#she should have gotten to embrace her darkness

[symbioticsimplicity]

Buffy, who has spent more than enough time with Spike to have heard his taste in music, slowly coming to like punk music because A: It’s great to fight to, like seriously great the drums alone could get her through a small scale invasion. and B: After the Initiative it’s Fuck The Government hours 25/8 and punk music exemplifies that beautifully. If she slips a few more punk items into her wardrobe (a pair of shit-kickers here, a leather jacket there, maybe a cute flannel) well that’s just her own damn business isn’t it?

[luxaofhesperides]

Accidental Bride Sacrifice ; requested by @starlightcat04!

Danny has long since gotten used to the feel of summonings. They don’t happen often, but sometimes the right components are put together to force him into answering, and he’d have to go as the new Ghost King.

Which no one told him was a thing! He hadn’t protested too much about the whole Ghost King deal when they finally told him about it after he graduated high school. It gave him a good excuse to ditch life in the living realm and not worry about college or a career, and let him really embrace his ghost side. 

The summonings are a problem, though. They always feel staticky and bad, like a dumpster that just got struck by lightning. The taste of iron on his tongue, a clear sign of blood being spilled, lets him know that it would be one of end the world for us summonings, because some people can’t put in the effort to do it themselves, apparently. 

But this time, the summoning feels different.

Danny pauses, eyes going unfocused in the middle of his conversation with Jazz. He had been looking forward to spending the week with her, now that she’s on winter break, but his luck is as bad as always.

“I’m being summoned,” he tells her, cutting off her rant about a transphobic professor she had. 

“Oh, no. Do you need me to do anything? Should I go with you to beat up whoever it is that’s summoning you?”

Danny tilts his head to the side, considering. The taste of blood is noticeably absent. In fact, this summoning pull doesn’t make him feel sick at all. It makes him feel warm, as if he’s just been wrapped in a hug.

“No,” he says. “I think I’m good. This one feels different.”

“A good different?” Jazz asks, worry clear in her voice.

“Yeah. A good different. I’ll come back soon, okay?”

“Alright. Be careful, Danny.” Jazz pulls him into a quick hug, then steps back to watch as Danny stops fighting the pull of the summoning and disappears into a swirling white rings that flashes into existence behind him, blinding her for a moment, and is gone when she manages to blink the spots out of her vision. 

For a minute, Danny drifts in a void of stillness, traveling through the realms as the summoning draws him closer to the correct realm. And then he’s rising out of the ground in a dark building made of concrete, candles of green flame scattered all over the place.

“Great One!” someone in a hooded cloak cries, raising his arms in jubilation. “Our calls have been answered!”

“I’ll fucking kill you!” a mechanical voice yells from farther back. When Danny looks past the cultists’ heads, he spots a man in a red hood and leather jacket chained to a pole, along with a bunch of other people in strange costumes tied up, desperately trying to free themselves. 

“Silence!” The leader of the cult, or who Danny assumes is the leader, snaps at the hooded man and gestures to the people off to his left. They force another costumed person forward, this one in yellow armor. He can see the blood running down their face from beneath their helmet and from their nose, dark lines of blood cutting through their brown skin. 

The cultists throw the armored person forward, forcing them to kneel. Then they bow to Danny and step back.

“Great One,” the leader says, voice unpleasantly reverent and grating, “Welcome to the mortal realms. We offer you this sacrifice to feed your strength. He will make a fine general for your undead army in your crusade to rid this world of its filth.”

The people in the back begin shouting all together, panicked voices overlapping, and Danny is left staring down at the cultists in shock.

The summoning had felt so nice. What the hell was this? He did not sign up for another ‘end of days’ insane cult. He just wanted to be hugged. 

His silence makes the cultists nervous. They begin to shift uneasily, whispering to each other, and the leader clears his throat, then pulls a large crystal dagger out of his cloak. “We shall prove our devotion to you through an offering of a hero’s blood!”

And then he moves towards the sacrifice and Danny snaps out of his shock to yell, “Wait!”

The entire room freezes. Even the costumed people in the back go still. 

Danny winces, then tries to smother his power, make himself more palatable to the humans of this dimension. “Wait,” he says again, and he sounds closer to human now. If he could, he would drop his ghost form entirely, but he knows better than to endanger himself like that. “What, exactly, did you summon me here for?”

The cult leader stares at him for a moment. “To… To rid the world of filth and allow your loyal followers to spread word of your power. You will be worshiped again, Great One, and serve as a reminder to man that Death shall always prevail.”

“Okay, I get that, but I was talking more along the lines of the summoning. What ritual did you use? What specifically were the summoning requirements?”

Normally, he’d be able to figure it out himself, but these cultists didn’t use a summoning circle. So they did something else, something less visible and therefore harder to figure out, in order to bring him here.

A woman standing off to the side speaks up, stepping forward hesitantly. “I had pieced together a few summoning spells from this book to bring you here. You had to accept our chosen sacrifice to your side in order for the summoning to work.”

“Hold up that book for me, please?”

She does, and Danny flies down to grab it from her hands. “Point out which lines you used,” he says, already reading a few of the words written down. It’s definitely ghostspeak written down, which should be near impossible for living humans to translate without being skilled in magic.

“Ah, these ones.” She points to each line, reading them out for him, and Danny starts understand what, exactly, went wrong.

“Is there a problem, Great One?”

Danny returns the book then floats over to the sacrifice and picks him up. The costumed people make alarmed noises, but quietly quiet down again when all Danny does is move him away from the cultists.

“Okay,” he says, “So. The lines you used to summon me were not translated properly. What you interpreted as ‘accepted to stay by the king’s side in loyalty and strength’ is not meant to be, like, him being part of my undead army or whatever. It’s a royal marriage vow.”

“They married us?” the sacrifice shouts, disbelieving. The cult leader buries his face in his hands and sighs.

“My deepest apologies, Great One. We meant no offense. We simply wanted to aid in your destruction of this depraved world.”

Danny scrunches his nose and shakes his head. “Yeah, that’s not gonna fly with me. I do not do the biding of random people, especially those who are ready to murder innocent people for no reason. Frighty, if you would.” He snaps his fingers, calling up Fright Knight who always enjoys getting to torment the people who summon Danny for murderous reasons.

Fright Knight appears in a swirl of darkness and screams. Shadows swallow the room, and when they recede, no cultists remain.

“Thanks, Frighty. Have fun with them. I need to figure out all… this.”

Fright Knight bows to him, then disappears. Danny lets out a breath, then floats down lower to be eye level with the sacrifice. “Hey,” he says gently, with a smile, “I’m so sorry they did this to you. I’m Danny. What’s your name?”

“Du— Uh, Signal,” the sacrifice says, sounding rather dazed. 

“Signal,” Danny repeats. “Like… a traffic signal?”

“No. I mean, maybe? But it is Signal. That’s my hero name, not my real name.”

“Oh, you’re a hero!” His getup makes more sense now. Danny checks him over for any signs of injuries. So far, only his head and nose seem to be injured, but his wrists are tightly bound behind his back. Carefully, Danny calls upon his ice and shapes it into a sharp knife, then cuts through the zipties.

He helps Signal up to his feet, floating by his shoulder. “All good?”

“Yeah, man, all good. Let me just get the others free.”

“Oh, I can do it!” Danny flies over to the other costumed people, who must also be heroes. All it takes is one link in the chain being frozen and broken for the entire thing to go lax, allowing them to free themselves. Hooded guy spares Danny a single glance, then hurries over to Signal to check on him. The other three, a man with a blue bird across his chest, a blond girl with a yellow bat outline on her chest, and a guy with bandoliers and a golden bird emblem, all watch him warily as he floats back towards the center of the room.

“So,” the blue bird man says, “If they summoned you with a marriage vow, and you accepted, does that mean you’re planning to steal Signal away from us?” He’s smiling, but it’s not a nice smile.

“No! I had no idea they did this! I am so sorry you all got caught up in this. You most of all, Signal.”

Signal shrugs, nudging hood guy away from him. “Nah, man, it’s all good. This is definitely the better outcome.”

“I don’t know, being married off isn’t really a good thing.”

“Hey, at least they married me off to a decent guy.”

“You don’t know that,” Danny says, “What if I’m secretly evil?”

“If you were secretly evil, you’d be destroying the world right now. I think you’re fine.”

The blond girl waves at him, demanding his attention. “Quick question! They were calling you ‘Great One’. Are you a god or something?”

“Not really? I’m the Ghost King. So I’m a ghost who rules over other ghosts and also a majority of the Infinite Realms.”

She nods as if this is all totally normal for her, then shoots Signal a grin. “Congrats on bagging a king! Not the worst way to spend a night, right?”

“Can you break the marriage?” blue bird man asks, the lines of his shoulders tense.

Danny awkwardly rubs the back of his neck, not looking any of them in the eye. “I honestly don’t know. I can look for a way! But I genuinely have no clue. This was unexpected.”

“But you accepted.”

“I didn’t know what I expected! It just felt like a hug, and I wanted a hug! I thought I was being summoned for something nice for once!” Danny curls up, bringing his knees up to his chest, and hides his pout behind his hands. He knows he’s being childish, but he can’t help but be upset that he couldn’t have this one good experience from being Ghost King. 

It’s always responsibilities and death cult summonings and fighting ghosts who don’t think he should be king. Sure there have been some good things, but they’re comparatively few when looking at all the other stress and pain that comes with the crown. Sue him for wanting to have a nice night for once. Hell, at this point, he’d take being summoned to help with some kid’s homework, because at least then he could have a quiet night helping someone.

“Hey, man, can you come down here?” Signal asks. 

He wants to stay out of reach, hiding himself away for a bit longer, but Signal is his new, surprise, accidental husband, so Danny lowers himself to the ground and peeks through his fingers to look at him.

He tenses when Signal hugs him, soft and warm and comforting. It takes a moment for him to realize what’s going on, and then he’s melting into Signal’s embrace, dropping his hands to wrap them around Signal’s back.

Distantly, he can hear the other heroes talking quietly amongst themselves. He blocks out the sound as much as he can, determined to enjoy this hug while it lasts.

Which is… fairly long. Signal makes no moves to end the hug, so Danny closes his eyes to really savor the moment. 

“So,” Signal murmurs into his ear, “As newlyweds, how about we get to know each other a bit better before we start working on fixing all this?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Let’s ditch these guys and take some time to ourselves.”

“I promise I’ll get this fixed,” he says, just to make sure Signal knows. “Genuinely, I am so sorry to have married you through an old Realms vow when you had no say in it.”

“Hey, if it lands me a very nice, very attractive king, then I don’t mind at all. I could have done without the murderous cultists, though.”

Danny huffs out a small laugh. “Oh, for sure. Thanks for being so cool about this. Want me to fly us out of here?”

“Yes please,” Signal says. Danny smiles and tightens his grip on Signal, then lifts them both up. “I’ll see y’all later! Have fun with the rest of your patrols!” he calls out to the other heroes, who start shouting at him.

Danny flies them right out the roof before the other heroes figure out a way to kick his ass. The city they’re in is smoggy and dark, tall buildings rising up into the cloudy sky, and police sirens ring through the air. There’s no where that looks like a particularly nice spot to land for a conversation, so he asks Signal where he’d like to go and follows his directions from there.

They end up phasing through a building, then into the floor, which leaves them in what Signal calls The Hatch. 

Danny takes a quick moment to freak out over being in a hero’s secret hide out, the composes himself and finally pulls away from Signal.

“So,” he starts, looking around The Hatch and taking in the giant computer, the workstation, the motorcycle farther down the way, “What did you—Woah!” Danny spins around, slamming a hand over his eyes the instant he realizes that Signal is taking off his helmet, leaving his face bare.

It’s not like he’d know who Signal is anyways, being from a different dimension, but it’s the principle of the matter.

Signal laughs when he sees Danny’s attempt to keep from looking at him. A warm hand wraps around his wrist and gently pulls it away. “It’s okay, Danny, you can look,” he says. “It would be pretty weird if my own husband didn’t know my face.”

Slowly, giving Signal to change his mind, Danny opens his eyes. He moves his gaze up, going from Signal’s armor to his face, his very cute face and his warm brown eyes, and Danny stares for a moment. 

“Hi,” he whispers.

“Hi,” Signal says, fondness coloring his voice. “My name’s Duke. Are all Ghost Kings as cute as you?”

“Duke,” Danny repeats. “Hi. Um, no. The last one really sucked, actually, which is why I fought him. He was so bad the Infinite Realms didn’t want him anymore, so though I technically didn’t beat him in single combat, it was enough for the Infinite Realms to kick him out and get me on the throne.”

“Man, I can not wait to hear more of your stories. Think we got time for that while we search for a way to undo that marriage vow?”

Taking his chance, Danny says, “Sure! It’s a date.”

He’s awarded by Duke’s bright smile and idly wonders how long he can keep them married. Hopefully long enough for them to get into a real relationship where he can propose properly. And then he can get Jazz’s blessing too—

“Oh shit,” Danny realizes. 

“What? What’s wrong?”

“I need to tell my sister or she’s going to actually kill me.”

Duke winces. “And I should probably tell the others before Spoiler makes a mess of things… B is not going to be happy with me.”

They share a despairing look, already dreading the amount of scoldings they’re both going to get. He’s not looking forward to it.

“...Put it off until tomorrow?”

Duke nods. “Yeah. That’s a tomorrow problem. For now, how about a late dinner?”

“Sounds perfect.”

. . .

[send me a ghostlights prompt!]

[cosmicanakin]

thinkin' about nerd!anakin & popular!reader.

adult content | minors do NOT interact.

you slip into the kitchen where anakin is bustling about working on some new prototype. sliding your arms around his waist from behind, you press a kiss to the center of his back between his shoulder blades. “how's it going in here, handsome?”

he turns with a brilliant grin, still tinkering as he talks. “just fine tuning some upgrades. got paired with lydia for the engineering project and she has some innovative ideas i want to test out. speaking of, i should give her a call and we can brainstorm some more.”

your smile falters slightly at the mention of lydia. you know she's a notorious nerd, just like anakin, but something about them working so closely together rubs you the wrong way. “right, your partner. do you have to call her right now?” you pout, pulling him in for an embrace.

anakin chuckles, nuzzling your nose. “yes sweetheart, we're trying to stay on track to finish early like the good students we are. don't worry, you know you're the only girl for me.” he pecks your lips softly before slipping from your arms to grab his phone.

reluctantly, you follow anakin to the couch and flop down beside him with a huff. his call connects and lydia's face popped up on the screen, pale skin and dark hair framed by thick glasses like usual. “hey anakin!” she greets excitedly, straightening her cardigan.

“hey lydia, y/n's here too.” he smiles, sliding an arm around your shoulders. you force a tight lipped grin and wave. lydia smiles politely in return but her eyes linger on anakin a moment too long for your liking.

“so, tell me more about these water filtration designs you were working on,” anakin prompts, always eager to delve into his passion. lydia launches into an enthusiastic ramble about her concepts that has anakin hanging onto every word with rapt attention.

you try to contain your rising irritation as they converse in advanced terminology far over your head. anakin's eyes sparkle with interest and admiration for lydia's brilliant mind and you feel increasingly out of place. her cheeks flush under his praise and gaze.

that's the final straw. subtlety clearly isn’t working so you decide on a new approach. shifting into anakin's lap, you drape yourself over him and start peppering his jaw and neck with heated kisses. he inhales sharply in surprise.

“y/n, wh-what are you doing?” he stammers breathily as you continue your affectionate assault. you raise your eyes to the screen and smirk at lydia, who watches with parted lips and pink cheeks of her own.

“sorry to interrupt,” you say feigning your innocence, grinding down into anakin’s lap. he suppresses a soft groan, hands coming to grasp your hips unconsciously. lydia averts her eyes, clearing her throat awkwardly.

“i can see you two are, uh, busy. maybe i should let you go.” she mumbles, shuffling notes in front of her screen. anakin nods frantically, eyes fuzzy with desire. “y-yeah, probably for the best. we'll, um, talk tomorrow lydia. bye!”

you end the call with a tap of your finger before he can prolong it further. capturing anakin's lips hungrily, you roll your hips firmly into his growing erection. he melts into the kiss with a whiny moan.

“fuck y/n, what's gotten into you? not that iʼm complaining,” he pants as you drag open mouthed kisses along his jaw. you nip at his earlobe teasingly. “just reminding you who you belong to, honey. now, shall we take this discussion to the bedroom?”

without awaiting his response, you tug anakin to his feet and backward down the hall. he obeys willingly, worshipping your neck and shoulders all the way. you push him down onto the mattress, quickly removing your clothes in a flurry.

anakin lays watching with blown pupils and parted lips, caressing the prominent bulge in his pants. “god, you're so beautiful.” you crawl over him like a lioness, pinning his body down and rocking your sensitive core against his clothed bulge.

“say it,” you command breathily. “say you're mine.” anakin moans at the delicious contact, already putty in your possessive hands. “i'm yours, and only yours.” satisfaction blooms in your chest at his submission.

you make good and sure to brand that fact into his memory that night, until he's left whimpering your name in a blissful puddle. no one, not even lydia, would ever come between you again if you had anything to say about it. this boy belonged to you heart, body and mind.

[dorianpavus]

Panel from Hell Info Roundup

We got a release teaser trailer!

CHARACTER CREATION/CUSTOMIZATION

Character creation got a revamp! More efforts were made to explain things to someone who hasn’t played D&D before, or one who hasn’t played other Larian games. Classes now also have unique animations when you select them.

Choice options now have a corresponding icon, so you can see what you’re selecting.

There are more available faces to choose from.

Dragonborn and half-orcs are playable at launch.

Warlocks are now able to call on their patron for insight and advice.

New sliders have been added for Maturity (adding wrinkles), Freckle Quantity (and intensity), and Vitiligo Pigmentation.

Horn Customization! Now you can change their color and tip color.

There are scar options.

More hair and beard options! As well as more options for hair colors (including greying) to have tri-colored hair.

Strong/buff body types added!

Piercing options have been added.

Heterochromia option has been added.

Dragonborn can customize their face, crest, chins, and jaws. Skin color options include metallic, almost duo-chrome shades. For white dragonborns, there are also pearlescent effects. Dragonborn Draconic Bloodline sorcerers will get a unique scale pattern that changes color based on your ancestry.

There is also a selection for genitals, which they did not elaborate on, but was selected as ‘default.’

You will meet a character that will allow you to reset your class and respec your abilities.

The team went back from Act 1-3 to make the game more reactive to your choices. If you’re playing something odd or unique, the game should react to it.

THE DARK URGE

They are the new Origin Character, and they are avatar-only; they can only be played by you, not recruited.

You can fully customize their race and class.

They do not know who they are; they are waking up, and the only thing they know is “the bile of their liver, the gushing of their blood, and their ruined body telling them: you’re going to kill and kill again.” They are meant to be a dark counterpoint to the story.

Has unique scenes and storylines unlike anything else we’ve seen thus far.

They have dark impulses and thoughts that tempt them; you can play as embracing it or trying to resist.

At 4:36:55, we have some gameplay of them from early on in Act 1.

KARLACH

She is an Origin Character, and you can recruit her or play as her.

Born and raised in Baldur’s Gate, was sold to slavery in the Hells, and managed to break free. She has an infernal engine for a heart.

She’s a barbarian who has a special rage animation/effect.

Curses a lot.

At 5:20:00, there’s a bit of extended gameplay and one of her romance scenes.

OTHER/MISC COMPANIONS

Many of the companions are good-aligned, including Karlach, Halsin, Minsc, and Jaheira. For evil companions, there is Minthara, who you can recruit in Act 2 depending on your choices.

Wyll has gotten a complete overhaul. Much of his dialogue has been rewritten, and he “can go in two directions” much earlier in the story. He wants to kill Karlach at the beginning of the game, and how that unfolds is up to you. 

If you kill your companions, you can hire Hirelings. There are twelve (one for each of the classes), and you can customize and respec them.

Companions will join your camp and be able to come with you along your journey; you don’t have to choose between them, but can swap them out as you see fit. If anyone leaves or isn’t able to be recruited, it will be by your own choices or the narrative.

When you’re playing as an Origin Character, you’re not a mystery to yourself. You’ll get unique scenes and information that you may not otherwise get with them as your companion. For instance, when you go to sleep, you might have nightmares about your past.

A scene relevant to Astarion’s backstory was shown at 4:25:57.

ROMANCE

They tried to show “two people genuinely struggling through a hard time and supporting one another. And you’re not going to be the same person in Act 1 as you are in Act 3. Neither is your partner. Your relationship is going to have to grow along with the game’s story.” 

At 4:46:10, they have a video where they discuss this and show scenes from the romances. 

How you treat your companions will be reflected in how they treat you. Whether they want to be in a relationship with you, whether they leave your party, or even try to kill you -- all depends on your choices. 

“Sometimes it’s actually better to have an argument, and challenge your partner about their way of thinking.”

Some characters will happily share romantic partners with polyamory; some of them won’t.

Characters may have very different romantic endings based on what happens during the game and how you treat them or what you did with them. There’s not just one scene that’s the same for all playthroughs.

You can still romance people on “evil” playthroughs, so long as you play your cards right.

Mature content warning! There is a romance scene between Astarion and Halsin that the audience helped select at 5:32:49. Wowza. Worth getting banned from TikTok? 

COMBAT

Multiplayer is up to four people, with split screen. 

There are 3 difficulty modes: explorer (or easy), default, and tactician (hard). Tactician mode gives enemies base buffs, but also hand-crafted difficulty increases to encounters. 

The “brutal AI” from tactician mode is supposed to feel like a DM that is pushing you to your limits, which manifests in ways like attacking your squishier characters, or trying to break casters’ concentration.

At 5:44:28, there’s a video showcase on the Monk class. Two minutes later, at 5:46:13, there’s some combat gameplay showing off monks and the different difficulty modes.

STORY AND CINEMATICS

At 6:00:40, there’s a video showcasing cinematics, with various clips from the game featured (lots of enemies/creatures shown). 

They estimate that running through the main story will take about 80 hours, but it can go multiple times that length if you actually take your time and explore. 

174 hours of cinematics doesn’t mean you’ll see all of them; it’s more that there’s so many permutations and reflections of the choices that you made, that you might not even see them all even if you play this game over and over again.

MISC

When you go to camp, you are now able to wear “camp clothes” rather than your armor, which can be toggled on and off. You can find various clothes in the world, and apply dyes to them. You can wear them outside of camp if you want to as well. 

Cloaks are added.

The devs prefer not to think of this being a story told to you, but rather a story they are telling with you. Though there are many themes, trust is a big one: who you can trust, why you can trust them, and why the world should trust you as well.

There’s an unboxing of the Collector’s Edition at 6:14:26.

There is a very heavy spoiler chunk of gameplay from Act 2, starting at 6:20:42, which closes out the stream!

[ale-wosofan]

tired

Ona x R

R is exhausted after a long day at work.

warnings: none

a/n: this took way longer than it should have, but I'm studying for my exams and I've read this so many times that English doesn't feel like a real language anymore. Anyways, enjoy!

-----

If there is something you hate is having to wake up early. Thankfully your work doesn’t require it unless something important comes up. You love waking up slowly, taking your time to admire your girlfriend’s sleeping form and the way she always looks so calm. You usually wake her up by leaving kisses all over her face and, once you’re sure she won’t fall asleep again, you cook a nice breakfast for the two of you while she gets ready for training.

Sadly for you today you haven’t been able to do any of those things. You slipped out of bed as soon as your alarm woke you up, so you wouldn’t disturb Ona. The hours passed slowly as all you have been able to think about is getting back to your bed and your girlfriend.

Having been awake since six in the morning, when you finally get home you’re more than a little exhausted.

Ona is by your side before you can even close the door.

“Hola, mi vida,” she greets you placing a soft kiss on your lips and opening her arms for you “How was your day?”

You can only grunt in response melting into her arms, not really in the mood to talk. Your girlfriend lets out a chuckle and just hugs you tighter.

“You smell nice,” you murmur burrowing your head on her neck to take a deep breath “I missed you.”

Ona laughs again and you can't help but smile at hearing your favourite sound “You saw me this morning.”

“Exactly. Way too long ago.”

Just when your eyes start to close she takes a step back from your embrace.

“What do you want to have for dinner today? Sushi?” your face lights up at the mention of your favourite food “Sushi it is.”

“Thank you, love. I’m gonna go take a shower.”

You take longer than usual in the bathroom since all the exhaustion from the day is starting to catch up to you, but you somehow manage to shower without falling asleep standing up. Once you’ve gotten into more comfortable clothes you walk over to the couch where your girlfriend is sitting playing with her phone.

You drop yourself on her lap and lay your face in her chest.

“Dinner should be here in ten minutes or so,” Ona says setting her phone down and beginning to run her hands up and down your back.

You hum happily and focus on the hard thump of her heart in your ear. With the feeling of her steady breaths underneath you, you feel yourself starting to drift off. You’re about to fall asleep when the sound of the doorbell rudely interrupts you, forcing your girlfriend to get up and you to try to wake up before eating.

-----

Your mood unsurprisingly improves once you’ve gotten some proper food and drink in your stomach. Normally after dinner the two of you sit down to watch TV for a little while, but today you’re too tired to even concentrate.

You are ten minutes into the film when Ona speaks.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just tired,” you mumble trying to stay awake.

You frown when your girlfriend turns the TV off and gets up offering you a hand. “Let’s go to sleep then.”

Smiling at her, you take her hand and let her lead you to the bedroom. Once you’re both settled in bed she wraps her arms around your waist, bringing you closer to her.

“Te amo,” Ona whispers in your hair.

You lift your head from where you have buried it in her neck and blink a few times, trying to shake off the sleep a little bit so you can properly answer her.

“I love you too. G’night.”

Before resuming your previous position though, you take your girlfriend’s face in your hands and kiss her sweetly. It’s a pretty short kiss, you can barely see Ona’s face in the darkness and you’re already half asleep, but you are in bed after a really long day in the arms of the woman you love; you couldn’t have asked for anything better.

“Buenas noches, cariño.”

[midnight-rain-fics]

Hoax

{Part 2}

{Fandom: Grishaverse}

{Pairing: Kaz Brekker x fem!reader}

Summary: Kaz Brekker didn’t need a reason. But this time he had one. He had a reason to want to push Helvar off a cliff because he kept making Y/N smile and blush. Kaz just didn’t want to admit the reason was jealousy.

“Your faithless love's the only hoax

I believe in

Don't want no other shade of blue

But you”

There was something churning in his stomach, something Kaz was becoming quite familiar with lately. It had first started when he had seen Matthias talking with Y/N.

There was a smile on her face, cheeks flushed as she animatedly talked to him about something.

Kaz did not know what they had been talking about because as soon as he saw them, his stomach dropped and his heart twisted painfully in his chest.

The feeling had only gotten worse since then. And so had Matthias' advances. Kaz didn't know what was going on with the fjerdan but he seemed intent on following Y/N around lately.

It was driving Kaz up the wall, but not because he was jealous. Kaz was absolutely not jealous of the blonde-haired beef slab of the man who Y/N granted her smiles and laughs to as if they were free currency.

He was not jealous that Matthias could touch Y/N's bare hand so casually, so easily. Kaz Brekker had no reason or right to be jealous.

He was just...concerned. Yes, he was concerned that Matthias would distract Y/N from her job and he could not have one of his best crows losing focus.

That was all.

Kaz's head snapped towards the kitchen where Y/N's bell-like laughter sounded, his feet carried him towards the sound before he could decide against it.

His lips thinned into a scowl as he noticed just who was making Y/N laugh. Kaz, for the life of him, could not figure out what the dour fjerdan have possibly said that had Y/N bestowing him with such a wide smile.

Something on the left side of his chest hurt at seeing that smile directed at Matthias. And the churning in his stomach was back. Great.

He should have just left Matthias in Hellgate.

"Kaz" Y/N noticed him, and finally, finally, Helvar stepped away from her as she motioned to a bowl of what looked like cookie dough mixed with too many chocolate chips, "we are making cookies"

"Don't burn down the kitchen" Kaz gritted out, earning an eye roll from her but the small smile playing on her lips told him she was far from annoyed. His traitor heart did that unusual thing it did whenever she smiled at him.

"As if, Y/N's the best baker in the barrel" Nina comments as she enters the kitchen, scooping some of the cookie batter with a finger and licking it off.

"Nina!" Y/N chastises the heartrender, even as a blush spreads on the apples of her cheek. There's an unbearable itch in his fingers to just lean forward and put his gloved fingers on those red cheeks, just to see if the colour could spread further.

The thought leaves him as soon as it came, beaten away to that dark corner of his mind he doesn't bother looking at anymore.

Kaz ignores the nausea that follows the thought.

Nina winks at Y/N, leaning across the kitchen counter and planting her lips on those lovely cheeks as she sneaks in another scoop of the batter.

"No more, Nina or you won't get any cookies" Matthias scolds her, taking away the bowl as Y/N swats at Nina's arm, who only offers her a wry grin.

A horrible feeling seeped into his bones as he watched Y/N with Matthias and Nina. He was an outsider to this world, their world where Y/N did not spend her sleepless nights in her boss' office, sitting in an uncomfortable chair but instead in the embrace of two familiar faces.

Wordlessly, he slipped out of the kitchen, the weight of the cane clutched painfully in his hand grounding him to the present as he trudged up the stairs.

"Kaz" Y/N's voice called out from the bottom of the stairs. Kaz released a sharp exhale and turned to face her.

It was never easy. Looking at her, feeling so much and not being able to say anything. She looked at him with concern shining in her eyes, the deep set of her brows furrowed, "you could stay until the cookies are done, it won't take long"

"I have work to do" the thinning of her lips in resignation was a sharper blade than any knife she could have stabbed him with.

"Right" Y/N nodded once, looking down at the ground, Kaz could almost feel her wringing her hands behind her back, a nervous habit she had picked up lately. Before that, she used to fiddle with the sleeves of her coat.

His coat.

The coat she had borrowed from him on a heist because hers had been torn and he had just never asked for it back. He didn't want to.

She still wore it whenever she went out. It suited her. His coat suited her.

Kaz swallowed the lump in his throat.

Y/N opened her mouth, as if to speak and then closed it, deciding against saying whatever was on the tip of her tongue. She looked up at him and turned around, walking away from him.

Kaz ignored the empty space in his chest that she left in her wake.

The scratching of pen on paper was the only sound heard as Y/N knocked on Kaz's door, a plate of cookies in her hand.

"Go away, Jesper"

"It's not Jesper"

A silence followed before Y/N heard him whisper, "come in"

Kaz was sitting at his desk, eyes focused on the paperwork, dark hair styled back with a few pieces falling messily in his face.

Y/N's heart hurt at the sight, a rush of affection overcame her and her lips pursed at the sight.

Damn Brekker, damn him and his devastatingly handsome face. And his thrice-damned heart that was guarded more securely than the Ice Court.

"I brought cookies"

"I don't like cookies"

Y/N raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him as she placed the plate of cookies on his desk, a safe distance away from his paperwork that was sprawled everywhere, "I didn't take you for being a bad liar, Kaz"

"Your baking is aptly edible but I don't trust whatever Helvar put in these" Kaz rasped, finally looking up to meet her eyes.

Y/N rolled her eyes, a fond smile on her face, "He didn't bake them, I did. He was just keeping me company"

"He has been been doing that a lot lately, keeping you company” Kaz scowled, unable to help himself, his grip tightened on the pen in his grasp.

"Is there a problem?" Y/N’s lips pursed in agitation, she had a feeling Kaz wanted to say something but he wouldn’t. He never did.

"No, there is no reason yours and Helvar's companionship would be a problem” Even saying the words left a bitter taste in his mouth.

But it was the truth.

There was no reason for Kaz Brekker to be jealous of Matthias or Nina or anyone who made her smile and blush. And yet he was.

He was jealous.

The realization made him clench his jaw and look down at the papers on his desk, even as his gaze was unfocused, “close the door on your way out”

It was a clear dismissal. And sharp. Too sharp.

Y/N nodded, biting her cheek to stop herself from saying something that she would regret later. That they would both regret later.

She had a poisonous tongue, a stark contrast from her sunny disposition and she never wanted to say something to purposefully hurt anyone of the crows.

They were her family, even if one of them was being particularly petty today.

She really needed to do something about her stupid crush on him.

“Enjoy your cookies” Y/N gritted out as she turned to walk away, “or choke on them” she added, bitterly.

Sometimes, she really couldn’t help herself.

She had clearly not meant for him to hear the last part but he did. He watched her walk away, forehead creased in frustration at his own shortcomings.

[annewithaneofthegreengable]

Homecoming Daydream

Summary: "So gorgeous. The prettiest angel for me. I can’t believe this is happening. Is this happening? I think I’m gonna cry. Am I crying? I can’t believe she’s marrying me. I’m the luckiest son of a bitch who’s ever lived."

Pairing: Toto Wolff x reader.

Genre: Romance, fluff and smut.

Author's note: This is a multiple-chapter Toto x Reader fanfic. Noted that English is not my mother tongue so there will be mistakes.

Part 2: Homecoming Daydream

A small playlist to listen to while reading this. Hope you guys will enjoy this just as much as myself!

Toto blinked slowly as the sunlight hit his face. It didn’t burn down like before. During the early afternoon, the light had taken on a softer glow, bathing everything in delicate golden hues. It was almost time, but Toto was getting a little impatient. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. Then he felt a hand patting him on the back.

“It’s gonna be alright, Wolff.”

“I know Lewis. Yet, I still doubt it. When life is too good there will always be something unexpected in the foreseeable future.” 

Toto sighed. 

“You’re worried too much! Not with the whole being selfish story again.”

“You don’t know it, Lew. She is still in her fruitful youth, she has a whole future ahead. What she really needs is to be with someone her age, someone to grow old with her, to be with her in this lifetime, to hold her hand as her best friend and soulmate, not someone who is just 1 year younger than her dad. I don’t even understand why did she choose to be with me in the first place not to mention accept my proposal. I’m scared Lew! What if she’s going to change her mind?”

“Don’t be scared. You don’t see the way she looks at you, do you? That woman is head over heels for you, as you for her. I don’t see why you shouldn’t be a little selfish now.“

Toto looked at his best man with a frown. 

„You really think so?“

„I do.“

They were quiet for a long minute before Lewis cleared his throat and nodded at the clock on the wall. 

„Better get ready, Toto. It’s almost time.“

„Yeah.“

Toto took a deep breath and ran his fingers over the material in front of him. The new suit. It had been a while. With a determined nod, he pulled it out of the bag and put it on. The dark fabric felt heavy and form-fitting, but not in a bad way. He tugged the suit into place and turned to face his friend.

„How do I look?” Lewis rolled his eyes but smiled.

“Like an old man.”

“Thanks. Should have chosen George or Nico to be my best man today.” He joked.

“Shut up, Wolff. You did not say that.” Lewis rolled his eyes. 

Toto nodded and took one last look in the mirror. He barely recognised the man in reflection. He’d gotten much older, of course, but still quite young fit for a man his age. Taking a deep breath, he smoothed out the suit and turned back around. 

“You sure you got the rings? Not Roscoe has it, right?”

Y/n chuckled quietly as everyone around her broke out in nervous chatter at the announcement of the time, shuffling around the room in a sudden frenzy. Her auntie was the worst, trading in her champagne glass for flowers, running to the other side of the room, before putting down the flowers again and downing her champagne in one go. 

​​„Are you okay, Aunt Lana?“ Y/n asked from her chair by the window. She had wisely chosen that spot to stay out of everyone’s way.

„Am I okay? I’m a nervous wreck. Are you okay, honey bee? You’re the one getting married today.“

„I know.“

„Then why are you so… so calm?“ 

Y/n shrugged and smiled to herself.

„I don’t know. I just… there’s nothing to be nervous about. I love him. I know that I want to be with him for the rest of my life.“

Her aunt sighed and gave her a warm smile. Then she abandoned her drink to embrace her niece in soft arms and a cloud of familiar bergamot perfume. 

„Oh, honey bee. I’m so happy for you.“

Y/n returned the hug with a chuckle. 

„Thanks, Aunt Lana. I’m happy too.“

When they pulled back, her aunt had tears in her eyes, which she dapped at with a tissue, careful not to smudge her make-up. Then she sighed again and laughed. 

„I still can’t believe you’re marrying an Austrian. And this Austrian, no less. I guess we let you watch too many Hollywood movies when you were younger.“

Y/n grinned and pinched her aunt playfully on the arm.

„Probably.“

„Before I forget, I brought this for you, honey bee. It was your grandmother’s and I wanted to give it to you for the ceremony. You know, something old, something borrowed and…“

„…something blue“, Y/n murmured softly, incredibly touched by the sweet gesture. „I didn’t know people actually did that.“

Aunt Lana shrugged and grinned, as she clasped the bracelet around Y/n’s wrist.

„Can’t hurt, can it? Plus it’ll look great with your dress.“

They hugged again.

“I love you, Aunt Lana. You have always been there for me, even when no one really wanted me in the first place, not even my mom. Thank you, for being my mom, and my best friend for all those years.”

„I know, I love you too and I wouldn’t be anywhere else. Except for now, because we’re going to go downstairs and make sure your husband-to-be doesn’t tear down the building, waiting for you.“

With that the bridal team got to work, helping Y/n into her wedding gown. A simple, but elegant square-neck silk dress that fit her like a glove. The girls from the make-up team had helped her with the hair and make-up before, but she had kept it light on purpose. It was still late summer in the south of France and she didn’t want to sweat through layers of foundation on her skin. 

„You look incredible. Your husband is going to drop dead, Y/n.“ her best friend said. 

“I certainly hope not. Still need him to stay alive for a while longer.”

“Either way. It’s time to finally make an honest woman out of you.”

Toto took a deep breath for what felt like the hundredth time today as he looked around, filling his lungs with the warm summer air that reminded him so much of the very first time he’d been here. The backyard of the chateau looked beautiful and decorated with lots of greeneries, roses and hydrangeas, her favourite flowers, of course. 

And after today, he would finally be her husband. With barely contained excitement, he hoped wasn’t entirely obvious to everyone around him, he took his place at the front of the altar. Fred grinned at him as he approached. They’d asked him to officiate the wedding and Fred had jumped at the opportunity, without hesitation. 

„Well well well, if it isn’t the blushing groom to be. How are you holding up, old man?“

“Clearly, I’m not the only old man here today.” Toto rolled his eyes but grinned.

“Never been better.” He added. 

„No cold feet?“

„None.“

„Good. Although maybe you could use a little cooling off since you barely made it through one night without your woman.“

Lewis snorted as he took his place as best man next to Toto, who turned pink all the way up to his ears.

„I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, really? So who did we have to hunt down last night for a little rendezvous with Y/n? FYI, Sebastian was going to report a missing case last night when we went to check on you.” 

Luckily Fred spoke low enough now that the guests were gathering. 

Toto cleared his throat and took another breath. Everything is gonna be alright. From one side of the garden, the full notes of the soft melody of “Lover” filled the air. (Who can possibly say no to “Lover” by TS in a wedding)

At that moment, he caught sight of the love of his life. Walking down the aisle, dressed all in white. Just for him. 

Christ. Toto let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He sent God all the best whispers despite not fully being a Christian himself. 

He’d impatiently waited for this day for months on end, even pictured this very moment countless times. Still, the image hit him with the force of a semi-truck to the chest. Toto was surprised he didn’t collapse where he stood. He must’ve at least swayed a bit, because he could feel Lewis’ hand on his shoulder steadying him. But despite his body’s wavering, he couldn’t tear his eyes off Y/n. Not even when he heard a low whistle of appreciation behind him. His brain had gone into shock, only able to form one single thought at a time. 

So gorgeous.

The prettiest angel for me. 

I can’t believe this is happening. Is this happening?

I think I’m gonna cry. Am I crying?

I can’t believe she’s marrying me. 

I’m the luckiest son of a bitch who’s ever lived.

The words, though swirling within his mind, failed to reflect the intensity of his emotions. The love he felt wasn't just confined to his heart; it permeated every fibre of his being, almost as if it were ingrained in his very essence. It lay dormant, awaiting the moment when he would finally encounter her, at which point it would awaken and alter the course of his life forever.

This affection transcended mere sentiment; it was a powerful force, an undeniable truth coursing through his veins with each heartbeat. He sensed it in the tightening of his chest upon her entry, almost so much that he felt like his chest was going to explode. This was the moment that he swore he would treasure it for this lifetime. Hell, he will even have it imprinted in his mind for the next life, even. 

And just like that, she suddenly stood in front of him, glowing and happy, looking so radiant, it was almost like staring directly into the sun – if that were a pleasant activity. Toto blinked, against his will, and once again noticed the moisture that escaped his eyes. He wiped at his face absent-mindedly, causing a chuckle to bubble up from Y/n’s chest, shaking her body with laughter as she dabbed at the corner of her eyes.

„Hey“, he whispered hoarsely, reaching out for her.

„Hi“, she whispered back, placing her warm hand in his. 

Finally.

[alucarddear]

what if alucard’s wife dreams that he cheated? like she wakes up in the middle of the night almost crying and then occurs to her “oh, I was dreaming” but she’s still a little bit mad and get away from his embrace which wakes him up and he’s like “babe what’s wrong?” “you cheated” and he’s like “what? I didn’t!”. a little bit fluffy in the end with him assuring her that this will never happen because he loves her too much 🥹

+more requests that are along the same vein. Here’s to some of you seeking a comfort drabble with our beloved meow meow. 🤍🦇

Immutable Truth

Alucard’s wife dreams that he cheated on her. [She/her]

It is immutable truth. Just as the sun is bright and the nights are dark, I love you.

Alucard wakes to the sound of his wife sniffling next to him.

He wipes the sleep from his eyes and immediately attempts to take her in his arms, but she wouldn't budge. “What’s wrong? Another nightmare?”

He expects some half-slurred sad story—the usual culprit that breaks her sleep—but meets instead a fierce glare.

Her eyes are burning. "I dreamt that you cheated on me!"

His wife's remark almost had him laughing, if not for the distress on her face.

“What? Love, I never would,” he states calmly. “Hush now. It’s a bad dream and nothing more, I assure you.”

"Adrian, I-I..."

And there it is, the sight he dreads the most. Quivering lips, reddened eyes, tears that wouldn't seem to stop. Her sobbing pierces straight through his heart and fills him with the overwhelming need for anything to have it stop, anything to make her feel better.

"Hush now, darling. It was nothing but a bad dream. Come here," he says, arms open to receive her. She glares at him yet again.

“Should I be offended, my love? I would never look another way; surely you know this to be true.” But his words don’t get him anywhere. She wouldn't accept his embrace.

Sigh. "Alright, I won't touch you. But would you tell me, please, darling? So that I may soothe your worries." I hate to see you cry.

"I dreamt that y-you chose someone else over m-me; t-that you l-left me—hic—just like that..."

Oh.

He listens patiently, giving his wife time to let it all out and calm herself.

“You are constantly at the receiving end of confessions after confessions. Letters, presents, barely veiled affection right in front of my eyes, even though we're married!"

It is true, Alucard has to admit. Ever since the establishment of Belmont Village, he had been somewhat popular. There are some that have been, for lack of a better word, persistent despite his martial status.

He nearly cringed. He had an inkling that those incidents bothered her but chose to downplay them in lieu of causing a rift. The idea of ever leaving her had always been ludicrous at best, but he realises now that he should have been doing a much better job of reassuring her. He should have been firmer in rejecting others' advances.

Alucard takes her hands in his, and this time she lets him. “I understand," he says. "I have gotten used to the attention as of late that I…" He shakes his head. "No, there is no excuse. I apologise. I would do better.”

He caresses her cheeks, tenderly wiping away new tears that are threatening to form before they could have the chance to break his heart in pieces.

“I want you to know that their words hold very little weight to me,” he whispers lovingly, staring straight into her eyes as if imploring her to see through him, to view the vastness of his love.

Then, he presses soft kisses just below her eye. “Hush now, sweetheart, please, my lovely wife… It pains me to see you this way.”

If she only knew just how little it takes for her to break his heart in two. Even before she gave herself to him, he’d wanted nobody else. Hearing her crying over something he considers utterly impossible… he should have been doing a much better job of proving himself to her. If anything, he’s disappointed in himself.

It’s only you whose love and affection cause a stomping in my heart, a magnitude of which I have never felt before, he wants to express but couldn’t find the right words to. It's only you whose very voice is enough to lift my spirit. How could I ever hope to replace this feeling? To love another? To abandon you would be akin to losing everything. Everything.

"I have everything I could ever want. I have you."

It is immutable truth. Just as the sun is bright and the nights are dark, I love you. I love you and I am yours.

“There’s only you, darling. I love only you.“

Alucard goes on to reason with her. “Have I ever given you cause to worry? When was the last time?”

When was the last time? He looks at her as if to challenge her. The very notion of him looking another way was almost laughable if his beloved wife wasn’t in agony over it.

“Don’t you make light of my commitment to you,” he tells his wife solemnly. How long has he to live? A thousand years, if not more, yet all of it he wishes to spend with her. It’s almost frightening, truly, the depth of his affection and adoration for this woman. His want—his need—for her runs so deeply it’s enough for him to believe it can transcend lifetimes.

The thought of being somewhere, anywhere, without her is frightening in and of itself. How was he to even ponder it?

“There is not a life in which I would ever abandon you,” he says plain and simple. The surest thing in the world.

“There is only you, my darling wife,” he says pointedly. “In any life, in any place, I would choose you.” In a heartbeat. Always. It’s only fitting, he thinks. For there was nothing before she came into his life.

“I’m sorry…” his wife mumbles, avoiding his eyes, looking adorably like a petulant child ashamed of her blunder. It makes him smile. Silly girl.

“It’s alright, please; you had a valid concern. And I don’t wish for you to misunderstand. I am not angry.” He opens his arms to receive her, to shield her. “Come here to me.”

This time, she tilts her face toward his like a sunflower to the sun, a pleased smile now etching itself onto her mouth. Alucard places a kiss upon it and captures her in his arms. Yours. All yours.

[vigilante-3073]

Hold Me

Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

PART 2

Reader has the power to teleport

Summary: Bucky confesses his feelings while stranded on a beach.

TW: Mild angst, fluff, comfort, confessions of love, self-deprecating thoughts, bad joke.

A/N: For those who wanted a part 2, hope you enjoy.

@vicmc624 @loki-laufeyson68 @eat-limes-bitches @classyunknownlover

Y/N woke up, blinking up at the dark sky above. She watched the palm fronds rustling in the breeze, listening to the soft sound of the waves gliding against the sand.

She should be dead.

Y/N shifted with a grimace, her muscles ached and her throat was raw.

She shifted herself up onto her elbows with a whimper, fingers finding the bottom of her shirt and dragging the stained material upwards to expose her stomach.

The gunshot had healed crudely into a patch of red, twisted, painful-looking scar tissue. Y/N let the material fall back into place, digging her elbows into the sand underneath her as she pushed herself up into a seated position with a wince.

She looked around, eyes finally meeting with the icy blue ones that had been silently observing her from a few feet away.

"What happened?" She asked softly.

"I didn't have a choice. I couldn't let you die," Bucky stated, looking down at his hands.

"What did you do, Bucky?" Y/N questioned.

Bucky tucked a hand into his pocket before pulling out the empty syringe of serum, "I'm sorry," He said, holding it out to her.

She took the vial from his hand, examining it carefully before looking up at him again, "Where did this even come from?" Y/N asked.

"I saw it in the sand, must have gotten swept up when you teleported us," Bucky said.

"You saved my life," She stated.

"I'm also the reason you got shot in the first place," Bucky muttered, gaze focused on the sand between them.

He looked up as Y/N shifted, using the trunk of the palm tree to steady herself as she stood.

"You really shouldn't be moving around right now," Bucky stated, standing up and moving towards her, "Sit back down before you hurt yourself," He advised.

Bucky stiffened as she wrapped her arms around him, pressing her body against his chest, "Thank you," She said.

Bucky gulped, tears gathering in his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.

He had almost lost her today.

Bucky had held her in arms as her blood soaked into his clothing, listening helplessly as her heartbeat slowed.

There was a point when he thought the serum wouldn't take hold, but Bucky was endlessly thankful that it had.

He couldn't imagine his life without her, regardless of how much of an annoyance she could be sometimes.

She was alive. She was safe. And he loved her.

"Thank you, Bucky," She repeated.

....

The pair had decided that Y/N would try to teleport them back to Latvia in the morning.

She needed to rest and heal before attempting to use her powers again, especially after being given the serum.

Bucky had built them a fire on the beach to keep warm through the night. He watched Y/N through the flames, she sat quietly with her knees pulled to her chest.

"How do you feel?" Bucky asked.

She shrugged, "Not really any different. My body is a little sore though, my throat too," Y/N said.

"You were screaming," Bucky said, stabbing a stick into the sand in front of himself.

"I was?" Y/N questioned.

"Yeah, and thrashing around. I held you down so you wouldn't hurt yourself," He said, avoiding her gaze.

Bucky felt guilty, he had given her the serum without her consent and forced her to go through the worst pain that he had ever endured.

Bucky knew how awful it could be to have your ability to choose taken away. Despite her reassurance, his guilt still sat heavily in his stomach like a rock.

"I don't remember anything," Y/N said.

"That's a good thing, trust me," Bucky assured, breaking the stick in half and tossing it into the fire.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked softly, Bucky nodded.

"I know that you don't like me very much. So, why did you save me? Why did you stay?" Y/N asked.

Bucky scoffed, shaking his head, "What? Am I missing something?" She questioned.

"Yeah, you are," Bucky stated.

"Care to enlighten me, then?" Y/N asked.

"I saved your life because I'm in love with you," Bucky said quickly, eyes finding her's across the flickering flame.

"But I thought-" "Yeah, well, you thought wrong," Bucky snapped, eyes dropping to the embers in the bottom of the makeshift firepit.

A tense silence settled over them, punctuated by the soft crackle of firewood. Bucky kept his eyes fixated on the ground, he couldn't bring himself to look at her.

Her rejection would destroy him, but he deserved it.

"You love me?" Y/N asked softly.

Bucky huffed, bright blue eyes reluctantly meeting with her's, "Yeah," He admitted.

Bucky watched her as she stood, making her way around the fire and sitting down directly beside him.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

Y/N grabbed his wrist, lifting his arm over her head and allowing it to settle around her waist as she leaned into his side.

"I'm in love with you too. Despite your bad attitude and hatred for my obviously hilarious jokes" She said.

A weight felt like it had been lifted off his shoulders.

She loved him back. She was alive and she loved him.

Bucky smiled slightly, "Your jokes are awful," He said.

"No, they're not," Y/N stated.

"They are," He argued.

"No, listen to this one, I've been saving it just for you... What do you call an alligator detective?" She asked.

Bucky shook his head with a smile, "I have no idea," He said.

"An investi-gator. Get it? Because the-"

Bucky cupped her cheek, pressing his lips to her's in a gentle kiss. Her eyes fluttered shut, lips moving tentatively against his.

Bucky pulled away slightly, resting his forehead against her's.

"Tell me another one," He said softly.

[joedirtymadre]

Sandwiches - Part 2

LAW X READER! SMUT!! (Please send requests! PLEASE! 🙏)

Well you decided to play with fire and now you’re the one getting burned. At first it was fun and even a little cute to see Law get riled up whenever you flirt with him. However, you were always able to escape before he could catch you and make you reap the consequences. But something makes you feel like your lucky streak is about to come to an end.

You walked down the main streets of Wano, and found Sanji or Sangorou. “Hi (Y/N)-swan~” he cooed as he poured another bowl of soba. “Hi Sangorou,” you waved as you approached his cart. “Care for some soba?” He asked. “Not right now, I’m trying to find O-Robi. She said she would meet me here, but don't see her anywhere,” you sighed. “She’s probably a bit late, being a geisha is hard work,” Sanji explained. “You’re right, anyways I have to rush back to Luffytaro and everyone else. Tell O-Robi that I’ll stop by tomorrow!” You yelled as you ran down the street.

You decided to go down an alley for a shortcut, until you were suddenly stopped by a group of misfits. “Hi princess,” one of them said. “Just come with us and everything will be nice and easy,” another said. “She’d make a beautiful geisha,” one added. I rolled my eyes. “She’s with me, and if you wanna live I’d leave her alone,” a dark voice said behind me. Oh no… your eyes widened and slowly turned around. Oh god, he finally found me!

“Huh?! Get out of here punk! We just want her!” the leader of the group said before charging towards Law and I. I quickly hopped out of the way, to let Law deal with them. You watched as Law quickly sliced them into parts. Alright, this is my cue to… you were stopped by a firm hand on your shoulder. “Where do you think you’re going? Not even going to thank your savior?” Law smirked. “My savior? I could’ve knocked those guys out too,” you scoffed. “Sure you could,” he chuckled.

You quickly turned around to give him a piece of your mind, but was suddenly thrown against the wall of one of the buildings. “H-Hu-“ you were cut off as you felt a pair of rough lips overcome yours. You immediately felt your legs giving out, but before they could you felt an arm wrap around your body keeping you up.

Law finally pulled away, allowing you a chance to catch your breath. “What’s wrong (Y/N)-ya? Seems like you’re about to faint, let’s go somewhere more quiet,” he smirked as he teleported us to a secluded part of the forest.

You pushed out of his grip, causing you to fall back. You sat as you watched the raven haired captain loom over you, with a mischievous smile. “H-Hi Law…” you stuttered as you scooted back. “Hello, (Y/N)-ya,” he smirked as he followed me. “Leaving so soon?” He added. “W-Well, Luffy and the others are waiting for me so… I should probably get going,” you explained as you quickly stood up. As you tried to escape you felt a hand grasp your arm, pulling you back and being engulfed into a strong embrace. “Don’t worry, I told them I would meet with you because I had a small special mission for you,” he said. “Y-You do?” You asked nervously. “Mhmm… just call it payback for all those little teasings you like doing,” he whispered into your ear, causing your whole body to fill with goosebumps.

You found yourself in an abandoned shed that Law had discovered. You also found yourself naked, blindfolded and your arms tied by your ankles. Causing you to lay on your back with your privates exposed. You gasped as you felt a hand glide over your exposed skin. “L-Law!” you cried out. “What’s wrong (Y/N)-ya?” His breath hitting your skin. “No m-more teasing p-please,” you begged as you’ve gotten tired of him running his fingers or hand across your skin.

“Alright, since you asked so nicely,” he chuckled as you gasped at the sudden insertion of his fingers. “Ahhh!” You let out. Your body burned as he slowly thrusted his fingers into your pussy. “Such a wet pussy, my fingers slipped in so easily,” he said as he increased the pace. “F-Faster! Faster!” You cried. “Such a demanding tone, I don’t know if I like that,” he said as he slowed down his pace. “No! No I’m sorry, pl- please go faster?” You begged as you bucked your hips. “That’s better,” he said before increasing the speed again. “Mmm~ Law~!” You moaned. “You’re so cute (Y/N)-ya,” Law smirked. You gasped as you felt something wet swirl around your right nipple. “L-!” You threw your head back as you felt bites on your breasts.

Your head was becoming fuzzy and dizzier, making it difficult to keep up with Law’s words. “Man, your body is so fucking sexy… I’d love to show you how sexy you are every single day,” he said against my skin. “H-Hah! Mmmf!” You responded. “Can’t speak huh?” He chuckled. “Well then let’s get to the final act,” he said. You whimpered at the loss of his fingers. “La-W!” You cried out as I felt something larger replace his fingers. “Haa! Ah! Law~” you moaned as his cock stretched my walls, while hitting deep inside me.

“Fuck…” he groaned.

“Law… p-please untie me…” you begged. “Well… since you’ve been a good girl,” he groaned, and slowly untied your restraints. You quickly removed the blindfold, allowing you to see the man in front of you. “Wanted to sit in the front seat, huh?” He smirked. You blushed, and threw your arms around his neck. “Don’t stop,” you said. “Still so demanding, but I’ll allow it… this time,” he said as he continued thrusting hard and deep inside you. You trembled under him, feeling your body get warmer and warmer with each thrust. “HaaA!” You cried out as you felt him bite your shoulder. Your hands traveled to his hair and grasped it. “Fuck, fuck…” he whispered into your ear.

“L-Law~ kiss me~” you moaned. Law quickly moved his lips to yours, and with one rough thrust you gasped into the kiss. Allowing him to slip his tongue inside. You both fought each other, but Law was ultimately the winner as you were too weak from all the pleasure. His tongue explored your cavern as he continued to thrust his cock.

He slowly pulled away, “I almost forgot something,” he smirked. “Hmm?” You hummed. Then an electric shock coarsed through your body and you felt his finger glide over your clit. “L-Law?” You questioned. “I can’t be the only one who finishes,” he smirked as he rubbed your clit.

You threw your head back, “Too much! Ah!” You cried out. “God, your moans are so sexy,” he said before increasing his pace. “Law! S-Slow down! Law!” You choked out. “I’m-!” But it was too late, you felt a sudden electric shock run through your body. You felt your nails dig into Law’s back as you rode along the waves of ecstasy.

“Cumming without my permission, huh?” Law asked as he began thrusting faster. “Wait! I’m- I’m sensitive!” You let out. “Mmm, good,” he whispered in your ear. You continued to dig your nails into your back, you couldn’t control your moans as he pounded away. “Fuck…” he groaned, and did one final thrust. You felt your walls get coated as he let out a trembled sigh. “Fuck… I wanted to go a bit longer,” he said as he kissed your forehead.

“From now on you’re mine now, and don’t you forget it,” he said to you. Not realizing that you passed out from the overexertion and pleasure.

Law’s POV

“I guess I went too hard,” I said, as I cleaned her up. I picked her up, and teleported us to the submarine. “Captain!” Bepo called out as we landed. “Captain is that (Y/N) from the Straw Hats? Is she injured?” He asked as he inspected her. “No, just asleep, if you’ll excuse us we’ll be in my room,” I said as I passed him. “Your room? But we have extra bunks,” he said as he followed us. “No, I won’t have my wife sleep on a small bunk bed,” I smirked as I continued to carry her to my room. “W-Wife? When’d you get married?! When did you have the time? Aren’t we at war?!” Bepo asked, in shock. I rolled my eyes and shut the door to my door and softly placed her on my bed.

[thenerdykneazle]

Marry You

Summary: Garreth proclaims to anyone and everyone, including you, that he is going to marry you one day – despite the fact that you haven’t even agreed to court him (not that he's asked). Set during 5th year. It was supposed to be a bunch of short drabbles. One of them got out of hand (oops).

Garreth Weasley x Gryffindor F!MC

A/N: I added Garreth to DADA b/c in the game he only has like 2 classes with MC. It’s a crime that they didn’t give him the same schedule as Leander, honestly. You know those idiots would be besties and take all the same classes.

Warnings: none, pure fluff for a change, pining, *slight* Seb bashing if you squint but really he's just his moody self

Word Count: 6330

To Imelda

Garreth was elated when you handed him the fwooper feather. “Brilliant! This is going to take a moment to brew. You should get back to brewing your Edurus Potion, and I’ll tell you when this concoction’s finished.”

“Don’t keep me waiting too long,” you replied before leaving to work on your own potion. Garreth watched you walk away with stars in his eyes.

Imelda came up beside him. “Causing trouble again, Weasley?” she asked.

Garreth jumped at the girl suddenly so close to him. “Just getting started. I think I’ve got a partner in crime now,” he said.

“Oh?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Dragging that new fifth-year into your schemes, are you?”

He gave her a cheeky smile. “I may be dragging her into my schemes, but I’d let her drag me anywhere,” he said.

Imelda scrunched up her face in disgust at the mushy proclamation. “Ugh! Down boy,” she said. “You’ve only just met the poor girl.”

He sighed dreamily as he watched you work across the room. You seemed to have a knack for potions like he did. “Maybe, but I’m gonna marry her one day,” he said, imaging a future running a shop in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley with you.

Imelda rolled her eyes at the dramatic boy. “Whatever you say, Gryffindor,” she said before walking off.

When his potion sparked out wild fireworks, he caught your eye in the chaos. You looked thoroughly amused, and he couldn’t help but feel that the potion had been a resounding success if it got you to smile that way. He did feel a bit guilty that he had gotten you in hot water with Sharp, but the ex-auror didn’t seem too fussed about things.

To Sebastian

Garreth was enamoured when you knocked Sebastian on his ass. Again. You were all duelling in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and Professor Hecat seemed to enjoy seeing the Slytherin knocked down a peg as much as Leander did since she paired you and Sebastian together a second time. Garreth cheered even louder than Leander for you, and you gave the dorky pair a little salute.

Personally, though, Garreth had never had an issue with his fellow freckled classmate. He was friendly, had a good sense of humour, and enjoyed helping other students with their studies – or, at least, he used to before his sister was cursed. They had even teamed up on a prank here and there over the years. So, when Garreth saw the way the brunet looked at you, he had one thought as he smirked to himself: Game on.

You helped Sebastian back to his feet. “Nice job,” he said. “All your extra practice is paying off.”

You shrugged. “I suppose so,” you agreed. “You’ve been improving, as well, though.”

“I’d like a fair fight sometime. Get to use all my tricks,” he said. “Though, I could show you one or two beforehand if you’d like.”

You smiled slightly. “I might be interested,” you replied.

“I’ll be in touch, then,” Sebastian said with a smirk. He brushed himself off as he walked back to Ominis.

You walked back to your fellow Gryffindors. “Godric himself would be proud,” Leander said as Garreth gave you a congratulatory hug.

From across the room, Sebastian eyed the redhead as he embraced you. Garreth caught him watching and sent him a wink and a cheeky grin.

“That was bloody brilliant!” Garreth said as he let go of you.

“Thanks,” you said, beaming at him.

Leander resisted the urge to roll his eyes as his curly-haired friend seemed to dominate your attention and vice versa. He busied himself talking to Andrew. You and Garreth started talking about your recent encounter with a kneazle den out in the forest, barely noticing your friend’s absence. Soon, though, Professor Hecat stole you away to talk about an extra assignment.

Garreth took the opportunity to saunter over to the Slytherins. “You put up a good fight,” he said to Sebastian.

“Thanks,” he replied before cutting to the chase. “So, you and MC seem pretty cozy.” Sebastian had always been the jealous type.

“I should hope so,” Garreth replied. “I am going to marry her, after all.”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at that. Weasleys were a known pure-blood family, but most of them weren’t those kinds of pure-bloods that had their children pledged to suitors from a young age.

Ominis gave the Gryffindor a pitying expression, though Garreth didn’t notice as Sebastian spoke up at the same time. “Didn’t realize your family was into that sort of thing. Arranged betrothals and whatnot,” he said.

“Oh, no, we’ll marry for love,” Garreth said confidently.

“Wait, so are you even engaged?” Ominis asked.

Garreth laughed. “No, of course not! We’re fifteen,” he replied. “Well, I’ll be sixteen next month.”

“So, are you courting?” Sebastian asked.

“Not yet,” Garreth said simply.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes at the ginger. “So, what you’re saying is, you have no actual claim to her,” he said.

Garreth shrugged, looking unbothered. “I may not have any official title yet, but I wanted to give you fair warning not to fall too hard for her.”

Sebastian laughed. “Yeah, thanks, mate,” he said sarcastically. “What makes you so certain she’d choose you, anyway?”

Garreth smirked at him. “I just am.”

He let that be his final word, as he saw you walking away from Professor Hecat. Sebastian just gaped at the overconfident boy as he left. “Gryffindors,” he grumbled.

“You do realize that includes MC,” Ominis pointed out.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Oh, shut it.”

To Leander

Garreth overheard you telling Professor Shah that you didn’t have a telescope. He was disappointed when she paired you with Amit before he could offer. He felt a pang of jealousy when Amit offered his old telescope to you. He tried to refocus on the stargazing he was supposed to be doing. Leander was struggling to find Sirius. He helped his best friend before they hurried downstairs, seeking the warmth of the castle.

On the way down, he overheard Amit asking you to go out to an astronomy table with him. The small pang of jealousy he felt earlier bloomed into anguish. Was Amit really trying to earn your affections? He expected to have to compete with Sallow, but he felt bad at the idea of stealing you away from the good-natured Ravenclaw. Not bad enough to back off, of course, but still.

He and Leander walked all the way back to the Gryffindor common room. Garreth flopped into an armchair with a huff.

Leander raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s got you so worked up?” he asked.

“Amit’s trying to flirt with my future wife,” Garreth grumbled.

“Oh, not this again,” Leander muttered to himself.

“Yes, this again,” Garreth replied firmly. “I’m serious, Lee. She’s the one.”

Leander just shook his head in amusement. “Yes, you’ve made that very clear,” he said. “And why is it you think Amit is trying to steal her affections?”

“You didn’t hear him?” Garreth practically yelled. He jumped to his feet and started pacing. “First, he was all, ‘Oh, let me adjust the telescope for you.’ Then he just gave her his old telescope. And then, he invited her out exploring the grounds to go find an astronomy table.”

“He might as well have proposed right then,” Leander replied nonchalantly, still reclining lazily on the couch and biting back a smirk.

“I know! I–” Garreth started, but he paused, spinning around to face Leander. He glared at the taller boy. “You’re mocking me.”

Leander let the smile break onto his face. “A bit,” he admitted. “Gar, Amit is just friendly. He’d give an Ashwinder the shirt off his back if they said they were cold. You’re reading too much into it.”

“Am I?” Garreth asked seriously, putting a hand on his hip as he eyed his friend.

“Yes,” Leander replied equally seriously. “And, with all due respect to your undying love, you barely know MC. What if you’re not compatible? What if she wants to move to Peru or something when she graduates? What if she doesn’t want kids?”

Garreth shrugged. “I don’t need kids,” he said.

Leander rolled his eyes. “Have you met your family?” he asked. “And you practically knocked me into the Black Lake jumping into my arms when you got the owl saying your brother and his wife are having a baby.”

Garreth blushed at the memory. “Okay, but they’re out snuggling up in the cold to go look at the stars,” he whined.

“Your brother and his pregnant wife?” Leander asked.

Garreth let out a frustrated groan. “No, MC and Amit! Keep up, Lee! There’s no chance he’s not trying to woo her in such a romantic setting. They’ll probably be out all night, knowing MC. They’ll cozy up as they watch the sunrise and kiss just as the sun peaks out over the horizon.”

“Ah, you’re back to the whole Amit thing,” Leander observed.

“He’s probably got his arms around her right now to ‘help’ her focus the telescope,” Garreth said. “Maybe I should go out there and–”

Garreth fell silent at the sound of the portrait creaking open. He was glad he did when he saw you stepping into the common room. “You’re home early!” he said. He had meant to say it in a cool, casual tone but ended up shouting it in excitement, instead.

“Am I?” you asked, giving him a confused look. “I didn’t know I had an appointment.”

“Well, I just heard Amit invite you out stargazing and figured you’d be gone a while,” Garreth blurted out. Leander smacked a hand over his face as he shook his head at his moronic friend.

“Oh,” you said. You shrugged. “The table was just on the castle wall. It didn’t take long to find.”

“Do you want kids?” Garreth asked, stunning both you and Leander.

You looked at him with wide eyes. “Right now?” you asked. “Because I’ll have to pass, thanks.”

Garreth’s face flamed with embarrassment. “Merlin, no, that’s not what I…Not now, just…in the future. Possibly. I mean, do you like kids?” he corrected.

“Oh. Yeah, one day. I love kids,” you replied.

“Great!” he said before he could stop himself. “Because, um, my brother is having a baby soon, and I’ll have to do a lot of babysitting. I might need a hand, and Lee here is useless with kids, so…”

Leander glared at him, and Garreth just gave him an apologetic smile.

“That sounds fun!” you replied.

Garreth’s eyes lit up. “Brilliant! I’ll reach out if I need assistance, then,” he said with a dopey grin.

“Sounds good,” you said as you made your way toward the stairs up to the girls’ dormitories. “Good night, you two.”

They both wished you a good night. Once your back was turned, Garreth smiled wildly at Leander and mouthed ‘I told you’ rather aggressively at him. Leander just rolled his eyes.

To Poppy

Garreth sprinted down the corridors to reach the faculty tower. He took the stairs up it three at a time, grabbing the handrail to whip sharply around the landings. His legs were on fire by the time he reached the infirmary. He was too out of breath to form a proper sentence when he’d met Nurse Blainey at the entrance.

“Where…How…MC?” he managed between pants as his lungs heaved to get the oxygen his body so desperately needed.

“She’s okay, so just take a moment–” she said, holding up her hands to try to get the boy to pause and catch his breath.

“I need to see her. Please,” he urged.

He looked as if he might burst into tears at any moment, and the mediwitch took pity on the boy. She led him to your bedside. “She’s stable but hasn’t woken up yet. I gave her a sedative so I could change the dressing over a rather painful wound on her leg. It should heal completely in time, though,” she explained as she walked him over.

She held the curtain around your bed back, so Garreth could step inside of it. He gasped when he saw the cuts and bruises on your face and arms. The rest of you was hidden under the blanket, and he could only imagine how much worse it got. Poppy was sitting in a chair on the far side of the bed. Garreth sat down opposite her, pulling the chair closer to the bed while turning it around so he could face the head of the it. He held your hand gently in both of his.

You were a force to be reckoned with, but right now you looked so…fragile.

“What happened?” he rasped, looking over to Poppy.

“We…It happened so fast,” she said, head bowed in shame. “We were fighting a camp of poachers, and a manticore sprang out of their tent. It had a collar of goblin metal they used to control it. It attached her, scratching her, and biting her leg.” She dropped her face into her hands. “Merlin, her scream.” Poppy winced at the memory.

“A manticore?” Garreth repeated in disbelief. “Godric’s heart, I’m glad it didn’t sting her!”

“It almost did, but I cast depulso and knocked it off of her,” she said. “I just wish I’d reacted sooner.”

“Hey,” Garreth said gently as he held a hand out to her across the bed. She sheepishly took it as she finally raised her eyes to look at him. “You saved her life. I can’t thank you enough for that.” He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and smiled gently at her.

“O-oh. Are you two…? I mean, I didn’t realize you were more than friends,” she said, pulling her hand out of his grasp and linking it with the other one in her lap. She trained her gaze on her hands rather than the boy sat across from her.

“We’re not. Not yet, anyway,” Garreth said as he looked at you with a fond smile on his face. He turned back to Poppy with a devilish grin. “Make no mistake, though, I’m gonna make her my wife one day.”

“Wow. That’s, um, wonderful,” she said, giving him a pained smile.

Garreth chuckled. “I know everyone thinks I’m crazy for saying it, but I really do believe it. She’s captured my heart and soul, this one,” he said.

“She’s a lucky girl,” Poppy said sincerely.

“I hope so,” Garreth replied with a grateful smile. He looked back at you. “I know she hasn’t been here very long, but I don’t know what I’d do if I ever really lost her. I’d have to find a new supplier for all my potion ingredients and everything!” He spoke sincerely until the last sentence.

You let out a groan as you rubbed your head with the hand Garreth wasn’t holding. “I think I’m gonna have to close shop for a week or two,” you croaked out.

Garreth chuckled. “All the cute things I said, and you wake up for that part?” he teased.

You gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Gar,” you said. “I’ll try to time it better next time.”

The sincerity in your voice nearly broke his heart. He reached a hand up to stroke your cheek. “Hey, no, I was just joking,” he said sweetly. “But there better not be a ‘next time,’ and I’m very serious about that. No more close calls like this.”

You nodded your head slowly. Your eyes were half closed. “That sounds good to me,” you said.

He managed a small smile. He’d been a nervous wreck when he heard you were in the infirmary with serious injuries. It was a relief just to talk to you. “Get some rest now, okay? We’ll be here,” he said.

“M’kay,” you agreed with a soft sigh. Your eyes were already closing again, heavy with exhaustion.

Garreth stroked the back of your hand as he carefully watched the bruises on your face fade. It was slow – barely noticeable as it happened – but after a few hours the dark, angry purple marks had shrunk with the remaining areas turned faded hues of yellow and green. He delicately brushed the hair back from your face. Your cuts were now thin lines of new flesh, pink and tender-looking. Garreth traced some of the lines on your arm carefully with his left index finger. His right hand continued to hold yours.

Curfew came before you roused again. Nurse Blainey came to dismiss the students still by your bedside. Poppy stood to leave, but Garreth requested to stay.

“I assure your she’s in capable hands, Mr. Weasley,” the mediwitch said. “I’m afraid visiting hours are over for today. You may come back when they begin tomorrow. After breakfast.”

He had skipped dinner, though he didn’t know how Nurse Blainey had known. The meal had just begun when he got the news of your injury.

Garreth trudged out alongside Poppy. “I’m glad she has someone who cares so deeply for her,” the mousy girl said as they left the hospital wing. “She’s my best friend – and only friend, really – and I want her to be happy.”

Garreth nodded with a pensive look on his face. “Thank you, Poppy,” he said. “I’m glad she’s got you to watch her back out there.”

She gave him a tight smile and a nod. She still felt responsible.

They parted once they left the faculty tower, heading to their separate common rooms. Garreth had a fitful night sleep before getting out of bed before the sun was up. He ate a rushed breakfast before returning to the hospital wing. You were sat up in the bed, eating your own breakfast from a tray set over your lap. You smiled when you saw him approaching.

“If it isn’t my favourite customer,” you said with a smirk.

Garreth rolled his eyes playfully. “How is it that was the only thing you got from my visit yesterday?” he asked.

You chuckled. “I was heavily medicated,” you replied with a shrug. You shifted to sit toward the left side of the bed, grimacing as you pulled your right leg over.

Garreth lunged forward to help when he saw your pained expression, but it was gone in an instant. You patted the newly open spot on the bed next to you. He carefully sat down, keeping an eye on your leg so he didn’t bump it.

“So, what else did you say when you came to visit?” you asked. “I have it on good authority it was quite cute.”

Garreth’s cheeks flushed. “Just, um, that I was very relieved you were okay and wouldn’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Yes, well, it would put a damper on our marriage if I was dead before it began,” you joked.

Garreth just gave you a shy smile.

You had known for a while how Garreth liked to tell people he was going to marry you one day. You thought it was funny and would join in on the joke from time to time. You took it as a compliment. He usually tied it to some praise of your skill, whether in combat, on a broom, or brewing potions. He had a flare for the dramatic, so you didn’t read too much into it. You’d heard him tell Leander he could kiss him when the taller boy had bought him a set of rare potion ingredients for his birthday.

Garreth was warm and affectionate, but he didn’t show signs that there was real weight to his jests. There were no intense stares or lingering touches like there were with a certain Slytherin. He was affectionate with you but not in an intimate way. He would give big bear hugs and would sometimes grab your wrist to drag you somewhere exciting. However, he never rested his hand on your lower back as he led you somewhere nor held your hand. Well, last night was an exception. You were fairly certain that when you had awoken last night, he had been holding your right hand, while Poppy had held your left.

Poppy. You two had become fast friends. She was the reason you wouldn’t entertain his affections even if you had thought them genuine. She had quite the crush on the kind-hearted ginger. She’d fallen for him shortly after you introduced them. She gushed about him constantly. You could never hurt her like it would if you started courting Garreth. She would be devastated.

“How are you feeling?” Garreth asked. His brow was furrowed with worry.

“As well as can be expected. The bastard took a nice chunk out of my calf,” you explained. “Human face but wicked sharp teeth, apparently.”

He looked at you with sad eyes. “Nurse Blainey said you’d recover fully. It that still true?”

You nodded. “Far as I know.”

“Good.” He bit his cheek as his hands fidgeted with the edge of the blanket. He put on a brave face before looking back at you. “And until you’re 100%, I’ll be by your side. Whatever you need.”

You couldn’t help but smile. He really was the sweetest boy you’d ever met. “I think I’ll be more than taken care of between you and Poppy,” you said fondly. “Speaking of, it’s cute that you two stayed with me together last night.”

Garreth gave you a puzzled look. “Cute?” he asked.

You gave a noncommittal shrug and forced your smile to broaden into a playful grin. “Yeah, I mean, I think it’s sweet. You two are just cute together.”

Garreth was really baffled now. Together? he thought. He and Poppy had hardly been ‘together.’ They sat on opposite sides of your bed, tending to you. Did you think he fancied Poppy? He was confused how you could. He thought he’d been rather obvious in his affections for you, while always trying to be respectful.

“Oh,” was all he managed to say.

You couldn’t tell if he didn’t like Poppy back or was just being shy about his feelings. So, you decided to probe a bit. “Have you ever thought about asking her out?” you said, attempting nonchalance.

“Erm, no. I can’t say I have,” he replied honestly. He swallowed a lump in his throat. He didn’t claim to know much about girls, but he was fairly certain they didn’t try to set up boys they fancied with their friends. “Do you…think I should?”

You blinked rapidly. You didn’t know what you thought. He and Poppy seemed a good fit. They were both so bubbly. You couldn’t imagine they’d be anything but happy together. But the imagine made you curiously sombre. “Well…” you started, unsure how you would finish the sentence.

Nurse Blainey pulled back the curtain. She scowled at Garreth sitting in your bed.

“Mr. Weasley,” she said sternly. “If you could step out, I need to examine my patient.”

He quickly did as told. Blainey changed your bandages on your leg, and he could tell two things from the stifled noises you made. The first was that you were in more pain than you let on. The second was that you were trying to hide it for his sake. That was only further confirmed when Blainey let him back in. You were smiling wide, but your knuckles blanched with how hard you were gripping the sheets.

“Has she had anything for pain today?” Garreth asked the mediwitch timidly.

“No, she’s refused the pain potion since she woke up,” Nurse Blainey replied.

He shot you a stern look. “She’s obviously in pain.”

She arched a brow at him. “She’s perfectly capable of requesting the potion herself.”

“I don’t like the potion. It makes me feel foggy,” you told him.

“So?” Garreth asked, a bit irritated by your stubbornness. “You’re recovering. And it’s Sunday. You should be resting, anyway.”

He looked to Blainey for support. “Are you in pain, dear?” she asked you kindly.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” you replied genially, though you gave Garreth a hard glare.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “If you grit your teeth any harder, you’ll shatter them,” he argued. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“I don’t want to sleep all day. I’d rather be able to hang out with you,” you said.

“Well, I don’t want to see you suffer!” he shot back, his voice cracking. He winced at his own volume.

“Mr. Weasley!” Nurse Blainey hissed. “I will not tolerate you yelling at my patient.”

“I’m sorry,” he said earnestly. He sank into the chair beside you, not wanting to draw further ire from Blainey by getting back in your bed. “Please, MC. I don’t like seeing you in pain. I’ll read to you or something while you rest.”

“You wouldn’t be bored?” you asked.

He rolled his eyes as a slight smirk came to his lips. “With you around? Never,” he replied.

“Could I maybe just do a half dose?” you said to Nurse Blainey. “My leg is starting to ache pretty badly.”

Garreth resisted the urge to insist you take a full dose. It was a start, at least.

The mediwitch nodded and fetched the potion.

“Thank you,” he murmured after you downed the liquid.

“Thank you,” you replied. “I should’ve taken it sooner. I was…being stubborn.”

He scoffed. “Yeah, you have a habit of that,” he teased.

You gave him a playful glare.

The sounds of hurried footsteps announced the arrival of a certain two Slytherins. “MC!” Sebastian said. “I just heard what happened. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” you assured him. “Blainey said I should make a full recovery.”

Garreth saw you wince as Sebastian wrapped you in a big hug. “Be careful!” the Gryffindor hissed.

Sebastian ignored him. He held your face in both of his hands when he pulled back. For a brief, terrifying moment, Garreth thought the Slytherin was about to kiss you. “No more taking on poachers alone,” the brunette ordered.

“I wasn’t alone,” you argued.

Sebastian side-eyed Garreth before looking back at you. “You still didn’t have proper help. You need to tell me when you’re going to do something dangerous,” he said, still holding your face. “Promise me.”

“Poppy is proper help,” you said defensively. “We’ve been fine every other time. Fought dozens of poachers. The manticore just caught us by surprise. I don’t need you to babysit me, Sebastian.”

Sebastian’s hands dropped to his sides. “You were with Poppy?” he asked.

You nodded.

“Well, I can still help keep you safe. Obviously these poachers are getting more dangerous animals,” he said. “Let me help you.”

“You can’t come running off with us every time. You’ve got Anne to think about. You should stay focused on helping her,” you argued.

Sebastian tensed. “Then stay and help me,” he asked.

You chewed your lip “I…I can’t just stop. Anne’s got you, but no one is stopping these poachers. Poppy and I are the only ones saving those creatures.”

Sebastian’s jaw clenched. “So, you care more about those beasts than Anne?” he growled.

“That’s not what I’m saying!” you insisted.

Sebastian scowled. “That seems like it’s exactly what you’re saying.” Without another word, he stormed out of the hospital wing.

“Sebastian!” Ominis called after him. He sighed when his friend didn’t stop. He rested a hand on your shoulder. “Feel better, MC.”

Ominis pressed a kiss to the top of your head before leaving, as well.

Garreth was seething until he saw the tears slipping down your cheeks and grief gripped him. “Hey,” he said gently, sliding into the bed next to you. He wrapped his arms around you in a gentle embrace. “He’s being an idiot. He’s probably just scared. I’m sure he didn’t mean it.”

You shook your head. “No, he did. He’s always getting upset with us about not doing more for Anne.” You sighed. “I mean, we’ve tried. I just…I don’t know what else to do.”

Garreth was shocked at the treatment from your supposed friend. He had half a mind to track the Slytherin down and try to shake some sense into him. But he knew it was better to stay with you, so he did. You leaned into him as the potion’s effects took hold and the drowsiness set in.

Garreth stayed with you the whole day. Poppy came by later that morning. Leander brought him lunch and a book to read to you. Natty and the other Gryffindors came to visit you in the afternoon. Even Imelda stopped by before dinner. Sebastian came back and apologized late in the evening. He seemed less than pleased to see Garreth cuddled up to you, but he didn’t comment on it.

Garreth helped rush visits along when you would start to get tired and drift off. Blainey was in and out of the curtained-off space throughout the day. She kicked Garreth out when she needed to do dressing changes. She didn’t say anything about Garreth sitting with you in your bed, though. Nor did she kick him out when you both fell asleep to him reading the book Leander had brought.

Blainey released you the next day. Garreth thought it was too soon, but you were eager to get out. He convinced the teachers to let him follow your schedule so he could carry your things for you.

“I could’ve levitated them,” you said.

“You shouldn’t exert your magic, either,” he argued. “Besides, I told you I’d be by your side until you’re all better.”

You blushed at the thought. You had always hoped to find a way to spend more time with him. This wasn’t exactly how you would have chosen to go about it, but you would take it.

To You

The manticore incident had brought you and Garreth closer than ever. Shortly after, Poppy told you she no longer had a crush on the outgoing Gryffindor. No longer holding yourself back, your own feelings for him bloomed. Frustratingly, you felt that you constantly got mixed signals from him. He still had a running joke where he would assert to others that he would marry you one day. However, he never asked you out. Though, on rare occasions, he did hold your hand – grabbing it to drag you off to see his newest brew or to comfort you when you were upset.

Unbeknownst to you, Garreth’s own feelings had grown similarly. He was head over heels for you. But he was scared. The stronger his feelings became, the more terrified he felt that you wouldn’t return them. Leander had to practically shake sense into him that he had better ask you out before someone else did. The taller boy even threatened to ask you out himself if Garreth didn’t soon. The threat almost started a brawl between the best friends until Leander explained that he wasn’t actually interested in you – just trying to motivate Garreth to get his head out of his arse.

So, Garreth came up with a plan. He went to Honeydukes on the next Hogsmeade trip, buying all your favourite sweets. He even added a bottle of his newly-perfected Fizzing Whizzbeer that you’d raved about after trying. He arranged it all in a decorative box and tied a nice ribbon around it.

He brought it to you at dinner. He hadn’t even sat down when he handed it over.

“Thank you,” you said, surprised and a bit confused as you took the present. You were elated, if a bit puzzled, when you saw the contents. “What’s all this for?”

Garreth cleared his throat. “Well, everyone knows we’re going to be married one day. And, mark my words, we will be,” he started. You rolled your eyes at his theatrics but couldn’t help smiling. Everyone else just nodded along, having heard his proclamation many times. Natty was the only one who looked shocked by the news.

“They are betrothed?” she whispered to Leander.

He rolled his eyes. “No, but it’s a long story,” he replied.

She just shrugged.

“So, I figured it was about time I started the formal process. I’d like to court you, MC, if you’ll have me,” Garreth said. He looked exceptionally nervous.

You set the box down on the bench before springing to your feet. You threw your arms around Garreth’s neck. “Of course!” you said.

“Really?” Garreth asked, dumbstruck.

“Definitely!” you assured him.

He wrapped his arms around your waist, lifting you up as he spun around. “Brilliant! Will you go to dinner with me this Saturday?”

You beamed at him as your feet returned to solid ground. “That sounds lovely.”

Natty gave Leander a confused look. “I thought they started courting months ago,” she said.

“Yeah, you would think, wouldn’t you?” he replied with a chuckle.

To Your Dad

Garreth shifted his weight from foot to foot nervously. He checked his hair in the glass of the tavern window for the eight time. It wasn’t the first time he was meeting your father. They first met three years ago when Garreth visited you over the summer between fifth and sixth years. When the door to the establishment opened and he spotted the familiar broad shoulders and greying hair, Garreth immediately stood up.

“Garreth, my boy, good to see you,” your father greeted genially.

Garreth shook his hand. “You, as well, sir,” he said. “I’m glad you were able to meet today.”

“So, what brings you out to my neck of the woods?” your father asked as he took his seat.

Garreth could feel the heat rising in his collar, and your dad had to hold back a smile. He had strong suspicions on why the young man had reached out.

“Well, sir, I wanted to discuss some things with you about the future,” he said. “Of course, I asked you to join me for dinner. I don’t want to get too bogged down in the details on empty stomachs.”

“Oh, nonsense,” your father replied, waving him off. “Let’s hear these plans.”

“Right,” Garreth said, a bit shellshocked. “Well, sir, I’ve just finished my apprenticeship with J. Pippin. I took a job with a potioneering company in London, where I intend to stay until I’ve saved enough to start my own shop. I’ve just purchased a home in Marylebone, where I hope to settle down, you see.”

“London’s a far way from Plymouth,” your father interjected gravely, unable to help himself.

Garreth swallowed thickly. “It is,” he agreed. “Though, it’s within floo range.”

“Quite right,” your dad agreed with a slight smile. “Sorry to interrupt, lad. You were saying about settling down.”

“Your daughter and I have been discussing our plans. We’d quite like to settle down together. That is to say, we intend to marry–”

“Do you, now?” you father interjected again. His brow was arched.

Garreth nodded, steeling his nerves. “I haven’t proposed yet, of course,” he continued, and your father visibly relaxed. “But, like I said, we’ve discussed it, and I feel quite certain she would say yes. I wanted to meet today to ask for your blessing.”

Your father smiled. “Yes, I thought that might be the case,” he said. “My daughter, my only child, is quite an exceptional young woman, as you’re aware.”

“I am,” Garreth agreed as worry began to set in.

“Not just for her rare magic. She has many talents. And she’s quite driven.” He levelled Garreth with a rather frighteningly intense gaze. “I have very high standards for the man with whom she endeavours to spend her life.”

“Of course, sir,” Garreth said, trying not to feel crestfallen.

“I dare say she’ll need a man of equal ambition to keep up with her,” he said. “Though, he must still put his family first. I would never condemn her to a marriage with someone less than madly in love with her. And, indeed, I would do everything I could to prevent such an unfit union. I assure you, I am not an adversary to be taken lightly.”

Garreth had prepared himself for the possibility that your father would not give his blessing, but he had not foreseen him actively trying to prevent your marriage.

“I don’t think any man fully capable of deserving my daughter, though I am aware that I am biased on the matter,” your dad continued without giving Garreth a chance to speak. “However, I don’t think I could have hand-picked a better partner for her than she has chosen for herself.”

“I’m sure I can’t fault you for feeling that way, sir. I–” Garreth broke off as the meaning of the sternly spoken words sunk in. He gaped at your father briefly before collecting himself.

A grin broke out on the older man’s face. “I’d be honoured to have you in the family, son.”

Garreth stood, shaking your father’s hand again. He pulled his future son-in-law into a hug. “Thank you, sir. I know it’ll mean a lot to MC to have your blessing,” Garreth said.

Your dad clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Well, it means a lot to me that you care for her so deeply,” he replied. “You’re a good man, Garreth. Even if you were a bit of a scamp at school.” He winked.

Garreth’s cheeks flushed. “Yes, well, I’ve come to have a certain respect for the rules these days.”

Your dad chuckled. “That’s good to hear,” he said. “I got into my fair share of trouble at Hogwarts back in my day. And I know my daughter took after me.”

Garreth laughed. “She certainly has an adventurous spirit.”

Your dad shared some stories about the hijinks he’d gotten up to in school as they shared a meal. Garreth was glad he’d gotten the asking done before eating, as his stomach settled considerably. He couldn’t wait to tell you that your dad gave his blessing. More than that, he couldn’t wait to propose. But, most of all, he couldn’t wait to finally make you his wife like he swore he would years ago.

[hidden-poet]

S. lands on top: chapter 3

summary: Coriolanus returns home to the Capital with two women from district 12 plaguing his mind. One a (presumed) dead mystery but another well within his reach.

warnings: unco, dark!Coriolanus, possessive!Corirlanus, Dark themes, mentions of death, she/her pronouns, kidnapping, violence, somnophilia.

Editor: @hotline-to-hell

chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Next chapter

Mabel woke to an awful rendition of the Capitol anthem. 

She springs up, hitting Coriolanus who was sleeping soundly beside her,  with her flailing hands as she tries to catch herself. 

He wakes too, his hands going up to protect himself before he realizes there was no real threat. 

“Relax,” Coriolanus sits up as well, “It’s just grandma'am.” 

Mabel still felt her heart in her chest, “Crazy old bat.” 

She hears Coriolanus’s feet hit the floor with a hard thud. 

"Watch how you speak about her.” 

She instead watches her surroundings. She examines the bed she laid in instead of the floor. She examines her clothes upon her body and her relief turns into anger. 

“A Capitol dessert, you said.” 

“Would you have gotten into the bed any other way?”

“No! And you had no right to-”

“I had every right, or did you forget where you are?”

He puts on his dressing gown, and throws Mabel's to her. 

His eyes remained glued to her as she got out of the bed. Her hair was messy and curled slightly in front of her face. He was so used to it being slicked back in a braid. There was something so domestic about it being out. Almost reassuring of their relationship. 

He couldn’t touch her as a Peacekeeper and a worker. The braid seemed symbolic of it. As a worker, she needed her hair back out of her face, but as Coriolanus’ woman, she could wear it freely. She has shed her worker's clothes and sheltered herself with Coriolanus’ clothes. 

As she dressed warmly in his long dressing gown, it seemed official; Mabel belonged to Coriolanus Snow. 

Grandam’am finished the anthem and the music was shut off. 

“Does she do that every morning?” Mabel sighs. 

“Without fail.” He takes his keys off the table and unlocks the door, leading her out to the living room where Tigris sat sewing. 

Tigris greets them both but her attention goes to Mabel who quickly found comfort in her friend. 

Coriolanus leaves the girls embracing in the living room, going to the kitchen to press a button to let the staff know they are ready for breakfast. 

When he returns Mabel is fussing over a red dress held up by Tigris. Her hands float over the expensive material. 

“It’s beautiful, Tigris.” Mabel comments.

“I think so too,” she agrees, “I’ll have to make you one.” 

Tigris eyes her cousin at the table. 

“Breakfast should be up soon. Come to the living room, out of their way.”

The girls follow him to the couch, talking about the quality of the dress. 

Grandma’am had come out from getting dressed and looked upon Mabel with disgust.

“She’s still here?” Grandma’am refused to enter into the living room where Mabel sat. 

“Mabel is staying here, Grandma’am,” Coriolanus says. 

“But-But-” the old woman stumbles over her words. 

Coriolanus takes a deep breath before responding, “She’s staying here, Grandam’am, and I don’t want to hear anything else about it from anyone.” 

He eyes Tigris and Mabel across the space, meaning them. 

The bell to the penthouse rings. The Avox’s had made their way quickly from the servant's quarters to the Snow’s penthouse. Coriolanus unlocks the door for them. They bow as they enter to each household member as they make their way into the kitchen. 

Mabel watches them curiously. The older man in the white jacket and the older woman in a white long dress that covers her arms and neck don’t look back, but the younger girl, around the same age as Mabel does. 

She offers a kind smile before disappearing alongside her co-workers in the kitchen.

Mabel instantly felt connected to her. She half hoped she would be sent away with them after breakfast. 

Tigris tries to engage Mabel in polite conversation. How did she sleep? Was there anything she could do that would make Mabel’s stay more comfortable?

With Coriolanus only sitting on the other side of the couch, Mabel kept her answers short and positive. 

When the young girl enters back into the room, she begins to set the table with one large pretty plate, an identically smaller one and then tops them off with napkins in a gold napkin holder. She then goes back to the kitchen to bring out a large pot of white roses, placing them in the middle of the table. 

The older woman comes out after her, carrying a jug of juice, and a pot of coffee.

They place large amounts of food on the table. Too much for just four people. Mabel wondered if others would join, but the table was only set for household members. 

Coriolanus was determined to have Mabel sitting next to him and not Tigris this morning. He saw her attempt to follow Tigris to her chair but redirected her with a hold on his wrist. 

She had taken Grandama’am’s usual seat but she had let it go with a huff. 

As Coriolanus sits the older servant gives him the newspaper and pours his coffee. 

The young servant girl comes around to Mabel first and pours her a glass of orange liquid. 

“Hello.” Mabel greets her with a smile. 

“You don’t talk to them” Coriolanus instructs, unfolding his newspaper. 

Mabel rolls her eyes at the young girl but she doesn’t return the playfulness, quicking moving away from her. 

Mabel focuses on breakfast instead and takes the small plate off and places a slice of toast on it before collecting fruit from a bowl and throwing it on the large plate. 

“Mabel.” she could hear Coriolanus' disappointed tone. 

 The young girl looks up to see what she did wrong, 

“We don’t eat off those plates. They're for decoration.” 

Mabel huffs but scraps the food off the plate. “How stupid.”

“Stupid!” Grandma’am snarls, “A girl who can’t read or write calling Capitol society stupid. I won’t have it!”

“Ask me how to spell Coriolanus.” Mabel challenges, “C-O-R-I-O-L-A-N-U-S. 

Grandma’am looked shocked that she could spell the name. Mabel looked back smugly. Even if it was the only name at the table she could spell and had only learned it last night. 

“Enough Mabel,” Coriolanus warns. 

She had already won so she returned to eating in silence easily. 

“I have class at eleven today, Tigris. Then I spend the rest of the afternoon at Dr. Gaul's office.” He takes a sip of his coffee

“I’ll stop by on my way home to pick up the plans for the shop that need approval.” 

“I can do it, Coryo. You just come home.”

“I’d prefer it if you stayed home today. To keep Mabel company.”

Mabel looked relieved that Tigris would remain, and Coriolanus would go.

Tigris didn’t fight him. Happy with the arrangement. 

Watching Tigris take a sip of her juice, Mabel copies. It was sweet upon her tongue and before she knew it she was gulping air.

An Avox refills Mabel’s orange juice as soon as the glass is empty.

“Thank you,” she lifts the glass to the young girl, “Did you want some?”

The Avox looks startled, she eyes the table of socialites and shakes her head profusely before running back to the kitchen.

“Why don’t they speak?” Mabel asks. 

“Because they’ve had their tongues cut out” Coriolanus doesn’t look up from his paper as he speaks, “They are Avoxes.” 

“Is that what’s going to happen to me?” 

“Not an entirely bad idea.” Coriolanus jokes. 

“No.” Tigris interjects “Of course not”.

“Why’d they get it then?”

 He cringes at her sentence structure but it was a problem for another day. 

Coriolanus folds his newspaper, not allowing this teaching opportunity to pass him by, 

“Because they failed to follow Capitol order.” 

“Order? You call ‘do or die’ order?” 

Maybe he should cut out her tongue. Such talk could ruin his presidential run.

He could almost laugh. All the people he seemed to have a keen interest in seemed determined to stand against the institution he planned to one day rule; Sejanus, Lucy Gray. They also both ended up the same way. 

He would like to avoid history repeating itself a third time. 

“Yes. I think the stronger party gets to decide what order is.” 

He unfolds his newspaper but only stares at the words on the page, unable to read them. To emphasize his point, he barks an order at her, “Now finish your breakfast and go take a shower.”

She pushes back her plate in defiance but goes back to the bedroom to take a shower, singing the national anthem. 

“Gem of Panem! Mighty city through the ages you shine anew!”

Grandma’am hums in tune with her.

“Coriolanus humbly kneels to your ideals and pledges his love to you!” 

She disappears behind the corner after her verse and Grandma’am stops her humming.  

“Wicked girl,” Grandma’am was displeased with her remix of the anthem. Which in Grandma’am’s mind was perfect and should never be altered. 

“She was torn from her home yesterday, Grandam’am. You can’t blame her for being angry.” Tigris again jumps to defend her new friend. 

 Coriolanus feels blood rush up to his ears. Insolent, stupid, untrainable girl. She couldn’t take a hint to save her life. He folds his newspaper down again on the table and scrapes his chair back.

“Coriolanus, leave her,” Tigris begs. 

“She’s going to need fresh clothes, Tigris.”

For appearance's sake, he makes a detour to the spare room where Tigris had laid out some clothes. An old nightdress of hers, and a new creation out of her collection. A simple green dress that would reach Mabel’s ankle with a sweetheart neckline embellished with small designs. 

He takes it, leaving the night dress. If he had just been up to him, Mabel would only wear his clothes but Grandam’am already looked down on her, and Tigris wanted to remain in denial of Mabel's situation for as long as possible. 

He is quiet as he enters the room. He closes the door softly despite the loud sounds of the shower covering the sound of him entering. Tossing the dress on the bed, he sheds his own clothes as he walks to the bathroom. 

She doesn’t notice him at first. The steam from the shower fogged the glass window, and she seemed occupied trying to get the knots out of her hair, giving him the opportunity to join in. He yanks open the door with confidence, and steps in, getting as close to her as he could.

He expected a louder reaction but besides a startled sound, she made no other noise. 

She turns, of course, but Coriolanus grabs her chin and pushes her head against the bathroom tiles. 

With her hands covering her breasts, and her legs crossed, the only thing she could do was wiggle her head against his tight grip. 

“Are you mad talking like that?” he seethes. 

“Get off me!” She demands with the limited use of her jaw.

“You don’t talk like that to me or my family. You’ve been a brat from the second you woke today, and it’s going to stop.”

"Fine,” she struggles against him, trying to get out of his grip. 

He looks down to his desired view. The water dripped down her body now that she was out of the stream. He had imagined it many times before, but now it was just under his fingertips and he could feel his fingers involuntarily curl wanting to reach out and touch. 

“Did you want to reprimand me or did you just want a look?” she provokes him but her hands tighten around her body.

“Are you worried I’ll touch you?” 

Mabel scoffs. “You think you're special? You’re not even my first this week.” she spat. 

He feels more angry than he should. He knew, even in his Peacekeeper days, that Mabel was no virgin. 

He used to watch from the shadows of the Hob as she flirted and danced with multiple different men during the night. She could never be found buying herself a drink. She never had to. Many men were lining up for the opportunity. She deliberately avoided Peacekeepers. Choosing to ignore their existence. Many would offer to buy her a drink and she would turn to the nearest District 12 grunt and speak to him as if they had asked her. When Peacekeepers took her into their arms while dancing, she would stop immediately with a sour look on her face. One time, a Peacekeeper wouldn’t take the hint and she screamed into his face until he took his hands off. 

Needless to say, she was a beautiful woman. And a woman of an age where she could invite men into her bed, and why wouldn’t she? She had the pick of the litter. 

Still, Coriolanus didn’t want to hear it. Didn’t want the images of another man pressed against her in his head. He convinced himself that before he had her, she was nothing. Simply waiting in District 12 for an existence so those other men don’t truly count. 

“Do you want to end up a tongueless Avox?” He threatens. 

He knew her tongue was her sword. The only power she had in her weak frame. She wielded it fearlessly. What would happen to her if it was cut out? How would she regain control? It was a last resort for both of them. 

Coriolanus wanted the prettiest of creatures on his arm as he walked into rooms; as an Avox he couldn’t allow her to touch him in public. Her sharp wit would also be secretly missed. He wasn’t sure he could wait for her to scribble backchat with her terrible writing. Their back and forth wouldn’t be as entertaining. 

“Well?” he pushed, tilting her head back, “If you can’t use your tongue, I might as well take it”.

She sticks it out to him, although her belly formed knots. 

He laughs as he releases her, stepping back into the warm water. He lets it run over his face, his hands wash the water through his hair. Even through her insubordination, her silence told him that he had won the argument. 

“Pass me the shampoo,” he orders. 

She takes a crystal glass bottle filled with white liquid and tries to pass it to him.

It was the wrong one, but she had no idea what shampoo looked like. Back home she would wash her hair with soap. 

“The one next to it.”

She tries again and this time Coriolanus takes the bottle from her. He spins her with his free hand, beginning to lather the liquid in her brown curls. 

He passes the bottle back to her and she places it back on the shelf. 

“Close your eyes.” 

He presses her back against him as he washes the shampoo out of her hair. She had not taken to closing her eyes as told. The shampoo stung her eyes, and as she had never felt the sensation before, she panicked. She cries out as she struggles against Coriolanus, who keeps a strong hold over her.

He tilts her head up to the stream, and she relaxes as it gets washed out of her eyes. 

"When are you going to trust me on matters of the Capitol?”

“Oh, like the Capitol dessert last night?” she reminded, pulling her head away from the running water. 

“You want me to apologize?” He wouldn’t. She knew it too. 

‘‘I want to go home.”

“This is your home now, Mabel”. He moves from her, grabbing the conditioner himself, and lathering it in his hand. He is rough as he massages it into her hair. 

“You can fight it or you can accept it.” 

She removes her hands from her breasts and stands straight. 

‘‘What do I have to do to be sent back home?”. 

Coriolanus steps out of the shower, now that she bares herself to him. He wanted to touch and squeeze but it would give her too much power. She was at his mercy not the other way around.

“The only way you’ll be sent home is in a box.”

The words deflate her and she covers herself once more. 

He dries himself with a towel, before wrapping it around his waist and standing in front of his mirrors. 

“I’ll be gone again today,” he runs a brush that acts as a hair dryer through his curls as he talks, “You won’t repeat the behavior of this morning, or your family will pay the price.” 

He hears the water being shut off, and before long Mabel is standing behind him wrapped in a towel. She looked incredibly sad as she stared at him in the mirror. 

—-------

The dress fits Mabel immaculately. It distracts Coriolanus greatly as he tries to finish his paper at the table.

She sat in the living room with Tigris as they sewed the designs. They seemed like lifelong friends as they talked. There were no awkward pauses or conversation fillers. 

They talked about everything besides Coriolanus and Mabel's purpose here. 

The only pause in their talk was due to Grandma’am bursting in the room. 

“Girl, get my coat!! The black one” Grandma’am ordered. 

Mabel rose without issue and took a black feather coat off the rack. 

She helped Grandma’am put it on and Grandma’am shooed her away once it was done. 

“Are you going somewhere?” Coriolanus had followed his Grandma’am to the door. Mabel had returned to the couch as soon as he came over.

“Lunch and then shopping” The old woman pulls her gloves on. 

Coriolanus clears his throat as he holds out a hand, ‘I’ll just need your house key before you leave. The housemaid can let you back up.”

She looked puzzled at his request but soon pieces the puzzle together. 

“The district girl?” Grandma’am whispers and Coriolanus nods his head. 

It was persuasive enough as the woman dug into her bag and retrieved the key. 

He kisses her goodbye with the key in his hand. Closing the door behind her, he then goes to Tigris' room and takes her house key off her keychain. 

He was sure that Tigris would never betray him, but felt increasingly more secure knowing she couldn’t. For just today, until he could make other arrangements, both Mabel and Tigris would be prisoners. 

It was unlikely that Tigris would even notice. She would make her own lunch, hating the fuss of the Avox cooking crew, and she wouldn’t leave Mabel alone in her new home. Unless there was a fire, she had no reason to try and open the door. 

Checking the time on his watch, he realized it was time to leave for class. He ducks into his room to collect his new coat and reappears in the living room where Tigris and Mabel are comparing a running stitch and a backstitch. 

“I’ll be back at 6,” he interrupts. Tigris looks up at him but Mabel continues her sewing. 

He bends down to his cousin and places a soft kiss on her cheek. 

He had wanted to kiss Mabel goodbye but it was too soon in their relationship. Tigris wouldn't accept the quick progression between the two, and Mabel wouldn't take it as a sign of affection. 

—---------

His lecture was dull. The professor said nothing that was not in the textbook from the night before. Coriolanus' homework was of course perfect, and he brushes it off with fake modesty as he gives his Professor unearned praise back. The whole two hours were spent daydreaming of Mabel. 

He didn’t even notice when the Professor dismissed them until a classmate slammed their book closed too hard. 

He sighed as he packed up his equipment. He wouldn’t return home until late. He still had the rest of the afternoon at Dr. Gaul's office and then had to pick up the plans for Tigris. 

It soured his mood greatly when his classmate tried to engage in idle chit-chat, all Coriolanus could manage was a tight smile and head nods. He didn’t even want to acknowledge them to that extent. But You never know when someone might be important to you later so he played nice. 

Dr. Gaul was not in when Coriolanus arrived. The team meeting went smoother without her. They rewatched the last Hunger Games, trying to come up with ways to make the Games longer. Four days seemed to be the max. They wanted it to be at least a week-long event. Coriolanus suggested a bigger arena that they could change each year so everything was new for each year’s tributes. There would be no opportunity for strategy before the games. Each Tribute would have to rely on their own wit. 

It would give the weaker opponents a chance to run and hide. Even the playing field a little bit. And it would give the audience a game of ‘hunter vs prey’. 

If it had just been him and Lucy Gray out there, he could have easily killed the mystery. But the mockingjays and the wide space made it impossible to utilize his strengths against hers. 

Like his homework, his work was praised and the team split up for proposals to utilize his ideas. 

He had isolated himself in his office, glad to be alone. They would only distract his brilliance with their stupidity, and he planned to finish his work quickly and have an early start home. 

The plan was running on schedule until Dr. Gaul darkened his doorway. 

“Mr. Snow, I am surprised to see you here after yesterday.”

Coriolanus finishes his sentence on the page before putting his pen back. 

“Nothing I can’t handle.” 

“How is your little pet going?” 

Dr. Gaul sits on his desk next to him and Coriolanus wants to sweep her off like a dirty tissue. 

“Fine.”

“Hm,” Dr. Gaul hums. She had a special talent for knowing when someone was lying. “Give me an hour, Mr. Snow. I would have her as docile as a lamb.”

Coriolanus doubted it. No doubt Dr. Gaul was up for the challenge but it would take more than an hour to subdue Mabel’s will. The more you shaped her, the more she bit back. 

“Still I shouldn’t.” She looked almost sad to admit it. “You need the practice for when you are President. There are plenty more Mabels in the world.”

Coriolanus tried not to flinch as she said Mabel's name. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Dr. Gaul knew. Knowledge was power, and she knew everything. 

“I assure you, Dr. Gaul. I have her well under control.”

His thoughts go to the shower this morning. Proof, he thought, that he could control her. 

Dr. Gaul grins back, “I am sure you do. I can’t wait to meet her. Let’s say at the reaping this year?”

She gets off his desk and heads back to the door. It wasn’t a question. 

July 4th. A month from today.. He could control the fire before then. At least stow it for the hour of the reaping. 

Dr. Gaul giggles as she walks, “From what I hear, you have your work cut out for you, Mr. Snow.”

Coriolanus fists his unfinished work in his hands as soon as she leaves. He was done, even if his work was not. Gathering his things, he dashes to Dr. Gaul’s pigeonhole in the office and shoves his proposal in. The office staff looks at him curiously. Normally his pace is slow and purposeful, but his long, fast strides take over his legs and he rushes to his car before anyone could ask him about it. 

His driver was not ready, adding to his irritation. He could barely get the door open in time for Coriolanus. He puts the divider up as they drive across the city. He couldn’t bear the thought of anyone seeing him in his uncontrolled state. 

He gathers himself as they reach the planner's office and manages to play nice as he collects the paperwork. But as he reenters the car, his temper flared again. 

He would truly hate to cut out Mabel’s tongue, but if she sasses Dr. Gaul what choice would he have? 

Dr. Gaul was sure to taunt her and threats to her family would only hold so much weight. It would be Reaping Day too. She was sure to be highly emotional. Her sister was too young to have her name pulled but Mabel was sure to have lots of friends whose name stood a chance. 

Could he cause a distraction while District 12’s ceremony was aired? Something to cause her to hide and miss it. He wondered if he could cause her to be sick enough to be excused. Parade her in front of Dr. Gaul for an hour looking sick. A testimony to his power over her; sick and performing for him. If he could get her to vomit or faint around the calling of District 9 or 10 then it would lower suspicion when he casts her off to the bedroom. 

Still, he had to first worry about getting her to perform before he worried about her stage exit. 

It had to begin work right away with her. 

He looks down at his watch which reads 4 o'clock. If he returned home now he would have to explain his early departure from work. They weren’t expecting him until 6. He could get away with 5:30 without raising any questions. The drive home would take half an hour, which left him with an hour to kill. 

He directs his driver to his favorite coffee shop, and takes a seat at the far back corner with his coffee, drinking it as he strategizes a way to get his songbird to sing a note in front of Dr. Gaul. 

He remembers back to Tigris’ words about Lucy Gray. 

“I wouldn’t sing a note for you if I was her. Not unless I could trust you”. 

Could they team up against Dr. Gaul? Gain her trust enough to point to the larger, common enemy. 

Show her the sweet life of Capitol living that he was giving her and show her the person who stood to tear it all away. He would have to be soft with one hand and strike with the other to achieve the desired result. But as Dr. Gaul had said, it would be great practice for when he ruled Panem. 

The time was close enough and he downs his coffee, sending a notification through his communicator that he was ready to be picked up. 

In passing he notices a jar of chocolate almonds for sale. He wondered if Mabel had ever eaten one before. He takes a jar to the counter as his car rolls up to the pickup line. His driver had left him to wait this afternoon and now Coriolanus was returning the favor. 

When he returned home, Tigris and Mabel were still sitting on the couch sewing, although their conversation had stopped. Material and half-finished dresses covered the room. A large box of sewing material had been strewn across the room. Normally, Coriolanus would chase Tigris back to her studio, but it was so packed, it wouldn’t have fit two seamstresses. 

Besides, he was glad to see his girls getting along, even if it came at the cost of a tidy living room. 

“Coryo!” Tigris greets, “How was class?”

She never asked about work, and it was a good thing as he never had anything positive to report. 

“Dull,” he admits. 

He hangs up his coat himself, using the arm of his good shoulder to do so. It was only Mabel’s second day so he didn’t expect her to take his coat for him just yet. 

“Mabel, come here,” Coriolanus demanded. 

She sticks her needle into the sleeve of the dress she was working on with a sigh but comes over to the door. 

He passes the chocolate almonds to her and she eyes the jar with a greedy stare. 

She pulls away from Coriolanus as if he were going to take them back and retreats to the living room. 

“Chocolate?” Grandma’am questions as Mabel comes near. 

She sits down next to the old woman and shares the chocolate almonds. A truce formed between the two while the jar lasts. 

While the born enemies share the chocolate, Tigris takes the moment of silence to approach her cousin. 

“She fits nicely into our family,” he comments as she nears. 

“She’s not a pet, Coriolanus. You can’t keep her.”

His cock twitches at the thought. 

“The threat in the district proves too intense to send her back. She’ll be staying with us for the foreseeable future.”

“How long do you think that will be?”

“A while. I’ve arranged for a tutor to get her up to speed with Capitol etiquette.”

“Surely, you don’t expect her to integrate into the Capitol? She has her family back home.”

“Yes, and I am sure they would want her to be happy and comfortable in her new life”. 

“New life? The foreseeable future is that long? God, does she know?” 

Coriolanus shakes his head, “It’s best if we don’t mention it. You saw how she reacted to being here in the first place.”

TIgris curls her hands up against her face in sympathy. She wanted what was best for her new friend but

“We should move her to the end room so she has her own space.”

“She’s expressed the wish to remain in my room.”

Tigris looked unsure. 

“Why would she do that, Coriolanus? Just yesterday you held a knife to you, and now she wants to sleep in your bed? You want her to sleep next to you?. All your life you’ve only held contempt for the districts. Now you invite one into your home. Into your bed,” she turns harshly to her cousin, her voice low and upset, “Are you protecting her from a threat or are you the threat?” 

He pushes the paperwork for her shop into her hands.

“You don’t think they had other buildings to fit before yours? I am sorry that you feel a little bit guilty now that we have power to throw around but I’ve worked incredibly hard to ensure that our family always remains ‘the threat’. You don’t get to pick and choose when we use it”.

Tigris crumples the paper in her hand. 

“You reap your benefits and let me reap mine.” His words come out harsh and he rests his hand on her shoulder to defuse the situation. 

“Don’t worry about Mabel. Just focus on your shop and leave her to me”

He leaves her at the door to collect herself, going over to where Mabel and Grandma’am sat. The jar was almost finished. Both Mabel and Grandma’am had a sweet tooth. 

Mabel ate faster seeing Coriolanus coming closer, but kindly offered Grandma’am the last one. 

“Get me a napkin for my hands,” Grandma’am directs Mabel, who rises without complaint to do so. Coriolanus stops her by taking her shoulders in his hands. 

“Actually, Grandma’am I need Mabel,” He looked at his grandmother as he spoke and the old lady looked back at him, “Maybe that’s a job for Tigris.”

He looked back to Tigris still silent at the door. She nods weakly upon his stare. 

He pushes Mabel forward, taking her arm and leading her to the bedroom. 

He bends down to her ear and talks as they walk. 

“You’ll play nice with Grandam’am who treats you like a servant but bite my shoulder when i stop you from harming yourself?”

“Yeah well, it wasn’t Grandma’am who joined me uninvited in the shower this morning. Maybe if she tried she would be sitting there with a matching wound.”

He knew her words were meant to be harmful but they oddly uplifted him. She had given away that she’d thought about biting him when he entered the shower but refrained from doing so. He was training her without even knowing. Perhaps he needn’t cause a sickness on Reaping Day. 

He locks the door behind them as they enter the room. She goes straight to the bed, sitting down and picking at the skin around her nails. 

He drops his bag at the desk, taking a seat as well. 

He takes out a notebook and writes in it neatly, “I, Mable, am learning to write.” 

“Come here,” he commands as he tears out the page. 

He flips open his textbook with his other hand as he holds the page out for her. 

“Write this out, neatly, as many times as you can.” 

She takes the page from him, only knowing her own name. 

“What does it say?”

“Never mind what it says. Go over there and do as you’re told” 

She picks up a pen next to him and follows orders. Maybe the 4th of July wasn’t an impossible goal. 

He hears her scribble as he reads and takes notes. The end of the semester was only a month away, starting on the Reaping public holiday, and continuing until the end of September. A decent holiday but he had much to do before then. He was hoping to finish one of his six assignments tonight. Years of practice and self-criticism had left Coriolanus a master at writing essays. He only ever needed one draft, and a couple of hours. The trick was telling the teacher what they wanted to hear from the essay prompt. This one, comparing and choosing between the benefits of a stealth attack vs a broad-scale attack, was an easy one. His Professor was a man of war. He wanted to hear about the fear-invoking, violent, glory-filled ways to attack an opponent. Coriolanus obliged, even if he thought a stealth attack was always the clear choice when available. 

He finishes it in no time and checks in on Mabel’s progress. She sat smug on the bed which he knew was a bad sign. He tore the paper from under her pen. 

She had been repeatedly scrawling ‘no’ across the page. His neat cursive was now buried underneath her messy scribble. 

He sighed, sickness was back on the cards. 

“Your governess will be here tomorrow morning. Maybe she will teach you ‘yes’”.

“Governess?” Mabel questions. 

“They are private teachers. She will guide you to be of passing quality to Capitol society.” 

He could see it now. A gorgeous, secret heiress, who only comes out with Coriolanus. The only one worth her time. The Capitol elite will eat it up. He will be the talk of the city. 

“Passing quality?” She stands up tall to him, “I have to be passing quality to a society that watches children die for entertainment? You can forget it”.

He pushes her back down on the bed.

‘‘I bet your sister wouldn’t scoff at such an education. Math, science, English. You’ll learn it all, or at least enough to not embarrass me. Fail to do so, and I’ll see if your sister is the brighter of the two.”

He attacked her soft spot, wiping the smirk off her face instantly.

“You leave her out of this.” 

“You leave her out of this,” Coriolanus returns. 

He walks back over to his writing desk and rips out another page. 

“I want both sides of this filled out. If you hurry you might finish in time for dinner”. 

He leaves her with the paper and locks her in the room to complete it. 

Soft with one hand, strike with the other. 

Once he gives her clear rules to follow and consequences for failing those rules, he could begin to show her that within his game, he held all the cards. She could have as many chocolate almonds as she wanted on a good day, and on a bad day, she could go to sleep hungry. 

He wondered which it would be tonight. 

—-----------------------------------

She hadn’t finished in time for dinner so he left her there while his family ate. 

He and Grandma’am ate their fill but Tigris mostly poked at her food. He ordered a plate to be put aside for Mabel, but took his time in bringing it to her. 

Tigris went to bed straight after Coriolanus dismissed her from dinner, but he and Grandma’am took to the living room for dessert and tea. They watch TV together, Coriolanus in no rush to feed the starving girl in his room. 

He even waits for the staff to finish cleaning up and go. Only when Grandma’am yawns does he suggest that they retire for bed. He helps her up and sends her to her bedroom with a kiss. 

He puts the kettle on while he waits for the dinner to reheat. He makes a normal cup of tea, knowing that she will not fall for it again seeing as she seemed to like the taste.. 

Finishing his tasks he takes the items to his room, where Mabel had been working in his study chair. 

“Don’t get up,” he directs as she rises. 

He places the plate and the tea in front of her, leaving her to eat with only a fork. 

She eats but doesn’t drink as Coriolanus checks her writing.

It was still messy, but she had managed to pick up on his punctuation. 

She eats quickly and pushes away her plate, going to stand up but Coriolanus pushes down on her shoulder. 

“Drink your tea.”

“I don’t feel like dessert tonight.”

He picks it up and takes a drink himself. She waits for him to falter in movement before deciding that it is safe to drink. 

“Your governess will come early tomorrow. I will need to leave around lunch again but I will leave two Peacekeepers at the door”. 

Grandam’am and Tigris needed to move freely but after today he wasn’t certain that Tigris wouldn’t let her out. Peacekeepers would not only ensure that Mabel kept her temper in check but also act as gatekeepers. 

He grabs her chin, forcing her to look up at him, “You’ll do as she says. No back chat. No sass.”

“Do or die.” she reiterates. 

The lesson this morning was fruitful; The stronger party got to tell the weaker what to do. 

—-----------

Reaping Day was fast approaching but between his university and work, he had little time to train Mabel. 

He had given her governess the power to withhold lunch for bad behavior and reward good behavior with chocolate. But Mabel didn’t mind going hungry so it shaped her very little. 

He is greeted by the sight of her teacher every afternoon as he returns home from work. 

“How was she today?” 

The plump, hard woman scoffs, “A nightmare today, Mr. Snow. I couldn’t get her to sit still. She seems more eager to be a maid than rise through knowledge.” 

“How many times?” 

“12, Mr. Snow!”

The number of times Mabel refused to listen, back chatted, or gave cheek only ever went up each evening, never down. 

“I understand your frustrations, Mrs. Fox. Perhaps if you tried an interactive way of learning?”

Mrs. Fox nods her head harshly, “I tried that Mr. Snow. I tried teaching her eight times table by playing a game. For every right answer, she got a chocolate, and for every wrong answer, I got a chocolate. She got to 3 x 8 before she told me I looked like I enjoyed them more, and should have the rest.”

Coriolanus sighs deeply. If Mrs. Fox quit he would have a hell of a time finding someone as discreet as she is. 

He places a hand on her back, “I assure you, Mrs. Fox, she will be better by the  next lesson”.

“The districts don’t scare me, Mr. Snow. I just wish you would let me use a firmer hand with her. These district scum only know violence.”

He didn’t trust her not to leave a mark on Mabel, otherwise a firmer hand would be no issue for him. 

He takes his hand off her and places it on his doorknob, “We’ll see how she is next lesson. My car is downstairs to take you home. Have a nice night, Mrs. Fox.”

She thanks him as he enters his home, and he turns to close the door on her with a charming smile.

Mabel had learned now to come to the door upon his arrival and help with his coat. He couldn’t reprimand her with Tigris on the couch, so he took her chin into his hands and spoke quietly, “I’ll talk with you later. I am very disappointed.”

Mabel doesn’t respond but he can see her swallow a lump in her throat. He greets his family like usual, leaving Mabel a ball of anxiety as she waits to be summoned by him. 

Dinner was rushed. People had barely taken their last bite before Coriolanus rang the bell for the next course. 

Mabel only ate enough to keep her out of trouble. She didn’t need another reason to be punished tonight. 

The main courses were over, and Coriolanus rose from the table, pulling Mabel up by her wrist. 

He bids goodnight to his family and pulls Mabel through the house. She turns back to the dinner table to see that Tigris has begun crying. 

She is pulled into his bedroom where the door is subsequently locked. 

“How many times do you think you think you made a mistake today?” His voice was frustrated, but he let go of her and she sat on the bed as expected. 

“12 times, Mrs. Fox tells me. Your lesson lasted less than five hours today.”

He takes off his vest, leaving it unbuttoned around his shoulders. 

“And she tells me you can’t progress past the eight times table, still.” He unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt. 

“I wash Peacekeeper's uniforms, why do I need to know the eight times table?”

He hated that she still referred to her past life in the current tense. It only added fuel to the anger he already felt.

“Because Capitol children know it!” 

His yelling was a call to action for Mabel.

“Then ask them!” 

He slaps her across the cheek, but she turns her head right back to him, ready for more.

He pulls her up by her arm, and then pulls her down across his lap. It was common practice at night now, so Mabel didn’t even flinch as he did it. 

Bunching her dress over her ass, he lays the first smack of 12 against her bottom. 

She bites back her yelps as she mentally counts out her punishment. 

As the final 12th strike landed, Mabel released the breath she was holding and went to get up. But he forced her back down instead, prolonging the punishment. 

“What’s eight times nine?”

“What?” Mabel answers. 

He smacks her harshly against her bottom again. 

“Eight times nine” he repeats. 

She begins to try to wiggle away from his lap but he keeps his leg over hers, and a hand on her neck pushing her down. 

“Eight” he smacks. 

A yelp makes its way out of her mouth and he shushs her. 

“16.” Another smack lands. 

“24.” She begs him to stop. 

“32.” He does not. 

“40.” A hand came back to protect herself against his blows but was yanked and pinned to her back. 

“48.” Tears pool in her eyes from the pain. 

“56.” A strangled cry.

“64.” The tears roll down her face but Coriolanus is undeterred. 

“72.” She tried to let him know she got it, but he continued over her.

“80.” “Please,” she pleaded. 

“96.”

He smooths his hand over her reddened cheeks, “Your turn. Go.”

“Eight,16, 24” she pauses to count and another strike lands on her ass. 

“32,” he continues. 

“40.” She could count that one easily enough. 

“48.” She stops to count again and it earns two slaps. 

“56!” he growls with another tap. 

“64.” There was no need for quick math in the districts. But she could count easily enough with time. 

Frustrated, he finishes for her, smacking between counts, “72, 80, 88, 96.” 

He moves to gather both wrists in his hands, pinning them to her back. 

“Start again from the top.” 

Through tears, she does as he asks and endures the same treatment as she falters. It gets harder as the blood rushes to her head from her position and the fire on her bottom spreads to the back of her thighs. 

On the fourth go, she does get them all right and he releases her from his hold. 

Mabel lays on the bed, watching him as he stands tall over her.

“What’s eight times nine?” he asks again. 

“72,” she spat through gritted teeth.

He squats down to her level and places a kiss in her hair, “See I knew you could do it. You just need to stop being a brat.” 

He rises again and heads to the bathroom. 

“Come take a shower,” he demands. 

Taglist:

@urfavnoirette

@queenofshinigamis

@immyowndefender

[lovelytsunoda]

starstrukk // zhou guanyu

summary: there were many things that fred vasseur took on when he became the team principal of alfa romeo racing. the hardest task, however, seems to currently be keeping zhou guanyu away from his daughter.

or, the four times that y/n vasseur and zhou guanyu were almost interrupted by fred, and the one time that he found out about his daughter and his rookie

pairing: zhou guanyu x vasseur! reader

warnings: fred is in a constant state of disappointed father energy, there will be multiple sex or almost-sex scenes, so you have been warned. secret relationships, google translated mandarin. mentions of silverstone 2022.

author's note: this is pure crack. i came up with this idea during me real estate law test review when i should have been paying attention and just chose not to.

when y/n met zhou.

she hated parties. especially team parties.

there was no reason for her to be at the gala, and she'd told her father as much, but he wanted his family around him to open the 2022 racing season. and, as much as she wanted to protest, y/n vasseur was a daddy's girl through and through. she loved her father to bits.

which was how she found herself dressed in a cherry red gown she bought at melanie lyne for less than $500, the dress that she wore to all of these stupid events, with her forty-dollar skin-tone aldo heels on underneath, her dark hair curled in her apartment bathroom less than an hour before. the curling iron hadn't been hot enough, and her hair was already starting to lose it's shape.

she was sitting at the table alone, reading a romance book on her phone that followed an fbi agent and the woman he was sworn to protect. it wasn't the best thing she had read in her life, but it was better than following her father around and pretending to be interested in chatting with representatives from orlen and singha.

that was the night that she met zhou guanyu for the first time.

the driver looked like a deer in headlights as fred paraded the rookie around the room, brushing elbows with investors. valtteri was smart enough to slip away from fred at any chance he could get, but zhou hadn't gotten the memo. he was new to this. he probably didn't even know that there was a memo to begin with.

when she saw how miserable the driver looked, it was like something inside her changed. she knew well enough that she had had that same look on her face throughout every sponsorship event she had attended since she was thirteen years old. she found herself shutting off her phone and slipping it into her sequined clutch purse before she made her way over to where her father and zhou were talking to a tuxedoed representative from mitsubishi.

"hi." she cut in, introducing herself as she stuck a hand out for the rookie driver to shake. "y/n vasseur. has my father bored you to death yet?"

she felt a sense of accomplishment when zhou smiled at her, his hand heavy and inviting in hers. "not yet, but i think i lost a few decades since this whole thing started."

"oh, you and me both."

the first time fred thought something was up.

it was the third race of the year. y/n vasseur was sitting in a corner office in the alfa romeo motorhome, her thick hair tied in a clumsy ponytail, legs crossed underneath her as she hunched over her macbook, a ceramic hot chocolate mug rapidly cooling next to her as she narrowed her eyes at the pdf file she was reading.

she considered herself lucky to be allowed to work remotely. she worried about fred a little too often, and found herself accompanying him to a few races a year, not just for the atmosphere, but to make sure that her father didn't work himself too hard.

the office door slowly clicked open, something she barely noticed as she chewed on the end of her pen, music thrumming through the airpod in her right ear.

the door closed as quietly as it had opened, two strong arms wrapping her in a warm, comforting embrace as zhou guanyu kissed her softly on the cheek.

"don't work yourself too hard, bao bei. you've been stressed out all weekend. i'm worried about you."

"if anyone should be worried, it should be me." she joked. "my boyfriend is the one who's about to strap himself into a three-hundred mile an hour death trap".

she leaned back in her chair, looking over at the driver. he still had his arms around her, and she reached up to lace her fingers with his.

"have you eaten yet? i brought you a bowl of fettucine from hospitality." zhou hummed, kissing her forehead.

"thank you, baby." she said softly, standing up from her desk chair to properly wrap her arms around the driver.

her father still didn't know that she was seeing his rookie driver. she knew that frederic would overreact, and someone (likely zhou) would lose their job, and all credibility within the sport, especially given how high-stress everybody felt during a race weekend. she was planning on at least waiting until the summer break to tell her father.

"i love you." she hummed, kissing him softly, one hand gently carding through zhou's hair as he held her, his tongue moving softly with hers.

"i love you more." he hummed, cradling her body close. "my lucky charm."

"hm, yeah? i'm your lucky charm?" she giggled, pressing up on her tiptoes, looping her arms around her lover's neck.

"yeah, yeah you are." he hummed, kissing her again as she pushed him down onto the couch, halfheartedly looking over at the large tinted window to make sure that the blinds were drawn enough that nobody could see what they were about to do.

she kicked off her slip-on vans, straddling zhou with one knee on either side of his lap as she kissed him hard, grinding down on his lap, one hand on either side of his face. the driver clutched her thighs, moaning softly as he tilted his head back to allow the heated make-out session to take on a better angle.

"mhm, should i give you a little extra luck, baby?" she hummed, gently tugging at his hair before she kissed him deeply, one hand moving down his chest.

"mhm, yeah, how are you going to do that, angel face?" he breathed as she kissed his neck, hands fumbling with the buttons on his slacks.

"i can think of a few ways." she grinned, wrapping her palm around zhou's erection before moving her hand up and down his shaft, peppering kisses to his neck as she worked.

"oh, bao bei." he hummed, throwing his head back. "just like that, darling. just like that." he moaned as he bucked his hips into her hand, and she could feel the heat building up between her legs as she slipped off his lap, hand still working as she situated herself between his spread legs.

she smiled up at her lover, pressing a kiss to his thigh before taking his length into her mouth, hands braced on his thighs as zhou moaned in pleasure, biting his lower lip as so not to be heard through the thin walls before he mumbled something in mandarin.

"your mouth feels like heaven, baby." he hummed, reaching down to wrap his hand around her ponytail. "take it nice and slowly, let's not rush this."

he leaned back against the couch, another strangled moan leaving his throat.

until there was a knock on the door.

y/n had never sprung to her feet so fast, wiping the drool from the corner of her mouth with the hem of her cotton crop top, her lover's still-hard cock falling from her mouth as she looked over at the door.

"y/n? are you in there, kiddo?" fred vasseur's voice echoed into the room, panic sinking into y/n's bones.

"closet, now." she hissed, practically pulling zhou off the couch. "he can't know you're here." she turned back to the door as her boyfriend backed into the small closet, a throw pillow from the couch covering his painful hard on. "one second, dad!"

she kissed zhou apologetically before she closed the closet door, quickly giving her appearance a once over in her phone camera before opening the office door.

"hey, dad. what's up?"

"just checking on my beautiful daughter." fred vasseur answered honestly, pulling his daughter in for a hug. "are you coming out to watch the qualifying session?"

y/n nodded. "yeah, i need a break from my work. i feel like my eyes have gone numb from staring at that screen all morning. how are you doing? you aren't working too hard?"

fred shrugged. "you know how it is. have you had lunch yet?"

y/n nodded. "i had something brought up from hospitality, literally like ten minutes ago. i haven't eaten yet, though. when does qualifying start?"

"in about an hour. i'm trying to wrangle the drivers. you haven't seen guanyu, have you?"

"no, i haven't sorry." she wondered if she answered too fast, if her dad knew something was up.

if her dad knew that his rookie driver was hiding in her office closet. that zhou guanyu's cock had been down his daughter's throat not even a minute before she opened that office door. "dad, i hate to cut this short, but i really do have work to do."

fred cleared his throat "right, sorry kiddo." he looked like he was about to back away, when he paused. "do i smell men's cologne?"

shit. zhou's dior cologne had a very distinct smell to it, following the chinese driver around like a cloud.

"dad!" she warned, moving to close the door. "you have work to do!"

"no boyfriends in the motorhome, y/n! you know the rules!"

"goodbye, dad!"

at the sound of the door closing, zhou knocked on the closet door from the inside. "can i come out now?"

she opened the closet door, frowning sadly at her boyfriend. "hey. sorry about my dad. no boys in the motorhome has been a rule since i was sixteen. not like i ever had boys to bring in to the motorhome."

"it's okay." zhou said softly, kissing her on the forehead, one hand cupping the side of her face. "i know why you don't want him to know about us."

"thank you for understanding, guanyu. i love you, baby." she pressed up against her boyfriend to kiss him softly, her tongue slipping into his mouth before she gently bit down on his bottom lip.

"now, let's take care of that pesky little problem you've got down there." she hummed mischeviously, her hand sliding down the front of his boxers.

now fred definitely knows that something is up, but he doesn't know with who.

the sun was filtering through the sheer curtains into y/n vasseur's bedroom. she was curled up comfortably underneath the goose down duvet, zhou guanyu's arms wrapped securely around her, her head resting on his chest as she stirred awake.

"good morning, gorgeous." zhou hummed, pressing a kiss to her forehead as she nuzzled her nose into his bare chest.

"mornin'." she grumbled, pulling the covers up over their groggy bodies. "can i go back to bed?"

zhou laughed, running his fingers through her hair. "don't you have to go to work?"

she shook her head, hooking her leg over zhou's thigh before kissing him softly. "i'm working from home today. do you have to do anything?"

"just a sponsorship meeting." he hummed softly, kissing her again.

"so we can stay in bed longer?" y/n said hopefully, raising her eyebrows as she moved to straddle her lover, silk pajama shorts riding up on her thighs.

"of course we can, angel face." zhou grins, his hands on her hips as he rolled their bodies over so that he was hovering over her, his arms caging her to the bed.

he kissed her softly, smiles of contentment blooming on their faces. y/n loved soft, cozy mornings like these. mornings where she could lie in bed with the man she loved, feeling safe, loved and secure. days where they would be content doing nothing at all.

"i love mornings like these." she hummed as zhou softly pressed kisses to her face, the knotted drawstring of his sweatpants pressing into her bare stomach where the old band shirt she slept in had ridden up. "just you and me. no worries, no responsibilities." she giggled as zhou blew a raspberry into her neck.

"so how do you want to spend this free morning?" zhou hummed, his fingers teasing the waistband of her shorts.

"i can think of a few ideas." she said huskily, raising an eyebrow as she slipped one hand down the back of her lover's sweatpants to cup the globe of his ass within her palm.

zhou smiled, leaning in to kiss her sweetly, and deeply. "i like the way you think, vasseur."

she hooked her leg over his thigh, grinding against the ever-growing bulge in her boyfriend's sweatpants as zhou slipped his tongue into her mouth. she moaned in contentment, burying her fingers in his hair as the driver gripped her thigh tightly.

zhou's nimble fingers began to unlace the drawstring resting just below his lover's navel when her cell phone began to ring from the nightstand.

"motherfucker!" y/n groaned, gently pushing zhou off of her. "again, dad! seriously?"

zhou chuckled, sitting back on his heels. "how do you know it's your dad?"

"because my phone is on 'do not disturb' and he's one of three people that are on the greenlit calls list." she groaned, throwing her arm over her eyes.

her lover looked at her thoughtfully, running his thumb over the soft flesh of her calf. "do you want me to run you a shower, bao bei? that way the water is all warm and ready for you when you're done talking to your dad?"

"that would be great, love. thank you." she hummed, sitting up and kissing zhou softly before reaching for her phone. once zhou was safely out of her bedroom, she swiped to answer the whatsapp video call from her father. "hi, dad. why in god's name are you calling me at seven in the morning on a friday?"

fred vasseur chuckled, looking at his daughter's dishevelled appearance and the messy, crinkled sheets that she had pulled around her shoulders. "i was just double checking if we were doing lunch today or tomorrow. your mother tried to get me on that google calendar thing, but i don't think it synced properly with my phone and i can't find the lunch anywhere."

y/n groaned, rolling her eyes. "dad, that could have been a text message."

"i know. but i just wanted to talk to my baby girl."

"dad, i'm twenty-two years old, hardly your baby girl any more." she chuckled, running a hand through her hair.

frederic smiled. "nonsense, y/n. you'll always be my little girl."

she could hear the shower in her miniscule ensuite bathroom whistle to life, the rush of warm water a comforting background noise through the pale pink wall.

"y/n, is there someone else in your apartment? is that why you wanted to get rid of me so easily?"

"no!" y/n said, again, a little too fast for her father not to have gathered that there was, in fact, another person in her apartment. "i just turned the shower on before i answered your call. you know how long that the water takes to warm up in my apartment."

"babe!"

fuck me. y/n visibly recoiled when zhou's voice echoed through the apartment.

"what body wash did you want?" the rookie driver grinned, sticking his head out the doorframe.

y/n glared at him, hiding the camera from her father as she made a slicing motion across her throat to indicate that the driver should probably stop talking.

"y/n y/m/n vasseur! do you have a boy in your apartment? and is that a hickey on your neck?"

"i'll meet you for lunch at 1:30, the usual spot." y/n said hurriedly, grabbing her cell phone from the mattress next to her and reasdjusting the duvet that was wrapped around her shoulders so that her father couldn't see the glaring red mark where her neck met her collarbone. "we are not talking about my love life at any point today."

"no, i think it's good that you've found someone!" fred beamed. "is it somebody that i know?"

"no, dad. i'm not dating within the sport." she wondered if her father could hear the untruths in her voice. "but i'm not ready to introduce him to the dumpster fire that which is my father's workplace."

"do i at least get a name?"

"goodbye, dad." she groaned, hanging up before she flopped back on the bed, head in her hands as she fought the urge to scream.

the time he guessed but knew better than to say anything.

the silverstone crash had rattled everybody. but what hurt y/n vasseur the most was having to keep her emotion under wraps as she watched her boyfriend's car flip over going into the first corner, the halo dragging across the tarmac and the grass before tumbling over a tyre barrier.

as far as her father was concerned, her friendship with zhou guanyu was strictly platonic, and she was struggling to keep her composure. she needed to be as calm as every other person in the alfa romeo garage as she stood on the pit wall next to her father, nervously clutching frederic's arm and chewing on her nails to distract herself.

to refrain from shouting out, refrain from sobbing.

her lover was strapped in a tin death trap, dangling from his seat and pressed up against the chain link fence, and she couldn't show any emotion whatsoever.

when it was confirmed that zhou was okay, and he had been transferred to the medical bay, y/n finally allowed herself to feel the torrent of emotions that she had kept bottled up like the seashells and sand she kept in that jar on her mantel.

she made her way out into the paddock, still struggling to force her weak, cement-block legs to move, trying to process the gut-wrenching, straight out of tv moment that had just unfolded in front of her eyes.

the first few silent tears began to fall, and when she walked past charles leclerc, who grabbed her by the arm and asked if she was okay, the monegasque driver's voice sounding like it was miles away, she woke up.

and she let out the first heart-breaking sob as she collapsed against charles' side, still unable to find the words.

how was she supposed to explain that she had just watched the love of her life almost lose his.

"i love him!" she coughed out, struggling to stand on her own two feet as charles gripped her arms, trying to avoid making a scene. "can you take me to see him, charles? i need to see guanyu."

if charles was fazed by how shaken up his former team principal's daughter was, he didn't show it as he guided her towards the medical bay, allowing the french girl to compose herself before going inside.

her face was red and puffy, and it was clear as day to all inside the room that she had been sobbing just moments before. she waved wearily at alex albon, who flashed her a look of discomfort along with a subtle raise of the hand as one of the nurses conducted an ultrasound on his wrist.

she quietly asked one of the nurses where her lover was before slipping behind the thin plastic sheet keeping zhou's condition private from the rest of the wards.

"you scared me, jackass." she tried to smile, voice shaky as she tried not to cry. "i'm glad that you're okay."

"oh, bao bei." zhou's voice wavered. "come here. i'm so sorry for scaring you, but i'm fine, see?"

shaking her head, y/n slipped onto the hospital bed next to zhou, gingerly wrapping her arms around him before pressing a single kiss to the side of his head, balaclava lines still visible on his face. "please, never do that to me again."

"i'm not going anywhere, angel face." he sighed, turning his head to kiss her. "i was so scared. i genuinely thought i wasn't going to be able to get out of that car. if it wasn't for george..."

"i know, honey." y/n sighed, resting her forehead against his as a tear began to fall down her face, following the tracks of the many salty emotions that had spilled over before it. "i love you." she whispered, her lips ghosting over her boyfriends skin as she curled into his side.

the plastic curtain slid open again, and fred vasseur jokingly knocked on the wall before making his way inside. if he was at all shocked at the sight of his driver and his daughter curled up in the hospital bed, he didn't show it.

fred had been beginning to suspect something was up in his daughter's love life for a few months now. but if this breif moment in time was confirming anything at all in his mind, he chose to keep it to himself.

"hey, champ. that's one hell of a recovery you've made."

and the time that fred vasseur walked in on a very compromising situation.

the moon was high as fred vasseur steered the alfa romeo into his daughter's driveway. the team had just had a sponsorship meeting, a gala if you will, and y/n and zhou had decided that it would just bea easier for zhou to just leave his car outside y/n's flat.

of course, what fred didn't need to know was that zhou guanyu had just spent the weekend at his daughter's flat, and had really all but moved in with her.

"thanks for the ride, dad. i'll call you in the morning." y/n said, leaning over the console to kiss her father on the cheek before opening the passenger side door and slipping out of the luxury vehicle.

behind her, zhou slipped almost ghost-like out of the backseat, waiting for frederic to reverse out of the driveway before he allowed himself to slip his arm around his girlfriend's waist, the couple turning to walk up the cobblestone drive to y/n's front door.

as soon as the front door was closed and they were certain that they wouldn't get caught, y/n slipped out of her leather jacket, spinning barefoot in the front hall so the shimmery black fabric of her gown swirled around her legs.

this was a different dress than the one she normally wore to such an event. she decided to change things up this far into the season. and it helped that her boyfriend was sponsored by dior and prada.

"i'm not going to lie," she hummed, reaching for zhou's collar and undoing the first few buttons on the white silk shirt she wore underneath his suit jacket. "it's been very hard to keep my hands off of you tonight. you look very sexy in a suit, my love."

zhou smiled, sliding his hands gently over his girlfriend's waist. "well, clearly you are the only one who had that problem."

"yeah, what were you thinking with that under-the-table stuff?" y/n giggled, playfully smacking zhou's chest. "i thought for sure that dad would realize something was up."

"i was barely touching you." zhou laughed, "my hand was literally just on your thigh."

"yeah, under my dress!" she smiled, pressing up on her tiptoes to kiss him softly. "i love you, zhou guanyu."

"love you more, y/n vasseur."

they kissed softly in the front hall, both parties finding it increasingly difficult to keep the kisses gentle and sweet as hands began to grip tender flesh tighter, hands fumbling with buttons on shirts, sliding up slits in dresses. teeth nipping at lips, tongues brushing up against each other, sharp gasps escaping throats.

zhou's suit jacket fell to the floor, his shirt hanging limply off his frame without the buttons to hold it closed, his lover's hands roaming his warm, soft skin as his lips dipped down to kiss her neck, backing her up against the kitchen island.

"zhou, honey," she breathed, fingers tangling in his hair as he sucked a hickey into her collarbone. "i'm not wearing a bra."

zhou paused, drawing away from y/n's neck to look her in the eyes, a cheeky grin on his face as he brushed her hair behind her ear. "just when i thought you couldn't get any sexier."

he kissed her again, hungry and full of passion as his hand slinked around her back to undo the ties holding her dress together, watching the straps slip down her shoulders and reveal her perfect, beautiful breasts.

"you're the most beautiful woman i have ever met." he mumbled huskily, kissing her again as her hands wrapped around his biceps, his hands moving to grope her chest, feeling himself getting harder with every breathy whine she let out.

switching his focus to her neck, he slipped his hands underneath the glittery lace of her dress, teasing his fingers along the outline of her lacy panties.

"guanyu," she whined, voice shaky and desperate, bucking her hips against his slender, nimble fingers. "i need you so badly. i need you to fuck me."

"i've got you, bao bei." he hummed, kissing her forehead sweetly before tugging at the waistband of her panties, doing his best not to rip them but simultaneously not caring if he tore them in half.

the skimpy fabric fell to the floor, y/n's hands flying to the fabric covering her lover's very obvious hard-on. she undid the button holding his slacks together, slipping her hand into his boxers before palming his cock and guiding it towards the center of her spread legs.

he sunk inside of her, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist as she cursed in french, the end of the curse pitching into a moan as he began to thrust inside her, a deep groan leaving his own throat

"fuck, just like that, baby." she whined, throwing her head back as her fingernails dug into his shoulders, his cock sliding in and out of her dripping core, each thrust sending shockwaves through her body.

"y/n?" a heavily accented voice called from the front hallway, followed shortly by the front door swinging shut. "you left your purse in my- holy mary mother of christ!"

"dad!? what the fuck?" y/n screamed, jumping off the counter and scrambling to right her dress as zhou hastily does up the zipper on his slacks, turning his back to his team principal. "you can't just barge into my flat!"

"you left the door unlocked!" fred vassuer moaned, his eyes still closed. "can i open my eyes yet? are you both decent?"

"uhh, i think so?" she said hesitantly, panic flaring in her bones as she scrambled to kick her discarded panties behind the island and out of sight. "what the fuck are you doing here?"

"you left your purse in my car." fred glared, passing his daughter the small dooney and bourke handbag. "i've known somethignw as up since silverstone, but seriously? on the kitchen island? you guys haven't been home half an hour yet!"

"i'm so sorry, sir." zhou pleaded, reaching for his girlfriend's hand. "we never meant for it to be like this. we were going to tell you once the season was over."

"were you at least using protection? or not, i mean, i'd like to become a grandfather before i die."

"dad!" y/n scolded. "can we talk about this another time, please?"

"i am so taking that ferrari job."

Tags:

@sidcrosbyspuck @magnummagnussen @libraryofloveletters @daydreamingleclerc @scuderiamh @estevries

[lokisprettygirl]

Close Ties (Daemon Targaryen x Female Reader) (Modern AU) (Non canon) (18+)

Read Chapter 12 // Series Masterlist

Chapter 13

Summary : You help Daemon with his insecurities. Truth comes out in the open.

Warning: 18+, smutty smut, dad's best friend trope, canon (we don't know her..don't like don't read), feeling of hopelessness, uncle Daemon kink (you don't have to squint), familial uncle niece sort of relationship but he's not really her uncle, there will be more smut later, masturbation, significant age gap but reader is in her mid twenties, mention of infidelity, divorce, smoking and alcohol drinking, physical violence implied

“Can I ask you a personal question?” You mumbled softly in his ear so he hummed in response.

You were currently lying down in his arms on his bed, feeling the warmth of his touch and the comfort of his embrace. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and the two of you had the mansion to yourselves since your parents were out of town again and your aunt Polly took the family to her mother's. He had a dark gray full sleeves t-shirt on with a matching pair of trousers and as soon as you saw him in the set you knew you wanted to snuggle into his arms and lay there for as long as he'd allow you to.

Daemon wasn't dating you, he was courting you and you wanted to take things slow but you couldn't stop yourself from wanting to entice him now and then, that's why you had a flimsy tank top on with a pair of shorts.

His fingers were tracing circular patterns on your bare shoulders while he used his other hand to do the same with your thigh..

“What made you want to let go finally? What was the breaking point in your marriage?” You asked him softly and he sighed, he was quiet for a moment as to figure out how he wanted to answer that heavy question.

To be honest there were several breaking points in his marriage, he should have gotten out of that relationship a long time ago, a decade ago but he continued to set himself up for failure.

“It was her wanting to keep our marriage open for other people..basically our bed ”

You looked at him a bit shocked and frankly disgusted by Stella's behavior as he said that, she spent years with him so she must have known what kind of man Daemon was. A man like him could have never allowed that to happen, he was too possessive of his girl, you knew that now very well.

“That negates the whole sanctity of marriage..she didn't deserve the countless chances you gave her" you caressed his chest with your fingers so he hummed again

"I could never ever share you with anyone, it would honestly destroy me”

He held you tighter as you said that, a smile appeared on his face as he felt your possessiveness towards him but then his insecurities kicked in for a moment.

“Mmmm really? I'm nothing special that you'd want to keep me all to yourself ”

You looked at him sharply as he said that before you got out of his arms and climbed on top of him.

“Do you want me to show you how special you are to me?” You asked him in a seductive manner as you pushed your hair behind your shoulders and his eyes flickered as he gazed at your strained nipples and your breasts threatening to spill out of your tank top but then he controlled himself. He won't fuck you until your parents had learned of this thing between you two, keeping them in dark was starting to make him feel extremely guilty.

He couldn't do this to your father, he knew it didn't make much sense but he still wanted to hold on until the truth was out in the open.

He grabbed you by the waist and pulled you closer to him, your sweet scent immediately engulfed him,

“Would you feel the same way when I'm older and unattractive and you'd have the attention of every other man out there?” He asked you softly and your eyes filled with several different emotions, in that moment not only did you want to adore him but you wanted to protect him as well, protect him from all the insecurities he had about himself.

“Why don't you get old with me and find out for yourself?” you smiled as you spoke but his eyes teared even more up so you immediately scooted closer to him and hugged him tightly, lips pressed soft kisses on his neck, he hardly ever showed his emotions like this so you knew he was always genuine with them.

Your birthday arrived a week later, and as usual, your father had arranged a celebration for you. However, this year, things were a bit more grand compared to previous years. He had thought of everything and made sure every detail was taken care of, from the food to the music, to the decorations. And unlike all those years when he had been too busy with work to be there with you, this year, he made sure he was right by your side, not caring about anything else. And you had the best present you could have gotten from him, he brought back Daemon into your life, you'd have traded everything for him.

The corner of the living room was filled with presents you had received. From expensive jewellery to imported perfumes, your father had gone all out. He even gifted you a brand new car, and those who attended the party also brought with them their own lavish gifts, making you feel like a queen.

However, Daemon couldn't' help but feel a pang of guilt because he didn't have anything nearly as valuable to give you for your birthday. He was still paying off alimony since he didn't file for infidelity claim and he was saving up for his own place, making it impossible for him to spend an extravagant amount on a present for you.

As Daemon watched you being doused in expensive gifts, he couldn't help but feel inferior with the simple necklace he had gotten made for you. He shoved it back into his pocket and tried to ignore the feeling of regret that crept over him. He didn't want to spoil the night for you by bringing up his own issues, so he just kept quiet and then while you were busy with other guests he quietly left for his room.

However, when you sneaked away from the party and came to his room, he knew he couldn't keep up the facade any longer. He had intended to give you the necklace, but now felt embarrassed by its simple nature in the face of all your other luxuries.

“It's your birthday sweetheart…go get drunk” he told you nonchalantly so you pushed past him and entered his room.

“Where's my gift?” You asked him as you stood in the middle of the room with your arms behind your back elegantly, you looked drop dead gorgeous tonight in the red dress and face full of makeup. All he could think about was wanting to ruin and smear that deep red lipstick all over your face or more like his face.

“I got nothing for you pixie…sorry” he looked away as he leaned against the door so you walked towards him and kissed him softly, your hands were still behind your back and when you finally brought them forward you had a small Rose in your hand which you tucked in the pocket of his leather jacket.

“I brought one for you since you love roses” his eyes teared up at the simplicity of the gesture and he immediately wrapped his arms around you to hug you. Hiding his face between the crook of your neck he held onto to you for a while before he pulled away from you, you didn't enjoy watching him sullen like this but you did cherish these moments of vulnerability that he chose to share with you especially because you knew he wasn't like that with anyone else.

“I do have a present for you babygirl” he muttered softly and it made you smile.

“I know”

“I just didn't think you'd like it”

“And that's stupid you know that right?”

He nodded as you said that,

“You're my favorite present, you came back and I have prayed for that to happen since you left, my prayers were finally answered this year. You can give me a bag of dust if that's all you can afford and I'd rub it all over myself as if it's an offering from God, because that's what it is, that's how much I value you”

As you finished speaking you watched the tears roll down his eyes and he cupped your cheeks to kiss you passionately. He hadn't gotten the chance to do so all day long so he really needed to douse you in his sweet sweet love that he felt for you but wasn't able to show most of the time.

“Close your eyes” you smiled and closed your eyes as per his request and then you felt a necklace wrapping around your neck, you didn't even have to look at it, you just knew you'd never want to take it off ever again.

Your fingers curled around his neck as you kissed him again, you didn't have much time, you knew you'd have to go back downstairs before somebody will come looking for you so you wanted to make the most of the time.

He turned you around and pressed you against the door, fingers worked your zipper down slowly as he pressed kisses on your bare back

“Uncle?” You moaned the forbidden name and he knew he wanted to please you right then, treat you to a good release for your birthday, the way you just melted in his arms made him believe that you had never been taken care of this way and he wanted to change that, he wanted to make you feel like a treasure, make you feel pleased and valued..

“Mmm baby what do you want?” his voice was a husky whisper in your ear and it sent shivers down your spine,

“Want to show you how I look in your present”

“I can see baby..you're the most beautiful girl I swear on my dead mother, you're so precious my love”

Your eyes teared up but there was also a sweet smile on your face as his words raced your heartbeat.

“Mmmm..want to show you how i look in just your present uncle, i want to wear just that”

He gasped as you said that and as he reeled in the look on your face he just wanted to oblige and give you everything you'd ever need, a sweet, caring loyal woman like you deserved every bit of affection in return.

He lowered the straps from your shoulders slowly until the dress fell down on the floor and you were left in a red glittering lingerie that matched the dress you had on.

He turned you around swiftly and grabbed you by the hips to pick you up in his arms as if you weighed nothing, your lips stayed on his as he laid you down on the bed, the dim lighting in his room made the atmosphere even more sensuous.

As you took your bra off slowly his eyes were stuck on your almost naked form and as you slid the panties down he could see the arousal dripping from between your legs.

“How do I look?” You asked him nervously, you had never been so bold in your life before, especially in bed but the way he cared for you made you feel confident enough about yourself.

“Gorgeous babygirl, so fucking beautiful” he licked his lips subconsciously as he looked at you from head to toe.

You knew he wasn't going to fuck you so soon but you were all prepared to show him what you wanted to give him when he'd finally give it to you.

He took the rose out from the pocket of his jacket and leaned right over you to caress your face with it gently, your chest was heaving up and down as your breathing fastened from his action. The contrast of him being fully clothed and you being all naked with just his necklace on you was tantalizing.

He dragged the flower from one nipple to another very slowly before he traced it over your stomach and he took his own sweet time before he reached your mound, the delicate petals of rose then swiped between your legs for barely a moment and it was drenched with your arousal.

He brought the flower closer to his mouth and then clasped the soaked petals between his teeth. You couldn't help but moan loudly just at the sight of him being so primal at the moment, all of a sudden he had your legs pushed apart and his mouth between your legs, he kissed and licked your freshly waxed and sensitive mound before he wrapped his lips around your dripping lips, tongue played with your clit tenderly before he sucked on the swollen nubs.

Your fingers curled around his hair and you couldn't help but pull on it as the sensation between your legs reached the pit of your stomach. Back arched as his tongue slid inside you and you couldn't stop yourself from crushing him between your thighs and gods he wanted you to suffocate him like this, he could have spent hours between your legs this way..

You have had dreams like this before and a part of you still felt hazy, all of this felt like a dream come true. A dream that you knew would end someday.

“Oh god…daemon”

His pace only intensified as you moaned his name so sweetly, his hands slid up to grab your bosom and he pinched the soft flesh between his palms.

As you managed to look down he had his eyes on you, he was watching every little movement of yours, drinking in every little gasp and moans that you emitted for him, as a whiny cry escaped your throat he knew he had you right at the brink of your release..

“Cum my sweet little girl, let go in my mouth, i know you want to let go for your uncle don't you?”

The vibrations you felt from his words and his constant stimulation was enough to push you over the edge. Your thighs squeezed around his head and body convulsed like a fish out of water as you rode your high and chanted his name over and over again.

The kink was mutual and it didn't feel perverted no more, he was slowly and definitely learning to accept that his feelings for you wasn't a sin, it was a blessing, at least for him it was. He had no hope or will to find love again, he didn't think he'd ever be ready for that but you had changed it for him so quickly.

He kissed up from between your legs, leaving a trail of your wetness on your skin and as he reached closer to your mouth you kissed him back filthily.

There was no going back now, you knew things would never go back to the way they used to be before you two walked down this path. He'd always think about how you crumbled beneath him whenever he goes to bed alone at night and you? Well you didn't think you'd ever get over the way he made you feel, not just in sexual ways but emotionally and spiritually.

As you breathing leveled and you came back to your senses you found him sucking on your nipples softly and the gesture was enough to turn you on again. As he realized that he pressed his head up to kiss you one more time before he made his way to the bathroom to clean his face and then he returned to do the same with you, however you weren't just done with him. He was standing at the edge of your bed so you sat up and cupped the bulge in your palm, his eyes squeezed as a wave of pleasure shot through his spine.

“Darling.. I'd cum like this, I'm an old man now” you smiled as he said that, his voice came out all breathy.

“Then cum uncle, it's my birthday, you can give me what I want”

“Ohh sweet girl..i..” words died mid sentence in his throat as you unbuttoned his pants and rubbed your hands over his briefs and as soon as you had placed your mouth on his clothed cock to leave wet kisses his fingers clutched into your hair and you knew he had let go like he had said he would.

And you didn't judge him for that, nothing could have made you feel more desirable than a man like him cumming in his pants just from your touch.

He had to make another trip to the bathroom and when he came back this time you were already dressed so he hugged you from behind.

“I can do better than that i promise”

“Mmmm I don't care, as long as I get to have you in my bed..i don't care how long it would take me to make you cum”

You turned around and kissed him softly, there was a sweet smile on his face, all those insecurities he had somehow felt so foolish right now.

“Happy birthday my sweet puppy”

You giggled as he rubbed his nose against yours and kissed you again and then again. And then one more time.

When you went downstairs again, Rhaenyra gave you a smirk and you knew that she knew, there was no hiding it from her either.

And you wished she was the only one to find out your secret so soon but she wasn't.

Daemon was in your dad's office a week later and you went to see him there to wish him goodnight, since your father wasn't there you leaned into him to give him a quick kiss but as you turned around your dad was standing right at the door with a look of anger, disappointment and betrayal plastered all over his face.

His fists were clenched at his sides, and he was taking deep, angry breaths as he stormed towards Daemon.

And Daemon knew right then that there was no point of return from here onwards, this day had to come sooner or later. So he didn't even flinch when your father’s fist connected with his face, he just took it and perhaps he deserved that, he would have felt the same if his old best friend was caught kissing his daughter.

“Dad..” your voice choked on your tears but your dad just glared at you, the way he looked at you in the moment was heartbreaking for you. You had never been a cause of anguish for him, you were always the good girl.

“You shut up, you stay out of this y/n” he said to you so you shook your head in response and you wanted to break the fight and calm his anger but Daemon gestured you to stay quiet.

“And you..you bastard, this is what you came for isn't it? A petty revenge, after all these years you lied to me that you had forgiven me but this was your plan all along wasn't it? Using my daughter for a payback, I never thought you'd stoop so low” Your dad grabbed Daemon by the collar and punched him again but Daemon didn't say a word, he just took it as if he deserved it so that's when you intervened because you had to. You had to stick up for him even though he didn't want you to do that.

“Dad ..stop…please..it's not his fault” you pleaded with him as you stood in front of daemon but your father was so enraged that he didn't even care at the moment, he grabbed your shoulders and shoved you aside forcefully which made you trip and fall and that's when Daemon stepped out of the self loathing and pushed your father against the desk to calm him down and take control of him.

“Enough mate..i know you're cross but you're not going to hurt her” his voice was firm but still respectful, he didn't blame your father for being so erratic, any loving father would have reacted the same way.

“She's my daughter..i have loved her more than anything, you don't get to teach me how to respect my daughter when you have been fooling around with her ..you should be ashamed of yourself” as your father took another swing at him Daemon grabbed his hand, by this time your mom had joined the commotion too and she was standing at the door shell shocked, this felt like a deja vu to her, the last time they argued like this was a decade ago..

“I'm not fooling around with her, i love her…I love your daughter”

Daemon said fiercely, his voice had plenty of emotions and you didn't know how to react, you just stared between him and your dad, his confession had warmed your heart but the situation you were in was making you so anxious you didn't know what to do. You had disappointed your parents, that's all you knew.

“Love? Oh you love her now do you? You don't love her Daemon..if you loved her you wouldn't be putting your hands on her like this..good lord I'm disgusted by your perversion, you're no different than your wife”

Daemon stayed quiet as your father accused him like that, he didn't want to blow this argument out of proportion because he was afraid your father would say things he shouldn't say in front of you or your mother for that matter but it was too late now, things were about to take a turn for the worse.

“I invited you into my home again, and made you a part of my family”

"Calm down--" Daemon tried to intervene but your father didn't even listen to him

"Now I know that you came here just so you could take revenge for that one fucking mistake I had made by fucking your whore of a wife”

Your eyes widened in shock as you heard your dad's words but you didn't even have time to process what he had said because your mum heard him as well and the truth was so heartbreaking for her that she had collapsed right away.

In the fit of his anger your father had revealed the secret he had been hiding for years. You rushed to your mother's side and so did Daemon but your father stood there in his spot, not moving, not saying anything.

And you wished this awful truth was the end of it all but it wasn't, what you were about to discover next was going to change your whole life and a part of you knew you'd have to lose Daemon again.

💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

Taglist

@serving-targaryen-realness @annoyingsweetsstranger @anukulee @mcufan72 @insertsomethingsillyhereple-blog @silentf @ajthefujoshi @stupidthoughtsinwriting @ammo23 @shuichiakainx @daddylokisqueen @ipostwhtifeel @anehkael @madlyinlovewmattmurd0ck @dixie-elocin @urmomsgirlfriend1

[kraeted]

COINTAINS: daichi x fem!reader, minors do not interact, fluff, suggestive

daichi comes home to you for the first time after being in a long distance relationship

When Daichi came home to you for the first time, for a moment he had forgotten you moved in. Instead of stepping into a dark, soulless apartment, he was met by the living room’s light illuminating the hallway wall, the many different aroma’s of your cooking and the distant sizzling of chicken being fried. It only took a moment more for the realization to set in and even with the exhaustion of his workday wearing him down, a smile pulled at the corners of his lips.

Daichi found you in the kitchen, at the stove with your headphones on, completely oblivious to his presence. He leaned against the doorframe and his smile grew wider, watching you softly sing and sway to your music. You had gotten comfortable, wearing a hoodie he wore the day before and a pair of black shorts he hadn’t seen before. He was finally able to experience all of you and live the candid moments the long distance had robbed him from.

“I’m home!” He said for the first time and although it sounded foreign, nothing felt more right.

You perked up and turned around as you pushed your headphones behind one of your ears. “Finally!” Your face lit up and you quickly turned down the heat of one of the pans on the stove, before skipping over to your boyfriend.

With you starting your new job two weeks later and no friends in the area (yet), there wasn’t much to do besides doing chores around the house and getting familiar with your new neighborhood.

“Welcome home.” You took his face into your hands, pulling him into a kiss.

Daichi embraced your waist, pulling you closer and deepened the kiss with a hum. It was easy to get lost in your touch. The years of yearning and finally having you made him long for more.

He moved his hands down your body and grabbed a hold of where your ass and thighs met. You let out a giggle in surprise when he lifted you off the ground, your legs wrapping around his hips.

“Missed me that badly, hm?” You asked amused as your arms encircled his neck.

He kissed the side of your face. “Been thinking,” he slowly worked his way down your jaw, “about you,” to your neck, ignoring your chuckles and squirming, “all day.”

“You’re going to have to think about me some more,” you pulled your face away from his affections and nodded towards the stove, “I need to finish cooking.”

“It can wait.” He stared at you through half lidded eyes. “Just turn it off.”

The unashamed lust in his eyes, the faint cologne still clinging to him, the way he wanted you— it was tempting, he was tempting, but nothing would come in the way of making your first meal together absolutely perfect.

You kissed him once more and quickly pulled away. “Give me a few more minutes.” You told him, lowering your feet to the ground.

“Alright.” Daichi smiled softly. For you he could wait forever.

He let go of you and you walked back to the stove. You grabbed a fork from the counter and beckoned him over. “You need to taste something for me.”

“I’ll never say no to that.” He joined you at the kitchen counter, quickly washing and drying his hands.

You dipped the fork into one of the three pans, wiped off the excess sauce of the meat against the side and blew on it until the steam dissipated. You held it out to Daichi and he took it in his mouth. You watched him closely as he chewed. You could tell he wasn’t used to the foreign flavors, his face twisting with surprise and curiosity. Ultimately, he nodded approvingly.

“Good, isn’t it?” You grinned. He opted not to speak with his mouth full, but his reaction was confirmation enough. “It’s that recipe of my mom’s I told you about. It’s nothing compared to hers, but still pretty good.”

“If this is nothing, I need to try hers.”

“We should visit her together next year,” you suggested, dipping into the pan to get a piece of your own, “she barely cooked for me anymore before I left, but when she has someone to impress she’ll go all out.”

Daichi leaned against the counter with a chuckle. “She sounds just like my mother.”

You laughed with him, recalling the first time you visited his mother years ago. Daichi was just as surprised by the amount of cooking his mom had done as you were. You ended up with the leftovers, which you ate for the rest of the week.

You lowered the heat on the meat even more and blew on the piece on your fork, closing the pan to let it simmer. You sighed satisfied at the burst of flavor melting against your tongue. As you chewed, you walked up to your boyfriend and swallowed.

You hooked your fingers through Daichi’s belt loops and held his gaze with a smile. “We have about,” you paused and feigned a calculation, “let’s say, ten minutes before it’s done. You think that’s enough for you?”

Daichi failed at suppressing his smile and leaned forward, your lips only an inch apart. “That’s plenty.”

[bumblebeesfromvenus]

Paper rings 🩷

Jason Todd x singer!reader

A/N: I have to be honest, half of this is cat content ngl. This is based off the song by T. Swift :) Catdad!Jason is real because I say so. I geeked out and somehow love for greek mythology always find its way into my Jason fics idk

Enjoy!

~Fi 🪻

Prompt: reader is a singer who writes a song for Jason. How does he react?

Requested by: 🌙 anon

Warnings: fluff all around! Cute kitty moments, the concert parts may be all wrong idk what I'm doing lmao

Word count: 1.8k

Please don't copy my work! I put a lot of effort and heart into the things I write.

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You let out a sigh as you got into your car. It had been a long day in the studio, recording new songs for your latest album. Your throat hurt, but you were happy with the progress you had made today. Starting the car, you made your way home to the apartment you shared with your boyfriend, Jason.

It was his birthday soon, and you'd planned a little surprise, not only for him but for your fans as well. You had written him a song, one that would be on your newest record. You smiled only thinking about it, you couldn't wait to pull off this surprise.

The show you were performing tomorrow in Gotham was no ordinary one. You'd called it the "Jazz on Special", which was just a a play on Jason. Your lovely, yet sometimes a little daft lover had not gotten the hint. Good.

He always attended your concerts, watching from backstage, giving his support. The moment you stepped off stage, he was immediately one you, showering you in compliments and kisses, telling you how proud he was of you.

So you figured this was the least you could do to show your appreciation for him. You wanted the whole world to know how much he actually meant to you, scream it into the crowds. So that's excatly what you were going to do.

Unlocking your apartment door, you stepped in, dropping your keys in the little dish right by the entrance. You could hear footsteps the minute the door closed. Jason came towards you, with a big smile and open arms. "How was your session today, Baby?" He asked, wrapping you in his strong and comforting arms. You snaked your arms around his waist and hid your face against his chest. "Was really good. My throat is sore though, I need some tea." You mumbled, letting a content sigh to be in his arms. He placed a kiss to the top of your head.

"I'll make you some, got get comfy, okay?" He said softly, stroking your hair. "Thanks, Jay," you replied, slipping from his embrace with smile. You went to put on a change of clothes. You did wear comfortable clothes to your recording sessions, but you had to dress it up at least little bit with some jewelry. It probably wouldn't be the best look to show up to work in your kitty PJs.

After having changed into said kitty PJs, you plopped down on the couch next to Jason and your cat, Nyx. She was a black stray with a white streak on her forehead. You'd picked her up from a local animal shelter, you just couldn't resist her cute little white paws that made her look like she wore socks and the fact that she matched Jason. It was supposed to be his Christmas gift one year, but you just couldn't keep her to yourself.

Although you got her for Jason, he insisted you name her, his reasoning being that she got her looks from dad so her name should be from mom. And yes, you do treat her like your child. You named her Nyx, after the greek goddess. She was the first, daughter of Chaos, night incarnate. You thought that it fit, with Jason being the protector of Gothams street at night. And in a way, you were grateful to her, to Mother Night, for holding Jason safely in her dark yet loving embrace.

"Nyxieeee!! There you are my sweet girl! I missed you SO much, yes I did," you beamed in a high pitched baby voice, scratching her face. You stole her off Jason's lap, making him huff. Taking her into your arms, you placed overly dramatic kisses on her tiny head. She didn't seem to mind, though, rubbing her cheeks against your hand and purring. Jason's face softened at the sight.

You looked so precious like this, the cat curled up in your arms as you cooed at her. You'd be a little embarrassed about your habit of talking to animals in a baby voice if Jason too, wasn't guilty of it as well. He put an arm around your shoulder, pulling you close to him. "You know, technically that's my cat," he said with a smirk on his face. You shot him a glare.

"Technically, you wouldn't have her without me and you asked me to be her mom. She's my child too, Jason!" You responded playfully. He threw his head back, laughing. "I guess she is, huh. Thank you for being the mother of my furrbaby." He sighed, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. "It's my absolute pleasure, baby."

You were getting sleepy, your eyes unvoluntarily fluttering shut ever so often. Nyx was curled up on your lap, peacefully snoozing away while Jason was intently watching whatever was playing on the TV. You took a sip of the tea Jason had so lovingly prepared for you. Setting the mug back down on the coffee table, your gaze shortly fell on Nyx and- wait

You had to do a double take. She had one of her small paws reached out towards Jason who was gently holding it and without paying much mind, softly stroking his thumb over it. Your heart was about to explode. Your lips were slightly parted and your eyes were wide, looking at Jason completely bewildered. He noticed your stare, turning his head towards you with furrowed brows.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" He asked, the question slightly muffled by the hand that was supporting his head. "That's the cutest fucking thing I've ever seen," you mumbled, the shock pretty evident in your voice as you gestured to his huge hand that was ever so softly caressing Nyx's comparably tiny paw. His eyes softened.

"It is, isn't it? The first time she did it I was practically shaking from excitement," he laughed, the sound rumbling through his chest. Your brows shot together. "What do you mean 'the first time'?! Has she done this before? AND YOU NEVER TOLD ME?!" You yelled in disbelief. How dare he keep something so precious from you.

"Sorry, Baby."

"Unbelievable."

Today was the day. The day you would pour your heart out in front of Gotham. To say you were nervous would be an understatement. The blood in your veins was at boiling point and you were seconds away from a panic attack. Fiddling with the two colorful paper rings you had made for today, you took a deep breath, trying to calm your nerves. This was fine. You were fine. You've literally done this hundreds of times. But would Jason like it? God, you hoped he would.

Before you could overthink more, you heard your cue through your earpiece and it was showtime.

The 'normal' part of the concert went well, you performed some of your best songs, the crowd was amazing and it was overall an incredible night. You'd talked to your fans a little on stage between songs, receiving some nice little gifts here and there. Flowers, plushies as well as a bra was thrown on stage. Well that was a first. Not that you complained, you were rather flattered, actually.

It was nice to know that you had the ladies on your side. Jason, who was watching from backstage, almost keeled over with laughter when he saw you pick up the under garment, completely bewildered. He would never let you live this down.

"Alright, Gotham," you said breathlessly, "before our lovely night comes to an unfortunate end, I have prepared a little something. Not only for you, but also for my special someone, who might or might not be here today," cheering could be heard from the audience as you fixed your earpiece and chuckled breathlessly into the microphone.

Singing and jumping around stage sure was a work out.

"This is a song I've not shared publicly, as it is from my new album, but I thought I'd make a little exception for all of you and at the same time be the best girlfriend and make the coolest birthday present ever!" You laughed. The moment you mentioned that it was a new song the crowd absolutely lost their shit. You don't think any of your concerts have ever been this loud. Your eardrums nearly burst at the sheer volume of teenage girls screaming their souls out.

"Here's Paper rings. This is for you, Jason." You said with a smile on your face. The music started playing and it's like all your worries faded away. You'd been waiting for this moment for weeks, to finally share this song and your love for Jason. As you sang the lyrics, a compilation of cute and silly pictures of you and Jason ran over the huge screen behind you. Some were of you and Jason in a face mask, others were of Jason cuddling with Nyx. You occasionally glanced over to Jason who was doing his best to hold back his tears with the biggest smile on his face. Your heart swelled at the sight.

With the last bit of music fading out, you finished the song and bowed. The picture remaining on the screen was of you and Jason kissing with a sunset in the background. A heart was drawn around it. The minute the last words left your lips, Jason was storming on stage, showering you in kisses. He held you tightly against him, peppering kisses all over your face. His actions made you giggle into the microphone and the crowd went wild. The security guards were really struggling by this point.

You grabbed Jason's hand and slipped one of the two paper rings on his finger, pulling him in for a sweet kiss. The dam broke. There were happy tears rolling down his cheeks as he continued kissing you. Managing to pull away, you addressed your fans one last time. "Thank you, and Good Night, Gotham!"

You squealed when Jason unexpectedly picked you up bridal style and whisked you off stage, your head thrown back in laughter. It was safe to say you were on the front page of the Gotham Gazette the next day.

Jason was talking his heart out on the way home, talking about how much he loved it and how much he loved you. You were listening patiently, holding his hand while a big smile was plastered on your cheeks.

Now, you found yourself in the familiar spot on the couch, Jason's arms wrapped around you with little Nyx making biscuits on your thigh. "I have one question for you, though," you said, turning your head to Jason. "What is it?" He replied softly.

"How the fuck did you not get the play on your own name?"

"Oh, shut up." He pouted, burying his face in the crook of your neck. You let out a soft laugh.

"I love you too, Baby."

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