#running around and being a problem together

[the-trailblaze]

The beginning of our Era Nova

Mydei x fem reader

Synopsis: Your parents sent you off to marry the King of Castrum Kremnos. They sent you to hope the rumors of the ruthless king be true so he could kill you. Yet Mydei proves the rumors wrong

Warnings: violence, blood, injuries, fluff, angst, comfort, threats, mentions of assassination

Author notes: ITS FINALLY HERE!! this took so long and is sooo long. but I am so happy it's done. so I hope you all enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it! BUT MYDEI COME BACK, I MISS YOU SO MUCH

You stare out of your bedroom window for the last time before your life is about to change forever. Dramatic? Maybe, but not with what your parents are saying about your husband-to-be. 

Mydeimos, the Son of Gorgo. The new and appointed king of Castrum Kremnos. Who was crowned in blood. The ruthless soldier that has fought everything, even death. Who is known not to hesitate when killing someone. He and his people slaughter without mercy. A warrior mindset and all. 

That is who you are marrying. Why?  Just because your parents want you dead. They see you as a failure compared to your siblings. Not as pretty and not a proper lady like your elder sister. Then also not as smart and useful as your elder brother. You’re the last child that apparently has nothing riding for yourself and will be nothing but a useless burden. 

With the rumors so effortlessly passed around, your parents thought that marrying you off to an executioner would solve all their problems. You’re not shocked your parents made this decision, but you are shocked the king easily accepted. He has never accepted anyone, no matter how many proposals he has gotten. So why did he accept?

You sigh and run your hand against your windowsill. You feel the dust coat your fingertips the further down you go. You reach the end and face your palm towards you, staring intently at the dust. You rub your fingers together and watch the dust along with all the hope you’ve ever had crumble to the ground. 

You hear a hard knock come to your door and a muffled deep voice, “Time for you to get out of here, you waste of space.” 

Your father is as pleasant as ever. You don’t even think he’s ever called you by your name or ever a nice nickname. You look back out your window taking in the beauty of the gardens and forest you’ve grown to love and know like the back of your hand. The beautiful willow trees you’d sit under and read. The little open area in the gardens where you would make flower crowns. The thought of this being all taken away from you breaks your heart.

You raise your hand and rest it gently against the window and murmur a soft goodbye. Turning quickly on your feet you start the lonely and scary walk life has planned out for you. 

                                     •

Dirt, rough and gray lands is all your hit with when getting closer to Castrum Kremnos. They barely have any wildlife walking around either. It’s truly upsetting to see. You were hoping the view would at least be decent but you should probably stop your wishful thinking. 

“Stop looking like an upset child.” A stern voice cuts you out of your thoughts. 

You turn and look at your mother and father who are glaring at you. “I’m not upset-“ 

“Do not talk back to us. Better you learn that now because your husband will not accept it either. You talk back once he will not hesitate to hit you. If you keeping annoying him he won’t think twice about killing you.” Your father scolds you. 

“He is not going to be gentle and soft with you. He will take you when he wants and you’ll let him. Don’t cry and beg him to stop because it’s not going to help anyone.” Your mother adds on.

You swallow the bile rising quickly in your throat. You can’t even manage to answer them. Giving a simple nod and turning your gaze back to the “scenery”. 

You already hate this arrangement and knew the meaning behind it but your parents really don’t care? They don’t care if you get abused and even assaulted? You don’t understand how you manage to anger them this much to earn this type of punishment. 

You feel the tears trying to break free but you bite your lip and blink frantically trying to have them go away. You don’t want to accept this fate but there’s nothing you can do now. Maybe you should have ran away to the forest last night and never looked back. Why couldn’t you have thought about that last night. 

The carriage is abruptly stopped and you hold your seat to prevent you from flying forward. So lost in your own mind and thoughts, you didn’t even realize you were in the city now. Well now you’re in front of the castle. 

Your parents get out first and you follow behind them. Neither one of them helps you down so you try your hardest to not stumble so you don’t look clumsy. You flatten your dress once your feet hit the solid ground. After you make sure you’re presentable you look up and see the king standing only a couple feet from you. 

“It’s nice to see you all got here safe and sound.” The king calmly says. 

You make eye contact with him, that’s when you realize he’s already looking at you. His golden eyes are beautiful. The refraction of the light makes his eyes even rival the brightness of the sun. What catches your attention next is the big braid on the right side of his hair. His hair is a beautiful blonde with red tips. It’s so pretty and unique. 

You take in the rest of him and you can’t be helped by the interesting choices of clothes he has on. His top half is mostly bare with massive golden gauntlets on both arms. He has red marking running all around his body. The suit him well you think. He is also wearing black pants with even more golden armor on his legs. It’s like he could march off for war right now and be completely fine. 

But this is the ruthless king? He doesn’t look as bad as everyone makes him out to be.

A sharp elbow almost knocks you off balance. Looking in the direction it came, you see your father bowing but sending you a glare. Right you have to bow before him so you don’t look disrespectful. You face the king again and curtsy. 

“Thank you for your kind words Your Highness.” Your father states with practiced ease. 

Picking your head up you see the knight with white hair smirking at you. Oh no, did he catch you staring at the king? The knight whispers something in the kings ear and gets a sharp elbow to the gut as well. The knight coughs and bends over a bit. 

“Know your place knight.” The king comments. For his serious demeanor and sharp words, you think you see a light blush appear on his face. Maybe you’re just seeing things or it’s due to the heat. It is a lot warmer here compared to your little territory. 

The king calls your name, “Did I pronounce that right?” 

“Oh uh- yes! Yes you did Your Highness.” You quickly stutter out. You can already feel the death glares you’re getting from your parents. 

“Good, I’m glad. Let me escort you to the room you’ll be using to get ready.” 

He holds out his hand to you and you take a couple step forwards to hesitantly connect yours together. He then leads you up the stairs accompanied by his knight. The king also never looks back to your parents. You hear servants collecting your things but also hear your parents getting back in the carriage. 

The knight pushes open the massive doors and the king leads you into his castle. 

“You didn’t want to say goodbye?” 

You look to the knight you casually asked you that question. You pause not sure how to respond. You can always feel yourself shaking at all the nerves and fears running through your body. If the king realizes, you’re glad he hasn’t said anything or hit you.

“Why would you ask her that?” The king demands.

“Ugh Mydei it’s just a question. It’s not like I asked her to have a kid with me.” 

You blush madly and look away not being able to handle what the knight just said. You feel the king tighten his grip on your hand and start to drag you away. 

“We will talk about this later Phainon. Prepare for a month of picking up the horses waste.” 

You hear a whine in the distance, you turn to look back but the king speaks up again. “Don’t give him attention. He loves it when all eyes are on him.” He clears his throat, “I am sorry for his rude comment.” 

“It’s fine Your Highness.” 

“No it’s not. It was uncalled for and unnecessary.” He quickly refutes. You can feel the anger radiating off of him. His gaze is also sharp enough it could cut glass. Maybe the rumors were right. 

That thought sends your stomach into painful knots. You shrink up on yourself trying to not be a nuisance or bothersome to him. 

Mydei takes a deep breath and returns to a cool headed mind. Phainon has really been on his nerves today. Been following him around like a lost puppy begging to see you before the wedding would take place. Then making the comment about you admiring him deeply outside. Now that absurd comment. He’s lucky he isn’t face down in the ground right now. 

Mydei then feels you shaking again. He didn’t bring it up earlier because you’re probably just nervous from the whole situation going on right now. But now you’re shaking even more. He looks down towards you and sees you shrinking in on yourself. Your gaze never leaving the floor and you swallowing deeply. Are you okay? Is something wrong? Did he scare you? 

Oh Aeon’s above please say he didn’t scare you. His mother taught him how to be a man and respect every woman he crossed paths with. She also taught him how to protect the future woman he would grow to love and be with as he got older. He promised his mother back then he would always protect, respect, and love his future wife. But now you two are starting off on the wrong foot. 

“Lord Mydei.” 

He tears his gaze from you at the call of his name and sees Castorice standing outside the room you’re suppose to get ready in. Mydei walks you two to her and stops before her. 

He calls your name again, “This is Castorice. She’ll be helping you get ready for the wedding tonight but also be your personal handmaiden.” 

You finally look up from the ground but avoid his gaze. He furrows his brows and doesn’t know how to go about this. 

“Nice to meet you Castorice. Thank you in advance for all the help.” You smiley lightly at her. 

Castorice can tell you’re scared but also don’t fully mean that smile. She looks at Mydei out of the corner of her eye and sees him confused. 

She smiles back at you, “No need to thank me My Lady. Why don’t you go in and sit in front of the vanity? I’ll be inside in a second. I need to confirm the schedule with him.” You nod quickly releasing your hand from Mydei’s and walking into the room.

Castorice turns to Mydei, “What happened?” 

“I don’t know,” he groans. “She’s just been super shaky and hesitant since we started holding hands.” 

“Did you do anything before that?” 

“I mean Phainon was being his normal annoying self and I may have elbowed him and assigned him to clean the horse waste.” 

“Did you yell at all?” 

“No but I kinda did snap at her… wait-“ 

“That’s why she’s probably scared.” 

“But I didn’t even say anything rude or threatening.” 

“Lord Mydei think about it this way. You go from a tiny land being the youngest child that got no attention to the woman who is marrying the king of a big kingdom. Then hearing all of the nasty rumors about how ruthless and aggressive you are. Now she saw a little glimpse of it and it couldn’t scare her more. You have no idea what her parent’s goal was offering her up so easily and even what they said to her. There’s obviously a bigger problem but she’s terrified of you right now.” 

Mydei drags his hand down his face and curses underneath his breath, “Then how do I go about fixing this?” 

“Teach her that you are not the man the rumors depict you to be. Show her you are a caring and loving man, but also one that protects the people and things he loves. Be the real you in front of her.” 

Mydei nods and thanks Castorice. He goes to ask if what he has in mind is good but you peak your head out of the room. He then turns all his attention to you. 

“Sorry for the intrusion. I just have one question.” 

“You didn’t intrude on anything. What is the matter?” 

“Since my father isn’t coming to the wedding… um- is there someone who could…” you feel the words get lost on your tongue. “Never mind just ignore what I was saying.” 

You turn to walk back into the room, “You want someone to walk you down the aisle?” Mydei asks

You turn back and slowly meet his gaze and nod. “But if it’s too much trouble, don’t worry about it.” 

“Well I have two men that can do it. One is the knight you met earlier or the highest ranking scholar in the kingdom, who was my professor growing up.” 

“I think Professor Anaxa is busy helping Tribbie with the venue.” Castorice cuts in.

“Of course.” Mydei sighs, “Are you okay with the knight earlier? If you’re not I’ll find someone else.” 

You can see this stressing out the king and it makes you feel bad, “He’ll be perfect. Thank you for accepting my request.” 

“Just ask and I’ll do everything in my power to make it happen.”

“Oh you don’t have to do that! I wouldn’t want to get in your way-“ 

“You’re not getting in my way. Today we are going to be husband and wife. It is my duty as a husband to make sure my wife’s needs are taken care of.” Mydei says confidently with  a determined look. 

“Thank you Your Highness. That’s very kind of you.” 

Mydei goes to respond but his name is being called again. 

“Your Highness it’s time for you to get ready.” Claims the older man. The man looks you up and down. An immediate frown etched itself onto his face. You have a feeling this guy already does not like you that much. 

Mydei steps in front of you, his back facing you. “Understood.” He looks back at you, “See you later.” He walks off with the man but makes sure the man’s gaze is on him and not you. 

You watch them leave and Castorice taps you on your shoulder, “Ready My Lady?” 

“Oh yes. I’m sorry for the delay.”

“You haven’t delayed anything.” She gives you a smile and walks into the room. Castorice sits you down on a chair by the vanity. She pulls out a massive bag of makeup. She grabs the things she needs and starts getting you ready. 

Her touches are soft and gentle. Never pressing too hard or moving your face aggressively. You’re not use to a handmaiden being this nice to you. 

“You’re scared, aren’t you?” 

Your eyes snap open and you stutter out an answer, “What!? Of course not… why would I be?” 

“Don’t worry I won’t say anything. I just want you to feel comfortable. It’s very easy to tell that you’re uncomfortable and scared.” 

You deflate at her answer and hang your head. Great you blew it already and you haven’t even been here for an hour and the wedding is going to happen in a couple of hours. You didn’t care that you were getting married the same day you got here but you do care that you’re already wearing your emotions on your sleeve.

“My parents sent me here so I could die…” 

Now Castorice’s eyes go wide. You don’t even need to look at her to know that. You see her feet leave your field of vision and hear her put the brushed down. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I bet you’re no stranger to the rumors about the king. His strength, ruthlessness, and his temper. My parents heard about it first at a ball he attended. The whispers followed them all night and they thought it’d be perfect for me. I’ve always been a useless failure that never compared to my elder siblings in their eyes. So they want me dead. I don’t know why or what I did but it’s what they want.” 

You look up at her and see her covering her mouth with her hand and the other one holding tightly to the vanity. 

“In their eyes the king will kill me soon. They told me if I ever stepped out of line I would be hit or killed.” You bite your lip before continuing. You can see that this is already affecting her and don’t wish to ruin the mood more than you already have. But you know she knows that you still have more to say. 

“They also said whenever he would want me, I would have to give in. No crying or fighting back. That I’m just someone he can use…” you quietly whisper. 

Castorice immediately grabs your hands when you finish. You stare at her tear filled eyes and you panic. You didn’t mean for this to happen. You should have kept your mouth shut. 

“My Lady, I’m so sorry that happened to you. You are an incredibly kind person and shouldn’t have to have gone through that. But I can assure you our king is nothing like the rumors. Sure he is the strongest warrior but that’s how he was raised. But he also has a heart made of pure gold. He cares about and loves everything important to him. He’d do anything for the people around him. You’re going to be no exception, please remember that.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind Castorice. Thank you.” 

She wipes a couple tears that fell from her eyes then goes back to finishing your makeup. It’s nothing too crazy, but something simple and neat. You really love the look. 

“Castorice, you should be a makeup artist,” you giggle.

“Ah I’m not that good.” She blushes heavily. “It’s just something I like doing for fun.” 

There’s a knock at the door and then four women enter. A tall blonde woman and three smaller women with red hair. 

“Lady Aglaea, Lady Tribbie, Lady Trinnon, and Lady Trianne this is the future queen,” Castorice finishes off by saying your name.

“It’s very nice to meet you.” Aglaea says while placing a big dress bag on the bed. 

“De really got lucky with getting such a pretty wife!” One of the red head women say. The others quickly agree and jump around. 

“Thank you but I’m the lucky one. The king is very handsome and I’m lucky he’d even look my way.” 

Aglaea scoffs, “That boy wouldn’t know someone thought he was attractive even if they straight up told him. His mother was worried he’d end up alone because of how oblivious he is to this kind of thing.” 

Not expecting Aglaea to say that, you burst into laughter. The serious and strong king is so emotionally stunted that he can’t figure out people find him attractive? Yeah that’s too good. You laugh bounces off the walls and makes tears come to your eyes. 

Your laugh quiets down and you look at the women who are all looking at you. Oh no. You messed up again. “I am so sorry I didn’t mean to make fun of him or-“ 

Aglaea waves you off, “No laugh all you’d like my dear. It’s only the truth, even though I know he would hate to find out what I said. So keep it between us girls,” she ends with a wink. 

“Agy as much as we would love for you to keep telling embarrassing stories of De, we have to get her in the dress.” 

“You’re right Tribbie.” She calls your name, “I am the seamstress for the kings inner circle, which includes these women. Mydei tasked me with making your dress. He studied your lands culture so I could make a dress that’d make you comfortable.” She unzips the big bag and starts to pull it out. 

It’s a beautiful white gown that isn’t too big and puffy. There are white laced sleeves that don’t fully go to the shoulder of the dress. Throughout the dress there is a flowered pattern. It’s on the bottom of the dress going up towards your bodice and lace sleeves are flowers. 

You stand up and walk over to the dress and lightly touch it, “He had you do this so I’d feel more comfortable?” Aglaea just nods and you turn to face Castorice who is already smiling at you. She gives you a light nod and you turn back to the dress. 

The more you see and think about the kings actions, the more it makes your heart race. In a good way. Castorice’s words bleed true just from this action alone. He’s trying everything to make you comfortable before he even knew you. Maybe you really did have the wrong impression about him. 

The ladies help you into the dress and make sure everything looks good. Once they are done they direct you to the mirror. 

You look at yourself in the mirror and you can hardly recognize yourself. You look so beautiful. You can’t help but have the biggest smile plastered on your face. 

“Thank you all so much. I feel so beautiful.” 

“Well you are beautiful!” Trinnon says. The other women agree and smile along with her. 

“Well the five of us have to get ready but he should be here now…” Castorice comments.

Right on cue this a knock on the door. Aglaea opens the door, “You’re late Phainon.” 

“I know, I know! I’m sorry. Mydei would not stop yelling at me and making me practice my apology.” 

“Apology for what?” 

Phainon freezes, “Uh nothing!” 

“He made a comment about having a baby with her.” Castorice answers truthfully. 

Aglaea looks at you to confirm and you simply nod and look away. 

“Phainon! I did not raise you that way. Apologize.” 

“You sound exactly like Mydei.” Phainon turns to you, “I’m sorry My Lady, I didn’t mean to make a brash comment. I’m terribly sorry if it made you uncomfortable.” 

“You’re okay Sir Phainon.” 

“Ah don’t call me sir. Just call me Phainon.” 

“Now that you two are situated we will get ready and see you two after the ceremony.” Aglaea pushes all of the women out of the room. 

“Ugh thank god. Her and Mydei lecturing me gets annoying.” 

You giggle, “Well it seems like you are a bit of a troublemaker Phainon.” 

He lets out a gasp and holds a hand over his heart, “You wound me My Lady! You’re just as cold as your future husband!” 

You shake your head and walk over to the door. “The king was right, you do like attention.” You say with a smirk and you watch his jaw drop. “Anyways shouldn’t we get down to the venue?” 

“No way he said that about me! We are not just skipping over that part!” He walks over and holds out his elbow, “But yeah we should go before I get in even more trouble,” he grumbles.

                                   •

You’re now walking down the aisle alongside Phainon towards Mydei. He’s in his normal outfit just with the crown on his head this time. He then he still looks so handsome. 

You try your best to focus on him because all the looks you’re getting from the Kremnoans is anything but nice. They are giving you the dirtiest and most judgmental looks you’ve ever gotten in your life. That’s also saying a lot because that’s how your family has always looked at you. 

You get to the steps close to Mydei and he walks down them to help you up. Phainon lets go and goes to stand behind Mydei. This gives him an easier time to help you up. Once you’re by the priest the ceremony begins. 

It is quick until the priest asks if anyone objects. It’s like a nightmare come true when most Kremnoans stand up and say they object. 

She’s not even one of us! 

She looks very weak! How can she ever replace Queen Gorgo?

King Mydeimos have you lost your mind!? 

This is an embarrassment to our kingdom! 

Each phrase feels like you’re getting stabbed over and over again in the back. Why is it such a problem that you’re not from here? Isn’t it good to branch out and expand? You hang your head so no one can see your tears. 

“Silence.” The words as sharp as a night cuts through the venue shutting up everyone quickly. 

“Do not insult my future wife and your future queen. This decision is mine and mine alone. If you disagree after this come and fight me and I’ll put you all in your place without any mercy.” 

The room is so silent you could hear a pin drop. The Kremnoans that were standing now quietly sit down and don’t dare to mutter another word. 

Mydei looks down at you and sees you shaking. His eyes widen and his words get caught in his throat. Are you scared of him again? How come every damn time he threatens someone or needs to be extra serious, you’re always right there? 

The priest carries on with the ceremony after Mydei gives him the okay. You’re silent and basically keep your gaze down the entire time besides when he had to put the crown on your head and when you two kissed. 

The kiss was soft but he could still sense how hesitant and nervous you were. It angers him so much. He hates this feeling. He wants to be close. He doesn’t care if you two don’t ever fall in love but he cares that you are comfortable. 

He’s sitting in the reception after the ceremony right by you and you have barely picked your head up. You’ve barely touched your food and when he thinks you’re about to eat he just watches you push your food around. He can tell tears have sat in your eyes all night. He wants them to go away but doesn’t know how to make them. He wants to fix all of this. Why did he have to threaten them? 

He feels a tap on his shoulder and sees Castorice standing beside him, “Can I talk to you for a moment Lord Mydei?” 

Mydei looks around and sees Phainon talking to a couple other soldiers, “Phainon.” 

Phainon turns his head and walks over to Mydei, “Yes?” 

“Stay here and make sure no one comes up and bugs her. I need to speak with Castorice real quick.” 

“You can count on me.” 

Castorice leads Mydei out of the room and pushes him into another room and locks the door. 

“We have a problem.” 

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Mydei sighs while pinching the bridge of his nose.

“She thinks you’re going to kill her.” 

“What?” Mydei’s eyes widen. 

Castorice explains what you told her earlier to him. Through the explanation she sees Mydei clench his jaw and fists. 

“They are so lucky they are not in my kingdom anymore. If they were I’d rip their hearts out with my bare hands.” 

“Lord Mydei, I think saying stuff like that isn’t helping anything…” 

He reflects on what he just said and hangs his head. He really needs to work on that now. 

“I told her that you have a heart of gold and to give you a chance. I believe she’s going to but you’re going to have to work hard at this. She doesn’t feel welcome and feels like everyone is against her. I know you can’t change this overnight but you have to start now.” 

“Then let’s head back.”

Mydei makes his way right towards you and sees you eating. Phainon got you to eat. As much as he hates it, he’ll have to thank him later. Mydei sits back down and you turn your attention to him. 

“My King, Phainon said you’re a baker?” 

“I wouldn’t call myself one per se but I do like baking some treats. It’s really only the treats my mother taught me how to make.” 

“What’s your favorite thing to bake?” 

Mydei is shocked by your sudden mood change. It makes him happy to see you talking and not hiding but he can’t help but be curious in what that white haired idiot said. 

“Honey cakes.” 

“Um- could you maybe…” you look away, “make them for me sometime?” 

Mydei’s eyes glance at you and to Phainon who has a devious smirk on his face. Oh so that’s what he’s did. He made you think of something to start a conversation and see a different side of him. Phainon then walks off and goes to talk to Anaxa. 

Mydei decides to make a bold move and place his hand on your cheek to turn you to face him. “I’ll make them for you.” Mydei watches you burn bright red but instantly smile. 

“I can’t wait!” 

The rest of the night passes by quickly and before you know it Mydei is leading you to his room. He tightly holds onto your hand the entire walk. The closer you get to the bedroom you get nervous because of what wedding nights mean. 

Mydei pushes open his door and you see the room set up with candles and flowers. Mydei drags you into the room and slams the door. He drops your hands and blocks you from the view. 

“I do not expect anything from you tonight. We are not doing anything you’re uncomfortable with.” 

“But wouldn’t your people be mad-“

“I don’t care about what they think,” Mydei quickly cuts you off. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I had some servants bring your luggage up here, so why don’t you get ready for bed while I’ll clean this up. Okay?” 

“Okay.” 

You walk over to wear your luggage is and pull out a nightgown and your toiletries. You then slide into the bathroom to get unready. You firstly take off your crown and place it gently onto the counter. You then take off your makeup, wash your face and then brush your teeth. 

You were thankful you saved your dress for last because you knew it was going to be trouble. You try your hardest to get the zipper but fail miserably. No wonder why the girls had to help you so much with getting this on. The only person you can ask for help is Mydei… he won’t think it’s weird or inappropriate right?

You take a deep breath and walk out of the bathroom, “My King?” 

Mydei finished cleaning everything and blowing out the candles quickly. He’s sitting in a pajama set at the end of the bed clearly he was waiting for you. He snaps his head instantly towards you and sees you standing sheepishly in your dress. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“I can’t unzip my dress, could you help me?” You’re very proud of yourself for getting that out clearly and not stuttering one bit!

“Of course.” 

You spin around and move your hair out of the way. You hear him slowly make his way to you then feel an instant warmth at your back. He is like a portable heater. How much heat he radiates is insane. 

You feel his hand on your upper back where the zipper is, it’s a soft touch. He touches you as if you are made of glass and will break if he uses his strength. You feel the zipper lower and you use your free arm and hand to hold the top part of your dress up so it wouldn’t fall to the floor. 

The zipper stops at your lower back and you feel Mydei’s warm hand bringing warmth to your exposed skin. Much to your disappointment he removes his hand but before you can get too upset you feel his lips kiss between your shoulder blades. 

“I know I didn’t say it earlier tonight, but you looked beautiful.” 

You turn your head back to look at him and he’s looking away but you can see the blush rising to his cheeks. His actions and reaction makes you mirror his blush. 

“Thank you, you also looked very handsome.” 

You see him blush even more but clears his throat. “Uh thank you.” 

“Of course.” You step away from him and walk back into the bathroom, “I’ll be out in a moment.” 

“Take your time. Aglaea dropped off the dress bag earlier so once you’re done we can try and figure out how to get it in the bag together.” 

“Sounds like a plan My King.” You laugh and shut the bathroom door. 

Mydei stares at the bathroom door with his heart racing. Your laugh is everything to him. It’s so cute and contagious. He knows your laugh could make everyone in the room add on to yours. But yours still would stick out to him. 

You come out of the bathroom a couple minutes later with the dress in hand. You two spent about a good fifteen minutes getting the dress perfectly back into the bag. You both roll your eyes and comment how Aglaea makes this look easy. 

You two then get into his bed. You two don’t move close to each other though. You’re nervous and don’t want to upset him at all and take more of his personal space. He is nervous and doesn’t want to push you or make you feel uncomfortable at all. So you too lay on your backs still as stone and unmoving.

“Good night, My King,” you decide to break the silence. 

“Good night, My Queen.” 

You then close your eyes and ponder what your new life is going to be like. You’ve been through an emotional rollercoaster today. You’ve gone through thinking the man you’re sharing a bed with was going to kill you, then not, but then got scared after he got mad at Phainon, Castorice was able to calm you down and make you rethink it, then the crazy wedding ceremony happened, then the awkward reception, but your conversation with Phainon really made you keep an open mind. 

“You’re scared.” Phainon states matter of factly. 

You stop pushing around your food and stare blankly at him, “Why does everyone say that?” 

“You’re easy to read.” 

“That’s what Castorice said too…”

“You know he has to wear many faces.” 

You look at Phainon confused but he continues once he knows he has your full attention. 

“Mydei is probably the kindest man you’ll ever meet. He is always putting others first no matter what, even if he’s in harms way or the situation is inconvenient for him. As long as he’s helping someone he cares about he doesn’t care what he has to do. That being said, he also has to do that as king.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Mydei hates how his father ran Castrum Kremnos. He always preferred the way his mother was trying to have the kingdom be ruled. Since they both died when he was young, he’s had to take on many responsibilities. He’s had to lead men twice his age to war even after barely being allowed back into the kingdom after his failed assassination by his father. He’s had to make difficult decisions that would make many people hate him but would end up benefiting the kingdom in the long run.” 

Phainon grabs a berry from Mydei’s plate then places a finger over his lips and gives you a wink. After he’s done chewing the berry he carries on.

“He’s made many difficult decisions these past few years as a new king and has had to gone through things someone his age never should have to. I know you’ve heard the rumors that follow him like a shadow so I’m not going to sugar coat it. There is sometimes Mydei has to be ruthless but that’s only when there is no option left. He will go through every option there is before having to become a monster in the peoples eyes. He hates bringing unnecessary harm to others and carrying on the dumb legacy his father nurtured so much.” 

“This guy only wants to fight to protect. He wants to protect the innocent, the people he loves, the land he grew to love and the legacy his mother was creating. He’s a man that wears many faces. But they’re all only one side of him.” Phainon laughs, “Did you know that giant man loves to bake sweet treats? They are so good.” 

“He bakes?” 

“Yes, My Queen, he loves to do it. In his free time when he isn’t training or stuck with kingly duties, he’s baking. You should ask him about it. But also get to know his other faces. Ironically enough the king one is the one he wears the least. But that’s the one that holds the most power.” 

He puts a hand on your shoulder and squeezes, “Just know when he has to become serious, that’s the face he’ll take on. That’s the one that will make people stop and actually listen. I know that side is more aggressive and fits the rumors but he’ll never use that against you. He’ll use it to protect you like he did during the ceremony but it’ll never be directed at you.” 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know and I didn’t want to come off as rude. I just don’t know what to believe in all honesty. This is all so new and unexpected. I’ll apologized when he comes back.” 

“There’s no need to apologize. Just talk to him like he’s a simple guy you met on the street. He much rather have that than you holding him up on some podium.” 

“Okay I’ll ask him to bake something so I can try it.” 

“There you go!” He looks towards the door and seems Mydei walking back, “Speak of the devil!” He looks back down at you, “It’s time to put your training to the test!” 

Learning about his other faces might be hard and learning to get use to his king face is definitely going to take time. But you’re willing to do this. You’re willing to get to learn about him. Even if he never falls in love with you, maybe just maybe you two can become close. 

                                     •

Your new routine you fell into was pretty simple. You’d wake up and eat breakfast with the ladies, then be taught about Castrum Kremnos by Anaxa, have lunch, then have the afternoon to do as you please. Normally you would just walk around the massive castle with Castorice learning where things are but it quickly got overwhelming due to its massive size. So you two would just end up sitting outside talking. 

But dinner was always your favorite. That is when Mydei always makes time in his day for you. He would love to make more time for you but he’s been very busy with reshaping the kingdom and changing the people in his council. At the dinners it’s not just you and him but all of his close friends too. Having have met most of them already, the two new ones you met were Hyacine, who was a healer and Cipher, who was a spy. 

Seeing the group joke, tease, and laugh with one another is wholesome. But instead of watching most of his friends your eyes are always on Mydei. You see him visibly relax and with a care free light smile. This obviously isn’t his king face but the one he normally wears. This is Mydei as Mydei. 

Sadly during dinner tonight he was taken away by his right hand council member, Krateros you’ve come to learn his name. Even though most of the time Mydei is cursing the name when he speaks it to you. Apparently there was something urgent he had to attend to. It sucks because tonight he had free time before dinner so he made everyone honey cakes to have as dessert. 

Yes you got to try them and they were absolutely heavenly but he wasn’t here for you to excitedly talk to him about it. You ate in complete silence and that doesn’t go unnoticed by his friends. They try and bring you into the conversation but it doesn’t work out too much. You respond but not with much to add on. Once you’re done eating you excuse yourself to your shared bedroom. 

You walk back dejected because you wanted to see this face of Mydei. The soft one that loves to bake treats. The one where a little boy would be hip and hip with his mother making treats together with smiles and laughter. But fate had to take it from you. You’re starting to believe Phainon’s words of “He rarely wears the kings face,” is absolutely wrong. It seems like that is what he mostly wears and you’re barely seeing the other faces. 

Little did you know Mydei was feeling the same way. He has been annoyed that his duties as king has been increased since you two have gotten married. He’s barely been able to see you which means his plan of trying to make you comfortable and getting to know you has been basically thrown out the window. He was trying to make an effort tonight by making the honey cakes, but of course Krateros had to ruin the moment like he always does. 

Mydei clenches his fist thinking about how he didn’t get to see your first ever reaction to his baking. He wanted to see your eyes light up and the sweet smile that adorned your face when you were happy. He wanted to hear all the words you had to say about it. Good or bad he didn’t care. He just wanted to hear you. But no, here he is dealing with ramblings of Krateros. 

“Mydei we are getting more and more proposals from stronger lands since they’ve heard you taken a wife! We should capitalize, this will make us even stronger. It’s still early and we cut off this marriage you have now and fix this mess!” Krateros states with great enjoyment. 

This makes him clench his fist even tighter. This isn’t a mess and this marriage isn’t going to be severed. Mydei knows it’s selfish but he wants you close. He feels unusually warm and happy when he’s around you. He doesn’t want that feeling to go away. He’s happy with how this marriage has turned out even though you two have barely gotten to see each other. That thought makes him even angrier. Right here, right now he makes a vow to change that. 

Mydei is thinking of a response that doesn’t have him saying he is going to throw this man out of the window but is cut out of his thoughts when he hears the door opening. Anaxa, Aglaea and Tribbie all walk into the room. 

“What are you three doing here? You weren’t given permission to be in here.” Krateros roars. 

Anaxa rolls his eyes, “Don’t you remember that the three of us have permission from Mydei himself to join in on any meetings?” 

“Yes but-“ 

“Then we all are in agreement then. Aglaea and I will take his place for this meeting so he can go spend time with his wife.” 

“That’s not how this works!” 

“Is someone dying, threatening us, or has accident occurred?” Aglaea questions. 

“Well no- it’s just we got more proposals and I was telling Mydei to look into them-“ 

“I told you no.” Mydei finally speaks after his friends have arrived. 

“Mydei I helped raised you-“ 

“Be quiet. You were no different from my father and I hated how you tried to raise me. My mother, the people here, Trinnon and Trianne raised me. Do not make that mistake again.” Mydei’s anger pours off of him. Which makes Tribbie grab his hand and walks him out of the room. 

“Tribbie, what are you doing?” 

“I’m taking you to your wife! She was upset after you left today and quickly left dinner.” 

“Wait, what happened? Is she okay?” Mydei frantically questions.

“I believe she’s just upset she didn’t get to enjoy your treat with you there. De, I know it’s not in your control but you haven’t been present. That is the only time you are there, so getting that taken away must hurt.” 

Mydei drops Tribbie’s hand and runs both hands through his hair. “You’re right. It’s just- I’m trying but it’s obviously not good enough.” 

“De you’ve actually haven’t tried much.” 

“Ugh- don’t… don’t remind me.” 

“Well this is your time to make it up. Take the night off and spend it with her. Then find more time you can spend with her.” 

They arrive in front of your shared bedroom and stop just in front of it. “Okay. I vow to change everything starting now.” Tribbie gives him a thumbs up then skips down the hall. 

Mydei lets out a deep breath then pushes open the bedroom door. He sees you at the window reading the same book you’re always reading. It’s one that he had on his nightstand that he let you read. It was just about the Kremnoan dynasty. Nothing too interesting in his opinion. He knows you finished it the third day you were here so why keep rereading it? 

“I see you’re still reading that.” 

You sit up straighter at the sound of his voice and turn to him. You shut the book and clear your throat, “Well it’s the only book you have in here so…” 

“Yes but I also have a massive library that is opened to you at any time.” 

You blink quickly at his, “Really!?”

“Yes… did no one show you?” He asked confused. 

“No… I mean Castorice and I walked around the castle some days when I got here but it’s a lot to take in so I haven’t gotten to see the full castle.” 

“Well would you like to go and see my library?” 

You shoot out of the chair and rush over to him. You stand just before him and excitedly jump up and down, “Yes!” 

“Okay then let’s go.” He opens the bedroom door expecting you to have followed him but you’re frozen in your spot. “What’s wrong?” He questions. 

“Aren’t you busy right now… I wouldn’t want to disturb you.” You answer honestly. 

“No. I’m off the rest of night and wanted to spend time with you.” 

Your eyes shine brighter than he’s ever seen and he wished he could have taken a picture to always remember that look. “Really!?” 

Mydei just laughs, “Yes really. Now let’s go.” 

You instantly join him and walk to the library. Halfway through the walk Mydei reaches for your hand and threads them together. Your heart races at the action so you look over to him. You then see his trademark little blush coming to his cheeks. That only makes you smile more. It seems like you aren’t the only one affected by this action. 

When you get in front of the library doors when he stops. “Did you have a library back home?” 

“Yes but it was very small. It was basically a little room with one bookcase. It was nothing to brag about.”

“But you love reading and barely had any books?” 

“Yes so I reread all of those books. The reason why I read yours so fast was because it was the first book in years I got to read for the first time.” 

“Well in here I think it’ll take you a long time to read all of these…” Mydei then pushes open the doors and guides you inside. 

You walk in and Mydei drops your hand so you can look around. You’re walk like you’re in a trance. You look around and see bookcases that go from the floor to the ceiling wrapped around the massive room. There’s multiple latters to help you reach the higher bookshelf’s. There’s tables and different sitting areas so you can read or even study. There is also two big windows bringing in the beauty of the sunset in here. They light up the entire room. 

“My King this is absolutely breathtaking.” You say while spinning around. 

“Not as breathtaking as you.” 

You stop spinning and face him. Your face flushed and you stare at him shocked. Your jaw drops but you quickly close it and smile, “Thank you My King.” 

“Mydei. Please call me Mydei.” 

“Okay… Mydei, where do we start?” 

“Well what kind of books do you like?” 

“I mean I really like anything… maybe you could show me your favorites?” You nervously asked. 

“I don’t mean to disappoint but I mainly read about history.” 

“I don’t mind!” 

“Okay then let me find a book my mother always read to me.” 

He walks to a shelf in the back right corner and scans it. He runs his hand through one row then pulls a book out that is close to the end. He walks back over to you and nods his head off to the direction of a couch. 

You follow him and sit right by him on the couch. 

“It’s a book about random mythology in Castrum Kremnos. Most of these are fake but it was something you believed in as a child.” He opens up the book and begins to read to you. His deep voice is so soothing and calming. He tells the story with such passion and emotion. It makes it feel like you are actually in the story and experienced these first hand.  

The book is filled with many stories and as the night carries on you grow sleepy while listening to him. As he gets to the fifth story your head falls on his arm indicting you fell asleep. 

Mydei stiffens then looks over at you. He finds you in a deep sleep. It reminds him of when he use to do this when his mother would read to him. He can’t help his heart from racing. Is this how his mother felt when he was younger? The feeling of someone trusting you so much and feeling so much comfort being in your presence that they fall asleep? He can’t help but feel protective over you in this state. He wants no harm to come to you. 

He gently pushes your head back onto the couch and stands up. He sets the book where he was sitting then picks you up easily. He then grabs the book again and places it on you. 

He walks out of the library and heads to your bedroom. He then gets stopped by Hyacine. “Oh my gosh Mydei, is the Queen okay!?!” 

Mydei shushes her, “She’s okay. She just fell asleep when we were in the library. So don’t talk too loud or we will wake her.” 

“Ah my apologies. Have a good night.” 

“Thank you, you too.” 

You stir a bit after that. You feel yourself pressed against something firm and warm. You blink your eyes a bit and see Mydei. You then realize the warmth at your back and knees. Oh he’s carrying you. Oh shoot you fell asleep!

“Mydei?” 

“Shhh go back to sleep. We are almost back to our room.” 

“I’m sorry for falling asleep-“

“Don’t apologize. It’s okay.” It must be the sleepiness but you just silently obey. You close your eyes and fall back asleep. 

In your dreams you dream of a loving future with Mydei. It’s filled with laughter, flirting, and constant touches. It seems like you two are connected at the hip. You can’t help but wonder, will that ever be true? 

                                   •

You’re sitting in what they call the “gardens” with a sketchbook and pencil. The gardens here are just two small gardens that hold vegetables and fruits that the kitchens end up using. 

You hear a grunt which causes you to look up and see an older lady that was picking fruit, having a hard time carrying the baskets she has. You place your sketchbook down and walk over to her. “Excuse me but do you need help?” 

The lady looks up and pure fear is written all over her face, “No way My Queen! I can’t ask for your help.” 

“I don’t mind helping.” 

“I’ll get in trouble…” 

“I’ll make sure you won’t. Now hand the baskets over.” You softly demand. 

The lady relents and hands you the baskets. You two walk into the back door that leads to the kitchen. She points to a prep table and tells you to place the baskets over there. You did as your told and wish her a good afternoon. 

You walk back outside to your spot but see only your pencil. Where did your sketchbook go? You look around to see if it blew away but see no signs of it. 

“Hehe lookie what I found!” 

You hear a voice but no matter where you look you don’t see the person. 

“Up here My Queennnnnn.” 

You look up and see Cipher sitting in a tree looking down on you. She has your sketchbook in hand. 

“Cipherrrrr, give it back.” 

“You’re quite the artist ya know! Does the king know you draw him a lot?” She wiggles her eyebrows at you. 

You freeze and start frantically asking for the sketchbook back. She declines while hopping down from the tree. She gives you a smirk and you know that does not mean anything good. You try and step forward to grab it but she quickly runs past you. 

“I’m sorry but I have to show the king!” She yells while darting off.

You quickly chase after her while calling out to her. She is much quicker than you and you can barely keep up. No wonder why Mydei has her as a spy. 

She leads you on a wild chase which ends at the training grounds. It is so busy right now because all the soldiers even including Mydei has training right now. You don’t even bother looking to see if you can see him because you’re determined to get your sketchbook back and not letting him see your drawings. 

You look around for Cipher but can’t find her at all. You groan while you walk around the training grounds trying to see if you can find her hiding spot. You make sure to look up this time but due to you not paying attention to what’s right in front of you, you accidentally get in the way of a sparring match. 

You run into on of the soldiers and they were not expecting someone to be behind him. He quickly pulls out a dagger and whips around a cuts your upper arm with the dagger. You automatically wince and cover your now bleeding arm. 

“Ow, ow, ow, ow,” you repeat while kneeling down to the ground. You take your hand off your arm to see blood rushing out of your wound. It’s pretty deep and painful. You can’t stop the tears from falling down your face. 

“My Queen!” 

Mydei is instantly alert after hearing someone call out to you. He looks around but can’t see you. He does see a group of soldiers grouping by one another towards the perimeter of the grounds. 

“Mydei!” 

He barely looks at Phainon, when he blocks his sword. He easily pushes his attack off but goes back to trying to find you. 

“What are you doing?” Phainon heavily breaths, “You’re never not focused.” 

“Did you not hear someone say, ‘My Queen’?” 

“Uh no because I was focused on sparring.” 

“Yeah the one time you are,” Mydei murmurs. 

Phainon comes to stand next to Mydei while look at the group of soldiers. Mydei is about to yell at them to have them start fighting again but someone says, “Quickly someone get Lady Hyacine! The queen has been injured.” Phainon looks to his side expecting to see Mydei, but he already sees him dashing towards the crowd.

Mydei pushes through everyone to get to the front of the group. When he breaks through everyone he sees a soldier with a bloody dagger and you on the ground crying. He scans your body and sees your bloody arm and hand. He swears he feels his heart stop. 

“What happened?” He sternly asks the soldier. 

The soldiers turns pale white and slowly turns to Mydei. He goes to wave his hands around when explaining what happened but realizes he’s still holding the bloody dagger. He quickly hides it behind his back to try and save whatever punishment he’s going to get. 

“Phainon, take him away. I’ll deal with him later.” Out of thin air Phainon appears and takes the soldier away. 

Mydei is quick to kneel down in front of you and tilt your head up. 

“Mydei it hurts.” 

“I know.” He wipes some tears with his gauntlet covered hand. He’s being super cautious to make sure he doesn’t cut you again with his armor. “But I need you to move your hand so I can see the cut.” 

“It’s bleeding so much… I- I don’t want to.” 

“Sweetheart, I need you to move your hand for me. I promise to help, but I need to see the cut first.” 

You don’t even register the pet name due to the amount of pain you’re in. You hesitantly pull your hand away and close your eyes. When moving your hand it shows off a cut that is a couple inches long and a couple inches deep. Mydei’s eye widen but he quickly puts on a poker face so he doesn’t scare you. 

You open your eyes again when you hear a tearing sound. You see Mydei ripped a part of his robe off and starts wrapping it around your arm. 

“Mydei, your robe-“ 

“That is the last thing I care about at this moment. All I care about is making sure you’re comfortable and we get this fixed.” He sighs while tightening off the make shift bandage, “You’re always my first thought,” he softly admits. 

That only makes you cry even harder. Once again Mydei picks you up and carries you quickly towards the infirmary. He makes sure to hide your face into his neck so you don’t have to worry about anyone saying anything about you. 

Mydei kicks open the door to the infirmary which has Hyacine jump up from her seat, “Mydei, how can I help-“ she then takes a good look at the situation and points to the bed. 

She quickly grabs some bandages and wound cleaner. She makes her way back to you and Mydei but sees you holding tightly onto him. He’s carrying you bridal style and you’re refusing to let go. 

Mydei lightly calls your name, “Please you have to let go so Hyacine can help you.” 

“I don’t want to let you go.” 

Mydei’s words catches in his throat and he looks over at Hyacine to see if she has an answer. 

“Mydei sit down on the bed and sit with her on your lap. I’ll be able to do it as long as you hold her still.” He sits down on the bed and adjusts your position so you’re sitting on his lap and facing him. While you still have your face buried in his neck. 

Hyacine quickly unwraps Mydei’s make shift bandage and looks at the damage. She quickly goes and grabs a couple towels then comes back and wipes the area. She then takes the wound cleaner and pours it onto another towel.

“This is going to hurt…” she then presses it against your wound and you cry out and bury yourself more into Mydei. He can feel your tears falling down into his shoulder and back and it makes his heart break. 

He tightens his grip on you and whispers, “I’m right here. Cry on my shoulder, squeeze my body, just- do whatever you need to ease the pain.” 

When Hyacine is done cleaning the wound, she sets the towel aside and grabs the materials to stitch your cut. “Okay this is going to hurt even more now, but when I’m done with this all I have to do is wrap it.” 

Once she starts Mydei feels you flinch. You pull him closer to you with your non injured arm and dig your nails into is arm. He has been stabbed, pierced with arrows, smacked, punched, kicked, you name it- it’s happened to him. But that never hurt him. Him and his immortal body after all but this, this hurts. Maybe because he knows he didn’t protect you and now you’re in pain. That thought makes him disappointed in himself, he can’t help but blame himself for this.

He raises his hand to the back of your head and holds you close and whispers once again, “She’s almost done I promise. After this I’ll make you all the desserts you want.” 

“Honey cakes.” 

“Hm?” 

“I-“ you wince at the needle stabbing into you over and over again, “I want to have- have your honey cakes with you.” 

“Then I’ll make them for you.” 

Hyacine finishes and wraps up your arm. After she has you do a couple arm movement to make sure the wrap isn’t to tight you fall asleep in Mydei’s hold. He looks at you fondly and runs his hand through your hair. 

“How did this even happen?” 

“I don’t know. One second I’m sparring against Phainon in our daily training matches then all of sudden everyone saying she was hurt.” 

“Did she want to watch training today?” 

“She didn’t say anything about it to me.” 

“Hmm I wonder why she was there then.” 

“I think I can answer that.” Trianne says while walking into the room with a notebook in hand.

“Cipher was messing with her and was trying to show this to you De. Apparently she didn’t want you to see it so she chased Cipher around and accidentally got in the way of training.” 

Mydei looked down at you, what did you not want him to see? He looks at the notebook placed by him and he realizes it’s a sketchbook. What could be so bad you didn’t want him to see? 

“Thank you Trianne, I’ll have to talk with her later-“ 

“Trust me, Agy is already doing that…” 

“Then there will be no need for me to seek her out later. A scolding from Aglaea is even worse than mine.” 

Mydei adjusts his grip on you again so he’s carrying you bridal style again. “I must take my leave now. I’m going to put her in our room then go speak with that solider.” 

“Mydei.” 

“Hm?” 

“You have to make her honey cakes and you’re going to want to be with her when she wakes up. So don’t go too crazy.” 

Mydei sharply nods and walks back to your shared bedroom. He places you on the bed and gets you under the blankets. He walks over to the windows and closes the drapes so you don’t have to worry about the sun waking you up early. He makes his way back over to you and watches you for a moment. 

He sees you breathing peacefully but the tear stains on your face makes him not too happy with this peaceful sleep. He knows it was because you’re exhausted and needed sleep after what happened but he’s glad you can find some peace. He brushes some hair out of your face the leans down and gently kisses your forehead. He leans back up and watches you stir a little in your sleep but ultimately stay asleep. “I promise I’ll protect you from now on.” 

He walked out of your shared room with two tasks in mind. Punish the soldiers and make you honey cakes. 

                                  •

You wake up a couple hours later to the smell of something sweet. You blink the blurriness out of your eyes and see Mydei sitting on the bed against the headboard looking through something. You squint to see what it is and you realize it’s your sketchbook. 

You pop up and try to grab it out of his hand but he is quicker and holds it out of reach. You quickly realize you’re not going to win this battle so you relent and watch him. 

“So this is what you didn’t want me to see.” 

You wince at his words, “Well uh- I mean…” you don’t even know what to say so you admit defeat again. “…yes…”

“Why? You’re very talented.” 

“I didn’t want you to think I was weird for drawing you so much…” 

“I don’t think it’s weird. I think it’s really impressive. There’s no way I could do this. By the way in this last drawing…” he flips to the one you were drawing this morning, “What kind of tree is that?” 

You don’t even have to look at it to answer, “It is a willow tree. Behind my land was a massive forest and those were all around. I would sit under them almost everyday, all day.” 

“Would you read there?” 

“All the time.” 

“Do you- do you miss the plants and forest?” 

“Yes I do. Castrum Kremnos is completely different terrain wise compared to my home but I still love it here. It’s something different.” 

Mydei is silent for a second. You see the gears turning in his head. He faces you again, “There is a mini forest and plains outside the kingdom. Would you like to go?” 

“I would love to but again I don’t want to-“

“You’re not intruding. I want to go there too so I’ll take time off. Especially after today we should take a relaxing break.” 

“Let’s go then!” You excitedly cheer. “When will we go?” 

“In a couple of days. I do have some important meetings these next two days but after that we will go.” 

“Yay!” 

Mydei then turns to his nightstand and grabs something. He then places a plate full of honey cakes on your lap. “As promised.” 

You eagerly dig in and groan, “Mydei these are so good! You’re very talented.” 

“It’s nothing special,” he tries and wave you off. 

“Not true!” 

You keep eating but see he doesn’t have a plate. Did he not make some for himself too? You know you won’t be able to finish this whole stack by yourself so you cut a piece and offer it to Mydei.

He shakes his head, “No, it’s yours. I’m okay.”

“I won’t be able to finish this all by myself so you’re going to have to help me.” 

Mydei relents and tries to grab your fork. You pull it back and glare at him. He gets the message and blushes even more than he normally does. He gives into your wish and lets you feed him. 

“You know, you’re cute when you blush.” 

He looks away, “I am not ‘cute’.” 

“You’re the cutest!” 

“Stop it.” 

You two end up spending the rest of the night eating the honey cakes and talking to one another. You two end up getting closer than you two ever were before. Tonight was also the first night you ever slept cuddling. While you drift to sleep once more, you think that Mydei isn’t this beast people make him out to be. You can’t help but start to fall in love with him. 

                                      •

A couple days go by and here you two are walking in the forest Mydei was telling you about. It was about a thirty minute horseback ride. It was your first time on horseback so Mydei had you sit in front of him so he’d make sure you’d stay safe. You’ve realized since your injury Mydei has been very protective over you. You get it but it also makes your stomach fill with butterflies. 

“Hey,” 

You look up at Mydei who is pointing to a bunch of flowers, “You said you liked flowers. Are any of those the ones you like?”

“Yes, all of them. I love all flowers. Especially the ones I can turn into a flower crown.” You look at the flowers and an idea pops in your head. You have to make him a flower crown! 

Silently you two walk towards the flowers but another idea comes into your head. You should race him. 

You look up at him again and smirk. He looks at you and raises an eyebrow. “Race you!” You then dart off to the flowers without looking behind you. 

You know you can’t outrun the strongest warrior in all of the kingdom but it’s at least fun to mess around with him. You hear him catching up to you but you’re so close to the flowers! Just as you’re about to get to them you feel two hands around your waist that turn you around. You then are lifted into the air and spun around quickly. 

You can’t hold back your laughter and paint the biggest smile upon your face. Mydei swears that this is his favorite view in the whole world. You are just so enchanting to him. He places you down so his back is to the flowers then smirks, “Beat you.” 

You realize that he is closer to the flowers and your jaw drops, “No way that’s not fair! You cheated!” 

“How? It was a race and I got here before you did.” 

“Only because your insane strength helped!” 

“It’s called a resource.” 

You roll your eyes and get closer to the flowers. You sit on the ground and start plucking some flowers. Mydei sits right next to you and watches you intently but doesn’t say a word. 

You grab an array of flowers. Some small, some big, ones with long stems and ones with short stems. Once you have enough you start weaving them into a crown. You feel Mydei’s golden gaze on your hands. It makes you a little nervous but you��re determined to make it look perfect. 

You want it to be a surprise so you really just have to guess on how big to make it. You used the longer stemmed flowers to make the outline then went back and filled it in with the short stems. Once the shape of it is done you take the stem off of some of the flowers you pick then you put them into open spots of the crown. 

When you finished you turn to Mydei and locked gazes. You swallow thickly then sit up on your knees and gently place the crown on top of his head. You lean back to see him already look at you. Like the day you met the light is shining off his eyes perfectly making them look like little suns. His hair falls perfectly in his face no matter how the wind is blowing. His light smile sends your heart racing. Then there’s his blush. Oh you can die happy with seeing it again. He’s so handsome up close you can’t take it. 

You fall back onto the grass and he is quick to hover over you. “Are you okay?”

“You’re too handsome sometimes.” You mumble out. 

“I didn’t hear you.” 

“You’re too handsome sometimes.” You say louder but shift your gaze to look at the grass beside you instead of at him.

“You say that while you look absolutely beautiful right now.” 

You shift your head to lock gazes again. He looks at you determined as if he’s trying to mind trick you into believing what he said. 

“It’s not nice to lie Mydei.” 

“I’m not, I’ve thought you were beautiful since the first day I saw you.” 

“You mean when I was afraid of you?” 

“No not then. When I went to the ball one of your neighboring lands held.” 

Your eyes widen, “You were there?” 

“Yes. I stayed hidden basically the entire night but I went out to the balcony and saw you in the gardens. You were sitting a bench playing with your blue dress. It looked incredible on you but I could tell it made you uncomfortable. To be honest it’d be perfect if the dress was red but that’s beside the point. That night when you watched the stars all I could do was watch you. You were like something out of the fairytales my mother would tell me. That is why when I saw your request for marriage I didn’t hesitate to accept.” 

Your eyes widen at his confession. “So you’ve known me for a while now?” 

“Yes.”

“I- I don’t know what to say…”

“You don’t have to say anything. It’s just I want you to know I think you’re breathtaking.” 

“Thank you.” You say sincerely and Mydei simply smiles down at you. 

You see his flower crown starting to fall off so you reach your hands up to fix it. When it’s securely back on his head you rest your hands on his shoulders. 

“Mydei did you get to play out here when you were younger?” 

“No. I didn’t find out about this until I got back to Castrum Kremnos after my failed assassination. But when I lived outside the kingdom and was traveling around I’d play with some village kids in their grasslands but it wasn’t too often. We’d just play with sticks and act like they were swords.” 

“So what I’m hearing is, you’ve never rolled around in grass before?” 

“Yes, but why-“ 

You then sit up and push him down so he starts the momentum for rolling down the mini hill next to you guys. He is quick to wraps his one arm around your waist then placing his hand on the back of your head so you couldn’t get hurt by something in the grass or him. 

Once you reach the end of the hill and stop rolling you’re under him again laughing. You laugh so hard that it is echoing off the trees and making your eyes fill with tears. It even is starting to get harder to breath with how deep you laughter is. 

You only stop once you hear another source of laughter. You see Mydei with his eyes closed laughing. It’s a boyish laugh that is screaming happiness. You’ve never seen or heard him laugh before. You’re captivated by the sound and the look of him laughing that you can’t turn away at all. 

He stops laughing and gives you the biggest smile you’ve ever seen, “That was fun. Unexpected but fun.” 

You smile brightly up at him, “I’m glad.” 

You two stare at each other and you watch his gaze flick from your eyes to your lips then back to your eyes again. He reads your expression and doesn’t see any unease or a sign of no. So he leans down and connects your lips. 

The kiss is soft and slow but you feel your body instantly heat up. It’s like this kiss has connected everything. It’s like being handed a gift with a pretty bow on top. It feels perfect. 

His lips are a little chapped but you don’t care. They are so soft and gentle. You can feel the tenderness, kindness, and love he’s putting behind the kiss. This kiss felt like it lasted minutes but it actually only lasted a few seconds. 

Mydei pulls himself back and smiles down at you again. No words need to be exchanged between the two of you because you both know how each other feels. 

You two continue to stare at each other until Mydei makes a weird face then looks around. You scrunch your brow trying to figure out what he’s looking for. 

“What are you looking for?”

“We got to go.”

“Why?” 

“Because-“ 

All of sudden you hear and feel it. An instant down pour. You knew it was partly cloud on your way here but you did not think it would have rained. You laugh at the timing. 

“Yeah we should leave or Aglaea is going to be mad my new summer dress got ruined.”

Mydei shakes his head and stands up. He helps you up and leads you to his horse. He picks you up and makes you’re on comfortably before hoping on behind you and having his horse take off. 

Mydei tries to get you back as quick as he can so you don’t possibly get sick. By the time you get to castle you two are soaked to the bone. Castorice and Agalea pull you guys inside and start to lecture you to both on your negligence but neither of you care. When you get to your shared bedroom and sit in front of the fire with warm clothes on you two can’t help but laugh all over again. 

Mydei sips on his pomegranate juice and you can’t help but stare at him for the thousandth time. He’s just perfect. After today you don’t believe in any of the rumors. All you believe in is him. The man you love. 

                                   •

You’re sitting in the study room with Anaxa going over some history from one of the first dynasties in Castrum Kremnos. He’s pointing out every tiny detail and you try to hold onto them all. After all this is Mydei’s favorite subject and one of his favorite things to talk about. You want to be able to converse with him about it and what him get excited over talking about it. 

A timid knock comes at the door which makes you and Anaxa stop talking and look towards the door. You see three little kids nervously walk in. You recognize the three kid, they are kids Mydei saved in a siege and let them live in the castle. The gray haired boy is named Caelus, the black haired boy is named Dan Heng, and the pink haired girl is named March. 

“Professor Anaxa, do… do- do you mind if we play with the queen now?” Dan Heng asked. 

Anaxa looks at the clock and see it’s the early afternoon on a Friday. He smiles at the kids, “Yes on one condition.” 

“What is it Professor Anaxa!?” Caelus questioned while jumping up and down. 

“The three of you need to be prepared for your lessons starting on Monday.”

“We already have all our notes Professor Anaxa don’t worry!” March promised.

“Then you may play with the queen, but only if she wants too.” 

You feel six wide eyes on you and you laugh, “Yes, I’ll play with you three.”

“Yay!” They all cheer in unison. 

March quickly grabs your hand and rushes you out to the little play area Mydei made for the kids once they got old enough to play outside. You found this area on accident when you were trying to find where Mydei said a fountain was. You watched the kids excitedly play with sticks and jumping off a little brick wall. It reminds you of what Mydei told you when you two were in the mini forest.

Once they saw you they excitedly dragged you over and played many games with you. Some games you’re familiar with like catch, don’t drop the ball, tag, but their favorite game was to play was knights. They loved to save you from whoever was playing as the “villain” that day.  

So here you are begging for Caelus and March to save you from the evil dragon warrior, Dan Heng. The boys fight each other with sticks while March will throw little dirt clusters at Dan Heng.   

“What’s this?” 

You recognize that voice, you see Mydei with his arms crossed looking amused at the scene in front of him. But one thing instantly catches your eyes, he’s not wearing his armor today. That is a rare occurrence. He normally only does that when he needs to get it touched up. 

You see the kids light up when seeing Mydei. Mydei apparently use to play with them a lot when they were a bit younger but with the increasing work of his kingly duties he only gets to play with them every so often. But the kids begged you not to tell him you played with them so he wouldn’t stop playing with them when he has the chance. 

“We took your queen, king! What are you going to do about it?” Caelus says while the three of them pose in their fighting stances. 

You cover your mouth and giggle a little bit. Mydei looks at you and winks. He picks up a stick by him and gets into his own fighting stance, “Well you leave me no choice but to fight for what is mine.” 

The comments blows over the kids’ head but it makes your heart flutter. He said it so casually and confidently. He truly meant it. You’re his. You don’t mind being his, not at all. But hearing him say it for the first time and with much confidence makes you so happy.

The boys fight Mydei while March comes running up behind you and holds your hands behind your back. “Look king! She’s under our control!” 

“I’ll just have to beat you three and she’ll be back in my arms again.” 

“You speak confidently king, but we are no easy opponents!” Dan Heng states. 

“You are right, I will not take my opponents lightly.” 

The boys go back to fighting but Mydei is quickly to knock the stick out of their hands. Then picks up both boys and comes over to pick up March too. All the kids are laughing and squealing based on his actions. He then kneels to the ground then lays down on top of them. You can tell he’s not putting all his weight on them so he won’t hurt them. 

The kids laugh and push at his chest and complain, 

You’re too strong! 

No fair! 

You’re heavy, get off!

Mydei stands back up and marches over to you. He hold his hand out to you and helps you down from the little brick wall. “I’m here for you, My Queen.” 

“Oh thank you, My King! You’re my savior!” You dramatically hug him.

He is quick to hug you back and laugh. You two pull back and smile at one another, you then hear the kids yell, “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! The saved always kisses the hero!” 

You push yourself up on your tip toes and gently kiss Mydei’s lips, “Thank you. You’re my hero.” 

“I’ll save you any day.” 

                                     •

That was the last day in a while you got to see Mydei for an extended amount of time. He’s been dragged off early in the mornings and kept late into the nights. You’ve barely had dinner with him or got to talk to him before you two went to bed. 

You see the dark circles under his eyes and hear the tiredness in his voice. It breaks your heart to see him this overworked but any time you try to talk about it he brushes it off. It also kinda scares him when you bring it up. Like he’ll jump and widen his eyes and ask “What have people been saying?” When you tell him no one has said anything and that you’re just concerned he waves you off. 

Mydei didn’t have the heart to tell you the truth. He’s currently talking about having a mini siege on a neighboring land due to their threats. Duchess Caenis has been sending never ending threats to him due to him not accepting the marriage proposal between him and his daughter. That woman is a witch, he’d hate to wonder what the daughter is like. 

He doesn’t understand why this won’t get through her thick and dumb skull. He’s happy with his wife and kingdom now. Why is she trying so hard to force this? Even if he was single, he wouldn’t want to make an agreement with that land. She’s caused trauma to all of his friends and the last thing he needs to do is taint Castrum Kremnos. 

Mydei has been super upset he hasn’t gotten to see you or be with you often. Your relationship has been changing and he recognizes that but he can’t talk to you about it. He doesn’t want to talk about it after fighting with Krateros and Caenis all day. He wants to do it when he’s happy and not tired. 

Back to the threats though, Caenis has threatened to bring harm upon you and that is where he draws the line. He can deal with threats towards him or empty threats about attacking the strongest kingdom there ever was. But as soon as she dared to utter your name, he decides he’s going to kill her. 

He stares at the ceiling thinking about how to protect you but also kill that witch. He hears you exit the bathroom and make your way to the bed. He feels the bed dip but doesn’t move at all. 

You hover over him and brush some hair out of his face, “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing.” 

“Mydei. Obviously something is wrong but you’re not telling me.” 

“Everything is okay don’t worry about it.” 

“No it’s not! You’re always tired and out all day. I barely even see you anymore and barely get to talk to you!” Your voice cracks then you murmur the last part, “Do even care about that?” 

Mydei is at a loss for words and just stares at you. He can’t even open his mouth, the words are stuck in his throat. But he can’t tell you what someone is saying about you and what he plans to do about it. He’s not about to ruin everything you two built up. 

“Never mind. I’m going to bed” You turn your back to him and turn off the lamp on your nightstand. You bury yourself under the blanket and keep your back facing him. You let the tears silently pour down your face. Does he really not trust you? 

Mydei feels bile rise up his throat and feels his heart stop. You haven’t turned around. You haven’t reached out for him like you’ve done since the night of your injury. You didn’t give him a goodnight kiss. He hates this. He doesn’t even know how to fix this. He wants to reach out more than anything. He just wants you. 

                                   • 

A couple days goes by and you and Mydei haven’t said a word to one another. It breaks your heart but if he can’t talk to you about what’s bothering him then there’s no point in making random small talk. 

You’re sitting in the library and reading a random history book you picked out when the doors slam open. You see Phainon whipping his head back and forth. Once he find you he rushes over to your side. 

“My Queen, I have urgent news.” 

“What’s wrong Phainon?”

“Mydei has left to launch an attack on a nearby land that has been threatening us for a while now. I am to join him after delivering this message. Read it when I leave but also I need you to listen to the guards when I leave. They will keep you safe. See you soon.” He then dashes back out of the room. 

You look at the note in your hand and see your name neatly written. You know that hand writing, it’s Mydei’s. You slowly open the letter and see it nearly takes up the whole page.

My Love, 

These past days of not hearing your voice, seeing your beautiful smile, feeling your body pressed against mine at night, or even the touch of your lips against mine has been pure torture. I know I’ve never been the best with my words and always relied on my actions, that’s what lead me to right now.

When you read this I’m already starting the march to Duchess Caenis’ land. Within the past weeks her threats have grown and grown. I didn’t tell you this but she has been trying to get me to marry her daughter. I’ve always declined but now her threats have gone to you and I cannot stand for that. 

That night I didn’t have the heart to tell you this because I didn’t want to worry you or drag you into this. I made a promise to you that I’ll always protect you and that’s what I have to do now. I knew telling you my intentions in killing her would scare you. I did not want to want to ruin everything we’ve built up these past few months because I’ve come to adore it. I adore you. 

I’m sorry for how I’ve acted these past few weeks and especially these past few days. I promise I’ll apologize once I’m back. But I need you to listen to the guards and stay inside the castle. I need you to stay safe. 

I’ll see you soon, 

Mydei 

You cover your sobs with your hand. Reading the note breaks your heart. He has been looking out for you this entire time and you basically told him he didn’t care. You hang your head in shame. You feel awful for accusing him about not caring. He has obviously cared the most. 

You stand up and walk out of the library. Two guards turn to you and ask you to go to your room and stay there until they can make sure the premise is all clear. You obey and make your way back to your room. When you get to your room you rush to Mydei’s side of the bed and hug his pillow tight. It smells exactly like him and you can’t help but let your sobs out. You miss him. You want to apologize. You just want him back. 

                                    •

You lay in your shared bed for what feels like days, even though it’s been a few hours. Your door swings open and you sit up to see a guard and an older lady walking in. Neither of them seem familiar and it’s giving you a bad feeling. 

“My Queen! Such an honor to finally meet you. Your husband speaks quite highly of you.” Says the elder lady. 

“I’m sorry but I don’t know who you are.” 

“My name is Caenis. I am the Duchess of the land your husband is trying to invade.” 

You freeze, did- did she actually just say that!? No way, what are you suppose to do? Where are the guards that are supposed to be protecting you? Are they okay? Mydei is so far away. You’re scared. A million thoughts run through your mind nonstop. You don’t know what to do. 

The “guard” with Caenis comes over and drags you over to her. 

“Your husband won’t marry my daughter so the only way is to get you out of the way. But I want to do it in front of your husband.” 

“As you said earlier, Mydei isn’t here.” 

“Yes but he will be coming. So let us get into position.” 

The guard goes behind you and sticks a dagger at your neck. You take too deep of a breath and you feel the dagger dig into your skin. 

You want Mydei more than anything. You wish you didn’t push him away because if you didn’t, you probably wouldn’t be in this mess. Now you just hope that he comes running back for you. 

                                   •

Phainon ended up catching up to Mydei quickly and joins him at the front of the army. 

“Did you give it to her?” 

“Yes, Mydei.” 

Mydei sighs and pays attention to the road ahead of him. He hates how this all turned out. But if this all goes to plan he will be home soon. 

“Mydei.” 

“Hm.”

“Stop for a second.” 

Mydei reluctantly listened and stopped. He looks around and takes in his surroundings that’s when it hits him. This is all too easy. Something is not right. He turns back to face the kingdom. He can still see the castle and the bell tower. 

He stares at the bell tower as if he’s waiting for something. He squints even more and then he hears the bell tower go off. Invasion. He turns to Phainon and they both turn back and rush to the castle. 

Mydei has never pushed his horse this much before. He is making him run as fast as it possibly can. He should have known an invasion wouldn’t stop Caenis and she’d have her own plan. He feels so stupid. He just hopes you’re not hurt. 

Mydei and Phainon reach the castle and jump off their horses. 

“Find everyone else and make sure the kids are okay. I’m going to find her.” 

“I told the guards to tell her to go to your room. Go there Mydei and be safe.” 

“You too.”

Mydei then takes off running right towards you. He never hated how big his castle was until now. It feels like the halls stretch more and more the longer he runs down them. It’s like the universe is trying to keep him from you and he hates it. He’ll fight kings, gods, a witch, anything if it means you’ll be safe. 

He sees your bedroom door already open and his heart drops to his stomach. He quickly bursts into the room and his heart stops. Caenis is standing there smirking with her guards hands on you with a dagger at your neck.

“King Mydei, it’s an honor to see you again.”

“I can’t say it’s the same.” 

Caneus laughs, “Don’t be like that. I’d told you this would happen if you didn’t marry my daughter.” 

“I’d rather die than marry your daughter,” Mydei spits.

Caenus eyes darken, “Well that will change once the queen dies.” 

“That won’t happen.” 

“You seem confident even though I have the upper hand.” 

Mydei growls, he changes his gaze from her to you. He sees you shaking and a tear stained face. He clenches his fist, “I promise I’ll fix this. Just stay still.” 

“Don’t give her empty promises.” She turns to you, “Any last words for your king?” 

You look at Mydei and feel the tears gather in your eyes again. You swallow thickly and speak up, “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I’m so sorry for saying you didn’t care. But I have to thank you before whatever happens.” 

You sniffle and watch Mydei freeze. “You gave me a new life here. I’ve never been so happy before. The time I get to spend with you, your friends, or even the little kids- I just adore it. The memories we created will always mean the world to me. I know I was scared at first when I came here but you made everything so perfect that I couldn’t help myself but to fall in love with you. Mydeimos, I love you more than anyone or anything in this world. I’m sorry I only told you now and I only wished we could have had more time to spent together to create more memories.” 

Mydei steps closer and the guard puts the dagger against your neck to cut it a little bit. That makes him see red. He has to think about this though. He has to go in with a plan. He thinks for a moment then comes us with an idea. He waves his hand lower to try and get your attention. 

You look at his hand then back to his face. He then gives a motion with his head going back a bit. Is he trying to send you a message? You think hard about what he’s doing then it clicks in your head. He wants you to smack your head into the guards’. You widen your eyes and give him a look, can I really get away with it? 

He just does one nod and you can see him get into a little stance. Not obvious enough for Caenis who is laughing at the situation and not paying attention. 

“Oh how that’s so funny! Finally someone to love the scary beast but they are going to be gone soon.” 

“I wouldn’t be so sure. I’ll do anything to keep her safe.” 

“You obviously failed. Tomorrow you’ll be married to my daughter.” 

Mydei quickly gives you a thumbs up and you move. You throw your head back as hard as you can and smack into the guards head. You hear a sickening crack a groan. You feel the arms around you fall and you don’t hesitate to move forward. 

As much as you want to hug Mydei you know you have to run past him so he can deal with these two. 

“Go in the hallway, I’ll be out soon.” 

You run out of the room and go a bit further down the hallway. Something tells you that you shouldn’t hear what is going to go down in that room. 

Mydei walks straight over to the guard and punches him in his stomach. The man crumbles to the floor and drops the dagger. Mydei quickly grabs the dagger and shoves it into the man’s chest. “That’s what you get for hurting what’s mine.”

He then turns around and menacingly walks towards Caenis. She backs up until her back hits the wall and she freezes. 

“Come on let’s talk about this-“ 

“Silence or I’ll cut your tongue out first.” 

He points the dagger at her neck and quickly cut its. “That’s for what you did to her.” 

Caenis is quick to try and cover the wound but it’s pointless. Mydei cut her artery and she has no chance in living. She gasps for air and he just laughs. “Not so strong now are you? Too bad you learned your lesson too late.” He then stabs the dagger through her chest and watched her fall to the ground. 

He turns his back to her and sneers, “Have fun in hell.” 

Mydei makes his way out of the room and sees you at the end of the hall. He doesn’t waste time before running to you. 

You hear footsteps coming and you see Mydei running towards you. You don’t hesitate to run towards him. 

You throw your arms around his neck and he is quick to wrap his arms around your waist and pull you close. You both shutter into the hug and squeeze each other like this is the last hug you two will ever share. 

You pull back a bit to look him in the eyes, “Mydei, I’m so-“

You are cut off by his lips aggressively pressed against yours. It’s messy, hot, and heavy. His tongue pushes past your lips to connect with yours and pin it down. You feel the salvia running down your chin. 

This is the most heated kiss you two have ever shared and you love it. It lets you feel that he is here and with you. That there’s nothing going to come between you ever again. You are his and he is yours. 

Mydei breaks the kiss and tries to catch his breath. He watches you do the same. Seeing the gleam of your mixed salvia on your chin he raises his hand and wipes it off, “You don’t have to apologize… I do-“

“No you don’t.” You cut him off. “Let’s just put it in the past and enjoy each other’s company now.” 

“But-“ 

“Mydei… please.” 

He relents and places his forehead against yours, “Okay.” You close your eyes and bask in his warmth. It’s silent for a minute before Mydei whispers your name, “I love you so much too.” 

You open your eyes instantly and see his little suns shining the brightest they’ve ever had. He has the same smile he had when you two were in the mini forest. You match his smile and hug him tightly again. No more words are exchanged and none need to be. 

                                    •

A couple weeks go by and everything returns back to normal. Today you, Mydei and your friends and even the kids are outside having a picnic. It was a hard couple weeks for everyone, recovering from the invasion and making sure there is no more spies. 

You look at the spread on the multiple picnic blankets laid out. Castorice made tea, Mydei made honey cakes, then Tribbie and the kids made a little charcuterie board for everyone. You hear giggles and look up to see Mydei and Phainon playing with the kiddos. It warms your heart to see Mydei finally relax and enjoy the people around him. 

“Time for food everyone,” Aglaea calls out. 

Everyone comes back to the blankets and sits down. Mydei plops right down next to you and wraps his arm around your shoulder, pulling you close.

You already grabbed some honey cakes before everyone started digging in. You cut a piece and hold it out to Mydei and he doesn’t hesitate this time when you offer a bite to him. He eats the bite of the food and licks his lips after. He smiles down at you, “It’s good, have some.” 

“Awe what cute love birds! Our Mydeimos finally went soft!” Phainon wipes a fake tear and starts clapping. 

Anaxa smacks him on the back of the head, “At least he isn’t a playboy like you.” 

“Professor! You wound me.” 

“Phainon I’d be careful if I were you… or you’ll probably be cleaning horse waste again.” You say while offering another piece to Mydei. 

Mydei eats the bite and smirks at Phainon, “Yeah be careful knight.” 

Phainon shuts up and continues to eat. 

You laugh at the situation and place the empty plate down on the blanket. You feel your shoulder squeezed and you look at your beautiful husband. 

He smiles down at you, “I love you.” 

“I love you too.” 

He quickly presses a kiss to your lips and smiles again at you. “Yeah this is everything I’ve ever wanted.” 

“Me too and I’m happy I get to have it with you.” 

[scriptseekstories]

Queen Bee mom decides to at least tolerate Bruce when they live together. Her presence helps improve the relationship between her son and the batfam. But she can be strict about certain things, she is not happy about the boys being vigilantes. She did relent (barely) but only by having strict rules, if they get hurt, they're off patrol and grounded until the end of the week.

And everything that happened with Jason, she was furious with Bruce, refusing to speak for a long time. But when she learned Jason was alive, she put an end to that Red Hood business. She tracked him down (help from her modified bees) and dragged him back to the manor. She was scolding him for being reckless, for attempting to hurt her son, and for thinking that she would ever try to replace one of her boys. Things got better at the manor (sort of), he doesn't constantly argue with Bruce, mainly because Mom has good hearing.

That is if Momma Bee even tolerates the Batkids too lmao.

Maybe she will, only because she learns that not only Bruce but Alfred (because Alfred legit was the problem for most of the Batkids being Robin but people ain’t ready for that conversation-) had these poor orphan barely aged teens being taken in (Or Tim’s case he basically blackmailed Bruce lmao) to fight crime.

Not only that she finds out that it led to many of them being killed or crippled, ohhhhh boy she ain’t ever letting you NEAR that man.

And in your ask, (M/N) finding out Jason was still alive was way back years ago before (Name) was 16, so the timeline is a bit off (I’ll be writing down the complete timeline sometime in the future to prevent any confusion) so by the time (M/N) becomes Momma Queen Bee, Jason would’ve been back alive again.

If she learned that it was Joker who killed Jason, the mere thought of that clown running around alive trying to hurt others with their loved ones, especially if he ever harmed you?? Giiiiirl, he would be a gushing pile of blood cuz she slamming her fist down on him.

Bro would totally let it happen cuz he that freaky

But either way, she’ll be lenient towards the Batkids, since the bad things they did to you never happened in this Au, she wouldn’t really find a reason to turn her back on them.

If you managed to convince your mom that living in the manor is better than in the warehouse, mostly because she’s too damn big for it, she’ll agree and Bruce would internally and external praise you, hugging you while crying

Which the sudden affection from this absent made you wanna-:

Anyways, the kids would be THRILLED to have you both in the Manor.

Dick is already planning all sorts of fun siblings bonding events and mother and son memories, Jason is slowly inching closer to your mom with Pride and Prejudice in his hand, wanting her to read to him and wants you to see him as the greatest brother ever (Dick can… well eat a dick)

Tim wants to find out everything about you so he drags you to play games with him and Steph, who is excited to see if you could beta her in Mario Kart (You ate shit but she lets you win so it’s okay), Cass silently watches Momma Bee, wide eyed and in awe at how beautiful she was as she was like 👉🏻👈🏻 🥺 because she never had a mom before, and hides in the shadows watching you as well since you’re her tiny sibling to protect. (Damien too)

Duke would still be like from the original, listening endlessly to your ramblings, eyes bright as he watched you get so excited, hands flapping and dramatically moving around. Barbara hadn’t had a mother figure in her life, so the moment Momma Bee placed her giant hand over the hacker’s head with such ventless and praised her, poor baby teared up.

And Damien… He got two moms now. He viciously writes letters to Talia about his newly acquired Goddess Bee mom and sibling, where he always barges into your room and demands you both bond by either watching him train or you two in the garden.

Momma Bee is apprehensive of Bruce and Alfred, but knows they truly care about you, and you need all the support in your life, so she glares at them intently as you also hesitantly agree to bond with the family.

If not? (Name) got them on sight like this:

It’s all a very strange family, but it’s the one you got, and you couldn’t ask for a better one (Just kidding you always do, and Talia or Ivy might take up on that wish and swoon your mother)

Taglist: @pix-stuff @jellystar-star @moon0goddess @bad4amficideas @lettucel0ver @lithiumval @degenerates-posts @ryuushou @deathbynarcisstick @silverklaus @artistwithcreativeburnout @middevil465 @jsprien213 @1abi @oliviaewl @redkarmakai @nxdxsworld @the-dumber-scaramouche @sc3n3mo-t3to @tw-om-gi-hs-56387 @bunniotomia @welpthisisboring @rad4bean @ithoughtthinks @reeyy0-2 @ceramic-raven @danart501 @esposadomd @trashlanternfish360 @jjoppees @nervousalpacalady @eyeless-kun @pinkcloudcat

[natalianovnas]

༄ `. 𝐋𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇

or - '𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐮𝐩 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭' : 𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬.

comes straight from mmoc au so if you haven't read that one first, you should.

requests : had to mix up three requests together for this one (as insane as this sounds lol) you can find them here : req 1 - req 2 - req 3

warnings: reader being a tease, explicit song lyrics, smut to fluff, top!nat, beefy!nat, sub!reader.

words count : 2.6k

an : i have no knowledge over the games mentioned (as unfortunate as it sounds) so i might have aked for help from my sister || masterlist

It's some time around 5pm.

The kitchen smells like peanut butter and a hint of clean laundry.

Natasha’s wearing gray sweatpants low on her hips, a black tank top, and zero awareness of the chaos brewing behind her.

She’s humming softly, making herself a PB&J before heading out to the gym. Nothing fancy. Just something light to fuel her.

You, however, have a different kind of hunger.

Casually, you stroll into the kitchen like you’re not about to destroy the woman’s sanity, Billie Eilish’s “LUNCH” cued up on your phone as you walk in.

Nat barely glances at you as you lean against the counter next to her. She’s mid-sandwich, mid-bite.

Then, the lyrics actually reaches her ears—

🎶 I'll run a shower for you like you want

Clothes on the counter for you try 'em on

If I'm allowed I'll help you take 'em off 🎶

You're aware that she is watching you and that's al you wanted. However, your focus remains on the video you're recording, showing Natasha slightly and 'subtly' gesturing to her while pretending you don't notice her watching.

Natasha freezes.

One bite in. Mouth full. Chewing slowly like she’s buffering.

Her eyes slide toward you with that patented “Romanoff side-eye of judgment and barely concealed lust.”

“…The hell are those lyrics?” she murmurs.

She narrows her eyes. You smile wider and keep going.

🎶 I could eat that girl for lunch

Yeah, she dances on my tongue

Tastes like she might be the one 🎶

Natasha chokes, actually chokes. She coughs once, turns and grabs the edge of the counter.

“You want me to die or something?”

You’re biting back laughter. “Just feeding you the same energy you give me every time you come out the shower in a towel and pretend you’re not trying to kill me.”

She slowly sets the sandwich down.

“Alright, gremlin. You’ve got exactly ten seconds to run before I show you exactly what’s for lunch.”

“Oh? Is it me?”

She cracks her neck like it’s go-time.

You sprint down the hallway, laughing. “I regret nothing!”

“Too bad,” She calls out in an amused. “You will in ten minutes.”

The sound of your laughter trails down the hall as you run from her, Billie Eilish still echoing faintly from your phone.

Natasha stands there for a beat, amused and exasperated. She rolls her eyes, wipes her hands on a paper towel, and lets out a short laugh.

“Drama queen,” She mutters fondly under her breath, shaking her head.

She should go chase you or pin you to the bed or make you finish the song in a much less innocent setting but she’s got to hit the gym.

Discipline, Romanoff. Control.

She grabs her gym bag and slings it over her shoulder just as you peek your head around the corner.

“Wait. You’re actually going?” You ask, surprised.

Nat smirks. “That a problem?”

You shrug. “Just rare. You usually work out at home and pretend it counts.”

“That’s because it does count,” She says, stepping into her sneakers.

You hesitate, then beam. “Can I come ?”

Natasha pauses. Looks over her shoulder.

“You want to go to the gym?” she asks, genuinely surprised.

You shrug, stepping into the kitchen in a loose tee and shorts again. “Maybe I wanna see you all sweaty and jacked. Motivation.”

Her eyes narrow slightly, amused. “You’re not going to distract me?”

You grin. “No promises.”

.    .    .  

Around forty minutes later, you both walk into the gym.

You’re in a cute lil gym fit— tight biker shorts, low-cut sports bra, hair in a high pony. You look like sin and you know it.

Natasha, meanwhile, is doing reps with a resistance band while trying to focus. Truly. But then you walk past the mirror for the third time, swaying just a bit more than necessary.

“Can’t help it if I’m naturally bouncy,” You whisper innocently as you pass her again.

She glares—whipped and mad about it.

You start doing slow squats directly across from her. Like, directly.

Your back arched. Your form perfect. That smug little smile on your lips.

She drops the band and walks over, towel around her neck. “How’s it going?”

You shrug casually. “Pretty good. Got my form right. You keep watching me or something?”

She raises a brow. “I should be watching my form. But you’re not really making that easy.”

You smirk and pat her chest, trailing your hand just slightly longer than needed.

“Maybe I should be your trainer. Keep you focused.”

She leans in. “You keep touching me like that, and I’m gonna start lifting you instead.”

You blink. “Promise?”

She laughs. Loud and warm and fond.

“Trouble,” she mutters, walking away—but not before giving your ass a swat as she passes. “Wrap it up. We’re doing core next. And no more slow-motion squats, you menace.”

“You love it here.”

“I love you. Working out next to you is just a sexy bonus.”

“You're doing this on purpose,” She mutters.

“What? I’m just trying to be fit like you,” You say sweetly, adjusting your waistband in a way that should be illegal.

“Mm. Fit for hell,” Natasha grumbles, running a hand down her face.

You grab a yoga mat and drop to your hands and knees to start stretching, rocking your hips—fully knowing she’s watching.

“Jesus,” She mumbles under her breath. “Alright.”

You look back innocently. “Something wrong?”

“Yeah,” she says, walking over. “I’m not working out another second until I get this out of my system.”

She grabs your waist and pulls you upright, making you squeak with laughter. “Nat—”

“You wanted my attention?”

“Maaaybe.”

“You got it. And now we’re going home.”

“But we just got here,” You tease as she starts walking you toward the exit.

She glances over her shoulder at the poor guy in the corner who’s been pretending not to stare. “If one more person looks at you like that, I’m getting arrested.”

You blink up at her with that infuriatingly innocent face. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Exactly,” she mutters, grabbing your hand and practically dragging you out. “You just exist. And it’s criminal.”

In the Car

You throw your gym bag into the back seat, barely getting the door shut before Natasha leans over and buckles your seatbelt for you. Her face inches from yours.

“You think this is funny?” She murmurs.

You shrug, grinning. “I think you being jealous is funny.”

She pauses. “I’m not jealous.”

“Oh?”

“I’m possessive. Big difference.”

“You know,” she says, “next time you want to kill me, just wear those leggings around the apartment.”

You squeeze her fingers. “So… you did like the TikTok?”

She huffs out a laugh. “I’m going to block Billie Eilish on everything.”

“Too late,” you grin, “I made a whole playlist.”

She sighs. “God help me.”

You’re about to sass her again, but she starts the engine with one hand and rests the other high on your thigh. Fingers drumming.

The drive is quiet. No music. No talking. Just tension. And her hand creeping slowly toward the hem of your shorts like she’s thinking about pulling over and making a memory in the backseat.

You squirm and she smirks.

Back at the apartment

The door slams shut behind you, your gym bag hits the floor.

You turn around to make a flirty remark—maybe another Billie lyric—but Natasha’s already there, crowding you against the wall.

Her hands plant on either side of your head.

"You wanted my attention at the gym?" She asks lowly, eyes locked on yours.

You smile. “Kinda.”

She hums. “Got it.”

Then, she kisses you—deep, slow, and dangerously patient. Like she’s not angry. Just starving.

You whimper into it, hands curling in her hoodie, already dizzy.

She pulls back only to whisper against your lips, “You think you’re cute when you’re teasing me?”

“A little.”

Her hand trails down your waist to your backside, gripping firmly. “You were showing off on purpose.”

You nod, breath catching. “It worked, didn’t it?”

“Oh, baby…” she says with a laugh, lifting you off the floor effortlessly and carrying you straight to the bedroom. “You have no idea what you started.”

Natasha drops you on the bed—not carelessly, not roughly—just with the weight of someone who knows you wanted this.

You bounce once, grinning up at her, hair splayed across the sheets. Your sports bra is damp with heat. Your thighs glisten with a soft sheen of post-workout sweat.

She looks down at you like she’s trying to memorize you. Like she’s trying to decide where to start.

“You’ve got about three seconds to admit you were doing it on purpose,” she murmurs, pulling her ponytail loose.

You smirk. “What if I wasn’t?”

Her eyes darken. “Lie again.”

You laugh—giddy, breathless—as she crawls over you, knee slotting between your legs, hand sliding under your bra to press over your heartbeat.

“Fast,” she notes, leaning in to kiss the edge of your jaw. “Always gets like this when I’m mad at you.”

“You’re not mad.”

She kisses your neck. “No. I’m obsessed. There’s a difference.”

You moan softly when her mouth finds that sensitive spot beneath your ear—tongue warm, teeth teasing. Her fingers slip under your waistband, tugging the shorts just low enough to make you gasp.

"You were walking around that gym like you didn't belong to anyone," she whispers.

You grin, eyes fluttering. “Maybe I forgot.”

That earns you a firm grip on your waist and a slow, grinding roll of her hips down into yours. You groan.

Natasha smiles. “Don’t worry. I’m about to remind you.”

She pulls your sports bra off—slowly, deliberately, watching your eyes the whole time. Like she wants to see every flicker of surrender.

“You look so fucking proud of yourself,” she says, thumbing over your nipple with maddening calm. “All that stretching. That little smirk every time you caught me looking.”

“I didn’t catch you. You were obvious.”

She laughs into your skin. “You’re lucky I didn’t bend you over that bench press.”

“Maybe I wanted you to.”

She stills.

Then sits up between your legs, peeling your shorts off with a kind of reverent cruelty.

You arch toward her, need pooling low in your belly. “Nat…”

“You think this is me losing control?” she says, voice low as she runs her palms over your thighs.

You answer, eyes hazy. “Isn’t it?”

She leans down again, lips brushing your stomach as she descends lower.

“No,” she whispers. “This is me being very in control. And you? You’re gonna feel every second of it.”

Hours later :

You’re boneless on the bed. Natasha is draped over you, skin warm, heartbeat steady against your back. She’s tracing circles on your hip absentmindedly.

“You’re evil,” you mumble.

She hums. “And you love it.”

You smile into the pillow. “I’m never going to the gym again.”

Natasha presses a kiss to your shoulder. “That’s okay. I think I got my full-body workout right here.”

Minutes later

You’re sprawled across Natasha’s chest, sweaty, glowing, borderline delirious—but instead of falling asleep, you're… scrolling through your game folder.

Nat runs her fingers lazily through your hair, barely glancing at the screen.

“You better not be working,” she mumbles.

“I’m not.”

“You better not be shopping either. You just bought another frog mug last week.”

You lift your head, grinning. “I’m opening Minecraft.”

Natasha blinks. “Excuse me?”

“I want to play. Come on. Be my emotional support chaos knight.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Didn’t I just ruin you?”

“Yes,” you say sweetly. “And now I want to build a cottage and adopt a Minecraft cat. It's called balance, Natasha.”

“Baby, we’re naked.”

“That’s the best part,” You state with a grin, already reaching for your Switch like this was a trap laid in advance, like nat didn't have full view over your naked back size. “The vibes are immaculate.”

Natasha watches as you boot up the game. She sighs.

She groans but doesn’t actually resist when you hand her a controller. Ten minutes later, she’s beside you, wrapped in a throw blanket, staring at the screen like it just insulted her.

“So what am I doing?” She asks, looking around her tiny blocky world.

“Whatever you want. I’m over here farming potatoes and building a mushroom house. You could help or mine. Or even fight zombies.”

She hums. “What happens if I hit this cow?”

“…Uh. You’ll get leather.”

She punches the cow. Then a sheep. Then another cow.

“Okay. You need to calm down—”

“Can I blow something up?”

You blink. “What?”

She grins. “I found TNT in a chest. I want to see what it does.”

You sigh dramatically, planting flowers near your base. “You’re such a menace.”

“You’re the one who handed me a pickaxe.”

.    .   . 

Fifteen minutes later

You’re curled into Natasha’s side, both of you still half under the covers, screens glowing softly in the dark.

You’re naming your third cat (“I’m calling her Mochi. She’s shy but kind.”)

Natasha’s in a cave halfway across the map, sword out, muttering, “Get wrecked, creeper,” as she wipes out an entire underground horde.

“Why are you like this?” You giggle.

“Because you gave me no outlet for my post-sex rage.”

“You’re holding me right now.”

“Exactly. I can’t take it out on you again—yet. So the skeletons die.”

You plant another flower bed next to your pixelated front door and say sweetly, “You’re welcome to move in next to my lavender garden. We could be neighbors.”

“I’m going to build a bunker with lava traps.”

You press a kiss to her shoulder. “That’s romantic in your own feral little way.”

.    .    .

Your farm is thriving. Your home has windows. You’ve got a cat named Olive.

Natasha? Has gone full bloodlust.

“Where are you?” you call from your greenhouse.

“In a cave.”

“Do you need help?”

“No. I’m killing spiders. There’s so many. I’m thriving.”

You blink at her health bar. Full. Her inventory? Filled with string, bones, and gunpowder.

“What even is your goal?” you ask, laughing.

“To keep the mobs away from your Barbie dream house.”

“Aw.”

She shrugs. “Also I’m naming this wolf after you.”

.    .   .

Later still…

You’re in bed, curled up beside her again. The screen glows faintly from your paused Stardew Valley game.

Nat’s voice is low, teasing. “Why do I have to be the one who fights everything?”

“Because you’re scary.”

She smirks. “And you’re not?”

You roll over and give her your most angelic smile. “I have a chicken coop and a Junimo shrine.”

You’ve tamed six animals now, grown your first melon crop, and made a rainbow glass window in your hilltop cottage.

Natasha? Has full enchanted armor and is level 23 from wiping out an abandoned mine shaft.

And yet—when you ask, “Wait, wanna try Stardew next?”, she pauses.

Natasha groans. “Oh my god.”

“...and have pixel babies.”

She rolls her eyes. “You are unbelievable.”

You blink innocently. “Or... we could try Roblox.”

Natasha freezes. “What the hell is Roblox?”

You grin like a devil. “A magical land where you and I can go on weird obstacle courses and dress up in cursed outfits.”

She narrows her eyes. “Is this revenge for earlier?”

You nod enthusiastically. “Yes.”

She looks at you over the blanket. “…Are there weapons?”

You nod eagerly. “There’s a murder mystery game.”

“…Fine. But if someone calls me ‘mommy’ in the chat, I’m deleting the app.”

.    .    .

Ten minutes into Roblox:

“Why is my character bald—WHY is your character twerking on me—stop laughing, I’m being serious—”

And just like that, Natasha’s whole reputation crumbles in one game lobby while you’re crying from laughter.

Whipped destroyed & undeniably hers.

[hanginginthevoid]

Blessing in Disguise

pairing: bob reynolds x reader

a/n: Technically pt.2 to ‘Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back,’ but i think it can be read as a standalone piece! reader is mentioned to be right-handed - not allat important but still. i hope it lives up to everyone’s standards!!

summary: things have been great. bob’s been learning to control his powers, you’ve been able to stay above the rough waters that are college. you didn’t think that him being an avenger would be a problem, he’s barely seen on missions and rarely mingles at galas. unfortunately you were wrong.

warnings: ooc bob + void, knife mentioned, reader almost gets her finger cut off, kidnapping, negligent friends?, lmk if i missed anything

wc: 3.5k

—

Since deciding to give Bob a chance, your life has been less mundane. Not because your activities or lifestyle has particularly changed, but because there's someone constantly by your side.

Bob’s always sharing stories about the team, something Walker said or did, the way Alexi still doesn’t understand social cues, the one time Bucky had to leave a televised congress meeting to go on a mission and the conversation that followed on the jet, how Ava still phases through walls because ‘it’s much more convenient’ even though everyone’s asked her not to. 

It brings a sense of excitement to your life, even though you’re not the one experiencing it. When you do actually get to meet the team it’s odd. You know so much about them, yet you’ve never heard their voices not through a screen. 

It feels a little like you’re getting interrogated. You don’t blame them for it though, with their upbringings and every experience that’s brought them to this point it makes sense. After they’ve concluded that you aren’t a sleeper agent placed to ruin them, you’re welcomed like a long lost friend.

Regardless, you don’t drop by the tower often after that. Every once in a while you would pick something up from Bob, or hang out for a few hours if he wanted company. Most of the time everyone would just go to your apartment. That drew less suspicion to you, and it let them feel free of Valentina’s clutches.

Oftentimes you’d come home from school or work and someone would be sprawled out on your couch. Or banging pots and pans in your kitchen. You’ve even caught Yelena filling up your tub for a bubble bath - twice!

So when you come home to your apartment and hear some chatter and obvious movement, it doesn’t raise suspicion. A little bit odd that more than one of them would come at the same time, but maybe someone was just getting ready to leave when another was heading in and they got to chitchatting. 

Not like they didn’t have all day to do that. Y’know. Because they live together. But you digress.

“Hey! You guys planning on staying for dinner?” You’re placing your keys and grocery bags on the counter, trying to peek around the corner so you can get a feel for how many extra portions you’d need.

You get silence as an answer. It means that they heard you, otherwise the chatter would have continued. Why wouldn’t they respond then?

You’ll give them a few minutes. They wouldn’t act this way without good reason. To fill your time you start putting the necessary foods away, keeping the ones you were going to use on the counter.

A huff leaves your lips. They can’t barge into your house, expect you to cook for them, to entertain them, and not speak to you. You’re a woman on a mission, marching out of your kitchen with your jaw set in mock seriousness.

Then you’re catching the butt of a gun to your temple, and crumpling into the man on your left. You can barely see him, vision starting to fill with black dots.

Who was he?

When did he get in here?

Who hit you?

What’s happening?

Then you’ve faded completely. Full ragdoll on the man, a bit of blood running down your face before it can soak into your hair or the man’s shirt.

—

It’s been a busy week for Bob. He’s been training with every member on the team. Each of them have something different to teach him and his want to be useful leaves him like a sponge in the ocean. 

If he’s not training, he’s in therapy. He’s hoping, believing, that if he gets himself sorted out then he’ll be able to go out and be the Sentry. It’s been pretty helpful for normal things too though, aiding him in not feeling like everyone is going to up and abandon him one day. Really giving him a sense of purpose, you’ve been doing that too though.

If he’s not doing either of those things, he’s working on his cooking skills. The two of you had gone on a date last month where you learned to make pasta from scratch. You were overjoyed, even if it looked and tasted a little wonky. He wanted to see what you’d look like when he made it perfectly, like a real chef.

The team wasn’t too upset. Maybe too much pasta for their liking, but Bob changed the sauce and protein every time so it didn’t get exhausting to eat.

Now that he has some time to think about it, he hasn’t seen you at all this week.

He wasn’t too worried though. You had exams coming up, you had reminded him of it last week. When you had exams you tended to shrink into your own personal bubble, not wanting a distraction to prevent you from getting the best grade possible. Maybe he’d stop by and bring you a dessert, something to reward you for all your hard work.

“Where are you going Bob?” Yelena asks, not even looking over the back of the couch she’s lounging on.

“To visit Y/n.” He’s facing her even though she’s not looking at him. Something’s been up with the team this week and he can’t seem to get it out of anyone, “I’m gonna stop at the bakery by her place, get her a slice of the cake that she likes.”

“Oh - That’s sweet.” Bob’s nodding along, Yelena turns before she finishes, “But no can do.”

“No… can do?” 

“Yes. Right. No can do.”

“Why not?” You’re his girlfriend, there’s no reason that he shouldn’t be able to go see you when he wants. You haven’t even explicitly said you didn’t want to see him. Unless you told Yelena to keep him away?

“I just do not think it would be good to distract her from her studies.” Yelena’s jutting her lips out a little as she nods along to herself, like it’s the best thing she’s ever said.

“I won’t be there long. She shouldn’t be studying this late anyway.” Then Bob’s pressing the down button for the elevator.

Yelena can’t stop him without raising uncertainty in Bob, she’s backed into a corner. Either let him go and let him see the empty apartment where you should be. Or tell him that when Ava went by earlier this week she was greeted with an empty apartment, spoiled food on the counter, and a note left behind demanding that some criminal be released from prison.

Either way the risk of the void being unleashed was imminent, the only difference was the location; unleashed to the public or unleashed in the tower. Neither choice was good, the team still incapable of fully subduing the void in a normal sense. But they were the Avengers, they needed to take these hits.

So Yelena stops him. Drags him to the dining table and tells him to stay. Then she’s rounding up the rest of the team so they can all break the news to him together.

Since she stopped him, it’s her responsibility to break the ice, “Y/n went missing a few days ago.” 

“I-I don’t understand.” A skeptical look overtakes Bob’s eyes, “What do you mean went missing?”

“I went by to watch that Mormon wives show with her a few days ago and she was gone.”

“So she was out. Running errands like a normal person.” Bob moves to get up. This is ridiculous, no need to stress him out.

“No. There were groceries left out on the counter. And - and a note. Saying they took her to make a deal.”

Bob’s eying everyone up. Trying to figure out if this is some sort of prank and if anyone will slip and say that they were just testing him, trying to make sure he could control himself. 

When Walker, of all people, gives him a look of sympathy he knows its not a joke.

“So did you do it?” 

“Do what?”

“The deal. Did you make the deal or not.”

“Not yet. We were trying to keep the asset in prison and get Y/n out but we haven’t got the exact coordinates to her whereabouts yet.”

Ever the congressman. All about diplomacy and doing things the right way. If it was someone he cared about Bob is sure Bucky would have been trying harder. 

“Show me.”

“The file? We can’t Bob. It’s too risky, especially because nothing's official yet.”

He’s lucky that his hands are below the table, fingers starting to get encased in black. His eyes are downcast too, as long as no one looks too deep they wouldn’t be able to see the way they’re flashing gold. 

He’s competent. He’s been doing good. Going to therapy. Training. Setting himself straight. And they, his supposed family, couldn’t even tell him that his own girlfriend went missing? That she was being held for ransom?

“I just want to look. A fresh set of eyes never hurt.” He’s doing his best to keep his voice level. Doing all he can to not allow anyone to know the turmoil he’s truly going through. 

The tension could be cut with a knife. Every member looking at each other, doing their best to communicate telepathically. To figure out how many of them really trusted that Bob wouldn’t go ballistic, that he could just assist like he was trying to make them believe. 

“Yeah. Yeah you’re right Bob.” It’s Yelena. Always trusting in him, always being his number one supporter. “We’re sorry that we doubted you.”

He doesn’t say anything, just shoves his hands into the kangaroo pocket of his hoodie and follows them down to the briefing room. He goes through all of the information fast, as it’s spread around the digitized walls.

The main thing he cared about was the suspected location, and who took you. There’s no for sure ID on your kidnappers. They knew exactly how to evade the cameras, either that or there was someone helping them become invisible. 

He didn’t mind sending everyone in that facility to the void though. It’s what they deserved.

He plays it off cool. He’s got a ‘level head’ and really did his best to come up with valid input. Everyone seems to truly believe that he just wanted to help by the end of their discussion. 

Bob lets out a yawn. Not too loud - then it’d be obvious he was faking. But loud enough to draw some attention. Then he rubbed his eyes, pressing the pads of his fingers to the inner corners and rubbing outwards. Followed a few minutes later by blinking for a few seconds, then trying to hold his eyes open wide to the point that they couldn’t close.

When he knows that everyone has seen him exhibit signs of being tired at least once, he excuses himself. He’s just ‘much too tired to be any real help’, and they all understand. It must be a lot for him to comprehend, a lot to take in unexpectedly. They let him go with no resistance, and he couldn’t be happier. 

As the last light went out, and everyone had been confirmed to be asleep he would leave. Well to be correct - Void would leave. Bob was working on coming to an understanding with him because of you, so he would do Bob a favor and bring you back.

Any shadows left in his wake, those were at the fault of the Avengers. They should have told him right away, or done their job properly.

—

Your sense of time was distorted. The only light you have is a single lightbulb, far beyond your reach. Guards coming in specified intervals, either to bring you sustenance or to try and interrogate you. 

It was always the same routine - Guard comes in, questions on how you know the Avengers, questions on their weaknesses. There weren’t any questions today though.

A guard you’ve never seen before steps into the cell. “We’ve been nice. You understand that right?”

You nod, smart enough to not provoke him. Even if everyone knows kidnapping someone isn’t considered ‘nice’.

“You’re comrades haven’t been as nice. Seems they need some… Motivation.”

“They’re not my comrades! We’re just friends, and I wouldn’t even call us that! They don’t tell me anything anyway, it’s all confident-” you’re cut off by the back of the man's gloved hand. You can feel the bruise forming on your cheekbone. 

“Keep sayin’ that. Hasn’t gotten you anywhere yet, maybe tomorrow’ll be your special day though.”

A couple more guards filter into your cell. One goes behind you, the other waiting by the door, something underneath his armpit that you can’t identify, “What’s your dominant hand sweetheart?” 

“M-m-my left.” He couldn’t be asking for any good reason, lying seems like your best choice. 

“Bullshit, you always eat with your right.” Then the man from the doorway is closing in on your right side, placing a wooden board beneath your hand and splaying your fingers out.

You start to thrash, trying to jerk your hand out of his grasp before your biceps are grabbed by the guard behind you. “What are you doing?”

“Told you. Your friends need motivation.” He flips out a switchblade, “Usually an appendage is enough. Won’t take nothing too important.. Yet at least.”

“No, no, no, no. Let me talk to them. Please.” You’re still thrashing, hoping that by some act of god or any higher being, you get enough strength to free yourself, “I-If I could talk to them I’m sure they’d get you whatever you’re asking for.” 

His tongue clicks, head tilting side to side as if he’s in thought. There’s hope! He’ll bring you a phone, you’ll talk to Yelena, or Bucky, or even Bob, and they’ll get you out of here.

“Nah.” 

What does he mean ‘nah’. He’s really going to cut your finger off? For what? Because you don’t know the Avengers personally enough for him. Come on, you work in a bookshop for Christ's sake.

He’s lining up the cut when everything goes dark. You can still feel the other two grips on you, so it must be some electricity issue, but the grips went a little slack when the lights turned off. 

You throw your head back, connecting with something behind you - probably a nose from the crunch you heard. Then you’re taking your left hand, shoving it in the direction you think the head of the man holding your right arm down would be. Connecting with his face you look for his eyes, pushing inwards as much as possible when you locate them.

You’re stumbling through the room, trying to stay as silent as possible. The entire compound erupted in chaos when the lights went off. People trying to figure out what happened, who’s to fault, how to get the lights back on. 

The noise allows you to creep out of your cell. Pressing your back against the wall you try to move in only one direction, hoping it will lead you to an exit.

On your way around a corner you hit something. It’s solid, so you don’t move. Praying it’s a file cabinet, just a weird divot in the wall, even a fridge. But then it inhales, and you move with its chest.

When you look up to assess the damage you’ve just done, you’re met with two pinpoint white eyes. You’d think you were hallucinating them if they didn’t seem to track over your face, like they were assessing you.

“Stay here.” It’s a command, not a statement. His voice is deep, sort of gravely or raspy. His arms grasp your biceps, nothing like the last person who held you like this. It’s soft, gentle, like you mean something. He’s maneuvering you however he pleases, pushing you into a sitting position in the corner.

Then you hear footsteps, fading away in the direction that you came. 

The noise progressively gets quieter and quieter. Surprisingly, there’s no gunshots, no grunts or groans, not even thuds of bodies hitting the ground. Eventually, there’s complete silence, not for long though, soon there’s footsteps heading in your direction.

You keep your head down. You hope it’s whoever put you here, whoever told you to stay, but there’s no guarantee. Better to be safe than sorry.

There’s a hand lightly brushing your shoulder, “You hurt?”

A small sigh leaves your mouth, recognizing the voice as the same one from before. Hearing it again brings an odd sense of familiarity to you. “N-No.”

“Good. I’m going to pick you up.”

Before you could deny, informing the man that you were perfectly capable of walking yourself, you’re in his arms. It’s dark outside, not like anything you’ve seen in the city. No lamp posts, no buildings, nothing supplemental to aid the stars in lighting the sky.

You can see more than in the building though. The fingers that are gripping the back of your knee and your bicep are black. More black than humanly natural, like a tar. Maybe it was just spandex gloves over your saviors suit?

You look to the left and quickly realize you’re mistaken. The entirety of this man is black. Like he was drenched in it, no part of him free from it. His pupils are white, the only indication that you have that he’s got thoughts going on in his head. 

He takes off, bursting into the sky like a rocket. You assume this is how he got here, but you would have thought he would be more considerate considering you have minimal clothing on. 

You wouldn’t complain though. While the Avengers, your friends, had left you high and dry this man came and saved you. You’d forever be grateful. 

There’s plenty of time to stare at this man during your flight. Quickly, you’re able to identify him. Or at least you assume you can. He has all the same features as your boyfriend.

Same cheekbones, same nose, same jaw, same hair. Did Bob have a twin that he was hiding from you? 

Oh.

Wait.

Was this the void? The one who sent you to that shame room all those months ago? The reason you avoided Bob in the first place?

If he senses your turmoil, he doesn’t mention it. He doesn’t talk at all actually. You’d think it bothered him to save you, but his fingers are digging into you. Not enough to be painful or bruise, but enough to make sure that he never lost focus, never risked you being dropped.

You’re flown back to the Watchtower, directly into Bob's room. You’re placed gently on the bed, sitting on the edge. The void gives you a once over one last time before the darkness is receding. It flows down Bob’s body, as if there’s a drain on the floor and it’s all flowing downwards to it. 

After a couple of seconds Bob’s eyes shoot up. Surprise overtakes his features, “Y/n?”

“Hi Bob.”

“Oh my God. What happened to you?” His fingers are ghosting over the bruise on your cheekbone, then they’re making their way over to the scabbing on your temple.

“Uh - A lot. Yeah, a lot.”

“Let’s get you to the med room. You gotta get patched up.”

You shake your head, moving a bit in his firm grasp, “I just want to shower and sleep. If that’s alright.”

“Yeah, yeah of course that’s alright. We’ll get you patched up in the morning.”

Bob wanted to know what happened, everything that happened. Wanted to know how you got here, who took you, what really happened in your apartment. But if you wanted to shower and cuddle up in his grasp for the rest of the night, he wouldn’t deny you.

When he woke up before you, heading out to get you a cup of coffee and some waffles, the rest of the team cornered him. Asking him how he was feeling, that’s when he remembered that he essentially faked exhaustion to leave the briefing room.

They informed him that an underground facility was found this morning, some unknown source tipping off local authorities. Inside they found tons of information on a terrorist group, no one to guard it however. Only shadows plastered to the ground, unable to be smudged or wiped up. 

Bob raises the mug he’s carrying in mock toast on his way back down the hall to his room, “Not sure how that happened, I do wanna get back to my room before Y/n wakes up though.” 

You could answer their questions later. Figure out some therapy probably too. Right now though Bob wanted you to rest. He was sure that you weren’t able to for a long while, so he’d make sure you stayed undisturbed until you wanted to wake. 

Even though the Void has always been a burden on him, making his life hard, miserable even. Bob couldn’t help but believe it was growing, changing into a better force. The one who could do the hard things when he couldn’t. The one who was able to dish out the proper judgement. A true blessing in disguise.

Likes/comments/reblogs mean so much!!

[thirteenheavens]

Heyy! I love your tics! I was wondering could you write a breakup fic with mingyu? Maybe reader isn’t sure ab the relationship and he begs her to stay? It’s okay if you don’t want to!

Never Again || Kim Mingyu || Angst

Word count:900+

Notes: god a lovely angst request hehe thank you for requesting anon!!

You enter the apartment, exhausted and emotionally drained from the day. You see Mingyu sitting on the couch, his expression a mix of worry and guilt. "Y/N," he says, standing up as soon as he sees you. "Can we talk?"

You sigh heavily, dropping your bag on the floor. "What's there to talk about, Mingyu? We've been fighting for days now." Mingyu runs a hand through his hair, looking frustrated. "I know we have, but I don't want it to end like this. I don't want us to break up."

"Well, I don't know if we can fix this," you reply tiredly. "We keep having the same arguments over and over again. It's exhausting." Mingyu's face falls at your words, but he doesn't interrupt. He knows you need to vent.

"I just don't think we're on the same page anymore," you continue, tears starting to form in your eyes. "We used to be so happy, Mingyu. What happened to us?" Mingyu steps closer, his eyes pleading. "I don't know, Y/N. But I know I don't want to lose you. I love you too much." You shake your head, feeling conflicted. "I love you too, but love isn't enough sometimes. We need to communicate better, and we need to find a way to compromise."

Mingyu's eyes well up with tears as he kneels in front of you, taking your hands in his. "Please, Y/N, don't give up on us. I'll do anything to make this work. I'll change, I'll listen better, I'll..." He chokes on his words, tears streaming down his face. "I can't imagine my life without you. You're my everything."

His voice breaks as he continues to plead with you, his grip on your hands tightening. "Please, don't leave me. We can work this out, I promise." You kneel down in front of Mingyu, your own tears falling now. You look into his eyes, seeing the desperation and pain there.

"Mingyu, I don't want to leave you either," you say softly, cupping his face in your hands. "But I'm scared. I'm scared that we'll keep fighting and eventually drift apart." He leans into your touch, his shoulders shaking with sobs. "I'm scared too, Y/N. But I don't want to lose you over fear. We can get through this together."

"Okay," you whisper, wiping his tears away with your thumbs. "Okay, let's try. Let's try to communicate better and work on our issues. But I need you to promise me something." Mingyu nods, looking at you with hopeful eyes. "Anything, Y/N. I promise."

"Promise me that you'll be honest with me, no matter what," you say firmly. "No more hiding your feelings or brushing things off. We need to face our problems head-on." Mingyu nods again, his grip on your hands tightening. "I promise, Y/N. I'll be completely honest with you. I won't hold anything back anymore."

He pulls you into a tight embrace, burying his face in your neck. "Thank you for not giving up on us," he murmurs. "I don't know what I would do without you." You wrap your arms around him, feeling his body trembling against yours. You stroke his back soothingly, trying to calm him down.

"Shh, it's okay," you whisper, pressing a kiss to his hair. "We're going to be okay, Mingyu. We just need to take it one step at a time." He clings to you even tighter, his tears wetting your shoulder. "I'm so sorry for everything, Y/N. I'm sorry for being stubborn and for not communicating. I just... I love you so much." Mingyu pulls back slightly, his eyes red and puffy from crying. He looks at you with a mix of exhaustion and vulnerability.

"Can we go to bed now?" he asks softly. "I just want to hold you and forget about everything for a while." You nod, understanding his need for comfort. "Of course, let's go to bed."

You stand up, helping him to his feet, and lead him to the bedroom. Once there, you both change into your pajamas and slide under the covers. Mingyu wraps his arms around you, pulling you close to his chest. He buries his face in your hair, breathing in your scent.

"I missed this," he mumbles sleepily. "I missed holding you like this." You snuggle closer to him, feeling the warmth of his body against yours. "Me too," you admit quietly. "I missed feeling safe in your arms."

Mingyu tightens his hold on you, his voice firm. "Never again," he repeats. "I won't let us fight like this again. I won't let us come close to breaking up ever again." He lifts your chin gently, making you look at him. "I'm going to do better, Y/N. I promise you that."

[rory-multifandom-mess]

MORE EXITOR AU COINY STUFF except this has more to it; A WRITTEN PORTION because I don't feel like drawing anymore (putting it under a cut because . yeah)

Pencil hesitated. She felt embarrassed. Coiny and Pin had always been her enemies, ever since that second season, and she hadn't let go of that opinion yet. At least not about Pin.

But looking at her now, the desperation in her eyes, the way her hands clasped together in a plead, her voice shaking ever so slightly. It was pathetic, really. But- Pencil couldn't say that to her face.

She shook her head and turned away from Pin, storming off so she wouldn't have to look into her forlorn eyes.

"It-it's none of your business, Pinhead!" Pencil responded, refusing to look back.

With every step, she fell deeper and deeper into her own mind. Her thoughts were swirling like a whirlpool, thinking about her time in the EXIT, her time spent with Coiny. She'd never payed much attention to him outside of being an extension of Pin. But those years spent in the classroom- UGH. Why did she care so much? It was frustrating at best!

Her mind went back to a conversation they'd had alone. The only conversation they ever got to have alone, really. Four had just stormed out of the classroom, so angry that the room had started to shake. They had zapped Coiny three times that day, all within the same two hours. His copper body was slightly charred around the edges. His right arm fell limp, no feeling in it whatsoever.

Pencil had dragged him out of the door they entered through, slamming it behind her.

......

"What is your problem, Coiny?!" She scolded the moment the door was closed, turning to him.

"Why do you keep putting yourself in danger?!" She asked, angry- but she didn't know why. Not at the time, at least. She began to pace around, gesturing her hands wildly.

"I get it, you're chaotic, but this is too much! We keep telling you to keep your head down or you'll get hurt- Which we were RIGHT, by the way! Look at yourself, you can't move your arm!"

He did, in fact, look down at his arm, limp by his side. He looked back at her, brows furrowed and teeth gritting. Why was he angry? Did he not like being told off? Because, oh boy, did she have a lot of words for him.

"Why can't you just follow the rules for once in your life?!"

"Because then he'd have no one else to talk about!" Coiny shouted back finally. His words stabbed through her like a dagger and she froze, a sinking feeling in her stomach. Her anger dissipated, as if it was sucked right out of her.

"...What?" She muttered, the air heavy.

Coiny inhaled deeply. "I annoyed him out of spite at first, but then I saw how scared he made you and the others. I pissed him off more and more so he would only focus on me and be more lenient with you guys. Yeah, it backfires at times, but- If I stopped, then there would be nothing else to protect you guys."

Pencil stared at him, questions running through her head. She'd never payed attention to him. To how he acted. She didn't care. It didn't concern her. All she cared about was how he was just an extension of Pin- but now she realized she was wrong.

"...Why?" She asked, "Hardly any of us get along with you. Why... why would you risk yourself for people who don't even like you?"

At this point, she realized she sounded more worried than she wanted to.

"Even if we don't get along," Coiny started, glancing at the ground, "we're still here. Together. We're going through this hellhole together. I think that's enough to form a strong bond with others."

Pencil stared at him.

It all started to make sense. The way he was with Pin in BFDIA made sense, sticking by her side even though they would be awful to each other sometimes. The way they made up, even after they had their falling out.

The way he'd always jump in when Four was about to discipline someone else and get their attention. She thought he was just being annoying-- but there was a purpose. A method to his madness.

Suddenly, she felt his hand wrap around hers.

"I see you as a friend, Pencil. You may hate me, but I don't hate you."

......

Those words echoed in Pencil's head for a moment, lingering in the ocean of thoughts like a boulder dropped in a calm ocean. She couldn't remember what happened after that. But those words struck her with a feeling of displacement and conflict. She wasn't sure how to feel about him to begin with-- but it was worse now. She groaned, placing her hands on her head. Great. She had a headache now.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Ok thanks bye

[kawhh]

not sure if you’d be open to it but i NEED quinn hughes and victor mancini smut.. hear me out, reader using victor to make fwb quinn jealous because of how similar they look

Okay so, I did realise halfway through that this probably wasn't what you fully wanted but the brain took over. BUT. I am willing to go further down the rabbit hole.

Warnings: Very badly written, I mean seriously it's bad. Victor being an innocent puppy dog. Also kinda sets up a second part. You're using Victor until you're not. Quinn's aware. Quinn being somewhat of a stalker, watching you both from his car and outside the car window when you're with Victor. Recording you both for blackmail reasons. He's trying to make the hurt worse by forcing him from the team with threats. Abusing his captain role. Punishing you emotionally.

Word count: 1.2k

It wouldn't be obvious for a while, to him or Victor. You know how much Victor looks up to him and how much he models his play after him. You'd have to be slow, cautious. Slight, barely there touches to start. Skimming his hand when you walk past, resting your hand on his shoulder just long enough to plant the seed of intrigue.

He's like a puppy enamoured by you - lured in by you laughing at his jokes, flirting with him. Giving him confidence, welcoming him to the team. The way you start to touch him further, tugging his hair playfully, finding excuses to touch his face, running your fingers through his facial hair just enough to give him hints.

He doesn't spot the pattern with you, doesn't realise that you wait until you know Quinn is near before you do anything further with him, how you wrap your arms around him, holding eye contact with Quinn over his shoulder, rubbing your face against him like a cat.

He doesn't see the death glares Quinn sends at him, the way he watches you both from as far away as he can get, his fists clenched tightly enough to leave imprints, burying them in his pockets whenever you notice.

You've been pulling away from him and he knows why. He knows why you've picked him. He knows they look alike, he knows you've picked someone he can't just pressure. It'd ruin his image and damage his team's respect if he caused problems from nothing.

He's forced to watch it progress, forced to watch you get closer by the day. Forced to watch him getting handsy with you, resting his hand on the small of your back when you walk with him, wrapping his arm around your shoulder when you're close. Sliding his fucking hand up your shirt, rubbing clear circles against your skin. Where Quinn should be. Where he should be touching. Instead of watching his borderline clone get you instead.

He watches as you start arriving and leaving together - he knows you see him watching from his own car. He knows you're smart enough to also have his routine down, knowing when you can strike and hurt him.

Watches the first time you strip in the car, the way he undresses you, the pathetic way he paws at you like he deserves you, deserves to see you naked. Watches as you strip him, how desperate you are for his subpar cock. His own hand wrapped around himself when he watches your head bow down, knowing exactly what you're doing. The way Victor's head flies back into the headrest painting the full picture for him.

He knows he should be ashamed of himself for watching, ashamed of himself for not acting, but he's stuck. He doesn't want to give you what he knows you want from this, he doesn't want to seem weak.

Not even when your behaviour escalates, not even when he watches you sink down on his cock, riding him exactly like you used to ride him. He can't stop himself from leaving his own car, walking over to watch you through Victor's car window. Hard at the way your eyes widen in shock when you spot him standing there, almost face to face with the window. The panicked look in your eyes when you check that Victor can't see, alarmed at how brazen he's being.

He knows you've grown attached. He knows you've started to actually care about the man outside of your plan. He'd laugh if he could when he pulls his phone out, making a big deal of recording you. His phone steady as Victor grips your hips, forcing you down on him further. He wants you to cum when you look at him. He wants to strip the satisfaction away from you.

The realisation of the trouble you could get him in hitting hard as he plays back the video through the window, smirking manically at you as he finally has a leg up on you, an advantage, a way of bringing you back to him. Holding eye contact while he walks backwards away from the car, heading into practice.

The guilt eating you alive when you climb off his lap, having to look into his eyes, the innocent puppy dog look on his face now summoning a sharp sting of pain and regret, making your excuses for leaving, needing to escape from both of them.

You'd be on edge constantly, pulling back from both of them. Too afraid of the consequences, too afraid of what Quinn could do. He pulls him aside more in practice, getting closer than he ever was. He takes him out for 'welcoming' dinners, he stays behind to give him longer personal lessons, abusing how much he wants to learn from him.

The wait is exhausting. You'd rather have him do something. Do anything. If he wants to cause the damage, then he should. Anything's better than dragging this out, involving him even more in his personal life. You know he's trying to build up the hurt, punishing you for using him of all people. He wants you hurt for starting all of this. He wants Victor so hurt that he leaves the team, he wants the threat gone.

You wouldn't know that he's been threatened for a while, wouldn't realise that his play doing downhill was crafted, getting in his head every single time he's on the ice with Quinn. Knowing that any mistake could make him pull the trigger. His frustration excused by being the captain - he's just doing his job after all. It's nothing personal to anyone else on the team or management.

Wouldn't know how Quinn texts Victor the video every single morning before practice and games, a constant reminder. It's not like he can block his captain's number.

Wouldn't notice how he pulls away from your touches when you're forced together, the way Quinn watches him now when he even breathes near you.

Leaving you alone and wanting. You pulled away from Quinn. Now Victor's pulling away from you. He wants to know that you have nothing and need him exclusively. He wants to hear you cry in frustration from how horny you'd be after a while. He wants his name to be the one that leaves you lips while you try and get off, picturing you squirming around on your bed begging for his cock.

But he has no intentions of giving you anything quick. You don't deserve it for being a whore. A whore for someone who wasn't him. He'll wait out the whole fucking season.

[sparrow-in-the-field]

I just rewatched the clip from thunderbolts where Bucky mentions that John's wife left him, and now I'm just sitting here giggling to myself thinking about how Bucky can possibly know that when it's clear no one else does.

Even ignoring Bucky's "yeah John, I know you" because it's making me a little feral to think about rn, this implies that either a.) they have stayed in touch, or b.) Bucky has been keeping tabs on John. And both options are fantastic.

(More under the cut because idk how to shut up about these two)

John: I saw you're running for Congress! That's awesome, I bet you'll win.

Option A is fun because I imagine it starting with John, trying to make amends but like in an awkward "hey it all worked out in the end so it's all water under the bridge now, right??" kinda way. So instead of idk, any serious conversations or reflections because John is still emotionally stunted lol, he just tries texting Bucky out of the blue (and Sam, but I think Sam would just ignore him, maybe even block his number lol). Bucky is intrigued enough to engage--not a lot but just enough for John to keep doing it.

Bucky: thanks man.

John: yeah as not much is going on with me. Well, except Olivia's leaving me. But what can you do, you know?

Bucky:...that sucks.

John: yeaaah it does. Guess it's the risk that comes with this kind of work. That why you've stayed a bachelor all these years? Probably smart.

Bucky: *leaves him on read*

Idk, I think it's one of the reasons I'm drawn to winteragent, because despite everything, they have a lot in common, and Bucky, with years of life experience before ever meeting John, is the one who really sees that. He knows what it's like to be a military man, he knows John wanted to do the right thing and it just didn't happen. He knows what it's like to have your entire world flipped upside down, and not necessarily by your choice (John was assigned to be Cap, it's not like he asked to be; he was thrown into something he knew nothing about beforehand). So yeah, by the end of it, Bucky can't help that he's worried about John, or at the very least wary to leave the guy completely alone (not for emotional reasons, Bucky convinces himself, but practical ones--the guy is a supersoldier now, in a vulnerable place, he could be swayed to a wrong side). For so long, Bucky didn't have anyone who worried about him when he was the winter soldier; he's not going to let that happen to someone else.

Option B is more angsty, but I think it would start with Bucky feeling, idk, not exactly responsible for John, but kind of connected to him? Like they went through a lot and Bucky feels weird just abandoning him?

So he's quiet about it, but he keeps tabs on John. He used to do stealth missions all the time, so in a way, it's easy. He knows John's started working for Val, which he decides isn't a huge problem but something to keep an eye on. He learns about the divorce, and probably didn't plan on bringing it up, but John just speaks in an irritating enough way that he can't help digging at him at least once. It reveals to John, that Bucky has cared enough to keep track of him. John should be angry at the mention, but instead it eases his mind about being around Bucky again (John had wanted to be able to make amends, but never knew how). Bucky knows him, and yet he's still here, helping them.

When they become the thunderbolts, Bucky is almost relieved. It'll be easier to keep John on a good track when they're working together (especially since John listens to Bucky every step of the way), rather than watching him from the shadows. When they become the thunderbolts, John is relieved, because there's someone on the team who really knows him.

[slavicnoodle]

Fem!reader x Werewolf!duke

Warning: slight description of injuries, violence, manipulation, coercion(?), gaslighting, power imbalance, mediaval times, slight sadism, just yandere being a yandere

My first post! <3

English is not my first language ^^

Werewolf!Duke who is a good aristocrat in his own not humble opinion. Exemplary even if you add the fact he is a werewolf and can still act better than most human aristocrats. He abides by the proper etiquette, doesn't extort his subjects, doesn't lash out on his servants and maids (even during full moon(!)) and is generally merciful. He doesn't even have trysts with other married aristocrats or uses his title to have secret relationships with lower class. He is a bit of a bachelor and doesn't mind at all.

He has one quirk though. A simple rule. No visits to his castle. Under no circumstances. The only person allowed to freely roam his land is his gardener. Other servants must strictly follow paths. You see, after he got turned, the new wolf instincs made him a territorial bastard. He patrols his property diligently every night. He enjoys those quiet walks and runs in wolf from with wind blowing through his fur, feeling the soft soil, tickly grass and smelling the nature. When he catches a whiff of a living being on it... he goes for the kill. Humans are no different.

Although lately their is an increase of humans. After a little investigation he scraped together that after people went missing on his land, his subjects ascribed it to the increase of wolves around. Heh. And a new trend emerged. If you stop liking your suitor or plainly want to get rid of them, promise to meet them at night at a location near his manor. Problem solved.

And he always diligently got rid of them. Not that he had to. He liked to. He liked the way they screamed and thrashed as they were torn to shreds. Not today tho. Today's victim was lying under him frozen in fear like a deer, not moving, just crying withnout any sound, not even a whimper as his claws pierced your arms and pinned you to the muddy ground. He hated to admit it but you looked adorable. He decided to play with his food a little.

"What is the reason you decided to cut your life short? Foolishness? Naivety? Dare?" He looks over the commoner human under him. Very pretty outfit for their status. He can see your top is not buttoned up all the way up. He feels his breath hitching for some reason. Must have been quite an occasion to be wearing one's best clothes in such a seductive manner. You even have your hair let down. And... is that a basket with... sweets?

He laughs dryly. Another undesired lover. Hmm... It would be a pity to kill you. He unstucks his claws from your flesh and reaches to twirl a strand of your hair. So pretty and soft... A long bath, better dress and some makeup and he would think twice about remaining a bachelor. His inner wolf agrees. You are very quiet. He likes that. But... If your voice is also acceptable, he'll help you. He tugged at the strand harshly and the bloodied woman squealed in shaky voice. He tugged again but less harshly. A whimper. His ears pinned down to his head. Now he got frozen. From arousal. That's it. No helping, he's going to take care of you for the of your life. If your suitor wants you gone, he'll take the beauty off of his hands.

"I apologize, dear, for my behaviour. I must have terribly scared you. Oh, I even accidentally hurt you. Let me make it up to you." He hauled you to your feet, dusting you off. His werewolf characteristics slowly dissapeared while he did that. "I'll replace them. Come with me." He offers his arm and smiles softly. When he sees you're still standing there with eyes full of terror, he simply scoops you up. "What are you waiting for, woman? A noble is offering you his goodwill." Hr smiles down at you.

In his castle he let his doctor clean your wounds and bandage you. Then maids changed you to a silky nightgown while you lost consciousness. Poor thing. His wolf form does that to people. When you woke up, he found any excuse in the book to keep you at his estate, ordering the doctor to play the charade with him. The tales of your love who sent you to your death were repeated every day, painting him in a great light as your saviour and admirer who wants you to reach his heights and status. When you still tried to go back home, he went cold.

"I house your for weeks, clothe you, feed you and you want to leave?" His voice is not loud but it feels like it is booming innyour eardrums. "No, Your Grace, I only-," you started but he talked over you, keeping on guilttripping you. Like he minded he was fussing over his mate.

"If you really want to leave, I'll let you." He let out a sigh, faking giving up.

"Thank you, I-"

"Under one condition." His eyes flicked. He pulled out one hand from his pocket and stood on one knee. "Marry me." Opened the little box, revealing a ring.

"I have went out of my way to find something that would suit you. It would be improper for you and me to be seen apart after you spent such a long time here. Rumour would start, tarnishing mine and your reputation. Don't you agree?" Your voice felt shaky when you said "Yes". Not because you didn't want it. He was more than good choice for a husband, aside from his lycantrophy. But because even after alll, part of you still loved your old love that lured you to the deadly embrace of the werewolf duke.

And the duke knows it.

[moodient]

sev week: angst 1/7

tags: implied cheating, angst, tw// starvation(?), malnourished, tons of crying

a//n: so sorry, but i need the angst in my life right now- but the next one will be fluff or smut, who knows.

Out of Love

you and sevika's relationship was like a rubber band, its rough but stretchy texture held you two together but at any moment, it could snap quickly. one day it's an argument about seeing her hang out with another woman. another, it's work taking up all of her life and you're just about done with her.

don't get me wrong, you absolutely adore her but she never makes time for you.. never devoted herself to you.. never made time for you. you couldn't remember the last time she kissed your lips, the last time she held you in her arms, protecting you from the world, not even the last time you've heard her say i love you.

this has went on for months and months on end, and she has completely forgotten about you. your birthday, her birthday, your anniversary, all the big and small things that she used to remember is all gone. you can't even remember the last date you've both been on.

but today was the absolute worst, today was your 5th year anniversary, you even try to put yourself and planned a reservation to her favorite restaurant.

you looked at yourself in the mirror, you got your eyes suffered from too many nights of crying yourself to sleep, your body whimpers and groans, screaming at you for nourishment but you ignored it every time. you frown at yourself.. sad, disgusted.. disappointed in yourself but you've decided you want to do better for yourself with or without her. you went into the kitchen to make something that your stomach could take, maybe some fruit? You grab an apple and bite into the apple and the crunchy texture and sweet taste sends you over the moon, eating it almost animalistic. the juices all over your mouth and bits of apple on your cheeks. you even grabbed some water and downed it like it was a shot.

The bedroom door opened quickly and shut hard.. every day without fail, she kisses your head and completely walks past you, not even noticing your crumbled state. She walks towards the door opening it swiftly but before she leaves, you grab her sleeve.

"where.. are you going?" your voice silent but you're trying to at least say something. anything to make her speak to you.

"... work." she says, before yanking you off her sleeve and looking back at you but all she can see is your face being covered by your hair.

"don't.. forget today, i've made a reservation for us." you said, keeping your head down. she nods and slams the door shut.

you were going all out tonight especially for her, you set a hair appointment, bought a brand new dress and a pair of shoes and even, bought a lingerie set that she would love. at this time, it's around 6pm and the reservation is at 8pm, which gives you some time to do make-up or comfortably get ready.

you took a shower, put on your lingerie and dress, did your makeup and you took a final look in the mirror and you absolutely loved how you looked. checking the time one more time, 7:25pm.. perfect. you took your car to the restaurant and make it there before 8pm and now you wait..

and wait..

and wait..

waiters came to you asking, if you wanted something small to eat or at least but you insisted that she'll be here soon. you called her and messaged her and absolutely no answer.

the restaurant is now completely empty besides the waiters and chefs and you. it's now 10pm and the restaurant was soon to close so instead of making it their problem, you left a tip and left out. your heart ached with pain and if you didn't run to your car, you would've broke down at the restaurant.

your makeup ran down your face, head aching from all of the crying and you couldn't take it anymore. you laid back in your car seat and just sat there.. your mental was fucked, you were physically exhausted and your lover couldn't even give a fuck to show up.

you drove home, completely silent.. no radio, no one on the phone.. just you, yourself.. and your thoughts. you didn't really know what to think, or really how to think, were you really shocked that she didn't come or did you just let your delusions fuel you? whatever the case may be, you believed her and she left you down completely.

...

"sevika?"

"sevika, are you home?"

you opened your bedroom door to see the lights dimmed, her sleeping body rising and falling, but there's something beside her, is that.. your eyes widened and your tears fell.. you couldn't make a sound and quickly packed a bag with tears and soft whimpers coming from your mouth, you left a note, and ran out the house completely crying.

you spent the night at a hotel room and try to think of excuses for her.. maybe that's a friend, or a family member.. but she was topless, and so was her "friend".. fuck, what did you do to deserve this? how could she do this to you.. if this was a sick twisted dream, you wanted... needed to wake up.. please, wake up.. but it was real.

[anonmousegosqueak]

Today when the lesson was particularly boring my brain rewired some SoapGaz…

The whole 141 going at a Pub to get drinks, Gaz is one of the least strong against alcohol (still more than the average human though, that one is a giant with great metabolism, the problem is that he is against an old British person, a Scotsman, a mountain tall men and a Russian.

So he gets "a little tispy" while barely walking straight and when he gets back to base with Soap he bevomes like a coala. He grabs Soap's arm, drags him in bed with him and they both fall asleep (haha! You tought the shut was here? You fool! I'm a lover of slower even when it's barely a drabble!) So the next morning they can't look at each other in the eyes because… *points at situation* maybe they have fucked and don't remember, but neither of them remembers so it doesn't count. So the next time they go out for a drink (alone this time) Soap is the one that gets "tipsy" and gaz is the one who has to drag him back to base. But Soap is a horny drink, and Gaz is enough into it that he probably falls for his trap and they end up making out sloppy and then grind into each other because they are too drunk to have coherent and normal sex:)

Yessss

Yessssssssss

Chat, I need to stop writing fics. Creativity is dead, words are hard, I'm literally sobbing because I feel really bad about ignoring Boner's stuff but I just. Can't. WRITE. FICS. So have some ideas instead:3

First time? They're waking up in a panic. Cus like- "oh my God. Did we fuck last night? I mean I'm naked, you're naked- oh fuck we're doomed" ect, ect.

Not only are they both homosexuals with high levels of internalized homophobia (because I said so), they're also both not so subtly into each other. And while yes, they are both Sargents so it's slightly less bad, it's still not exactly *good* to fuck your coworker in almost any situation (unless y'all are porn stars, in which case it's pretty normal.)

So yeah, they uh- they end up avoiding each other for the next week. Talking about it like mature adults? Hah! Do you even know who these people are?

It ends up being pretty obvious that something is up. Even recruits can tell something is wrong, and those bunch are usually clueless. While they're still working together, perfectly professional on the field... Well that's kinda the issue, isn't it? Everyone with two eyes has seen how they pair up, the chaos they cause, the team they make. So for it to all suddenly stop?

But of course, the awkwardness fades.

That week without Price having to clean up after the shenanigans those two were pulling was nice, but it was just that. A week. Soon enough they were simply ignoring that night and pretending nothing happened.

Neither of them were really the type to hold a grudge after all.

So when the second night rolls around? >:3

Gaz is just a bit more sober this time, though probably still more drunk than he should be. Soap on the other hand? He'd just returned from an absolute shit-show of a mission, he needed to unwind. In this case, that means getting absolutely fucking pished.

And obviously, he's a horndog.

I'm talking openly grinding on Gaz in public, no filter, just filth. The one good part? His accent gets so thick when he's drunk that no one can understand anything he's saying.

Gaz is pretty drunk and therefore- into it.

So yeah, they stumble back (mostly after Price kicked them out of the bar for being too horny), and have a heated makeout sesh on Gaz's bed. They both pass out before anything serious can happen, but they do manage to cuddle throughout the night, even with Soap's tossing and turning.

The next morning... Well,

It turns out they might not have been drunk enough tbh. Why do I say that? Because they both *clearly* remember swapping spit. They could probably describe what the other man's lips felt like, and hell would they be fantasizing about it as well.

That's not the only difference though...

Because, when they wake up, Soap doesn't run off. Gaz doesn't kick him out. Neither of them speak for quite a bit, but neither of them break it off. They just bask in the warmth and comfort of each other.

They talk over breakfast.

And then they... "get distracted", and accidently burn the pancakes.

By the time they actually get back to the others, it's pretty clear something happened again. Not because of the stoney silence, but because of the warmth that now sits between them.

Aka: they actually talk about their feelings for once and everyone has a happy ending :)

[formulapookie]

💜🦂

Heat and promises bezsava, 4.8k words

It’s hot, really hot, probably over 35°, especially with those leathers they got on. But it’s not like they could say no and just not show up to the most important even their Team hosts. Aprilia All Stars, fucking hell, Martin dared to show up after causing nightmares to everyone, after resigning cause the bike isn’t like a damn Ducati, as if it was ever a chance.

Bez had taken all the weight of the bike’s developpement on his back, and the Aprilia now looked very good. More manageable, even if it still acts a bit like a wild stallion in some turns, it’s better than last year, and now Bez had taken a fourth and first place in the same weekend.

Many praises came, afterall, he won, how could one not praise him? Well it’s easy, many comments stating that he won just because of Fabio’s technical problem, as if it was something that invalidated the golden feeling of that medal around Bez’s neck. Or many more reminding themselves and other bastards that “Silverstone is historically favourable for Aprilia, this means this win is worth nothing, they’ll be back being useless next race” Yes, Silverston is favourable to them, always has been, but Bez started from P11 nonetheless, dropped a bit back and started overtaking everyone, he ate chunks of the track at every pass, at every turn. He looked fenomenal.

So people can shut the fuck up and stop acting like Bez isn’t a great rider just because he’s not superwinning like Pecco last year or Marc in - well in his whole career.

The main problem right now, however, is the heat. Bez doesn’t seem bothered by it tho, given that even with this hellish temperature he doesn’t waste half a second when he comes back into the garage, then turns slightly left, a half hidden beach chair where Sava is sat.

“Hug” “Marco it’s 38°” “So I’m not worth a hug? The heat is better than me?” “My God you’re really a drama” “Hug” Sava lets out a breath, looking at Bez waiting for him, then he opens his arms and Bez smiles, then jumps on his lap, hugging him tightly, wrapping his whole body around his torso. Sava strokes his back, well his leathers, but the point is closeness, maybe a bit too much in this climate but it’s fine, he has Bez nuzzling his cheek on his chest, happy, almost like a cat. Bez basically purrs sometimes, when he’s like this, relaxed and happy and so so lovely.

They stay like that for minutes, despite the heat, despite the sweat and the loud noise outside, despite them not being supposed to be like this here, in the open, where people could see them being like this.

So maybe it’s Sava’s fault, for not being attentive enough and getting distracted by Bez’s hair, now shorter, stroking them and playing with the curls. Or maybe it’s Bez’s fault, because he jumped on his boyfriend’s lap, he stayed there, it was Bez who brought their hands together and never let go.

“Marco” “No five minutes” “Marco we have to race, dai”“I want to stay here” “I know, me too, but we have to race, come on”

Bez doesn’t want to get up. Ideally, he’d ask Sava to pick him up bridal style and just bring him to the bike, put him on it, quickly kiss his lips and then pass him the helmet, and that’d be routinary, easy, and true. “Can’t we run home? We’ll fake being sick” “No Marco we have a duty, Martin is here as well, we can’t just disappear” “Ah, yeah, don’t ever touch that man like that ever again” “...I just laughed and slightly pushed him Marco” “Ew” “Oh come on, it’s not like I did this” Sava takes Bez’s chin in between his fingers and presses their lips together, both of them smiling in the kiss, Bez even laughing a bit. They stare at each other and kiss again, still just a quiet, sweet kiss, nothing like the ones Bez is planning on sharing the day after when they’ll be at Sava’s.

And that’s how they get caught, kissing and hugging and smiling, by their boss. “Oh” “Fuck! I uhm we were yeah just - yeah joking around you know like - yeah” “Marco are you ok?”

When rapidly standing up to confront Rivola, Sava had basically made Bez fall on the concrete floor, he didn’t mean to of course, but it happened. “Yes yes I’ll just bruise on my arm” “Ok. Now. Would you explain what I saw before?” “We were just joking” “Doesn’t look like a joke to me, I won’t fire either of you just because of this you know that right? You’re not the first and won’t be the last riders to be gay or whatever your preferences are” “It was my fault I just wanted a hug and-” “Marco. I saw you going into Sava’s motorhome more than just a few times well past midnight, I’m not angry, I just want to be sure this is something that won’t affect your races”

Save and Bez share a look, between the two, Sava has been the most skeptical one regarding their coming out to friends and Rivola, Bez tried to reassure him, but Sava feared that with him not being essential and just a reserve rider, his seat was at much more stake than Bez’s.

“It won’t, I promise. We are together and -” “Marco!” “He’s not going to let us go. We are together and have no intention of breaking up anytime soon, I am happy, we’re both happy and I am sure this won’t affect the races in any way” “That’s what I hoped to hear. Now, lovebirds, there’s supposed to be a Race, so if you don’t mind you should go”

They get out, one at a time, no holding hands, only short, meaningful gazes. Bez wins again, and jumps in the arms of his mechanic, laughing and cheering. Sava is watching. He wants to be his teammate, he wants to hold Bez like that, always, never let go, he wants to celebrate like they did after Silverstone. Champagne and sex and laughter and more sex and so much love. He’d want to walk up on stage and kiss him in front of everyone, but he knows he can’t, and it kills him.

After the day is done, and they snuck away like teenagers another few times just to kiss and hug for a bit, they start packing their things. Leathers, helmets, gloves, boots. The mechanics and team are loading the bikes on the truck, Martin and Rivola seem to be civil, somehow.

“Who do you think is going to be your teammate next year?” The question devastates Bez. Because he hasn’t thought of it, not since Qatar when Martin injured himself again. Because it was Sava. Obviously. Sava is his teammate.

“You know I won’t be right? I’m just stepping in for Martin, I’m a reserve rider Marco” “Shut up. I don’t want to think about it” “Ok ok. They might want Morbidelli, you know? You’d have a bit of Academy back. Or maybe Vietti, you two are close right?” “First boyfriend” “Oh, I got competition then?” “Nah, Celin and I remained friends, very good friends, but he likes Pecco, you can see it from a mile away”

The silence hangs heavy, he doesn’t want Sava to not be there anymore, he doesn’t want his boyfriend to be far away, he’s not used to long distance. Him and Cele basically lived together at the Ranch for a while, and they were at all the races together.

Him and Ale, they were talking about making it official fucks sake, official. And then Ale had fucking blown everything up, because obviously Bez didn’t forgive him when he found him fucking his ex at a party, her stupid high pitched moans echoing in the room where Ale had broken his heart.

He doesn’t want Sava to be far, he wants him near him.

He wants to hold his hand, but as soon as he tries to, Sava moves, admonishing gaze. Not here, not with all these people, not in public.

He knows it’s a way of protecting themselves, hiding, acting like it’s nothing. But it hurts both of them as well. Bez only becomes clingier once they’re home, which he’s always scared will bother Sava at some point, because he knows he can get too much sometimes. Too needy, too loving, too demanding of affection.

And it hurts Sava because he can’t hold Bez in his arms like he wants to, he can’t pat his head and stroke his hair, he can’t tell him all those “I love you”s he wants to say. Oh how he’d want to be able to kiss him and hug him and hold him with everyone watching, how he’d want to be able to kiss him in parc fermé.

But they can’t, so they stand like that, awkwardly, two meters from each other, working on their own things, not focused enough to notice the other people in the garage, but enough to notice the distance between them, now symbolically huge.

They’ve each driven here with their own car, even though Sava’s car was parked at Bez’s place given they spent the night together. Bez gets into his car, he grips the steering wheel with all his force. Luckily, his car is parked in a quiet hidden spot, so he’s pretty sure no one can see him. He starts sobbing, and crying, ugly hot tears falling from his eyes onto his pants and seat, his hands tightening around the steering wheel, hitting it with his forehead.

God how he needs a hug right now. A true one, one that can just solve everything in a second and make him forget about this for a while. He doesn’t want Sava to be separated from him, he wants Sava to always be at his side. It’s…childish he knows that, pretending to always have that one person beside you forever, but he’s always been a bit like that, and he’s scared of changing he’s scared of losing himself to fit in he doesn’t want that.

First he thought Cele was going to be his forever, but eventually they both realised they were better off as friends, they still talked about everything, if one knew something, the other basically absorbed the knowledge through osmosis

So Cele knew when Bez started dating Ale, when it looked like the one true love story in books, knew when Bez got heartbroken and knocked at his door at 5 in the morning, eyes red, dry tears on his cheeks and Rubik trying to cheer up Bez after he caught Ale.

And he knew about Sava, how in so little time that man managed to make his best friend happy again, how gentle and nurturing he was. So Bez is sure he’ll know he’s feeling like shit because of the impossibility of being actually close to Sava when he wants.

He calls him, hoping he’ll answer.

“Ei” “Ei Celin” “Do you need me to come over? You don’t sound very good” “Please” “Ok ok, be there in 50 ok?” “Thanks”

It’s forty minutes from the circuit to his house, and the same from Tavullia. Cele was probably relaxing and hadn’t planned on going out so he’ll have to change and grab something, he always brings Bez something to eat when he’s like this.

The drive home it’s mainly a blur, he knows there’s songs in the background, keeping him company. He’d just want Sava to be sitting in his passenger seat, looking at him and putting his ridiculously big hand on his thigh.

When he’s finally home, he brings his stuff inside and sits on the couch with Rubik, patting his head softly. Then the door gets opened, Cele has a spare key, for safety, Bez gave it to him last year when he was struggling a lot with his mental health and wanted to have someone on speed dial who could enter and check on him if needed.

Immediately, Cele hugs him, and Bez sobs, Rubik is trying to get his cuddles but the two ignore him. Rude. Cele gives him a few of those cola sweets no one except them eats and Bez gulps them down as if they’re pills.

“Oi calm down eh? What’s going on?” “Sava” “Do I need to break his knees?” “No! No he’s done nothing wrong, really, but today Rivola caught us kissing and - he was chill, told us not to let it change how we ride, and that it’s ok. But after that Sava got colder he stayed far, didn’t even smile at me like he usually does, basically looked at me as I killed someone when I tried holding his hand” He takes a deep breath, then continues.

“I know we can’t come out, I know that, but I love him and I want people to know, I want to kiss him and hold his hand and cuddle him while we’re in public not just in private, I want him to pick me up like he does when we’re home alone.”

Bez starts crying again, Cele is rubbing his back slowly, and hugs him, cradling him a bit to try and calm him down.

“He loves you ok? And he’s scared that if you two act too close it’ll be obvious to other people that you two are together. I’m sure if it was just him risking his career he would come out, but he doesn’t want you to end up under a pile of mediatic and sponsoring shit” “I know, it just hurts a lot”

“I can see he’s a good person Marco” “Yeah but what about next year? When they’re going to hire a new rider? And he’s going to stay home while I’m somewhere around the world, what then? I’m not used to seeing him that little, I want to cuddle him and sleep in his arms I won’t be able to do it next year” “You’ll find a solution Marco don’t worry” “I hate that they won’t sign him as an official rider. Fuckers. I already miss him”

“Marco don’t worry, tomorrow you’re going to his, no? You can cuddle and hug and sleep like babies and whatever else you do” Bez laughs, then sniffles. Rubik wants to help out as well, so he starts licking his face to try and cheer him up.

“No Rubik! Not now, ew!” “Wof”

Cele is dying of laughter, Bez half spitting half trying to clean up as Rubik looks puzzled at them, wondering why his human is cleaning himself like that. “Wof” “No more licks Rubik, Cele can you feed him?” “Rubik! Pappa!” “Wof!”

Bez goes to the bathroom to wash his face from Rubik’s saliva, and to reassure himself for the last time that next year is not going to end his new relationship. He goes back in the living room, and sits beside Cele again, who has to go back home and try to understand what to pack for Aragon.

They hug, and while they’re like that, the door opens again, and Sava stands there, staring at the two while Rubik happily barks and walks up to him, asking for another set of cuddles.

“Ook I’m going back home, see you at the airport Marco, bye Sava see you too, treat him well eh, because if he calls me at three in the morning and I find out you hurt him I’ll cut your balls off” “Bye”

Bez is still on the couch, despite having washed his face, Sava can see his eyes are puffy and his lips have been bitten, not to talk about the clearly picked-at nails. Bez looks at him, and wants to get up to hug him but Sava is the first to close the distance, sitting beside Bez on the couch and pulling him in for a hug.

“You…weren’t I supposed to come to yours tomorrow?” “Missed you” “I am scared for next year Lore, what if we grow apart, if you understand you don’t like me that much and you don’t want me to travel and what if I suffer because you’re far and-”

Sava starts leaving dozens of small kisses all over Bez’s face, his nose, his lips, his temples, forehead, cheeks, shutting him up. His stupid big hands cover half of Bez’s face basically but it’s not like any of the two is bothered by it. “I won’t get tired of you Marco, and I’ll do everything so you don’t get tired of me” “You didn’t have to come here because I felt bad”

“I wanted to see you and I thought about today, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to look distant, I was just scared they’d find out” “They won’t they won’t”

They keep kissing, now more intensely, tongues and teeth joining in, Sava’s hands going separate ways, one tugging at Bez’s curls and the other squeezing his ass.

“I love you Marco, you know that right?” “Love you too" “Next year then what’s it gonna be then? I’ll be your wag?” “You can be my umbrella girl” “Ah like Migno did for Morbidelli?” “Yeah like that, but I’d like you to be shirtless”

Sava smiles in the kiss, tilting his head to kiss at Bez’s jaw, then slowly trailing down his neck, leaving only kisses at first, then beginning to bite and suck at the pale skin on there, leaving marks and bruises.

They might not be able to come out, but at least Sava can mark him up, Bez can confidently go around knowing that people will understand he’s taken, and yeah, maybe it’s a bit embarrassing to have hickeys at 26, but who cares, it’s Sava giving them to him, he’s going to keep them and ask for new ones each time one fades.

“I want to do something for you”

Bez stares at him not really understanding, then Sava takes off Bez’s pants, and rides up his shirt, leaving Bez half exposed to the hot air. He lays Bez down on the couch, making sure he’s comfortable enough with a cushion under his head to rest. Sava starts kissing Bez’s belly, slowly, starting on his V-line and making his way up to his chest.

Then he has Bez raise his arms as he takes off the shirt which was now only covering half the guy’s pecs. He starts kissing him again. Chest, pecs, he doesn’t touch his nipples, not yet at least, leaves them for a later tasting.

His hands start teasing Bez through the boxers, brushing his dick and balls, making Bez whimper lightly. Sava loves that sound, it’s addictive, once you hear it the first time you can’t live without it.

“Can I?” “Yes” Bez would normally just nod and blush, but he knows Sava won’t do anything if he doesn’t get a verbal confirmation from him, no matter how many times Bez tells him if he nods it’s fine, Sava wants to be completely sure Bez really wants it.

Bez looks at his boyfriend as he pulls down his boxers, letting his dick free, already a bit covered in precum, and the piercing standing proud on it. Sava looks at it with a mixture of hatred and admiration. When Bez first got it back in april Sava had immediately wanted to try and blow him but Bez had explained he had to restrain from touching himself and doing anything sexual with his dick for at least two weeks, and the first and only thing he would’ve been able to do was jerking off for another few weeks.

Sava had hated it, not just because he couldn’t fuck him, but because he couldn’t sneak into the shower and jerk him off, or wake him up while giving him head, and Bez had said Sava was becoming addicted to him.

Hell yeah he was, to everything about him, not just the sex or the intimacy, but every aspect of Bez was and still is addictive.

“Hate it still?” “No, but just because you moan so much as soon as I brush past it” As soon as the words leave Sava’s mouth, Bez arches his back and whines, the feeling of Sava’s thumb playing with the piercing is overwhelming his brain.

Bez bites his lip and gets one of his hands in Sava’s hair, trying to guide him towards his dick, but Sava easily moves Bez’s hand away and pins it together with his other hand above Bez’s head. Then, he starts kissing Bez’s jaw again, and slowly making his way down to Bez’s V-line where his dick is now resting, precum coating the tip and his belly.

He’s almost there, almost, but he changes path and ignores Bez’s dick, making him whine, to focus on his thighs, biting, licking and sucking on them, then, he switches the two hands he’s using to keep Bez’s wrists immobile above Bez’s head, using only one, it’s not like it’s any trouble, his hands are big enough one can cover almost Bez’s whole belly.

That hand, Sava roams it all over Bez’s thighs, squeezing them, moving them, occasionally slapping them.

Bez wants to beg, his dick is hard and he needs to get off as quickly as he can or he’s going to go mad.

“Please” “Don’t be demanding Marcolino”

Sava licks a stripe up Bez’s dick, slightly teasing his piercing, then moves, leaving him unsatisfied once again and making him sob. Bez tries to free himself from Sava’s hold but it’s all pretty useless, Sava just strengthens the grip and then bites his nipple.

“Lore - fuck” “You’re so pretty”

Sava keeps playing with Bez’s nipple, leaving the pierced one alone, at least for now. But his dick is as hard and leaking as Bez’s, and he really needs some friction, so while teasing and sucking his nipple, Sava decides to start grinding their cocks together, he still has on all his clothes, and it drives Bez fucking crazy, the sharp difference, he’s stark naked and Sava still has his team kit on.

Mercy today isn’t written in Sava’s vocabulary, as he switches nipples, going to bite at the piercing decorating Bez’s left one, playing with it, licking all around the metal bar, still grinding against poor Bez’s dick who really needs some release now.

Sava doesn’t want to fuck him, they’ll have plenty of time tomorrow to do that, now he just wants to make Bez feel good.

Bez has shaved recently, he often does, but he always leaves his happy trail there, just trimmed, he said once it makes him feel manlier, who the fuck knows what that means. But Sava is very glad he did, because now he can follow that path to tease Bez some more, taking his boyfriend’s dick in hand and stroking it lightly, kissing his way there one more time.

“Lore please stop teasing or I’m going to die” “You’re adorable when you’re like this Marco, pass me my phone”

Sava must have some sort of kink for this, Bez is pretty sure of it, every time he looks undone or gone or straight up fresh fucked the older man will immediately take his phone in hand and snap a picture, he showed Bez the folder with his name, and there’s lots of cute pictures, but also many of Bez lying on the bed completely fucked out and a few videos they shot together.

Once Sava is satisfied with the picture he took he discards the phone and starts finally paying attention to Bez’s dick, leaving the stroking behind and switching to little kisses on the length and occasional kitten licks on the tip and piercing.

Bez whimpers, tries to free his wrists from Sava’s hands to grab his boyfriend’s hair but it’s even more useless than before, he’s weaker, and hornier, and desperate for anything, just the brief tongue laps on his tip are enough to make him shiver, his balls feel heavy, god he needs to cum. Sava told him he is ridiculously easy to get hard, and it’s true, a small thing is enough to make him uncomfortable in his pants.

He is also very little bound by penetrative sex of any kind to cum, it could suffice a very heated make out session or some well done nipple play and he’d cream his pants, he came from dry humping alone more times then he likes to admit. Except for Sava, he told Sava how much he gets off like that and Sava had let him do it more than once, just to see how desperate Bez can get to chase his orgasm.

When Sava decides it’s enough torture, he swallows Bez’s dick, not full, because despite his being obviously bigger in frame, Bez surely has a big dick, bigger than Sava woul’ve thought honestly, and he loved that, because Bez simply loved to bottom too much, and Sava often joked about Bez not putting his dick to proper use.

That was until last Sunday at Silverstone, because after that race Bez had asked as a victory gift to top, and Sava hasn’t spoken of Bez not using his dick since then. Bez had basically split him in half. Yeah, Sava hadn’t bottomed in a while, so he surely wasn’t loose, but fuck Bez probably was the biggest he had until now, and even if he wasnt, he got fucked so good he promised to bottom again in the future.

Bez is moaning so loudly at this point Sava is sure the neighbours are listening to them, so he starts bobbing his head, his free hand squeezing Bez’s thigh and leaving a bruise there.

Sava keeps the same pace, swallowing Bez’s dick whole after a few tries, trying to stay still once reached the base for a few seconds, making eye contact with Bez who looks completely disheveled.

Sava keeps moving, he can feel Bez getting close, dick twitching and whimpers increasing, Sava’s own dick not far away from giving up on resisting. He wants to see Bez crumble, because he likes that, destroying him just to piece him back together immediately after they finished fucking.

Bez bucks his hips up, fucking Sava’s mouth lightly, making him choke, letting go of Bez’s dick who’s now red and shiny from spit and precum. Sava takes only the tip in his mouth, using his tongue to play with the piercing, teasing again, and Bez is very much only a man, a weak one for this as well, and it’s really all he needs to finally orgasm, filling Sava’s mouth up with his cum and ultimately relax his body.

“Lore”

Sava swallows everything, then moves up to kiss Bez, tongues intertwining, Bez can taste himself in Sava’s mouth, fuck it’s hot. It’s really hot, especially when he presses his thigh against Sava’s bulge to tease him and finds out there’s no bulge, a wet spot is there instead, rubbing on his thigh.

“Lore” “Yeah?” “You came in your pants” “Fuck. Shit I - swear it doesn’t usually happen, it hasn’t for a while, I was just really excited because you looked amazing and-” “Lore, why are you worrying?” “Because I just fucking creamed my pants like a teenager!” “It’s hot. Not the like - teenager part, leave that, but the fact you thought I was so good you came like that is very very hot”

Sava blushes and lays on top of Bez, hiding his face from his view, while Bez strokes his hair and leaves kisses on Sava’s temple, who keeps saying sorry.

Bez laughs a bit, Sava is still blushing and he is beginning to feel uncomfortable in his sticky wet boxers.

“Wanna go take a shower big boy?” “Stop calling me that” “Nah cause then you get embarrassed and I love to see you like that you’re just too cute!” “Can I wash your hair under the shower?”

Sava looks up at Bez with pleading brown eyes and Bez really can’t resist.

“Fine, not like there’s much to wash now” “You…need to grow them back eh” “I like ‘em tho! They’re fresh, my head doesn’t itch as much with this cut when I put my helmet on” “Please?” “They’ll grow back eventually, let them, I’m keeping the mullet for now”

Sava gets up and Bez follows him to the bathroom, they share a quick kiss as they step in, Sava undressing a bit ashamed, turning around to take off his boxers not to let Bez see the mess he’s made, immediately throwing everything in the washing machine.

They giggle as they get in the shower, making out while the water starts soaking them.

"You're going to stay with me next year then, promised?" "Promised" "Kiss me"

Sava bends down a little to kiss Bez, who's smiling and scrunching his nose in that awfully cute way of his. Oh Sava would really do any thing for this man.

[schrijverr]

Buck Has Told Me a Lot about You

Diverges from chapter 13, where Bobby goes to the fire academy to look for a recruit to become a partner for Buck once he finishes his probationary year. There he runs into Eddie, who is still under the assumption that Buck mentioned being married to him and raising Chris together to his colleagues. The resulting tensions lead to a confession and a very awkward moment at work.

On ao3.

Ships: Buddie

Warnings: mentioned (internalized) homophobia

~~~

The academy is always a busy place with recruits running all over the place and instructors calling out drills. It’s the right kind of chaos that you have to get used to when working as a firefighter, and after so many years on the job, Bobby has come to find that chaos comforting.

He doesn’t visit the academy often and hired Buck just based off his resume and results, since he had trained in Texas. However, in this instance, getting a feel for whoever will join there firehouse is a bit more important, since the person he picks will have to be a good match for Buck.

Buck has assimilated well to the team and is an integral part of it. Hell, Buck might have been instrumental in shaping the 118 into the firehouse it is today with his openness and the way he pulled them all together. So, Buck is staying, that was never a question. But since Buck is staying, he’ll need a partner in the field.

Bobby greets the instructors of the batch of recruits that are nearing the completion of their training, joining them to observe them going through their drills.

Multiple people show talent and potential.

There is a woman, who kills it on the course, cheering with her friend when she does. The friendliness and excitable personality would seem like a good match. Her friend also shows potential, running after her and joining her in her plan. There is also the first place in the class, who speedily completes the course with the help of a reckless move.

However, he keeps coming back to Diaz, who is third in his class. He doesn’t appear to be too friendly like the others and his more stand off-ish nature should put Bobby off when looking for a match with Buck, but that is what makes him think it’s a good idea.

As much as Buck is a good firefighter, he is so because he is reckless and convinced of his own immortality. He is young and on top of the world. He needs someone to balance him out, instead of enabling him.

Throughout the course, Bobby has observed Diaz to remain level headed and clear in his communication. Not too cautious, but not taking unnecessary risks either. The fact that he can communicate, even if he is not social makes Bobby think Buck’s personality will be enough to pull Diaz into the fold of the 118, where he can keep Buck grounded.

He is further convinced of that fact when he asks the instructors about him and they tell him about Diaz’s history in the military. It’ll make him less likely to be easily shaken and disciplined enough to not get pulled too much into Buck’s harebrained schemes.

So, he asks if he can speak with Diaz a bit and the instructor nods, before calling out: “Diaz, come here!” when break rolls around.

Diaz is moving before the command fully registers, looking confused and a little concerned, which isn’t helped by Bobby standing there in his uniform. “Is there a problem, sir?” he asks.

“No, I just wanted to talk to you for a moment,” Bobby assures him. He holds out his hand: “I’m Captain Bobby Nash, from-”

“The 118,” Diaz fills in, before he can finish, “of course, it’s good to meet you, sir. Buck has told me a lot about you, you’re a good captain.”

“Buck?” Bobby says, confused. As far as he is aware, Buck hasn’t mentioned anyone he knows being in the academy.

“Yeah, I’m Eddie. Eddie Diaz?” Eddie replies, sounding also confused and as if his full name is supposed to clarify something to Bobby. When his name doesn’t spark further recognition in Bobby’s eyes, Eddie seems to become a little unsure. “As in Evan Buckley, Buck? He’s at the 118, right? I swear I’d remembered that right.”

Bobby has no clue why Eddie thought he’d recognize him, but he’s raised right, so he just says: “No, that is correct, I’m Buck’s captain. How do you know him?”

The relief Eddie felt at not being wrong gets wiped away and replaced by a confused hurt. As if needing to make sure again, Eddie checks: “You’re sure he didn’t mention me? Or Chris? I- We’re talking about Buck, right? Over-sharer Buck?”

“Uhm, no, I’m sorry,” Bobby replies, unsure about what he has to do now. He doesn’t question that Eddie knows Buck well and it does seem out of character for Buck to not talk about his friend with his coworkers, especially when Eddie is in the academy.

Timidly, Eddie says: “I’m his husband. Chris is our son,” the unexplained hurt crystallizing with clarity in a singular moment.

The fragile truth hangs between them for a moment, blanketed in an imagined silence in the midst of the busy academy as both try to comprehend the information that now exists.

Bobby feels frozen, staring at Eddie, who is staring back at him. He doesn’t know Eddie and a part of him wants to brand Eddie a liar and discard what he has just been told about Buck, because it feels so out of the realm of possibility.

However, looking at the man in front of him, it’s hard to think him a liar. Eddie didn’t even know what name was attached to Bobby until he introduced himself, brought up Buck first too and then his reactions have all seemed genuine. There is no reason for him to lie.

So, Eddie must be telling the truth and the truth is that Buck has had a family the whole time Bobby has known him. Not only did Buck lie about that, but he cheated on his husband on the clock. Right in front of their eyes. And Bobby thought Buck was a good kid.

Eddie clears his throat, breaking the uncomfortable moment between them and trying to brush it off as he goes: “But I’m sure you had something you actually wanted to talk about it.”

“Yes, I- I did,” Bobby says, preemptively cringing as he apologetically says: “I’m looking for a new person to be a partner for Buck when he finishes his probationary year. You seemed like a good match.”

“Great match, sure,” Eddie scoffs bitterly and Bobby can’t blame him for it.

Bobby wouldn’t know how to feel about a spouse never even mentioning you or your kid existed, and Eddie doesn’t even know about the cheating bit. Should Bobby tell him about that? His Minnesota sensibilities tell him to stay out of it, that it is not his business. He ruined Eddie’s day enough, this is for him and his husband to discuss. So, he stays quiet about it and just apologizes again.

“Fuck, sorry,” Eddie says, rubbing his face, looking exhausted all of a sudden. “This is not your fault. I don’t mean it like that. Buck’s a great guy, the best I could ask for really. Just took me by surprise.”

It’s a pretty nice thing of Eddie to say about Buck after everything that has just gone down and Bobby feels a little guiltier about not mentioning the cheating. He wants to say something, but there are enough witnesses already, he doesn’t want to upset Eddie further.

He also kind of really wants this conversation to be over. “No need to apologize, I get it,” he offers. “I do suppose I can’t offer you that position now. Married couples aren’t allowed to work together in their probationary year,” and divorced couples aren’t smart to stick together either, he adds mentally. It might be cynical, but it’s not unreasonable in his opinion.

“That makes sense,” Eddie replies, feeling equally awkward. “Still, thank you for taking the time to speak with me.” He doesn’t say why and Bobby doesn’t ask.

“Of course,” Bobby says. “It was nice to meet you.” They shake hands again and Eddie goes to join the others once more.

Bobby talks to a few more recruits, but none of them feel right. He himself also doesn’t feel right. He has been picking someone with the person he thought Buck to be in mind, but that is gone now. He doesn’t even know if he knows the person he is picking a partner for. Buck has turned into a stranger in the span of one short conversation. He’s going to have to have a long talk with the kid when he comes into work tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Eddie is reeling too. He has been hearing all these stories about Buck’s coworkers for almost a year, the excitement and camaraderie he talked about convincing Eddie to go for this career as well. However, the first meeting with someone from Buck’s work life, has quickly turned south, leaving Eddie adrift and lied to.

He knows that him and Buck have a marriage of convenience and he has been slowly wearing down Buck’s kindness, but it still hurts. It hurts more than Eddie knows what to do with.

The revelation that Buck hasn’t even mentioned him or Chris makes him feel stupid. He feels like he’s a kid again and the only person who dressed up for Halloween at school, like he is the only one who missed the memo and is getting laughed at.

Life with Buck has been so fucking nice, the way they handled his parents just now with Chris’s birthday? The way they made moving here work, just like Chris’s medical bills and Eddie’s recovery? How Buck has helped Eddie get back into working after it all? That felt solid. That felt good.

Eddie felt like he had someone in his corner with Buck and though their marriage was never meant to last, he thought they were friends, that they were going to stay in each other’s life, even when they were no longer married.

Shame burns hot in his chest and tears threaten to fall. He doesn’t want to feel the way he does, doesn’t want to feel the stares of his fellow recruits that overheard that horrid conversation. So he snaps at them and lets himself feel angry, because anger has always felt easier than all the other emotions.

He lets the anger carry him through the rest of the day, then back home, where he knows Buck will be waiting for him. Since it’s his day off, he is the one that picked Chris up from school and spent the afternoon with him. He seemed excited about it yesterday, it feels like a lie now.

“Hey, Eds, good day?” Buck greets cheerfully when Eddie comes in, handling the door rougher than he maybe should.

Ignoring Buck, he looks around, trying to see where Chris is. He can see that Chris is in his room, probably reading his book or playing. Content Chris is out of sight for the moment, he turns on Buck, hissing: “What the fuck is your problem?”

“Whoa, where is this coming from?” Buck rears back, a genuine looking concerned wide-eyed expression on his face. He looks so sincere and Eddie hates him for it.

“Oh don’t play dumb now, Buckley,” Eddie says, voice thick. “If you didn’t want to be here anymore, all you had to do is fucking say, asshole. You know you always could have walked. I’m not holding you fucking hostage, you know. No need to pity me like that.”

“What?” Buck exclaims. “Why the fuck do you think that?”

Eddie scoffs, he can’t believe Buck is playing dumb over this. Can’t believe he trusted Buck so much, that he let pretty blue eyes delude him into thinking they were a team. Bitterly, he says: “Your captain came by the academy today.”

“Oh fuck,” Buck curses, having the decency to not hide the way he instantly realizes what that means, what that could have been revealed to cause Eddie to be so pissed off.

“Yeah. Fuck,” Eddie scowls bitchily.

“Eddie, I swear I did not mean whatever it is you’re thinking. I- It’s not- I like being here. With you and with Chris.” The assurances quickly come waterfalling out of Buck, his hands coming up in a placating manner as he does.

The words bring a sense of relief to Eddie that he doesn’t know what to do with. He feels seen by the words, by Buck, and that makes him want to hide, however, he is also too happy that Buck says he likes being here with him and Chris. Still a bit vulnerable, he softly asks: “ Then why didn’t you ever tell anyone me or Chris exist?”

Buck blows out a big breath and rubs his face. Tiredly he says: “It’s just me being stupid, Eddie, I promise. Can we not do this?”

As much as Eddie would like to have a peaceful night, to not keep fighting with Buck the way he always kept fighting with Shannon, the vulnerable underbelly he’d shown feels prodded at and his hackles raise once more. “Just you being stupid?” he repeats angrily. “Buck, you’re pretending me and Chris don’t exist, like we haven’t been your family for the past three fucking years.”

“Well, maybe I needed space away from that,” Buck snaps, his own defensiveness coming out at the attack.

“Space away from that?” Eddie repeats shrilly. “What does that even mean? You already work 60 hours a week away from us, do you also need a break from talking about us too? Are you fucking embarrassed about Chris? Is that it? Did you not wanna tell your little friends you got a disabled kid?”

“What the hell, man!” Buck yells, shocked by the accusation. “Of course I’m not embarrassed of him, I could never be embarrassed by him. And you should know me better than that.”

He sounds genuinely hurt by what Eddie said, but Eddie is feeling to hurt himself to feel too guilty about that. “Then what do you mean with needing space?” he practically begs, desperate to know why Buck doesn’t want people to know Eddie knows him, desperate for answers that might explain why he feels so hurt by that.

“Because I’m in love with you!” Buck screams, panting and red face, before he becomes pale, as he realizes what he has just said. What he has just confessed.

Eddie stares back, face equally shocked, mind blue screening. Buck loves him. Buck loves him. Buck is in love with him. He simultaneously feels like he’s gotten the breath knocked out of him and like he’s on top of the world, many things finally clicking into place.

Clearly, Buck doesn’t know that, because he anxiously rambles: “I am so sorry, I don’t know why- Well, I do know why I said it, I meant it, I just- Fuck! Eddie, I didn’t- I don’t- I don’t expect anything from you, I’m fine, you know, just being friends. I know that’s what we got and I’m-”

Buck doesn’t get to finish his sentence, because Eddie’s limbs have finally come back online and he is already kissing him.

Fuck, he’s kissing him!

Eddie’s heart feels all over the place as he does. It almost feels illegal to just kiss Buck, but he knows he’d never stop, because doing something wrong has never felt so fucking good. He didn’t even know this was something he wanted, but now that he has it, he knows he’s never letting it go. God, the future he can have with Buck sprawls out in front of him and Eddie wants to take.

He feels like he did when they decided to move to LA, reckless and wild, out of control, but also never as sure about a decision in his life. Buck makes Eddie feel selfishly invincible.

Breathlessly they stare at each other, both looking equally mussed and wide-eyed.

When Buck brings his hand up to feel at his lips, mouth a perfect ‘o’, Eddie’s heart does a little flip flop at the sight. Fuck, how did he miss he is in love with Buck? How did he let himself live a domestic life with him without ever realizing? How did he get so hurt by Buck not talking about him to his friends and he didn’t even put together why until Buck said it first?

“You- I- What does that mean?” Buck asks, voice soft and timid, yet so achingly hopeful. Eddie wonders how long Buck has known.

It doesn’t matter, Eddie decides, he knows now and he’s not going to let Buck sit in uncertainty for a moment longer. He’s terrified, sure, but still riding the high of daring to kiss Buck, so he says: “That I just realized I’m kind of in love with you too and I wanted to kiss you.”

At that a bright smile breaks out on Buck’s face, eyes sparkling. Eddie wants to put that expression on Buck’s face for the rest of his life, especially when it gets Buck to kiss him again.

Their kiss is interrupted by Chris, who suddenly appears, asking: “What were you two yelling about?”

They jump away, giving Chris a deer in headlight look, before looking at each other. Seeing the expression they’re each making has them burst out into laughter. Eddie holds out a hand to Chris and ruffles his hair as he gets close. “Just me and papi being silly, mijo. We had a misunderstanding, but we talked it out.”

Chris pulls out a judgmental expression that he totally got from Eddie and smartly says: “Well, yeah, I could see that,” which has Eddie blushing and Buck burst out in hysterics.

Once they’ve calmed down again, Buck tentatively asks: “And, uhm, are you okay with that, Superman? Me and daddy being together?”

The question thrills and scares Eddie. He knows he loves Buck, but there is more attached to that realization than just kissing him and Eddie will have to face that, starting with Chris, which is terrifying. However, it also feels so good, like a future he never thought he could have sprawled out in front of him.

Thankfully, his first experience with this new reality is good, because Chris in all his innocent confusion merely goes: “Were you not together already?”

“Uhh…” they reply at the same time, giving each other a helpless look as they wordlessly try to figure out how and to what extent they’re going to explain the whole thing to Chris. In the end, Buck just smiles: “Huh, guess you’re right about that, buddy.”

And in a way he is. At this point, Buck and him have been parenting him for three years, which is longer than him and Shannon lasted and Chris likely doesn’t remember most of that. It’s kind of weird, but also comforting in a way, to realize him and Buck already work.

The smile he gets on his face, doesn’t leave for the entire evening. He helps Buck cook, even though he sucks at it, just because they want to keep circling each other, hands brushing and hips bumping. They play footie during dinner and Eddie floats on cloud nine for the entire evening.

Chris shoots them a few weird looks for the way they keep grinning besottedly at one another, but other than that, they get through their nighttime routine as always. They help brush his teeth and tuck him in with Buck reading another chapter in the book Chris is reading, while Eddie listens with a lovesick look on his face.

It’s not until they go to bed that a small probe of insecurity encroaches their happy little bubble. They have brushed their own teeth and are about to go to bed themselves, but find themselves stuck in the hallway between the two doors leading to their own bedrooms.

Eddie doesn’t want to let Buck go yet, just wants to hold him close now that he finally has him. A new happiness has been opened up to him and he’ll be fucked before he lets it go. However, bringing that up scares him, so he dawdles same as Buck.

He keeps his pinky intertwined with Buck’s to prevent him from going. Eddie will sleep upright in the hallway if he has to.

Buck smiles down at their hands, then tugs lightly at their pinkies. Not enough to dislodge the contact, but enough to pull attention to it. He gives Eddie a soft crooked grin and asks: “So, am I a hostage here, or…”

Eddie blushes and he knows it. Embarrassed he says: “I don’t know. I- I don’t know what I want, Buck,” he looks up at him with imploring eyes, because Buck has always known him better than he knows himself, today has been proof of that. “Just don’t want to let go yet.”

“That’s okay,” Buck says quietly and Eddie doesn’t think he’s seen his eyes sparkle this way before. “If you want we can cuddle. Just cuddle, doesn’t have to be more. Maybe have a talk about what, uhm- what we are now?”

He sounds tentative and shy, like he is scared of how Eddie will react to making it more real than just kisses and small touches. It’s not too far off, Eddie is scared. He’s scared of what it means for him, what will happen with him and Buck now, what will happen when his parents hear, if tía Pepa and Abuela will be okay. God, there are so many things that can go wrong, but Eddie wants to figure it out, he wants to so bad.

When his parents were here for Chris’s birthday, it’s the worst he felt since moving to LA and that was because how he couldn’t help but push Buck away. He doesn’t want to do that again, not now that he finally understands. His parents can go fuck themselves all the way in El Paso. Eddie is safe here.

“I’d like that,” he says, making Buck grin.

They shared a bed before, but that was more sporadic than one would think with the way they traded shifts, so cuddling with Buck is still mostly novel. Eddie already knew Buck was a great hugger, but, fuck, he’s a phenomenal cuddler.

Wrapped up in Buck’s arms, snuggled up under a blanket on his bed, Eddie feels content and free to whisper hushed confessions about wanting to build a life with Buck and wanting to figure out what loving Buck means for him. It’s nice, it’s good, and Eddie sleeps easily with a smile on his face.

Buck does much the same, he can’t believe that his day ended with Eddie right there in his arms, but nothing can bring him down, because Eddie loves him back. Eddie loves him.

He has to wake up early for work the next day and Eddie, as always, isn’t a morning person, grumbling sleepily at the alarm and huddling into his pillow to escape the noise. Buck smiles fondly down at him, still barely able to believe Eddie is there. He kisses his forehead – because holy shit, he gets to do that now – then rolls out of bed to let Eddie have an extra hour, before he has to get Chris to school.

All the way through his morning routine and all the way to work, Buck floats on a cloud of happiness. It feels like this is the changing point where his life is falling into place and he is just so happy.

Arriving at the firehouse, Buck bounces in high on life, ready to tackle the day and generally in a good mood. With everything that had happened, he has forgotten why him and Eddie were even fighting in the first place. However, he is starkly reminded of that when he comes out of the locker room and Bobby is there, barking: “Buckley, my office. Now.”

Hen and Chimney both go: “Oehhhhhhhh,” at the words and Buck can’t blame them, because he’s pretty sure his face just reads: oh, shit.

Bobby is sitting behind his desk. He never sits behind his desk unless it’s serious. Buck swallows, he has never liked people being disappointed in him and it’s worse when it’s Bobby. But he knows that it’s a misunderstanding, so he can fix it!

“I had an interesting day yesterday,” Bobby starts coolly, looking at Buck with arched eyebrows, daring him to contradict what Bobby is saying.

Buck isn’t stupid enough to do that, instead wincing: “Yeah, Eddie said. Look, Bobby, I’m so sorry for that, but I promise you it’s not what it looked like. I swear. You know I wouldn’t do that, right?”

“So you wouldn’t lie about being married to Eddie and raising a child with him? Eddie was just lying about that for no reason?” Bobby counters.

It hurts that Bobby thinks he could hurt Eddie like that, but he has to admit the evidence against him is pretty damning. Like, Bobby literally walked in on Buck with his pants around his ankles, it’s a little hard to come back from that.

“Uh, no, that- that’s true, but it’s not like that. Well, it is now, but it wasn’t yesterday morning,” Buck stumbles over his explanation. He sighs and says: “It’s a long story, but I promise it’s a misunderstanding. Bobby, please, you gotta believe me on that.”

Bobby looks pissed and for a moment Buck thinks that this is it, that Bobby won’t let him explain and he’s ruined this relationship with him forever when it’s so important to him.

Fortunately, Bobby wants there to be an explanation, wants Buck to have his reasons. Wants to have the good kid he thought he knew back. So he gestures for Buck to talk.

Buck starts all the way at the beginning, telling Bobby about the chicken farm and Shannon, about babysitting and Eddie coming back, tells him about how Chris got left behind and how it led to him meeting Eddie, how that spiraled into them living a domestic married life together, before explaining how that created the situation yesterday.

“So, yeah, Eddie wasn’t lying, but it wasn’t entirely like that either,” he finishes his explanation. Then he adds with a bright smile: “But it is like that now, since Eddie kissed me when we were arguing about it and I blurted out that I’m in love with him. So, thank you.”

Throughout Buck’s tale, Bobby’s eyebrows have climbed higher and higher and now that he is done, Bobby takes a moment, before he responds. “Well, that is- that’s an explanation, that’s for sure. It’s almost unbelievable, but I know you.”

“Uh, thank you?” Buck says, though he’s not sure it’s a compliment. “If you want to make sure, you can come over for dinner this weekend. I’ve been trying to recreate that casserole you made last week and I think I got it down. You can try it and check with Eddie yourself!”

“You know what, I think I’d like that,” Bobby tells him with a strangely nostalgic and bittersweet look on his face that Buck doesn’t understand entirely.

“Cool, I’ll text you an invite after I talk to Eddie?” Buck says.

“Alright.”

With that, their little meeting is officially over and Bobby leads Buck out of the office. Buck is glad Bobby listened to him, his good mood returned as he practically skips ahead into the garage part of the firehouse.

Hen and Chimney are hanging around the ambulance, pretending to stock it, but clearly waiting for them. Nosy assholes, Buck thinks fondly, sending them a beaming grin.

“Okay, Buck looks way too be happy for someone who just yelled at by Cap,” Chimney comments after taking one look at Buck.

“Yeah, that doesn’t match,” Hen agrees. “What did you two talk about, Buckley? Enlighten us to your good mood.”

“Just a misunderstanding,” Bobby tells them, probably out of kindness, since he knows that Buck didn’t share before and might still not be comfortable to do so now.

However, Buck didn’t share, because he thought he might lose it, but he has just figured out he’s gonna get this for the rest of his life and he wants to shout it from the rooftops. So with a chipper voice he says: “Yeah, Bobby thought I was cheating on my husband, but I wasn’t dating him before yesterday, but he loves me now!”

“WHAT!?!”

~~

A/N:

Shout out to Thousandbooks, who mentioned in my comments the trope of Bobby taking Buck to pick a partner. This is kind of an offshoot of that, since in this AU Buck went through the academy in Texas, thus wouldn’t be as familiar with the place in LA, if that makes sense :D

Also rip Bobby for getting caught up in their bullshit every time, like he is trying and then Buddie is just coming at him with a steel chair over and over for no good reason lmao

I do not have an AUAU for next Friday planned and I’m sorry about that, however, this is because I have been a busy bee and hope to start posting the sequel next Sunday! So you can look forward to that (make sure you’re subscribed to the other series to not miss it). I do want to finish it first, but I’m already in the aftermath, final part. It’s currently 85k words and I’m on chapter 21, so you know we’re going to be back as fuck when I start posting

[lobajustdoodles]

It's been plaguing my mind for a few minutes but I can confirm I do like Beast x Ancients

BUT IM VERY DECISIVE ON THEM

welcome to my TED Talk about the ships and how I see them working (UTC):

(please keep in mind I never had interest in the Beasts until Eternal Sugar came around and my social media got raided ShadowVanilla)

MysticCacao

This ship has a lot of potential of Mystic Flour being taught by Dark Cacao to regain her empathy for cookies. I see that Dark Cacao understands what happened with her (overwhelmed by the requests of her followers and saddened/disheartened by what happened in her absence as she isolated herself to calm herself) and understands she wanted to help cookies like before, but does it in the wrong way.

By this, I see interactions between these two as Dark Cacao becoming the "teacher" to Mystic Flour, showing that things in the past would not happen now in the current timeline and that her past empathy and desires to help have not disappeared, but need a direction to be moved. (also apparently Mystic Flour cannot beat the resting bitch face era if she's being caring to Cloud Haetae sooooo a start)

I mainly ship these two, they can work so well together and can learn from each other a lot❤️

EternalHolly

Being honest, this whole episode made me get back to Cookie Run for many reasons. Eternal Sugar is one interesting Beast, her motivations are like Mystic Flour in a way (wanting to do good but goes about it wrongly) but she's also very cruel about it, mostly mentioned and through context clues from other cookies. (looking at you Pavlova and Sugarfly)

And with the recent episode of Hollyberry awakening and promising to return to Eternal Sugar's paradise to teach her the lost passion Eternal Sugar had for cookies, I see it working between them. Granted, I think Eternal Sugar (once given the chance of redemption) should immensely work on rewriting her wrongs of what she did to cookies of her paradise first and foremost and lessen her immense obsession and objectivity of Hollyberry.

I do ship them, but I glide a little towards SugarCheese (Eternal Sugar x Golden Cheese) and i could make it poly👌🏾

ShadowVanilla

ShadowVanilla. The biggest Beast x Ancient that plagues all social media. Not very much of a fan of how they woobify Shadow Milk and act like he doesn't cause the problems around Beast Yeast.

The dynamic is.... something. Shadow Milk mainly projects onto Pure Vanilla to the point where he turns Pure Vanilla to a different coin like he did. He's lonely in the sense of fearing to be the only Beast as he is, willing to tear others (even the other Beasts) down for company. And Pure Vanilla, once awakened, tries to show that there's opportunity to see the in between of lies and truth, which Shadow Milk is like "no" and is in denial about everything. (I haven't gotten to this episode so if I'm wrong on this analysis, correct me)

I do not ship them, I really can't. Shadow Milk needs a lot, A LOT, of help (therapy for the blue jester twink cookie) before getting with someone. I will throw him at a OC when it happens-

BurningCheese

I will say it here: I personally cannot ship these two together.

A lot of people say it's weird to ship them because of brutality on black women and harmful stereotypes, but I don't think that is much of the case for them. For this ship, I think the main focus of why people don't like it should be more on how Burning Spice is adamant to kill Golden Cheese himself, rather than watching someone else do the job. And also how he wants her to end him to end his depression of watching civilizations rise and fall countless times without changing the flow as the being of change itself. I think sizing this ship down as "brutalization of black women and harmful stereotypes" should be the LEAST of worries, coming from a black person.

These two are more-so comrades like from Genshin Impact with the interactions between Tartaglia/Childe and Player; can become great friends and make each other better people for not only themselves but to others around them. It may help with Burning Spice's identity as the being of change.

I also cannot bring myself to ship them, sorry. Would ship Burning Spice with a OC, tho-

Also since Silent Salt and White Lily's episode isn't out yet, I have nothing to say about their ship because I want to see the episode air and play through it enough to get a understanding of them.

With this in mind, I agree with most that say the Beasts can be redeemed with their Ancient counterparts giving them a push into the direction of being good and normal people.

It's just for some cookies (staring at Shadow Milk and Burning Spice) I can't really see getting romantic with their Ancient. Any other cookie (OCs included), yeah, but with the Ancient counterpart is just a no for me.

But yeah, there's my TED Talk on the Beasts x Ancients and pretty much my stance on shipping the Beasts in general.

[leaawrites]

For The First Time

Josh Jenkinson x fem!reader

Summary: first date with Josh, based on this request

Warnings: awkward at times, fluff, bits of angst

Wordcount: 2k

Masterlist, Inhaler Masterlist

Coming down from the high of touring the world, Josh was curled up on his sofa at home, scrolling through endless videos of their performances before throwing his phone to the side as soon as it became too much of the people he'd spent months with huddled up on stage or in the small space of their tour bus.

Staring at the ceiling, he let out a big huff of air from his lungs. Letting them refill and depuff in a calming rhythm. His mind running a marathon in slow motion. What was he supposed to do now?

Having spent months with no day unplanned, there was barely any time for calming down. His body always ready to react, his mind trying to grasp every conversation that was happening around him. All he needed was a break every once in a while.

What he once wished for seemed like a curse now though. The tiredness he felt on the road was now replaced by boredom and the boys endless chatter was now solely silence. Silence he couldn't bare for longer than a few seconds.

The screen of his phone lit up again. Ryan's name flashing across the screen - a dumb picture he took years ago and which he'd normally ignore now made him smile in relief.

"What's up, lad?" Josh asked as soon as he answered the call.

The boy on the other side shuffled something around before answering in the same bored tone. "You free at the moment?" His voice more strained than he'd ever heard before.

"Paige's being going on about this girl she met a few weeks ago and she thinks you'd fit good together -" Ryan was quickly cut off as his girlfriend snatched the phone away from him. Audibly running into another room of the apartment and locking the door so she could talk about it with Josh in peace.

"I said, you'd probably get on really well. She's really sweet and only a few days in Dublin, so if you got nothing else to do..." she trailed off as Ryan began knocking at the door to be let in.

A muffled, "Let me in," was all it took for the phone to be passed again.

"You don’t have to do this, I just had to call you to make her shut up." Wincing as, how Josh assumed, Paige hit him for his comment, Ryan couldn’t help the laugh escaping his lips and something about the action made Josh wince in envy.

Even when, in any other situation, he would immediately deny the offer and go on with his life, company would be nice at the moment. Getting to know someone new after having spent months with the same people without a lot of breaks was what he felt he needed.

"I've got nothing else to do anyways, everything's pretty boring right now actually."

It sounded like Ryan stopped breathing over the phone, or he had hung up, but then it came. The reaction he anticipated. A squeal that was too high pitched for Ryan on a sober night.

Paige, having listened to the conversation with her ear pressed against the phone, was now excitedly grasping for her own phone. Taking Ryan's without a second thought and beginning to talk with Josh again.

"I'm gonna text her, give her your number and you can make out a date," she quickly arranged the starting point of their meet up. "She's into traditional pubs and everything that is cultural in whichever city she is at the moment, but I'd suggest you go somewhere quieter so you can talk. She needs a bit to open up so make sure to keep her calm. The best way to get her talking is honestly music, which shouldn’t be a problem for you to talk about."

And then, a day later, Josh was standing in front of his mirror, looking at his rack of jackets and the streets outside his apartment, judging by the people hurrying past his building which one would be the best to wear.

He texted her the address of the pub he picked out. A local favourite of his. It was kept traditional, the interior as Irish as it could be. They played a mix of new and older Irish music, as well as some of the British and American classics every now and then. It was one of the best he knew, but it wasn’t one for the tourists to find easily. It was easy.

On his way down the streets of Dublin, Josh kept checking his phone every few seconds, wondering whether she would cancel last minute. And part of him wished she would. Not because he wasn’t keen on meeting her, he was, but somehow, it seemed more intimidating now that he knew that she knew his friends and probably also what he did for a job. They weren’t world class known, but they were big enough to sell out an Arena in October. Which meant something.

Standing in front of the pub, he looked at their messages one last time before walking in and to his surprise, she still hadn’t stood him up. She was still on.

"Hey, sorry," a voice said from behind him. Before he processed it properly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, she stood right in front of him. A sweet smile adorning her lips as she looked up at him with a nervous glance in her eyes. Fingers playing with the bracelets hanging on her wrists. "Are you Josh?"

Letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, he quickly took his hand out of his jacket pocket to offer it to her. "Yes, that's me." Chuckling awkwardly at his answer, he added, "You wanna go in?"

With a nod she agreed, walking past him as he held the door open. Thanking him for the action she noticed a slight blush creeping up his cheeks.

Stepping inside, the warm atmosphere of the familiar place quickly embraced the two of them. Energetic chatter surrounded each table. The bar was full and the TV showed a game of pool somewhere across the globe.

Finding a table further back where the laughter and holler didn’t over-tune the music, they sat down. Both already aware of how this night could play out.

After ordering their drinks, both taking a Guinness, they sat in silence for a moment. Glancing around the room, he noticed her fingers tapping against the wooden surface of the table in the rhythm of the song playing.

"You like The Stone Roses?" He asked.

"Who doesn't?" She asked, the smile from before reappearing on her lips. "I mean, they have released one of the greatest debut albums of all time."

Leaning forward in interest, he joined in on her excitement for the group. "Totally agree, though they should've left it at that one and not release a second one. They kinda ruined the legacy with 'Second Coming'."

"I think it's good that they tried to make something else at least. Shows they wanted to actually make music instead of just trying their luck."

"I think they were doomed after they released the first one. Nothing could be better than that. There's only a handful of artists who could top their legendary first album."

"Like who?"

"Oasis, The Strokes, Led Zeppelin."

"I think, getting a good first album but building onto that and becoming better is harder than having a smashing first album and a good second one. It means that you actually care about your work and what you do, not just that you don’t want to disappoint the fans," she said, leaning back when she took notice of how minimal space was between them still. "Paige said, that you're also in a band."

The topic he threatened in most conversations came up quicker than he thought. It wasn’t like he didn’t feel proud of what they were doing, it just always went the same. 'You're in a band? Cool. So, how much do you make from it? Are you getting lots of girls? Wait, you're in a band with Eli Hewson? My dad loves U2. Could you introduce me to Bono?' And then it would be over.

"Yeah, we just wrapped up a tour," he confirmed, trying to keep it as short as possible and making it sound as casual as possible.

"How long were you on the road for?"

"A few months. Firstly the UK, then North America and Europe. We're going back to the US soon though."

"That's so cool. You must feel pretty lonely now though." And when those words left her mouth he wasn’t too sure if he still threatened the topic. Because it felt like she understood. She wasn’t just keen on the Rock Star label he apparently had from being in a band with his mates, she was interested in the whole of it all.

"It was a shock when I was in my apartment on my own again, yeah. I'm used to it by now though, the whole overload and extreme detox of socializing." Waving it off like nothing he kinda hoped for her to ask more. He wanted to talk with her about the stuff he had no one else to talk to about.

Though instead he asked, "What do you do with your life? Sarah said, that you travel a lot."

"I try to see as much of the world as I can. Other than that, I write for a music magazine. It also helps with the traveling if it's for certain shows that are nearer by."

"Maybe you'll write about us someday," he joked, turning the glass in between his hands like it would help his face from overheating.

"Maybe I will," she agreed, the possibility unfolding in both their heads. "It would probably be at a festival, something big. I'd have your bands name written on the top of my notes and totally freak out because through the research I would've found out that the guy I was about to interview and probably make uncomfortable with a few questions showed me a really nice pub on one of the less nicer trips I've been on."

"Jesus, what kind of questions do you usually ask?" Josh laughed, the latter of her sentence hitting him too late to comprehend before she answered him.

"Just the usual: how's life going? What about the single or new album? Got anything going on tonight? Where do you live? Can I go home with you because I have no place to stay anymore?" Trying to play off the underlying truth of her jokes, she waved her hand in front of her face while she spoke. Hoping it would make the unsettling feeling in her stomach disappear.

This time he actually caught up with what she was saying before he could bring up another bad joke. "You've got nowhere to stay?"

"It sounds worse than it is, really. If you can tolerate me for long enough - which means until midnight, so only three more hours to go - I will catch the train that gets me back home with no other problem occurring."

After a pause that left her enough time to regret her words, she quickly added, "If you're now thinking about just keeping me company because somehow you have pity towards me, don't. That's worse than sleeping on Ryan's couch."

"His couch is really not the best thing in the world," Josh agreed, thinking back to the time he crashed at his friend's place and woke up with more back pain than the headache that built up through the alcohol of the night before. "But I do really enjoy your presence. I don't think there's gonna be a problem of talking for another two and a half hours."

"Hopefully I didn't ruin your Thursday night then."

"Absolutely not. I really need some people around at the moment."

Watching the evening unfold in uncontrolled laughter and senseless blushing from front row seats by the other, the moment the clock striked midnight, it felt like they'd only been talking for a couple minutes instead of hours. Both of their plates long cleared and the extra fries they'd ordered long gone. With a disappointed look on both their faces they drowned the last bit of both their drinks before splitting the bill. Walking out side by side, they stood at the exit for a moment longer than necessary. Wild laughter still echoing from the inside while they watched the full bar through the window.

"I really liked tonight," she finally said, turning to Josh to find his eyes already focused on her.

"I did too, yeah. Had no problems tolerating you. It was nice," Josh agreed, hands stuffed in his pockets, feet awkwardly bouncing on the dark concrete.

Laughing at his reference from the beginning of their night, she remembered where she had to be in short time. "I still have my stuff at Ryan's place."

And without a question asked, he answered, "I'll walk you." His feet already moving before she could say anything about it.

Walking side by side, their gazes both fixated on the space between their hands that cast shadows under every streetlight they passed, they found them moving closer like magnets with every shadow created. Until, after turning a corner and her awkwardly bumping into his side, her caught her hand in his. Intertwining their fingers like it was second nature.

Ryan's place came into sight sooner than they'd wanted. Luckily the drummer was still up at that hour, opening the door for them and smiling smugly when he saw Josh appear behind the girl.

"Good night, huh?" he tried whispering quietly as they greeted each other. Being left alone for a moment gave them enough time to exchange a few looks, both communicating without drawing too much attention from the girls whispering rather obvious from the living room space.

Paige quietly screaming and laughing every once in a while as she heard how the night went. The last thing before they parted was a rather loudly, "Call me if anything else happens."

Suitcase in hand, she now stood next to Josh again. Saying her fare wells to the couple before finally leaving them to their respective night again.

Closing the door behind the pair, Josh quickly took the suitcase from her, not paying attention to any disagreement she had at the action. Insisting on being able to carry her own stuff but inevitably giving up when she noticed that complaining was no use with this man.

"I already ordered a taxi for us," Josh said, checking his phone as they stood by the curb outside the building. Just missing the smile crinkling on her face at the simple action and the words he used. 'For us.' He wasn't just gonna leave her to her own devices now that he had confirmed to his friend that the night went well for him.

"Thanks," she mumbled, looking down at their shoes the moment he looked at her to hide the blush growing over her cheeks. "I don't think I've ever had a guy being this nice on a first date."

"Had the wrong guys then," Josh shrugged like it was no big deal, though on the inside he was freaking out. Probably more than her.

"I guess so, yes."

Climbing into the taxi that arrived shortly after, she took his hand again as the Dublin City sky passed them by.

"I'm really grateful Ryan got me out of my flat for this night," he said into the quiet of their drive.

Not getting a vocal reply, but rather a squeeze of his hand in return. Her eyes glistening with tears at his words.

Paying the guy a bit extra as soon as they arrived, there were only a few more minutes left until her train would arrive. Standing on the platform face to face like it would help them remember the other better. Not saying a word but both knowing that it wasn't necessary.

"When did you say were you in the US again?" The train arrived, doors opening right in front of them.

"Some time around September."

"If you want to, we could meet there again. I live in New York. I could show you my favourite place to go out then."

"Yes."

Smiling at him one last time with the biggest one he'd seen from her that night, she quickly leaned up. Leaving a kiss and a stain of her lips on his cheek before rushing inside.

[blood-and-poetry]

Spoilers for whoever hasn't played the Minthara romance

Honestly the most perfect ending I ever had for a character in an RPG. She is a dark urge who initially gave in to her urges to please Minthara, then realized that the best she could do for herself and her love would be to break free from any and all influences of Bhaal or other gods who might want to claim her. She learned from Minthara that mindless (!) killing and cruelty are often times quite useless and just cause more problems in the long run (groundbreaking stuff here). Doesn't mean these things are off limits, we are talking about Minthara here lmao. But when MINTHARA of all people asked my Durge why she killed the refugees it gave her whiplash and made her reconsider a lot of things. She isn't really a "good" person like the hero many people see her as, I honestly think her alignment at this point would almost be true neutral. Or Minthara neutral. Because she would 100% kill innocent people again if Minthara wanted her to. It would absolutely not have been in character for her at the end to take the power of the absolute for herself. She NEEDS to break free of shit like that, she needs to be her own person without any tether to any higher power (if you don't count Minthara). I am glad that Larian changed Mintharas arc so that she stays with the Tav/Durge when they make that descision. Because it also mirrors her story so perfectly. First Lolth, then the absolute. I know Minthara is power hungry and I love her for it. But being attached to the Durge and/or the absolute again would be such a downgrade. Going to the Underdark together is just perfect for these two and almost the most logical conlusion to their story. Minthara makes her partner her "Queen", which I love SO much more than the other way around if Durge takes control over the absolute. It is also so lovely in many other ways. My Durge has purged the Bhaal parts of her but she still isn't a wholesome little cottagecore girly who can just fuck off to a little farm and be happy raising chickens. It would feel unreal. In the Underdark she has beauty and love and all that but she also feels much more at home with the scheming drow houses and the harsh environment. She also adored the little mushroom colony and has set free the 7000 vampire spawn. In the epiloge it's said that the outcasts of the underdark join Minthara and Durge in their cause. Which should include at least a good portion of those spawn. I absolutely love the thought of that. Never felt so happy with a characters epiloge lol.