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aemondapologistfrfr · 2 months

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His Princess - Pt3

fancast!bloody ben x targ!fem!reader

Part 1 Part 2

Summary: Rhaenyra calls Y/n and Ben back to Dragonstone to ask a great favor. Jace and Baela reunite with y/n and are left in charge of Harrenhal during their absence.

Warnings: 18+ swearing, wine, small 3rd person pov at beginning, y/ns got some anxiety(real), p in v in like in a desperate and needy way

Authors Note: plsplspls see the vision of him being a dragonseed😓 like fr imagine them flying and being cute and then burning down their enemies like come onnnn and NOT being direct family members, i got super fkn attached to this story so i’ll be writing more parts whether anyone wants them or not 🫣

Word Count: 4.7k

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3rd person pov at Dragonstone:

Rhaenyra looks to Jace as if he’s absolutely mad or brilliant. The thought alone of putting someone on a dragon who was never raised to claim one is insanity. Yet, no one has shut down the continuing discussion that has been taking place since the records have been pulled.

“You would put a Massey on a dragon?” Rhaenyra chuckles shaking her head looking around the table.

“Or another house. There’s scores of them.” Jace nods his head looking at the spread out papers in front of him.

“I’m thinking a Blackwood.” Daemon says with a smirk looking at them.

“Y/n will not take lightly to that suggestion if what you say is true about them.” Rhaenyra looks to him skeptically still not fully trusting his judgment.

“The boy waits on her and Silverwing hand and claw. He yells at local farmers for cattle and herds them to Silverwing, all while greeting her in High Valyrian. I’ve heard stories throughout the host of how he’s even ridden with Y/n. Whether she likes it or not he’s most likely to be able to bond with Vermithor.” Daemon spreads his hands across the table pushing the family records away from him.

“Vermithor? Of all of the unbonded? She won’t take lightly to that.” Baela shakes her head looking to Daemon.

“Vermithors bonded dragon is Silverwing. It makes sense. Especially since Silverwing has already taken a liking to him.” Daemon tries to share his reasoning with them.

“And how do you propose we get them to come back here? I don’t think she’ll easily want to leave the host she’s amassed or him his men.” Jace raises an eyebrow to Daemon ready to forge a plan to get them to return.

“You can take her place.” Daemon shrugs not seeming to care what it takes as Jaces eyes light up at the thought of finally being able to leave Dragonstone.

“Absolutely not.” Rhaenyra cuts in as she will hear no more of it.

“Then you’ll send Baela. Again. While I’m to just sit here like a baby sequestered to his crib.” Jace shakes his head and storms out of hall.

“Jacaerys,” Rhaenyra calls after him but he’s already turned the corner.

“He grows restless too. He only wants to help.” Baela says hushed looking to Rhaenyra.

“He’s my heir. I don’t want to send another son to his death. Nothing I do seems to make him happy.” Rhaenyra groans wiping her face with her hands.

“Y/n has a tight grip on the army. We could send both Baela and Jace to replace Y/n and Ben until they can return. The presence of two dragons will help the men to stay in line in their absence.” Daemon leans back in his chair, assessing Rhaenyra.

“I will think on this and make a decision on the morrow.” Rhaenyra says decisively, nodding her head.

“I will go check on Jace. Your Grace.” Baela nods her head curtly and leaves the hall leaving Rhaenyra even more exasperated.

“You could always send me back.” Daemon chuckles as his eyes gaze at her across the messy table.

“If you think I would send you back to Harrenhal after everything, then you must have truly lost your fucking mind.” her eyes narrow on him. Daemon chuckles lowly before sauntering out of the hall leaving Rhaenyra to think.

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Y/n Pov:

Silverwing and I sit perched atop the highest tower of Harrenhal, her claws digging into the crumbling stone. Off in the distance we can hear two dragons calling out and Silverwing responds with a high pitch song of her own. Moondancer zips into view circling the castle and taking in the host. Vermax breaks through the clouds as his low grumble bounces off of the towers. Silverwing dashes to the ground outside of the gates while they land next to her.

“Brother! Sister!” I cry out as I slide down off of Silverwing.

“Y/n!” they jog to me and engulf me in a hug.

“Gods I wish we were here when you sent Daemon back to Dragonstone. Ser Alfred is absolutely in awe of you.” Jace chuckles looking me over as I do the same to them.

“I’m surprised mother finally let you leave your chambers.” I try to stifle my laugh as Jaces face gets red.

“Thanks to me, of course.” Baela smiles at Jace teasingly.

“And where is your paramour?” Jace wiggles his eyebrows causing my cheeks to heat.

“So Daemon can remember that but not his loyalties.” I shake my head as a smile spreads across my face at being reunited with my siblings.

“Are you embarrassed of me, my Princess?” Ben walks through the gate and to my side not seeming to care there are three dragons surrounding him.

“You know that I’m not.” I turn to him while I feel my cheeks reach a new temperature as he gives one of them a pinch.

“Oh this is rich. I never thought I’d see the day you’d become a blushing mess, sister.” Jace snickers as Baela joins him.

“Jace enough, let her be happy.” Baela chides trying to hide her own giggles.

“If you both are done,” I roll my eyes. “This is Lord Benjicot Blackwood.” I smile softly as I look to Ben.

“I told her enough with the titles,” he smirks down at me. “Call me Ben, it’s an honor to meet you Prince Jacaerys and Princess Baela.” he smiles bowing his head to them.

“So respectful, mother is going to absolutely adore him.” Jace tries to hold in his laughter as I scowl at him.

“And why, pray tell, are me and Ben being summoned home?” I groan as I motion for them to follow me in through the gates.

“She wishes to hear about your progress from you. Daemon has also spared few details regarding you and Ben and she’s interested.” Baela hums following close behind.

“The fact Daemon had anything to say about us is astounding.” I shake my head. “Come, we will show you to your chambers and then we will call a meeting with the River Lords.” I sigh as we begin up the stairs. Ben and I drop them off at their chambers to settle in before we return to ours to finish packing.

“I’m scared to meet your mother.” Ben says as he shoves more shirts into his bag.

“Why?” I turn to him scrunching my brows.

“She’s the Queen. What if she doesn’t like me? She could exile me if she should want.” he sits down on the bed and looks to me.

“Then she’ll also be sending me into exile.” I walk over to him and cradle his face.

“You would come with?” he looks up to me pulling me closer by my waist.

“Unfortunately for you, you’re stuck with me.” I brush his hair back.

“Will you still be with me even if we’re not in exile?” his voice soft as his eyes search mine.

“I will be with you anywhere.” my voice barely a whisper.

He rises from the bed making my hands move from his face to his chest. He leans down and offers me a soft kiss. He pulls me into a tight embrace while slightly pulling back to capture my lips once more. I’m intoxicated by everything this man does and I can’t picture the rest of my days without him.

“Come, we must have a meeting.” I kiss him softly once more before we exit our chambers.

We’re sitting around the table with the River Lords who are looking curiously to my siblings. Jace and Baela seem calm and have an air about them that they will lead them with a firm grip as Ben and I have.

“Thank you for coming together so quickly, my Lords. This is Prince Jacaerys and Princess Baela.” I turn to them and smile. “The Queen has requested that Ben and I return to Dragonstone to discuss our progress and receive more instruction for the future. I should hope you treat my siblings with the respect their station calls for. They’re here to humbly learn how this host moves as one and to help in any way they can.” I look to all the Lords who are nodding their heads and don’t seem upset by the change in authority.

“When can we expect you both to return?” one of them looks to me.

“I will send a raven as soon as I have that information. If there are any further questions, they may be directed to either Baela or Jace.” I nod my head at him.

“Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to stay and work closely with you and your men. You do a great service to our mother and it does not go unnoticed.” Jace rises and smiles to the Lords around the table.

“Of course, my Prince.” similar murmurs erupt from around the table.

Ben and I take our leave from the meeting and hand them over to Baela and Jace who offer us a quick goodbye. Ben collects our bags before we leisurely stroll down to Silverwing. On approach she is nudging her head against Moondancer and Vermax affectionately until she spots us.

“Time for us to go home for a bit.” I hum and pat her neck.

I gesture for Ben to begin mounting and I follow closely behind him. Once we’re seated Silverwing shoots us in the direction of Dragonstone. Ben has become more relaxed on dragonback and laughs with me when Silverwing dips and twirls around.

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As we approach Dragonstone Silverwing flies down quickly and walks us into the pit. As we begin to dismount and pull our bags down a deep growl shakes the foundations of the cave as Vermithors snout begins to emerge.

“Go deal with your grumpy old man.” I chuckle to Silverwing who huffs and turns towards him.

She snaps her jaws at him and pushes him back into the depths so they can curl up in their cave. I turn to Ben who is looking at me with wide eyes as our bags take up his arm space. I chuckle and pull him into the castle with me.

“Whose dragon is that?” Ben asks looking behind his shoulder.

“As of right now, he only belongs to Silverwing.” I hum as we turn the corner.

“What do you mean he belongs to Silverwing?” his words trail off as he takes in the enormity of the castle and all of its details. “Your home is breathtaking, my Princess.”

“She means that Vermithor and Silverwing are bonded dragons. They care for each other deeply.” Rhaenyra comes around the corner as a smile spreads across my face.

“My Queen.” Ben drops our bags and goes to his knees.

“Rise Ben,” Rhaenyra chuckles and looks to us with a soft smile as Ben rises to my side.

“Mother,” I return her smile and hug her tightly.

“Thank you, for everything.” she whispers in my ear squeezing me once more.

“Of course,” I nod my head. “This is Ben, he’s taken care of me and Silverwing dutifully over the past moon.” I hum looking at him affectionately.

“So I’ve heard.” her eyes crinkle with warmth. “I will let you two settle into your chambers and I’ll see you both for supper.” she nods before turning and leaving us in the hall.

“Should I have said something more? Do you think I made a bad impression?” he worries as he starts to collect our bags once more.

“You were a bit dramatic with throwing our bags everywhere but no matter, she seemed pleased with you.” I hum as I continue to lead him to my chambers.

“Should I ask for my own chambers so I look respectful?” his nerves evident in his voice.

“Ben enough,” I hush him as we stop in front of my doors. “You’re sleeping in my bed or I’m sending you home.” I cross my arms and look to him.

“Of course, my Princess.” he nods his head with a smirk on his lips.

I push the doors open and allow him in before shutting them behind us. I sigh in relief as I take in my bed and bath. I look to my wardrobe and smile that I can finally wear a gown again. I do love wearing my armor and the strength it imbues me with but there’s something so powerful about commanding a room in a gown that took weeks to make.

“Just throw the bags anywhere,” I turn to him as I go to my vanity to take in the state of myself.

Ben comes behind me and looks to me lovingly as I begin to take my braids out. He helps take the other out and we begin to take off each other’s armor and gear. I glide over to my wardrobe and rip the doors open. My hands feel the soft fabric as a smile spreads across my face.

“No distractions,” I turn to Ben who is still staring at me. “Go change in the bathing chambers while I change out here.” I hum and send him with his bags behind the stone doors.

I peel the rest of my clothes off and pull a silk slip over my head. The smooth fabric feels like heaven on my skin which pulls a sigh from my lips. I grab out my favorite gown that reminds me of Silverwings scales in its color. It cascades down my body and flows behind me. The sleeves are mesh and have hundreds of silver crystals traveling down them. The neckline is plunging but has mesh to offer some type of modesty if we want to call it that. I find my slippers and close my eyes at the soft fur compared to my boots.

The bathing chamber doors groan open and I turn to Ben. Gods he looks so handsome in a fresh doublet and trousers. My eyes travel up his body until I make it to his flushed face. He looks to me and shakes his head. As he approaches he falls to his knees before me causing a giggle to erupt from me.

“Ben-“

“No, let me admire you. From my rightful place, my Princess.” he breathes out looking up to me.

His eyes travel the length of my body as he softly shakes his head. He begins to rise and I tilt my head back so we can keep our eye contact. His lips fall to mine in a bruising kiss. One of his hands go to my back to pull me flush against him while his other goes to my neck to mold me to him. Our tongues dance lazily as we sigh into each other’s mouth.

“We must go to supper.” he hums against my lips.

“Must we?” I smile looking at him through my lashes.

“Yes, or we won’t be leaving these chambers for the rest of the night.” his eyes darken.

“Come,” I chuckle and pull him out of the doors and down the stairs.

As we make our way to the dining hall the guards and servants welcome me home and offer warm welcomes to Ben. He smiles at them while trailing after me. As we enter the hall hand in hand we are greeted by Rhaenyra and Daemon who are already sat at the table.

“Welcome home.” Daemon raises his glass to us.

“Mm,” I look him over and pull Ben down to a seat next to mine.

“We will have a nice dinner you two. We have a guest.” Rhaenyra warns us while smiling to Ben.

“I’m honored, Your Grace.” Ben dips his head down.

“Feel free to call me Rhaenyra. You’ve done a great service to me and I’m grateful.” she looks to him sincerely.

“If there is anything at all that you need of me, I will see it done.” he nods his head to her.

Daemon chuckles and my eyes shoot daggers at him. I’m glad he’s home and no longer fretting about the Riverlands but it doesn’t mean I want to sit at a table with him. Servants burst into the hall and begin filling our plates and cups.

The rest of our meal goes as expected. Daemon making back handed comments and Rhaenyra scolding him. Ben’s hand holds mine under the table and I feel like we’re a couple of children sneaking around like we weren’t just commanding a great host. We begin to leave to retire for the night until Rhaenyra stops me.

“Could I have some time with you, daughter.” she looks to me softly.

“Of course,” a smile spreads across my face before I turn to Ben and have him go wait for me in my chambers.

She pulls us into her study and looks to me contemplatively. I claim a seat by the great hearth that takes up a majority of the hall. She hands me a cup of wine while taking her own and claiming a seat across from me.

“I want to thank you again for all of your hard work in the Riverlands. Although, we could’ve done without the Blackwood and Bracken battle but I’ll take the swords nonetheless.” she tries to reprimand me but it’s never been her strong suit.

“I had full intentions of negotiating,” I try to offer, shrugging my shoulders.

“You are your father’s child.” she chuckles and shakes her head.

“Don’t remind me,” I groan. “Thank the Gods you didn’t come to Harrenhal yourself. He was in a rare state.” I shutter looking to her.

“Mm, Ser Alfred had much to say about that. I think his words were “Gods save us, we now have a Rogue Princess.” though I did tell him not to call you that to your face.” her shoulders shake as she tries to hide her laugh.

“Ben told me I was terrifying that night, with love though, of course.” I smile at the thought of Ben.

“So Benjicot Blackwood?” she raises her eyebrows as a smile plays on her lips.

“Mother,” I groan even though a smile begins to form. “He’s the first man who isn’t truly scared of me or Silverwing. Gods, some days I think he likes her more than me.” I chuckle.

“I’ve heard he brings her meals everyday?” she asks as her smile continues to grow.

“I’ve told him to stop harassing the local farmers. He either brings her cattle or comes with us when she hunts fish out of the nearby rivers.” I shake my head.

“He was brave enough to mount Silverwing?” she tilts her head studying me.

“He begged me to teach him how to greet her in High Valyrian. She rolls to her side so he can pat her belly. She acts like more of a baby than the cats I used to have.” I chuckle remembering my small furry beasts.

“Daughter, I have an unmeasurable favor to ask of you and Ben.” he bites her lip nervously.

“We are yours to command.” I nod my head at her.

“Jace brought up a point I hadn’t thought of. As you know we need more dragon riders.” she looks to me and I’m trying to think where this is going and why Jace and Baela didn’t mention this back at Harrenhal.

“Of course, more riders would help immensely.” I nod my head in agreement.

“Throughout the years many of our family members have been married off and our blood still runs through their veins. No matter how loosely, they still carry the ability to claim a dragon.” she looks at me as if I’m supposed to know the point shes trying to make.

“You want us to find dragonseeds?” I tilt my head.

“Ben has dragon blood in him.” her eyes look to me.

“Mother,” my voice breaks as my heart stops. She can’t possibly be serious.

“Y/n he has the best chances of bonding with Vermithor.” her words hushed as she takes in the terror in my eyes.

“Vermithor? I’ve had but one moon with him and you want to feed him to a dragon?” my voice rises bordering on hysteria.

“Let’s have him try and bring both Silverwing and Vermithor some cattle tomorrow. Ben’s scent is all over Silverwing so he’ll have the opportunity to get used to it. If it starts to look like Vermithor won’t accept him we will get him out of harms way. Silverwing shares your feelings so I’m sure she wouldn’t allow any harm to come to Ben.” she looks to me with pleading eyes.

I know she wouldn’t ask unless she absolutely needed to. My mind is turning over the information that she’s given me and I start to get dizzy. I rise from my chair placing my cup on the table between us. I strengthen my resolve and look to her with hard eyes.

“I’ll talk with him and we will see you in the morning. Your Grace.” I nod my head and leave through the doors.

“Y/n,” she calls after me but the doors have already groaned shut.

I sprint up the stairs and push through my chamber doors and seal them behind me placing my head on them to steady my breathing. I groan and press my head harder into the stone in hopes that we can become one and I won’t have to deal with this.

“What’s wrong, my Princess?” Ben’s voice is laced with worry as he grabs my arms and turns me towards him.

When I see him look at me with confusion the tears start to trickle down my cheeks. He pulls me into his chest as I continue to sniffle. Rhaena couldn’t even claim a dragon and almost lost her life in the process. I was foolish and reckless enough to get Silverwing. Ben was never raised to learn the language or the ways of dragons. I can’t send him to his death. I won’t have it.

I pull him out to the balcony in silence as we take in the violent sea that crashes against the shore. He turns to me and looks to me in silent question. I bring him to my couch and pull him down next to me as I let out a breathy sigh.

“My mother is asking something almost impossible of us.” I look to him with watery eyes.

“Whatever it is, we can do it together. I know this.” he kisses my hand waiting for me to continue.

“They’ve begun sourcing dragonseeds in hopes of having more dragon riders for the war.” I start with a trembling voice.

“What is a dragonseed?” Ben looks to me confused.

“The children of my ancestors who married into other houses. The blood and magic still flows through their veins no matter how little is left from over the many years.” I feel a tear slip over the edge and Ben is quick to wipe it away.

“Who are they wanting us to find?” he smoothes my hair and pulls me into a hug to try and soothe me.

“It seems as if I brought one to them. They have no issue ripping you away from me.” I pull back and search his eyes.

“Me?” his voice barely a whisper as he looks to me confused. “Do you think I could claim a dragon?” his eyes look to mine as he asks my opinion.

“I think you can do anything, but in the back of my mind I’m so terrified, Ben. I can’t lose you. I’ve only just gotten you.” my voice breaks and I’m mad at how whiny it comes out.

“You won’t lose me. I promise.” he murmurs as he grabs my hand.

“Claiming a dragon is just something you do on whim. Rhaena still hasn’t succeeded and she was raised and trained to claim one. Rhaenyra asking this is absolute madness.” I shake my head trying to rein in my emotions.

“Silverwing seems to like me just fine.” he offers to try and make me feel better.

“That’s because I like you, Ben. Immensely. Our feelings are intertwined.” I try to focus on my breathing so I don’t rile myself up again.

“Then teach me. I want to try. I want to help in anyway I can.” he searches my eyes.

“Rhaenyra plans to have us start this in the morning. I will be at your side the entire time. No harm will come to you.” my words seeming to console me more than him. Worry still courses through me at all of the possibilities but I begin to think of us commanding the skies together and I seem to settle a bit more.

“If you’re by my side then I have nothing to worry about. I will do this for Rhaenyra, but I want you to know that I am yours before I am anyone else’s.” he pulls me onto his lap so I’m straddling him. I lean down and place a soft kiss on his lips. That one kiss only serves to spur us on as our lips lock once more. His hands fly to my back and pull me closer to him.

“I need you,” I sigh breathlessly reaching between us to unlace his trousers.

Our mouths mold back together as he begins to bunch my skirts up to my waist. His hands travel along my bare thighs squeezing and caressing. He groans into my mouth as I finally free him of his pants and wrap my hand around his length.

“Fuck, Princess,” he pants and I start to pump him, swiping my thumb across his tip.

His hands are quick to find my wetness causing a shutter to course through my body. His hand wraps around mine so we can line him up at my entrance. I slowly sink down on to him as whimpers fall from my mouth. His hands go to my hips under my skirts and begins to move me slowly up and down.

Ben captures my lips in a passionate dance while our hips grind against each other desperately. Our bodies mold together as one while we take and give pleasure to one another. When his hand slides between us to my throbbing bud my head falls to his shoulder as I come undone around him as he begins to fill me. We stay wrapped up in each other, breathes mingling along with words of adoration.

He lifts me off of his lap and takes me into my chambers to avoid the chill that’s coming. Once we make it to my bed we undress each other before slipping under the covers. Ben holds me tightly and peppers kisses across my face. We cling to each other in silence for what feels like hours.

“Which dragon does she want me to try and claim?” he asks hushed.

“Vermithor.” I murmur as I see his eyes widen.

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masterlist

Part 4

p.s. no bc why am i down bad for ben blackwood bro

p.s.s. im actually kinda fucking w 3rd person pov and i may do another small pov in the next part of Jace and Baela at Harrenhal

tagging you as promised <3 @credulouskhaleesi

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emeritusemeritus · 7 months

Text

You think you know someone. [Fred Weasley x Reader]

Title: You think you know someone.

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Reader

Timeline: OOTP- canon and timelines altered for purposes of the story. Some bits have been exaggerated for artistic purposes. Based more on the films than the books. Reader joins DA but what if instead of Cho ratting them out, it’s you?

Summary: You had everything during your time at Hogwarts- good friends, Fred Weasley as your boyfriend and a promising future, until Dolores Umbridge turns up.

Warnings: This one turned out a little dark. Mentions of injury, torture, bullying, wounds, blood. Umbridge is a bitch. Snape is a bully. Use of unforgivable curses. Punishment. Kissing, pranks, swearing. Dumbledore’s Army and resistant forces. Brief mentions of Voldemort and probable war. Pet names: baby, sweetheart, princess. Not beta read. Happy ending I promise.

Word count: 9.3k (I feel like I’ve written a novel here)

This work is gifted to @kellyxo1 thanks to the wonderful request that I couldn’t turn down! I’m sorry it’s taken me a while to get this out but it’s been a complete labour of love and I hope you like it!💕

You knew Dolores Umbridge was trouble the moment you spotted her in the Great Hall, her gaudy pink outfit and matching pink cheeks made her stick out like a sore thumb amongst the classic, muted colour pallet you knew to be Hogwarts. Her smile unnerved you, the cold expression in her eyes never once matching the infallible twisted, sadistic smile that so often painted her face. Everything about her rang alarm bells in your mind.

Fred and George had been sitting either side of you at the banquet table in the Great Hall as she took centre stage and delivered her speech about being very good friends, as ominous and foreboding as it seemed.

"That's likely," the twins had mumbled, resting their heads on their hands, elbows on the table as a small act of rebellion against the airs and graces she clearly put on. You'd subconsciously scooted closer to Fred when she stood, reaching for his spare hand under the table that he'd offered you, sensing a little of your discomfort. Fred was always acutely aware of your emotions, able to read you like a book, you supposed it was a natural consequence of being together for so long.

You'd met on the first day of Hogwarts when you'd stepped into the train compartment he shared with George, locked eyes and the rest was history. You'd been dating since your second year, both of you unable to deny the childlike crushes and stolen glances of your attraction and as you grew up, you grew together. Now you were in your last year, with big plans ahead of Fred and George's business which you'd planned to help them with initially and bigger promises of moving in together in the flat above the shop. The natural progression of a happy relationship and an exciting prospect that kept you motivated to finish school on a high.

The atmosphere at Hogwarts was different this year: understandably tense and foreboding, not just because of Cedric's death and the rumoured return of Voldemort but of the disquiet around Harry's claims and the propagandistic reporting from the Daily Prophet refuting Harry's claims. It seemed everyone was divided into wether they believed Harry or if they believed what they were reading in the media. It was evident that the ministry had worked hard to deny and deflect Harry'a claims, disparaging and slandering him publicly. Of course the arrival of a certain Pink adorned dementor didn't help things, especially when she, as new defense against the dark arts teacher, did away with the old curriculum and removed any defensive, practical teaching in favour of simple theory- which would be of no use in real life situations, of which you were all undoubtedly facing. Then the educational decrees began where she was appointed Hogwarts' high inquisitor and sought to change anything she was as unsatisfactory, backed by the ministry, which seemed to propel the whole school further and further away from what it should be teaching and how it should be preparing it's students for what was inevitably happening.

"She can't do this! It's ridiculous, George is fuming, never mind Fred," you overheard Ginny say as you were about to take a seat for dinner but quickly stopped as you gave her a questioning look, not knowing what she meant, her eyes focusing in on your frozen form.

"What?"

"You haven't seen the new decree?" She asks curiously, placing down her fork onto the plate. You shook your head briefly before walking quickly out of the hall, dinner be damned to examine the wall of decrees, trying to fix your eyes onto the new plaque on the wall.

Educational Decree No. 30: All Weasley products will be banned immediately.

You rushed upstairs to the common room, split in two minds about wether they would be there or on the quidditch pitch, trying to expel their frustrations... until you remembered that broom flying had been outlawed unless part of a lesson or during Quidditch games, as few and far between as they were coming due to the constant cancelling.

When you found them in their dorm, George was pacing the room, kicking the wooden frame of his bed after every circuit whilst Fred sat perched on his own bed, face downcast and eyes filled with anger.

You knew it wouldn't stop them, nothing ever did, but the business they forged from nothing had suffered for a while as students were afraid of the repercussions of being searched and found with their products.

"Can't sell my products, can't fly a broom, can't even kiss my own girlfriend unless I find a way to snog her from six inches away!" Fred had been furious and rightly so but there seemed to be no hope in sight.

It seemed no one was unaffected by the drastic measures Umbridge was taking and you were all facing the consequences of the increasing restrictions, in multiple ways. You'd been given detention for the stupidest things, including casting a spell to undo the jinx Malfoy had placed on Neville one afternoon, another leg lock jinx that you'd fixed for him, received another for the muggle book in your possessions and another for deigning to be within six inches of George. The punishment was cruel and twisted but you'd hidden it from Fred, knowing how protective he was and how he'd act out to retaliate against her which would only land him in worse trouble. She seemed to focus on you in particular, for whatever reason you weren't sure but she hardly hid her distaste for you publicly. Fred said it was because of your connection to him and George but you weren't sure, it seemed more personal than that.

It had been Hermione's brilliant idea to forge a sort of rebellion in order to actually learn the practical side of defence and you'd been eager to sign up after attending the first meeting at the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade, knowing that you had to arm yourself in whatever way you could, the feeling of unease at the current climate always looming overhead. You'd been pleasantly surprised by the turn out, seeing many familiar faces as you'd walked hand in hand with Fred into the small, freezing cold room as you waited for Harry, Ron and Hermione. Cho, Luna, Neville, Ginny, Michael and so many others from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had turned out to fight for the cause and as you looked around the room of friends and familiars, it was evident that this could work.

You'd signed the parchment Hermione had brought with no hesitation, lining up between Fred and Ginny, clearly marking your name under his in the pencil provided. As you walked back to the castle in a group, Fred's arm around you and his hat in your head to keep the cold away from your ears, you felt determined and inspired to make this work. You'd just need to find somewhere to practice away from the prying eyes of the inquisitor.

Then came Educational Decree No.68: All student organisations are henceforth be disbanded. Any student in noncompliance will be expelled.

This time, you weren't angered or afraid of the newly instated restriction but instead felt empowered to rebel. Neville, in a feat of brilliance, had discovered the room of requirement one Saturday afternoon as he made his way down the seventh floor corridor. It was perfect, exactly what was needed, and you'd all wasted no time in putting the room to good use.

Within just two weeks, you'd mastered disarming spells, stunning spells, hexes, jinxes and defensive charms that you'd never thought you could do. Ginny had proven herself to be incredibly skilled and you'd stood watching in amazement as two magpies flying around the room, both coming from your boyfriend and his twin. The twins had taken to placing bets, mostly against Ron, all of you in good spirits about finally being able to do magic again. You and Fred took full advantage of being shielded away from the eyes of Hogwarts and had taken to lingering in the room after the sessions so you could be close to each other, to kiss freely and be intimate again. It had seemed so long, so cruel to have to keep away from him, at least in public and as you watched him master spells so effortlessly and looking so deliciously hot as he did it, often with messy hair and rolled up sleeves, it was exactly what you needed to relieve yourself of the building frustrations.

Fun and laughter had once again returned to Hogwarts, though shielded from the regulating eyes, it was just like before. The twins had even taken to pranking again, no longer concerned by the changes, including giving Filch laced chocolates which made him erupt with giant, puss-filled boils on his face when he got too close to the scent of your secret gatherings.

Educational decree No. 82: All students will submit to questioning about suspected illicit activities.

Umbridge had began to gather students for an inquisitorial squad which would earn them credit for joining, most notably the Slytherin students that weaselled their way into Umbridge's good books. Most probably by being pure bloods. They took great pleasure in pulling up the younger students in particular for punishment or questioning and abused their powers frequently.

Then you returned to school after winter break and the news of the Azkaban breakout happened, constant storms were forecasted, Umbridge's cruel regime heightened. Everything felt so restrictive, so unnecessary, so twisted. The only place you found solace was during DA meetings when you could be yourself, free to act and perform as you wanted surrounded by your friends and boyfriend. Always alert at the imposing threat, knowing Filch was on to you all and the rest of the inquisitorial squad which only fuelled you to keep discreet.

It had been a regular day of classes until your DADA lesson where you'd been required by the toad to write an essay on the benefits of conversational reasoning as opposed to practical magic to handle disputes with half breeds and lower class species, such as centaurs. You'd almost immediately refused to write such things, particularly due to the disgusting terms used to class different species but also due to the ridiculous concept.

"I am teaching you verified way of effective communication, in which you do not have to use your wand," she defends with a sickeningly fake smirk.

"Or our brains by taking away our autonomy," you'd argued, not even under your breath.

"Are you questioning my methods of teaching miss y/l/n? By all means if you think you can do better I should like to see you try."

"Can't be hard, Professor Quirrel did a better job and he shared a head and a singular brain cell with Voldemort."

A murmur of concealed laughter burst from the students around you and for a singular moment you felt the victory of it, empowered even.

"Detention!" She's utterly outraged, her face turning a dangerous shade of fuchsia. You could feel the eyes on you, most notably your boyfriend and his twin from across the room but you didn't care. Since returning to school you'd been torn away from Fred, unable to be anywhere near each other and certainly not in a group with your friends as it would break at least three decrees. You were frustrated and had hit breaking point, anger simmering in you but why you didn't know. You'd completely had enough.

"It's a date Dolores," you said sarcastically with the sickliest smile you could muster. More snickers erupted around you and even a clap that sounded suspiciously like it came from the direction of your future brother in law.

"My office, now!" She screams, pointing with her pink tipped finger towards the door. You grabbed your stuff from the desk and walked out without a single look in anyone's direction. On your way to her office, you pulled the special coin from your pocket and checked over the date and time to check you had it right. There was a DA meeting later that evening and you'd hoped this would be over quickly so that you could still attend.

Only, that never happened. Instead you'd been tortured for hours in the cruelest of ways, repeatedly questioned over your involvement with the alleged group and had been forced to drink truth serum until the words had slipped out of your mouth. You'd had no control over it, no way of resisting any longer and with great shame, you'd told her about the room of requirement, completely unable to stop the words from coming out.

The inquisitorial squad was on you in mere moments, as soon as Umbridge had signalled them from outside the door and Malfoy's grubby hands were pulling your weak and exhausted body from the chair before you could even register the intrusion. The things you'd been through, the pain and the anguish, it was nothing compared to the fear you felt at the DA being discovered; you could only pray that you'd held out long enough so that the meeting was over.

"Where is it?!" Umbridge screamed into your face when you wouldn't disclose the exact location of the room of requirement, having already inadvertently let slip that the room was your meeting place. You gave her your darkest look, no longer feeling controlled by whatever she had obviously put in your tea. When she didn't get an answer, her hand struck you hard right across the cheek but you hardly flinched, hardly feeling the pain anymore.

"I know the way Ma'am," Filch said, his saggy face appearing around the corner creepily, his features twisting into a vulgar, perverse smile. You could hardly look at Umbridge's face as it twisted into a pleased, twisted grin as she fixed her jacket and allowed Filch to lead her. Malfoy grabbed hold of your robes tighter in his fist and you were dragged along with them until you reached the seventh floor.

You felt sick to your stomach, wanting to scream and cry, resist in anyway you could as you fought against Malfoy's hold but you were physically tired and weak. Crabbe had grabbed hold of the other side of you, your thrashing too much for Malfoy to hold down by himself and his hands were much tougher against your skin, no doubt leaving bruises in their wake. When the door to the room of requirement didn't appear, you felt hopeful that she'd realise you were lying, even if that meant horrendous consequences for you. There was no way of warning them, nothing you could do to allow them to flee, you'd have to watch as they were all caught redhanded. They'd think you ratted them out, your friends, the love of your life. You knew it was exactly what Umbridge wanted, to turn everyone against you- and she was undoubtedly going to get it.

"Bombarda Maxima," her eerily calm and squeaky voice rang out as she pointed her want at the wall. Your scream mixed in with the large bang as a giant hole was created in the wall, depris and dust flying everywhere.

When the dust cloud cleared, you were dragged off from the side viciously by Malfoy and Crabbe until you were presented in front of the Army- your friends. You didn't want to look up from your spot on the floor, still fighting against their holds on you but something made you look up. And then you met his eyes.

Fred had never looked at you that way, ever. The looks of love and adoration you'd become accustomed to over the years, the playfulness and the intimate looks, it was all gone. The look in his eyes would haunt you forever, the coldness, betrayal and the resentment and it was explicitly clear what his expression told you.

He believed that you ratted them out, believed that you could ever do that to him, to them all.

You had to look away, desperate to see any hope that someone believed you, that someone sympathised with the torment you'd endured but as your eyes travelled across to George, you stopped short. He looked furious with you, disgusted and despite everything you'd been through in the past few hours, you'd receive no sympathy or chance to explain yourself to the people you loved.

You were dragged away as Umbridge dealt with the Army, bestowing threats and punishments upon them that you couldn't hear. You no longer fought against the holds of the Slytherins but instead went willingly, feeling guilty, shame and simply dirty for your role in all of this, even if it wasn't your fault.

Members of the ministry arrived not too long after, having been alerted prior to the discovery of the DA. You couldn't look at Kingsley, much too distraught to see his look of disgust at you, no doubt planning to tell the Order what you'd done. Harry was ushered in not long after having been caught in the skirmish. His newfound hatred of you seemed to radiate off him as he stood beside you and this alone made you want to scream and cry out of frustration, tears welling in your eyes that you wouldn't allow to spill.

The final straw was when Percy walked in, without so much as a glimmer of recognition towards you and took over from Malfoy to restrain you and Harry, keeping the shoulder of your robe balled up in his hand. The minister ordered him to dispatch an owl to the Daily Prophet and he diligently nodded, trying to manoeuvre you along with him.

"Get off me Weatherby," you demanded viciously, fighting against his hold and managing to break free, only to be stopped as you all looked on in amazement as Dumbledore disappeared out of sight in a magnificent display.

You'd hoped after that, you'd be able to get Harry alone, to explain yourself to him, to tell him what had happened but he'd completely avoided you, blanked you entirely. You hardly blamed him but you needed to explain, to clear your name. Umbridge then commanded Harry to join her in the hall where the punishment was being conducted, all of the DA together.

You'd been permitted to return to your dorm after the meeting had finished but you stood outside of the hall doors, desperate to see Fred and explain yourself, hoping he could bring you at least an ounce of comfort. Your head was pounding from the pain earlier and the marks on your arms were throbbing, sore and weeping though you fought not to look at them, knowing the pain would only be worse when you saw what was tormenting you. You couldn't go to Madame pomfrey, Umbridge had made that very clear and so you suffered in complete silence until you could reach out for your friends.

You lingered outside of the door for what felt like hours, the anxiety and the nerves you felt seemingly freezing time. When the doors opened, the members of the DA began pouring out with soured looks on their faces which only heightened when they caught sight of you. It was never hard to spot Fred and George amongst a crowd, their towering height easily distinguishable amongst a sea of people.

The look on everyone's face was near identical, the disgust and the resentment evident in their eyes as they spotted you but none clearer than the twins. George looked like he detested you, his face scrunched into a look of utter distaste, eyes glaring into you as he walked past without a care. Fred looked away, ignoring your presence completely as he glided past you without muttering a single word, his face stone cold and void of expression.

"Freddie, please," you said weakly and emotionally, with tears in your eyes, turning around in the spot as he walked past you. But nothing, he didn't turn, didn't react, simply walked away without so much as a single glance.

"Harry," you implored, taking a step towards him but he too blanked you again, pushing past you and walking quickly up the steps to avoid you.

You stood alone in the cold and empty corridor, feeling more isolated and alone than you ever had and finally allowed yourself to cry. Silent tears fell down your cheeks, shoulders sagging as you cried for everything you had undoubtedly lost, for the treatment you'd received and for the pain you still felt in your head and arms. Finding a spot in a hidden corner, you finally allowed yourself to pull up the sleeve of your robe and look upon the damage that Umbridge had inflicted with her sadistic quill. It was horrendous, an onslaught of slurs and vicious words etched into your body, no doubt intentionally done to leave the scars as a permanent reminder.

You sobbed your heart out in that little nook between two cold, stone pillars as you tried desperately to heal the marks but no spell was strong enough even to numb it in your weakened state.

You eventually made your way to Gryffindor tower, stepping through the portrait and finding the common room practically deserted. You sighed and walked up the stone steps to your dorm, only to find that the door had been shut and your blanket and pillow had been thrown outside of it, a clear sign you were not welcome even within your own dorm. You were painfully exhausted and wanted nothing more than to curl up in your bed and cry into your pillow until you eventually passed out. But you didn't even deserve that.

With a heavy sigh, you collected your blanket and pillow and trudged down the steps back towards the common room, eyes blurry through a mixture of tiredness and tears. You stopped short the second you crossed the last step, seeing Fred and George step in through the portrait hole, your stomach flipping nervously as you anticipated a barrage of insults or horrible pranks, their allegiance turning from you now.

"Fred, Freddie please," you begged, dropping your makeshift bedding to walk towards him, trying to reach out for him. You paused as you saw the redness on the back of his left hand, a clearly fresh punishment, 'I must not break rules'. George intercepts immediately and barges past you, blocking you from getting to Fred as he turns his twin away from you.

"You think you know someone," George mutters as he gently nudges Fred up the stairs, sending you a vicious glare before he walks up after him, once again leaving you alone. Fred didn't even spare a single glance at you, not even to recoil away.

You curled up in a corner armchair as soon as the tears appeared, pathetically dragging the blanket over you and cried until you fell asleep in the uncomfortable chair.

The two weeks that followed were the absolute worst weeks of your life. Umbridge had stripped you of everything you loved in one fell swoop, turned everyone against you and left the place you called home feeling miserable and lonely. You deserved it, you knew that, having ratted them out. You'd antagonised her and now had to live through then consequences, as cruel and twisted as they were.

The glares from everyone you had once called friends hadn't stopped, especially from George, which hurt the most. Fred had outright ignored any effort you'd made to reach out to him, no matter how desperate you'd sounded or how hard you'd tried to make him understand. He didn't care. He believed the lie.

The first week you'd tried to take your meals with the rest of the Gryffindors but it was made abundantly clear to you that you were not permitted nor welcome to join your friends and had been cruelly banished to the end of the table, beside the first years. The second week you'd stopped attending meals at all, not able to push through the shame and embarrassment of being cast away, exiled from your group. Lessons were monotonous and any down time was utterly excruciating as you were left enclosed with the other Gryffindors, namely your ex boyfriend, though no one would make any contact with you. You'd tried to sleep in your dorm but the girls had done nearly everything to prevent you from actually sleeping, talking loudly, setting off whizzbangs inside your curtains and had even transfigured your blanket a few times to varying degrees of horrid things. At the end of the night when you were certain everyone was asleep, usually very late, you'd creep down to the common room and huddle into your uncomfortable chair to sleep, only to be woken mere hours later when the first of the easy risers woke up. Your life was hell.

"There's just something I don't understand," Hermione says as they all stand on the bridge, the golden trio, Ginny and the Twins, all wrapped up in warm clothes and sweaters as they discuss the changes put into place since Umbridge had taken over as Headmistress. Naturally, the conversation had diverted to you, something Fred was entirely displeased about. The group turn to Hermione after her words, intrigued by the change in tone. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes before opening them again, as if building the strength to say her next sentence.

"I jinxed the enrolment parchment, for Dumbledore's Army," she admits, not quite meeting the gaze of the group around her. "It was purely a preventative measure, incase we were betrayed by one of our own. The person who disclosed any secrets would be jinxed to break out in spots, to spell out 'sneak' across their forehead, so we knew who the betrayer was. Y/N didn't have that, she never even had a single spot."

"Blimey Hermione," Ron says a little breathlessly, disbelieving she'd have actually gone that far.

"I know," she says a little defensively, "I just can't work out how she got around it!"

"Maybe she wrote her name wrong? Did she know about the jinx?" Harry suggests but Hermione shook her head, at the very same time that Ginny replied.

"I was behind her, I saw her write her name. It was right."

"Maybe the jinx didn't work?" Harry suggests carefully but stops himself when he receives a forceful glare from Hermione at the very notion of her failure.

"What does it matter? She dobbed us in wether or not she's covered in spots!" Ron says rather harshly, leaning against the wooden bannister.

Fred can't listen anymore, completely overwhelmed by the conversation and the thought of you betraying them. He turns and walks off back towards the castle without so much as a word to the others, not even his twin, and ignores their calls of his name as they watch him fade into the distance.

Spotting you sitting alone in the corner of the room when he returns to the common room, he frowns to himself. He'd known you since the moment you stepped on the Hogwarts express and had loved you for nearly just as long. It was wrong to see you sat alone, so sad and without the usual spark you naturally emitted. Everyone had always been drawn to you, your humour and wit, your dazzling smile, the fact you made everyone aroun you feel comfortable and valued. Too many boys had been drawn to you for his liking but you'd never even given them the time of day, never once wavering in your loyalty to him or ever made him doubt that it was him you wanted. You'd spent years supporting him, helping him and George develop their products, cheering for him loudly at every Quidditch game and had wormed your way into the hearts of every single one of his family members. Secretly, it crushed him to see you so lonely and tired, even if he still felt the sting of your betrayal.

It didn't add up, though he wouldn't disclose this to any of the more angered members of the group, why you would do such a thing. You'd been excited to start the DA, had joined in enthusiastically, kept the secret for so long and most of all you completely despised Umbridge. He couldn't deny that he still loved you, even though he was conflicted with his feelings now, he still held out hope that this would all go away, that there was a reasonable explanation but his anger wouldn't allow him to listen. It killed him to push you away, wanting nothing more than for things to return to normal but he felt a deep sense of betrayal that he couldn't shift.

"Fred?" He heard from behind him, pulling him out of his musings making him realise that he'd been staring at you all this time as he turned towards the person addressing him. Her name was Emery Atkinson, a Gryffindor from the year below that he'd never really acknowledged or spent much time with.

"Yeah?" He replies politely though he couldn't escape the edge of irritation after being pulled away from his thoughts. He watches as the girl giggles as soon as he acknowledges her and tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"Oh good I got the right twin!" She giggles, ignorant to the blank look she received from Fred. "I was wondering if you had some canary creams I could buy? My brother loves them and it's his birthday soon. Your inventions are so clever, I don't know how you and George find the time between your studies and Quidditch, it must be exhausting. You're so good as Quidditch, I always cheer you on. Plus your girlfriend, but I heard that you weren't together anymore right?"

Truthfully, Fred had only registered the first half of her speech, tuning out after Canary Creams but his attention had been drawn back at the mention of you. He can't help but feel that little stab of sadness at the mention of you, especially someone referring to you as his girlfriend, or Ex rather. In the back of his mind he wonders if you heard that, from your short distance away, he hoped not.

"I still can't believe it, why would she do that? If I was with you I wouldn't even dream of ruining it." She sounds faux-scandalised and quite frankly, rather bitchy as he reaches out to touch the sleeve of his sweater. Fred doesn't humour her and instead takes half a step back subtly, reaching to scratch the back of his head as a discreet way of getting her off.

"Er, yeah I think we have some creams leftover, I'll send George over with some later, alright?"

"Not you?" She says with a sad little face, trying out her best puppy dog eyes that have absolutely no affect on him.

"George deals with the confectionery," he says a little too quickly; which is a complete lie. "Sorry, I've got somewhere to be but I'll let him know you're interested in buying."

He breaks away, giving her a forced but polite smile and a brief, parting wave but it's awkward and he's inwardly cringing as soon as he puts his hand down. Turning to where you had been sat in the chair, he notices you've disappeared and he is instantly overcome with a wave of guilt. You'd heard it all.

—

The next few days passed in blur for Fred, his mind wandering between what he was doing and thoughts of you, like he couldn't concentrate for more than a minute. He felt so conflicted within himself, made worse by the time spent apart from you, the longing beginning to set in. He'd never really been apart from you for very long, at most only a few weeks during the summer holidays and even then you'd have sent numerous letters by now, keeping in contact as much as you could until you were back beside each other. Now it was just torture, having you so close but so far away and the knowledge that he was the one that had pushed you away only furthered his guilt and internal conflict.

Fred was in a terrible mood, battling his thoughts, surviving on very little sleep and now the threat of her sadistic punishment was the icing on the cake of a really crap day when he and George had been forced to Umbridge's office. Harry had been caught trying to use the floo, to alert the order or escape and had been caught red handed by Umbridge. Each member of the DA had been frogmarched into the office, shoved and restrained by members of the inquisitorial squad and each member looked as uneasy as the next. His stomach turned when he saw Ginny held down by Goyle and he fought to get out of Graham Montegue's hold but it was useless when Umbridge mindlessly cast a spell to subdue him.

Harry was sat in the chair in the centre of the room, the first to be questioned with Umbridge hovering dangerously close to him, her temper boiling over as she speaks frantically in his face.

"You were going to Dumbledore weren't you?" She says, leaning down threateningly in front of Harry.

"No," Harry responds.

"Liar!" She screams back and in a move that shocks each member of the DA, she pulls back her hand and slaps Harry hard around the face, the harsh sound echoing through the otherwise silent room.

She pauses for a moment, simply glaring at Harry until her face twists into a sick, twisted grin as she straightens up and composes herself, each movement carefully thought out as she turns her back to him.

"Very well, you give me no choice Potter," she says with an even cadence, her tone dangerously low. "As this is an issue of Ministry security, you leave me with... no alternative, unless Professor Snape arrives within moments."

Fred feels like he can hardly breathe, the tension and unease in the air so thick that the room feels like it's getting smaller by the second. The unpredictability of the woman before them was alarming, the dangerous undertone of her voice despite her light and breezy tone was almost scarier than his worst nightmare.

"The cruciatus curse ought to loosen your tongue," she says, adjusting her pink jacket.

"That's illegal," Hermione states in outrage but Umbridge hardly flinches. Instead, she reaches out for the photo frame of the minister on her desk and pauses briefly to look at it before turning it over and lying it down flat on the desk, so that Fudge could not see her next move. She straightens herself and extends her wand, only to stop when Snape appears by the door, his eyes fixed to her outstretched wand that was pointed directly at Harry.

"You sent for me Headmistress?"

"Snape, yes," she says, taking a step back and everyone in the room exhales, relaxing only slightly. "The time has come for answers, wether he wants to give them to me or not," she says, her eyes flicking to Harry only briefly.

"Might I suggest against the cruciatus curse this time headmistress," he says evenly and carefully, "the consequences of such an audience might be... disagreeable. In fact I would hesitate in conducting any of the prior disciplinary methods in this instance.""

This time? She'd used the cruciatus curse before? And on a student? Prior disciplinary methods? Fred thinks, did he mean the quill?

"Very well," she says after a moment of pondering, her arm falling to her side as she relents, eyes wandering over the all too familiar Quill that sits proudly on her desk before her gaze shifts back to Snape. "Have you brought the veritaserum?"

"I'm afraid you've used up all my stores, the last of it interrogating Miss y/l/n."

Snape carries on speaking but Fred doesn't hear a single word, blood rushing to his ears as his heart pounds. He feels like he's received a stray bludger straight to the chest, his stomach dropping with fresh shame, sadness and overwhelming guilt.

Suddenly it all made sense. She'd tortured you into giving out the information- the cruciatus curse, veritaserum, what else had she done to you?

He couldn't help but let out a dry sob at the information, sensing everyone's eyes on him at the news. He struggled against the holds with everything in him, needing to fix what he'd broken.

He'd believed them, so quickly, believed that you could have betrayed them like that. The pain you must have felt, the loneliness and the guilt and then after your whole ordeal he had cast you aside, pushed you away and never given you a single chance to explain.

He eventually turned to look at George who looked utterly broken by the news, his regretful inner thoughts so evident upon his face. Each member of the DA looked a mixture of guilty, sheepish and sad, realising how wrong they'd been about you and what they'd done to someone who had once been their friend, someone who had suffered so much for all of them.

The meeting seemed to go abhorrently slowly until Umbridge left with Harry and Hermione on a sort of mission based upon a quickly constructed lie and Fred didn't waste a single moment before turning around on the spot and punching Graham Montegue straight in the face as soon as Umbridge had left. Seizing the momentary upper hand, the remaining members of the DA turned on the inquisitorial squad and fired an array of jinxes and spells at them in order to get away.

"Fred, Go!" George had urged whilst stunning Crabbe, allowing Ginny to step free. Malfoy fought back but he was quickly matched by Angelina who covered for Fred, blocking the exit.

"Go, she needs you!" Angelina shouted as she sent a jinx flying towards Cassius Warrington's smug face.

Fred didn't hang about and immediately ran out of the office and towards the common room where he was praying you'd be. It was quiet on the main staircases, perhaps it seemed much quieter because of the lack of portraits and bare walls but even to the few people Fred passed, he offered no explanation nor cared about what they thought. He needed to find you.

"Y/n!" He said bursting through the portrait hole and scanning the common room for you, checking the chair you'd so often occupied but found nothing except a couple of bewildered faces at his strange outburst.

"Y/n?" He called again, walking up the stairs towards the dormitories but received no reply. In his haste, he accidentally misstepped as he climbed up to the girls dorm and nearly triggered the blocking slide to appease but fortunately managed to regain his balance and stress carefully over the path he'd taken so many times before, the secret message in the steps that allowed him to breach the rules.

He threw open your dormitory door and stopped blankly when he found nothing. Your bed looked like it hadn't been slept in, there was hardly any of your things around the bed and the room. Had he come to the wrong room?

"Fred?" Your voice said shyly from behind him and he whipped around to see you looking up at him hesitantly from near the door, holding a few things in your arms and your robe tied tightly around your chest.

"Y/n," he says with a sigh of relief, moving forwards quickly to reach out to you but once again stopping short as he noticed you visibly flinch at his sudden movement. Suddenly the overwhelming agony of guilt and regret hit him anew and he vowed to slow down, hoping not to scare you away.

"I'm so sorry," he said, voice breaking slightly as he looked at your tired, sullen face and those wide, scared eyes. He'd never seen you look so broken and it killed him.

"I didn't, I don't ," he stutters, dropping to sit on the side of your bed. "You haven't been sleeping here have you?"

There's a minor pause and he wonders if you're actually going to reply to him, if he even deserves it, until you step forward and place your things down onto the bedside table. He watches in silence, noting the large book and a few packaged bandages that slip onto the table as you gingerly take a seat beside him, your feet no longer touching the floor.

"Kind of hard to when you're banished by the rest of your dorm," you reply quietly. He can't detect the tone of your voice, expecting it to be sarcastic or unhappy but it actually sounds flat and completely void of emotion.

"The chair," he realises, "you've been sleeping in that chair?" He's slightly bewildered and profoundly ashamed now, not having clicked until now that you'd been there early in a morning and late in the night, much later than you'd ever typically stayed up before. You shrug and turn your attention away, though you're yet to actually meet his eyes.

He drags a deep breath in through his teeth, resisting the urge to hang his head low on his shoulders.

"Y/n, I am so sorry, I, I don't even have words," he says, stumbling over his words- something so uncharacteristic for him that it briefly startles you. "You didn't deserve this, even if you had told Umbridge about us, no one deserves this. We were all so shocked that it could be you, of all people. We never stopped to think of why," he pauses again, steadying himself. "Snape admitted what she did to you, she tried to use it on Harry but he stopped him."

"But the quill was broken? How could she use it on Harry?" You say, finally looking up with a look of complete confusion.

"What quill?" Fred asks, completely lost himself, "the black quills? I meant the cruciatus curse, she, I mean she, on you, didn't she?"

Your silence says everything and he has to close his eyes and steady his breathing at your silent confirmation.

"What quill?" Fred feels a little bolder now and reaches for you but you pull your arm back and place it in your lap, trying not to wince as you catch the healing scars. "This one?"

He holds out his hand and shows you the faint markings from his punishment, 'I must not break rules' barely visible now. He frowns when you shake your head but don't offer any other explanation. He's frustrated that he's not getting anywhere but it's internal and he knows it's not your fault, he just wishes he could help, or go back in time and fix everything.

"Tell me, please," he says, keeping his eyes locked in the side of your face, trying to urge you to look at him. "What happened in that detention?"

"It doesn't matter," you say quickly, hopping down off the bed and stepping over to your trunk to get a fresh shirt from the laundry pile, knowing it would need changing. "I've got to shower."

You go to turn away but Fred lunges for you and grabs your arm to stop you from leaving, making you cry out in pain as soon as his fingers make contact with the tender skin. As soon as the shock wears off, he frowns, looking down at your arm before looking up to your face, seeing tears falling down your cheeks.

"Please baby, please just tell me," he says, voice breaking as his own tears well up in his eyes.

"She told you about the veritaserum?" You ask, assuming anyway and Fred nods. "Then you know what you need to know."

"No, I don't," he says quickly, trying to think of ways to stop you leaving without hurting you. "She used an unforgivable curse on you! Gave you truth serum, you cried when I touched your arm and you have bandages on your bedside table, please just tell me what happened!"

"Fine," you say, pulling your arm back. "You want to know? She tried to force it out of me, tried to get me to drink the stupid tea but I wouldn't. When that didn't work she pulled out that little stupid quill and wrote anything she wanted all over me. You wanted to know about the bandages? Fine," you said viciously, clawing at the fastening of your robe. Underneath was your once crisp, white shirt that had a considerable amount of red blood staining the sleeve. You didn't stop undressing, all but ripping the buttons away as you fought to show Fred what was underneath.

Bandages littered your forearms, with blood oozing out the sides. Fred's frozen as he looks at the bandages on your body, sick to his stomach already.

"Did you know Snape is a skilled occlumens? I didn't, I do now. So after she was playing with that sadistic little quill, writing whatever she wanted into my skin, he enters my mind and shows me every single fear I've ever had, every nightmare. But I didn't say a word, not a single fucking word. Do you know what it's like to have visions forced into your own mind of your boyfriend dying in front of you repeatedly, over and over until you start to go mad? All whilst your skin is slashed open just to get you to talk? Only it didn't work, so she dropped the quill and picked up her wand. I've never felt closer to death in my life but still so far away from it. But I wouldn't talk. So she forced veritaserum in my mouth and I couldn't stop it, she got what she wanted no matter what I'd fought for. And the best part? They don't heal, not truly. Nothing I do stops it, like a constant reminder of what happened."

"Princess," Fred chokes out, tears streaming down his cheeks, fighting to hold back his sobs at your words.

"No, not princess," you say sternly, emotions all falling from your face. "Not anymore."

"Please, I want to make this right, anything I can do, I want to support you," he says, nearly begging. "I have to make this right, I can't lose you."

"No."

Your voice is harsh and stern, your face expressionless again. "You believed them so easily, you all did. You believed I could do that to you, without hesitation. You didn't let me explain, never even looked at me because you were so certain that I could have done it. I've been exiled, banished and forgotten by all of you I called friends without a single thought. So you and your stupid brother and the rest of Dumbledore's friggin army can go fuck yourselves, it's not my fight anymore."

Fred flinches as the door slams shut behind you and he's left to sob openly, his devastation consuming him. Eventually when he returns to his own dorm, George says nothing upon seeing his twin's stricken face and his curtains fully closing around the bed.

The next morning, Fred has already left the dorm by the time George wakes up and doesn't see him at all around the common room or the hall, though he's not surprised. But when he doesn't show to his lessons, George worries and goes in search for his twin with increasing worry. Eventually, he finds him in the library, pouring over an array of books from the restricted section, most of them about healing spells and anatomy.

"Freddie?"

When Fred looks up with red rimmed eyes and an intense look in his eyes, it's clear to George that Fred hadn't slept. "Whatever it is, let me help."

One week. It took one week of endlessly pouring over book after book until they finally found options.

It's early morning on a Saturday when Fred creeps down to the common room was before the sun has risen, seeing you hunched over in your chair. Angelina had told him that they'd apologised profusely to you and had accepted you back with open arms back to the dormitory but you'd simply walked away and carried on sleeping by the fire, not yet willing to forgive them for the treatment you'd endured.

"Y/n, y/n, wake up," he says quietly, carefully touching your shoulder, trying to avoid anywhere that he had seen bandaged.

"Freddie?" You ask sleepily and his heart soars with hope at the noise, the familiarity of it abs the softness of your voice so heartwarming.

"I have something to show you, me and George," he says lightly, waiting for you to wake up.

"Told you both to get fucked," you mumble, squashing any hope he had, but he perseveres.

"Just this once prince-y/n, please," he says quietly. You open your eyes, seeing him still dressed in his pyjamas, pleading with his eyes and looking so vulnerable that you relent and agree to whatever he had planned. Throwing back the blanket, you surprise a groan at the stiffness in your neck and diligently follow him back up the stairs towards his dorm, accepting his hand as he guides you. Your hand fits perfectly into his, just as it always had.

"Where's Lee?" You say as you walk into the dorm room, seeing only George who gives you a small but timid smile.

"Bunking with Ron," Fred says somewhat vaguely, gesturing for you to sit on his bed. The room looks exactly as you remember albeit slightly less dishevelled than you'd experienced previously, but you don't mention anything. Fred takes a seat beside you and George moves forward, grabbing a book from the chair beside his bed.

"We don't know if this will work," George says.

"But it's better than nothing," Fred finishes, gingerly reaching out for your hand.

"What?"

"The wounds," George says gently, "Fred told me, we just want to make them better. Might not get rid of them completely but it's worth a shot."

"Found this in an old healing book, it's a counter curse for wound healing by curse," Fred says, taking the book from George to show you. "Figured Umbridge's quill must have been cursed so this might work. Please let us help."

All it takes is a nod from you, albeit slightly hesitant but truthfully there was no one you trusted more than the twins, before at least.

You could hardly look them in the eyes as you pulled away the bandages, the vile words etched into your skin by her personal sadistic quill. You heard George inhale at the deepest cut along your inner right forearm but didn't react, knowing it would be shocking to anyone.

"Take my hand, if it hurts too much all you have to do is squeeze and we'll stop, okay baby?"

Biting down on your lip to stifle your cries, you hold Fred's hand tightly as George begins to cast the counter-curse, each of you watching on with rapt attention and slight amazement as the cuts begin to slowly knit together. It was working.

You whimper as he works over the deepest, the same one Fred had accidentally caught the week before and Fred's hand squeezes yours automatically for support.

"You're doing so well sweetheart, it'll be over soon I promise," he says quietly in your ear, comforting you in anyway he could.

After the last cut is sealed, George immediately drops down to sit onto his bed, his concentration and energy depleted from focusing so hard. You can't believe it as you look down at your arms, no longer seeing blood and only able to see the faintest of marks and redness where the wounds had once been. Only then do tears begin to fall from your eyes as you launch yourself towards Fred, throwing your arms around him in appreciation. He steadies himself after a moment of being caught off guard and holds you tightly against him, shushing you gently as you cry. His arms wrap around you so perfectly, so protectively and his smell comforts you like to no other, exactly as you remember.

"You did so well, so well, it's okay baby," he coos into your ear. You pull apart slowly and immediately walk over to George, pulling him into a hug though it's a lot less intimate.

"Thank you both so much," you sniffle.

"You're welcome," they answer at the same time, making you smile.

"We've missed you," George says after a moment. "I'm so sorry for what you went through and for what I said. I should have known it wasn't your fault, you've been my best friend for so long and I'm so ashamed of myself for how easily I believed her over you, that should never have happened."

"And you know how sorry I am," Fred says, walking over to you and kneeling down until he's directly in front of you.

"You're the best thing that has ever happened to me and I was an idiot for ever thinking it was you. I know things can't ever go back to how they were before, but I love you so much that I can't lose you. Seeing you hurting almost broke me and I know that you might need time or never see me again but you need to know exactly how I still feel about you."

"It's not just you," you say in reply, heaving out a long breathe, "I pushed people away."

"We deserved it," George says.

"Baby," Fred says gently, getting your attention. "I don't know how to fix this or how to make things better, but I'll do anything. I was an idiot, a complete git but I'll spent the rest of my life trying to make it up to you. Please say this isn't ruined."

For the first time since the incident, you allow yourself to feel hopeful that things could get better, that Fred could love you again. Sat surrounded by the two people you loved most in the world, you finally felt the love and protection you'd been needing since that awful night.

"I want that," you say quietly, picking at the blanket under your fingers, "I just want things to just go back to normal." You raise your eyes up to Fred's to see him smiling back at you, clearly pleased with your words.

"Well, let's start with this then," he says with a mischievous smirk, leaning towards you painfully slowly as if he's giving you plenty of time to say no or push him away. His soft lips press against yours gently and you can't help but feel a warmth spread all over your body, almost like you were defrosting and returning back to you're usual self. His hand reaches up to cup the side of your jaw and you're certain you can feel a fear hit your cheek, though it doesn't come from you.

The next morning, you walk hand in hand with Fred into the great hall for breakfast and sit right back at the centre of the table with your friends. You assume Fred or George had threatened them not to say anything as everyone around you acts normal, pretending the previous weeks didn't exist, though one by one they all apologised to you, most notably Ron and Harry. Ginny thought you were badass for everything you'd been through, not relenting even though you'd been tortured into eventually revealing the secret. Hermione had apologised so eloquently and thoroughly that you both ended up crying in the common room as she explained about the jinxed parchment and how she'd held out hope that it hadn't been you.

Each person made it up to you in anyway they could, admitting their mistakes and regrets and though you would probably never forget, you chose to forgive.

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mermaidxatxheart · 3 months

Text

These Moments

I’m posting on mobile so if it’s a little weird looking, that’s why.

Pairing: Will Miller x Reader

Word count: 3752

Warnings: swearing, smut(Minors DNI), Charlie Hunnam being a menace. Fwb, unprotected p in v.

A/N: this is the first thing I’ve written and completed in… waaaaay too long. I hope you like it. Yeet.

Everyone is always going on and on about Benny Miller and what a fighter that kid is. But your gaze is firmly set on his big brother, Will. The guy who trains Benny, who gets into the ring and is just as capable. You can’t help but watch him across the gym from your position behind your desk, pressing your thighs together harder and harder with every passing moment.

It’s not as though you’ve never seen a man before, and you’re some blushing virgin school girl. You’ve had sex, and lots of it. And you know Will Miller can fuck. Why, just last week, he fucked your brains out on the floor of the ring after the gym closed. Then he walked you to your car like a gentleman.

It’s not that Will doesn’t care about you, or vise versa. But he has commitment issues from his time in the army, and you just can’t trust people. So how can you be in a relationship with someone if you can’t trust them?

Will catches your eye and a small grin tugs at his soft lips. Those lips have you sweating. Remembering the way those lips pull every sound imaginable from your sweat-slicked body; the way those lips find magical spots that make your toes curl.

Your face starts to heat at the memory and his grin widens as you flip him off and drop your gaze. Jerk.

The front door opens, stealing your attention as two regulars come in. One is tall and muscular, definitely imposing, but you know he’s just a big teddy bear who’s crazy about his wife. That’s Jim. The other is a prankster and he always manages to scare you around the gym. That’s Teddy.

“Hey, gorgeous.” Teddy says, setting his membership card on the counter. His open grin is infectious and you can’t help but smile back.

“Howdy.” You reply, scanning his card.

“It’s Friday.” He continues as you scan Jim’s card.

“All day long.” You reply sarcastically. Jim collects his card and with a wink, he heads for the locker room. Teddy doesn’t walk right off. He has been asking you out every Friday for the last six months. It doesn’t matter that you never say yes, or that you act completely uninterested-he asks without fail.

And, to be fair to him, he’s not rude or obnoxious about it. It feels more like a teasing inside joke now. He still respects your boundaries, and treats you like a lady.

“You busy tonight?” He asks, leaning over the counter to look at you closer.

“Probably not.” You reply dryly.

“Do you want to be?”

“Probably not.” You answer in the same tone. He tips his head back and laughs. “Teddy, aren’t you tired of flirting with me? It doesn’t get you anywhere.”

“Tired of flirting with such a beautiful woman?” He places a gentle finger under your chin, tilting your head up to look at him. “Never.”

Your eyes inadvertently darts over his shoulder, landing squarely on Will, glaring at Teddy. “You’re such a hopeless flirt.” You shoo his hand away.

“Only for you, doll.” He grins. He backs away, a wicked glint in his eyes. “I’ll pick you up tonight.” He calls loud enough for the whole gym to hear

You roll your eyes, flipping him off. “You’re a filthy bastard.” You reply, leaning back in your chair. You’re not worried about Teddy, he’s harmless. He’s come to your defense on more than one occasion both inside and outside of the gym. His flirting is good natured, never pushy or demanding.

But with the way Will is glaring at him, one would think Teddy just kicked his dog or something. You could go out with Teddy-you and Will aren’t serious, you have no doubt that he’s seeing other women and that doesn’t bother you. He’s an amazing guy and he should find someone who makes him happy. You’re just aware that it’s not you. But, Jesus Christ, you’ll have some fun with him until then.

Will

Will, for the majority of his life, has been pretty even-keeled. Benny, his impulsive kid brother, has him saved as ‘Steady Eddie’ in his phone. That’s what his parents always called him and Benny, that little shit, is carrying on that tradition.

And aside from the few heated PTSD moments he’s not exactly proud of, he still keeps a cool head; he’s pretty logical and there isn’t a lot he can’t handle.

That being said, seeing that jackass with a god damn man-bun touch you? Seeing him tilt your chin up to meet his gaze the way Will has done so many times? It makes his blood boil. Hearing him say he’ll pick you up for a date? He might have punched his brother harder than he should have. It’s a good thing Benny has a hard fucking head.

But what’s really got him fucked? The way you drop your gaze to the desk, laughing. He didn’t even know you liked guys like that: man-bun pretty boys who work out for the aesthetic of it.

While he’s busy paying attention to you, Benny gets his revenge and punches Will back squarely on the jaw. It rocks him back against the ropes and he can’t even be pissed-it’s a good hit.

Determined to not lose focus again, he turns his back on you, planning on discussing this with you later. Do you want to stop sleeping together? Are you finally ready to find someone?

You’ve always been crystal clear about not wanting a partner. You claim you value your independence too much, but Will likes to think he knows you a little better than that. Someone hurt you. He doesn’t know who-your family and past is a complete mystery to him. And if you two are just fucking, Will supposes he doesn’t need to know more.

Benny finally calls it quits. Will has gotten out of the ring after the punch so he could comment and critique his younger brother. Ben is exhausted, he can tell that much just by looking at him. He should have called it earlier, but he was lost in his head.

“Go home, kid. Get some rest.” Will says, holding open the ropes for him to crawl out.

“Want me to give Teddy a solid thump on my way out for you?” Ben teases.

Will, caught off guard, can barely respond. “What are you talking about?”

“Him taking your girl out.”

Will squints at him. “Do you have a concussion? Do I need to drive you home?” Will reaches for his head, but Benny swats him away with a roll of his eyes.

“That’s not the point. I’m not blind, y’know. But fine. Hide things from me.” Benny heads for the locker room and WIll glances over at reception, halfway through the first step toward you. But you’re not there anymore, someone else is manning the desk. “She’s up in her office, you dingus.”

Will follows the gesture and sees the light on up there. Even better. He heads up there, hoping to at least catch you for a chat.

He pauses in the doorway, watching you read over something on your tablet. You’re entirely focused, a little pinch between your eyebrows that he loves has to smooth out occasionally. He must make a sound or maybe you can just feel him staring at you, because you look up.

***

You can feel the bluest pair of eyes on you, boring through your skull. Finally, unable to stand it, you look up from the article in front of you, entirely unsurprised to see Will taking up the whole doorway.

“Headed out for the day?” You ask, closing your tablet and setting it down.

“Benny is.” He says evenly, and you nod.

“He looks good. You’ll have him ready in no time.”

“Yup.” He agrees simply and you frown.

“That’s all I get? What’s with you? Normally, you’re happy to talk strategy until my ears fall off. And all I get today is ‘yup’?” You make a face.

He doesn’t answer, at least, not right away. He steps into your office, looking at all the pictures on the wall. There are a couple of you and him together, Benny’s fights, fooling around with your new camera after fooling around that one time. He’s seen them all a million times, so why is he studying them now.

Abruptly, he turns to you. “Are you bored of me?” He asks and you can’t smother the absurd chuckle that bubbles out of you. When he doesn’t laugh in return, you frown.

“Oh-you’re serious.” You realize. “Miller, what in the world makes you think I’m bored of you?” You ask with a huff.

“I dunno. I was standing right there and you were flirting with… what’s his name? Man-Bun.” He waves his hand.

Your forehead wrinkles as you try to comprehend. “You mean Teddy?” You ask.

“Sure.” He shrugs and you grin. Will isn’t the type of guy to wallow in self pity. But here he is, in your office, looking for all the world like a lost little bunny.

You push yourself to your feet, taking the two steps to be directly in front of him. “You jealous, Miller?” You grin wider.

“Don’t be fucking stupid.” He snaps, but he won’t’ meet your eyes.

You place your whole hand dead center of his chest, your grin spreading so much your cheeks hurt. “Let me tell you about Man-Bun-Teddy.” You offer, guiding him backward to your couch slowly.

“Don’t really care.” He pretends. It’s cute.

“Every Friday, Teddy comes in here and asks me out.” You say, your voice soft, a whisper in the silence of your office. His knees buckle and then give out against the low edge of your couch.

The softest groan escapes him as he lands. “I don’t-“

“And every Friday, I tell him no.” You straddle his muscular thighs, leaving plenty of space between your bodies.

“And every Friday, he says ‘I’ll pick you up tonight.’” You lean in close, fingernails scraping at the nape of his neck. “I don’t fuck him.” You whisper. “Not the way I fuck you.” Your hand slips down between your bodies and into the band of his sweatpants. He’s got you all dizzy, light headed, desperate to feel him inside you.

“Never?” He manages to rasp out. Your hand wraps around his hardening cock. Christ, that beautiful cock.

“Never. He’s never tasted me,” you nip at his neck gently. “He’s never been inside me,” you continue, kissing down his neck. “He’s never felt me cumming around his cock,” you tease, gripping and stroking his shaft lazily; a soft little twist on the return, just the way he craves it. His lip catches between his teeth as you nip at his collarbone.

Your breath comes out as a desperate rush as you feel him stiffen in your hand. “Love the way you feel under me, Miller.” You moan quietly.

“Darlin’,” He groans, gripping your hips, trying to regain control of himself. But that isn’t what you want. You want him to lose some of that carefully constructed control. You want him to be a little rough and leave bruises on you in the shape of his fingerprints on your thighs. You crave the way he clings to you in these secret, stolen moments.

He twists his head, capturing your lips against his, cupping your face and kissing you harshly. His lips, his tongue, god, that fucking mouth making you weak. It steals the air from your lungs and you feel weightless and heavy all at the same time. He rasps out your name roughly against your lips before delving back into a frenzied kiss.

His hands pull at the hem of your shirt, tugging it off, the only second he’s willing to break away from your mouth. His fingers trace up your spine, sending goosebumps across your exposed, heated flesh. With experienced deft fingers, he unclasps your bra, breaking away to watch as he slides the straps down your bare shoulders. One shoulder at a time followed by soft kisses to your skin following the path.

His touches are different from his kisses today. Kissing him is frenzied and urgent, but his touches are slow, savoring. He’s enjoying watching the effect he’s having on you right now.

He removes your hand from his pants and you miss the feel of him, heavy and hard in your palm. Tossing your bra to the side, his fingers blaze trails down your arms to your wrists. His eyes are roaming over your skin, an appreciative smile on his handsome face.

He guides your hands up to the wall behind his head. “Hands on the wall, sweetheart.” His voice is rough, raspy; deeper than usual. “That’s a good girl. Keep them there for me.” He praises and you fucking melt. He guides your chest closer to his face and you arch your back, rolling your hips teasing yourself, but also desperate for any kind of friction on your cunt.

His tongue darts out to flick against your nipple, his big hands hot on your bare back. He wraps his lips around it, teasing it with the tip of his tongue as you continue to roll your hips but you’re not getting anything you need.

He slides a hand up into your hair, gripping the elastic holder and tugs on it, pulling it from your hair so your locks fall forward. You look down at him, his blue eyes twinkling as he bites down lightly on your nipple. Keeping eye contact, he bites a little harder, stopping only when you gasp, lips parting, and he soothes it with the flat of his tongue. He gathers your hair into one fist and pulls it back so you’re arched even more against his mouth. He slips two fingers around the crotch of your little shorts and panties, pulling it up through your folds and against your clit.

“Come on, darlin’. Use me to get yourself off.” He encourages, letting your nipple go for just a second to encourage you. He presses his thumb against where your clit will be and you start grinding your hips faster, chasing that perfect friction. His mouth returns to your nipple, sucking and nibbling it, adding to your mounting pleasure. You can’t see him, your head forced backward to stare at the ceiling as he torments your body.

“Come on, pretty girl. Show me how much you wanna cum. Show me how wet this pretty cunt can get.” He urges, pulling a little harder on your shorts. You whine, riding faster and faster, you’re so close, Christ, having him under you is so heady. He leaves hickies across your chest, teasing between your nipples, letting you grind yourself against his hand. He bites your nipple again, catching your clit just right and your body locks up, cumming, clenching around nothing, eyes squeezing shut as you ride out your release. Your hips slow and he lets go of your hair, sliding them back to your waist.

It isn’t until you look back down at him, panting slightly, that he speaks again. “There’s my pretty girl.” He praises. You surge forward, kissing him eagerly, pulling at his shirt. He wraps his arms around you, leaning forward for you to pull it free of the couch. Peppering kisses along your skin until he can sit back and you pull it off completely.

His body is a work of art, muscles moving and sliding under tan skin. You shift backward, dragging your fingertips down his abs as you slide off his lap. You kneel between his thighs, pulling on his sweat pants until he relents and lifts his hips. You pull them down to reveal his throbbing, beautiful cock, hard and waiting for you to take it into your mouth.

Will’s beautiful blue eyes are blown wide, watching as you lift his cock, kissing the tip before stroking your tongue slowly along the underside and back up. He moans softly at your teasing. You wrap your lips around the head, sealing it inside and a quiet hiss escapes him and then you start to slide it deeper into your mouth, creating an impossible suction along the sensitive skin.

“Hands up here.” He instructs. “Want to be the one giving you pleasure today.” He orders, trapping your hands flat on his strong thighs. He watches as you bob your head deeper and deeper on his shaft. Your tongue dances along it, stroking and massaging as you suck his cock. Another moan escapes him and you double your efforts. His hips lift to meet you and you roll your hips, wishing you had something between your thighs to grind on.

“So good, darlin’. So good.” He bucks his hips up repeatedly and the quick succession makes you gag but you love it.

You pull off, drool stringing from your mouth to his beautiful, glistening cock. He tugs on your wrists, urging you to your feet.

“Need you wrapped around me.” He mumbles. You start to slide off your shorts but he shakes his head. “Leave them on. Like the way they look.” He adjusts his lap and helps you straddle him. He holds his cock up right and guides you down onto it.

God, the stretch. The burn. You crave it every time. The way he fills you to the brim. You tip your head back, swiveling your hips to sink lower. He utters a low curse, gripping your thighs as you work him inside you. You hold onto his shoulders as you start to lift yourself off him and then drop back down.

You moan deeply, needing more. You pick up the pace and before you can even think it, you’re riding him fast and deep. Each downstroke sees a roll of your hips, tugging on his cock, gripping him inside you.

“H-hands on the wall.” He instructs and you lean forward, bracing against the wall, and that changes the angle of him inside you. You’re close to seeing stars and you ride him faster and faster. “Christ.” He groans, lifting your hips when he feels you slowing down. He lifts you slightly and then fucks up into you faster than you could move. You whine and gasp, trying to keep your noises down because of the open gym below you. “J-just like that.” He moans, licking a stripe up between your breasts.

It pushes you over the edge and you drop down, muscles tensing as you cum hard. He supports your body, fucking you through it.

When you can move again, he lifts you off him. “Bend over your desk.” He orders and there’s something about his tone that makes your pussy drool. It’s authoritative, possessive.

On shaky legs, you walk over behind your desk and bend over it, gripping the edge and spreading your legs. He kneels behind you, burying his face in your cunt hungrily. Your clit is his main focus, sucking, licking, flicking, biting until you’re trembling and cumming on his face, clinging to your desk for support as he eats you to a wild orgasm.

“Bet Man-Bun never did that.” He mutters, standing back up and lining his cock up with your entrance.

“Who?” You mumble, breathing hard.

He grabs your hips as an anchor spot and thrusts deep. You cry out, clenching around him desperately. He starts a deep, harsh pace, fucking you harder and faster. His fingers dig into your hips as he palms your ass, his breathing just as ragged. “That’s it. Good girl. Let the whole fucking gym know I’m fucking this sweet cunt in your office.” He grunts, leaning down over you and pressing you into the surface off your desk. He’s impossibly deep inside you, driving you crazy as he rocks deeper and deeper. Each thrust sends his balls slapping against your clit as he steadily fucks you.

Tears slip out of your eyes as he makes you delirious with sheer pleasure. You can’t breathe, but if it means he stays just like this; on top of you, fucking you stupid, then you don’t need to breathe. He presses his mouth against your cheek, a hand around your throat, holding your back against his big broad chest. He’s whispering something, it takes you a long second to process it.

“Just like that, baby. Fuck, you feel amazing. Make me wanna fuck you every time I see you. Gotta have my cock in this sweet cunt every day.” He slips a hand between your body and the desk, finding your clit and strumming it furiously under your shorts. Your legs give out as you cum again, squeezing his cock as you try and fail to support your body. It’s all being held up by the desk now.

“That’s it. Cum on my cock. Gonna make me fill you up today.” He growls and Jesus Christ, you cling to the desk, cumming again, legs shaking, crying all out now. “One more, be a good girl for me. One more and then I’ll be nice to you.” He pants. You whimper under him, only able to take what he’s giving you. He nudges your ankles further, strumming your clit as he fucks you into the desk. You reach back, clinging to his hand and he squeezes it tightly, thrusting completely inside you, cumming up against your tunnel’s end, fingering your clit to one final orgasm. He presses his lips to your temple as he rocks back inside once, twice, thrice, four more times as you start to come down, lying boneless on your desk. He stays there until he softens and slips out of you.

He takes a long second to compose himself, looking at you on your desk, unwilling to move even a little bit. He lifts you gently and carries you over to your couch.

“Did you fall asleep on me?” He asks and you shake your head.

“Absolutely not.” You look over at him, naked in all his glory in the middle of your office.

“Wanna order Chinese?” He asks, settling himself between your thighs.

“Yeah. I’m starving.”

“Can’t imagine why.” He grins, ordering food first before lying himself between your thighs and tracing your clit with his nose.

“What are you doing?” You ask warily.

“Eating this pussy until our food gets here. And then probably again afterward.” He says, a wicked grin tugging at his lips. “I haven’t made you cum nearly enough.”

Shit.

Part Two

#mermaidxatxheart-writes #romance #triple frontier #triple frontier au #triple frontier fanfic #triple frontier fanfiction #triple frontier fic #will ironhead miller #will miller x reader #will miller #charlie hunnam

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lovelyney · 2 years

Text

────DATING THEM !! INAZUMA WOMEN─────

CHARACTERS: ayaka, ei, kokomi, sara, shinobu, yae miko, yoimiya

SCENT: headcanons

WARNINGS: marking (yae miko.)

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯2022 !! #©LOVELYNEY

꒱₊˚ 𝐀𝐘𝐀𝐊𝐀 !! 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐍

𖠵𝟎𝟏: She’s incredibly loving and sweet !! Definitely girlfriend material.

𖠵𝟎𝟐: Like Ayato, she didn’t want to tell the public of her relationship with you because she feared how’d they react.

𖠵𝟎𝟑: Her brother doesn’t visit very often to physically meet you, but she does write all about you in the letters he sends him ‹3

𖠵𝟎𝟒: She was alone most of her life, so she’s a little shy at first. Give her a little time, and she’ll warm right up to you (:

𖠵𝟎𝟓: She’s new to romantic relationships because she kept herself hidden away most of her life and didn’t think she’d have the time to pursue one.

𖠵𝟎𝟔: She was very hesitant to ask you out; Thoma had to give her the final shove for her to do it ‹/3

𖠵𝟎𝟕: Since she doesn’t want the public to bother you guys, dates are normally in the teahouse or picnics in the forests !!

𖠵𝟎𝟖: When Ayato did finally meet you, she did not hear the end of his teasing. . .

𖠵𝟎𝟗: “(My) dear,” “(my) flower,” and “(my) lovely.”

AYATO: “Oh? You must be the (NAME) Ayaka keeps on mentioning in her letters. It’s nice to finally meet you; I’m Ayato, Ayaka’s brother. And your future brother-in-law, perhaps? I’ll have you know she writes at least three pages strictly about you. . .”

❝B—Brother! Don’t say such things! I—I only mention (NAME) so many times because they truly are one of a kind. . . I’ve never felt happier in my entire life than I do with them. . . A-And even though you are teasing, I’m very happy you can meet them yourself.❞

𖠵𝟏𝟎: Quite shy about initiating affection, she’ll always try to hold your hand though !!

𖠵𝟏𝟏: Whenever she’s out shopping, she’ll always find things that remind her of you and buy them ‹/3

𖠵𝟏𝟐: Loves showing you her new dances and hearing your input !! She’ll even teach you some of them if you were to ask.

𖠵𝟏𝟑: Shopping dates !! I know I said most of your dates are in more secluded places, but on the less busy days of the city, she likes to take you out shopping with her !!

𖠵𝟏𝟒: She loves to hear all about your day and adventures !! /She’ll ask you to rest your head on her lap so she can brush her fingers through your hair while you ramble.

𖠵𝟏𝟓: She’ll gush on and on about you to Thoma and Yoimiya.

𖠵𝟏𝟔: She keeps all the gifts/letters you give her !! She keeps them safely locked away in a box to look at whenever she misses you ):

𖠵𝟏𝟕: As much as Ayaka’s a patient and kind person, she will not have anyone disrespecting you.

𖠵𝟏𝟖: She gave you one of her ribbons for your wrist or hair as a reminder that she's always with you !!

꒱₊˚ 𝐄𝐈 !! 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐘𝐌𝐈𝐀

𖠵𝟎𝟏: She was a tricky one to get close to, given she sealed herself away in the Plane of Euthymia ‹/3 You had to really catch her eye.

to make things interesting, let’s say you were the leader of one of the armies in the resistance !! she first saw you when you shielded one of your soldiers from one of her attacks !!

𖠵𝟎𝟐: Ei hadn’t built the Shogun to deal with romantic emotions, so it had actually been a little bit of a minor setback for her because she didn’t know how to deal with them.

𖠵𝟎𝟑: After the vision hunt decree ended, she actively sought you out (as the Shogun) to learn more about you; she found you. . . interesting.

because she wasn’t really speaking for herself, the interaction was a little bittersweet because the Shogun didn’t quite know how to talk with you.

𖠵𝟎𝟒: Falling for you scared her because she thought she fully locked herself away from those feelings.

𖠵𝟎𝟓: However, Yae kept on nagging her to tell you, saying that you’re a perfect fit for her and she could learn a lot from you.

she actually left the Plane of Euthymia to confess to you, hoping to come off as more sincere and to have some more personal time with you.

𖠵𝟎𝟔: Having locked herself away for years, she’s new to a lot of things—including romantic relationships. She’s learning as she goes (:

𖠵𝟎𝟕: She loves learning new things !! Both about you and the world around you.

𖠵𝟎𝟖: You and Yae are just about the only ones who can get her out of the Plane of Euthymia. (‘:

𖠵𝟎𝟗: (↑) She prefers dates inside there because then you guys can’t be interrupted. You had to tell her that it isn’t the most romantic setting, so she’s coming up with ideas as she goes ‹/3

𖠵𝟏𝟎: “(My) eternity,” “(my) dear,” and “(little) dove.”

SHOGUN: “Who’s there—Oh, it's you, (NAME). . . M—My apologies; I wasn’t aware you were visiting today. May—May I assist you with something?”

❝What a pleasant surprise, my little dove. I certainly wasn’t expecting you here today. Please, don’t mind the Shogun. Make yourself comfortable, my dear. I’ll be with you shortly to properly greet you.❞

𖠵𝟏𝟏: Since this girl hasn’t touched cooking utensils once in her life, let’s hope you know how to do the cooking ‹/3

she’ll gladly take up cooking lessons if you taught them !!

𖠵𝟏𝟐: Whenever Yae visits, she always asks how you two are doing !! Accompanied by some playful teasing, of course.

𖠵𝟏𝟑: Being her, the electro archon’s, significant other, she expects everyone within Inazuma to treat you as her equal. almost as if you ruled beside her. (Because if she plans on marrying you, you probably will. . .?)

𖠵𝟏𝟒: The people of Inazuma know not to mess with you, but let’s say a Fatui agent did. She would do everything in her power to find them and rid of them in a minute. A threat to you is a threat to her eternity. Expect raging lighting storms in Inazuma until she finds you.

𖠵𝟏𝟓: She isn’t quite used to physical affection, but she’s getting used to it the more you give it to her ‹/3

however, one of her favorite things to do is hold your hand while you two are walking around Inazuma City !! ‹3 she loves the feeling of your hand in hers.

𖠵𝟏𝟔: Sometimes, you like to undo her braid and brush through her hair; she doesn’t mind; she actually finds it quite cute that you developed such a habit.

𖠵𝟏𝟕: Her hands are always cold as ice, and she'll always smile and laugh at your attempts to warm them.

𖠵𝟏𝟖: Will always put you and your wellbeing first without much thought; you are her eternity, after all.

꒱₊˚ 𝐊𝐎𝐊𝐎𝐌𝐈 !! 𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐃𝐎𝐌

𖠵𝟎𝟏: Similar to Ayaka !! Kokomi is the absolute sweetest, yet inexperienced when it comes to love ‹3

she’s read all about it, which is what gave away the fact she liked you !! after reading about a character falling in love with another, she realized she felt that way about you !!

𖠵𝟎𝟐: She always longingly stared at you while you were out. (This did not go unnoticed by the shrine maidens.)

𖠵𝟎𝟑: Likes to keep your relationship under wraps, not wanting people to busy her with unnecessary questions.

𖠵𝟎𝟒: She doesn’t like to drag you into her work since she doesn’t want to bother you ‹/3, but if you insist on it, she’ll let you help her.

𖠵𝟎𝟓: (↑) On those days, she likes to have you along with her whenever she meets with someone. If you’re dating her, you’re also an essential part of Watatsumi Island !! She also loves to hear your input on things !! Your opinions mean a lot to her.

𖠵𝟎𝟔: You’re always there for her when the people’s talking is getting too much for her—just a simple squeeze of her hand will do lots (:

𖠵𝟎𝟕: She loves to sit down with you, a cup of tea in hand, and read you some of her favorite novels ‹3

𖠵𝟎𝟖: She normally has to get up in the early mornings. However, she sometimes finds herself snuggling deeper into your hold whenever she has to get up ‹/3 The warmth and comfort of your arms is something she wishes she could bask in forever.

𖠵𝟎𝟗: “(My) koi (fish),” “my pearl,” and “(my) love.”

❝Why hello there, my koi! What brings you here at this hour? Shouldn’t you be sleeping at this time of night? H-Huh? You came to get me? Hmm, but I still have work to do. . . A-Ah! Wait, please don’t look so sad! Ahh, I hate whenever you look at me like that. . . Ok, ok. Let me clean up a little, and I’ll be with you, ok, love?❞

𖠵𝟏𝟎: Whenever you notice she hasn’t returned in a profound amount of time, you always go to her secret spot and take her home, allowing her to rest somewhere more comfortably ‹/3

𖠵𝟏𝟏: (↑) Whenever she’s resting, you rarely let anyone bother her or request for her. Only for things that are urgent do you wake her.

𖠵𝟏𝟐: Whenever she’s super tired and her meets with yours, it’s like +100 energy. Your presence brightens up her mentality a lot.

𖠵𝟏𝟑: She wanted to gift you something that she made herself, so she explored all of Watatsumi Island and gathered all the sango pearls she could find—turning them into a beautiful pearl necklace ‹3

𖠵𝟏𝟒: Her skin is super soft !! Whenever you rub your hands against her cheeks, she’ll always blush, but she secretly loves it, hehe.

𖠵𝟏𝟓: A big advocator for taking care of yourself !! She will not have you neglecting yourself; she’ll even try to take some days off to take care of you herself if needed.

𖠵𝟏𝟔: A wonderful person to reach out to if you’re sad !! She offers you great advice and will always let you cry into her arms ):

sometimes, she even takes you in a giant bubble down into the ocean, hoping the vast ocean life there will at least ease your anxieties just a little.

𖠵𝟏𝟕: Being a strategizer, she’s prepared for just about everything. Rest assured, if a date goes bad, Kokomi has a Plan B ‹3

𖠵𝟏𝟖: Like Ayaka, Kokomi is normally very patient and calculated, but she'll snap with a click of a finger if she hears someone talking bad about you or hurting you.

𖠵𝟏𝟗: Always gives you a (soft) lecture if you get yourself in trouble or hurt; all the while when she's carefully treating your wounds ‹3

𖠵𝟐𝟎: As much as she hates putting your life on the line, you're her other right-hand person besides Gorou. She never for a second doubts your dedication or strength.

꒱₊˚ 𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐀 !! 𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐀

𖠵𝟎𝟏: She was your total typical tsundere at first, not wanting anything to do with you. (Unless provoked, of course.)

𖠵𝟎𝟐: However, after you two started dating she became your strict mom girlfriend.

𖠵𝟎𝟑: It’s strange dedicating herself to someone other than the Shogun, but she sees you worthy of her time and admiration.

𖠵𝟎𝟒: She likes to give you archery lessons so that you know how to properly defend yourself. (Even if you already know how.)

𖠵𝟎𝟓: Her protectiveness matches Ei’s. If she hears someone talking shit about you or that someone hurt you, they will answer to her.

𖠵𝟎𝟔: I mean it when I say she acts like a mom ‹/3 She’ll always make sure you have everything before heading out, going over the list at least two times before seeing you out.

𖠵𝟎𝟕: She actually takes really good care of you despite her sharp tongue and looks !! She wants to ensure you’re feeling your best because she wouldn’t know what to do with herself if you weren’t feeling well ‹/3

𖠵𝟎𝟖: (↑) And if she hears that someone thinks she doesn’t treat you well because of her sharpness, she’ll take it personally and immediately deal with them. She doesn’t want you to hear those kind of shitty rumors that have you doubting her sincerity towards you ):

𖠵𝟎𝟗: “(Little) dove,” “raven,” and “(little) crow.”

❝Ah, you’re home, little crow. Oh? How come you look so exhausted? Bite off more than you chew again? Didn’t I tell you to take things at your own pace? You’re taking the next two days off from commissions. No, raven, no ‘buts.’ I’m sure the Adventures Guild can survive without you. It’s time you finally take some time for yourself.❞

𖠵𝟏𝟎: She doesn’t let her wings out very often if at all, but when she notices you’re genuinely upset over something, she’ll wrap you you in them.

𖠵𝟏𝟏: Doesn’t like being perceived as “soft” so she isn’t one for PDA.

𖠵𝟏𝟐: (↑) In general, she isn’t a very affectionate person. Her love language is words of affirmation, I’d think.

𖠵𝟏𝟑: Between the confines of your home, Sara is actually rather gentle and warm !! She tries to draw a line between how she acts when she works and around you.

𖠵𝟏𝟒: Tries not to admit it so much, but you mean a lot more to her than she initially bargained for, LOL.

𖠵𝟏𝟓: Whenever she gets worked up, she’ll ask you to snuggle into her arms because your presence tends to keep her sanity intact, LMFAO.

𖠵𝟏𝟔: Likes to bring you along to her meetings with Kokomi, you often offering a third option to whatever they’re discussing. Sara normally trusts your judgement, so she’ll go along with it.

𖠵𝟏𝟕: Before, she never even thought of picking up a domestic hobby (cooking, knitting, gardening, etc.) But now with you, she wants to try everything in hopes of fitting better together with you.

꒱₊˚ 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐎𝐁𝐔 !! 𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐁𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

𖠵𝟎𝟏: She’s girlfriend material at its finest !!

𖠵𝟎𝟐: Another one to act like your mom ‹/3 It’s in her nature with taking care of the Arataki gang, LOL.

𖠵𝟎𝟑: (↑) Speaking of the gang, Itto practically insisted on you joining because you’re Shinobu’s S/O, so you’ve basically just been adopted by them as per his words.

𖠵𝟎𝟒: Your protector and accomplice for just about anything (within reason.) She’s willing to cut corners to keep you out of trouble or cover you.

𖠵𝟎𝟓: She can be a little intimidating sometimes. . . She’ll use that to her advantage when it comes to protecting you ‹3

𖠵𝟎𝟔: When people aren’t looking, she’ll slip her mask off and give you a quick kiss ‹3

𖠵𝟎𝟕: She’s knowledgeable in a variety of things !! So she can help you with just about anything.

𖠵𝟎𝟖: She loves to play with your fingers/hands. They feel so soft to her, and she likes to curl her fingers around the tops of yours.

𖠵𝟎𝟗: “Sakura,” “baby/babe,” and “sweetheart.”

❝Haha, why do you look so exhausted, sakura? The gang wear you out? The boss certainly knows how to pick em, huh? Welcome to my life, babe. On a brighter note, they all seem to really like you! Which is good because if otherwise, I’d have to knock some sense in them. . . It doesn’t take a genius to see that you wear your heart on your sleeve.❞

𖠵𝟏𝟎: Isn’t necessarily one to get jealous because of her trust in you. but if she notices someone isn’t getting the hint, she’ll scare them off in no time.

𖠵𝟏𝟏: Another one who doesn’t really initiate PDA but will happily give it if you asked !! She doesn’t really give a shit what people think about her—rather than what they think about you.

𖠵𝟏𝟐: Loves to casually show you off.

𖠵𝟏𝟑: Teaches you a lot of survival skills because she’s lowkey scared you’re gonna get lost in the forest without her ‹/3

𖠵𝟏𝟒: She has a lot of free time, so that means lots of dates at different places !!

𖠵𝟏𝟓: Loves to travel around the different nations with you !! It’s one of her favorite things to do.

𖠵𝟏𝟔: If you dressed in her style, she’d melt right on the spot. Expect matching fits if you proposed the idea, LOL.

𖠵𝟏𝟕: As I previously mentioned, she doesn’t initiate much affection out in public, but at home, she’ll smother you in all her kisses and love ‹33

𖠵𝟏𝟖: A really great cook !! She tries to make you three meals a day !! And if you’re not feeling up to eating that much, she’ll make sure to give you smaller portions or snacks so at least you’re still eating (: ‹3

𖠵𝟏𝟗: A wonderful listener !! ): She wants you to feel comfortable and safe around her, so she always opens up her arms for you.

𖠵𝟐𝟎: If she sees you're getting antsy or nervous about something, she'll hold and squeeze your hand ‹3

꒱₊˚ 𝐘𝐀𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐊𝐎 !! 𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐓𝐄 𝐀𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓

𖠵𝟎𝟏: We all know Yae is quite the teaser. . . However, I’d say she’s the fine line between a sadist and a mom, LMAO.

𖠵𝟎𝟐: Takes any chance to (playfully) poke fun at you or tease you ‹/3 She’s one that loves to get you riled up.

𖠵𝟎𝟑: Made you an omamori amulet to wear as an accessory. However, this one doesn’t have a limit on its uses. If she senses you’re in danger or in need of her, she’ll use it to get to you (: ‹3

𖠵𝟎𝟒: Rarely goes into her fox form, but if she sees you devastated over something, she’ll turn into it and nuzzle into your arms—letting you pet her if you feel the need to.

if you aren’t feeling any better, she’ll shift back into her human form and properly embrace you—running her hands through your hair and letting her tails wrap around you comfortably.

𖠵𝟎𝟓: Likes to drag you along with her whereever she goes. What can I say ?? She loves your company :)

𖠵𝟎𝟔: I’m sure this has already been established, but she’s a huge flirt, lmfao. She loves to see your cheeks gain a rosy hue because of her sugarcoated words ‹3

𖠵𝟎𝟕: Pretty protective over you ?? Because, “we can’t have anyone stealing what’s mine, can we my little kit?”

that said, she’ll deal with them in her own, personal way and won’t tell how when it’s said and done, saying “the how doesn’t matter, little one. what matters is that. . . pest won't dare lay a finger on you again.”

𖠵𝟎𝟖: Whenever you have days off from commissions, she likes to have you work with her !! (So much for a day off. . .) Not only because she can be around you, but also because she can bribe you to put on a shrine maiden outfit ‹/3

𖠵𝟎𝟗: Heavy on affectionate names in general, but her mains are “little one,” “(little) kit/kub,” and “(my) darling.”

❝Little one, I heard the strangest thing from Ei today. What was it you ask? That a certain (COLOR)-haired cutie kept on pushing themself when they looked oh-so-exhausted. . . I was thinking you knew a little more about it? Hmm? You don’t? That’s certainly a shame. . . I had a whole day's worth of pampering prepared for them.❞

𖠵𝟏𝟎: She loves to pamper you whether or not you need it. She always says you deserve the best, and you do !! Quit telling yourself otherwise 👹👹

𖠵𝟏𝟏: Always goes to you for novel ideas; your mind is one of the greatest things she treasures about you.

𖠵𝟏𝟐: Not shy about PDA whatsoever. She’ll hug, kiss, and hold you anywhere or wherever she wants—no ifs or buts.

𖠵𝟏𝟑: Doeesn’t get jealous often, knowing she has you wrapped around her finger (she’s wrapped around yours too, don’t worry ‹3); she finds it quite amusing that some person can steal you from her, actually. She’ll just stand there smiling sweetly until they’re finished before finally expressing that you’re together with her.

𖠵𝟏𝟒: Likes to have you resting against her chest while you two sleep or cuddle ‹3 That way she has better access to protecting you and such.

in the mornings, you get up when she says you get up, LMFAO. one of her favorite times is when she gets to hold you in the earlier mornings without interruptions.

𖠵𝟏𝟓: Whenever Ei mentions you, Yae’s ears always perk up slightly before happily expressing how you two have been.

she’s also mentioned that this feeling of genuine love is a little foreign to her and how she fears she’ll accidentally break your heart and scare you off ‹/3

𖠵𝟏𝟔: (↑) She hasn’t had a person besides Ei mean so much to her in a while, so she treats you very carefully and always keeps a close eye on you to make sure you aren’t actually bothered by anything she says or does.

𖠵𝟏𝟕: Whenever she’s out in Inazuma City and hears your name, her ears perk to carefully listen in to whatever they’re saying about you, wanting to make sure they aren’t spewing utter nonsense about her dear love.

𖠵𝟏𝟖: Likes to play with (and/or) do your hair whenever you’re doing a mundane task.

𖠵𝟏𝟗: (↑) She won’t admit it (or maybe she will. . .?) but she’ll lean into your palm whenever you comb through her hair.

𖠵𝟐𝟎: She wants to find a way to permanently mark you as hers, the marks she leaves you fading too quickly for her liking. . . Then she brought up branding and. . .

𖠵𝟐𝟏: Lowkey your sugar mommy ‹/3 She’ll get you anything you want or need. Even if you don’t ask for anything !!

꒱₊˚ 𝐘𝐎𝐈𝐌𝐈𝐘𝐀 !! 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒

𖠵𝟎𝟏: Yoims is a such a sweet and bubbly girlfriend !! ‹33

𖠵𝟎𝟐: She’s your #01 hypewoman for just about anything !! She’s so supportive of you and will cheer for you on anything !!

𖠵𝟎𝟑: Before and after, you two started dating, she wouldn’t stop talking about you to her dad and Ayaka ‹/3

her dad adores you, by the way !! he’s happy that his little girl found someone that makes her feel so loved. if you don’t have a good father figure, here’s your chance, LMFAO.

𖠵𝟎𝟒: Your always the first one who gets to see her new fireworks !! She takes you up to the cliffside at night and sets them for you to see, eagerly waiting for your feedback, hehe ‹3

𖠵𝟎𝟓: Firework making is her love language, LMFAO. Expect lots of fireworks made especially for you.

𖠵𝟎𝟔: Always brings you back some snacks or sweets when she’s out gathering materials !!

𖠵𝟎𝟕: (↑) Like Shinobu, if she sees you aren’t eating as much, she’ll bring you some smaller snacks to eat so you’re at least eating something.

𖠵𝟎𝟖: Introduces you to everyone she knows !! She wants everyone to know she has an incredible lover !!

𖠵𝟎𝟗: “(My) firecracker,” “(my) firework,” “lovebug,” and “bub.”

❝Hey bubs! I noticed you haven’t been feeling like yourself lately so I asked my dad if he can cover shop for the rest of the week so I can focus on you! He agreed before I could even finish my sentence, hehe. Hm? Nonono, of course, I don’t mind, firework! It hurts me not to see your cute smile, so I will make sure you’re feeling better by the end of the week! No being sad under Yoimiya’s watch!❞

𖠵𝟏𝟎: Loves to pepper your face with small kisses and squish your cheeks !! Hearing you laugh and smile because of her is her kryptonite.

𖠵𝟏𝟏: A big cuddle bug !! She loves to be cuddled in your arms at the end of the night. She doesn’t let go for a while, either.

𖠵𝟏𝟐: Her other kryptonite is seeing you play with kids ): It fuels her excitement to start a family with you. Sobs

𖠵𝟏𝟑: The type of girl who’d you want to show to your parents !! She’s very extroverted, so she gets along with people easily !!

𖠵𝟏𝟒: Whenever you’re not busy with commissions, she likes to have you run the shop with her !! That way she kills two birds with one stone.

𖠵𝟏𝟓: She would go through hell and back to see you happy ); You mean so much to her than you could ever imagine.

𖠵𝟏𝟔: When the Vision Hunt Decree was in order, she became a little protective over you. She’d always warn you to be careful whenever you went out so that you wouldn’t get yourself in trouble. (Although she would do whatever it takes to bust you out of jail.)

𖠵𝟏𝟕: This probably sounds repetitive (sorry, LOL), but she’s another one who’s a great listener !! She hates seeing you upset and will listen to you night and day if it means you feeling better.

𖠵𝟏𝟖: Her cheerful demeanor diminishes when she sees someone hurting you. She’ll push you behind her protectively, a forged tint of happiness in her eyes as she tells them off.

the opposing person doesn’t normally think anything of it, given how bubbly Yoims is, which makes the payback 10x better, LMAO.

#|✿| — 𝐅𝐀𝐖𝐍’𝐒 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐒 #|✿| — 𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐔𝐌𝐒 #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact #genshin impact x you #genshin impact x y/n #genshin x reader #genshin impact headcanons #ayaka x reader #ei x reader #kokomi x reader #kujou sara x reader #shinobu x reader #yae miko x reader #yoimiya x reader

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hxhhasmysoul · 1 month

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I’ve been seeing these jjk takes such as “Gege doesn’t like writing jjk!” And what not. And while I personally don’t think so, I do think Gege is getting a bit burnt out hence the more fast paced storytelling due to the cutthroat manga industry. But claiming that Gege doesn’t like writing jjk? A person who isn’t passionate about their story would not have such an in-depth power system and world building. But that’s just me

Sorry for taking so long to answer.

My personal opinion is that somewhere around the foreign armies invading Gege decided to wrap up JJK. There’s so much stuff set up in the story, so many plots going on, and suddenly the manga sped up.

I won’t express a definitive opinion as to why that happened but I will tell you what I suspect may have happened and how I feel about it.

I agree with you, that Gege’s put a lot of passion into JJK. The story is intricately woven, connected through character arcs, intrigue and themes.

I also get how people can get vibes from JJK that its author doesn’t like writing it. I don’t know what the takes you mention mean by “Gege doesn’t like writing jjk!”. Because if it’s an accusation against Gege, then well this fandom’s always been the pits.

As a writer I get burn-out. There are several stories I have in progress that I’m passionate about, but it takes me months to update. These stories are not my job, I can give myself time to just let them hang there, unfinished.

In the cutthroat manga industry there’s no such luxury. There are deadlines and exact page counts and chapter counts. And there’s the fandom and expectations. I don’t know how much of the social media vitriol gets to Gege, but even if the social media is handled by WSJ, Gege is probably aware that there’s just a lot of chatter. From a story that was supposed to get cut from WSJ for not performing well, JJK became its most popular title and I think that took a toll on Gege’s mental health.

I’ve written before about how devastating it must’ve been from the point of view of a creative to be told that your story is not popular enough to continue. Then moving an event from later in the story (Yuuji’s death in the detention centre) forward to give the story some ending. Just for it to catapult the story into popularity and being told that the story will continue. The whiplash, the bitterness, the desperation to rearrange the story to make sense with the new order of events that wasn’t planned for it.

Also JJK wasn’t the long series Gege pitched to WSJ. They weren’t planning on expanding on Zero, at least that was not the first long form series they wanted to do.

There are all these factors surrounding the creation of JJK that could’ve soured Gege on the story. It’s not impossible Gege stopped liking writing JJK at some point and just wanted it to end.

Like there are these moments after the foreign troops bit that are so good, that to me look like stuff Gege was happy to write and draw. Moments centering Yuuji, or between Yuuji and Sukuna, fights including Maki, Kenjaku’s date with Takaba, Hakari fighting Uraume, Toudou’s comeback. But for example the whole fight between Gojou and Sukuna doesn’t feel to me like anything Gege wanted to write, at least not in the form it exists now.

For me, as a writer, it’s a very sad experience to get vibes from moments in the story signalling that the author wasn’t excited to write them. I feel so much sympathy for Gege. I think there’s something really tragic about how JJK came to be.

#answering asks #jjk #jujutsu kaisen

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lemotmo · 6 months

Text

Queer-coded Eddie Diaz theory

Okay, walk with me here. I have this theory.

I’ve been thinking about what Lou said in his interview. He said that the Tommy storyline was initially meant for Eddie. (Which still sets me reeling whenever I think about it.) But they changed their mind because something fell through and they decided to give the storyline to Buck. Which I’m happy about to be honest. Eddie is a whole different case of ‘being in the closet’. That man will need a lot more time to come to terms with his sexuality than Buck.

But, let’s imagine they would have stuck with the Eddie/Tommy storyline:

Obviously Marisol would have quietly disappeared in between seasons and Eddie would have been single again.

They hired Lou, a big bulky white man, to play his love interest. I know that we often say that Eddie is the Latin Lou, but he could also be a slightly bigger Buck (if you squint).

They would have bonded over the many shared interests and their army past. From there on their romance would have started and bloomed.

Buck would have probably still been with Nathalia or perhaps he would have also been single. Not sure about that. It would have depended on the actress being available or not.

In his interview, Tim Minear has stated that Buck has always been queer-coded, from season 1 on.

So, if we follow that line of thinking, wouldn’t Eddie have been queer-coded as well? Because, after all, he would have been the one in a romantic relationship with Tommy.

And then what? Would Buck have found his inner bisexual by being jealous of Eddie and Tommy? Like something we saw play out in 7x04. Everyone would assume, in the beginning, that Buck was just jealous of having to share Eddie’s attention with Tommy. But then, after a few episodes, it would have been revealed that he was actually in love with Eddie? Because, remember, according to Tim Minear, Buck has always been queer-coded. So it would only be logical to continue the storyline like that. Especially because everyone seems to lean into it this season. Oliver, Ryan, Tim and even Lou have been talking about Buddie.

Then what? Would Eddie have found out about Buck? Would he have realised that he loved Buck back, breaking up with Tommy, only to be with Buck? Or would Tommy have set him free from the relationship?

See the logic here? If Buck has always been queer-coded, why did they plan to have Eddie come out? It doesn’t make any sense, UNLESS Eddie has always been queer-coded as well (whether gay, demisexual or something else).

Now, if we go back to the current story that is playing out on our screens right now. If we take the above Eddie/Tommy scenario and change it to Buck/Tommy, then it would only be logical for the second character that has also been queer-coded since season 2 (Eddie) to end up with the other queer-coded character, now established bisexual (Buck).

Whichever way you look at it, all roads eventually lead to Buddie.

Mind you, this is only my train of thought and my opinion. Also no hate on Tommy or Buck/Tommy. This is just something that has been slow cooking in my brain ever since those articles from Tim and Lou came out. Couple that with Ryan’s interview, where he clearly states that Eddie has lived a very different life from Buck. He talks about how Eddie always looks for a mom-figure for Christopher in a relationship, and that he has always lived a ‘straight’- laced life. But that he is slowly discovering parts about himself he didn’t know were there in the first place. And now with the whole ‘catholic guilt’ storyline suddenly popping up out of nowhere, it just would make so much sense for Eddie to be some flavour of queer.

It would set up such an interesting storyline for his character as well. He would potentially struggle with his feelings, a lot more than Buck ever did. He might even have problems with accepting that side of himself. But ultimately it would all come down to Buck and his feelings for him. And Eddie has always been brave, so he would eventually own up to it and tell Buck.

All of this makes so much sense to me and I can't shake it.

Tell me, am I losing my mind here? Has 911 and Buddie finally broken me beyond repair? Have I boarded the train to delulu-land? Talk to me.

#buddie #911 spoilers #eddie diaz #evan buckley #tommy kinard #buddie meta #911 abc #tim minear #ryan guzman #oliver stark #lou ferrigno jr

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thefallennightmare · 6 months

Text

Mercy-Four

*gif created by me. feel free to use, simply give credit*

Pairings: Noah Sebastian x Fallen Angel!OC

Warnings: swearing, angst, fluff, smut, mythological talk, violence.

Summary: "Blinded by a fear of feeling, these are the kings we chose. Lost and looking for the meaning, I've been searching high and low" It came crashing down on him. This is the story of the highest banished angel from where she came only to find home in the arms of a mortal man. This mortal realizing he'd face Lucifer himself to keep her.

Lethia: Archangelus Oneironaut also known as Archangel of Dream Walking. Across worlds and dimensions, she walks within. Uncovering dangerous secrets, leaving her cast out, isolated- that is until she begins to learn what it means to feel.

Authors Notes: So I pulled a lot of ideas from my favorite fallen angel romance series, Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick! I hope you all enjoy!

Tags[OPEN]: @thescarlettvvitch @blackveilomens @crimson-calligraphyx @cookiesupplier @lyschko666 @shilohrosechicken @thebadchic @iknownothingpeople @sammyjoeee @malice-ov-mercy @collapsedglasshouses @klutzy-kay24 @iamamatus @lma1986 @bngurngheart @happi-goth

LETHIA

I sat in the middle of Noah’s bed with my knees pulled to my chest and rested my chin on top of them. My mind continued to replay the conversation with Maraxa and her parting words had been etched deep within my soul. I feared that maybe I brought darkness and death to not only Noah but all of his friends' lives. They were innocent bystanders in the battle for my alliance. Stay on this Earth with mortals or fall into the depths of Hell with the light bringer.

Lucifer. He wanted me alongside him to lead his army of darkness. Against what? I wasn’t sure. But the love we shared wasn’t what it used to be and my heart didn't covet for him any longer. Not when there was someone else who seemed to have filtered into this newfound life without warning.

Those almond eyes captivated me from the moment I had Noah pinned against the door. His scent was different from most mortals and for the longest time, I couldn’t figure out why. The way we always seemed to run into each other or that anytime I dream walked, it was his dream.

Why was it Noah’s face I saw moments before my fall?

Why did we have the same tattoo? His on his neck, mine on my ribs?

None of this made any sense and it only angered me more as to why I was stuck here.

As I was staring at the length of my black nails, there was a gentle knock on the door of the bedroom; me humming in response to it. When it opened slightly, Noah poked his head in, the long strands of his hair falling into his face.

“Hey,” his voice was gentle. “I’m just checking to see if you’re settling in fine.”

“Yes,” I nodded. “I’m sorry for having Maraxa show up here. I assure you, it won’t happen again.”

You don’t know that.

Noah leaned against the wall next to the door, crossing his arms over his chest. “It’s alright. Is she an old friend?”

I scoffed while laying my legs straight on the bed to lean my back against the wall.

“She is far from a friend. More like an acquaintance that always wanted my position.”

If he could hear the venom in my voice, Noah said nothing and simply nodded.

“Are you hungry?” He asked instead.

“I’m fine, thank you,” I ran a hand over the black comforter. “I must say, I do feel terrible making you sleep on the couch when your bed is quite comfortable.”

“Seriously?” Noah chuckled while walking farther into the room to sit on the bed next to me. “I’ve had this mattress for years and it's anything but comfortable.”

An eerie silence fell between us, something that made me shift in my spot next to him when the warmth from him radiated around me in flames. I could feel his essence all over my skin while not feeling his actual touch. Bumps rose at the back of my neck when I felt his gaze linger there, lighting me a blaze.

My eyes caught sight of something hanging from above his window so I pointed to it.

“Are you religious? The rosary?”

Noah peered up at the wooden necklace hanging from his curtain rod. “Oh, that. It’s kind of a long story.”

Crossing my legs, I rested my elbow on my thigh to rest my chin in my hand. “And I have time. I’d love to know your view on it.”

With a tender laugh, he nodded before turning toward me so we sat facing each other. “Well, I was raised in a very Christian Baptist household with my grandparents; when I wasn’t staying with my mom. That's another story but it’s not important.”

Immediately I picked up on the way his eyes cast down at his hands at the mention of his mother but made no effort to acknowledge it. Instead, I urged him to continue with a nod.

“I’d go to service with my grandparents and help out in the church any way I could. Painting, setting up for service, things like that. I was exposed to a lot of religion growing even though when I was younger I didn’t buy into it as much. Despite having a lot of questions and doubts about it now, I still think there’s a lot to learn about it through religion, spirituality, and faith. Which is why I write about it metaphorically.”

He ran a hand over his chin for a moment. “I never try to push my own beliefs or agendas on people. I want people to think and believe in things on their own, without having my choice influence them in any way.”

“I think that’s marvelous,” I hummed.

Noah smiled. “The whole lore and stories in religion really interest me. I’m currently reading a book about The Fall.”

My mouth ran dry when my body went rigid. “Th-the Fall?”

“Yeah, fallen angels. It’s actually quite interesting.”

I ran my hands over my thigh and cleared my throat. “Do you believe in them?”

“Angels?” Noah asked with furrowed brows.

All I could do was nod, afraid that my voice would give way to how nervous I was for his answer.

He ran a hand over his mouth, almost deep in thought. “It’s hard to give a definitive answer because I haven’t seen proof of angels. I thought that angels didn’t exist at first but something changed my view on it. My grandma told me a story about fallen angels when I was younger. What about you? Do you believe it?”

“You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve seen,” the tone of my voice dropped drastically as my fingers brushed along the softness of the comforter beneath me.

Flash images of what I’d done under the King’s command plagued me. Death by my sword was ordered to anyone who disobeyed him. Which rarely happened but when it did, I was the one that dealt with the end of the traitor's life. The familiar feeling of ripping out their wings weighed heavy on my hands as I stared down at them with sheer disgust.

How could the creator who was supposed to love all of us equally order me to do such vile, horrendous, things to his creations?

“Lethia,” the softness of his large hands rested on my shoulder, fresh off a kill. “You’ve done well my child. Your allegiance is greatly thought of.”

My jaw clenched at how foolish I’d been. Following a King who cared so little for us in the end. The amount of wings I ripped out was too much to count. The amount of angels I dragged my blade into cut deep into my gut, causing me to revolt in disgust.

At myself.

Since I fell weeks ago, I questioned so deeply why my appearance changed and I always thought it was because of my love for Lucifer. But it could be to pay for all of my heinous crimes up in the Kingdom. Crimes ordered by Him.

“Hey,” Noah’s tattooed knuckle lifted my chin. “Are you alright?”

I nearly sobbed when yet again I couldn’t feel his touch; another repercussion.

“No,” I choked out. “I did horrible things back home and how could I ever be allowed back? Why would he want me back?”

The screams of my victims were loud in my mind, their bloody wings lying at my feet, and I squeezed my eyes shut at the vision.

“You don’t have to go back there. You can stay here with me. Whatever you did can’t be that terrible,” his voice cooed in the silence of his bedroom.

The words died on my tongue, it not being worth it to explain myself to him because Noah wouldn’t understand.

My heart's racing faltered for the briefest of moments, only for it to double in pace when Noah’s eyes studied me, assessing every inch of my face. I tracked every movement of his tongue when it darted out to wet his pink lips.

“Lethia.”

My name was all but a hushed whisper that hung on his bottom lip and when our eyes met, some kind of light danced behind his. I raised my fingers to his mouth to drag the nail of my pointer finger along that bottom lip. Noah’s breath hitched in his throat but remained still as I glanced up at him, dying to know what it would feel like. Facial hair peppered his chin and above his mouth, and I couldn’t help but smile at how good he looked.

There was no way he wasn't like me. Noah was too eternal, the aura that radiated around him shone bright and pulled me in every time he was around.

The long locks of his hair fell into his face when he tilted his head towards me, closing the distance slightly. The divine scent of him filled my senses and I let my eyes flutter shut to pick apart each of the different smells. Noah smelled woodsy with a hint of Bergamot and Nutmeg. It smelled like his bedroom. It smelled like him.

“Noah,” I breathed, now dragging my nails over the tattoo on his neck.

I couldn't feel his touch but I did notice my hair being brushed away from my face.

“I can’t explain it,” Noah swallowed. “But I feel this strong connection to you.”

All of my actions were unknown to me, along with this feeling in my chest that burned with such a good ache. Noah silenced all of the voices in my mind, easing away the guilt and hurt that weighed heavily on my heart for my actions in the Kingdom. I was resistant at first with him but I think it was only because this feeling deep inside of me scared me to the ends of the earth.

“Me as well,” I admitted quietly.

My hands rested in my lap now, shaking with nerves, wondering what Noah was going to do. We were so close now, with almost no space between our lips, and before my brain could catch up on what was happening a sudden surge of warmth exploded inside of me before seeping into my veins. My skin pricked with electricity when Noah’s hand glided through my hair and it was then that I noticed his eyes were closed but his lips were on mine.

He was kissing me?

Fuck.

I nearly cried and cursed the King for bestowing me with this curse of not being able to feel human touch. All I wanted was to feel Noah’s lips on mine, taste him, devour him. Although I couldn’t feel him, the feeling that was coming alive inside of me was almost too much to handle and I let a quiet moan be swallowed by Noah, who hummed in delight.

It felt like fireworks being shot off inside of me. It felt like that first flight I took when I realized my wings kept me upright. It felt like the wind blew through my hair and the softness of the clouds encased me just as Noah’s arm did.

Something spread my lips apart and now all I could feel was the sudden wetness in my mouth and between my legs. I clenched them together while grasping at Noah’s shirt, trying to feel anything.

He pulled away to glance down at me, briefly searching my eyes for any emotion I couldn’t give off in the kiss we just shared.

“I mean this with genuine curiosity but have you never been kissed before?” Noah wondered while his hand cupped my cheek.

I shifted on his bed and kept my gaze cast down on my lap. While I lay with other angels up in the Kingdom, we’d never kissed; Noah was my first kiss, ever.

“Lethia?”

“I-,” my shoulders slumped. “No. Was I that bad?”

Now while I couldn’t feel his touch, that didn’t stop me from meeting his kiss with the same amount of gentle caress that he led with.

A low noise rumbled in Noah’s chest. “Not at all. I’d actually like to kiss you again if that’s alright?”

Unbridled heat expanded deep within me as I nodded quickly and then his lips were on mine again. I let the passion in my heart guide my lips, doing my best to mimic Noah’s actions, and he let out a moan when I climbed into his lap to run my hands through the waves of his tawny hair. Even if I couldn’t feel any part of this physically, I could feel it in my heart, and to me, that’s all that mattered.

“Lethia,” Noah groaned when I pressed my hips into his.

Something in my heart told me that he was brushing his tongue along the side of my neck before his teeth grazed over in its path. That same feeling told me that Noah’s hands were sprawled over my lower back before slipping underneath my shirt to claw at my skin, digging his nails in.

My spine tingled with fire, starting from the base and shooting straight up into my neck before spreading through my entire angel essence. My head fell back as my jaw went slack when the familiar feeling of ecstasy crept its way into me.

Only this wasn’t the kind of ecstasy brought on by a man's kiss or touch.

No.

The skin on my shoulder blades began to peel away an opening for my wings to protrude from and with a gasp of fear, I scrambled away from Noah and nearly stumbled over my feet as I stood in front of him. He lay back on his elbows, hair a mess from my fingers running through it, and lips were swollen from our kiss. The rise and fall of his chest was uneven as he tried to catch his breath. I dared a glance lower and sucked in a breath when I noticed how hard his cock was in his gray sweats.

“Hey, are you alright? Did I do something?” Noah asked while rising to his feet and taking a step towards me.

I took a step back. “No, you didn’t do anything. I-I can’t explain it but-.”

How could I explain it?

Oh hey, Noah. I was getting so turned on by our kiss that my wings almost came out.

Yeah right.

I dragged my hands through my hair and let out an aggravated groan to which Noah gently grasped my wrists and held them against his chest. My gaze bounced back and forth between his eyes, my erratic heartbeat calming.

“If I went too far, I apologize,” he said.

“No,” I hastily shook my head. “You didn’t do anything. I just needed a moment to clear my head, that's all.”

He hummed. “I know the perfect thing to help with that.”

Before dropping my hands, he left a gentle kiss on them, and I couldn’t stop the smile that spread to my lips as I watched him gather the extra clothes on his desk and towels.

“A shower always helps me clear my head,” Noah said while leading me out of his bedroom.

“A shower?” I asked, slowly treading behind him.

“Yeah,” he nodded as we stepped inside the bathroom. “Hot Water. Soap. Shampoo.”

“Naked. I know the drill,” I crossed my arms over my chest with a raised brow. “Are you trying to get me naked, Noah?”

Nervously he rubbed the back of his neck and a red tint painted over his cheeks. “N-no. I just want to help you.”

I took the things in his hands with a nod of thanks. “You’ve already done enough for me. Giving me a place to stay.”

The space between us was small in his bathroom due to his tall stature and he gazed down at me with a slight up curl of his lips as he stuffed his hands in his pocket.

“I help the people I care about.”

I cocked my head at him. “You care about me?”

This word, care, was foreign to me; unheard of in the Kingdom. So to hear Noah utter it made a weird feeling stir inside of me.

“I wouldn’t have kissed you if I didn’t,” Noah’s voice was low as he took a small step towards me.

However, when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I nearly dropped the clothes and towels. I always tried to avoid looking at myself because of how evil I looked. My red eyes matched the red lights from under Noah’s bed and my short onyx hair barely reached my shoulders. Thankfully my jacket and jeans covered the tattoos that were drawn on my skin; etched in deep with my transgressions.

I despised how I looked now. Revolted in the darkness that I become.

“I never used to look like this,” I admitted with a long sigh, letting the things in my hands fall to the bathroom counter.

Noah stepped behind me to stare at my reflection in the mirror. “Really?”

“This look?” I pointed to my reflection. “It’s a telling of everything wrong I’ve done. I can’t even look at myself without disgust.”

His face fell at my words and he rested his hands on my shoulders. “Lethia, that’s the farthest thing from the truth. You look beautiful.”

That was another word I hadn’t heard before.

“Beautiful?” I raised a brow, staring at his reflection still.

Noah rested his chin on top of my head and I couldn’t help but giggle at the size difference between us. I wasn’t exactly short but with Noah’s length, he easily towered over me so to rest his chin on my head he had to bend down a bit, encasing his arms on either side of me to grip the bathroom counter.

My eyes raked over the tattoos that covered the entirety of his arms, various designs and colors.

“Well for starters, the length of your hair suits your face structure and the color compliments your olive skin tone,” he left a kiss on the side of my head.

“I used to have long, almost white hair,” I said.

“Oh,” his face scrunched up.

“You don’t like it?” I teased with a chuckle.

Noah shrugged. “You look beautiful either way but like I said this look suits you better.”

His hands grabbed the collar of my jacket to slowly pull it down my arms, letting it fall to the floor at our feet. I now stood in front of him in my jeans and white shirt, arms exposed to show the darkness of the tattoos that covered them.

“Your tattoos are made for you,” he breathed in my ear, fingers trailing up the skin of my arms.

Our eyes locked in the mirror, the deep crimson of mine paled in contrast to his bright almond ones; however this time when I looked into them, they weren’t cold and vacant. Not like I’d see in my dreams.

“Your eyes,” Noah breathed. “I think your eyes are one of my favorite things about you.”

He brushed away the hair from my neck so he could press kisses along the skin there. I watched in the mirror as his teeth grazed over the shell of my ear before sinking deep into the crook of my neck. Straight heat shot through me again and I let myself fall into his embrace with a sigh that sounded more like a moan.

“I’m afraid,” my bottom lip trembled as I cast my eyes down from his.

Noah turned me in his arms so I had no choice but to look up at him. His eyes were filled with worry as they searched every inch of my face. I grasped at the front of his shirt, fingers trying desperately to feel the material.

“Afraid of what? This?” He pointed between us.

“No,” I shook my head and then let out a shaky breath. “I am terrified by this dark thing that sleeps in me.”

Noah’s hands were on both sides of my face because he held me firm. Then when the light sparked inside of me, I knew that he crashed his lips on mine, tongue slipping inside of my mouth. Although I couldn’t feel his touch, the feeling I had deep inside of me was telling me everything he was doing.

One hand cupped my cheek while the other slipped inside my shirt, grasping at the skin of my lower back. His lips and tongue explored every inch of my mouth, dragging his teeth along my jawline and neck as he went back to leaving small marks along my collarbone.

His name came out just below a whisper when he lifted me onto the bathroom counter, digging his nails into the thick material of my jeans to spread my legs open for him. Noah stepped between them as I brought our lips together again in another fiery kiss, needing to bring Noah even closer to me by any means.

“Lethia,” he murmured against my mouth. “I need-.”

Just as the skin on my shoulders began peeling away, someone walked into the bathroom, causing Noah to jump away from me slightly. Glancing at the now open door, I noticed his roommate Jesse’s eyes bouncing between Noah and me.

“Shit, I should have knocked,” he muttered while rubbing his face. “I just saw the door was cracked open and didn’t think.”

I wiped away the saliva from my lips and turned my head away from the two men, feeling this unusual burn on my cheeks.

“It’s alright,” Noah ran a hand through his hair, still keeping a wide distance between us. “I was just letting Lethia take a shower.”

Jesse nodded. “Yeah sure, no problem. I’ll just use the bathroom downstairs.”

When it was just Noah and me yet again, I peered over to him who was leaning against the wall with a wicked smirk.

“What?” I asked with a slight up curl on my lips.

He said nothing, only adjusting himself. I dared a glance downward and sucked in a breath when I noticed his cock pressing hard against the front of his sweats. All the warmth in my body shot down to my core and I squeezed my thighs together, hoping it would curb the itch.

How did this mortal seem to set all of my senses ablaze like this?

“I’ll give you some privacy,” Noah motioned to the shower.

As he began walking out of the bathroom, I dared a glance at the shower but tilted my head in confusion.

“Wait,” I spoke while reaching for his wrist, my black nails grazing his skin.

Both of us reacted with such a shock, nearly making me rear back in surprise. Noah’s eyes bounced from my hold on him to my face; a spark of something behind them.

“How do I turn it on?”

“The shower?” His brows creased.

All I did was nod, some things on this planet still confused me but I didn’t want to tell him that.

With a chuckle, Noah walked over to the shower, sliding the door open then turned the dial left.

“Left is hot. The right is cold. Adjust how you need to. There’s already some shampoo and body wash in there for you,” he said when he stepped in front of me.

Steam began to fill the bathroom, dancing above our heads like the clouds in the Kingdom. Reaching up on the tips of my toes, I laid a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth.

“Thank you, Noah.”

NOAH

I stifled a yawn behind my hand as I poured myself yet another cup of coffee, stirring the dark liquid as I leaned against the kitchen island. Craning my neck far to the left, I groaned when it popped in a few different places. Sleeping on the couch did a number on my back and neck but I didn’t want to verbalize my discomfort knowing that Lethia was comfortable upstairs in bed.

Possibly naked, lying in my sheets.

Shaking the thoughts from my head, I took a large gulp of my coffee, it slightly burning on the way down, when Jesse walked into the kitchen. His eyes raked over my disheveled hair and skewed clothes with a smirk.

“Rough night?”

I grumbled in response.

“I’m sorry about interrupting you and Lethia last night,” Jesse apologized while reaching for a cup in the far right cupboard.

“It’s alright,” I set my cup on the counter next to me.

It seemed as if there was something on the tip of his tongue so I urged him to ask his question with a nod.

“Are you sure you aren’t moving fast with her?” Jesse was hesitant to ask. “You don’t know a lot about Lethia?”

Even though I was growing tired of the same conversation with my friends, I took a deep breath to ease away the annoyance. I knew they were only coming from a place of love.

“It’s hard to explain,” I rubbed a hand up and down my arm. “We feel this strong connection between us and no matter how hard I tried to stay away, it seemed as if something kept pulling us together.”

Jesse nodded with a faint smile. “She seems like a great girl, Noah. We just don’t want you to fall too deep and end up getting hurt.”

I reassured him with a pat on his shoulder just as Jolly, Michael, and Orie came bounding into the kitchen, all of them going about to start their typical morning routine. It was a rare Saturday that we all had off so earlier in the week we talked about going for a hike today.

“Still on for today?” Orie wondered.

“Yeah,” I answered.

Jolly took a sip of his coffee. “Did you ask if Lethia wanted to come?”

My lips parted to speak but there was this tingle at the back of my neck, making the hairs there stand to attention, and when I turned slightly, my heart shuddered in my chest.

Lethia stood in the middle of the kitchen, rubbing a hand on her elbow. Her hair was a mess from a night of sleep and I could make out the faintest of a few purple marks across her neck. My cock twitched in my sweats when I remembered our kisses from last night. But that’s not what made my heart stop. It was what she was wearing.

My blue and white star shorts and my Jesus playing basketball with the devil t-shirt. It drowned on her, barely covering the shorts. Not only were her arms covered in tattoos but so were both of her legs, the black designs standing out amongst the sunlight that brushed in through the patio door next to her. Lethia looked absolutely breathtaking.

Like an angel.

“Hilarious,” she pulled at the picture of the shirt.

I smiled. “Did you sleep alright?”

“You guys were going to ask me something?”

She averted my question with one of her own and Orie spoke up.

“We were going for a hike today. Would you like to join?”

“A hike,” Lethia repeated the words slowly.

Michael rolled his eyes. “You know, walking up a mountain. Fresh air. Scenery. Exercise.”

Crimson eyes sliced into him. “I know what a hike is.”

“Cool, so are you coming with or not?” He crossed his arms.

“I’m touched you want me to tag along, Michael. I knew you secretly had feelings for me,” Lethia teased with a playful smirk.

Peering over to Michael, I noticed a red tint covering his cheeks before he hid his face in the fridge, rummaging around for something.

“So,” I began while closing the distance between Lethia and me. “Do you want to come with us?”

She peered up at me through dark lashes. “You want to spend time with me?”

“I think after last night that it’s pretty clear,” I said while taming her sleep-tousled hair.

Lethia leaned into my touch, her eyes fluttering shut with a peaceful sigh.

“Okay,” she agreed after a beat of silence. “Give me a few minutes to get dressed.”

“Take all the time you need,” I said, trailing my fingers down the side of her neck.

Lethia slipped away from me and trotted back upstairs to get ready and when I turned around, I ignored the looks from Michael, Orie, and Jolly. Instead, I walked into the living room while hearing Jesse fill them in on what happened last night.

“You kissed her?” Michael asked as he followed me into the living room.

Slipping my black jacket over my hoodie, I shrugged. “It sort of happened. We were in my room talking and I asked if I could.”

He hesitated and I knew, like Jesse, he had some reservations.

“Look, I appreciate you guys looking out for me, I do. But if I didn’t trust Lethia, she wouldn’t be here. So can we please make her feel welcome?”

I directed the question towards Michael, who raised his hands. “I didn’t start it.”

“I think the reason why you two seem to butt heads is because she doesn't take your shit,” Jolly chuckled while tying up his hair.

Michael grumbled under his breath as Lethia came bounding down the steps, yet again taking my breath away. She was dressed in biker shorts, showcasing her long and toned legs, and a black fitted crop top. Her white tennis shoes stood out as she came to a stop when all eyes fell on her.

“Do I have something stuck to me or something?” She asked, doing a full 360 turn, and I briefly saw a tattoo peaking on her shoulder through the straps of her shirt.

Some kind of bird. A crow?

“No, you look great,” I smiled. “Ready?”

“Shit, my jacket. Let me-.”

Before she could run back upstairs, I handed her an extra sweater of mine I grabbed from the front closet.

“Your leather jacket is looking a bit worn so here, you can have my sweater for the day,” I said.

She hesitantly took it, fingering the material of my yellow sweater. “Thank you, Noah.”

The drive to our usual hiking spot seemed to go by faster than normal as we all piled in Orie’s SUV; he and his dog, Harper, up front; something Michael gave him shit for when he tried to call shotgun.

Jolly and Michael were in the middle.

Me, Lethia, and Jesse were in the back seat.

My knees were brushing with hers, heat spreading throughout my nerve endings and I suddenly wanted to feel all of her all over me. Memories of our kiss last night flashed in my mind when I found myself staring at her lips while she talked with Jesse.

I remembered how they tasted; like every dark thought I’d ever had. There was something about her that kept calling to me, to a side that I forever repressed. I needed to know more about her and to know who she was running from so I could protect her from them.

Once we all stumbled out of the car, Lethia bent low to Harper so the dog could sniff her fingers. With a faint smile, she scratched Harper being the ears, something the dog appreciated with a wag of her tail.

“You’re a beautiful creature,” Lethia mused before rising to her feet.

With Orie taking the lead, we all followed up the usual path, Lethia slowly trailing behind. I let her take her time alone, figured something was bothering her, but when we made it about halfway up the trail, I finally turned to face her. Her hand was moving in an orbit as she studied the long black nails; sharp as a blade.

“Come on slowpoke!” I called out to her with a smile after pulling my hood up.

Her eyes barely lifted to mine, something still clouding her mind.

“What’s going on?” I asked, coming to a stop.

“Hm?”

When Lethia finally looked up at me, it was a few seconds too late as she crashed into me, not realizing I stopped walking. My arms wrapped around her to keep us upright while her hands sprawled over my chest. I was still so nervous to have her this close to me that I knew she would be able to tell when she’d feel my heart beating rapidly in my chest.

“What’s going on in here?” I asked again, tapping her forehead.

She didn’t even flinch.

“Nothing,” Lethia said.

I knew she couldn’t see the look I was giving her through my sunglasses so instead, I squeezed her hips; once again not reacting to my touch.

“I’m fine, Noah,” she reassured me with a gentle caress to my face. “We should move along before the others wonder where we drifted off to.”

I glanced over my shoulder, noticing that Jolly was at the top of the hill about ten feet ahead of us; stopped and waiting.

“The first one to Jolly wins,” I said.

This made her raise a brow. “A race?”

“Yeah,” I dropped my hands from her waist. “If I win, I get to sleep in my bed with you. The couch isn’t the best place to sleep on my back. If it makes you feel better, we can put a wall of pillows between us.”

“What do I get when I win?” Her hands replaced mine on her hips.

I snorted. “Someone’s confident.”

It was her turn to snort. “There’s no way you can beat me. Now, what do I get when I win?”

“Whatever you want,” I shrugged.

She tapped a finger to her lip as if she was really thinking about her decision.

“If I win, I’d like for you to kiss me again.”

My cock twitched in my joggers while my heart hammered loudly in my ears.

“Lethia,” my voice dropped. “You don’t have to make a bet for me to kiss you again.”

Cocking her head to the side, she stood taller to close the distance. I felt the warm breath fan over my bottom lip and I almost captured her tongue with mine when it darted out to wet her lips.

Suddenly, her laughter erupted through the trees as she took off in a sprint toward Jolly. Chuckling under my breath, I whipped around to begin running after her, amazed at how fast she’d already closed the distance to Jolly. She was less than five feet from him as he watched the two of us with a smile.

Suddenly, her steps faltered briefly, just enough for me to pass her in such haste that I didn’t see that she stopped running completely. When I reached Jolly, I tapped his shoulder before raising my hands.

“I win!”

Lethia slowly caught up to us with a smile painting the features of her face, not even working hard to catch her breath from the race. It was as if she wasn’t even winded.

“You did, fair and square,” she agreed while tying half of her hair up into a bun.

Jolly looked from me to Lethia, a knowing look on his face. “Really?”

My shoulders fell when I saw the look the two of them shared.

“Wait,” I pointed to her. “Did you let me win?”

“No,” Lethia dragged out the word and shrugged. “Why would I do that?”

When she slipped between Jolly and me, she patted my chest and winked. “You better not be a blanket hog, Noah.”

I watched her walk up to Jesse, the two of them picking up the conversation they had in the car.

“You know Lethia let you win, right?”

Jolly’s voice made me snap my gaze over to him. “No, she didn’t.”

Now it was me that gave that knowing look and I shifted on my feet.

“Why would she let me win?” I asked.

“She wanted you to share your bed with her,” Jolly said as if it was obvious.

I stood there for a long moment after he left to catch up with everyone else, letting his words settle within me. Lethia let me win because she wanted to share my bed. A fire burned in my gut with that knowledge as excitement filled my veins with the thought of going to sleep tonight.

When I reached the group, they all were standing on a cliff edge staring down at the city of Los Angeles. This was one of my favorite spots because you could see everything up here but hear nothing of the hustle and bustle of the city, only your thoughts.

I took note of Lethia who was a few feet away from all of us, in her own little bubble, letting the wind blow through her hair and my sweater that was tied around her waist. Her eyes were closed, a look of peaceful bliss on her face almost as if she belonged in the breeze. Her arms were outstretched as she tilted her head back. “Lethia.”

One eye cracked open as she looked at me when I snapped a quick picture of her with a smile.

“I’m glad you invited me with you guys,” she breathed while dropping her arms.

“Yeah, you’ve been alright company,” Michael admitted with a grumble.

She came over and ruffled his hair. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

Hooking an arm around her back, I pulled her into my chest, breathing my question over her lips. “You let me win the race?”

“Now why would I do that?” Lethia hummed, playing with the strings of my hoodie.

“That would mean I secretly want to sleep in the same bed with you.”

Something mischievous sparkled in her crimson eyes as I lowered my head to her, capturing her lips in a soft kiss. Her body relaxed in my embrace, lips molding against my own, while my hands roamed up her back.

Pulling away, Lethia dragged a finger over my bottom lip.

“Looks like we both won in the end,” she respired.

“How sweet.”

Lethia’s body went stiff in my embrace when she peered over my shoulder toward the unfamiliar voice. Following her gaze, my brows creased when I noticed a man standing a few feet away from our group, hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his dark Levis. The top two buttons of his white shirt were undone, showcasing a golden chain. For someone walking outside on a dirt-filled mountain, he looked clean; pristine. Not a single strand of his blonde hair was out of place on top of his head.

“Uriel,” Lethia forced out through gritted teeth.

“Do you know him?” I asked when I looked back at her.

“Unfortunately,” her jaw ticked, never removing her eyes from the stranger. “He’s an old friend. Give me a few minutes?”

I swallowed the jealousy burning deep in my gut at the way she said old friend but nodded, letting her slip from my embrace. With the guys flanking in a line a few feet behind her, we watched with careful eyes as she moved out of earshot from us.

LETHIA

“How did you find me?” I questioned, the soles of my shoes scraping along the rocks beneath my feet.

Uriel smiled with his lips but not his eyes. “I must admit, your scent was a bit harder to find now that you mingle among these mortals.”

“What do you want, Uriel?” My hands shook at my side so I rolled them into fists.

Bright gold eyes flicked over my shoulder towards the guys before they fell on me.

“I come with a message from the King.”

I swallowed thickly, nearly faltering my stone face at the mention of the King, but remained calm.

“I’m surprised he let you leave his side; you were always the one to be up his ass any chance you could get.”

Uriel’s eyes sliced into me. “The vulgarity of your speech, Lethia. A few weeks here and you’ve changed; in more ways than one.”

“What’s this message?” I asked with a sigh, ready to end this surprise meeting.

“The King is welcoming you back into the Kingdom.”

My heart stopped in my chest as my jaw dropped. I couldn’t ignore the way relief flooded me for the briefest of moments.

A way back home? I was allowed to go back home.

“That seems too good to be true. How can I believe your word?” I asked while crossing my arms over my chest.

Uriel held out his hands. “I am an archangel, Lethia. We’re known for our word.”

“When the fuck has your word ever been good enough? I sneered, countless memories of how wrong his word had been in the Kingdom.

“Do you want to be granted a way back or not?” Uriel clicked his tongue against his teeth.

“Surely the King has a catch,” I reminded him. “He always did.”

Uriel pointed to Noah. “Erase that mortal’s memory of you, renounce him and everything you’ve done together. Never look his way again and you have your way back home.”

My heart fell to the depths of my stomach at this demand. Even though there was a tiny sliver of hope of being granted access back into my home, there was no way I could erase Noah’s memory of me. These feelings we shared were still unknown to me but that didn’t mean I didn’t understand that we were important to each other; the feelings were real.

“I’m not interested,” I spat while spinning on my heels, ready to walk back over to Noah.

“He will allow you time to think about it, but not for long,” Uriel spoke. “I suggest you accept because the stench of humans is beginning to rub off on you; especially that mortal.”

Both of us glanced over at Noah who was watching us intently while talking with Jesse. They were still a good distance from us so I knew none of them could hear mine and Uriel's conversation.

“Hm, he fancies you, Lethia. Tell me, how often do you walk in his dream? Quite often I suppose since he has those vulgar thoughts of you,” Uriel breathed against the back of my neck, fingers grazing over mine.

My head snapped up to Uriel, creating distance between us by snatching my hand away from him. It was clear that I still was able to feel the touch of fellow angels, just not mortals.

“You don’t know anything! He’s a good man offering me a place to stay away from Maraxa and Lucifer,” I seethed.

His eyes darkened, almost as black as my wings. “You must not heed to their demands. If you even think about joining Lucifer's army, any chance of you getting back into the Kingdom will be long forgotten. The King is only allowing you one chance. Erase that mortal mind or stay on this putrid planet and walk among these disgusting creatures.”

“Trust me, I have zero intention of joining Lucifer. It’s because of him I fell into what I am now. But the thought of joining a Kingdom that banished me also isn’t quite appealing,” I scoffed and walked a few steps away from him when his next words gave me great pause.

“What if I sweeten the deal?”

Turning slowly on my feet, I held out a hand. “I doubt it but go ahead.”

Uriel pursed his lips before running a hand through his already perfect long, golden hair. “It is known that Lucifer is looking to revolt and he’s trying to find other fallen to join his army; for example, you.”

I shook my head. “I already told you, I have no interest in joining him.”

“The King can be quite lax with this upcoming war. He thinks he has enough soldiers for it but if I’m being frank, without Oblivion, we have no chance.”

Every part of my body chilled to the bone as all the breath was snatched from my lungs at hearing that name; I hadn’t heard it in so long.

“I’m not that person anymore,” I stated. “I haven’t been for a very long time.”

“If you come back to the Kingdom, you can bring him with you. But still would need to erase his memories of you.” Uriel nodded behind me.

To Noah.

“What?” I stood tall. “How would that work? He’s mortal, he wouldn’t survive in the Kingdom. Not to mention, the King would never allow it.”

That’s when something sparkled in Uriel’s eyes.

“You two will dethrone the King.”

I laughed out loud at his words. “Dethrone the King? Show up to the pearly gates so we can spit in his face?”

“Think about it,” Uriel stepped closer to me, running a hand through my short locks.

“If you accept to dethrone the King, lead the army in victory against Lucifer, you can bring the mortal with you and rule the Kingdom. However, he would have to be a mere peasant there. He cannot remember who you are. Think of him as a mere pawn for you to play with.”

I stood frozen under his touch as he twirled a strand of hair around his finger. “I’ll even return you to your old physical state. Which you should be thankful for because this one doesn’t suit you.”

The promise of not only going back home in my old form but being able to bring Noah with me made something inside of me light with the life I’d been searching for since I fell. But it wouldn’t be easy to bring a mortal into the Kingdom; there was only one way to enter.

Being an eternal being.

“I’ll think about it,” I muttered under my breath.

Uriel smiled as he removed his hand from my hair. “I suggest you do because the longer you try to hide your true form, well I don’t need to remind you of what will happen.”

No, he didn’t.

My wings will deteriorate. My powers will weaken. Slowly over time, I will lose myself in my mind.

With a scowl, I turned my back to him and finally sauntered back over towards Noah, who met me halfway, quick to pull me into his embrace.

“Everything alright?” He brushed away some stray hairs from my face.

“I need to get far away from that man,” I begged, parts of me that I didn’t want to remember coming back with force.

“Did he hurt you?” Noah’s hands were on both sides of my face, almost mute against my skin. “Are you alright?

“Please,” I grasped at his arms, digging into the material of his jacket. “Can we leave? Seeing him brought up far too many memories I’d like to forget”.

Noah nodded while wrapping an arm around my shoulder to begin leading me back down the hill, Uriel’s voice calling after us.

“I’ll be seeing you soon, Lethia!”

JOLLY

“This place is called what?”

Noah chuckled at Lethia’s upturned head at him with furrowed brows. “In-N-Out. They’ve got great burgers here.”

“Burgers?” She said slowly.

I watched as Noah explained the menu to her, what’s good and what to stay away from. Revealing that she wasn’t particular to any kind of food, he took it upon himself to order her a cheeseburger, fries, and a large chocolate milkshake.

“Oh, that milkshake sounds delicious,” Lethia mused with a bright smile.

There was a faint smile on my face as I continued to watch the two of them, Noah sliding his hand on the lower back of Lethia as they waited for their food. She had slipped on his sweater on the way down from the mountain, the sudden change in the wind causing all of us to feel a frigid chill.

After Lethia spoke to that old friend of hers, something shifted with her. Noah could tell instantly because he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, not wanting to let her more than a few inches out of her sight.

“Something doesn’t feel right about this guy,” Noah muttered to me as we watched Lethia and her friend converse.

I held him back with a grip on his elbow when he nearly stomped over there seeing Uriel run his hands through Lethia’s hair.

“Jolly,” he warned through gritted teeth.

“Just give her some time alone, like she asked. If she’s uncomfortable, she’ll let you know,” I said.

I could practically see all the worry leave Lethia’s body when Noah’s arms wrapped around her not even a minute later.

I couldn’t explain it, and frankly, I don’t think Noah could explain either how Lethia entranced him since he found her in our driveway all those weeks ago. He claimed there was this undeniable pull between them and almost as if it was fate that they kept running into each other.

There’d been this light in Noah’s eyes every time he looked at Lethia, shining brighter now knowing and witnessing they kissed. He’d become transfixed ever since that first meeting even when she had her hand wrapped around his throat. We all should have been terrified of the strength she possessed when she tackled Folio to the floor or with how tight her grip was around Noah. But if he didn’t feel harm when he was around her, the least we could do was trust her.

“What do you think?” Noah asked.

She nodded with a mouth full of food then once she swallowed, Lethia took a large gulp of her milkshake. “Delicious.”

While I ate my food, I continued to carefully watch them as the others around me had their own conversations. I didn’t miss the way when Noah muttered something in her ear, Lethia’s cheeks turned a deep crimson, like her eyes.

She had her milkshake halfway to her lips when her body stilled, a painful grimace crossing her features. Those eyes scanned the entirety of the restaurant, almost looking for someone.

“Are you alright?” Jesse questioned.

“Uh,” Lethia winced, nearly doubling over in pain when she grasped at the ends of the table.

A small gust of wind bristled by our table, tickling the back of my neck, and as I rubbed there Lethia quickly rushed to her feet.

“I need a moment,” she grumbled before rushing out of the restaurant.

Noah wanted to go after her but decided against it, knowing she needed time to herself.

“Anyone else think she does that a lot?” Michael questioned.

Noah sighed while running a hand through the long strands of his hair. “Lethia has a lot going on right now. She needs help.”

“What do you mean?” I asked while tossing my garbage on the tray in front of me.

There was slight hesitation from Noah for a long moment until he eventually divulged to us that he believes Lethia is running from an ex who wanted her back, even though he kicked her out of their house.

“Oh, right. Lucifer,” Michael snorted. “Are we sure she doesn’t have this obsession with the occult or some shit? The only Lucifer I’d heard of is the supposed devil.

Orie smacked him upside the head. “Dude, Lethia is not dating the devil.”

“She’s not dating anyone,” Noah’s eyes sliced over to him but they softened when he realized his words. “Lethia’s not dating anyone.”

“Then what do you call what’s going on between the two of you?” Jesse wondered.

“I don’t know,” Noah shrugged. “I like her but I don’t want to rush her into anything she doesn’t want.”

“From what I’ve seen, you’re not. Whatever you’re giving her, she’s reciprocating it back. Lethia feels the same, Noah. You don’t have to worry about that,” I assured him.

All he did was nod as he kept his gaze on the door of the restaurant where Lethia stormed through minutes before.

LETHIA

“Come to me, Lethia. My queen. I need you by my side to rule.”

I clawed at my ears, digging out Lucifer's voice, and continued to run into the woods behind the restaurant. My body ached with the pain of my wings nearly forcing their way out of my back. It’s been a few days since I let them out and it was beginning to crush me.

“I miss you, Lethia. I need you again.”

“Stop!” I cried while falling to my knees in the leaves and dirt, hands covering my ears.

“I’ll never stop until I have you in my presence. You are mine, Lethia. Not his.”

All but ripping Noah’s sweater off of me, I tossed it to the side just as I let out a sheer groan of agony mixed with ecstasy when my large wings exploded from my back. The force of them caused the branches of the trees around me to falter, some falling to the ground around me like drops of rain.

My jaw was slack as I peered up to the gloomy grays of the sky, an upcoming storm about to ravage through the city. All the pain I felt inside the restaurant was long forgotten, replaced with the intoxication of my angelic being. My powers began to slowly fester low inside of me and with an open palm, I watched the bright light slowly begin to grow into a baseball-sized orb then with a flick of my wrist, I sent it to a tree far off into the distance, incinerating it completely.

My body vibrated with all of my senses. I could hear the chatter of people miles away, feeling the slight creep of chills against the skin of my back when my name came out from the chatter.

“Lethia.”

Before, it was Lucifer speaking in my mind. But now, that voice that uttered my name was the same that spoke when he was kissing me last night.

My left wing came around to the front of me, blocking me from anyone who dared to venture into the woods and a broken sob fell from my chattering lips. They were deteriorating at such a rapid pace. While they were still large, dark, and caused fear to any mortal who saw them, my wings were a pathetic excuse to any other angel. A few feathers drifted into the wind, the weakness from hiding who I was taunting me.

“There she is. I knew you couldn’t hide who you were. The darkness lies inside of you, begging to awaken.”

I sucked in a gulp of air when Maraxa’s voice crept into my mind now; the cold and monotone bringing a chill to my bones.

My eyes rolled to the back of my head when a vision slammed into me.

Noah and the guys sitting in the booth of the restaurant, smiling and laughing with a group of girls that sauntered up to the table. One of the girls was standing a bit too close to Noah, as he signed something for her. When he handed it back, their fingers grazed over the girl’s. His almond eyes snapped from her hand to her face, gazing at all of her features.

“No!” I screamed while rising to my feet. “Stop. I know what you’re doing!”

“Oh, sweet Oblivion. I’m doing nothing that your mind is already thinking.”

The way Maraxa uttered my other name made me whirl around, thinking she was here with me.

“I’m not Oblivion anymore. I haven’t been for a very long time,” I spat, eyes scanning my surroundings.

“You should see yourself. Looking like a mad angel who lost her mind.”

Uriel’s warnings were right. My wings were deteriorating and now, I was losing myself in my mind. Were these voices even in my head? Or had I been imagining them since my fall?

“Lethia?!”

My head snapped up to just outside the clearing of the woods, Noah’s faint outline slowly closing the distance.

“Oh, you’re thinking of letting him see you in your true form. Surely, he will think you’re even more of a freak than how you look. He wouldn’t understand.”

Meraxa.

The voices wouldn’t stop, no matter how hard I smacked my ears to drown them out.

“This mortal will never understand you. You’re mine, Lethia. Mine and no one else's. I will have you in my arms once again.”

Lucifer.

“Stop,” I cried while falling to my knees again, my wings wrapping around me in a protective barrier.

“Dethrone the King and all of his kingdom will be yours.”

Uriel.

“Lethia? Are you okay?”

Noah.

Snapping my eyes open, they landed on Noah who was now a few feet away from me. With a roll of my shoulders, I stood to my feet, appearing just as I had moments before leaving his presence.

NOAH

“Lethia, are you alright?” I questioned as she appeared through the clearing of the woods.

I felt Lethia brush past me as she walked back toward the car, not uttering a word at me. My heart sank slightly but I did my best not to dwell on it because of our moments together in my bedroom and the bathroom last night. The unbridled passion between us was burning over into undeniable attraction.

With a sigh, I tied my hair into a low bun, ready to go back home after this long day, but a flutter of movement at my feet caught my attention. It was a lone black feather, just like the one I'd found that first night Lethia appeared in my life.

Bending at the knees, I reached for the feather, and then with a gasp of breath, I felt my vision being yanked away from me at the edges, darkness encompassing every part of me. I felt my soul being dragged away into another dimension, tumbling into a brighter vision of pure peace and eternal life.

A woman with white golden hair stood in front of me, even brighter wings protruding from her back, as she held onto less fragile wings from the man who kneeled at her feet.

"Oblivion," he cried. "Don't fall into the true meaning of your name, please."

The woman; no angel cocked her head to the side with a slight wicked smile.

"The King bestowed this name to me for a reason," was all she said before the man's cries of death and pain erupted but were overshadowed by the sounds of his wings being ripped from his back.

With a gasp of breath, I was dragged back into the present, nearly stumbling onto my ass. Looking around my surroundings, I noticed I was back in Los Angeles, Jolly and Jesse slowly walking towards me.

"You alright?" Jolly wondered.

Ignoring him, I twirled the feather in my fingers and locked eyes with Lethia, who gave nothing away from her face except the slight flicker of light in her red eyes.

This vision didn’t feel like it was one of my own memories. It was as if I was dragged into someone else subconscious as I watched from the outside looking in. Something about watching the angel get his wings ripped away from him felt wrong, especially with the wicked smirk the female angel had on her face when she did it.

I couldn’t ignore the way my mind vibrated with the familiarity of her. I knew who she was but she didn’t look familiar. Her presence was the only familiar thing about her and with a flick of my gaze to Lethia, there was a small part of me that knew who it was.

With a sigh, I carefully pocketed the feather in my coat pocket and nodded over to Jesse who asked if I was ready to head back to the house. When I climbed into the car, I noticed that Michael and Jolly sat in the back with Lethia, so I retreated into the front seat of the car, while Jesse lounged in the middle with Harper.

“Everything alright?” Orie asked as he pulled the car out onto the main road.

Glancing over my shoulder, I watched Lethia for a few beats as she stared straight out of her window, not bothering to meet my gaze. I knew she could feel it burning into her but whatever happened to her outside in those woods rendered her speechless.

“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully before turning back to face forward with a sigh.

As soon as we arrived back at the house, Lethia nearly jumped out of the car to run inside once Jolly opened the door for her. She locked herself away in my bedroom for the rest of the afternoon well into the evening. Part of me wanted to check on her if she was alright but it was clear she wanted to be left alone. If she needed me, she would let me know.

Would she?

With a shake of my head at the thought, I bid a goodnight to Jesse and Michael as we watched a movie together in the living room and slowly retreated up the steps to my room. The door opened a crack but before I pushed my way through, I noticed Lethia standing in the middle of my room in front of my mirror. She was only wearing a pair of black panties and a matching bra. I knew I should have averted my gaze to anything else but I was mesmerized by her.

Lethia showed me her back, hands slinking up her spine towards the hook of her bra, the material falling to the floor at her feet. My breath caught in my throat when I noticed the large crow tattoo on her right shoulder blade. But it wasn’t just the sight of it that gave me great pause; it was the large upside-down V scar on her back. It wasn’t an old scar. It looked new; fresh.

“What the?” I muttered, slowly pushing away from the door to stand in the middle of the landing above the stairs.

With a glance over the landing, I noticed that Jesse and Michael were still sitting on the couch, and knowing Jolly and Orie retreated to bed earlier, the computer in the studio was free. As I came back downstairs to head into the studio that was off the den, Jesse raised a brow at me.

“I thought you went to bed?”

I motioned to the room in front of me. “Late-night inspiration.”

Shutting the door behind me, I dropped down into the chair in front of the computer with my fingers hovering over the keyboard. My mind was full of different words, I wasn’t sure where to start.

Black feathers.

Vivid dreams.

Crows in dreams.

Upside-down V scars on a person's back.

Angels.

Fallen Angels.

The last one made me freeze ever so still, a memory of my own past creeping into the front recesses of my mind.

“Noah, dear! Come on. It’s time for your bedtime story!”

Eight-year-old me ran down the long hallway of my grandparent's house into my bedroom there and hopped into my bed, where my grandma sat on the edge with a fond smile.

“Lord of the Rings?” I asked while climbing under the blankets.

She chuckled while tucking me in. “Now, what did I say about those books? Aren’t you a little too young for them?”

I rolled my eyes. “Ok grandma, what’s the story tonight?”

“Fallen angels.”

“Like from heaven?” I asked with furrowed brows.

“Now I won't bore you with all the details but there’s something special about them,” my grandma began while patting my thigh over the blanket. “When an angel falls from heaven, people think they’re automatically stripped of all their powers but sometimes that's not the case.”

She continued. “There’s this story of a great angel that fell, her feathers scattered all over the world. Whenever a human touched them, they would be sucked into memories of the angel.”

I gave my grandma a “you can’t be serious” look but she only cupped my cheek in response.

“No one believed that angels walked among us until someone saw the scars on the back of one.”

“Scars?” I said, sitting up straighter in bed.

“Large ones on their back. In an upside-down V.”

I choked on a breath nearly falling out of the computer chair but gripped the handrests to keep myself steady. When I was eight years old, I figured my grandma was blowing smoke out of her ass, telling another one of her many stories. But now, everything seemed to have a bit of truth.

Biting my bottom lip, I clicked on Google and quickly typed the words into the search bar before I doubted myself a second longer.

Fallen Angel.

I clicked on the first website.

“Fallen Angels are angels who have been exiled or banished from Heaven. Often such banishment is a punishment for disobeying or rebelling against their King,” I read the words out loud.

I scrolled down the page a bit farther, still muttering the words out loud as I read them.

“If a fallen angel is impaled or struck in the scars created when his or her wings were ripped out usually spanning from shoulder blades to kidney area, he or she will be temporarily immobilized. Some angels still have scars even if they haven’t lost their wings. It’s easier for the skin to peel away for the wings to slip from.”

I shivered at the phantom feeling but then froze when I read the next section.

“A fallen angel is unable to feel physical pain or sensations.”

Scrolling down a bit farther, it was then that I realized how right I’d been about this feeling festering within me; almost begging to be let out.

“A fallen angel's feather holds a lot of power. It holds the memories of the angel and whoever touches them can find themselves in those memories. A fallen angel's biggest weakness is one of their feathers. If a feather is burned, the original owner of the feather will be chained in Hell for eternity. Otherwise, fallen angels are nearly as indestructible as Angels and Archangels.”

I fell back into the chair and rubbed a hand over my mouth, letting everything I read process in my mind. Everything correlated to what I’ve noticed with Lethia especially the part of her not being able to feel anything.

There’d been a few times when it seemed like my touch meant nothing to her. But when we kissed, it seemed as if she could feel that.

The feathers.

Even though I tried to deny what I’d seen when I picked up the feather today, I knew that it was true what I’d seen.

But how come I hadn’t seen anything when I picked up the first feather?

Hunching back over towards the computer screen, I read more into the section about fallen angel feathers.

“The more fallen angel feathers you touch, the stronger your connection to their memories is.”

With a purse of my lips, I rummaged around the desk looking for my lyric book where I had stashed the first feather, using it as a bookmark. The other feather was still in my pocket, weighing heavily with the fear of what I would see next. My heart was pounding so loud I could hear it in my ears and feel it in my throat. It was suffocating, this feeling clawing its way inside of me, threatening to pull me under.

Did I want to do this?

Was I ready for what I could potentially see?

Granted, I had to take everything I read online with a grain of salt because it could have been a bunch of made-up bullshit. But with it correlating to not only my grandma’s story but things I’ve noticed about Lethia, there had to be some truth to it all.

“Fuck it,” I muttered while grabbing the feather in my lyric notebook at the same time I grabbed the one in my pocket.

Darkness lingered at the corners of not only my vision but my mind as well. It dragged me under with no warning to the dark depths of what I could only assume was Lethia’s mind.

My body landed with a thud to the cool wetness of the grass below me and quickly scrambling to my knees, I took in the vast empty field that went on for miles. Brightly colored trees lined the edge of the field and it was so quiet here that I could hear my blood running through my veins.

“My love. I've been waiting for you.”

Whirling around on my heels, I took in the sight of a tall man with skinny but large white wings extended from his back. His black hair was a mess of curls in front of his eyes and the dark levis hung low on his hips. The sheer brightness of his green eyes was almost eerie and I felt as if he could see straight into my soul.

But he didn’t. It was as if he didn’t see me when he walked past me, over towards a lone figure lying in the grass a few meters away from me.

Long golden, almost white, strands of hair fell around her shoulders as she sat up, bright eyes staring back at the man who was slowly closing the distance. I swallowed thickly when I recognized that face.

It wasn’t the way I knew her but it was still her.

Lethia.

“Lucifer. You know you’re not supposed to be here,” she quickly rose to her feet, taking a step back from him.

He stood in front of her shirtless, the defining muscles of his chest and stomach tightening as he stuffed his hands deep into his pockets.

So her ex actually was Lucifer.

What the fuck did you just step into, Noah?

“I snuck away from the King for a moment. I needed to see you,” Lucifer tried to reach for her.

Lethia smacked his hands away before running a shaking one of hers through her long hair. I then noticed she also had her wings exposed; large and as white as her hair.

“We cannot be seen together! If the King finds out we’ve been together, he will banish us; or worse.”

Lucifer chuckled darkly then pulled Lethia into his arms; her going willingly.

I gritted my teeth at the jealousy that coursed through me, trying to tell myself that it was a very long time ago and it didn’t mean anything; not anymore.

“My sweet Oblivion. The King wouldn’t banish his number one soldier. If he lost you, who would tear out the wings of the ones who went against him?”

My blood ran cold at Lucifer's words. I knew that the first memory I saw had something to do with Lethia but I never put two and two together. She was the one who ripped out the angel's wings.

“I did horrible things back home and how could I ever be allowed back?

Her words from the last night made more sense now than they did when she first uttered them.

“I cannot,” Lethia tried to fight against his grasp but ultimately gave in.

“One more night. After tonight, I’ll let you be,” Lucifer’s fingers linked behind her neck, tilting her lips up towards him.

“We both know we cannot stay away from each other,” she uttered before pulling him down to the grass with him.

My eyes snapped open with a gulp of air and I gazed around the room of my studio, making sure that I was still alone. It took me some time to get my breath back to normal and my heart back to a steady pace.

I slammed both of the feathers in my lyric book and hid it in the far back of the closet in the room, hoping no one else would find it. Those feathers held too much power and if I lost them, the looming fear of what could happen taunted me.

“If an angel's feather is burned, they become changed to Hell for all eternity,” I reiterated the words I read earlier.

Whether or not that part was true, I couldn’t risk it.

Letting out a long breath, I shut down the computer and slowly slipped out of the studio, going upstairs to my bedroom unnoticed by Jesse and Michael who were still watching the movie. This time when I stopped in front of my room, I noticed the door was shut so I was quiet as I stepped inside, finding a sleeping Lethia cuddled under the mounds of blankets on my bed.

I stood there for a long moment, staring at her back as it faced me, wondering what the scars looked like again underneath her shirt.

My shirt.

I had offered her to wear anything of mine and it seemed like she took me up on that offer.

It was clear who she was running from. Lucifer. He wanted her back for reasons unknown to me but it was clear she didn’t want to go with him.

I moved around my room quietly to change into a pair of sweats, opting not to sleep in a shirt only because it got extremely hot in my room during these summer nights, even with the air conditioner on.

Softly, I got into bed behind Lethia as the faint breaths coming from her filled the air. For the first while, I laid on my back and stared up at my ceiling but when I noticed she didn’t move away, I turned to my side but still kept space between us. The heat from her body radiated around me, pulling me into her aura and I found myself never wanting to leave.

Even though I knew what she was now, I wouldn’t tell Lethia I knew. This was something she needed to tell me when she was ready.

Instead, I wrapped my arm around her midsection and pulled her into my chest. Although she might not be able to feel my touch, that didn’t stop me from running my nose along the crook of her neck, breathing in the scent of her. She must have showered because she smelled of peaches and a hint of something familiar.

Me.

I faintly smelled my shampoo in her skin and I hummed in pleasure.

“What happened to the wall of pillows?” Lethia’s tired voice broke through the silence.

I knew she was teasing when I heard her smile with her words.

“This is much better than a wall of pillows,” I mused while I caressed her neck with my lips.

Lethia relaxed in my arms as she gave herself over to me and linked my fingers that rested on her stomach with hers and I wrapped my leg over hers, locking her in place.

“Goodnight, Noah,” she murmured into the pillow.

“Sweet dreams, Lethia,” I pressed a kiss to her head, finally letting the long day falter away with the darkness that swallowed us whole.

#noah sebastian #bad omens #noah sebastian fanfiction #noah sebastian smut #noah sebastian angst #noah sebastian x fallenangel!oc #mercy noah sebastian

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luvv4j4ybe11 · 6 months

Note

Hear me out

Reader who came from earth to pandora because she had a hard life there (fighting in the army from a young age etc) and she always looks tough but one day she bursts into tears in front of neteyam since he's the only one she trusts

She doesn't know what it feels like to be loved or cared for, her parents abandoned her or died when she was little but neteyam is there to hold her :),

YES YES OML I love this idea sm, madi pookie! Hearing you out all the way😝

Warnings: angst with fluff, cursing, angst without plot(kinda?) and I think that’s it. lmk if I missed anything, and enjoy, my love<3

This idea is so “Jonny” and “Stay ready” coded so we’re gonna listen to this while we read!

You knew today was gonna be a rough day, based on the heavy feeling you felt weighing down on your whole body, but you didn’t know it’d be this bad.

With you, crying in your bestfriends lap with your arms wrapped around him tightly while he whispered soft, reassuring words to you to calm your sobs, but they js made it worse.

How could he still be so caring? Even when you were crying pathetically in front of him?

The more those thoughts swelled in your head, the more tears burned in your eyes, threatening to flow over your tear stained cheeks. Neteyam felt horrible, he knew you were hurting, but he didn’t know it was this bad. All he could do was rub gentle patterns on your back while whispering gentle words into your ear, occasionally kissing your temple and forehead to sooth you.

Once your sobs finally soften, you unwrap you arms from his strong frame, sitting up and wiping your face free of tears. He doesn’t say anything, just looking at you with the most precious smile as he takes in your breathtaking features. Even when you were crying you still managed to be so beautiful.

“I’m sorry, that was-“ you started, but you were quickly cut off by the firm grip on your wrist, “don’t. It’s ok, babygirl, I promise. You never have to apologize to me when it comes to what you need.” He says simply, the words made you smile as tears of happiness flowed from your face, instinctively making neteyam reach over to wipe your face free of the tears.

You let out a small ‘thank you’ before glancing to his lips, then back to his eyes, now suddenly becoming away of how close you two are. And how he didn’t move his hand away from you face, instead he placed it so he was cupping the side of it.

It felt as if everything on pandora was pulling you into his comforting embrace, telling you to just let it happen, to let your guard down. His thumb brushes your bottom lip softly, glancing from your lips to your eyes before looking at you directly, “can I kiss you, yawntu? {beloved}” It was quiet, only ment for your ears to hear. You nod your head “yes” at the question, your whole body internally shaking with excitement as he leans in and presses his lips against yours.

The kiss is slow, yet passionate. You hum softly into the kiss, instinctively pressing your body closer against his to feel more of him against you. He does the same, wrapping his strong arms to pull you closer to him, but still being careful to not hurt you.

Your hands tangle in his hair, tugging slightly when you feel him squeeze the flesh of your waist. It goes on like this for what feels like forever, you never knew that a single kiss could leave you so happy and euphoric, yet here you are.

Reluctantly, you both pull away, both of you panting heavily as you try to catch your breath.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since the moment I’ve met you,”

“I’m glad the feeling was mutual then.”

A/N~ WAHH this was such a cute idea! I loved writing this sm<3 madi ilysm btw😝💕

Taglist~ @tallulah477 , @hotdsworld , @plooto , @blue-slxt , @itchaboi-itchyboy , @xylianasblog , @professional-yapper , @etherial-moon-blog , @rivatar , @aperiraa

(If you’d like to be added to or removed from my general taglist, lmk by commenting on this post or DMing me! And if your @ isn’t working, please check your settings💕)

#༄❤︎︎𝐣𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬❤︎︎༄#༄❤︎︎𝐣𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬❤︎︎༄#★𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬<𝟑★#avatar #luvv4j4ybe11 #atwow #avatar the way of water #neteyam te suli tsyeyk'itan #neteyam fluff #neteyam fanfic #neteyam imagine #neteyam x omatikaya!reader #neteyam x human!reader #neteyam x you #neteyam x reader fluff

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gothicflowers · 7 months

Text

Alex Keller X GN!Reader

Field of Flowers

Warnings: Fluff.

“We’ve been inseparable for almost eight years. For some reason I just assumed I’d always have you around. I don’t wanna face that reality but I have to now. Saying goodbye completely ends the story.”

“New chapters mean you get to keep on writing the story. Why would it make you scared?”

“I’m terrified honestly. I want a life outside of all this, to be able to lay in a field of flowers and rest.” Motioning to your ballistics vest and the gun on his hip. “But ive been doing this for so long it’s almost like I have to completely hit reset on my life. I can’t tell anybody about any of this. About what I’ve done, the places I’ve seen. Hell, I can’t even tell them about you. It all dies with me.”

Over all these years with Alex you never told him your feelings. Too afraid to lose the only person who’s stuck by your side. Every mission, every wound, every sunrise and sunset he was with you. Learning to live without him was going to be hard. It was going to be even harder trying to start the life you envisioned without him.

Alex leaned against the hummer next to you trying to find the words to say. He hated that you were leaving. But he couldn’t ask you to stay with him. Not when he just abandoned the CIA for farahs army. But he loves you too much to tell you his feelings. He wants you to be happy, not to go to bed wondering if he’s ok or when he’ll return to you.

“I hope you find peace and get everything you want out of this lifetime. You deserve it.” His words felt heavy leaving his chest. “How about instead of goodbye, I’ll see you around.”

Tears welled up in your eyes. Biting your lip to try and stop a choked sob from leaving your lips. Nodding and looking at the sunset. “I’ll see you around Alex.” You look up at him, just as pretty as the day you first met. Only couple more scars and some lines around his eyes changed him. His eyes still sparkled when they looked into yours. A single tear falls down from your eyes taking in the sight of the man you’ll never see again.

His hand comes to rest on the nape of your neck as the other wipes away the single tear. Pressing a kiss to your forehead he takes in this final moment. His forehead rests against yours knowing he has to let go now or he won’t let you go. “I’ll see you around.”

And he’s gone. Gone from your life. You’re left watching the sun disappear over the mountains wondering why it is to be like this.

It’s been a little over three years since that day. You opened up that company you always told Alex about. Got a car and even purchased a home. Everything on paper looked like you had become quite successful. Your family was excited to have you home. But with all good things considered it didn’t feel how you thought it would.

The house was quiet. Making friends in your late twenties proved to be difficult. And every date you went on couldn’t compare to the man you left in a war zone. You thought about him often. Was he doing well? Was he making sure to eat enough? Was there someone that could cut his hair as well as you could? And the scariest thought, was he still alive?

Your dreams were fleeting with memories of your time together and the battles fought. Often times waking you in the night too scared to fall back asleep. Even though you were happy to be away from it all you still thought about it, if you hadn’t left. Stayed and told him that you loved him. Or should you have just told him before you left. At least then you’d have had an answer of some sort. Never to be left wondering like you still do. The waves of regret consumed you from time to time.

Today was a slow day, as most Mondays are for your company so it was just you today. You sat behind your computer finishing up this months paperwork. The front door bell chimed upon someone entering. Since it was just you, you headed to the front to greet the customer.

“Hello, how can I-“ you stopped dead in your tracks in disbelief when your eyes noticed the man standing there. Soft eyes, strong arms, and a smile like no other.

“Hi” he could barely make out that single word. Just seeing you took the breath out of his lungs. “I said I’ll see you later, not goodbye.” His mustache covered lips turned up into a smirk.

You run up to him wrapping your arms around his neck in a hug. His warm embrace welcoming you into his arms. His arms wrapped around you felt more like home than anything has the past three years.

“I can’t believe you’re here” your hands cup his face, thumbs caressing his cheeks “What are you doing here?”

“Laswell got my name cleared, thought about lying in a field of flowers like you said.” His arms still wrapped around you not wanting to let go. “And there was something I didn’t tell you before you left, I’m hoping I’m not too late.”

“What didn’t you tell me.” Your arms unraveled and your hands rest on his strong chest. You could feel his heart beating fast.

Taking a deep breath he looks deep into you. “That I’ve been in love with you since the moment I met you.”

Your voice weakened with the joy of hearing his confession. “I wanted to tell you I loved you before I left but I was scared you didn’t love me back.”

Alex looked down at you with a look you had seen glimpses of but never fully. It was love, joy, excitement and more passion than anyone had ever looked at you with in your lifetime.

Without words you both embraced in a passionate kiss making up for all the lost years. His hands pulling your hips into him closer desperately wanting to keep you close. Your hands traveling from his chest to his neck. Clinging to each other fearing separation. After what felt like eternity your lips departed one another.

“So since the moment you met me?” How could you have not seen? Was that truly what all those intense moments of eye contact meant? The fighting over each other going into something far too dangerous. Love?

His bright goofy smile was uncontrollable “Yeah”

You couldn’t help but laugh recalling that exact moment in time. “Alex I had a gun to your head because Laswell didn’t tell me I was gonna have a partner that mission. I was seconds away from killing you”

“Can’t lie it was definitely intimidating, but oddly attractive.” He smirked knowing it was the honest truth.

You give his chest a light hit at his comment “Shut up and kiss me again.”

“Yes ma’am.”

#call of duty #alex keller #cod #cod alex keller #alex keller imagine #alex keller call of duty #alex keller x reader #alex keller x y/n #alex keller x you #cod x you #flowerwrites #call of duty x reader #call of duty x y/n #call of duty x you #john price #captain john price #simon ghost riley smut #soap mactavish

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newtonsheffield · 8 months

Note

Long timer reader, first time commenter. Thank you so much for the joy and content you give us daily. I can’t tell you how many times an update or a snippet on your blog has brightened my day!

Now tell me why, out of all your AUs (and I’ve read and loved them all) that bodyguard Anthony has me in a chokehold 🫠 I’d love to see more of this story!

Hello! Hello!

I have no idea but I can’t stop imagining Anthony, in a complete suit, sat on the sand at a beach in the south of France watching Kate in the water. He tells himself not to look at her. He’s her head of security. He served in the army, he’s a heavily decorated veteran. Not to mention the fact that The King would most probably have him strung from the bloody gate of the palace if he knew that Anthony was sat here watching the crown princess with water running down her body as she walked out of the water towards him.

“Anthony.”

He blinked up at her, trying to stop his eyes from following the bead of water currently slipping further down her neck, and onto her chest, “Sorry, your highness?”

Kate’s lips quirked, and her eyes danced, “You’re on my towel, can I have it?”

Anthony hates that he knows he’ll follow her back to her room. There’s no one here but the two of them. She’s convinced her father, Papa, that she didn’t need anything more than Anthony when she went away for the weekend.

The king had sighed, scratching his beard, “Kate, perhaps Anthony doesn’t want to go to France. Perhaps he’d like a rest, rather than being on call around the clock.”

Anthony had stood quietly in the corner of the drawing room. It wasn’t his place to say anything, and he was worried if he had said anything it would give away just how eager he was to be completely alone in a villa with the King’s daughter.

“Anthony wouldn’t mind, Papa.” Kate cleared her throat, turning to him, “Would you, Anthony? It’s just so much easier to travel alone and I wouldn’t bother you at night. Those would be your own.”

He’d tried to appear disinterested, he’d barely glanced at her, “Of course not, your highness. I’m always happy to serve.”

There’s no one there to see them now. No one there to see that the bed that had been meant for him hadn’t been slept in. He still walked three steps behind her on the way back from the beach, her beach bag hung over his shoulder.

“I’m going to take a shower.”

He nodded, “Of course.”

Kate tilted her head, “You look warm in that suit.”

He cleared his throat, “I’m fine, thank you.”

She chuckled, “Why are you wearing it here? No one’s going to know. I’m not going to tell on you, I’d be in rather a lot of trouble as well.”

He rolled his eyes, “Yes, I’m sure The King would be just as cross at you.”

“Let me worry about Papa.” She reached up and untied her bikini top and Anthony felt himself moan, his knees going weak.

“Kate-” Her name tasted perfect on his tongue, more beautiful for how little he got to use it.

Her lips tilted in a satisfied smirk as she slid her bottoms down, “I said: you looked awfully warm in that suit, Anthony. You should have a shower as well.”

And his hands had tugged her legs around his waist before he knew what was happening, the water of the shower clinging to his suit as he stepped inside.

#bodyguard au #kathony #anthony x kate #kate sharma #kate sheffield #anthony bridgerton #molly’s asks and answers

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king-bumis-armpit · 5 months

Text

Separation Anxiety

Written for Maiko Week 2024 - Separation

Summary: Mai takes Izumi to her family’s reunion, and Zuko stays home. It's a horrible time for both of them.

Author’s Note: I really thought I was going to stick to the prompt this time, but then the first part sort of got away from me. And I really had to hold back because my inner Kataang was about to unleash. I was about to write a whole mini-fic about them inside of this one, but I exercised restraint. I did not however exercise restraint on my thoughts about Mai’s upbringing. As a result, this is way longer than I intended. Oh well… I hope you enjoy! :)

TW: Anxiety about being parents and misogyny from Mai’s family members. I made Michi kind of awful. But there’s a happy ending, I promise!

WC: 4,276

Zuko took a deep breath and stared at his large empty bed. It had been a long while since he had to sleep alone. He sat down slowly, as if the bed might vanish at the last second before he made contact. He leaned back and tried to get comfortable, but he ended up tossing and turning until his memories overtook him.

— —

When he and Mai were newlyweds, they agreed never to spend more than a week apart at a time. Sometimes the obligations of royalty made this vow difficult to keep, but they had managed. In fact, Zuko had been in Yu Dao when Mai found out that she was pregnant. They had been trying for some time, so Mai was ecstatic when she told him.

Her excitement was contagious, but anxiety quickly infected him as well. He couldn’t stop thinking about what could have happened to her while he was away. What if she had fallen ill? Or what if an Ozai loyalist cell re-emerged and attacked her? Thankfully, most of the organized movements had died down after Azula had willingly turned herself in. But that was another consideration, what if Azula tried to get revenge on Mai while he was gone? He knew that Mai was more than capable of protecting herself, and normally that was enough to allay his fears, but the new worry for their child fractured his restraint.

Zuko doubled Mai’s guard and silently promised himself to stay by her side for the rest of her pregnancy. He knew that his actions would probably annoy his wife, but surprisingly she was not the first to complain.

“Zuko, she’s pregnant, not helpless,” his mother chided him. She had cornered him in one of the hallways about a week after his return from Yu Dao. “There are always going to be circumstances beyond your control, but Mai is fully competent to go about her daily life without a small army. You need to give her space to breathe. Give your baby space to grow.”

Zuko relented and recalled the extra guards he had assigned, but then he added a pair of covert guards to keep watch without being stifling. For her part, Mai found the incident somewhat amusing.

As they ate dinner together, she commented on the change: “Yesterday, I had a whole coterie. Today all I get are a few extra shadows.”

Zuko sighed. “Mom told me I was being overbearing. But I’m worried about you. What if something happens? You’re my whole world Mai.”

Mai turned red. “I’m impressed that anything you say can still make me blush after you impregnated me, but here we are.” Zuko chuckled, and Mai continued, “Normally I wouldn’t be cool with extra guards out of nowhere. I’m your wife and your equal, so I would like to be included in the conversation the next time you think about changing up my security detail.”

She gave him a pointed look, and Zuko took her hand. “I’m sorry. I should have asked you first. We can ditch the elite guards if you want.

Mai’s eyes softened and she brought his hand to her cheek. “No, it’s okay. I’m not angry this time, I just want you to talk to me about things like this in the future.” She kissed his palm and set their hands on the table.

Zuko smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I didn’t want to upset you. I’ve never seen you so happy. And I’m happy too! I’m just…”

“Zuko, I’m scared too. I really want this baby to come out healthy. I’ve been carrying this list of foods I can’t have anymore, and I read it at least five times before I eat anything,” she admitted sheepishly. Mai produced said scroll from one of her dart holsters of all places. Zuko felt himself fall even more in love. The whole thing was just so Mai.

After that conversation, the pair discussed their concerns much more openly. In the worst moments, they both feared that they would take on the worst qualities of their parents. Zuko started to feel phantom pains in his scar that hadn’t plagued him since he was a teenager. They made pact after pact to hold each other accountable and to love the baby no matter what and to keep them safe.

But even talking about their fears in the open helped to lift the burden. The anxiety didn’t dissipate, but it became easier to bear. Zuko loved talking to Mai’s bump when she began to show. Mai teased him for being silly, but he knew she secretly loved it. They redecorated the palace nursery to be less austere and more inviting. And Aang and Katara often visited with their son Bumi.

When Mai went into labor, Katara helped her through the whole process until Princess Izumi had safely arrived. Aang was on babysitting duty. Not for Bumi, who Aang considered to be his full time sidekick, but for Zuko, who could only watch his wife’s agony for so long until he needed a dad to dad pep talk.

Thankfully, Zuko managed to collect himself in time to meet his baby girl in her first moments. Mai had suggested the name Izumi, and Zuko immediately knew that it was right when he saw her tiny red face. She captivated his heart from her first breath and– after a brief embrace from Mai– Zuko was the first person to truly hold her. When the nurses took her for her health check, Zuko almost refused. Looking at her perfect little face, he realized that he could never become his father. He swore to himself on that day to always be by her side when she needed him.

— —

Zuko gave up on trying to sleep and began to pace in his room. Without Mai, his bed was too cold and too big. Michi, his mother in-law, had insisted that she and Izumi attend her family reunion. Zuko had been invited, but his advisors had already scheduled the large annual conference of the provincial governors for the same weekend. He didn’t want to sabotage Mai’s opportunity to see her family, but he had desperately wanted her to stay.

And little Izumi was only four. Would she be sad when he wasn’t there to wake up with her at sunrise as he had been for the past four years? Since his job and his nature as fire-bender necessitated early mornings, when Izzy was a baby they decided that Mai would be in charge of bed time and night-time feedings and Zuko would take over in the wee hours of the morning. This arrangement worked surprisingly well, and continued long after Izzy started eating solid food. Zuko loved that he always had a few hours with his daughter. In the early days, he had a crib installed in his office so he could get a start on the his work after she fell back asleep. Now she was big enough to run through his forms with him. Zuko didn’t want to put any pressure on her to be bender or not, so he would alternate between Firebending forms and other martial arts. Would she practice them without him? She didn’t have any of them committed to memory but she would often try to show off to Mai with gusto. He smiled at the thought.

But he quickly frowned again, knowing he wouldn’t be there to see. “Ugh!” he grabbed his hair and berated himself: “Don’t be such a coward! You’ve slept on the road with nothing but a stolen ostrich horse. You can handle two nights with them.”

He walked over to Mai’s vanity and sat. He picked up a book that she recently finished reading and thumbed through the pages. Then, he picked up her jar of perfume and sprayed it experimentally. He inhaled her signature scent and sighed.

Truthfully, he was worried about her well-being away from him too. He wasn’t arrogant enough to assume that she couldn’t go-on without his presence for a few measly days, but he knew how her mother and grandparents could be. Even when she was little, he recalled how Michi would nitpick at her posture or her expression or her word choice. He was ashamed that it took him so long to realize just how conditional her parental affection was.

In retrospect, it made sense why she loved her uncle just as much as he loved his. When he first met the Warden of the Boiling Rock, he didn’t quite see the appeal. The man was terrifying and brutish and he had a nasty power-complex. But it all fit into place when he saw them together at the wedding. Michi had been chiding Mai for getting her wedding slippers dusty during their first dance, and Zuko was about to ask her to leave. He couldn’t believe that she chose that moment to undercut her daughter, but the Warden stepped in. “Oh knock it off! This is her palace, not a prison yard. How about you go get a drink while I dance with my niece.” And just like that, Mai’s super traditional and stuck-up uncle led her in the camelephant strut. They were both a bit clumsy, especially Mai since her robes were constantly in the way, but their rare and radiant smiles made the moment perfect.

Aunt Mura was another advocate for Mai, but her support was more quiet and diplomatic. A hand on the shoulder here, and words of encouragement there. Mura was so much more gentle and less acerbic than Michi, that it was easy to forget that she had been raised with the same unfair expectations. She approached her sister with more empathy than Zuko was willing to extend.

Zuko hoped that the pair of them would keep Michi in line. Unfortunately, from his limited contact he knew that Mai’s grandparents might also pose a problem. He had a sudden and unpleasant vision of Mai’s grandmother and Michi making comments about Izumi’s behavior. He gritted his teeth. He knew Mai wouldn’t stand for it, but it set him on edge.

Mai had really come into her own as a Fire Lady. She was always very calm in a crisis, but she spoke passionately about the issues that moved her. She would let her excitement show when her projects came to fruition. She learned how to be vulnerable in order to build trust with their citizens.

His biggest fear was that she would return, and, after their separation, some of that precious progress would be undone. And that Izumi’s light would shine a little dimmer in turn.

He stood from the vanity and shook his head, as if he could dislodge the poisonous thoughts. Normally when something caused him to worry, he would talk about it with his wife. Now he was at a loss. Maybe a nice walk in the cool night air would clear his mind. He could visit Druk in the stables. He muttered to himself as he made his way, “She’s an adult. She doesn’t need you breathing down her neck.”

— —

Mai was on the verge of tears. She needed Zuko desperately.

They had left early that morning in an airship for the Southern region of the Fire Nation where her grandparents lived, and Mai was cautiously optimistic. Since she woke up so early, Izzy slept for the two hours of travel time to the house. It was a lovely opportunity to talk to Tom-Tom, who– at the age of 17– was often busy with school these days.

But everything changed when they landed. Her grandparents greeted her formally, but more warmly than they ever had. And she soon discovered why: this was her first visit to their hometown as the Fire Lady. When she entered their home, she was dismayed to find a throne and a receiving line! Thankfully, Tom-Tom offered to watch Izumi and get her some food, while Mai was forced to meet the Mayor and all of her grandparents' friends. After an hour of accepting well-wishes, backhanded compliments, and personal requests, he uncle arrived. He walked up to her confidently and insisted that she and Izumi take tea with him and Mura. Apparently being the Warden of the Boiling Rock gave him the authority to terminate her indentured servitude.

Tea was a brief affair. However she re-entered the gaggle of distant relatives and vaguely important people with her uncle on her arm, and Tom-Tom again stepped in to watch Izumi as she played with the other children. Mai loved her little brother to bits, but this experience made her appreciate him all the more. She was thirteen when he was born, so she felt fiercely protective of him when he was little. And he was thirteen when Izzy was born, and she could see him return all of that love and shower it on her. The thought made her emotional.

Dinner came late, well past Izumi’s normal bedtime, but it was a blessedly private affair. Her grandparents; her mother, aunt, and uncle; and herself, Tom-Tom, and Izumi. Oh, and the Mayor, but he spent a significant portion of the night wooing Aunt Mura so he was easy enough to tune out. Uncle showed Izzy magic tricks with his napkin, and Mai smiled. She had nearly forgotten how he used to do the same for her. He would have been a good father if he hadn’t chosen such a demanding profession. She regretted that she had only seen him a handful of times since her wedding.

Mai’s grandparents kept her in conversation. To her surprise, they praised Zuko and his reforms highly. At first she was pleased, but then her mood began to sour.

“I don’t know how you pulled a match like that. You were always so sullen as a girl,” her grandfather remarked.

Mai felt her mother’s keen stare and tried to laugh it off. “Well… he always said he liked how I hated the world.”

Her grandfather frowned and she worried she misspoke, but her grandmother interjected, “Oh happiness is overrated. True contentment comes with status. You did well to act in a manner pleasing to him.”

Mai felt her stomach turn. She never acted differently for Zuko. He challenged her preconceived notions sometimes and helped her see different points of view, but she didn’t blindly follow him like an animal. Was that how she appeared? Izumi wasn’t hearing this was she? She looked at her daughter, but, no, Uncle was telling her a story about a prison riot. Somehow, that was probably a healthier message for her impressionable child.

Michi joined the conversation, “Oh mother, it’s all thanks to you! I took your advice and got her into the palace early. Her friendship with Princess Azula was most beneficial. She was the natural choice to be Zuko’s consort.”

Mai felt suddenly nauseous. Her friendship with Azula was strained in a lot of ways, but it was built on a genuine foundation. They had both loved sparring as girls, along with Ty Lee of course. They would sneak from the stuffy functions her mother dragged her to. Michi couldn’t take credit for any of that, and she certainly couldn't take credit for her love with Zuko.

Mai gripped the edge of the table, prepared to tell her off. “Actually!” she began confidently, and all of the eyes in the room turned toward her. Apparently her Uncle had finished his story and Mura had politely rebuffed the Mayor. But it was the full and undivided attention of her grandparents that got to her. She remembered why silence and falsity were her friends. Mai quickly thought of an excuse for her outburst. “Zuko wanted me to tell you how sorry he is that he couldn’t make it. He sends his love.”

“Darling, told us that before.” her grandmother replied. “He is the Fire Lord, you should not expect him to attend your family affairs.”

Mai wilted. “Of course, grandmother. But he asked me to tell you, so I wanted to relay his words.”

Her grandfather smiled, “Yes, a good wife echoes her husband.”

Mai snuck another look at Izumi, praying that she was not listening. Luck seemed to be on her side, as the little princess was absorbed and– covered in– the noodles on her plate.

Mai got them out of there as quickly as she deemed socially acceptable and washed the noodles off of her little girl.. She cursed herself for her cowardice. She was the Fire Lady! She could have left whenever she damn well pleased, but she turned into a child the second she entered that house.

To make matters worse, as soon as she and Izumi entered their chambers the little girl began having a meltdown.

It started innocently enough: “Where’s dada?”

Mai pursed her lips. She had tried explaining to Izumi before they left that daddy couldn’t come with them this time, but the thought was unimaginable to her. They had always traveled as a family, and she had never had to sleep without a goodnight kiss from daddy before Mai began the bedtime routine.

Mai tried again to explain, “I’m sorry turtleduck, but he’s not here right now. He had to stay at the palace and run the country. We’ll see him in two more sleeps.”

Izumi teared up. “Not here?”

Mai held her, “No. He’s not here, but he’s safe and so are we. You’ll see him soon.”

Then the wailing began in earnest and it did not stop for what felt like hours but was probably minutes. Mai tried to be soothing, but firm. For better or worse, she couldn’t capitulate to her daughter’s request this time. No airships or secure transports were running at this hour. And Zuko would probably spontaneously combust if she rented an animal and attempted the overnight journey alone.

Mai felt the tears prick in her eyes too. Since her parents were so strict, she had no gauge for how to react to this situation. Was she being too indulgent by letting her daughter cry? How could she stop it? What could she say to make her happy again? All at once, the floodgates of self-loathing had opened. She was the co-ruler of a country, why did she let her grandparents walk all over her in front of her daughter? And how could she foist Izumi on to her baby brother all day? It was his family reunion too.

She needed Zuko. He would calm Izzy down. Spirits, he would calm her down.

There was a knock at the door. Shit! Their rooms were in the farthest part of the manor to give the Fire Lady privacy, but someone had obviously overheard and complained. There would be rumors all over the town about how bad of a parent she was. Or it was her guards checking in. The poor guys probably wanted to make sure she was okay. She tucked Izumi behind her, and palmed a knife– just to be safe– and opened the door.

For a second, she thought her brain was deceiving her into seeing what she wanted to see.

“DADA!” Izumi screamed happily.

She ran around Mai and jumped into his arms. “Hello turtleduck.” He laughed and kissed her head as he made his way into the room. “I hope I’m not intruding on girl time.” He smiled at Mai.

She took a deep breath to try to compose herself and smiled back at her husband. “Of course, not. Our princess was just demanding your presence.”

“Oh!” Zuko seemed genuinely surprised. “Well then, I’m glad I arrived just in time.” He tucked Izumi into her bed, across the room from Mai’s– and now Zuko’s– larger one. She must have been exhausted from her early travels, because, as soon as she knew that both of her parents were in the room, she fell asleep. Mai marveled at her instant calm.

Zuko stroked her hair a few times and then turned his attention to his wife. He walked over to her and delicately pulled her into an embrace. “I’m such a loser,” he whispered, face buried in her neck, and it felt so out-of-the-blue that she nearly snorted.

“What on earth are you talking about? I need more information to know if I disagree,” she retorted.

“Hey!” he protested quietly, and pinched her arm, but she could feel his smile on her skin. His breath tickled as he spoke: “I couldn’t handle one night away from you both. Let alone two.”

Mai caressed his cheek, and guided his face so they were looking into each other's eyes. “Then I must be a loser too because I was about to cry before you got here. Izumi was sobbing because she missed you so much and my family–” she stopped abruptly.

Zuko took hold of her hands and she could feel the fire in his eyes. “What did they say?”

Mai slumped her shoulders and allowed herself to lean against him. “It’s not important.” That dreaded touch of apathy colored her voice, but then, but a glimmer of broke through. “It’s really not important because you’re here now.”

Zuko wrapped his arms around her and kissed her passionately. He finally pulled away, “At least give me a list of names.”

Mai chuckled quietly, she didn’t want to wake their daughter. “The usual suspects.”

That told Zuko all he needed to know. The pair went about their nightly routines, before climbing into bed. Zuko longed to kiss her more, and fill her with reassurance, but he was prevented by the presence of their daughter. He settled for wrapping his arms tightly around Mai and burying his face in her hair.

But suddenly she broke away and sat up. Zuko pouted up at her.

“Wait! Wait a minute! How did you get here?” she looked at him in awe.

He smiled cheekily. “You know I’ve been practicing flying with Druk.”

Mai crossed her arms. “You did not fly him all the way here from the Caldera! His previous flights were twenty minutes at most. My poor baby is probably exhausted.”

Zuko laughed. Druk may have been bonded to him by the sacred fire, but the dragon was bonded to Mai by something else. The two were so protective of each other that it was almost comical.

“Oh don’t worry,” Zuko reassured her, and pulled her back into his arms. “Your big old baby loved it, and your family’s servants gave him the best room in their stables.”

Mai huffed. “Okay, but if he’s sore tomorrow, then I’m using you as a pin cushion.”

“It would be my greatest honor.”

Mai rolled her eyes, but she snuggled in closer.

— —

The next day, Mai checked on Druk first thing. To her own surprise, she was the first member of her immediate family awake. She left Zuko a note. (Her notes always began, “I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’m leaving,” even if she was just taking the five-minute trip to her favorite fire flakes stand. It had become an inside joke between them.)

Druk truly was in a great mood. Mai’s family ordered the finest cuts from the butcher as a special treat. If there was one thing she could count on her grandparents to do, it was suck up to royalty.

She stopped by the kitchens and put in a special request, and then she made her way to the airship service. By the time she arrived back at the house, breakfast had begun. She slowly took her seat, allowing her mother's glare to linger.

“Young lady,” he grandfather began. “It is bad form to arrive late to a meal. “Especially when royalty is present.”

Mai pretended to be chastened. “Oh, I’m so sorry grandfather. But I wanted to put on a surprise for my dearest husband.” She strongly emphasized the word. “As you and Grandmother were saying, such a visitation to my family is quite beneath him actually.” Zuko whipped his head to his in-laws. Mai could tell he was seething, but this was her moment to reclaim power. She knew he would follow her lead, and so she continued, “As such, I thought it would be a lovely surprise if we all took a trip to the nearby southern beaches.”

Mai’s grandmother scoffed. “Those aren’t nearby. You’d have to take an airship to get there.”

Mai nodded, “Yes and I chartered one. Unfortunately, it’s quite small. They only had ten open seats.”

Mai’s mother tried to cut the tension. “Oh well… That’s still enough for all of us, and we can even bring the Mayor. Perhaps the day can be salvaged, but you really should have asked your grandparents before doing this.”

Michi didn’t want to look bad in front of her parents, and Mai almost regretted what she was about to do. She replied: “You’re not taking into account the guards. We’ll need four to be safe I would say. I’m so very sorry. I assumed that grandfather and grandmother would be too weary to travel so far, so I didn’t list them on the tickets. And Uncle and Auntie have so few opportunities to see Izumi. I hope you understand, Mother.”

Michi flushed red, but she wouldn’t dare have a dramatic and drawn out argument with Mai so publicly. The Warden chuckled to himself, “Now this is an escape plan I can get behind.”

Zuko looked at his wife with a newfound admiration. He knew there would come a time when they were separated again, but he did not want to dwell on it. In this moment, they were together. And they were stronger because of it.

#maikoweek2024 #maiko week 2024 #atla maiko #atla mai #atla zuko #maiko #mai #zuko #atla #avatar the last airbender #mai x zuko #zuko x mai #Michi #Tom-Tom #Aunt Mura #Mai's family #Mai is a good mom #Zuko is a good dad

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babyhatesreality · 2 years

Note

Hi if you take request I just have this in my mind:

Sometimes when you are somewhere outside (like in a mall) you get distracted by all those people and colorful stores. And if you don’t hold your daddies hands you will easily go another way.

So what if she is to distracted by something and Steve and Bucky just further without noticing that she didn’t follow (maybe they are stressed or smt like that) and she just follows someone who looks like one of her daddy’s and she only notices later that this was not her daddy and she was lost.

Okay so first things first, I'm old and don't know how to put the two similar asks together nicely so here’s a screenshot and get off my lawn. :P (edited to add: Also for @justme1234456 who requested this too!<3)

Second, I had to alter both asks a bit to align it with what I see as canon in my AU. I really hope that’s okay, and I’m sorry if this isn’t what you were looking for. I have to be honest about what I think could actually happen in this little world I’ve created otherwise I just can’t write it truthfully. If that offends anyone, I’m truly sorry for hurting feelings, and I encourage you to find what you’re needing with many of the other insanely-more-talented-than-I-am writers on this site.

Break Away

Pairing: Daddy!Stucky x little f!reader

Warnings: DDLG (SSC), language, pet names, praise, scared reader, angst, tears, large and pushy crowds, overprotective Papa and Daddy, fluff fluff fluff and did I mention fluff?

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN MEDIA CONSUMPTION. THIS STORY IS SFW- THE REST OF MY BLOG IS NOT NECESSARILY SO. MINORS DNI. I DO NOT CONSENT FOR MY WORK TO BE STOLEN, COPIED, OR TRANSLATED ONTO ANY OTHER SITE BUT MY OWN. Likes, comments and reblogs are deeply appreciated.

What started as a nice walk in the park quickly turned into one of their worst nightmares.

It had been raining for days in New York. Normally you wouldn’t have minded, having a massive pile of toys to play with and books to have read to you, and an endless supply of other family members in the tower to keep you entertained. But you were fidgety, constantly needing to be on the move. Your daddies had taken you to the big gym floor and set you loose on the giant running track, they’d taken you to the Olympic-sized indoor pool, and they’d even managed to convince Tony to let them take the Quinjet on a quick spin around the state. All of which managed to keep you satisfied...for that day. Then the next day they’d find you with your nose pressed up against the sliding glass door to the patio, watching the pouring rain, asking politely if you could go outside. Four thousand times in a row.

Finally the rain let up right before your bedtime, and the ground became okay enough to not be a giant puddle by morning. You were so excited about going outside, wiggling around so much, that Bucky later grumbled to Steve that it had been easier escaping from the German army than getting you into your coat and rain boots.

“We goin’ to the park, we goin’ to the park, we goin’ to the PAAAAAAAAAAARK!!!” you sung at the top of your little lungs, running back and forth with joy as you held onto Steve and Bucky’s hands, walking through the hallways of the tower. You squealed in delight when they both lifted their arms in tandem, swinging you into the air. “Again again please!!” you begged, laughing uproariously with delight when they obliged.

Steve grinned down at you as you giggled gleefully. He was craving the fresh air just as much as you were and felt as joyful as you did. “Okay, so when we get to Central Park, what are you going to do, angel?” he asked you.

“Hold your hand always!”

“That’s my smart girl. You hold my hand or Daddy’s hand at all times. And what happens if we get separated and you don’t see us?”

“Look for a ‘Venger to help!”

“Right again! I’m so proud of you!” You giggled and blushed, wiggling around extra hard to let Papa know how happy his praise made you. “Now. Last one. If you don’t see someone who can help you, what do you do?”

“Light up shoes and stay PUT!”

“Great job, baby!” Steve cheered, suddenly swinging around and lifting you up into the air while you laughed crazily. All the littles in the Avengers Tower had light up shoes with tiny trackers in them, so if anything ever happened to them outside the tower and they were in little space, they’d always have a tracker on them that a caregiver could follow. It wasn’t too hard to convince any little to wear the shoes that lit up when they stomped; in fact, you all had gone through several pairs of light up shoes, delighted at the light up features. Hey, the system worked.

Bucky grinned at the two of you, reaching back out for your hand the moment your feet touched the ground. “Good job remembering the rules, Trouble,” he said. You wiggled with joy and blushed again, making him chuckle. He looked up at his husband. “You sure you wanna try this without caps and glasses?” he asked again, raising his eyebrows. “No disguises at all?”

Steve smile warmly at his worrywart husband. “We’re not undercover, Buck. We live in this city too, and everyone already knows it anyways. It’ll be okay, and if it’s not, we’ll just ask people to respect our space or we’ll go a different direction. It’ll be fine.”

Bucky kept the smile, but tightened his grip on your hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little while later, the three of you were enjoying the birds singing, the fresh, cool breeze blowing through the trees, and the hum of human activity all around you. It was so lovely, it seemed like everyone in New York City was trying to get outside to see the sun. You held tight to your daddies’ hands, but your head was constantly whipping around, trying to take in all the sights at once.

Suddenly, there was a scream in the distance. Bucky and Steve’s heads snapped in the direction of the sound automatically, their grips tightening on yours. Out of nowhere, this group of seven or eight teens came barreling at the three of you, all with their phones out, screaming about Captain America and The Winter Soldier. With the speed of light, Bucky tucked you underneath his vibranium arm, cuddling you against his body to keep you safe. This meant you had to let go of Papa’s hand, and you tried to turn your head to make sure he was okay, but Daddy’s grip on you was too strong and you couldn’t see him.

Before you knew it, the crowd grew suddenly larger, and you heard people pointing at the group of teens in recognition- they were something called a...’influencer’ or a ‘TikTok star’ or something...you didn’t understand all the yelling. You got very, very still, hanging desperately onto Daddy’s shirt as he tried to be polite- Avengers had an image to maintain, especially the ‘reformed’ ones like him- but get these people to back off.

One of the boys grabbed onto the vibranium arm that was holding you, screaming about how cool it was. It scared you so badly, not seeing this boy until his hands were reaching right where you were at and the loudness, that you stumbled backwards, causing you to slip out from underneath Bucky’s arm.

Bucky’s head whipped around the second he lost contact with you. “Steve!” he hollered over the melee as he tried to move the kid away from you. “Get her!” All you caught was a glimpse of Steve’s searching blue eyes before a tidal wave of people crashed into you. It was insane- some sort of mob mentality had taken over. Between the two famous Avengers and the internet sensations surrounding them, everyone lost their minds. You tried to push against the tide, tried desperately to keep your eyes on either of them, but the crush of the crowd was too much. Your throat choked up in fear- you couldn’t even call out for them. You were carried away by the wave. It seemed to go on forever and you couldn’t stop it as it pushed you farther and farther away.

Finally there was a break in the people that had been crowding you, and you pushed with all your might to get free of the mob. Trying to keep calm and be brave, you looked around, remembering Rule #2 as hard as you could. Your heart leapt when you saw a long mane of red hair a distance away, and you instantly ran towards it, thinking it was Aunt Natasha. Just as you were about to throw your arms around the woman, she suddenly turned. It wasn’t Auntie Nat. You mumbled an awkward apology and ran in the other direction, embarrassed.

Gulping hard to try to keep your scared sobs inside, you came to a halt. You looked around and didn’t see anything you recognized. There was a pretty, tall fountain with an angel on top close to you, but you didn’t remember it from before. “Light up shoes and stay put,” you whispered to yourself. “Light up shoes and stay put.” You stomped your feet as hard as you could, seeing the rainbow lights activate. You looked around desperately, waiting for them to come and rescue you. You stomped harder and harder, the tears building in your eyes. No Papa. No Daddy. You slowly walked the few steps to the fountain and carefully sat down, the tears now running down your face. Every now and then, you stomped your feet to keep the shoes lit up. “Please find me,” you whispered tearfully, pleading into the air.

Suddenly, there were shrieks and gasps coming from in front of you. You looked up to see people suddenly rushing to the sides, looking like they were dodging to get out of the way of a speeding train. And they were. A speeding train in the form of Daddy.

Bucky came racing towards you faster than you’d ever seen anyone run. You could almost see the flames coming off his feet. The crowd parted for him, but he didn’t give two flying fucks if he ran any of them over. With barely a bend of the knees, he came flying over the stone balustrade walls surrounding the fountain, his eyes locked on your tiny form. All you could do was reach your hands to him before he reached you, scooping you up and crushing you to his chest like he was never going to let you go again.

You just clung to him, still too frightened to do anything else. “Hey, it’s okay baby, it’s okay, Daddy’s here. Daddy’s here and he’s not letting you go,” Bucky was murmuring into your ear, so fast you could barely make out the words. “I am so sorry baby. Daddy will never let that happen again, you hear me? Never again. Never, never again. I’m right here.” You just whimpered and nodded, your tears soaking the front of his shirt. You heard another set of feet come to a screeching halt near you, but you were still too worked up to turn to see if it was Papa. You knew if it wasn’t, Daddy was going to keep you safe, and that was all you could handle at the moment. “Deep breaths, baby, can you do that for me? Can you take some deep breaths?” Daddy asked frantically, tilting his head back to look at you. “Can you take some deep breaths with me? Some deep breaths with Daddy?” You managed to nod again, and relief flooded his face. “That’s my good girl. Okay, we’re gonna sit down and take some breaths together.”

Bucky sat on the edge of the fountain where he’d found you. He turned you in his lap so you could see Steve sitting next to the both of you. Your left hand shot out instantly, needing to touch him too. Steve took your hand, covering it with his other, stroking and patting it, his eyes a warring storm of fear and relief, while Bucky held you tight,

“Okay, baby, let’s breathe together. You remember how we breathe when we’re scared?” Daddy asked, looking down at you, his tone a bit calmer now. You could see he was still struggling too, and that gave you the nudge to be brave enough to breathe together. You nodded. “We can do it. We’ll do it together, Daddy and Baby. Okay, here we go. Breathe in.” You two locked eyes and breathed in, Bucky counting as he inhaled. “One, two, three, four,” he said on the air, then nodded at you. You held your breath with him as his lips moved, counting to four again, but not letting any air out. “Breathe out, one, two, three, four, five, six,” Bucky said, keeping his eyes locked on you while you went through the exercise together. He silently counted to six as you held your breath again. You went through the cycle three times together, feeling better and better each time. When you finished, Daddy smiled proudly at you. “I knew you could do it, Baby. Daddy loves you so much.”

“Love you too Daddy,” you said, tucking your forehead into his chest again, happy that he was okay now too. You brought Papa’s hand up to your face. “Love you too Papa.” You squeezed his fingers, pressing them in to your cheek.

“Papa loves you so much,” Steve responded, his voice tight with emotion. “Are you okay honey?” You pursed your lips for a moment, but nodded.

“M’okay. Big peoples.”

“Yeah, that crowd was crazy, right?”

“Too loud.”

“Definitely too loud. I’m so sorry baby, that should never have happened.”

“They all go away?”

“Yeah, they’re all away now. You remember how Uncle Tony says that he can watch everybody everywhere?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, he saw on his cameras that the mean crowd was bothering us and his flying suits came to help.”

“WOW.”

“We’ll have to thank him when we get home.”

“Okay, I help.”

Both your daddies chuckled, relieved that you were starting to sound like you again. “What do you think, Baby? Do you want to go home?” Bucky asked, bouncing you a little, trying to gauge how you were feeling.

“Um,” you said. Now that you were over the fear, you weren’t QUITE ready to be back inside just yet. “We look at duckies please?” The men exchanged a quick look, checking in with each other, before they turned back to you, smiling.

“Okay, Trouble, we will go look at the ducks,” Bucky said softly, before placing a kiss on your forehead. “Good manners.” He stood up and was about to tell you that you were only staying at the park if he carried you for the rest of the day, but the iron grip you had on his tee shirt and the way your legs locked around his waist let him know that you had no intention of being set down, anyways. He pressed another kiss into your hair.

They walked to a quieter section by the water, grinning and laughing as you insisted on pointing to each and every duck, naming them one by one. After about ten minutes, Steve got a pedicab to get you all back to the street so you wouldn’t have to walk through all the people again. You’d made a full recovery by the time you all got back to Avengers’ Tower, babbling excitedly about all the ducky friends you’d made today and making plans to bring them bread tomorrow.

But Bucky still didn’t set you down for the rest of the evening. And you were okay with that.

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