were two exams: a midterm to assess progress just before the winter break, and a final exam. It probably won't surprise you if I say that Nanaba and I were going to be a team.

Later that day, after our regular instructions, we sat down in the training area, waiting for a superior to call us. I had our forms ready to be handed to my squad leader. Back then, Erwin was my squad leader. He wasn't the commander yet, but his rise was imminent. Nanaba and I were waiting like the rest of the cadets.

"Hey, beauty, your boyfriend is looking for you," Gellar said, approaching us and pointing with his thumb towards the building behind him.

"He's not my boyfriend," I replied wearily, shaking my head, and my long hair swayed.

My blond friend chuckled at my response, and Gellar rolled his eyes. I stood up and walked toward the office of a certain blondie we all know. It used to annoy me to no end that people couldn't stop spreading that silly rumor. "I'm not Erwin's girl! ...yet, at least," I thought back then, little did I know it would never happen.

I strolled through the corridors with the papers tucked under my arm and held my head high, proud to be known as one of the prettiest girls in the Legion. I made a quick stop at the bathroom to check my appearance, making sure my eyes weren't puffy. I pinched my lips and cheeks slightly, giving them a reddish tint. Erwin was at a promising point in his career. He was handsome, young, and smart—everything I could ask for in a man. And I was everything he wanted in a girl… or so he’d said. Sometimes it felt like he truly meant it and others it felt like it was just the silly rumor that people whispered in the corridors. He hated the gossip, he insisted that was the reason it wasn’t official yet. Because it would overshadow his and my promotion. I understood… or so I faked that I did.

Perhaps I was young, but I wasn't naive. I knew how men looked at you when they desired you. And Erwin always seemed to find something in my hair to touch or would run his hand through it. He had a delicate way of saying that my teas were the best around and that's why he always asked me to make them for him. Yes, I was young, but I wasn't foolish.

Innocent little me. You truly think you have everything figured out at 17, you think you know everything. I thought I was smart, sometimes perhaps too much for my own good. Erwin, dear, you make me look so naive. 

"Wait! You and the Commander were a thing?!" The entire Levi's squad screamed, causing me to pause my narration.   "This is the juiciest rumor I've ever heard!" Sasha yelled so loudly that I'm sure the entire Legion heard her.   "Well, as I mentioned, we never became anything in the end. Besides, our flirting died a long time ago, and now we're really good friends," I replied honestly because it's true. There's nothing more than respect and friendship between Erwin and me these days.   But my answer doesn't seem to convince them, and once again, Eren is the first to throw another question.   "Does the Captain know about this?" he asked, suspicion evident in his voice.   "Of course he does! And believe me, he couldn't care less," I replied, amused. But I wonder, is that really true? I mean, if I were to tell Levi, 'Hey, I'm going to stay in Erwin's room because it's bigger and tidier than Hange's,' would he respond with 'Yeah, sure, no problem! Have fun!'? Who am I kidding? Levi would kill both Erwin and me in the process.   "Anyway, this doesn't have a place in this tale, so let's get back to the story," I clarified before they could ask another tricky question.

I knocked on the door with my free hand, while the other one held the forms. That deep, manly voice that I knew so well replied with a simple "Name and business."

"Cadet (L/N) (Y/N)! I was called to come here to deliver my form," I said clearly.

I waited for the response, and once I received it, I entered. There he was, the young and ambitious man that everyone in the military was talking about. Erwin finished signing some paperwork and looked up, meeting my gaze with his big, deep blue eyes. He smiled slightly at me, and of course, I smiled back.

"I was waiting for you, (Y/N)," the blond man said. 'Of course you were,' I thought. "There are some details that we need to discuss. Please have a seat."

So, I did. I walked over to the deep green leather tufted office chair right in front of his desk. I sat down and placed the papers on my lap.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked politely as he got up to serve it, knowing well that I never turned down a good cup of tea.

"Yes, please," I replied, following him with my eyes and offering a slight smile. I attempted to get up from my seat and serve the tea myself, but Erwin stopped me with a hand gesture. Superiors always had more privileges than recruits, and Erwin was no exception.

The single cup of black tea in that office was all I needed—a stronger and tastier flavor than only a good-quality tea could offer. I had always been a smart girl, perhaps too smart for some people's tastes, but I believed it was one of the main reasons Erwin had chosen me. After a few occasions, I noticed that the tea he drank when he was alone wasn't as good as the one he poured when it was for me. There was a slight, uncomfortable silence as we both took the first sip. Right after that, I picked up my papers and placed them on his desk.

"I have already filled in my forms, sir," I said, tucking my hair behind my ear. But what he did next caught me completely off guard. Erwin took the papers and placed them somewhere under his desk.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," he said, intertwining his fingers. "You see, (Y/N), I have been re-reading your academic reports from your training years, and they point out your outstanding performance in teamwork and your ability to naturally encourage cooperation among the practice sessions."

"Thank you?" I replied, uttering the first thing that came to my mind. I didn't know where he was going with all this. I took another sip of my tea.

"Have you ever talked to Levi? He's quite new," he said, adding, "He may not be the most talkative guy around here, but his performance with the 3DMG is outstanding."

'Mr. Grumpy? Of course, I know who he is,' I thought, and the fact that Erwin used the word "outstanding" twice, referring to both of us. I didn't like where this was going. Suddenly, the tea, the office, and the day didn't seem as pleasant anymore.

"Wait! Mr. Grumpy? Seriously?!" Connie exclaims, while the rest of them try to control their laughter.   "Yes, that was his nickname among my close friends for a long time. Sometimes, when I want to annoy him, I bring it back for a couple of hours," I reply with a tender smile on my face. 'Yeah, we used to have silly nicknames for each other… when we used to talk,'

"I have never talked to him, but I don't doubt his capabilities since you personally chose him," I tried to give a neutral answer. I was so nervous that I couldn't take another sip of my tea. What a waste.

"I have been thinking that someone with your good reputation and patience could be a good partner for Levi. He may not have gone through regular training, but the commander and I think it would be beneficial for him to undergo the same training as the other cadets," Erwin's eyes seemed to penetrate my soul as he explained this to me. Did I mention that I didn't like where this was going?

"Um, excuse me, sir. But I already have a partner. Nanaba and I get along, and I think our performance would be splendid," I said, trying to evade his gaze. 'How can I refuse him without disrespecting him? ' My mind raced, desperately seeking possible replies, and I could feel a headache coming on.

"Don't worry about her; Mike has already found her a recruit. I believe pairing my two best cadets to work together would be a step forward for my plan for the Scouts, don't you think?" he said, and I wished I hadn't woken up that day.

'Save your dirty little compliments for later. Your best cadets? Fuck you, Erwin Smith! If this is what your best cadet looks like, then I think I'm failing my next exams,' I wanted to tell him to go to hell so badly, but I knew my position didn't allow it.

Despite all my attempts to change his mind, the blond man pulled out a form that was already halfway filled and placed it in front of me. Then he put a black ink pen beside it, and I felt like crying.

"He said he would be looking forward to working with you," Erwin declared with his perfect smile, knowing he had won the argument. That arrogant smile just made me want to punch him. ‘I adore you but I hate you,’ Perhaps it was the delicate state our relationship was in, that I wasted to make him happy not only as my superior but also as my “situationship” that forced me to agree without further complaints. Perhaps Erwin knew himself that I would have done anything to keep him pleased and that’s why he knew it was an already won battle.

Without knowing that as those papers landed gracefully on top of the oak wood of his desk, the domino effect of him digging his own grave started. 

I think all of you know what happened next—I signed the form. Right after that, I got up without finishing my tea.

"Am I dismissed, sir?" I failed miserably in trying to hide the fact that pure anger was boiling within me. 'How dare he do this to me? He set me up!'

"Don't you want to finish your tea first?" my squad leader asked, pretending not to know the answer.

"I'm not feeling very well, sir. I would like to rest a bit on my bed before dinner," I said, convinced that he was doing this on purpose.

He nodded, signaling that I could leave. I remember walking out of that room, seething with anger, and people in the corridors looked at me like they could barely recognize me

"That's not fair! I can't believe that Mike didn't say a single thing about this. They must have planned it for a long while," Nanaba expressed her frustration to me and Petra.

"Without a doubt, they planned this! How dare they!" I yelled in our shared room, lying on my back on that tiny bed they gave us.

"Maybe he isn't that bad?" Petra said with her usual optimistic personality. But both Nanaba and I looked at her as if to say, "Now is not a good time."

The three of us sighed loudly, tired from this crazy day. As if the training wasn't enough, I had to figure out a way to make things work with Mr. Grumpy. It couldn't be that bad, right? I just needed to go and try to get to know him a little better during dinner. I tried to see the glass as half full, but when I saw him sitting all by himself in the middle of the mess hall during dinner, I knew it wasn't going to work out.

"Good luck, girl. You're going to need it," Nanaba said, patting me on the back. Killing Titans was easier than this.

I took a deep breath and walked toward him, holding my dinner tray with both hands.

"Hey, do you mind if I take a seat?" I tried to be nice as I stood in front of him.

Oh God, do you remember when I told you that I can't recall the first time I saw Levi? Well, I would never forget the look in his grey eyes the moment he looked up at me that night. A shiver ran up my spine, and I had to mentally slap myself to regain my composure.

"May I?" I asked once again.

"Do you see my name on it?" Levi's deep voice echoed in my mind as I tried to understand what his problem was.

Anyways, I sat down because I probably looked like an idiot standing up in the middle of the dining room. I took another deep breath and extended my right hand for him to shake. Levi gazed at my hand as if it were pure poison.

"I'm (Y/N), and I'm looking forward to working with you. Let's get along from now on!" A perfect first impression. I gave him my infallible good-girl smile, but it faded as time passed, and he didn't even move to shake my hand.

"I was surprised to hear that you wanted to work with me, so I guess we'll try to make this work," I added as I withdrew my hand. I nervously tucked my hair behind my ear. 'Please say something!' I pleaded in my mind.

"What?" he asked.

"Erwin assigned us together," I replied. I was sweating so much that I felt like I needed another shower after this.

Silence—uncomfortable silence. Then he covered his face with his pale hand and sighed loudly. 'Someone, please save me.'

"That son of a bitch paired me up with the spoiled brat," Levi's words hit me like a bullet. I sat there, feeling as though it must all be a dream. 'Say something? Forget it! I hope he never opens that mouth again.' I regretted my last thought.

He was mean, he was rude, and every bad adjective you can think of. Why?! Why me?! Petra should have been here, not me. But how could she like him? He was the worst!

Which girl in her right mind would ever want to date him?!

Spoiler alert: Me.

Link to my masterlist and my other works if you feel like checking them out. Tags!: @nube55 @justkon @notgoodforlife @nmlkys @humanitys-strongest-bamf @quillinhand @thoreeo @darkstarlight82 @aomi04 @levisbrat25 @fxnnyackerman @secretmoneybearvoid @trashblackrainbow @l3visthighs @hannieslovebot @flxrartsstuff @feelingsandemotionsnotexplored @starrylevi @rithty @mariaace @ackrmntea @emilyyyy-08 @levisfavoriteteashop @katestrophes @katharinasdiaryy @ackermanswifee @levistealeaf @an-ever-angry-bi @youre-ackermine @searriously @blackdxggr @storiesofsung @abiatackerman @braunsbabe @moonchild-angel @galactict3a @lemonsupernova @hyuckwon-my-husbands @heyitsd1yaa @sydneyyuu @love-for-faeries-go-burrrr @mandaax @sugacor3 @r0ckst4rjk @vegetasgirl2799 @catiwinky @pinksaiyans @sparklykeylime Wanna join my tag list? Here!

[violet-fluff]

💙 Levi x Sick! Reader

Pulling Through

“We should visit Y/N. It’s been a while.” Petra says sadly.

Gunther frowns. “You know Captain won’t let us. It seems like the better she gets, the more protective he is. Which I understand. It took so long for her to get better so he’s probably paranoid of her getting sick again.”

You caught a bad case of pneumonia, and at one point, the doctors didn’t think you would make it. Fortunately you did pull through and you felt like it was all because of Levi. He took care of you from the beginning. He made sure you took your medicine on the dot, bathed you, fed you and did everything in his will to keep you alive. Now you are in the recovery stage trying to get your strength back.

Petra feels sympathetic for her Captain as she knows how much he loves you. “Hanji told me before that Levi’s mother died due to sickness. It would have been awful if the same happened to Y/N.”

“If what happened to me?”

They all quickly snap their heads to the side and gasp when they see Levi rolling you in a wheelchair into the mess hall.

“Y/N!!” Petra squeals excitedly.

“Well look who decided to finally show up.” Eld jokes lightly as they all walk up to you.

You feel Levi’s hand stiffen on your shoulder as everyone gets closer, so you give his hand a light squeeze to tell him it was ok.

“I begged Levi to let me come out and get some fresh air. I feel better already!” You smile as you take in the sight of your friends who you’ve missed.

They all take in the sight of you as well. Their faces dropping slightly as they notice your thin frame from the weight you’ve lost, as well as your dark sunken eyes against your pale skin.

“Well it’s good to see you out and about.” Oluo announces happily, for once not uttering a sarcastic comment.

Levi grunts. “Ok brats, time to leave my wife alone. She needs to eat.”

You give the team a knowing smile and let Levi wheel you to the table. While you wait for Levi to finish making your soup, you catch up with your friends.

“I’m so glad you’re ok.” Petra croaks out, trying to not cry.

You lean over to hug her. “Don’t cry it’s okay.”

Oluo rolls his eyes. “I’m glad you’re back so now I don’t have to listen to Petra’s girly gossip anymore.”

Gunther snorts a laugh. “It’s weird you say that because from the looks of it, you love the gossip.”

Petra sighs. “Bet you didn’t miss these bozos.”

You laugh. “I miss everything. Time seemed to fly by for me though. I can’t believe I’ve been down for two months now.”

“It was a long two months without one of our favorite captains. Also, there was no one to protect us from Captain Levi’s harsh training.” Eld says.

“It was much needed training.” Levi scolds as he walks back in with a bowl of soup.

Due to muscle pain and weakness, Levi has to hold the bowl for you but you were able to lift the spoon to feed yourself. You were only able to eat half of the bowl before becoming full.

“Please, Love, just eat a few more spoons for me.” Levi begs with a sigh.

Petra has to cover her mouth to stop herself from squealing while the guys look at each other awkwardly as they have never witnessed their captain so lovey-dovey.

After eating a few more spoons to make Levi content, you yawn. “I’m tired. Can you take me back to the room?”

Levi nods and grabs the handles of your wheelchair.

“I’ll see you all tomorrow.” You wave goodbye to your team.

Everyone watches as Levi wheels you away, as well as kissing the top of your head.

Petra watches with love-struck eyes. “I’m so happy for them. I hope I find love like that one day.”

Oluo scoffs and then hurls over as she elbows him in the stomach.

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

Choices in Silence

Author's note: Catius's next chapter. Thank you to @sleepyfan-blog for letting me borrow Cedric.

Past =-= Next

Warnings: A Bit of A Panick Attack From Ramiel, Let me know if I need to add anything.

Summary: Catius gets back to base. Warns Cedric, and they split up to warn the rest of them. Catius doesn't realize that Hura's listening in to their panicked worry. He offers a solution; come to the Chaos Base and hide out there until Chaplain Captain Petras leaves. For it's likely the Chaplain Captain and his war band will visit the base for various reasons.

Tagged: @barn-anon, @bleedingichorhearts, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @egrets-not-regrets, @kit-williams,

Tagged continued: @sleepyfan-blog, @whorety-k, @ms--lobotomy @bispecsual @thevoidscreams

Tagged continued: @i-am-a-dragon34, @gra93fruit-blog

Catius had returned swiftly from the city back to the base, with only about half of the things that he was ordered to requisition from the base line human city.

He checked in and did the proper procedures to make sure that the items were in inventory and then headed in to check in with Captain Ash’val before being told to stay in the base.

He nodded and then practically ran towards where he knew Cedric was, his helmet off and eyes wide with fear as he warns Cedric about Chaplain Captain Petras being in the city. Again.

Cedric’s reaction is understandable, Catius catches the object that he had in his hands and informed his fellow Apothecary that he was going to inform the rest of the Primaris Marines that they knew of about his presence.

Cedric recovered with admirable swiftness and he says shakily, “I will tell Ramiel.”

“Okay, I’ll tell Jophiel and Claude then,” Catius says as he carefully sets down whatever finnicky Apothecary thing he’d caught as Cedric’s hands had shook and understandably grown clumsy with terror.

Cedric had been the one to find Ramiel as the other was murdered by his Mentor for the crime of being a Primaris Marine. There is much that they haven’t spoken of to their elder cousins and brothers from different Eras about what things are like in M42. Mostly because whatever they do tell them, seems to upset the lot of them. Catuis gently squeezes one of Cedric shoulders as he tugs the other in for a brief hug, gently tapping their foreheads together.

“Claude will have hiding spots in mind for us, whether we are all together or split up,” Catius said. “He… he’s with one of the Feral Warbands of Black Templars. They don’t tend to stay in base line cities in Ancient Terra for long. I... informed Captain Ash’val of- of… him and the danger he represents to you and Ramiel specifically.”

“He’s a threat to all Primaris,” Cedric points out quietly.

“Yeah,” Catius says with a nod, “But, per The Rules, if he goes after non-chapter loyalists for no good reason it will get him and his War Band into an amount of Trouble that he likely won’t want to deal with.”

“… He Challenged Lord Helbretch on his decision to allow us to live,” Cedric argues.

“And he suffered the consequences for it,” Catius pointed out with a hopeful ting to his voice.

What Catius did not notice when he’d bolted into the storage room that Cedric was in, was that another Apothecary had been with Cedric. An older Apothecary. A Chaos aligned one. Hura had paused in what he was doing when the Scout-ling Catius had burst into the room wild-eyed and spooked. Wondering if he or one of the others had found yet another wounded Primaris Scout-ling.

What he learned of, at least vaguely was about some Schism that happened within the Loyalists of The Black Templars. About a Loyalist Chaplain Captain who murdered a Loyal Scout-ling. One he specifically chose to train. Hura’s hands slowly clenched into fists. How wasteful! He’d met skittish young Ramiel, who was a quiet, and dutiful young man.

He’s quite frankly impressed that the youngster hadn’t decided to go ‘fuck it, I’m going Renegade or Chaos’ for such a betrayal. First Born brothers had done so for less. Apparently the psycho-indoctrination in M42 is far more advanced. Not that he’s surprised.

“He might come to this base,” Hura pipes up.

Both youngsters jump and whirl to face them, eyes wide. He stops himself from chuckling, youngsters occasionally forgot to check their surroundings when so upset. Which was fine, he’s honestly pleased that he didn’t register as A Threat, at least for the moment.

“As he’s a Loyalist, and even the Feral War Bands have to come to base occasionally when they are in the city for check ins on what they have seen, and medical checkups,” Hura says honestly. “Among other, various things.”

The way the Scout-lings curl in on themselves, recoiling in horror at the thought of that. The despair on their faces and mounting panic as they look at each other. Even if they do hide in this base. They have a higher likelihood to be found by him or his war band mates, simply by being in the same space.

“I have a proposal,” Hura continues, after pausing to see the impact his words are making, “You could come visit the Chaos Base in the city, for a while, once this… Petras leaves, you would be free to come and go as you please. Not that you wouldn’t before, of course.”

The Base Commander, among many other Chaos Marines had heard of Primaris Marines, but very few of them had actually ever seen, much less met a Primaris Marine. Also, he’d be stealing these adorable, competent youngsters from the Loyalists for a while.

“We will think on your offer, sir,” Catius says diplomatically. “It… your offer is appreciated?”

That sounded more like a question, but he nods generously to the youngster. It’s understandable, after all, they will have to decide, whether individually or as a group what they feel is safer. Stay in the Loyalist base where a known murderer of one of their Friends is coming. Or go to the Chaos Base, and all that entails to hide out in for a while.

“Let me know either way,” Hura says with a patient nod. “There are plenty of options. I know there is a Blood Angel and Lamenter base nearby that would be happy to take in Jophiel, and likely the rest of you as well, for a time at least.”

Catius and Cedric make complicated faces at that. Which Hura notices and tilts his head a little. Interesting reaction. Especially since young Jophiel is in Blood Angel armor, and has a very rare blessing for a Son of the Great Angel. His holy wings, and a Psyker’s power, well trained in Loyalist fashion.

“The Blood Angels do know about Jophiel… right?” Hura asks, brow furrowing.

The looks they give each other, and the suddenly placid masks on both of their faces. “What they do or don’t know isn’t something I’m aware of. Sir.”

Ah, that was from the young Ultramarine, in that smooth tone of bland nothingness. Which likely meant that no. Jophiel hasn’t reported into the Blood Angel and Lamenter base yet. Which is interesting since the youngster has been here for several months. That speaks of… something. Sons of the Great Angel, no matter the chapter tend to flock together and are quite a tight knight lot.

From what Hura knows of the Ninth Legion they are particularly protective of their Psykers, and of their brothers who have more of the Great Angel’s rarer traits. Perhaps the lad doesn’t want to be smothered for being the only winged one of his brothers in this hemisphere? Or does it imply something else about M42, something darker, and grimmer.

[hannahlovesluca]

T.S.

| In which you release an original song, Enchanted (t.s.), for Shu.

| WARNINGS: mild cursing, angst to fluff, mentions of sex, Shu being both a dick and an absolute sweetheart

“There I was again tonight, forcing laughter

faking smiles; same and tired lonely place..”

Shu’s heart pounded, he knew you were releasing your very first song; and he also knew the possibility that it may be about him.

You and Shu had a complicated relationship. One day, you’ll be cuddling in bed together, kissing, making love, even. The next, Shu refuses to talk to you. Ignoring you.

The truth was - he was so, so fucking scared.

Scared about his feelings towards you. He had never experienced this before. He was also scared that in the long run, he would lose you. The one person who made him feel safe, secure, happy.

“Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and

vacancy vanished when I saw your face…”

Your voice rang through his headset, he was so, so infatuated.

He thought back to the night you first got intimate.

His hand running down your hips to your thighs, your hands tangled in his hair. Soft grunts and groans being shared now and then… God, he craved for that to happen again.

”All I can say is,

it was enchanting to meet you.

Your eyes whispered, ‘Have we met?’

'Cross the room your silhouette

Starts to make its way to me.”

The night you had very first met, was not when he debuted as a member of Luxiem, but was a year or so beforehand.

Shu does not like parties, he does not go to them. He got dragged to one by a friend. But, god, was he happy that he had gone.

When his eyes landed on your figure, he knew he had to talk to you. He knew there was something there.

He knew.

He knew.

He knew.

And god, was he right.

”The playful conversation starts

Counter all your quick remarks

Like passing notes in secrecy.”

The live chat to the premier of this song is going nuts. Superchats, members, akasupa’s even. The occasional NIJI member sending a message

Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN] 🔧: OH MY GOD

Kyo Kaneko [NIJISANJI EN] 🔧: OKAY I SEE YOU

Even people from other companies were going feral into chat. He wanted to say something - he really, really did. But he knew the song was for him, he knew you were in pain; and he knew he was the cause. His hands remain on his letter-less keyboard, trying to think of a message to send but nothing coming to mind.

“And it was, enchanting to meet you…

All I can say is I was enchanted to meet you…”

Shu decided against joining the VC that was listening to your song live, afraid they’ll connect the dots.

Since when did he care what others thought?

Since when did Shu fucking Yamino even have romantic feelings for anyone?

He wants so badly to console you through the screen - tell you why he hasn’t been there for you… embrace you… give you his words of affirmation..

“This night is sparkling, don't you let it go

I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home

I'll spend forever wondering if you knew

I was enchanted to meet you

The lingering question kept me up

2 AM, who do you love?

I wonder 'til I'm wide awake

And now I'm pacing back and forth

Wishing you were at my door

I'd open up and you would say, ‘Hey’”

Shu never wanted to admit this fact to anyone else, but he knew that you knew.

Shu had slight feelings for Petra.

I know, crazy right?

Petra did not return those feelings, she saw him as a brother and wanted to keep it that way. The feelings he had for Petra were nowhere near as big as the ones he had for you, of course.

Especially now, hearing the desperation in your voice.. The longing… The way his heart is pounding.

He knew.

He knew how much he loved you, and he knew he had to make things right.

”This is me praying that,

This was the very first page,

Not where the story line ends..

My thoughts will echo your name, until I see

you again.

These are the words I held back,

as I was leaving too soon..

I was enchanted to meet you.”

At this point, Shu was tearing up. God, he hated this. He hated this so much. He hated this stupid song, he hated his feelings, and most of all he hated you.

He hated you for making him feel this way.

He hated you for writing this beautiful song, he hated you for kissing him, he hated you for being so goddamn pretty.

He hated you.

Hated you so fucking much.

But fuck, he loves you.

He loves your smile, he loves the way your eyes crinkle when your laughing, he loves your voice, he loves the chokehold you have him in.

He knows.

He knows he loves you.

“Please don't be in love with someone else

Please don't have somebody waiting on you

Please don't be in love with someone else

Please don't have somebody waiting on you..”

As the song neared an end, Shu found himself sobbing into his hands, not daring to look up at the beautiful art displayed across his screen. He longed to hear your voice in a more appropriate manner, in a way that could reaffirm him.

He wanted you.

Scratch that, he needs you.

And he has to show you just how badly he does.

He tries to subside his crying, his vision blurry whilst he pulls up Discord on his center monitor.

He goes to your profile, staring at your beautiful, beautiful, profile picture.

It was a picture of you laying in his lap giving a peace sign, although no one besides him could tell whos lap you were in.

His fingers type away onto his keyboard, as soon as he sends his message, one from you comes in.

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

[dipolardruid]

⚠️ TW WARNING⚠️

Yandere, toxic relationship, kidnapping, attempted break up on readers part.

"What...? No, I wasn't trying to, you know I wouldn't do anything like that!" Tina says with a desperate tone as she closes in on you.

You take a step back to create distance, which causes her to look at you with an unreadable expression "yet you knowingly do it, I've told you repeatedly to stop doing things because they make me uncomfortable, Even after that you still do them." At this she seems to look away a couple of times before making eye contact with you.

"I swear it's never on purpose!" Before you're able to respond or do anything, she continues on."I promise I really mean it! It won't happen starting today!" She says in a pleading tone as she lightly scratches and squeezes her fingers.

"You're right it won't happen starting today because I want nothing to do with you." You quickly turn away before Tina can respond to your words. However, you don't get far before you're grabbed by the back of your shirt "Wait stop w-where are you going?"

Pulling away from Tina, she tries to grab you again, which only causes you to become more aggressive in keeping her hands away, which results in Tina becoming more desperate to hold onto you "please don't go! I promise! I promise I'll stop!" The struggle is enough to cause you to trip over your feet, causing both of you to almost fall.

"Will you stop already! Just leave me alone!" At your raised voice, Tina flinches back, her eyes squinted, fist raised to her chest in a self soothing manner, but it seems to have stopped her from trying to grab you again.

At this, you walk away from her and out of her room, looking back every so often to make sure she isn't behind you. While walking towards the front door, you see both Petra and Jake walking towards you. Upon seeing your upset face, Jake puts up his hand to stop you.

"What's wrong?" He tries to make eye contact with you, but you avoid his gaze looking over at the floor."Go ask Tina." You tell him before walking past him and Petra they both take a quick look at each other before Jake speaks up. "I'll go check on Tina. " Petra nods before following behind you.

That day ended with Petra taking you home and Tina's nonstop calling and texting until you had to block her number.

Despite this, the others sat around you during school hours. Petra or Jake may talk to you, but it's mainly Paul who tries to get you to speak to Tina again.

"Come on, you guys had an argument that's all there is to it. What's the big deal?" He says he says wrapping his arm around your shoulder. However, upon trying to move out of his grip, he tightens his forearm around your collarbone, keeping you in place "ok how about this you just come over you don't have to make small talk with her or anything but just be around like before" you look at him to reject but before you can he speaks up "please..." he says pleadingly.

You don't know why you accepted, you never should've, it would've been better to just take the guilt and walk away from him, to ask for help if he refused to let you go yet you didn't.

Now, here you were watching your face plastered on the screen as your parents beg for your safe return, promising all that they have and more. At this, everything begins to blur as a sob escapes your throat.

"Why...?" Is all that you could muster before the tightness in your throat becomes too much for you to continue talking.

Tina sits beside you, stroking your back. "You tried to leave, I would've handled this better if you listened to everyone else about just coming back, but you wanted to be stubborn about it"

You wanted nothing more than to smack her away and yell, but you knew the consequences of that. You lost count of all the things she's done to you after some time. Things were bearable if you simply let it happen instead of constantly fighting back.

"It's ok...it's ok, come here, no more crying. I don't like it when you cry." Tina says, pulling you closer to herself, your head on her chest.

"They're still looking for me....you can't keep me here forever, tina." You say between breaths as you try to catch your breath. "Really? I would say otherwise, the news has stopped talking about you, your disappearance came and went as everything else does, your parents... let's say they aren't a worry." Tina strokes your head as she says this.

At this you feel you feel your body stiffen and your breath catch in your throat.

As you're about to question her, Tina runs her thumb over your lips before speaking, "That's enough for today. It's late, so let's get you ready for bed." At this, you go to speak up only to be met with Tina's side glance, causing you to keep your mouth shut.

You hate it. You hate the way you fear her. The way your body tenses up as she tucks you into bed and smooths the blanket around you, yet you can't help but let it happen even if you did fight back, you're just a human. Physically, you could stand a chance. However, if she decided to use her power, you'd be on the floor clutching your ears in pain, not only that it'd alert everyone in the house along with the others.

So as much as you want to shove past her as she walks out that door, all you can do is lay in this bed watching her back as she walks out able to do whatever she wants, whenever she wants.

"One more thing." This causes you to look over at her " I love you, Goodnight"

You don't want to say it but you have to yet everytime you do it feels as if you're about to vomit. "Y/N" This causes you to flinch your head back as she says your name with a warning edge to it.

"I-I love you too..."

Request are open!

[dedusmuln]

so many mcsm fans think romeo should have died and honestly i don't think i'll ever be able to agree with that sentiment.

romeo Wanted that to be his way out. he wanted to be left in the terminal zone and if you let him he will sacrifice himself by distracting the colossus.

choosing to bring romeo along is not letting him choose his way out. it's not letting him get the easy way out. i don't think people get that him surviving is going to be much, much more worse for him than if he died.

after they bring romeo out of the terminal zone, petra even brings up how romeo isn't a threat anymore, and how the angry citizens are going to be more of a threat to Him than he will be to Them. do you know how much harder it is now that he's going to be living with a constant reminder of what he's done wrong? do you know how much harder it will be for him to get on good standing with literally Anyone? do you know how long it's going to take for him to fully get better? to fully move on? to begin to confront the grief he has over fred, to confront his past and what he did, to try and fix things with xara?

if you get the ending where romeo kills xara, he says that he didn't feel like himself and that he didn't want it to happen at all. it's never explained if romeo was fully in control while he was an admin, and that bit of dialogue makes me think he Wasn't.

but either way, he is so Regretful over what he did. almost Immediately. it's not like he's going out into the world with no regrets, singing and hopping and dancing around. he's regretful. he wants to fix things. he knows he did terrible things. he wants to reconnect with xara.

having romeo Survive means that he's going to have to build his whole entire life back up from scratch. and do you know how much harder that is?

[callie-the-creator]

headache

sfw. warnings: one mention of titans, but that’s about it! there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.

author’s note: the reader is gender neutral and the pronouns that are used are you/your.

you, eren yeager, levi ackerman, and the rest of squad levi had just finished an old scout base where they will prepare for the upcoming scouting mission. but that wasn’t important now. what was important was that you— along with many of the others— were exhausted from a hard day’s work of cleaning and captain levi’s strict demands for the place to be spotless didn’t necessarily make things easier.

“hey, y/n…” petra spoke up, tearing you away from your thoughts. “you don’t look so good, is everything okay?” she asked which prompted the others to stop eating and stare at you for some sort of response. levi was at the far end of the table, lifting his cup to his lips to drink some of his tea, and once he heard that you weren’t up to par, he stopped.

“yeah.” you let out a small yawn. “i just think i overworked myself,” you reached over and messaged one of your shoulders, groaning. “that and i feel a headache coming on.” you wished that you were back home and have someone like doctor yeager to give you proper treatment, so you didn’t have to suck it up.

“oh, boohoo!” oluo said, suddenly. “we faced man-eating creatures and you’re worried about a little ol’ headache?” oluo bozado has a reputation for trying to copy their dear captain levi, such as his rough speech and confident attitude, which caused him to be at slight odds with petra. but you know what they say: imitating is the best form of flattery. despite knowing this, it didn’t make his comment any less humiliating.

you decided now to bite your tongue. for now.

“that’s enough.” levi bowed his head. your undivided attention snapped toward the captain and watched as he, slowly, stood up which caused the wooden legs of the object to slightly scrape against the ground, the noise echoing in the rather empty place. “y/n,” his cold and unreadable fell on you. you tensed. “i suggest you go to bed. i’ll make some tea for you in the meantime.”

the room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop if it did. the only sound that accompanied the main hall was the heels of levi’s boots clicking against the ground which only grew quieter when he left the table before he opened the door with a loud crrrk and then left to prepare your tea.

“what was that all about?” eren mumbled under his breath, looking around innocently once there was no sight of the captain.

“i think it’s pretty damn obvious what it was.” gunther smirked mischievously before suddenly pressing his weight against you, resting his side and head on you, in dramatic fashion. “looks like y/n’s got themself a little admirer. better watch out, petra. you got some major competition.” the blond joked.

“you jerk!” petra scowled once her devotion to the captain was brought up.

because of gunther’s little comment, a small spat broke out between him and petra. he tried to reassure it that he didn’t mean anything by it by raising his hands whilst petra continued to take it personally. while this was happening, you couldn’t help but wonder if there was some truth in the whole ‘levi having a soft spot for you’.

but there was one thing you knew for sure: the raised voices of petra and gunther sure as hell weren’t helping out your headache. if anything, it just caused it to worsen. making you seethe and wince at the pain. “hey, uh, guys?” you spoke up. “i think i’m going to head to bed. i’ll see you all tomorrow, yeah?”

“oh…goodnight then, y/n!”

“sleep well.”

“cya.” oluo dismissed your goodbye. again: he tries too hard to be like captain levi.

“see you later!” petra shouted, trying to be louder than the rest of the boys.

“yeah…get better soon.” eren said.

letting out a small huff, you hurried out of the dining hall and made a beeline toward the barracks. once inside your room, you stripped off your day clothes and slipped into your more comfortable night ones. sinking onto your bed, you sighed in relief as the tension slowly ebbed away.

but before you could find any solace, a knock at the door startled them.

"come in," you called, your voice a little groggy from the pounding headache. the door creaked open, and there stood levi, his usual stoic demeanor intact. he held a steaming cup of tea in his hand, and without a word, he approached and handed it to you, being cautious not to spill a drop. “oh…thank you.”

you accepted the tea but hesitated to drink it. gunther's earlier comment about levi still lingered in their mind, casting doubt on the situation and your relationship as a whole with the captain. it’s no doubt that you had grown to have feelings for the man, but you always thought that you were good at hiding it…

levi noticed your reluctance and broke the silence, his voice crisp and unreadable, "what’s the matter? you don't want it or something?"

quickly shaking your head, you took a few tentative sips of the tea to please him. it was soothing, the warmth spreading through Your body and providing a momentary respite from your headache. after seeing that you at least had something to help your headache, levi, almost begrudgingly, turned to leave the room.

but just as he reached the door, you couldn't bear the uncertainty any longer. “captain?” you called out his name, stopping him in his tracks, but he didn't turn around to fully face you. he simply wanted to hear if you had any departing words before he too turns in for the night. you, however, had other plans since you decided to confront the unspoken question that had been hanging in the air. "what do you think of me?" you asked, your voice trembling ever so slightly.

the captain, at first, didn’t do a thing. just stood there. was he trying to think of the right words? what if the thought of your relationship hadn’t crossed his mind? after a moment of silence, levi shifted his body, turning to face you. his expression, as always, remained inscrutable.

you felt almost stupid for asking such a thing. “you know what? just forget i said anything…” you trailed off, looking away bashfully.

without a word, levi stepped forward and leaned down, placing a gentle kiss on your forehead. it was a brief, soft touch, but it conveyed a depth of emotion that words often failed to express. he whispered, "get some rest," before straightening up and leaving the room, leaving you with a mix of emotions and a much lighter heart.

[oathkeeperoxas]

Battleship 2024

As tradition dictates, I wrote far too much for this year's round of battleship!! 19 fics across several fandoms, though most was for icemav and saintspy. All fics can be found below ❤️

Iceman/Maverick

star spangled sky [4.2k]

Maverick's not sure who's more down on his luck this time: him, or Ice. Doesn't really matter. Not when they've got each other for the night.

Unto the Breach [700 words]

Maverick never thought that he would get so lucky as to actually have a family.

Weekend Warriors [4.4k]

Goose and Carole ask Ice and Mav for a favour.

one heartbeat at a time [4.2k]

When Maverick identifies that Ice has been drugged at a Navy party, there's only one way he knows to help his wingman.

transactions [2.7k]

It's a give and a take, between the two of them.

ride in this life with you [15.1k]

Maverick takes a breath. “I’m pregnant.” Ice stares at him. “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Maverick says, grinning. “Uh, surprise! I know it’s not exactly the direction we planned, but–” “But you can’t be,” Ice interrupts him. “Because I’m pregnant.”

Stormclouds [6.7k]

Maverick had thought they'd been slated to fly today. No matter the weather, even if it was stormy and the clouds were out and the wind was high, the Navy expected them to take off and land their jets at the whim of a commander. What he wasn't expecting was this: something even more dangerous, happening closer to home.

blurred into you [4.1k]

After Maverick's particularly long and stressful week at work, Ice suggests a way for them both to relax.

Racing to the Top [1k]

Paris 2024 means another chance for Tom to aim for gold. Pete isn't going to let him claim it without a challenge.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

between dusk and dawn [Dedue/Petra] [1.2k]

If there is one thing that they are grateful for, it is this.

through the years [Marianne/Hilda] [4.4k]

Three times Marianne reveals something of herself to Hilda, and one time Hilda returns the favour.

midnight meetings [Lysithea & Cyril] [2.3k]

Cyril has something to learn, and Lysithea has something to teach.

Kingdom Hearts

together as one [Sora/Kairi/Riku] [3k]

5 times Sora sees something that reminds him of Riku and Kairi, and 1 time Riku and Kairi make it all worth it.

recompense [Aqua & Ventus] [600 words]

Aqua sets a task for Ventus and Vanitas to complete.

Saintspy

what do I have to do (to eliminate the space between you and me) [5.6k]

“No,” Benji moans. “Ethan, please. It’s taco Friday!” “Hello,” the man calls, voice rich and layered and drawing Ethan in. He’s taken a step forward before he even realises it. The man’s lips curl up into a smirk, eyes running up and down Ethan’s body and completely ignoring Benji and all the other people who are staring at him. “You wouldn’t happen to know a certain man I’m looking for – tall, dark, handsome.” “I can do you one better,” Ethan tells him. “If you can tell me where I might lay my head down tonight.”

Against All Odds [4.9k]

Tony treats Ethan to a perfect morning in the midst of a perfect vacation.

unexpected pleasures [5.3k]

“I thought you were on suppressants,” Jude says, looking Ethan up and down, head to toe. He’s flushed, sweating, and attempting to hide the fact that Jude had interrupted him in the middle of jerking off. “Got poisoned on my last mission,” Ethan says shortly, voice tight. “They had to flush my system.” “So you’re in rut.” “So I’m in rut.”

Two Cats and Their Human [300 words]

Ethan's lover is smaller than usual today.

to fall into love (one more time) [2.2k]

Ethan’s mission to find an important relic is interrupted by a familiar face who’s willing to come along for the ride.

Full 2024 Battleship collection!