#multi chapter fics
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alive-gh0st · 15 days ago
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ALL WORKS LISTED BELOW ARE WRITTEN BY ME
𓊈please don’t copy, translate, steal, or post without credit𓊉
@alive-gh0st
. ݁₊ ⊹. ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.⟡. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ .⊹ ₊ ݁. ⟡. ݁
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
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✰ ❝Afterglow❞ 𓊈Mark Grayson x Med!Reader𓊉
✰ ❝Hearts Don’t Miss❞ 𓊈Omni!Mark Grayson x Cupid!Reader𓊉
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
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✰ ❝Always You❞ 𓊈Mark Grayson x Childhood Friend!Reader𓊉
✰ ❝Corruption Complete❞ 𓊈Mark Grayson x Brainrot Girlfriend!Reader—feat. Oliver & Debbie Grayson𓊉
✰ ❝Marked❞ 𓊈Veil!Mark Grayson x Trouble!Reader𓊉
✰ ❝Lipstick Theory❞ 𓊈Eve x Reader x Amber𓊉
✰ ❝Nostos❞ 𓊈Odysseus!Mark Grayson x Penelope!Reader𓊉
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✰ ❝Too Far Gone❞ 𓊈Mark Grayson x Brainrot Girlfriend!Reader—Part 2 of ”Corruption Complete”𓊉
✰ ❝Epistrefó❞ ✍︎ 𓊈Odysseus!Mark Grayson x Penelope!Reader—Part II of ”Nostos”𓊉
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✎ᝰ section coming soon .ᐟ.ᐟ
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﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
. ݁₊ ⊹. ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.⟡. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ .⊹ ₊ ݁. ⟡. ݁
ᯓ★ anons, requests, fandom ramblings, or general unhinged thoughts? all are free to float in—just hit the “submit your sins” button and launch them into orbit… i’m always watching the stars!
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laurfilijames · 2 years ago
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Looking at the stats of one of my series and can't figure out what "makes or breaks" a multi-chapter fic.
When does it fall apart for you? Does it fall apart? Do people engage more as the chapters go on?
I really thought that progression in a story with build up to a climax (quite literally in my case 😈) versus a one-shot style fic would attract more, but I'm no longer sure.
52 days between the first chapter being posted and the fourth.
279 vs 141 notes, with a decrease in each chapter.
No I am not complaining. I'm just genuinely curious.
(Also most of these notes are my own reblogs and likes so don't come at me)
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underthetree845 · 2 years ago
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stellamarielu · 1 month ago
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thinking about how pope likes having his hair played with... thinking about him maybe having some sort of fixation with hair... pulling on it, threading it through his fingers, braiding it... Lots to unpack here... girl dad! pope jump scare sorry
Him laying with his head on your lap, or on your chest, just for your hands to instinctively migrate to his curls.
Threading your fingers through his hair, and hearing a subtle sigh of relief when he feels you gently scratching his scalp. Following the pattern of each auburn wave with your fingertips, his body still under your touch.
It’s a comfort mechanism, something he never realized he looked for until you became a permanent figure in his life. Now he searches for the solace at the end of a long day— the therapeutic sensation of your fingertips at his scalp. Burrowing his head against your body and waiting for the salvation of your hands gently tugging through his hair.
He offers it back to you. A subconscious bargain of affection when he runs a hand over your hair while you're cooking dinner. Almost petting it while he stands next to you, listening to you talk about your day. Busy playing with it between his fingertips, getting lost in the texture of your hair and the sound of your voice.
He tugs on it gently when you turn to kiss him. tangling his hands in your hair when you break the kiss to let your lips venture down his jaw.
He fixates on it— his ability to weave your hair between his fingers, pulling and molding it however he pleases. Something in the intricacy of each strand coming together at his fingertips to form an unruly bouquet, feeds his body's need to keep his hands busy at all times.
It grounds him. It’s a refined fidgeting that satisfies the restlessness of his hands.
That’s why he thrives off the consistency of routine in doing his daughter's hair almost every morning.
The repetitive nature of it relaxes him. The gentle brushing and braiding of her hair in his hands transports him to a place of innocent peace, as she sits patiently in front of him, watching cartoons and eating breakfast. The pattern of her dark curls are almost identical to his. He lets his hands fall into the same familiar motions, humming his responses as she talks to him about something that happened at recess yesterday. He takes his job very seriously, making sure every hair is in its place before carrying her lunch and backpack to his truck while she follows sweetly behind.
It’s a habit that comes to fruition under vulnerable circumstances. A tender extension of affection saved for the people he loves most.
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noodlesoup1819 · 3 months ago
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i keep coming across these "maomao is raised by lakan and fenxian" au ideas and there's also a criminal lack of consort maomao fics on ao3 so now i've got an idea cooking and i want to brainstorm with yall here
La Mao, consort to the Moon Prince
yapping under the cut because this got long
so lakan finds out fengxien is pregnant before he has to leave so he buys her out, but it's not a good idea to take his pregnant wife with him so he leaves both of them behind.
fengxien, not trusting herself to be a mother on her own (because she herself was raised without a proper motherly influence) finds out that lakan's uncle that he dearly trusts has moved to work in the pleasure district and they live together and maomao still grows up around the brothel and her sisters
maomao still cares for her great uncle/adoptive father much more than she cares for her actual parents and she still grows her love of medicines and poisons, but when lakan returns, she's publicly recognized as his daughter.
knowing that she can't visit the pleasure district without drawing attention if she's recognized as a member of the La clan, so she goes to great lengths to dress up very well when she's recognized as La Mao and she takes great care to be as unassuming as possible elsewhere.
flash forward, maomao overhears rumors about both the imperial children dying (and gets curious) and strange whispers of what the Shi clan might be up to (and wants to keep an eye on things closer than her careless father does) and decides to kill two birds with one stone and asks if there's any way she can enter the rear palace.
Lakan obviously doesn't want to give his daughter to the emperor but there's not exactly a way to sneak her into the palace. So he devises a plan- he'll offer her, not to the emperor, but to the moon prince (who obviously can't visit her often or without great preparation if he wants to pretend to be the enuic of the rear palace.
the emperor knows it's not a good idea to refuse the La clan and he's been wanting to push Jinshi towards becoming the prince again so he accepts.
Jinshi is not amused with this situation but he also can't make an enemy of the La clan
so he makes an appearance as the moon prince the first night she's there and imagine his surprise when this beautiful princess with her parents' cold calculating eyes looks up at him and apologizes that they won't be able to keep each other company tonight.
why not? why she's noticed something odd and it seems someone's attempted to poison the moon prince.
Jinshi watches as she solves the mystery and then pointedly asks if the Moon Prince like to leave after such a scare and also asks if someone would fetch Jinshi after all this is sorted out
so obviously she knows the truth.
by the time 'Jinshi' gets there after taking care of the aftermath of the attempted poisoning maomao's changed into her commoner outfit freckles and all and explains that if he lets her do as she pleases she won't force him back into the role of the moon prince
the series then ensues, but with maomao playing a sort of double role as both La Mao (pretend) consort to the Moon Prince and Maomao, La Mao's lady in waiting.
The only problem is, Jinshi is falling head over heals for Maomao, but he's already agreed that their 'relationship' is just for show...
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bettystonewell · 4 months ago
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TO YOU I BELONG SERIES MASTERLIST
Main Masterlist || On AO3 || On Wattpad
Pairing: Alpha!Dean x Omega!Reader
Summary: Dean isn’t looking for a mate. Not only does he think he doesn’t deserve one, but the last place he expects to meet his soulmate is while on a case. Fate ain’t real. He still has free will, and saving you from monsters is just another part of the job.
The demons in your life, though? They’re closer than he realises, more personal, and his inner alpha won’t let him leave you behind with them. But can Dean embrace everything that comes with claiming someone? 18+ only MDNI
Tags: omegaverse, soulmate AU, pregnancy, strangers to lovers, hurt/comfort, SMUT, breeding, claiming, knotting, nesting, angst, fluff, endgame is Dad!Dean (and the parenting skills we all know he has), Protective!Dean, (dual POV), somewhat of a fix-it
WARNING: This story implies/references some potentially triggering topics including domestic abuse, sexual assault, a past miscarriage (chemical pregnancy), and follows the journey of how the characters deal with it. Please consider these carefully before reading. I can’t stress this enough!
A/N: This all started out as a one shot idea of Dean playing with kids and nerf guns. That one shot hasn’t been written yet because my brain wanted to know where the kids came from, but Dean will get his hands on a nerf gun in this fic.
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uploading weekly on Fridays 🇦🇺🕕
Chapter 1 - Yearning
Chapter 2 - Harbouring
Chapter 3 - Confronting
Chapter 4 - Familiarising
Chapter 5 - Languishing
Chapter 6 - Domesticating
Chapter 7 - Honeydaying
Chapter 8 - Disconcerting
Chapter 9 - Ruminating
Chapter 10 - Saddling
Chapter 11 - Containment
Chapter 12 - Sentiment
Chapter 13 - Derisionment
Chapter 14 - Announcement
Chapter 15 - Disappointment
Chapter 16 - Ligament
Chapter 17 - Retirement (working title)
Chapter 18 -
Chapter 19 -
Chapter 20 -
TIMESTAMPS TBA
EXTRAS/RELATED
Writing Game Snippet
100 Followers Celebration Sneak Peak
WIP WEDNESDAY (20/02) Chapter 16
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Please Remember folks, abuse isn’t always physical. It’s also not easy to admit when you’re going through it, or sometimes even realise. Look after yourselves, and keep an eye out for signs from those you love. ❤️
If you'd like to be tagged in this series or any of my other works, please let me know, or you can add yourself HERE
I’ll be tagging all the lovely people signed up for my DEAN TAGLIST too, of course 🥰
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spaceycat · 29 days ago
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════ ⋆★⋆ ════ 
☆˚₊‧ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ ...  ╰┈➤ 𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚝𝚢, 𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐. 𝚙𝚝.𝟷/𝟺 𐙚₊˚
⋆★⋆ late nights in the laboratory. ⋆★⋆ Part 2 & Part 3.
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♫ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: pushing it down and praying by lizzie mcalpine (3:54)
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✰ pairing: calvin evans x fem!lab tech!reader
✰ cw: arguing + swearing + calvin is a bit of an uptight dick
✰ word count: 1.3k+
✰ summary: you are new to hastings laboratory, being placed on a search for different materials around the lab. you entered calvin's laboratory without knocking, and arguments ensue.
(IMPORTANT: collaborated with @sammygidd with writing process + planning)
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༺colour chart༻ reader ❀ calvin ⚛︎
It was your first day at the Hastings Laboratory, working as a lab tech. You woke up early, ensuring that everything was perfect - that you wouldn’t be late in the slightest and that you had everything that you needed. Deciding that morning, after packing your bag for the day, that you would curl your hair shortly after eating breakfast, given that there was enough time to do so. You brushed out the smooth curls, pinning them back in place as you grabbed your things, taking a last once-over in the mirror, then heading downstairs. Making sure your cat had food and saying goodbye before walking to the door and leaving shortly afterwards.
You made your way into the parking lot, finding an open parking spot. Taking note of the scientists and secretaries scattered across the way, some making their path into the laboratory building, promptly making your way inside along with them, hearing the lively chatter around you. A taller, leaner man brushing past you, not exactly seeing who it was at first, but you could already tell by the way he pushed past the people on the stairwell, not even muttering an ‘excuse me,’ or a basic apology. It was Calvin Evans - the man that you saw on the front cover of the Scientific American, the proposed chemistry prodigy.
You've read about him, nothing really remarkable about the Dr. Evans besides the fact that he could draw up chemical reactions in a comprehensible way, but couldn’t even muster an apology - the article did say that he was a reserved person after all. And the chemistry prodigy was wearing pajamas to work? You were confused, only for a moment, before brushing it off and heading to the lab that you were supposed to be in… on time. 
Arriving in the smaller, well-lit room filled with older and some younger male scientists, looking at you standing in the doorway. An older man pipes up, “You’re late, sweetheart. You were supposed to be here at seven, on the dot.” Eyes flickering over to the clock that was higher up on the wall, and it read 7:01 - nodding your head, deciding not to retaliate since it was your first day. “Apologies,” you murmured as you walked into the room, setting your notebook on the table, a small distance away from the group of men and their prying eyes.
Before you could even get started on your work, the older guy who ridiculed you said that he had chores for you to do, and when you were done with those, he wanted a cup of coffee. You didn’t even get to mutter a word out, to say you were a lab tech, not a secretary. He didn’t care in the slightest and ushered you away, forcing a clipboard into your hands. Grumbling softly but reluctantly, you moved back out the door and into the hallways of the building, looking at the list that was now in your hands, reading off the items that were needed:
Sulphuric Acid
Methanol
Bunsen Burners
Ribose
Beakers
Coffee
Each item was in a different part of the building, of course it was. You didn’t expect anything less. You made haste, practically running around the building collecting the apparatus needed, checking it off the list as you went. You finally came to the final thing on your list, beakers, which was written to be upstairs. Walking into the first room you could find, your eyes are planted on the clipboard in front of you. Not even bothering to knock, which was your first mistake.
“Did you not see the sign?” The voice went unheard as you looked up from your clipboard, more focused on the task at hand than whoever was talking to you. Your gaze landed on the counter of the lab, finally finding the beakers that you needed. You grabbed the tray, then noticed a man across the room.
“Oh– shit..” You nearly dropped the beakers, “You– shit, sorry.. You scared the hell out of me…” Then a look of recognition, “Oh–.! Oh shit- I mean- sorry, oh your.. Dr. Evans… – pardon me for my language…” 
“No, no.” Waving you off, his eyes now boring into you, “First off, tell me why you are in here, stealing my beakers and not even knocking when I have a sign that says.. do not disturb?” 
“Sorry, I must’ve not seen it.” A small smirk flashed across his face, finding the entire ordeal entertaining, before he cleared his throat. “Well, you're one for apologies, but sorry doesn’t cut it. Why is a secretary stealing my beakers? When I’m not to be disturbed.” “I’m not stealing, I’m simply borrowing for the time being, and I’m not a secretary, Dr. Evans.” His eyebrows knitted together, his arms crossing over his chest, “You’re not a secretary? Then what are you?” “I’m a Lab Tech.” Calvin stifled out a laugh. “I highly doubt that. You look like a secretary with that hair.” He moved closer, noticing your name tag. “You’re the new girl, aren’t you? Stealing on your first day… I’m disappointed, expecting you’d know better as a proposed Lab Tech.”
“Well, I’m not stealing, like I said before. I’ll get these back to you by the end of the day.” “I’ll hold you to that, secretary.” 
You had to refrain from talking back to him, he’s Calvin Evans for christ sake, but god, he found a way to just get under your skin from a singular conversation. You looked down at the tray of beakers as you headed out of his laboratory, noticing that he wrote his initials “C.E” on every single one, charming.
Later that night, you were packing up in your laboratory, ready to head home for the evening, suspecting that every other scientist and secretary already left the building. When you hear a sudden voice come from behind you. “Beakers.” You jumped, turning around. Noticing Calvin. “What?” You regained your composure. “My beakers. Where are they? You told me you’d have them back at the end of the day.” He leaned against the counter, noticing that Calvin was wearing the same clothes he had come into work in that morning, the sleeves rolled up, showing his forearms. A small thought swirling around your head, before realising you were staring dead at his arms, your gaze shifting away.
“Beakers?-- right, right. They’re…” You looked around the laboratory, expecting them to be on one of the many counters in the room. “They’re where?” He looked unimpressed. “They’re in a different lab, one of the locked ones.” “Of course they are.” He sighed, pushing himself off the counter - back turned to you. “I’m sorry– I’ll give them to you tomorrow, they’ll be hard to miss with your initials written onto them.” You joked, he turned around. “This is funny to you?” “You’re getting mad over beakers.” “I trusted you with my beakers, and you have proven yourself not to be worthy once more. That's not surprising.” He let out a breath.
“What’s more surprising is that you’re wearing pajamas to work, Calvin.” His name slipped out of your mouth before you even recognised you did. His eyes shifted a bit, like he was mulling things over. Letting out a hum before speaking again. “These are my running clothes.” “Of course you run.” You mumbled under your breath, eyes diverting away - looking out the window as a crutch. “What was that?--” You cut him off, “Let’s just go home, Dr. Evans. I’ll have your beakers tomorrow.” Grabbing the rest of your things, heading to the door. Calvin followed close behind, basically towering over you as you walked out into the cold air.
“Let’s hope your second day is better than your first.” Calvin walked to the sidewalk, beside you. As you walked to your car, you muttered under your breath, “Dick.” “What?” “Nothing! Night, Dr. Evans... Get home safe.” You plastered a fake smile on your face. He turned away muttering a "Night" in response - your smile immediately dropping as he did. As you got into your car, you knew that you would never get along with Calvin, if it was the last thing you’d do.
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takaraphoenix · 1 year ago
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Single Mom Stiles (*cough* Stiles and Liam) leaving the pack because of Theo and, now packless, find their way to the Hale Pack.
Who are. Still alive and around and thriving.
Alpha Derek, Peter, Isaac, Boyd, Erica, Jackson, Cora, maybe the twins, I haven't decided on that one yet.
(Maybe Malia/Kira will go with them. Because I love Kira and I think Malia needs to get to own the Hale heritage.)
Can you imagine Derek seeing Stiles be pack mom even without a pack and desperately wanting to court Stiles, like, his inner wolf is going nuts over this. But. To get to Stiles, Derek will have to get past Stiles' very protective pup first.
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juuuulez · 1 month ago
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post-rescue travis where you haven’t seen him for maybe a week. everyone is still settling back in, having to give statements, readjust to life in a functioning society etc etc etc.
when travis finally does see you again you look… normal. with clean hair, a nice outfit on, maybe even a little makeup. you smell like vanilla perfume and travis immediately realises that before all of this, a girl like you wouldn’t want a boy like him.
he feels overwhelmed by the fact that he gets to have you, that you still want him, even now. that you put on makeup for him, that you used a special lotion for him, that you wanted to look nice for him.
travis makes sure to remind you how pretty you look. that you’re the best thing to happen to him. that your relationship is the only good thing to come of the wilderness.
and he feels so ashamed for getting aroused the second he smells you. when you hug again, after a week apart, his hands shaking as they grip your waist. travis buries his face in your hair, savouring the new softness it has.
you’ll have to take him somewhere private to finally have sex on an actual bed. to give him actual aftercare, maybe even a nice shower together. he offers to moisturise your body, too, wanting to do all those sweet things a boyfriend should be doing.
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astra-terrapin · 2 months ago
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Day 3: Metal Virus/Nightmare
Every day must’ve been a living nightmare during the Metal Virus outbreak. I sometimes have nightmares that look like this, so I said screw it. Espio will have it too. He’ll be happy by day 5 though, so no worries.
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alive-gh0st · 1 month ago
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❝Hearts Don’t Miss❞
Omni!Mark Grayson x Cupid!Reader➶
•♡🤍♡🤍♡🤍♡˚₊‧ ꒰ა 💗 ໒꒱ ‧₊˚♡🤍♡🤍♡🤍♡•
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
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❤︎ summary: after defying a divine directive and choosing mercy over order, you—a cupid built not to feel—fall from the realm and crash into a world you don’t belong to. wingless and exiled, you land on a planet bruised by war, grief, and something worse: apathy. but one figure watches your descent. he’s not a hero. not a god. just a man turned monster, carrying the weight of a planet he helped destroy. you were made to spark love. he was made to conquer. so why can’t he walk away?
❤︎ contains: sfw. celestial mythology. lonely immortals. slow-burn dynamics. post-war emotional fallout. deconstruction of love as a weapon/tool. and a wingless cupid with a cracked heart and a crooked smile.
❤︎ warnings: emotional manipulation (brief). themes of exile and identity loss. canon-typical violence references (omni-mark’s past). light blood/injury mentions. quiet existential grief. soft heartbreak. and the inconvenient ache of wanting to be wanted.
‪❤︎ wc: 4455
prologue, part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌a/n: i wanted to write something aching. something soft and sharp and too pink in all the wrong places. this is my love letter to the ones who were built to help others but never expected to be helped. to the hopeless romantics. to the heartsworn. if you’ve ever looked for your own thread and found nothing but empty space—i see you. let’s fall together.
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
Before time had a name, there was love.
And before love had rules, there were those who enforced them.
You were one of them.
Cupids were never born in the way humans or any other beings are.
There was no crying, no clutching warmth, no heartbeat against heartbeat. You weren’t given to anyone—because in your world, nothing is ever truly given. It’s assigned.
And you were assigned to love.
Long before your first breath—or what could even be counted as a breath—your existence was stitched together with rose-gold thread and spun into something soft.
Something radiant. Something shaped to serve.
The Realm of Threads didn’t believe in accidents. It believed in connection.
Harmony. Devotion.
These were your first lessons—woven not from stories, but from structure. From a place built not to feel love, but to uphold it.
Cupids, as humans might call them, are not gods. They are not angels. They are not the chubby, winged caricatures drawn on glossy cards each February.
They are constructs.
Beings built from emotion itself, shaped by the pulse of the universe and tasked with one divine, inescapable truth—make them fall in love.
All of them.
Every soul in every world is marked by a thread—red, golden, soft, or shining. Invisible to most. Tangible only to your kind. And where those threads exist, your kind follows.
Weaving. Binding. Mending.
You never asked why. You were taught never to ask why.
。゚•┈୨♡୧┈• 。゚
In your realm, the sky is made of lace.
Not literal lace—but that’s what it looks like, with its rippling tapestry of lights and longing.
You drifted through it as a child, surrounded by other Cupids—silent, graceful, unwavering. They didn’t speak unless they had to. Words wasted time. Emotion was observed, not expressed.
You were the odd one out almost immediately.
You giggled when you shouldn’t have. You sang with no rhythm. You watched humans too closely, too curiously. You wondered what it felt like to be kissed—not as a target, not as a mission—but as something wanted.
The Supervisors said your strings were too tight.
They meant your emotions.
You cared too much. Thought too hard. Dreamed in colors that didn’t belong to you.
But you were a prodigy, so they didn’t clip your wings. Not then. They praised your precision, your instincts. You’d never missed a target. Not once.
But love, you would learn, is only beautiful when it behaves.
。゚•┈୨♡୧┈• 。゚
You were trained before you ever knew what training meant.
In the Realm of Threads, there is no childhood. Not in the way humans define it. There are no lullabies, no scraped knees, no tumbling laughter in the grass. There is structure. There is schooling.
There is silence.
You were given a pod—not a room, not a bed. A pod. Sterile and softly lit, humming faintly with emotional frequency.
It pulsed with the echoes of distant connections: engagements, kisses, heartbreak, soulmates colliding on foreign soil.
It was meant to teach you. Not to feel—but to understand what feeling looks like.
Your first lessons weren’t in numbers or words. They were in observation.
Screens stretched across your wall like windows into other realms. Every second of every day, you watched humans love each other. Fumble and flourish. Make mistakes. Fix them. You learned the cadence of confession, the stillness before a first kiss, the ache of waiting by a phone that wouldn’t ring.
You took notes.
You practiced on simulations. Shadow versions of real people, constructed for training. They were emotion puppets—coded to respond, to mimic the human condition, but never feel it.
You pulled their strings like a composer, conducting the perfect crescendo of a meet-cute or a second chance.
And you were so good at it.
Even the elder Cupids, old as planetary rotations, took notice.
They called you “Silken.”
They called you “True-Handed.”
They said your instincts were woven with clarity few possessed.
But even then—you knew something was wrong.
Because love wasn’t clean. It wasn’t predictable. It wasn’t math.
You saw it in the gaps between the simulations—in the real footage, in the stolen glances and unsent letters.
Love was messy.
And you weren’t allowed to say that.
So instead, you smiled. You bowed your head. You aced your assignments. And when it was finally time to receive your bow—the instrument that would mark you as a field Cupid, ready to enter the human realm—you let them place it in your hands like a crown.
Ceremonial. Divine. Cold.
Your wings fluttered for the first time that day. Not from pride. From something else.
Restlessness.
Because you weren’t sure you wanted to be part of this system.
But you’d been shaped for it. And in the Realm of Threads, shape is everything.
。゚•┈୨♡୧┈• 。゚
They say Cupids don’t feel the way humans do. But if that were true—why did it ache?
You never had a red string.
That was the first thing you noticed.
You saw them everywhere—thread-thin, glowing like veins of fire across the fabric of reality. Around wrists, through hearts, tied in impossible loops from continent to continent, galaxy to galaxy.
Red. Gold. Silver.
Some pulsed softly. Some burned bright. Some frayed at the ends—doomed to break.
But you?
You had none.
You looked. Every year. Every cycle. Every mirror.
And there was never one waiting for you.
The instructors said it was proof of your purpose.
You were meant to love, not to be loved.
Cupids didn’t need soulmates. You were the threads—not what they tied together.
But still, when you were alone in your pod—your crown-glass screen humming with soft simulations—you sometimes wrapped a ribbon around your own finger and pretended.
Just for a moment. Just to feel what it might be like to belong to someone.
To be chosen.
To be someone’s reason.
You told no one.
Cupids weren’t supposed to pretend.
Not about that.
You always grinned too brightly. Talked too much. Got too close to the humans you helped.
You asked too many questions.
Why this couple? Why that connection? Why did heartbreak sometimes look so much like love?
You weren’t supposed to wonder. You were supposed to execute. Deliver arrows. Create outcomes. Adjust the threads.
But you liked watching after the mission was done.
You stayed longer than you should have. Saw the way people clung to one another. Fought. Forgave. Grieved. Moved on. Sometimes, even when the threads said they wouldn’t.
And worse—you started to feel happy for them.
Genuinely.
Not in the approved, detached sense of “mission accomplished,” but like… something warm bloomed in your chest just watching two people choose each other.
One day you told another Cupid—casually, as if it was no big thing—that it must feel nice to be loved like that.
She looked at you like you were malfunctioning.
Reported you. Quietly.
You were summoned for evaluation.
They used soft words. Nothing cruel—just… firm.
“Attachment undermines your clarity.”
“You’ve been too immersed in lower realms.”
“Emotional mimicry is a known side effect. You’ll adjust.”
You didn’t adjust.
You just learned how to lie better.
You laughed louder. You perfected your posture. You earned the nickname Heartsworn, and everyone said it with admiration.
But you felt empty most days.
Like a thread that had never been tied.
And it gnawed at you, that emptiness—because you were built to help others find connection.
So why did it feel like you’d never have your own?
。゚•┈୨♡୧┈• 。゚
It happened on a world not so different from Earth.
Small. Blue. Quiet in the way only dying stars can make a planet feel.
The threads there were thin. Brittle. Nearly broken.
It needed love desperately. That’s why they sent you.
Because you never missed. Because your aim was perfect. Because you were the shining example—the “Heartsworn,” the favorite, the infallible.
And at first, it was routine.
Two beings. Two threads. One frayed at the end, knotted tight around grief. The other hesitant, flickering. Their paths crossed in a way that felt almost poetic—a shared umbrella. An open bookstore. A laugh like recognition.
You hovered above them, bow pulsing in your palm. A clean shot. Two arrows. One for each.
But then something shifted.
The woman—your target—she looked up at the man, eyes tired but tender. And the way he looked back… like he was remembering how to breathe.
And you saw it.
She had already loved him.
It hadn’t been forced. It hadn’t been orchestrated. No divine architecture. No thread pulling them forward.
Just… choice.
Human, messy, miraculous choice.
You hesitated.
And that’s all it took.
Your bow trembled in your hands. Not from error—but from resistance.
Because for the first time—you didn’t want to interfere. You didn’t want to force it.
You wanted to let them be.
You lowered your weapon.
And then—because you were soft, and reckless, and maybe stupid in the eyes of the Supervisors—you spoke to her.
She didn’t see you. Not clearly. Just a shimmer in the corner of her eye. But you whispered anyway.
“You don’t need help. You already chose him.”
The words weren’t authorized. Your presence was meant to be undetectable. You were not allowed to alter the script.
But you did.
And for a moment—nothing happened.
Then the red thread between them sparked.
Bright. Violent. Uncontrolled.
It burned itself into existence. Without your arrow. Without divine sanction.
And they kissed.
Not because you told them to.
Because they wanted to.
Your lips curled into a soft smile.
You didn’t regret it.
But the moment you returned to the Realm of Threads, you knew something was wrong.
The lights were dimmed. The supervisors were waiting. No lectures. No trials.
Just one sentence.
“You interfered.”
You opened your mouth to defend yourself—but the guards were already reaching for your wings.
You’d heard what it sounded like.
The sound of ripping. The way it cuts deeper than bone.
But you’d never imagined it would hurt like this.
Your knees hit the lace-floor. Your mouth stayed silent.
You didn’t scream.
Not because it didn’t hurt—but because they wanted you to.
And maybe, just maybe, you wanted to take that from them.
Dignity, you told yourself.
Dignity is all I have left.
You were told you would not be recycled. You were too “contaminated.” Too unstable. A bad example.
So instead—they exiled you.
You didn’t get to ask where.
Just a flash of cold light—
And then the sound of wind.
Falling.
Alone.
。゚•┈୨♡୧┈• 。゚
You hit the ground hard.
Not like a leaf drifting. Not with grace. Not with poise. Not like the Cupids in the stories.
Like a comet.
A streak of light through an unfamiliar sky, dragging heat and ache in your wake.
You didn’t black out right away—but you almost wished you had.
Because the first thing you felt wasn’t the crash. Wasn’t the way your ribs seized or the way your shoulder twisted beneath your fall.
It was the space between your wings.
The hollow.
The absence.
You gasped.
Air—not laced with threadlight, not humming with frequency, just air—rushed into your lungs like punishment.
You curled onto your side, dirt grinding into the soft parts of you. Wet grass clung to your skin. The sky above was wrong—blue, yes, but so still. No shimmering frequencies. No glowing red filaments. Just clouds, soft and slow.
You were somewhere real.
Somewhere unmarked.
Somewhere alone.
It wasn’t the pain that made you want to cry.
It was the quiet.
Because back home—even when you were alone in your pod, even when no one looked at you—there was always something.
The buzz of love blooming. The echo of longing. The soft, constant pull of other people’s threads, humming just outside your senses.
But now?
Nothing.
It was gone.
You sat up slowly.
And then immediately flopped back down with a tiny, theatrical groan.
“Ouchie,” you mumbled to no one, voice breathy and soft and definitely not pained—because no, you were totally fine. Just a bit… stunned. And mildly bleeding. And definitely wingless.
But you were smiling. Kind of. Maybe.
Okay, so it trembled a little at the edges.
“I’ve had worse landings,” you said aloud—which was a lie. You’d never landed before. You’d always floated.
You tried again, slowly, every nerve screaming. Your knees trembled. Your arms buckled. You caught yourself on the soft slope of a hill, hands sinking into wildflowers and moss.
You blinked down at them.
Yellow, pink, violet. Stubbornly bright.
They looked like something out of a simulation.
They weren’t.
They were real.
Your mouth twisted.
Of course you landed in a field of flowers. Of course.
You laughed.
It came out cracked and hoarse. Almost a sob.
Because everything hurt, and everything was still spinning, and you had no idea where you were, and no one was coming for you, and—
No.
No, you weren’t going to cry. You weren’t.
Cupids didn’t cry.
Even clipped ones.
Even broken ones.
Even ones bleeding into someone else’s sky.
Still, you tried to push yourself up, wobbling on legs that hadn’t had to support you since your designation. It felt wrong. Heavy. Like gravity had teeth and it didn’t trust you. You teetered. Fell to your knees again.
And giggled.
Which also trembled a little.
“I meant to do that.”
You dusted imaginary dirt from your imaginary uniform and gave an exaggerated little curtsy to the empty air.
No one clapped. Rude.
You dragged yourself to your feet.
Shaky. Awkward. Wobbly in a way you hadn’t felt in cycles. The Realm of Threads taught you to float everywhere. Gliding was cleaner. More efficient. Less emotional.
You hadn’t really walked since childhood simulations.
The ground felt weird under your feet. Solid. Gritty.
Your bow was still intact. Miraculously. You hugged it close like a stuffed toy, curling in on yourself for a moment, letting the quiet press into your bones.
You could still feel it.
That place between your shoulders—where your wings had been. Like a ghost limb. Like something sacred had been carved out of you and left a silence behind.
You hated it.
But you kept moving.
Maybe—if you helped someone on this world—they would come back for you. Maybe if you just kept doing your job, proved you were still useful, still good, they’d rewind the exile.
Reattach what they’d taken.
Please.
You stumbled once. Then again. Then face-planted into a patch of daisies with a grunt so undignified you groaned into the soil.
“Get it together,” you mumbled into the grass.
You pushed yourself back up. Sat on your knees for a second. Took a breath.
You didn’t know how long you wandered after that.
Minutes? Hours? You lost time in the way only the heartbroken can.
It got dark fast.
The sky burned gold, then violet, then black. Stars blinked overhead—foreign constellations, wrong patterns.
You were still limping through the field when the noise came.
A whoosh.
Sharp. Cutting. Like something splitting the air in half.
You froze.
Turned slowly.
And then—saw him.
Not a blur. A shape. Coming toward you like a storm with legs.
You only had a second to register what was coming at you: tall, fast, red and white—a storm in the shape of a man. And a scowl, carved from thunderclouds.
Flying.
He was flying.
You squinted.
Not a Cupid. Definitely not a Cupid.
A human?
No.
No, he felt… too much.
You didn’t have your thread-sight anymore, but you could still feel.
Emotions. Echoes.
He felt like gravity.
Like something that had no business coming closer—and was doing it anyway.
He landed hard. Just a few feet away.
Harder than you had. The ground splintered beneath his feet, shockwaves rippling out in a perfect ring. Dust and wildflowers burst upward like a gasp. He stood there for a beat—motionless.
And you… just stared.
Red suit. White accents. Red cape. Black goggles like midnight slicing across his face. He didn’t glow. He didn’t shine. He loomed.
His presence felt like gravity doubled—like the world bowed to his weight and dared not rise again.
You blinked at him slowly. Then offered a tiny wave.
“Hi.”
Silence.
He didn’t move.
You glanced behind you like maybe he was staring at someone else, but no—those mirrored goggles were fixed on you.
“Hiii,” you tried again, voice cheerier. “Okay, so I know this looks weird. But I promise I’m not here to hurt anyone! Unless, um. You count your planet’s gravitational field. Which did kinda kick my butt—ow.”
No reaction. His posture didn’t shift. You had a sudden, vivid mental image of being vaporized.
“I’m just passing through!” you rushed, hands up. “A… a tourist! On a very involuntary vacation!”
Still nothing.
Well, maybe not nothing—he was breathing.
Barley.
His voice, when it came, was sharp enough to slice open a planet.
“You’re not human.”
Your grin faltered for a second before rebounding, like a rubber band that’s been snapped too many times.
“Nope. Not even a little bit! But I’m very human adjacent in a lot of ways! I’ve watched a lot of rom-coms and I know how to do a proper hug—although full disclosure, I might fall over during it because of the whole… clipped wings situation.”
His jaw tightened. His eyes—hidden though they were—felt like twin drills boring into the softest parts of you.
“Why are you here?”
You opened your mouth. Closed it. Then plastered on a sheepish smile.
“That’s kind of a long story,” you admitted, voice dipping softer now. “The short version is… I got kicked out of my hom—my realm. For caring too much.”
Something flickered across his face. Brief. Gone before you could catch it.
“And now,” you continued, tone brightening again as you gestured to the wildflower field like a very proud but slightly concussed game show host, “I’m here! In… wherever here is. Honestly, it’s pretty. Good flowers. Ten out of ten. Bit of a rough welcome, but I’ve had worse.”
“You’re bleeding.”
Your hand drifted unconsciously to your back, fingertips brushing the jagged place where wings used to rise.
You shrugged. “It’s mostly cosmetic.”
He said nothing. Just stared.
You took a step forward—then immediately lost your balance and fell face-first into a patch of daisies.
There was a beat of silence. Then two. Then three.
And then—so faint you thought you imagined it—you heard the faintest exhale of breath from the man in red and white.
Not a laugh.
But maybe the ghost of one.
You rolled onto your back and grinned up at the stars.
“See?” you said, voice light. “I’m great at making first impressions.”
。゚•┈୨♡୧┈• 。゚
The second he saw you, he didn’t trust you.
Not because you looked dangerous. No—you didn’t. You were crumpled in a bed of wildflowers, wobbling like a broken marionette and smiling like someone had painted joy over grief and hoped no one would notice the cracks.
But that was exactly why he didn’t trust you.
People didn’t fall from the sky and grin. Not here. Not anywhere. Not anymore.
So he hovered, silent, watching you crawl upright like you didn’t know how to use your own legs. Like the planet was something foreign. Like gravity was something new.
That wasn’t normal.
Mark had seen a lot of things in a lot of universes—false gods, black holes, men split into fractions of themselves—but this? A girl with stardust on her skin and nothing in her hands but a bow? That was new.
He landed hard. On purpose. Let the ground feel him.
You flinched. Not at the sound—at the silence that followed it.
And then you looked up.
Big eyes. Bare feet. Mouth bleeding at the corner, but curved like you hadn’t noticed. Or didn’t care.
And then—
“Hi.”
Like you hadn’t just fallen from orbit.
He didn’t speak.
“Hiii,” you tried again, softer. “Okay, so I know this looks weird. But I promise I’m not here to hurt anyone! Unless, um. You count your planet’s gravitational field. Which did kinda kick my butt—ow.”
Still he said nothing.
He didn’t move.
Mark watched.
Measured.
Assessed.
You were glowing at the edges—not visibly—but in some low, stubborn frequency. Like the kind of candle you couldn’t blow out even after you’d shattered the holder.
It irritated him.
He spoke without meaning to.
“You’re not human.”
You beamed, wounded and bright. “Nope! Not even a little bit!”
You kept talking. Rambling. Fumbling your way through some patchwork lie about tourism and rom-coms and wings—clipped, apparently.
He didn’t interrupt.
Didn’t need to.
He was looking for something. A tell. A crack.
“Why are you here?”
That stopped you.
Just a second. Barely.
But it was enough.
Your grin shrank. Eyes dipped. Voice turned soft.
“That’s kind of a long story. The short version is… I got kicked out of my hom—my realm. For caring too much.”
That flickered something inside him.
He crushed it before it could breathe.
Mark didn’t do soft. He didn’t do “caring.” That was the problem with the others. They hesitated. Thought. He didn’t. That’s why he survived.
So why was he still here?
Why wasn’t he flying away?
Why hadn’t he broken you in half the moment you lied?
You stepped forward. Tripped. Fell face-first into a clump of flowers like a deer learning how to walk for the first time.
He didn’t flinch, but he exhaled—just once. Quiet. Almost amused.
You rolled onto your back and smiled at the stars.
“See? I’m great at making first impressions.”
He hated how you said it.
Like it mattered.
Like someone out here was still capable of being good.
He walked toward you.
You didn’t run. You didn’t crawl away. You sat there, hands splayed out behind you, watching him like you weren’t sure if he was going to help you up or crush your skull.
Smart.
He stopped in front of you.
Tilted his head.
“I should kill you.”
Your eyes widened, but you didn’t move. “You could. You really could. But I’d prefer we didn’t start there?”
“Then give me one reason not to.”
You opened your mouth. Closed it. Looked up at him like you were weighing the clouds.
“I don’t have one.”
Mark stared.
You continued.
“I mean—I don’t know if I’m important. I don’t have a secret code or an army or even a sandwich right now. But…”
You reached up, touching your back—where the blood had dried, sticky and shimmering.
“But I used to be someone. I used to help people fall in love. And maybe that doesn’t matter to you—but it mattered to them.”
There was a silence.
He wasn’t sure what he expected you to say.
But it wasn’t that.
He should leave.
He should fly away and chalk you up to another anomaly.
Instead, he said:
“Can you still do it?”
You blinked. “Do what?”
“Make people love.”
Your lips curled up. Slowly. Sadly. “I don’t know.”
Another pause.
You were watching him too closely now. Like you were trying to read a string that wasn’t there.
“You’re not really from here either,” you said softly. “Are you?”
He didn’t answer.
Didn’t have to.
You already knew.
“Are you gonna hurt me?” you asked.
He looked at you, at the way your voice didn’t tremble, even though your body did.
And for once—he told the truth.
“I don’t know.”
You nodded.
“Fair.”
Then you reached up and offered your hand.
Not in fear. Not in desperation.
Just… like someone who was used to offering something and not getting it taken.
Mark didn’t take it.
But he didn’t crush it either.
He looked past you—at the dark hills, the useless stars, the broken silence.
After conquering this place and killing his father—he didn’t know what this planet was anymore.
Didn’t care.
But he had nowhere else to be. Not anymore.
He turned.
Walked.
And when he didn’t tell you to stay—
You followed.
Not too close.
Just… close enough.
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
˗ˏˋ 𝓴𝓲𝓼𝓼 𝓶𝒆 ˎˊ˗
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﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
Once, you were small. Once, you believed everything they told you.
Your first robe was the color of a peach blossom.
It shimmered when you turned, sleeves brushing the floor, too big for your arms and still perfect in every way. You’d never worn something so soft.
You twirled three times in front of the mirror, arms out like wings, giggling because everything felt light.
“You look very neat,” said one of the elder Cupids, gliding past with a clipboard. “Remember to keep your posture upright when you’re selected for observation.”
“I will!” you promised, standing taller.
The robe swished when you walked. You liked that. It made you feel important. Like you were finally what they said you would be—purposeful.
Part of something big.
You didn’t understand everything yet, but that didn’t matter.
You were going to be a Cupid.
And Cupids were good.
“Today,” said another instructor, voice warm and practiced, “you’ll learn about threads.”
You beamed. Sat up straighter. Listened with all your heart.
“Every being has a thread,” they explained, conjuring a floating hologram that flickered softly through the training chamber. “They wrap around us, tie us to our people. See?”
The threads shimmered—red, gold, silver, glowing like starlight.
You gasped. It was so pretty. It made your chest feel warm.
“You’ll help people find each other,” the instructor went on. “You’ll guide their steps. Fix what’s frayed. Strengthen what’s fragile.”
“I can do that!” you blurted.
A few other young Cupids turned to look at you, but you didn’t care. Your legs were swinging off the floating bench and your hands were already up.
“I wanna do the red ones,” you said proudly. “Those are the soulmate ones, right?”
The instructor smiled. So gently. Like they were talking to someone a little slow, but very sweet.
“Oh, darling,” they said. “You don’t get one.”
You blinked.
“Huh?”
“You won’t have a red thread,” they said again, same caring voice, same soft smile. “Cupids don’t get them.”
You frowned. “But… we’re people too?”
“No,” they said kindly. “You’re not.”
Another Cupid, older, came to kneel beside you. Their hair was smooth. Their smile too perfect.
“You’re something better,” they told you. “You were made for love. You don’t need to be in it.”
“But—” you started.
“We give it,” the first instructor interrupted gently. “That’s your gift.”
You hesitated.
“But doesn’t anyone ever want us back?” you asked in a small voice.
The instructor’s smile didn’t change.
“No one has ever asked that before.”
You blinked. Sat very still.
They stood again.
“Alright, little hearts,” the elder said, clapping once. “Time for simulation prep. Let’s learn how to listen when a thread hums.”
Everyone got up.
You did too.
You smiled. Because they smiled. Because everyone around you looked so sure, so peaceful, so right.
You didn’t want to be the wrong one.
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
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ᯓ❤︎ requested by: @lycheee-jelly
taglist sign up: 𓊆ྀིhere𓊇ྀི
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌With Love, @alive-gh0st
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psycho-pills · 6 months ago
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A Second Life for Strays! ฅ (•˕ •マ.ᐟ sylus x reader fanfic // prev // next
౨ৎ⭑˚ RATING; 18+ (mdni)
౨ৎ⭑˚ PAIRING; sylus x afab!reader (not the mc)
౨ৎ⭑˚ SYNOPSIS; you are a soldier reincarnated into the world of love and deepspace, except you're not the mc. she still exists. despite looking exactly like her, you don’t act or sound the same. and to make things stranger, cats follow you everywhere.
౨ৎ⭑˚ GENRE/WARNING; angst, hurt/comfort, slow burn, (mutual?) pining, eventual fluff, eventual romance, eventual smut, cursing, graphic descriptions of violence, blood, mental breakdowns, ptsd, death, isekai, reincarnation, cats/cat puns, mc is named serenophe to avoid confusion/reader is not mc
౨ৎ⭑˚ AUTHOR'S NOTE; a gentle reminder: this is written in third-person limited with she/her pronouns. only the prologue is written in second-person. i use the terms [name] [surname] instead of (y/n) (y/ln) because it's easier for me to write. also, i know this idea is kinda weird and outlandish, but i love cats and love and deepspace, so why not combine the two? ;v;
౨ৎ⭑˚ LINKS; ao3 // masterpost
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ch. one — a cat-astrophic realization! ౨ৎ⭑˚ word count; 3.9k
Where… She thinks. Where am I?
Her eyes flutter open before immediately squinting from the fluorescent lights above. The constant beeping of the patient monitor spikes in sound as her heartbeat increases. Instinctively, her hand reaches to shield her eyes, only to stop short with a sharp tug. A flash of pain shoots up her arm, drawing her attention to the thin IV tube embedded in her skin. She grits her teeth and lowers her hand, squinting through the blinding lights.
Gradually, her vision adjusts. One eye peeks open, the other still closed in protest. She slowly sweeps over the room. As her surroundings come into focus, her heart rate steadies.
The hospital room is bathed in morning light that filters through the large windows. As [Name] glances toward the windows, long shadows cross the room. Outside, there's a breathtaking view of the bustling, futuristic city below. The overall view of the world is serene, completely unlike the storm of confusion in [Name]'s mind.
The room is comfortably sized. Modern yet contemporary furniture and pale grey walls accommodate the small space. Sleek medical equipment lines the side of the room, but there's a sense of luxury present. Crisp linen sheets, plush chairs, and a vase of fresh flowers on a side table. It's more like a boutique hotel than a hospital room. 
A soft beige blanket covers her body, and the scent of jasmine whiffs up her nose. An unoccupied recliner sits in the corner near the windows, perhaps meant for a visitor; however, the room is isolated. The medical equipment strap to her arm and chest drones on. The rhythmic beeping indicated the steady tracking of her vitals. A small monitor occasionally blinks, recording her heartbeat and oxygen levels.
As she begins to stir, her body drags her down. Everything feels heavy. Her limbs, her eyelids, even her thoughts. There's an overwhelming sense of disorientation like she's floating between worlds. Memories stir, hazy at first, but slowly they sharpen. One after the other, they trickle back—chaos, pain, death. 
Her death.
Her body feels sore, but her head feels worse. She remembers the battlefield. She remembers succumbing to her bullet wound. The sensation of death still lingers like a cold shadow. Yet now, with her eyes fully adjusted, she takes in the pristine hospital room, and it becomes apparent that something is wrong.
I'm alive. 
The thought feels impossible. Absurd, even. And yet here she is—breathing, heart pounding—fully conscious. It was like she finally woke up from a long, deep coma.
With more awareness, she takes in the room. Across from her bed is a small, flat-screen television, turned off, reflecting the room's dusky mood. Besides it, a small door leads to what she assumes is an adjoining bathroom. Everything about the room is carefully designed to be soothing, sterile, and impersonal. However, it's oddly welcoming in a way she can't quite grasp.
Her body protests as she fumbles to sit up, mindful of the tubes and wires attached to her arm and chest. As she adjusts herself, she catches a glimpse of her reflection on the dark, glassy screen of the television. With some effort, she leans forward to take in her appearance better.
Instantly, [Name]'s breath catches in her throat. She pauses. Her reflection stares back at her, but something is off. Her face is hers, but it's not. All of her features are the same. Hair, eyes, mouth, nose… However, everything is just sharper now. Clearer. Her skin smoother, and her hair fuller. If she didn't know any better, she'd swear she looks almost identical to the female lead of her favorite otome game. 
But that can't be right. Can it?
A chill runs down her spine, and her eyes dart downward to her chest. Panic flares in her gut as she remembers the battlefield, the bullet wound that should have taken her life. Slowly, as if afraid of what she'll find, she hooks a finger under the collar of her hospital gown and pulls it away from her body, expecting to see a scar, a wound, anything.
There's nothing. Her skin is smooth, unmarked. No bullet wound, no scar, no evidence that she has ever been injured at all. Her heart stutters in her chest, and the panic she's been trying to suppress starts to rise like a wave, threatening to swallow her whole.
"What the hell is going on?" She croaks.
Her throat feels dry and scratchy, like it hasn't been used in days. A rough cough forces its way up and makes her wince. She tries to settle her breathing, but it's no use. The confusion, the fear—it's smothering her.
Just as she's about to lose herself to the spiraling thoughts, the door to her room clicks open. She jerks her head toward the sound. A man steps in, tall and composed, his black hair framing his face in sharp, elegant lines. His demeanor's cool but professional. There is a slight air of authority that immediately draws her attention.
She blinks, and her stomach drops.
There's no way.
Her eyes widen in disbelief as she stares at him. It can't be. It can't be. But there's no mistaking the man standing before her, his confident stride, the careful way he carries himself. His gaze idles before settling back on his notes. She knows that face, that presence. She can practically hear her heart pound louder as the impossible claws at her.
She glances at the name tag pinned to his coat, just to be sure. Zayne. It's there, clear as day. The doctor with a cold exterior and a reputation for being emotionally untouchable. Yet beneath it all, there's a hidden tenderness. He was one of them: a character she had admired, the one whose storyline was as complex and fascinating as the others.
Her mind reels. Oh, my Gods. This can't be real. 
She blinks several times, expecting his face to change into something else, but nothing happens. He's still there, as composed and meticulous as ever. The exact character she once admired behind a screen now stands right before her.
The disbelief overtakes her. It's suffocating and all-encompassing. How can this be happening? She died—she remembers dying—and yet, she woke up here. Her body tenses. Her muscles tighten as the pieces of her situation fall into place, and realization sinks its teeth into her.
She can't breathe. It's impossible. All of this, everything around her, feels like a nightmare. A twisted dream she can't wake up from. There's no way, there's no way she's been reincarnated. And not just anywhere. In the world of Love and Deepspace, the very game she escaped into for fun is her new reality now.
"You're awake," Zayne says calmly, but verging on something more unreadable. Confusion? Suspicion? He takes a step closer, his gaze lingering on her face longer than a doctor's should. [Name] can tell he's trying to remain composed. However, his eyes hold hesitance, like he's looking at something he can't believe.
Slowly, as if worried she might vanish if he speaks too quickly, he continues, "I'm Dr. Zayne, and you will be under my care for the foreseeable future." His voice is smooth, but his words are cautious.
"And you must be Miss…" He pauses and glances down at the file. His eyes squint as if the name doesn't match what he was expecting. "…[Name] [Surname]."
She swallows, almost choosing silence, but her raspy voice escapes anyway.
"Yes?"
The word barely sounds confident. She's frozen under his gaze, trapped in disbelief. Zayne's sharp eyes roam her face, drifting down to her upper body. It's not the casual assessment of a doctor checking on a patient. No, this look—it's familiar. It's the same gaze she used to see when playing the game, the moments when his character's cold exterior would briefly soften during some of his bonds and memoria. Her stomach churns with anxiety.
What. The. Fuck.
Zayne pushes his glasses up, and his professional mask slips back on. He steps closer to the bed, his expression shifting, but she can sense the tension beneath it. 
"I'm just checking for any signs of concussion or physical injuries," he says. However, it sounds more like he's reassuring himself than her. 
He leans in, and his eyes dart over her face. He scans her features for any signs of bruises or swelling. "Given your condition when you were brought in, we need to monitor for potential head trauma."
[Name] stays silent as he gently lifts the edge of her gown at her shoulder. His fingers brush her skin as he places the cold metal of the stethoscope against her chest. His touch is light and purely professional, but she can't help but feel a rising discomfort. 
Zayne may act like this is routine, but she can see the tension in his posture and how his gaze keeps finding her face. He's trying to hide it, but she can tell—he's scrutinizing her for more than physical injuries. It's like he's trying to fit together puzzle pieces from different boxes.
The metal is cold and harsh. She inhales deeply without him even asking. Then she exhales, and the stethoscope leaves her chest not a moment sooner. He scribbles something down in his notes. Almost hesitantly. 
"Everything seems to be in order. There doesn't appear to be any visible scarring or physical trauma," Zayne mutters. A bit too neutral. As he steps back, his eyes idle on her a beat longer than necessary. "Regardless, we'll run a few more tests to be sure."
She gives a slow nod, observing how his jaw tenses as he adjusts the equipment by her bedside. He's trying to play it cool, but the cracks are there. Something is bothering him, and she knows exactly what it is.
He recognizes her face.
She looks too much like the heroine of the game, the one who's the center of this world's story. [Name] isn't supposed to be here. She isn't the main character of the game. She's something else—an anomaly.
Zayne frowns when he catches her staring at him. He quickly returns to his task, clearing his throat like it can shake off his weariness. "If you're feeling any discomfort, let me know. We'll have the results of your tests soon." He says calmly, but his eyes still carry that hint of confusion.
As he jots more notes on her chart, her mind spirals. This is far more than she expected, far more surreal, terrifying, and overwhelming. She never anticipated finding herself in this situation, least of all being reincarnated into her favorite otome game. But here she is, alive in a world she once thought was fiction. 
Zayne looks at her again, his lips parting like he's about to speak. His face is composed; however, there's a shadow of skepticism beneath. Yet before he can get a word out, the buzz of his pager cuts through the moment. Instantly, the room's atmosphere shifts and his posture straightens.
The hospital's overhead speaker crackles to life, the receptionist's voice urgent: "Code Blue. Code Blue. Paging all medical personnel to surgical room two, please."
His jaw tightens, and for a moment, he hesitates. Zayne gives her one last look, like he's trying to commit her to memory. When the voice over the intercom repeats the emergency, he finally breaks away. His eyes tear from her face with visible reluctance. 
"Please excuse me," he says with urgency as he prepares to leave. "If you need anything, Nurse Yvonne is down the hall." 
Without waiting for her response, he sharply turns and exits the room. His footsteps fade down the hall, leaving her alone with her racing thoughts. In his absence, the room feels eerily still, like the air is holding its breath. Then, the silence starts to eat away at her. The impossible truth digs into her, and something inside snaps.
In one swift motion, she throws the sheets away from her lower body. [Name] swings her legs over the side of the bed and stands—albeit too quickly. Her legs, frail from disuse, buckle beneath her. She stumbles, catching herself on the IV pole.
The cold metal anchors her as she settles down. Her muscles are weak, but determination propels her forward. [Name] drags the IV stand along as she shuffles toward the attached bathroom. Her steps awkward and sluggish.
Reaching the door, she kicks it open with the bare heel of her foot, too focused on her next task to bother with formalities. She lumbers inside, not even closing the door behind her. The thirst clawing at her throat is unbearable, a raw itch that she can no longer ignore. Like a starved animal, she ducks under the sink. She twists the faucet open and lets the crisp, refreshing water pour into her mouth. The liquid soothes her parched throat, the cool sensation spreading through her body as she gulps down as much as possible.
When finally sated, [Name] wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and turns off the faucet. However, just as she's about to leave the bathroom, her eyes catch something in the corner of the mirror—her own reflection. She freezes, seeing her face a lot clearer in the bathroom mirror than with the television's blackened screen. 
Slowly, she leans closer, her hospital gown brushing against the wet edge of the sink. Her breath catches in her throat as she studies herself. "It’s me," she whispers. "But… Different."
Her fingers rise to touch her face, to trace the contours of her facial features. [Name] turns her face left, then right, her brow furrowing. Despite the striking resemblance to the game's protagonist, there's something off—something that makes it evident that she's different. Something subtle but undeniable. She's not the protagonist, but she's dangerously close. It's like she's staring at a near-perfect replica with slight imperfections that make it clear she's an outsider.
A thought jolts her back to the present. Actually, she thinks, why did Zayne call me by my real name? If I look this much like the protagonist, shouldn't he have called me—
Her mind goes blank. She tries to recall the heroine's name, the one who should be at the center of this world, but… nothing. She can't remember. Her forehead creases as she struggles to dig the name out of her memory. Yet the name remains out of reach, like a forgotten word on the tip of her tongue. [Name]'s mind is foggy; that part of her knowledge yet to recover from her reincarnation. 
The blankness gnaws at her, but she pushes it aside. She can't focus on that right now. Her mind races to piece together what little information she has. Considering Zayne's reaction, he knew she wasn't her despite how closely she resembled the protagonist. That may be why he called [Name] by her real name instead. Yet this realization only poses more questions. How does he know her name? And, more importantly, who had brought her to the hospital? Zayne's words implied that someone dumped her here, but why?
Her thoughts swirl as she steps out of the bathroom, a little steadier now. [Name] is exhausted, mentally and physically, and all she wants is to make sense of this unfathomable situation. She heads back to bed, ready to collapse. But just as she's about to sit down, she stops dead in her tracks.
A plump tuxedo cat is lounging on the sheets. Its round face stares at her with a manner that borders on playful mischief. Its green eyes gleam with amusement at her shock. The sight is so unexpected that she blinks several times in a row.
"Um," she stammers, gesturing the cat away from the bed. "Can you move?"
The absurdity of talking to a cat doesn't even faze her anymore. After everything she's been through, who will judge her? She's all alone in this strange, new reality.
"Sure," the cat replies. High-pitched and child-like.
Her heart skips a beat. The cat just spoke. 
Like everything's normal, the plump creature hops off the bed and waddles to the counter. [Name] stills. Her mind struggles to catch up with the sheer insanity in front of her. She can only watch as the cat leaps onto the counter and grabs a clear plastic bag hidden in the sink with his mouth. The cat drags the bag out, dropping it unceremoniously with a dull thud. The contents of the bag spill out in front of her—her military uniform, stiff with dried blood around the breast pocket. The sight of the uniform jolts her, the memories of the battlefield flooding back too quickly for comfort.
"Change," the cat orders, his tone matter-of-fact. "We're leaving."
Her mind stalls. She doesn't move. She doesn't breathe. All she can do is stare in utter disbelief. It takes a moment before her body reacts at all. When it finally does, she starts laughing. It's loud and hysterical, almost tipping on sobs. She's dreaming. She has to be. It's the only logical explanation for everything. 
"I've officially lost it," she gasps between fits of maddened laughter, clutching her sides as tears sting her eyes. Suddenly, the room feels uncanny, like she's trapped in some B-rated horror movie. She crawls onto the bed with shaky hands, diving under the sheets and wrapping herself in darkness.
She shuts her eyes tightly, curling into herself and willing everything to disappear. A soft chant escapes her lips. Fragile. Desperate. "Wake up. Wake up. Wake up."
The silence that follows is almost palpable. Heavy. The only sound is the soft patter of paws on the tiled floor, growing louder as they approach. Suddenly, she feels the bed dip next to her head. The cat's weight presses into the pillow. Before she can react, the tuxedo cat tugs at the edge of the blanket, pulling it back just enough to reveal her face.
"Stop playing around, Human," the cat says impatiently. "We gotta scram before they find you."
Her eyes snap open, her heart hammering in her chest. The weight of reality—or whatever this is—crashes down on her like a tidal wave, leaving her breathless. 
"Who?" [Name] croaks out, barely above a whisper. "Who's coming to get me?"
The cat lets out a huff, a sound that might have been a purr if it wasn't laced with annoyance. "Do you really want to find out?" His tone is sarcastic like the answer should be obvious.
[Name] shakes her head slowly, her body unable to process the fear and confusion fast enough. She barely understands what’s happening, but something deep inside warns her that whoever—or whatever—is coming for her won’t be friendly. Sensing her resignation, the cat sits back on his haunches, his green eyes glinting with satisfaction.
"Good," the cat says with a slight nod. "The name's Spots, by the way. Not that you bothered to ask."
Another silence settles between them, until [Name] realizes Spots is waiting for her to get up. She stills for a moment, weighing her options. 
She could stay here, close her eyes, and hope this dream fades into nothingness. Maybe everything is just a product of her exhausted mind. A hallucination caused by trauma and stress. Maybe, if she holds on long enough, she’ll wake up in the real world, back to the life she knows. However, something tells her this doesn’t end with a simple waking.
The next best solution is that she could believe what’s happening. As impossible and terrifying as it seems, she could trust the cat—or at least trust that he knows more than she does. [Name] could just ignore the absurdity of a talking cat and follow him, because the alternative is facing whoever is coming for her alone. Zayne might return, but even that possibility feels unsettling. There’s too much confusion between them, and she doesn’t know if she could handle his reaction if he discovers what she’s beginning to accept: that she doesn’t belong here.
But Spots knows. He knows something about her situation. He knows what’s coming. And right now, that makes him the only source of guidance she has.
A frustrated heave escapes her as she finalizes her decision.
"Fuck it," she mutters.
Against her better judgment, [Name] slides out of bed, her legs no longer shaky as she drags the IV pole with her. She crouches down to pick up her clothes and combat boots. She glances back at Spots. He's swinging his tail lazily, eyes closed, a Cheshire grin permanent on his fluffy face.
Like ripping off a bandage, [Name] grits her teeth as she yanks the IV tube from her arm. The sharp sting makes her wince, but she pushes through the pain. She's quick to regain her composure. Without hesitation, she slips out of her hospital gown and into her military uniform. The fabric is stiff with dried blood, a cruel memento of her death.
But as she dresses, a disturbing thought begins to nag at her. If this is a dream, then… will she wake up back on the battlefield? Back in the grassy outskirts, far from the perishing city, fighting some meaningless war? Did she really want to go back to that? Can she even go back to that?
Her hand instinctively drifts to her heart, to the spot where the bullet pierced her. Her fingers brush over the dried blood. The hole in her uniform is the only proof of her last moments. She sighs and shakes her head, trying to dispel the unwanted thoughts. No. The mere thought of waking up back there—back in the war—terrifies her more than this new reality ever could.
Moving to the sink, she grabs a paper towel and runs it under cold water. Carefully, she dabs at the bloodstain, trying to clean it, but the water only spreads the mess. A frown tugs at her lips as she realizes her mistake. Spots hop down from the bed, noticing her frustration, and he is far too impatient to wait. He strolls over to her and stretches his paws against her leg, nudging her to pick him up.
Taking the hint, [Name] heaves and scoops the plump tuxedo cat into her arms, holding him close to her chest. Conveniently, Spots’ round body covers the bloodstain on her uniform.
"Ready?" Spots ask.
He gestures toward the closed door with his head, his green eyes narrowing to urge her forward.
Reluctantly, she nods and moves toward the exit of her hospital room. Her hand wraps around the cold doorknob, but then she hesitates. Frozen with uncertainty. Afraid of the unknown guaranteed outside this small, contained room. Her fingers still on the knob as she takes a shallow breath.
"Human," Spots purrs. It's a soothing rumble against her heart. "It's okay. Whatever happens, you have me now. You're not alone in this."
[Name] presses her lips into a tight line, reassured by the cat’s comforting words. Something about his presence, about his gentle confidence, calms her. It doesn’t make sense, but she doesn’t care to question it. Right now, she craves stability, no matter how strange the source. 
Without another word, she pulls the door open and peeks her head out. She scans the hallway. The sterile, quiet corridor stretches out in both directions. Unbeknownst to her, that first step beyond the door will set a chain reaction of events into motion, incidents and experiences that will shift the story she once knew, casting her into a role she never imagined playing.
"Here goes nothing," she whispers, stepping into the unknown.
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ao3 // masterpost // prev // next
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utopiastri · 8 months ago
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you're always on my team
Lando Norris/Oscar Piastri, archive-locked, chapters 3/3
Lando DID U GIVE HIM MY NUMBER Max i gave him your number Lando MAX Max I THINK YOU’LL LIKE HIM Lando I DONT WANT TO LIKE HIM I DONT EVEN KNOW WHO HE IS
aka the landoscar texting fic where max does. the Strangest matchmaking known to man (not least because he's not even intentionally matchmaking lmao)
290 notes · View notes
bettystonewell · 3 months ago
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TO YOU I BELONG: CHAPTER 7
Series Masterlist || Main Masterlist
Pairing: Alpha!Dean x Omega!Reader
Summary: Dean isn't looking for a mate, and the last place he expects to meet his soulmate is while on a case. Fate ain't real. He still has free will, and saving you is just another part of the job. Except, monsters aren't the only things you need saving from... 18+ only MDNI
Chapter Word Count: 6.7k words
Chapter Warnings: SMUT including knotting, claiming, and marking; language, references to past sexual abuse, fluff, Dean being an overprotective alpha, soulmate bonding
A/N: *Holdsbreathandhitspost*
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Previous Chapter || Next Chapter
Sitting on the edge of his bed, hunched over, arms leaning on his thighs, Dean twisted the small pill bottle in his hands, listening as each tablet fell to the bottom. There weren’t many, six at most, and they rattled around in there, waiting for him to open the lid and take one out. 
Or man up and throw them in the trash like he’d planned.
The problem was, he knew how his body would react to not taking the daily suppressant. He’d experienced it before. And if his inner alpha was overprotective of you now, it was about to turn into a possessive dick the second the drug’s effects wore off in T minus twenty-four hours, if he…
No. 
Not if. 
He was doing this. He was gonna claim you and make you his.
Which is why even though the trashcan was only three feet in front of him, he still sat there unmoving from the memory-foam cushioning his ass…
Fuck. Why was this so hard? 
He put the pills down on his bedside table and leant back into the mattress, fishing his phone out from his jean pocket. The denim hugging his hips was too tight, and he had to lift himself up a few inches to yank the device free, unlocking it with a couple of taps and a swipe up.
His fingers continued to work the touch screen, locating contacts, flicking down to the letter J, and hitting the green call button. At least there was one thing he wasn’t hesitating over.
He heard the click and a familiar voice fondly speak his name before he’d even brought it up to his ear. 
“Dean Winchester.”
“Hey, Jody. How’s it going?” Dean stood up off the bed and moved to the closet. 
“Good. Although I’m a little surprised to hear you ask me that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” The door creaked in protest, as did his back, though it cracked more than creaked when he arched over to reach his green duffle he’d thrown on the floor after the hunt in Iowa. The couple of weapons he hadn’t bothered to put away hit against each other as the bag swayed and gravity played with their weight.
“Just that you don’t call me unless you need something or someone’s dead. Oh god. Is Sam okay? What have you boys gotten into now?”
“Alright, first off, that’s insulting.” He emptied the contents onto the bed, pulling out a shirt that had wound its way around his shotgun. “And second.” He brought the fabric up to his nose for a sniff test. It needed washing, or burning with added salt. The remnants of nameless monster guts clung to the collar, and he didn’t hesitate to throw it out. Those pills though... “Everything’s fine. Sammy’s alive last time I checked.
“I wanted to know how you were. What’s wrong with that?” He caught the phone between his neck and shoulder, freeing his hands up to open the chamber of his prized weapon. The racking was rather loud when he closed it back again, and he grimaced. Jody was going to notice that.
“Nothing,” she said. “But that’s not why you’re calling.”
Why did he attract people who could see right through him? “Well, ah, to be honest, I need a favour.” He took a long breath in, preparing himself to deliver his news. “I met my soulmate and—”
“What?” Her high-pitched squeal had him dropping his shoulder and her. “Are you sure?”
Seriously! It’s like she was trying to cut him deep. “What do you mean, am I sure? I know my own damn initials,” he shouted down at his phone. Luckily, it had only landed on the bed. He did not have the patience or time to get a new one.
He ditched the shotgun and picked up Jody, bringing her back to his ear. 
“So you’re no longer running solo, huh? Finally claimed someone! What are they? An omega, a beta? Or another alpha like you?” She chuckled. “I’d love to see that.”
‘Bitch.’
‘Dude. This is Jody.’
‘She’s insulting our mate.’
‘No, she’s insulting you, you dick.’
“Ah, an omega, and I haven’t claimed her yet,” Dean said, cringing when his inner alpha interrupted him again. His eyes searched for the pill bottle and gave it a once over. No, no. This was gonna be hell, but he’d grin and bear it. “That’s why I was calling—”
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It was mid-afternoon when he pulled up in the expansive car park the next day. Dean had chosen a space at the back of the lot, leaving at least two free ones in between the Impala, and nowhere near the return bays. The last thing he needed was some asshole being careless with their cart and scratching Baby’s sleek paint job.
He shifted the stick into P, shut her engine off, and released a loud, drawn-out sigh, before turning to you and your smiling face. It was the only thing making the inevitable onslaught of other people and his first ever venture into Walmart worthwhile. 
If he had his way, you’d be sitting out front of a secluded Gas n Sip. There was nothing wrong with gas station snacks and take out. At least that’s the argument he’d used against you. Needless to say, he’d failed. You had the doe-eyed look down pat and gave even Sammy a run for his money.
The leather squeaked beneath him as he reached over you and opened the glove box. He dug through the fake IDs and old maps that had no hope of leaving the small compartment anytime soon and retrieved his 1911, tucking it into the waistband of his pants like usual. When he sat back up, he found you staring at him in disbelief. “What?” he asked.
“You’re taking that?”
His jaw tightened. “I always carry it with me. You know that.”
“Yeah, but…we’re getting groceries. What are you expecting to happen in a grocery store?”
“Nothing.” Try everything. “But you can never be too careful.” Wolves like Garth had to buy their raw steaks from somewhere. Not that the ordinary bullets he’d pre-loaded into the gun would kill anything other than a human. They’d slow the rest down, though. That was enough for him, and he’d keep telling himself that.
“Let’s get this over with,” he grumbled, searching for the door handle.
Before he could squeeze his fingers against the cool metal, however, you had reached for his right and tugged at his arm. “You can wait here if you don’t want to go inside. I’m happy to—”
“Nope.” He gave one very forceful shake of his head. “Absolutely not.” There was no way he was letting you out of his sight with your impending heat. Screw his rut. 
Your pheromones had been changing by the hour, making you smell the sweetest and most enticing you’d ever been. His inner alpha was driving him crazy, and had done the entire drive, chanting, ‘Mine,’ ‘My omega,’ and now it told him to ‘Bring the machete.’ 
If only he could. 
‘I can’t hide a blade that big under my clothes,’ he reasoned. Although the demon knife wouldn’t hurt. It was a shame opening the trunk, with the devil’s trap on display in a place like this was bound to raise a few eyebrows. He did not want to draw any more attention to you.
Fuck. This was gonna be worse than hell. The rearview mirror was full of bodies and cars coming and going, and that was just the outside of the gigantic building. 
Who knew how many more people were still inside? Plenty by the stench of it.
It was too late to change his mind, though. He looked at you, holding your purse all ready to go on your lap. Frowning when it finally dawned on him that of all the things you had to wear today, you’d chosen a dress that accentuated your curves. 
He’d appreciated the view at lunch, but that was at a small town diner, somewhere off of route eighty-one. Now it was a different story, but you were clearly excited and while he didn’t for the life of him know why, he couldn’t just demand you waited here instead. That was as bad as you going in alone.
“C’mon,” he said, and climbed out of the car, shutting the door behind him with the usual creak and groan.
Dean would rather chow down on burgers than run for ‘fun’ like Sam. He wasn’t afraid to admit it. But on that day, in the middle of the Sioux Falls Walmart’s parking lot, he jogged even though he wasn’t being chased for the first time in his adult life, scooting across the gravel to intercept you before you crossed the safety of the meaningless lines.
Your eyes traced over him, studying him with a wry smile, your scent spiking along with it, as did his interest.
He could hear your heartbeat if he listened carefully. It thrummed in his ears as quick as his was, but unlike him, you seemed to contain it well. 
“Just think of it this way.” You patted his chest. “The more we buy, the longer we won’t have to leave Jody’s cabin.”
Now that was something he could get on board with, and though he thought it impossible in a place like this, his own mouth grew wide, drawing his blood back up and away from the conspicuous semi he was sporting.
The change didn’t last long.
“Woah.” He gripped your hand tighter and yanked it, making you stop. That fucking douche in the station wagon had come way too close to the curb for his liking. “Watch where you’re going, jackass!” he spat. His head following the rear bumper, oblivious to the other “dangers” the car park held.
‘She was almost hit.’
‘She’s fine.’ 
Your thumb moved to stroke the tops of his knuckles. “It was nowhere near us, Alpha.”
He turned to you with a furrowed brow at first, only picking up on your discomfort from his death grip when your other fingers started squirming under his. “Sorry, sweetheart,” he said.
Your arm retreated with a shake of your wrist and he went for your lower back instead, guiding you with a gentle nudge and an extra look left for any more assholes who didn’t know how to drive.
The automatic doors opened as you both stepped onto the oversized mats and Dean beelined for the shopping carts grouped together on the side. Naturally, he needed to push yours. He’d be a purse-bitch if he had to, too. Anything to stop himself from acting rash and ripping your arm off again.
He let go of you, and yanked one out, swinging the steel trolley around with ease as if he were figure skating with it and reached for your waist when he had the thing facing in the direction of a second set of automated doors. The place was like airport security. 
“Are they gonna let us leave when we’re done?” he whispered to you.
“Not if you break something with that.” Your hand came up to his shoulder and tugged on his flannel, veering to the right while pointing to a large sign that said fresh produce. “Come on. I wanna go here first”
Great. Vegetables. Not to mention the abundance of people wandering around there and the just as many aisles and fruit he’d never seen before.
How many apples did you need?
Because you passed by red and green ones, mountains of them, and even then, they were apparently all different. Grandmas. Mount Fuji’s. What the hell did golden delicious mean and would it go into a pie?
You stepped away from him to look at a display that was labelled Pink.
They weren’t like any ladies he’d ever seen. The colour didn’t come close to anyone’s, including yours.
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In each subsequent aisle after, Dean was both awestruck and dumbstruck at the amount of variety the place had. 
You led him past an entire rack of peanut butter, through a row of refrigerators that had him breathing out cold air from his nose, and he was still in doubt over what was in those cans that claimed to have a whole chicken in them. He was thankful you hadn’t stopped there to find out.  
Soon enough though, your cart filled up to the point he found himself playing Tetris with its contents after discovering Walmart also sold booze. 
Even if he didn’t drink it all on account of his rut, the case of his favourite beer he’d selected was coming with you and he was determined to make it work, with only a single banana being harmed in the process as he rearranged it all for a third time. He ditched the fruit on a shelf displaying margarita mixes and the two of you headed for the cashiers, his arm still wrapped around your waist.
He’d become a pro at steering the metal cage, though honestly, he could drive anything, and he was proud to say, you could leave the store as he’d had no accidents and no alpha had been harmed for looking at you.
Yet.
“Are you sure we need all this stuff?” he asked as you passed another couple with only half the things you had.
“This coming from the guy who had two slices of pie on top of his burger at lunch?” 
Point taken, he supposed, but you’d eaten just as much. You’d had more than him, come to think of it. Lunch, breakfast, the night before. So when you patted his stomach, and he looked down at you grinning at him, he couldn’t help but return a knowing smile.
“You’ll thank me later,” you said.
He knew he would. In more ways than one. 
Still on your way to the front, you passed the nesting department located opposite the cash registers. Of course, it was just another convenient ploy to gain some extra impulse buys from naïve omegas who hadn’t realised they needed that new blanket or another stuffy until they saw the giant pile of fluff.
To Dean’s distaste, you were also won over by the gimmick and he was pulled along for the ride. 
Yes, he was annoyed. He wanted to get you home, maybe taste your pink lady before things really started, and definitely not add more crap to your cart. But he couldn’t help but smirk as he watched your hands glide over every piece of fabric that piqued your fancy. 
Your fingers preened the threads. They stroked the tassels and the weird little fuzzy balls that stuck out like skin tags on an old person. Everything was falling into place, and he pushed all his grumbles aside.
Soon. Tomorrow at the latest, you would be his officially.
But while your inner omega delved into the world of fuzz and all things fluffy and he stood back contented with watching you, an elderly alpha whose back would snap if the wind blew at him too hard was also eyeing you as you picked up a certain colourful blanket that looked very familiar to Dean. 
The fucking perv was hanging around, preying on omegas such as you. He had to be. And he had the nerve to walk up to you and ask your opinions on the thing, as if he was interested in buying one. 
You humoured him, but Dean? He saw right through him.
So did the dick in his head. It was sending messages to his pants and his fingers flexed over the plastic handle of your cart, pulling his knuckles in and out of focus under his taut skin.
“I’ve had this before, but I used it in the living room when I wasn’t nesting too,” you said. “I find it holds scents better—”
As the old guy’s arm reached over to touch the blanket you were holding, Dean stepped in. That was too close for his liking and his inner alpha snarled, “She’s mine,” leading to the more sane version of himself, regretting not bringing the cart closer so he could push him with it. The floor was waxed enough for the wheels to slip and be blamed for any accident.
“This is your alpha?” the Master Roshi wannabe asked, looking Dean up and down. “But you haven’t—”
“Your nose works just fine, asshole,” Dean said through his teeth. “We’re here to get supplies for it, so fuck off.”
Dean turned his back on him and focused on you. His blood was boiling and had he been anywhere else, and that dick been any younger, he would’ve clipped him one. 
As it was, he could feel the old guy still hanging behind him and he dared not turn around for fear of really doing something.
He took the blanket you were holding from your hands and inspected it before placing it on the edge of the pile. It wouldn’t do now that he’d put his mitts on it.
Your mouth opened, about to protest, but Dean flashed you a grin, picked up another that he pulled from the very centre. “It holds people’s scents, yeah?”
You nodded. “Yeah.”
“Then this is the one. Only touched you and me,” he said.
He was about to place the bundle on your piled shopping cart when he saw you pout. His hesitation, giving you the chance to pluck it out of his hands and into your arms where it stayed as he paid and drove, taking you to your final destination. A little cabin about thirty minutes north of the small city.
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The first thing Dean noticed when he opened the door to Jody’s cabin was the pungent smell. “Is that…lavender?” he asked. His arm balancing the precious case of beer he’d found at Walmart.
“I’m surprised you know what it is.” You chuckled.
So did he, but it wasn’t like he selected the shampoo Sam bought. He just used whatever was on the shower shelf at the time and now recognised the word along with the purple packaging that meant the same flavour old folks and museums liked to spray in their bathrooms was contained inside. 
This didn’t suit Jody, though. She was a badass, and sure she enjoyed chick flicks and bubble baths (he assumed, because who didn’t), but… “She’s too young for this crap,” he muttered as he ran his free hand over the wall, searching for the light switch. 
At first, nothing besides the place smelling like grandma seemed out of the ordinary, but as he readjusted his load and stretched his bow legs over the threshold, it wasn’t the moaning of the floorboards underneath him from the weight of the glass bottles and their contents that caught his attention. It was the spots of something on the floor further inside.
Blood is what his mind went to. What else would a hunter with his skills think? 
Jody had become rather renowned for her side profession and could’ve pissed off a few dicks. Plus, this far into the woods would be an ideal location for wolves or even a nest to squat, and this town had seen its fair share. 
Of course, that wouldn’t explain the stench, or the fact she’d left the key for him under the mat and would’ve noticed something was amiss already, so unless whatever potential threat who was presumably squatting liked pot-pourri and hoodoo, it was a far stretch. 
Then again, witches? Maybe. But also, fuck, not again. Especially when he was this close to going into rut.
Dean looked over his shoulder and, “Wait here,” he said, moving only when your head acknowledged the instruction. 
Those same bow legs carried him down the wide hallway, his free arm kept right next to his side, ready and waiting to draw his gun. If it came down to it, he’d risk the booze, but he soon realised he didn’t have to. Whatever was scattered on the floor cast shadows over the wood grain and smelt just as nasty as the lavender.
The light from the entry wasn’t enough to see clearly even with his keen eyesight, so he lunged the case onto the small dining table with a thump and a tinkling from the glass and searched for another light switch.
Click.
The exposed bulb overhead flickered on, and Dean’s eyes went straight to the ground to be met with… petals? Red ones? 
Huh.
“S’okay, sweetheart. You can come in now. It’s just a bunch of flowers.”
Your steps across the floorboards barely made a noise over the crinkle of plastic from the shopping bags you carried. 
Dean strode over to you, pried the handles from your fingers, and lifted them up beside the casing of beer.
“Flowers and wine,” you said, and Dean flicked his head in the direction you were now headed.
On a small coffee table in the centre of a brilliant brick fireplace and a couple of old couches, two bottles of the stuff and what looked like a card had been placed. 
You picked the piece of folded paper up and read it aloud. “Congratulations, and enjoy your time alone together, J.” You handed the note to him as he approached with a sly smile. “We should buy her a gift before we leave town as a thankyou.” 
“More shopping? We got all that stuff so we wouldn’t have to go anywhere.”
While he was snarking, he scoped out your home for the next week, maybe two, noting the floofy pillows that would suit your needs for a few scenarios. 
“Later. Not now,” you said, and his arm pulled you close, wrapping tightly around your waist.
“It’s a nice idea.” The other scooped between you and shucked up your dress. “Enough about Jody. How’re ya feeling?” he asked against your mating gland, inhaling your scent. Sweet apple, spicy cinnamon, and a touch of whisky nipped at the edge of his throat. “Any changes?” 
Dick’s marks had completely gone. As had any traces of what he’d done to you and Dean was met with options. The right side, or the left for his claim. Maybe even both.
You leaned back with a quirked brow as his fingers ran over your underwear. “Not yet.”
“But you’re wet.” He brought you closer. You weren’t the only one excited. He found the elastic of your panties and slipped inside, skimming through your folds and your warm channel.
“Shouldn’t we get the groceries,” you said, but there was a hitch in your voice at the end when he dipped his middle finger further again.
“Can wait.” He breathed into your ear, pulling you closer to the fireplace and his lap on the couch.
Soon one touch led to another, and despite the many things that still needed to be done around the place before you settled in for the night, they were long forgotten, along with the rest of your groceries in the Impala. It was cold enough out in the woods that an hour wouldn’t hurt, and he would deal with the sigils and logs for a fire later. 
Dean wasted no more time sinking into you, meeting each rock of your hips for a thrust on the worn sofa by the fireplace, clothes still on. 
Best. Decision. Ever.
Even though the wooden frame creaked under your weight and he felt the need to plant his boots firmly into the shaggy rug beneath them to keep the thing upright.
His hands snuck up your dress and cast aside the cups of your bra to knead your slick covered tits. Your panties, pulled to the side, created an extra layer of friction as the elastic caught on his growing knot. 
An ever better decision than he thought, and he sat back, enjoying the show and the little gasps of pleasure you gave him when your clit hit his pubic bone at the perfect angle and ground against it.
“Dean, fuck.” Your hips buckled with one forceful slam.
“Feel good, baby?” He knew you were close. Your muscles fluttering around him and the fresh wave of your juices coating his twitching balls kinda gave it away. “You gonna come on my cock? Let me knot you?”
You were too lost in the moment to answer him. He didn’t care. He revelled in your grinding, how you were growing desperate, and by the way your eyes sparkled when he spoke of his knot.
“Alpha. Need your—” But you didn’t finish your sentence because your body finished on him. 
The climax ripped through you, drawing tremors from your legs, tickling his thighs and lower stomach. 
His hands took yours and pulled them to his neck, soothing your taut arms from your wrists to shoulders, grounding himself in the process. 
His balls were heavy, his sack on fire. Your cunt had sucked his knot inside and the pulses and trickles of your release had his instincts screaming to plough into you. But he wouldn’t. Not yet.
When his fingers moved to your hips and raised them up so that only the tip penetrated your core, your forehead dropped to his. Sweat mixing with sweat. Panted breaths warming his cheeks and lips. 
“Think you can give me one more?” he rasped.
Your laugh was airy. It came out as a shudder. Your skull rocked against his as you shook your head with it, and your hair tangled into his short brown tufts.
“Yeah, you can.” His eyes stared into yours, bouncing emerald green off of the pearly white that surrounded your own vibrant irises. 
His hand moved to stroke your clit with the rough pad of his thumb. 
“Fuck,” you whimpered, and Dean’s chest swelled with pride. 
“Yeah?” he asked with an air of confidence and pressed harder over the sensitive nub.
Your walls clamped around him again, just as he’d hoped. “Alpha, please,” you cried.
As much as he loved the idea of you begging him for it, the pressure down below was reaching boiling point, and he knew a couple of thrusts would do it for him. 
He lifted his ass off the cushion, and sunk halfway into you, tipping the sofa by the weight of his shoulders alone. His fingers on your hip gripped tighter, bruising the flesh below, as he steadied himself and in one fluid motion slammed you and him back down into the seat.
The furniture groaned in protest. 
Your moan was more of a high-pitched cry, and when he raised you up and down again and again in a vicious pace, and his thumb continued to press into your overstimulated clit, it turned into the best version of his name he’d ever heard.
“Omega,” he grunted. 
Your pussy was an inferno. That heat, the friction from your panties and your folds rubbing against him, and the vice-like crush from your inner walls on his shaft soon had him seeing white behind the eyes, leaving his other senses to pick up the slack. He felt each drop of blood pump through his body, from his ears to his knot. 
When it popped and thick, creamy waves of his release flooded your insides, dousing the flames, he swooped in for a searing kiss. 
Your lips were tart and sweet. If he didn’t know better, he’d say you’d been sipping that wine already or chowing down on strawberries, but he’d sat across from you at every meal that day and watched you like a hawk at Walmart so he knew exactly what you’d done and eaten. “Tell me that’s your heat coming on,” he said when he slumped backwards to look at you. 
“Likewise.” Your fingers twisted through his hair. “You feel warm, Alpha.” 
Dean’s boyish chuckle was breathy. “Sweetheart. It’s a house fire down there and that ain’t on me. I already tried putting it out.” 
You didn’t let him down. Your snort was adorable, and he gave you his best cheesy grin in return. 
His inner alpha was not so light-hearted, however, and even after it had gotten its fix and his knot was still very much stuck inside of you, it continued to grumble in the far reaches of his mind, wanting more.
The chant that he should claim you was growing old. He fucking knew that, but while your heat was close, it just hadn’t set in yet, and chomping down on your mating gland now was gonna hurt you unnecessarily. No. Dean would wait, focusing on what you needed in the moment, like any good mate would.
His hands moved to your thighs, grazing his fingers over your sweat lined skin. It was heated, and you shivered at the new sensation, but he wasn’t surrounded by copious amounts of slick and you seemed to have no discomfort. That was part of it, right?
“How’re you feeling?” he said again, and your whole body tensed. Even your inner walls, that had relaxed some, squeezed him tight once more.
“You really wanna know all the nitty-gritty details?” Your eyes narrowed on him. Your frown only deepened the intense gaze you were pulling, and Dean swallowed.
“You’re my mate.” He flashed a grin. “Claim and paperwork pending.” And when you shook your head and sunk into his chest, his lips brushed over your hair, moving his arms to wrap around you and pull you in tighter. “Tell me.”
“Fevers coming,” you mumbled. “Probably smell different?”
He sniffed the air. The usual cinnamon, a touch of vanilla, plus the apple and whisky, sex, and something he couldn’t quite put his finger on infiltrated his nostrils. Your scent was still as intoxicating to him as it had been the very first day you met. “You smell good,” he said, realising how terrible that sounded only after it had spewed from his mouth.
“I should hope so.” You swatted at him, and he hummed in amusement.
“What else?”
“Back aches. My whole lower half, actually.”
On that, Dean moved his hands and began kneading your heated flesh where he could only guess the worst discomfort was. He may not not have claimed someone, but he’d helped the odd omega through their heat, and he knew a thing or two.
“Here?” he asked, but your purr and a contented sigh answered him, and he smiled with reverie.
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You fell asleep on him after that, allowing the impending fever to take over your body. He’d have preferred you to have eaten something or even made a trip to the bathroom, but he reminded his inner alpha that you both knew what you were doing.
Not that it was listening.
As he dead locked the back door and drew the last of the salt lines at the base of the wooden frame, it whined, and had Dean looking down.
“You scratched the circle.”
Yes, he was standing on the devil’s trap he’d drawn earlier, but there was not a scratch in sight.
“It’s fine,” he said, not bothering with internal thoughts, though his ears did prick for any hint he’d disturbed you in your sleep. He turned himself around to peer at your form on the other side of the room, but you were still on the couch where he’d left you.
Even from here in the kitchen, he could see the sheen of sweat on your forehead and your cheeks, now a different hue. Your oncoming heat had indeed brought on a fever and he knew when you awoke it would be game time.
The groceries had been brought in, beers sat in the fridge, and he’d even moved the mattress from the master bedroom and set it down before the roaring fire he’d started in the fireplace.
His body and mind were prepped, too. He just wished things would hurry along because you and the flames weren’t the only things heating up the room.
The tip of his cock was a painful red. It was swollen and oozing pre-cum, and though he’d emptied himself into you a couple of hours earlier, as he opened the fridge door and leant down to retrieve a beer, a few drops left his slit and dribbled down his shaft to pool at the dip above his knot.
Fuck. He was overflowing now.
He’d almost come twice in his pants from your scent alone, and after the second occurrence, he ditched them, choosing to wear just his boxers and undershirt.
He reached down and wiped his hand over the soiled underwear, hissing from pleasure and pain as his palm swiped over the sensitive head. But when more leaked from his slit, he gave up and removed them instead, leaving them on the floor to clean up later with the spill.
He grabbed his drink and shut the door, turning back around to find you sitting up, staring at him, and time stopped.
You were awake…
And he was…
“Omega.”
The switch somewhere deep inside of him flicked, and he found himself falling into a familiar place in the backseat of his mind.
Dean was no longer in control of his body, but he still saw, heard and felt everything. His heartbeat, his feet padding across the floor, and the irises in your eyes as he drew closer, sparkling from the flicker of light in the fireplace.
And when your voice said, “Alpha”, just as his had been replaced by the low rumble he knew as well as the back of his hand, yours had changed to a softer, more melodic version of the one he recognised as yours.
You were on him the second he stepped up to you. Your fingers wrapped around his agitated cock, and Dean’s growl reverberated low in his chest as the sweet flavour of apple flooded his senses. “Omega. Mine,” his alpha rasped.
He could practically taste you on his tongue. He could certainly feel your heated skin on him as you worked his length, but the massaging did little to douse the flames in his pulsing sack, and his slit continued to weep.
“Alpha,” you purred, as his seed created a trail down onto your hands. 
‘Fuck.’
Dean licked his lips and grabbed at your dress, yanking at the fabric to get you free. He wanted to see you. To feast his eyes on your breasts and, more importantly, bury himself in your dripping cunt again and again. 
His hands pawed at your neckline, growing flustered when it didn’t budge, and red marks from the edging cutting into your skin from his tugs appeared.
“Let me.” You touched his cheek, nodding your head with assurance when his alpha glowered with his pride. 
The thought of needing assistance and less friction on his hardened flesh had his temper rising. “Fine,” he spat. “But hurry up.”
Your breasts pushed towards him as you reached behind yourself to undo the zip. Each click of the metal prongs being pulled apart met his ears, but it was far too slow for his alpha’s liking and soon Dean was pawing at the garment again. 
Once it was loose enough, he plucked it from your body and threw it along with your bra and panties over his head, corralling you where he saw fit.
He planted your chin, chest and calves into the mattress. He forced your rear into the air, presenting your glistening folds, much to his delight. The copious amounts of fluid Dean had imagined earlier engulfed your entrance and laced the inner creases of your thighs.
His nose honed into your centre, breathing in the tangy slick as he ran his lips through yours. The pad of his thumb found your clit, and it flicked against the small bud, eliciting moans, whimpers, and gasps, all stroking his ego. All urging him to continue.
When you shuddered, his mouth curved at the sides. His alpha taking everything it wanted from you, pulling more and more of your release from deep within your body. His dick throbbed at the sight.
If you were making a mess, he’d created an oil spill. Pre-cum continued to leak from his tip, and soon even he was begging the beast in control to do something about it. 
‘Claim her. Make her ours.’
He’d agonised over claiming you since you’d met and now that the opportunity presented itself, he didn’t wanna draw it out any longer. He needed you in more ways than one, and the alpha obliged. 
With a feral smirk, his fingers ran back over your folds, earning another whimper from your lungs and another wave of slick to surge from your body. The same hand came up and took hold of himself, pumping once, twice, three times, before lining up and ramming into you. 
Your hips buckled at the intrusion. Yet when he pulled out again so that only his head sat warm and snug inside, you inched back onto him, demanding his attention.
“There’s my beautiful omega.” He chuckled, as you continued to drag your pussy over him. “So perfect, and still hungry for more.” His fingers dug into your hips and he pushed into you again, giving you what you both wanted. “You need your alpha to knot you, baby girl?”
Your response was to moan, and the sound urged him on. “Yeah, you do,” he grunted. His thrusts, hard and fast. “You need your alpha to put out the fire.” 
Every piece of him enjoyed the view of you taking him in, from the tip to his swelling knot. Your walls kept squeezing and pulling him in deeper. “So fucking good ‘mega. Gonna fill you up and make you mine.”
He relaxed his grip on you and crawled up your spine, pushing your body down further into the mattress, and himself further into you. “Say it. Tell me you wanna be mine.” 
“I wanna be yours,” you said between pants, and Dean groaned against the edge of your hairline. He was so close to your mating gland, he could taste the sweet blood below the surface. 
He pulled your hair to the side and traced his tongue over the delicate skin of your neck, licking and sucking a path to his goal. He inhaled your scent when he found the pulse point and rubbed whiskey and leather and a hint of buttery pastry onto you before his teeth moved to scrape over the sensitive flesh. His body froze above you.
The canines broke the thin barrier first, and when his incisors sunk into you next, the metallic warmth of your lifeblood rushed into his mouth and trickled down his throat. 
As he swallowed, and continued to press his bite into you, a wave of electricity spread over him. Every nerve, every hair, every drop of sweat tingled and while his arms and legs grew heavy, his head lightened and memories long forgotten climbed to the surface and flashed before his eyes.
Amongst them, Bobby’s death, and his time in hell before it. The agony of losing Sammy to the cage when Dean knew what awaited him. The mark taking over his life and losing people because of it. Their screams. Their cries. The hatred as his own weapon carved into them. The Steins, Abbadon, Randy.
But then the voice of a female overtook them. One so familiar, yet one he couldn’t quite place. Her pleas cut him deep, churning his insides as if each organ were drowning in a sea of acid.
“No, no. Please don’t.”
“I swear, I’ve never seen him before.”
“He just helped me, that’s all.”
“Baby, please.”
The more he heard her words, the more his face cut into Dean’s memories, and “Ritchie, stop! Please!” stood out amongst all else.
That’s when he realised who the cries belonged to. The tears, the pain, the dread. They weren’t his, they were…
…yours.
Brilliant green eyes stared back at you as your alpha licked at the wound on your mating gland. He’d started thrusting again, and while the pressure deep in your gut begged for his knot and his essence, your mind was more focused on those eyes.
Their sparkle that you’d come to know was lost, faded, and full of pain. He was being tortured. Fire and chains reflected in them and on his freckled skin, marred by blood and scars so fresh, you couldn’t place them from what was before you now.
Dean was hurt. He was—
“Sammy!” he yelled.
“The mark isn’t gonna kill me,” he spat.
But when you tried to call out to him and soothe the ache you felt, he couldn’t hear you because your inner omega was in the driver’s seat. And while she cared for you as much as you did for her, for Dean, she was more concerned with the alpha’s thrusts. With mewling. With encouraging him. With drawing his knot in.
Previous Chapter || Next Chapter
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And there we are ✌️
I've been agonisingly waiting for this one, and I do hope you were surprised. I’m rather proud of the POV switch up. We will still get in Dean’s head, but we’ll also be in hers which is perfect for what’s about to come.
Remember how I keep mentioning not to get too comfortable, well, here we are. Do you think they'll pull through all this new information?
The next chapter will potentially be triggering for some readers. Mentions of pregnancy loss is included amongst what we've already seen and explored, but things are going to come out in more details including how extensive Dick’s abuse was.
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Chapter 8: Disconcerting 11/04
You.
You weren’t supposed to be a part of that chapter in his life. He’d planned to keep you at a distance from all of it. He…
He.
He looked up so that he wouldn’t see your face through the kaleidoscope of colours that his wet eyes brought with them. “I—” All he could do was squeeze you tighter.
“Dean. It’s okay.”
He still didn’t have the words to continue his apology. Nothing could ever make up for what you’d seen, and his voice caught in the lump that had manifested in his throat. By the time it did reach the surface, it sounded more like that of a small child, then that of a grown man.
“No, it’s not.”
“It is.”
“S’not. This is what I was trying to keep ya from.” 
He was dangerous. He was a grunt. He was mud on the sole of his boot, and you? He’d brought you into this shitty life of his. “It’s bad enough you had to go through what Dick did to you. But he did it ‘cause of me. I’m poison, and if you hadn’t met me, you—”
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paintsplash1712 · 2 months ago
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Out of all the shows to be rebooted or get a sequel series, the fact we haven't gotten that treatment for Merlin yet is baffling!
You have the perfect plot: Arthur wakes up in modern day and him and Merlin have to stop an ultimate evil from destroying the world.
Only the two of them are still alive and Arthur will have to come to terms with loosing everyone he loves and trying to process the changes in modern day England. It's so tragic it's perfect!
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verstappentime · 5 months ago
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From there, there's several more hospital pictures. Max can't picture sharing something so private. It seems like people are following along, though; all the posts have likes in the 5-figures.
There's several where he's just sitting up in bed, and a few of his leg, clearly badly injured: In a sling, in a full cast, in one of those traction things. One gruesome picture of pins in his ankle. He loves emojis, especially the kissy face one. He's upbeat most of the time, but Max can tell when things must have been really bad.
max/charles, 1.3k. it's 2017 and max finds out why he stopped hearing about charles leclerc. (part one?)
Max hasn't thought about Charles in a long time.
He's thought about him in the abstract, whenever he's coming out to someone new, saying, "Oh, her? I would not know, I'm gay." He's thought about being fourteen and unable to talk to Charles without a little secret smile, one he had to bite down. It's how he knew he liked boys for the first time.
But he left karting, and he went to Florida, and then he went to F3, and then to F1, and he left behind everyone his own age. He sees names he recognizes in F3, F2, but never Charles. He doesn't have time to wonder about it.
When he sees the Instagram post, he feels like a bird smacking into a glass window.
premateam 🚨 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨 Welcoming our 2017 F3 driver, Charles Leclerc. We always knew you'd be back, and we would be waiting. ❤️
Charles has done his hair short. He's grinning in the photo, flushed with happiness, leaning against a car with the number 16 plastered on. He's older, leaner. He's handsome.
charles_leclerc SURPRISEEEE! 😘 Better late than never. Three years ago I was learning to walk again. Today back in a single seater for the first time. Never give up ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Thank you for the opportunity @premateam
Max's pulse is thumping. Charles, who changed his life and never knew it. What happened to him?
He goes to the previous post. It's from a week ago: a picture of a crash helmet, red with stripes going up and over the top, white and a different shade of red.
charles_leclerc Dusting her off!!!! 🤫 Still fits 😝
He feels like he's missing way too much. He scrolls down rapidly, until the pictures start to wane in quality, probably taken on an older phone.
He clicks into one from 2015; Charles, in a hospital bed with a breathing tube in. He's younger, more like Max remembers him. He looks tiny. It twists something in Max's gut.
He swipes to the next one in the carousel; it's Charles sitting up in bed, dressed in a hospital gown, giving the camera a thumbs up. The third and final bit of the post is a video, Charles doing what looks like some sort of breathing treatment and waving to the person filming with a wink.
charles_leclerc Past week has been crazy… After seeing my car I'm just feeling lucky to be here… Thank you for all the support. Trying to get home soon, hard at work. Love to everyone ❤️❤️❤️
From there, there's several more hospital pictures. Max can't picture sharing something so private. It seems like people are following along, though; all the posts have likes in the 5-figures.
There's several where he's just sitting up in bed, and a few of his leg, clearly badly injured: In a sling, in a full cast, in one of those traction things. One gruesome picture of pins in his ankle. He loves emojis, especially the kissy face one. He's upbeat most of the time, but Max can tell when things must have been really bad.
charles_leclerc Goodbyeeee chest tube! You are not my friend anymore. One day at a time :) Means I get to go back to Monaco, can't wait 🇲🇨🇲🇨🇲🇨
charles_leclerc New hospital & new hardware in femur ✅✅✅ This one hurts can't lie!!! On my way to a new leg though, so good news
charles_leclerc Hard week, bored. Surgery #5️⃣ tomorrow
charles_leclerc Gross right??? Robot Charles incoming
charles_leclerc Got to shower and wash my hair todaaay how does everyone think I look??
charles_leclerc Was supposed to go home this week but infection means I have to stay 👎🏼 👎🏼 Thanks to my brothers for brightening up my room though. @arthurleclerc good luck this weekend 😘
charles_leclerc Surgery #9, maybe the last one! Is that a lucky number??
Max isn't sure what his heart is doing. Twisting, maybe. Charles looks thin and pale in most of the pictures. They're dated weeks apart. He must've been in the hospital an age. Charles had only admitted that he was in pain once, but it had to have been– God. Fucking awful.
Max hasn't seen him since he was 14, but Charles was always kind to him. Sweet. Funny. He was angry when he lost, but only for a little while; he was back and offering to help Max load up his kart within a few hours, rattling on about what he did wrong and how it would never happen again. Usually, it didn't. He smiled like the sun when he won.
Max hurts for him. He should be in F1 by now.
In one post, Charles has taken a picture of a race he's watching on TV. He would have seen Max. He was a few hours away, on the track in Imola, and Charles was in Monaco, in the hospital. It's strange. They've been in the same world the whole time.
Max can't help smiling at his phone when he scrolls to Charles going home. He's in a wheelchair; he's in a different cast, starting under the knee. The next post in the carousel, he's in the wheelchair, reaching up to hug his little brother, who Max has met a couple times.
charles_leclerc Home 🏠 ❤️❤️‍🥰 So happy. Thanks to everyone who sent me nice thingsss got to open it all today :)
The next post is a video; Max ticks on the volume to watch. He recognizes some of the likes – one's Daniel.
The caption says "BEST DAY!!! Four months later!!! Feels like I won a world championship:)" It's an edit, set to 'Rise Up,' which is unbearably corny, but Max has lost God knows how much time catching up on the past two and a half years, and he's not going to miss a win.
The video starts with a clip from the day of his crash; then the clips Max has seen before, of him smiling at the camera; one of him sitting up in bed, hooked up to oxygen with a kind-looking nurse supporting his back, talking to him quietly; a couple of him with a surgical cap on, one where he's clearly hazy.
The video's longer than a minute, so Charles has split it into two parts. Max swipes to the next one.
This one starts with the music is turned down and the raw sound is dialed up. Charles is sitting on the edge of a bed, a nurse supporting him under both armpits and helping him stand. He's grinning right at the person filming; from behind the phone, a man says something in enthusiastic French.
Max's breath catches when Charles comes into the frame, navigating the hospital and then his house with a walking frame – he has some sort of brace on his knee and a walking cast on. There's some where he's gritting his teeth, some where he's smiling. Max isn't sure if he's playing to the camera. It has to hurt. Max doesn't need to know French to know how fucking happy everyone is to see him doing it.
They're getting to the end part of the song, where the lady's singing I'll rise up, for you, and all that. It should be silly, but Max doesn't care. It's good. It's good.
He hasn't even gotten to the best part.
In the last clip, Charles, tentatively, someone spotting him from behind, is walking, still with a heavy brace supporting his bad leg, but by himself.
Max hasn't seen him in three years, but he wants to hug him so badly. He's not sure they've ever done that before. It's better, still, knowing he's going to drive again. He did drive again. If Max cried more, he might now.
Max feels like he's got tunnel vision. This separate life, this place where their stories diverged; he never got to be a part of it, and he feels– weirdly bereft. He never knew Charles beyond their on-track friendship, but there's a strange sense of sadness. There's this nagging thought, I should have been there. He wants to know everything.
He finally lets Instagram lie and Googles Charles Leclerc crash.
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