#sherry is Complicated

[hyper-cryptic]

Back at it with my werewolf shenanigans!!! Meet He ! !! And also Hunnigan is there because I decided to make her an actual character in this AU <3

[aropride]

i love psychology classes i love this shit. because i know like everyything but i get to share my opinions on the reading and i LOVE having opinions

[dragonnarrative-writes]

Part 2 - Work Introductions

Autumn Embers Masterlist

CW: Mentions of child loss, mentions of medical neglect/abuse, mentions of reproductive abuse, mentions of pregnancy complications and death, mentions of racism, sexism (in an omegaverse way), Brandon (unfortunately living), real world references

Data entry and analysis isn’t the most exciting job in the world, no matter what kind of fancy title you’re given, but it pays the bills. Working on a military base isn’t ideal, but the benefits are nothing to sneeze at. And most days, you get to sit alone and uninterrupted, in your own office, instead of in a cramped cubicle.

On Tuesday, you’re startled out of your audiobook by a gentle knock on your desk. Sherry, your immediate superior, gives an awkward little wave and waits for you to finish your line and mute your music.

“Hey, I’m so sorry about this,” she says, as soon as your headphones are clear. “You remember those port reports from Honduras? Some of the senior analysts have some questions for you? They’re currently in a meeting and requested some clarification…?”

You wait, but she doesn’t say anything else. “…what do they want to know?”

“Oh, they didn’t tell me, I’m sorry,” Sherry says. “They asked if you could… Well, they need you to attend the meeting. Right now.”

“Do I even have the clearance for that kind of meeting?” You stand without waiting for an answer and disconnect your laptop from the dock. With it tucked under your arm, you grab a notebook and pen, as well as your water bottle.

Sherry leads the way out of the office. “I know you submitted these reports two weeks ago, and your notations are excellent. I think the problem is with one of the flagged ship manifests, but they wouldn’t clarify why they were concerned. Couldn’t get a word in edgewise.”

Her apologetic air suddenly makes sense. “Brandon’s in there, isn’t he?”

Sherry grimaces. “I’m so, so sorry. It’s him and a few alphas. There’s an American CIA agent as well.”

“So I absolutely don’t have the clearance for this meeting,” you sigh. “Great.”

A short elevator ride and two halls away, you take a fortifying breath before you step into an occupied meeting room. Brandon’s is the first face you see, and when he sees you the corners of his lips turn up in an infuriating smile. Next to him, another senior analyst’s eyebrows pop up, but Andrew actually looks happy to see you.

Before the door can close behind you, a blonde, American alpha stands and offers her hand in a no-nonsense shake. “Kate Laswell. We appreciate you being so prompt.”

“Of course,” you answer. Unfortunately, your attention is a little torn. All four members of the 141 are sitting at the table, looking at you curiously. Sergent MacTavish grins like a wolf. Captain Price tips his chin up just enough that you know he’s scenting you. Lieutenant Riley, face covered from the nose down in a black neck gaiter, gives you a quick once over that makes you want to shiver. But you’re a professional, so instead of fleeing you take the nearest seat, across from a smiling Sergent Garrick. You fold both of your hands on top of the table, the very picture of accommodating and helpful, “What can I assist you with?”

“Why’d you flag this shipping manifest,” Brandon asks. The projector at the front of the room switches to a document that would be barely legible, even without the distortion of zoom.

“You’re going to have to be more specific,” you tell him, flipping your laptop open. “What’s the file name?”

“Honduras,” Brandon says, Port Cortez.”

“Puerto Cortes,” you correct. And seeing as it’s the largest seaport in Central America, I’ve combed through literally hundreds of manifests, you think, but don’t say. “I’m going to have to ask you to be a bit more specific. The projector isn’t easy to read.”

“You flagged this manifest for a Korean ship.”

You jump when Sergent Garrick says, “Christ, mate, just give her the file name.”

Lieutenant Riley gives a cough that sounds suspiciously like a laugh. You think you see MacTavish still grinning at you out of the corner of your eye. Laswell rattles off the document name without looking.

As soon as the document loads, you know exactly why Brandon and Andrew are confused. And you know that the following conversation is going to be so unpleasant that you shoot off a quick email to take the rest of the day off once this meeting ends.

You take a deep breath, let it out slowly. “The manifest is inconsistent with previous patterns from that particular port and that particular captain and crew. As I noted, the four containers from Venusian Pharmaceuticals wouldn’t have made it on the ship do to political and economic pressures.”

Brandon doesn’t bother to look at you when he asks, “What pressures?”

Laswell interjects before you can answer, “Leaked internal communications provided evidence that Cloudstone Pharm was selling tampered heat suppressants and birth control in various black markets. The 4B movement in South Korea had been calling for an investigation for years by that point. A lot of omegas were killed because of mis-labeled medications. Pregnancy and birth related complications.”

“I remember that. It was, what, five, more years ago?” Lieutenant Riley asks. “Had an entire re-brand. Cloudstone to Venusian. Everything went from blues and whites to greens and yellows.”

“Okay, so the containers had a bit of extra security to get onto the ship,” Brandon says, before you can get over the shock of two alphas in a room who know anything about even the broad strokes of omega health care. “There’s protesters at every major port for one thing or another.”

“Even if they’d gotten on the ship, they wouldn’t have made it to Puerto Cortes,” you counter. “The captain lost two of his kids because of their medications. He’s had his crew dump the containers and alter manifests before. He was investigated for it, but his crew wouldn’t speak against him.”

Brandon frowns. “How do we know he didn’t get paid off?”

How do we know the omegas weren’t worth less than a cash payment? Your throat feels like closing in on itself. You keep your voice as steady as you can. “He wouldn’t have been.”

“How do you know?”

Andrew, eyes darting between you and Brandon, tries to interrupt. “Well-”

“Because he made the autopsy reports for both of his sons public,” you answer. You have to force your jaw to unclench. “Along with pictures and videos of how sick they were before they passed, before anyone knew what was really wrong with them. And the executives of Cloudstone, an American company, laughed. Called them slurs and ignorant animals in emails and meeting memos that were later leaked to the public.”

Across from you, Garrick is not smiling anymore. “That’s… disgusting.”

“Cloudstone struggled to recover in eastern Asian markets, even with the re-brand,” you continue, then take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “And all of this was in my report.”

“Your job isn’t to provide those kinds of references. You’re not trained for it. There were a couple of links to articles,” Brandon dismisses. “Not enough to-”

“One of his sons experienced total organ failure,” you interrupt, closing your laptop. You know your scent must be all over the place, but the subject matter was already touchy. Now he’s questioning your work and misrepresenting your job duties? Oh, fuck him. “Because he was on incorrectly administered fertility treatments that were disguised as birth control, he had a high-risk pregnancy with multiples. And then his medications were switched with heat inducers. His other son had rapid onset neuropathy and multiple strokes within a week. Neither of his sons wanted to have children. One of them couldn’t, biologically, because it would have killed him anyways. And their partners decided that they didn’t care.”

Brandon wrinkles his nose at you. “No need to get so worked up.”

You practically feel the way your scent goes hot and acrid. Where most omegas have a distress scent that is sickly sweet, yours is much closer to an alpha’s shock scent. Your parents used to call you “Wildfire” because of it. You watch the hairs on Garrik’s arms stand up.

You can barely smell Andrew’s nervous distress over your rage. “Okay, yeah, that’s plenty. The captain wouldn’t have taken the containers.”

“Is there a reason you didn’t consult the references I added into the report?” You know the sudden calm in your voice, the relaxing of your posture, is at odds with the way your anger scent gets stronger. You’ve been told it’s a sensory nightmare, so you only do it when someone tells you you’re not calm enough. You fold your hands on the table again. “Because I included original and translated sources, according to the standards of the department.”

The room is silent. All seven alphas are agitated. You can only pick out MacTavish’s scent, muddled and frustrated. Andrew opens his mouth, closes it. Finally says, “I didn’t receive the references.”

“Senior analyst Lawrence received the full report directly,” you say, holding eye contact with Brandon. “But I know how emails can get lost. I would be happy to send them again. I’ll CC you, and request that your access to the full drive be confirmed. Sir. Is there anything else I can assist the team with?”

Laswell scrawls something on a sticky note and passes it over to you. “Please also include me on those emails.”

You give her your most demure smile. “Unfortunately, Agent Laswell, I don’t have the clearance to send reports outside of the department. I would be happy to help you coordinate that with senior analysts Lawrence and Bennett.”

You pluck the sticky note from her hand, stand, and gather up your laptop, notebook, and water bottle. When you have everything, you pass behind her to where Brandon and Andrew are sitting. Deliberately putting yourself at Brandon’s back, you hand the note to Andrew with a placid smile. “Agent Laswell requests that you provide her with the full report.”

Brandon smells disconcerted, trapped in his seat with your scent roaring as you stand just inside of his blind spot. Andrew, for his part, only hesitates for a moment before taking the offered sticky note, looking from you to Laswell to Brandon and back. “Thank you.”

“Of course, sir.” Butter wouldn’t melt in your mouth. “Is there anything else I can assist you with?”

“I… believe that will be all…?”

“Of course, sir. Thank you, sir.” You cement your little performance with a perfectly deferential partial curtsy to Andrew, then to the rest of the room. “Please do not hesitate to let me know if there’s anything else I can do the support the team.”

As the door shuts behind you, you hear Captain Price’s voice for the first time. “Goddamn. That is a woman capable of murder.”

[bumblebeesfromvenus]

All I see is Red ♦️

Leon S. Kennedy x reader

A/N: holy shit, this took me so long to edit fml it's the longest thing I've written so far. I also think it's terribly paced, but I'll leave that to you. I hope you like it anyway <3

~Fi 🐝

《Warnings》: ADA SLANDER. Girl is getting wrecked in this one. Ada's a bitch. Reader is absolutely furious, Leon is supportive but a lil bit useless, description of injuries, feminine rage, RC flashbacks.

《Word count》: 6.1k

Inspired by this post of mine <3

Reader's codename is 'Loon/Loony' after the bird!

Please don't copy my work. I put a lot of effort and heart into the things I write.

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🗡°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°❤️‍🩹°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°🗡

Red. A color that held many a mystery, signifying an infinite amount of things and emotions. Every shade as different as the next. Ruby, crimson, maroon, burgundy.

Where others commonly thought of the symbol of love, a deep red rose, or perhaps the pale plush on the cheeks of newly confessed lovers and the sensuality of passionate nights, you saw different things.

Your relationship with the color red hadn't always been a complicated one, not until that fateful night. You wished you could go back where red was just that; red, a color, nothing more. Not something that had you anxious and alert.

You didn't see love, passion or deep devotion. What you saw where the horrors of human greed and pride. You saw the blood dripping from the gnarled jaws of the first infected you'd ever encountered at the gas station with Leon. You saw the red lights of broken down and abondend cop cars. You saw the red of dismembered police officers and civilians.

You saw the red of Kendo's Gun shop and the redness his daughter, Emma, held in her eyes. You saw the red of lieutenant Branagh's bloody finger prints in officer Elliot's notebook. And you couldn't get all the other shades out of your head- especially not the red of her dress, or the red dripping from his shoulder because he took a bullet for her.

It only ever haunted you, the tearing lump of flesh that once was Dr. Birkin, or the blaring red lights deep inside the NEST.

It wouldn't leave your mind. It was filled with red, overflowing with its common link to anger. The hot, excruciating fury that boiled in your veins when the facade of the woman in red broke into two, revealing what she really was.

You thought, as you watched her fall and saw the ruby shade being enveloped by unforgiving black, that you could move on.

But you never did. You never could. The betrayal and anger were still deeply rooted in your veins. But not only for what she did to you, but what she did to him. How she used and abused his kindness, loyalty, and care for her gain, pretending to care only to repay the both of you like this after you'd saved her.

But you weren't alone, fighting to stay afloat in the red sea that was trying to drown you. You changed your approach.

Instead of all the blood and anger you saw in red, you tried seeing Claire's jacket. Or the woven, red hair band Sherry wore. As well as the redness in Leon's cheeks after all the running and fighting.

You tried seeing the dark, dull shade that soaked his bandage, signifying that it was over. You were safe, he was safe, Claire and Sherry were safe. And it worked.

You saw the shiny crimson of Claire's bike, the leathery red of a matching jacket that Sherry desperately wanted, and the beautiful shade of the single rose that Leon gifted you on your first date.

You even saw the pale red reflections of the lovebites that littered your skin from time to time, courtesy of Leon.

The red of that nights horrors slipped to the back of your mind, just like the red of the Umbrella logo and the red cross that sat exactly where Raccoon City once was, standing out against the pale paper of a map.

All was well as love and passion took the reigns on the red in your mind, but if course things don't stay well forever.

And your peace was broken when you caught a faint glimpse of red from the corner of your eye.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

This place wouldn't have been your choice of a vacation destination, but lord knows the government doesn't give a shit about that.

The village was rundown, muddy, and most importantly, full of walking corpses.

Unbeknownst to you, of course.

The horrors had started ever since you and Leon stepped out of that god forsaken car, the red of blood, innocent blood, forcing its way into your mind once again.

You tightly gripped the red ammo box you'd just picked up from the ground after Leon had kicked a wooden crate into splinters.

"Hey, hey, easy! You're shins aren't made of steel." You scolded the blonde agent on your left, who only responded with a very playful eye roll while checking the mag of his gun.

"Don't you worry about my bones, Loony." He chuckled, patting your shoulder.

"Don't call me that! S'not my fault you got the cooler codename." You grumbled. "And for your information, Loons are excellent swimmers!"

"You see any water?" He shot back with a grin which earned him a huff from you.

Your gaze turned back to the pale red box in your hand, slight indents forming where your fingers were as you subconsciously squeezed it a little too hard.

The edges were worn and the colors were dull, but the bullets inside clinked together like the shuddering melody that haunted you ever since Raccoon City.

Leon noticed your dazed stare at the small container, they way your brows were scrunched together and the structure of the paper box crumbling under the hard grip of your hand.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked softly, firmly placing one of his hands on your shoulder. Your head snapped towards him, his gentle words pulling you from your trance.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine." You smiled awkwardly, shoving the box into your pocket.

"Alright. Let's see if the locals know something." He replied firmly. The air he had about him told you he hadn't completely believed your answer and that he would keep an eye on you.

The last thing he needed was you getting in your head. He needed your full support and attention in order to pull this off.

You were about to respond when a small zip sound made you whip your head in its direction.

"Did you hear that?" You fully turned to face the way the sound came from and narrowed your eyes to see whether whatever caused that noise was in your sight.

"Hear what?" Leon asked puzzled.

"It sounded like a... a zipline or something." You glanced at Leon, who still had his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Never mind." You muttered, walking past him towards the village entrance.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

The locals did know something. They knew that they definitely did not like the two of you and that there would be nothing more satisfying than watching you burn.

The haunting screams of one of the Spanish Police officers echoed off the broken and shitty houses as he went up in flames.

"Jesus Christ.." Leon breathed out, reaching for his gun.

"This is not gonna be pretty." You mumbled, aiming for one of the villagers, who had noticed you by now and were storming in your direction, and pulled the trigger.

The bullet hit him right between the eyes with a splat sound and your eyes widened when he only held his head before continuing his way, lit torch in hand.

"What the fuck..."

Leon looked just as shocked as you, but didn't hesitate to feed the fucker four bullets to his forehead until he finally toppled over.

"Something's not right." You stated quietly, a crease between your eyebrows.

"We'll talk later." He said firmly, aiming his weapon again. Giving him a sharp nod, you moved in and took out any local that blocked your way.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

You had underestimated the number of people that lived here. You were completely surrounded, standing in the Plaza of the village, careful not to slip on the muddy ground. Leon's back was firmly pressed against yours as you tried your hardest to fight off the horde.

The once quiet town was now filled with the piercing sounds of fired shots, the unholy screams and screeches from the townspeople and the heavy thud of bodies falling into puddles.

Your elbows were locked as you mercilessly took down local after local, only stopping to quickly reload your pistol. While reloading, you noticed the smallest flash of bright red flitting over the terracotta roof tops.

You froze and, stupidly, lowered your guard as your eyes were frantically searching for whatever that was. The fact that it was red made your blood solidify in your veins and your breath to get caught in your throat. It was as if time around you slowed down, the images of that night seeping into every crevice of your mind. The blood, Leon's blood, the lights, Kendo, and his daughter, Dr. Birkin and her. It all hit you again like a truck that was carelessly speeding down the road.

But you had no time to get lost in those horrific images swirling in your head or to slip into a panic attack because you were tackled onto the dirty ground, wrinkled hands wrapping around your throat, squeezing tight.

You were struggling for air, desperately clawing at the discolored arms that quite literally held your life in their hands. An old woman had jumped on top of you, screaming phrases you couldn't understand in your face as her spittle landed on your cheeks.

Her face was sunken in, more than it should at her age, and the veins around her eyes seemed almost black. And in her eyes there was only rage, a burning fire just like the one they'd lit before.

You were thrashing your legs, anything to get her off and her hands away from your neck. You could feel yourself getting lightheaded, your heart pouding in your ears. Leon came to your rescue quickly, harshly ripping the woman away from you and shooting her in the head twice with no hesitation.

"Loony, are you alright?" Leon asked firmly, keeping the few remaining residents at bay.

"Yeah, I... don't worry about me.." You heaved, soothing the red mark on your neck. You were coughing and panting, trying to steady yourself. Leon had given you a very sharp look that said I'll take care of this. and you weren't about to argue with him. There was no point in wasting precious ammo with how shaky and unreliable your hands were at the moment.

You dragged yourself behind a small fence and took deep breaths, pressing the heel of your palm into your temple.

Suddenly, the loud sound of the church bell bounced off the buildings and everything went eerily quiet. The once furious and aggressive villagers now slowly made their way to the church, mumbling soft illegible words and phrases.

They payed no mind to Leon as they brushed past him like nothing happened and he didn't exist. The door fell shut with a heavy sound after all the remaining people had entered. Leon turned in confusion.

"Where's everyone going? Bingo?" He huffed, his voice being the only thing heard, besides the soft crackling of the fire at the stake, and the quiet rustle of leaves as a soft breeze passed through them.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

"What the hell happened back there?" It was clear Leon wanted an answer for your little freeze up. He knew you, and you would never let someone, or rather something, get that close to you.

"I... just got distracted." You mumbled, keeping your eyes on the sweet cow you were currently petting. Leon had gone looking for more supplies in the empty houses and had spoken to Hunnigan about Baby Eagle's whereabouts while you stumbled upon the gentle creature chewing on some grass in one of the open stables.

You needed to get your head back on right, and scratching the cattle helped clear the fog over your mind. It mooed softly and licked at your hand and you could feel the roughness of its pink tongue against your palm. Leon sighed and tipped his head forward.

"We can't afford distractions, Loony. You know that."

"I know. I just... have a really bad feeling about this. It's like... we're being watched. And I saw something red moving across the rooftops and I.. got inside my head. It won't happen again." You kept your voice small and quiet, looking down to hide the faint spark of shame in your eyes.

You wouldn't fuck this up. You couldn't fuck this up. You needed to pull yourself together and get back to the task at hand.

"Good." Leon said softly, placing his hand on your shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

He wished he could do more. He wished he could take you into his arms and kiss your forehead. He knew how odd and complicated your thoughts on the color red were. You'd told him all about it, and he held you through it all, as the two of you relived that nights events in your own minds.

But you'd set a strict rule. Absolutely no display of affection during work. The risk of the enemy finding out was too high, and they would surely use that newfound information to their advantage.

It wasn't easy being in a relationship and then working together like this, but you made it work. You made it work purely because you worked. You matched Leon perfectly, and he matched you.

You were a dream team to the government, which is why they kept you close. And now you would use your skills as a team and save Ashley.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Ending up in this Castle had not been part of your plan. It was an impressive building, no doubt, but the light marble walls and beautiful greenery that was littered with colorful little

blooms painted a wrong picture of its owner. The... host, shall we call him, hadn't given you one second to breathe. You were running and fighting, and running and fighting, and occasionally taking a hit or two to shield Ashley from as much harm as you could. It was all so... familiar. It felt like just how you tried to shield and protect Sherry from Chief Irons.

It made your head cloudy with bad memories. The constant separation from Ashley reminded you of how you somehow always caught up in the middle. You'd started out in the Police station with Leon after the crash but ended up in the orphanage with Claire, trying to rescue Sherry.

Well, that's not quite true, actually. Claire needed your help, so you left Leon... with her.

She seemed trustworthy enough with those big three letters plastered next to her name. What a fucking mistake that was.

There hasn't been a single day where you don't regret your decision. You felt so betrayed, and you still do. You were used just as much as Leon, putting your trust into someone who would've left you to die.

The memories rippled in Leon's blood, staring you right in the face, as you took a look at his injured hand. Whatever was inside of you had gotten inside of Ashley's mind, causing her to attack Leon with a knife. It sliced open his palm as he tried to stop the swing.

You were currently using some first aid spray on the wound before wrapping it on a piece of cloth you'd cut off from the many curtains around the Castle. Leon, as always, insisted he was fine and you needn't fret over him, but you were truly fucked if he couldn't hold his guns correctly.

You shut him down and began lecturing him on how stupid it was. And he listened, like he always did, staring at you with a smile on his face. He glanced past you, eyes falling on the gate that had separated Ashley from the both of you, and his smile was replaced with a small frown.

Ashley looked so terrified, and it broke your heart. She didn't deserve any of this, being ripped from her life and then having to fight for it all the same. You had to find her before Ramon did.

"Can you fit that under your glove?" You asked softly, tying a tight knot on the makeshift bandage around Leon's hand.

"Uh, yeah. Should work." Leon mumbled, squeezing his hand in a fist multiple times to test the flexibility of the wrap before putting his glove back on.

"Alright," he groaned as he got up from the edge of the stoke fountain he'd been sitting on,

"Let's get our Baby Eagle back." He held out his good hand to you, which you took, and he pulled you off the ground.

"Are you sure your hand's okay?" You questioned with a crease of concern between your brows when you saw him wince as he grabbed his gun. He only smiled at you softly and gently brushed his calloused thumb over your cheekbone.

"I'm okay. I promise."

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

The courtyard was really quite beautiful. The high and dense walls of green gave it a somewhat mysterious and mystical feel. There were plenty of old and mossy stone statues littered around the place, with a few fountains here and there. If it hadn't been under these circumstances, you might've called your stay here enjoyable.

It didn't matter now as you slipped from the literal maze that was the courtyard, into an open stone hallway right by its side. The gate was locked, so your only chance at finding Baby Eagle was to go around, which meant through the dark walls of the Castle. You weren't thrilled, but it was your only option.

There were two doors in the hallway; one to your right, and one straight ahead, at the end of the corridor.

"You go right, I'll take the one straight." Leon said, motioning to the wooden door in front of him.

"Okay." You nodded, checking the mag of your gun. There was no telling what else would hide in the Castle. Leon reached out to the door handle, but you interrupted him, making him stop in his tracks.

"Leon?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful. I saw some snakes around here."

He gave you a firm nod and proceeded, as did you, carefully entering the room.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Leon slowly pushed the door open, having his gun at the ready if anything decided to jump him. When he couldn't detect any immediate threats, he stepped inside fully and looked around.

The room was lit up in a warm hue from the various candles burning, their wax dripping down the metal candle holders.

There were many wooden cabinets pushed against the walls, filled with all sorts of shiny junk. An open window at the back if the room caught his eye, and he carefully moved closer as the hinges creaked.

"You can stop right there, Leon." A voice called from behind him, accompanied by the cocking of a gun and the clacking sound of high heels against the old wooden floors.

"Wouldn't make me use this, would you?" He'd know that voice anywhere. It haunted his dreams, whispering sweet lies and betrayals in his ear, only to fade away when it's owner fell to their death.

He clenched his jaw and chuckled bitterly, letting his gun fall to the floor with a thud.

"Well, after six years, that is one hell of a greeting... Ada."

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

The room was uneventful. It was mostly bare, only a big table in the middle filling the space, littered with scrap pieces of paper and metal parts.

There were no windows, only a couple of candles to light your path. You searched around nonetheless, and found a small pot with a green herb hidden in the corner.

You hummed at your find and plucked the stems, storing them in your pockets so you could grind up the leaves later and combine them with a rare yellow herb Leon had found in the courtyard.

You rummaged through the papers on the table, just in case, but were pulled from your task when you picked up muffled voices coming from Leon's direction. Alarm bells went off in your head, alongside utter confusion.

Who could he be talking to? You doubted the.. lovely.. gentlemen who had welcomed you had a knack for talking. It wasn't Ramón. It didn't sound nearly as pitchy and annoying for it to be him. There was no way it was Ashley..

what was going on? With furrowed brows and immense caution, you quickly walked down the stone hallway to the room Leon had chosen to investigate, finding its door ajar.

Your heart stopped when you heard what sounded like a gun hitting the floor. Next, there were sounds of struggle and soft grunts, same with a noise like a blade slicing through the air.

It felt like your feet were rooted in the ground, refusing to move. You had to pull yourself together. Leon was in potential danger.

You kicked open the door so hard that it smashed into the sturdy stone walls with a loud thud. When your eyes landed on the sight before you, your hands fell limp at your sides, your mouth slightly agape.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

Leon had his knife pressed against Ada's throat and she slightly shifted her head to look over her shoulder, straight at you. She made an amused sound before turning back to face Leon.

"You brought your little friend, too, I see." She said with a smirk. Her voice was so smooth, too smooth. All you wanted to do was put a scratch in it. Leon stared at you, and you stared at him, with the occasional glance to the woman who ruined your life.

You stepped further into the room, keeping your eyes on her while letting the heavy door fall into its lock.

The second you finally met her eye, every single emotion you felt that night, and all the six years after, came bubbling up all at once, almost choking you. Your eyes were burning, your jaw was clenched and your breathing became irregular. You circled around her until you stood right next to Leon.

"Why the fuck are you not dead?" The bite and disbelief in your voice was evident, you balled your hands into fists to keep the fury and sadness at bay.

"Ooooh, Ouch." Ada feigned hurt and smirked back at you. God, how badly you wanted to slap that stupid smirk off her face.

You took a breather, trying to sort the words in your head. You didn't know what you wanted to say first. Everything wanted to come out at once. All the pain, and the anger and the fear. All the deep hatred you held in your heart for her. You looked up at the ceiling and shook your head with a small scoff.

"I can't believe this... for six goddamn years I've been trying to move on and get over what happened, get over what you did. And just as I was starting to get a grip, you show up. Why? You couldn't just do your shitty job without bothering us? You just can't go quietly, can you, Ada?"

"What, you're still not over that?" She shifted on her feet and almost rolled her eyes. There was no remorse in her voice, no regret, nothing. Just annoyance for your inability to be over it.

"You're awfully confident for someone with a knife at her throat." Leon said harshly, earning him a glare from Ada.

"You... are you serious? You used me! You used Leon, preyed on our fear only to... to fuck everything up! Do you even have an ounce of an idea of what you did?" Your throat started closing up as the emotions ran amok in your chest, leaving you with a shaky voice and a burning in eyes.

"We were fighting for our lives, thinking we were the only survivors and then you came along with your fucking FBI badge and gave us hope. Do you even know how-" she cut you off with an amused scoff that turned into a scowl.

"Oh, please. I didn't give you hope. You gave yourself hope." Your face dropped slightly, which only lasted a second before an expression of unimaginable rage took over your features.

"You fucking-" Leon stopped you from surging at her with a firm hand on your shoulder, sheathing his knife, "he took a bullet for you! I twisted and contorted three times over for you because we thought you wanted to help! We- We had faith in you, and we trusted you." You had to hold back a sob as you recalled the painful memories of betrayal that still sat deep in the marrow of your bones.

The first few tears sprung from your lashline, leaving streaks of salt on your cheeks. You were so, so incredibly angry and hurt. Your nostrils flared as you exhaled sharply, cleching your fists.

"But now I see that I should've shot you between the eyes first chance I got." You said lowly, staring daggers at Ada.

"A feisty one, huh?" She smirked bitterly, "Keep your bitch under control, Leon."

"Say that again, Ada, and I swear to god-" Leon hissed as he pushed past you, towering over her in an attempt to intimidate her. She laughed, she fucking laughed, and tilted her head at him.

"What are you gonna do? You're too soft for your own good." She spat, the venom in her tone could burn through your flesh like acid. Something inside you snapped.

The thin, tethered line of patience that you'd been holding on ever since you stepped foot inside this room crumbled under the weight of your emotions.

You quickly pulled Leon's combat knife from its sheath and pressed it against Ada's neck, successfully backing her up into a corner until she hit the stone wall with a grunt.

"I would choose my next words very carefully. I'm not above slitting your throat and watching all the lies spill out." You warned lowly, your eyes darkening. You saw a flash of something in her eyes. You couldn't decipher it. She was impossible to read. Everything about her was fake.

She could get on her knees and beg for your forgiveness and you'd believe her. That's how dangerous she was, how unpredictable.

"That was you in the village, wasn't it? The red I saw flashing on the rooftops? The weird sound I heard? That was all fucking you, wasn't it?" You seethed, pressing the blade to her neck, almost slicing through the knit fabric of her dress.

"You are a pest of a human being, Ada." You continued angrily, letting everything spill out.

"We were willing to die for the cause, for you, just so you and that stupid sample could get out and prevent this from ever happening again. The fact that that means nothing to you shows how truly rotten you are. You're not a good person, Ada, and you never will be." You noticed a shift in her demeanor when you harshly spat the last sentence.

The corner of your mouth twitched upwards. You'd hit her where it hurt, apparently. A gentle hand on your shoulder made the harsh crease between your eyebrows soften.

"Loony, we have to get Ashley. We can't let Ramón get her." Leon said quietly, trying to tug you away from Ada by your arm.

With a sharp jerk of your shoulder, you shook him off of you, nicking her jaw with the edge of the knife in the process. Ada breathed heavily as she tried to keep the knife away from her neck. She looked past you, directly at Leon.

"Leave the girl. She's lost no matter what."

At the mention of Ashley and without thinking, you struck her across the face. She gasped in surprise, both at the impact and that you had the guts to slap her.

"You don't fucking get to decide who's lost!" You bellowed, trying to keep your hands steady with all the rage that was coursing through your veins.

"You better thank whatever God you believe in, because that's the only one standing between your neck and my knife." You threatened with a harsh stare that made Ada swallow.

"Loony-"

"If I catch you near Ashley you're dead meat, Wong." You said lowly before stepping away from her and pressing the knife back in Leon's hand.

With a last angry look you walked towards the door. You pulled it open, the hinges groaning under its weight. You looked back over your shoulder.

"Just know this... no amount of good deeds will ever undo what you've done. You're the one that's lost. Not Ashley."

You didn't wait for a reaction, or for Leon, you just needed to get away from her.

You headed towards the courtyard again and sat down near a fountain, watching the small stream of water drip from the stone vase.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

It was over. This absolute nightmare of a mission was over. You were exhausted and covered in... well, maybe you didn't want to know. You'd removed your Las Plagas parasite, and Saddler met his demise at the hands of Leon.

You could get Ashley back home and then barricade yourself in your shared apartment with Leon, waiting for the next shitty mission to come along.

It was an endless cycle of exhaustion and pain, but you were lying if you said it wasn't addictive.

You fell to your knees with heavy breaths, letting everything fall off your shoulders. You were so relieved you could cry. Your neck and shoulders hurt from tensing up, your back had been crushed into too many walls, and you'd been thrown against a barrel.

Holding your side in pain, you lifted your head up only to see Leon on the ground, reaching out for the amber. Your body sagged, the adrenaline fading away by the minute.

However, your head shot up when you heard what sounded like a metal clang of shoes. Ada came down from the sky, tucking her grapling gun back into its holster.

"Jesus christ- do you ever fucking go away?!" You yelled, more to yourself than her. She bent down and plucked the amber right from under Leon's nose. You heaved yourself up with a groan and grabbed one of the small knives you'd found along the way.

You aimed and threw it at her, you didn't care where it hit her, if it hit her at all, but if she didn't get the hint that you wanted her to fuck off now, all hope was lost.

The blade embedded itself in her thigh, making her cry out in pain and, in turn, dropping the amber.

You used all your remaining strength and threw yourself at the small glass container, grasping it tightly. Ada's eyes widened, still holding onto her injured thigh.

"W-What.. what are you doing?" She demanded through hisses and groans. Dragging yourself up with the support of one of the metal rails, you held up the amber in the light.

"Fuck you.. Fuck this stupid little stone.. Fuck whoever you're working for. I am done." You panted, throwing the amber as far as you could, watching as it disappeared into the deep, dark ocean.

"No!" Ada screamed, reaching out for the stone, "do you have any idea what you just did!?"

"I don't give a shit."

You limped over to her and bent down, meeting her at eye level. Pulling the knife from her thigh, you couldn't help but chuckle.

"This feels a little... familiar, wouldn't you say, Ada?"

You thought back to when a piece of metal had lodged itself into her leg back in the Umbrella lab. You'd found her by coincidence, lying on a pile of debris and rubble. If it hadn't been for you and Leon, she would've died in that hellhole. Not that you ever received a thank you.

"Go to hell." She spat in your face, holding her bleeding thigh.

"I'm already in hell." You mumbled bitterly, sinking down next to Leon, who had an expression on his face that you could only describe as awe. With a scowl on her face, she heaved herself up and limped towards the helicopter that had flown up.

Ada managed to get into the heli, with a little trouble, and smirked back at you.

"I'd offer you a ride, but... I think I'd rather watch you be blown to bits and pieces."

"If I ever see you again, I'll be your worst nightmare." You snapped at her, praying she'd just fuck off already.

She scoffed with a frown and signaled the pilot to take off.

"Have fun being mince meat."

You sighed and slacked against Leon once she was gone. Your head fell against his shoulder and you closed your eyes.

"We need to get out of here, the whole Island's gonna blow." Leon sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

"I know, just..." Your voice was shaky, trying to suppress the tears that would ultimately spill. You took a deep breath, blinking away the salty water droplets. You needed to be strong. You needed to get Ashley out of here.

You had plenty of time to break down when you were back at home. Leon noticed your fight to keep the tears away and wrapped his arms around you, holding you tightly while pressing a kiss to your temple.

"You're okay. Ashley's okay. I'm okay." He cooed, gently rocking you.

"I love you. And I would love to spend the rest of my life with you, but we can only do that if we find a ride out of here. Now." Leon said as softly as he could. He wanted to comfort you, hold you, and kiss you, but the situation was urgent.

"You know I'm always prepared." You sniffled with a small grin, holding up a pair of keys for Leon to see.

"Where the hell did you get these?" Leon asked bewildered. You got off the ground with a groan and grinned.

"She's got some pretty shitty pockets." Leon followed suit with getting up with an amused smirk playing in his lips.

"You clever little thing."

You winked and tossed him the keys. He chuckled once he caught them and noticed the little bear Keychain that was attached to the keyring.

"Cute."

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

You were sitting on your couch, knees tucked under your body as you watched the TV. Your gaze was unfocused, and in reality, you weren't watching the TV at all.

You were thinking about everything that happened. About all the emotions that you didn't get out, all the things you hadn't managed to say.

You were inside your head all the time. Not being able to focus on anything without slipping away into that September night or those rainy days in Spain.

Leon noticed. Of course he did. And it broke his heart to see you like this, all dull and void of joy. But he knew that this would pass. He wouldn't allow you to get lost.

Which is why he held you that little bit tighter and whispered how much he loved you just that little bit more often.

You didn't notice Leon coming into the living room, jumping slightly when he slid down next to you on the couch and slung his arm over your shoulders, pulling you into his side.

"Look what came in the mail." He said softly, pressing a small decorative card into your hand. You looked him with furrowed brows but he gave you an encouraging nod and pressed a kiss to your temple.

There was a big, red 18 on the front, surrounded by small hearts. You turned the card over and began reading the inscription. Your eyes got brighter with every line you read, and a smile tugged on your lips.

"How sweet of her. Sherry invited us to her 18th birthday party." You smiled softly, looking at Leon. He hummed and pulled tighter against him.

"She called earlier when you were taking a nap. She's really excited to see you again, you know." He replied softly. You chuckled.

"Yeah, me too. It's been forever. God, I can't believe she's turning 18 already." You sighed.

"Time flies, huh?" Leon grinned.

"It sure does." You giggled, snuggling closer to Leon.

"Hey, is Claire still planning to take Sherry for her first ride on her bike for her birthday?" You asked.

"Hell yeah, she is. She's got her Harley all polished up for the big day." He smirked. You laughed and let your head fall back against Leon's shoulder. He pulled you into his lap, your back pressed against his chest, and started littering soft kisses down the side of your face.

"Lee! What are you doing!" You giggled, trying to get away from his wet kisses. He held you tightly, not letting you escape his grasp.

"Jus' wanna see you smile, baby." He mumbled against your skin. With a mischievous smile, you let yourself fall onto the length of the sofa, dragging Leon on top of you.

You placed a sweet kiss on his lips, brushing some of his blonde locks out of his face.

"I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart." Leon whispered, looking at you with a smile, blushed cheeks and slightly red lips.

Maybe the color red wasn't so bad, after all.

🗡°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°❤️‍🩹°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°🗡

More of my Leon fics are here 🩷

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[naughtyneganjdm]

Naughty or Nice - Chapter 2

Summary: After coming down from the high of his night together with Y/N, Negan has to face the realities of his home life. Things grow complicated when he can't get his mind off his boss and their intimate moment together.

Characters: Negan, the reader (OC) and some other characters from TWD.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51464518/chapters/130435768

Warnings: 18+, Swearing, angst, smut, etc.

Notes: There are some people from The Walking Dead that will start showing up in this story along the way even though it's an alternate universe story. Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this.

Having sex at work was not something Negan ever expected to have happen. No one had ever interested him enough for that. Hell, he was too professional for that. Well, at least he thought he was. What happened tonight was a shock for both him and Y/N. After what they did, they cleaned up her office, sent off the work and were quick to head out. Once they agreed to see where things could go, they were both quiet. Possibly unsure about what happened. But Negan knew how he felt.

“What’s wrong?” Negan gazed over at Y/N from where he was standing across from her in the elevator after they got a notice from a driver that they were parked out front of the building. Her face was flushed over, her eyes looking worried while he kept his hands pushed into his pockets. Between the two of them in that elevator, you could tell that they were disheveled. But they were leaving after a Christmas party that night, so if they ran into anyone, he was hoping they would assume that was why. Although, he didn’t regret it. Not one bit.

“Do you think we cleaned everything good enough? You don’t think they will know, do you?” she wondered causing a smirk to tug at Negan’s lips. Looking toward the camera that was in the elevator, Negan cleared his throat and adjusted his positioning in the corner of the elevator. “I’m serious Negan. We kind of made a mess and…”

“I’m sure that everything will be fine. Also, people shouldn’t be going into your office while you’re gone,” Negan assured her with a wink hearing the nervousness in her tone. “It’s not like we left my cum covering the desk or the couch. Any mess we made, we cleaned it up with the tissues. I don’t expect a janitor to come in and inspect the tissues that are in your garbage checking to see if it’s my dried up cum on them.”

“Negan,” she scoffed looking toward the camera that was in the elevator, but all he gave in return was a shameless shrug.

“I’m just saying Y/N, we cleaned everything up. My cum was wiped up and the other stuff…” Negan’s eyes flashed over with a naughty expression that almost took her breath away with it. “That will dry up. Trust me, no one is ever going to know about our sex or how many times I made you squirt by morning.”

“You have no filtering system,” she pointed toward the camera, her cheeks turning redder if that was possible. “They can probably hear you.”

“We’re not the first people to have sex in an office building Y/N. They’ve probably had people have sex in here for fuck’s sake. And I doubt they listen back on all of the videos from all day long. We’re just two people standing in an elevator after a Christmas party,” Negan reasoned with her, pulling one of his hands out to wave it about in the air. “Sure, we had sex, but it’s not like our boss is going to know. And if he does? So fucking what? I’m sure Dwight and Sherry have done it somewhere in this building. Probably even the big boss and his wife too. People get promiscuous and horny. That shit happens.”

“You’re talking about it like it’s not a big deal,” she replied back fanning herself trying to hide the warmth that was flooding into her face. “What we did…”

“Was fucking amazing. We enjoyed ourselves and we cleaned it up. No one is going to know,” Negan hushed her with a devious smile, his eyes wrinkling with amusement that she was so worried. “We got our work done, our client is going to be happy and everything is going to be okay. I promise you that.”

Once the elevator dinged, he held his right hand out and motioned for her to leave the elevator first. “After you, Boss.”

“You just want to stare at my ass,” she pushed into the center of his chest having him stumbling back, a thick rumble of laughter falling from his throat. Moving off the elevator, she yelped when Negan moved behind her to pinch her ass. Swatting his hand away had his raspy laugh filling the empty building that only had a security guard inside of it. It was actually good that Negan was with her because her legs still felt weak from everything they had gone through.

A cool burst of air caused an immediate chill once she finally stepped outside. The sensation almost knocked her off her feet. It was an instantaneous reaction from the snow that was still falling around them. The sensation of Negan’s hand settling at the small of her back made her take in a sharp breath as he led her toward the car that was waiting. Going to reach for the door, she was halted by Negan who opened the door for her holding his hand out to help her into the car. Accepting his hand, she was somewhat in awe by the chivalry that he was displaying for her as he helped her in. Once she was comfortable, Negan slid into the car beside her and got himself situated after closing the door behind him.

The driver confirmed that they were ready and Negan knew that he had put in her address first so that way she got home safe just like he promised. Heat flooded into the car, but she still had a chill flooding her body from the freezing temperatures outside.

“You okay?” Negan questioned, his eyebrow arching when he stared out at her. Noticing that she was tremoring, Negan adjusted in the seat that he was in and pulled his jacket from his body to cover her with it. The small gesture was enough to have her swooning as he slid in closer to her rubbing his hands over her shoulders to keep her warm. “Any better?”

“I think I would have been better if I had my panties,” she whispered what she thought was low enough for only him to hear. It made Negan snicker and he leaned in to nuzzle his nose in against hers. “I know you snatched them.”

“It will be something to keep me satisfied until we get back,” Negan slurred, dragging his tongue out over his bottom lip. The warmth of his breath lingered over her lips and it made her tremor against him. A shuddering breath escaped her when he leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Even though we cleaned you up, you have no idea how fucking hot it makes me knowing that my cum is still inside of you.”

“Negan,” she hushed him, her cheeks flushing over with a warmth. Pressing her hand in over the center of Negan’s chest, she heard the amused rumble fall from him and she couldn’t believe that he said that. “You’re naughty.”

“I am,” Negan agreed with her, giving her a wink while keeping a small distance between them. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he drew her to him so that she could stay warm with him close to her. Hovering his lips in over her jawline, Negan’s eyelids were heavy with lust again and she knew that having him close to her like this had her pulse jumping in her throat. “I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the next few weeks when you are on my mind. Your tight…” Negan’s words vibrated against her flesh when he started drawing his bottom lip over her jawline and toward her neck, “Wet…pussy. It’s all I’m going to be dreaming about.”

“Negan,” she gasped out when the roughness of his fingertips dragged across the inside of her thigh. Lifting her gaze, she could see that the driver stole a few looks back at them every so often with her and Negan being so touchy. Gradually, Negan’s motions turned into naughty kisses that were being peppered against the side of her neck. “He’s watching.”

“There is nothing to see,” Negan noted, his lips sweeping in over hers taking her breath away with the motion. Instead of pulling away like she should have, she allowed him to kiss her like that knowing that she didn’t want to leave him tonight. Laying with him on the couch naked would have been a great way to spend her night, but she knew that she couldn’t do that. Her fiancé was waiting for her and Negan’s kids were certainly waiting for him at home. They were both leaving for the holiday and she knew better to fall into a forbidden romance with her co-worker. “You have my jacket over your lap.”

Closing her eyes shut tightly, she felt Negan’s palm flattening out over her thigh before pushing up under the skirt of her dress. With Negan’s fingers dancing across her heated flesh, she fought so hard to keep herself from crying out.

“I’m so glad we opened up with one another tonight,” Negan nibbled at her bottom lip, tugging faintly on it when his index finger traced a line up over the length of her sex beneath the jacket he covered her with. Repeating the motion several times, he flicked his tongue at the inside of her bottom lip and she turned her head toward him to bring their lips together with a wet sound. Humming against her lips had her moaning faintly and he smiled sheepishly. Urging her thighs further apart, Negan took advantage of the moment and slid one of his fingers into her welcoming sex. Burying her head against his shoulder after she dropped it down, she tried to keep herself silent. Unhurriedly, he thrust his finger into her, his hazel eyes locked on her emotions while he did it. There was a hope that the driver would have just thought they were making out with one another, but she wasn’t very good at hiding with how he was making her feel. Sure, he was trying to hide it, but if someone was smart enough, they would know what was happening.

“Me too,” she agreed with him, licking her lips and panting when Negan bit at her jawline. Back when they were at the office, she was able to tell that Negan had left some marks on her that she would have to hide over her vacation. It was something she should have been furious about. But strangely? She wasn’t. “People would look down on us for what happened tonight. Especially me.”

“Mmm…I don’t care,” Negan growled, his kisses leading to her lips. It was passionate and drew both of them to cling to one another while Negan’s finger continued to pump into her with determination.

“I’m your boss,” she reminded him with a hum, her eyes slamming shut when Negan added another finger to add to the pleasure of what he was doing beneath his jacket.

“Yes, you are,” Negan snickered, groaning out with the way she was kissing at his bottom lip. “My talented, beautiful, incredibly sexy boss.”

Reaching down, she grasped tightly to his arm when she felt a warmth building up inside of her body. More than anything she wanted to rock her hips against the motions of his fingers, but she knew that she couldn’t. Negan was having fun with this and she knew that. At this point, she didn’t even know where they were. They could have been driving in the completely wrong direction and she would have never known.

“Negan,” she panted his name, hating that she wasn’t doing a very good job at hiding the pleasure he was giving her while he fingered her in the back of this stranger’s car. Desperately clinging to him, she made sure that he was close when she felt her hips shaking against his movements. Immediately Negan picked up on her body’s response to him and his fingers pumped away inside of her hoping to get her to another orgasm. Once she did, she bit at his bottom lip hoping to silence her cries and Negan growled against her flesh. Tearing her lips away from his, she rest her head against the side of his neck. Trying to get her body to calm down was going to be hard. Between her body’s tremors and her breathing, she had no idea how she was going to walk into the apartment that she shared with her fiancé and pretend that she was okay. Gasping out, she felt Negan’s fingers pulling from her. Noticing that Negan brought his fingers to his lips had a breath catch in her throat and she found her heart hammering inside of her chest. Negan took his fingers into his mouth, his tongue lapping at the taste of her over them. “You’re gonna be the death of me.”

“Mmmm…that would be terrible,” Negan hummed, his eyelashes fluttering before she grabbed a firm hold of his hair to bring him to her so they could kiss. Each kiss was passionate feeding off the energy they were getting from each other. It was so intense that by the time that the car stopped neither one of them really noticed. It took the driver clearing his throat for them to realize that they were there. Finally Negan was the one to pull his lips from hers letting out a disappointed sigh. “I don’t want to say goodbye to you.”

“You have to,” she placed her hand over the center of his chest realizing how dangerous it was for them to be this close inside of the car in front of her home that she shared with her fiancé. Tapping him on the chest, she pressed one more faint kiss over his lips. “Goodnight Negan.”

“Goodnight,” Negan frowned when she pulled away from him, handing him over his jacket when she managed to get out of the car on her shaken legs. Watching her closely, Negan felt his chest tightening when he watched her walk up toward the door of the building she lived in. After she disappeared into the building, Negan cussed to himself and pinched the bridge of his nose.

On the way to his home, Negan noticed that he looked at his phone more times that he cared to admit. Y/N had just left him. Why would she text him? It drove him crazy to know that he was already hooked on this woman. Sure, he had always found her appealing, but after tonight he felt like they connected in a way that was too strong for either of them to be able to deny.  

Swiping his finger across the top of the screen, he sighed loudly and knew that he had to get it together. He was going home to his children and he would have to quickly fill into the role of dad. Focusing on his surroundings while in the back of the car, Negan knew that he found so much awe in the city. He loved it and it was even more beautiful when it would snow.

“We’re here,” the driver announced when he pulled up to the apartment building where Negan lived. Staring up at the building, Negan knew that his wild night of pleasure would have to be soon forgotten. Closing his eyes, he let that memory of Y/N burn into his memory before sitting forward. Lifting his hips up, Negan pulled out his wallet. Counting out money, he slid forward enough to hold it out for the driver. “What’s this?”

“You know what this is for,” Negan muttered and it took a minute for the driver to think things over before accepting the money. “Thanks for the ride.”

“No, thank you Mr. Smith,” the man gave Negan a nod when Negan got out of the car. Getting his jacket on, Negan stared up at the building and then moved into it. His walk to the elevator was slow, but when he got on the elevator, he couldn’t help but think about Y/N. The memory of her lingered in his mind when they were on the elevator tonight. He didn’t want to forget about what happened tonight. It was too perfect for him to do that.

It seemed the elevator was taking longer than normal to get to the floor his apartment was on. It gave him the time to reflect on his memories from tonight and he sighed. With a ding, the doors opened and he stepped out onto the floor hearing the sounds of the television in the background. Tipping his head to the side, Negan rounded the corner of the hallway to see that his son was stretched out across the couch.

“Beau?” Negan called out and his son’s head dropped back to look back over at Negan. A tired smirk tugged at his son’s young features and Negan pushed his hands into his pockets. In Beau’s hazel eyes he could see that his son was tired so he was surprised to see him still up so late into the night. When Negan got home, he pictured he would be coming home to a dark apartment. “What are you doing up? We have a big day tomorrow.”

Stepping toward the couch, Negan gasped when his daughter hopped up on the couch to her feet. Amusement flooded her young features when Negan jumped, not expecting her to be there. Giggles fell from her throat, her dimples sinking in and her green eyes glowing with happiness. Hopping over the back of the couch, his daughter jumped into his arms. Catching her, he pulled her in closer to his chest and stroked his fingers through her dirty blonde hair, pressing a kiss over her forehead. Laughing, he squeezed her close to him and found joy that his kids were still happy to have him home. “We were watching Christmas movies daddy!”

“Oh?” Negan peppered kisses against the side of his daughter’s face an amused rumble falling from Negan’s throat. “Erin, it is way past your bedtime baby girl. I don’t even know how you are still awake. I’m barely able to keep my eyes open right now.”

“I have an answer for that one,” Beau noted, pointing back toward the kitchen. Beau’s dimples sank in and Erin’s head buried against the side of his neck while she laughed. “Lots and lots of cookies. We baked this evening and she took down quite a few on her own. And it probably didn’t help that they were sugar cookies.”

“Why’d you let her eat so many?” Negan moved around the couch to glance down at Beau who simply stared up at Negan with an amused expression. Beau shrugged, his dimples showing that he was being silly in not getting up from the couch. With his free hand, Negan waved his son to stand up. “Don’t give me that look. Get up here you little shit.”

Snickering, Beau got up from the couch to move forward to give his father a hug and Negan placed a kiss on the top of his son’s head. Messing Beau’s dark hair up had his son laughing, “You always hug me when I come home. Don’t get too old for that shit on me.”

“I’ll never be too old for that,” Beau muttered into his father’s shoulder, squeezing his arms around Negan’s waist. “I just wanted to see how long it took to upset you.”

“You’re a dick,” Negan snickered hearing the gasp that Erin gave when she leaned back to stare up at her father from where she was in his other arm. “Don’t repeat what I said.”

“What kind of dad are you?” Beau jokingly shoved into Negan’s chest causing Negan to snort, his laugh growing with the playful banter that him and his son were having together. “You’re lucky that I love you so much.”

“That’s actually true,” Negan alerted his son, hooking his fingers around the back of his son’s head to bring him forward to place another kiss on his forehead. “I’m lucky to have you buddy. Don’t forget that. And I look forward to those hugs. It’s my favorite thing about coming home.”

“Good,” Erin piped in, cuddling in closer to Negan’s chest from where he was holding onto her. “Because we miss you when you are gone.”

 “We have some pizza and cookies waiting for you in the kitchen,” Beau pointed toward the area that the kitchen was in and it made Negan sigh. “We also got this new peppermint hot chocolate that’s actually surprisingly good. I’ve had a few myself tonight.”

“You two made cookies on your own? Where did you get the hot chocolate?” Negan inquired only to hear the sound of a door opening and he looked back over his shoulder to let out a tense sound when he saw his girlfriend was there. When her green eyes connected with his, a big, happy smile spread out over her features. Seeing her made Negan’s heart race. She wasn’t supposed to be here until tomorrow. “Hey Maggie. What are you doing here?”

“Not the response I thought I would get,” Maggie moved across the room, stepping before him and he used his free arm to wrap it around her to give her a one-armed hug. Originally, he was happy that he was going to have time to chill out. He could only imagine how he may have tasted and smelled of Y/N. Tonight he should have been able to get a shower in, a rest and then start over completely new in the morning with her when she came over. When she pulled back, she pressed a quick kiss over Negan’s lips and he hoped that she didn’t notice anything different. “I decided instead of waiting until tomorrow I would pack today and just come over so we could all leave together in the morning. I knew the kids would be alone tonight because of your party so we hung out. I brought some food and we had some bonding time.”

“All night long,” Beau dragged out his words and it was clear there was sarcasm in his tone. Nudging his son softly with his shoulder, Negan knew that Beau wasn’t the biggest fan of Maggie and he made that clear. Thankfully, Maggie just always thought Beau was a jokester and never really picked up on the fact that his son didn’t like her all that much. “Maggie brought pizza, insisted we make cookies together and then wanted us to have a sleep over with a night full of movies.”

“And I think we had fun, right?” Maggie confirmed with Beau, moving out to squeeze over his shoulder firmly. Holding her arms out for Erin, Erin looked up at Negan with big eyes wondering if she had to go over to Maggie. Negan didn’t want to force his daughter to do it, but eventually his seven-year-old sighed and then accepted the gesture from Maggie who grabbed her. “You had fun, didn’t you?”

“It was good,” Erin answered with a firm nod of her head, her tiny dimples sinking in and Negan knew that was the face of his daughter lying. Biting down on his bottom lip, Negan tried to keep his amusement in when he slid his hands into his pockets. As he did it, his fingers connected with the panties that belonged to Y/N that he had shoved in their previously. Immediately pulling his hands out of his pockets, he folded his arms in front of his chest and cleared his throat. “We watched some good movies.”

“Are you hungry?” Maggie wondered and Negan shrugged. He hadn’t really ate much today so he wouldn’t mind a bit of a snack.

“I’ll go warm some pizza up for you,” Beau moved around Negan and pat his dad on the shoulder. Heading into the kitchen left the three of them alone. Setting Erin down, Maggie noticed that she was eager to run off into the kitchen.

“No more cookies until tomorrow,” Negan called out hearing Erin giggle and she stopped to turn around. Her hands hooked in front of her and she fluttered her beautiful eyelashes up at Negan. “I said no.”

“Please. Just one more?” she begged of Negan giving him the look that she always did when she wanted him to agree to something. “I swear. Just one.”

“Fine,” Negan grumbled under his breath hearing the giggle that followed. After Erin disappeared into the kitchen, Negan called out to Beau knowing that he was the one he could count on to follow the rules. “Only let her have one more Beau!”

“Got it dad!” Beau hollered back from the kitchen giving Negan the time to turn to face Maggie who looked pleased with how things turned out today.

“Honey,” Maggie stepped forward, brushing her fingers through Negan’s hair to get it out of his face. Tipping up on her toes, she tugged at the coat he was wearing and sighed. “You smell of alcohol really bad. You drank a lot tonight?”

“I did,” Negan confessed thankful that the smell of alcohol was what she picked up on. “I worked most of the night and when I got that hour in to party, I took advantage of it. I’m sorry. I know I have to drive tomorrow, but I will be fine. I’ll drink some water now and I swear I’ll be in good shape tomorrow for your family.”

“I’m not worried about it,” Maggie whispered, caressing over the center of Negan’s chest. “I hope you’re not mad that I did this. I just wanted to try to bond with Beau and Erin. I know that Christmas time is hard for them without their mother and I just…I want to make a good impression.”

“I’m not mad at you. I appreciate the gesture. You know my kids are the most important things in the world to me,” Negan reminded her knowing that he couldn’t be mad at her for trying. He was just nervous. He wished he would have had time to himself to let the things that happened with Y/N linger. Now he was worried as hell. They agreed to wait until after the holidays to decide things. Yet, here he was standing in front of the first woman he gave a chance to after his wife died with another woman’s panties in his pocket likely still smelling heavily of her. Well, more so alcohol now and he was thankful for that. “Did Beau let you in?”

“He did,” Maggie responded dragging her fingers down in over the side of Negan’s face, teasing her fingers through his short beard. “I would think by now that I would have a key since I’ve spent a lot of nights here already…”

“I keep forgetting,” Negan lied getting tense when she tipped on her toes and her lips hovered over his. “I just have to make time to get a key made.”

“The place you work at runs you too hard,” Maggie slurred, her thumb dragging out over his bottom lip. Keeping his eyes locked with hers, Negan didn’t really know how to respond. Before being in this kind of position, he really should have brushed his teeth and taken a shower. “Now you get to take a break. Finally.”

“Kind of,” Negan breathed against her lips when she attempted to kiss him which made her huff. “I still have to keep in contact with my team and the company. I’m one of the people in charge and they can’t do this without me.”

“Don’t you have two levels of bosses ahead of you? That guy I met and that new woman?” she plucked open the top button of Negan’s shirt that was revealed beneath his jacket. Stroking her fingers over the chest hair that was there had Negan’s Adam’s apple bouncing in his throat. “They should handle it.”

“She’s going to be gone too,” Negan responded, his hands settling in over Maggie’s hips when her lips faintly brushed over his. “Unfortunately, you’re dating a work-a-holic.”

“I’ll live,” Maggie muttered hearing the children calling out to him from the kitchen.

Bouncing his eyebrows, Negan flashed her a charming smile before stepping back to head for the kitchen. Taking off his jacket, Negan set it on one of the chairs at the dining room table and noticed that Erin was sitting at the island on one of the taller stools that were there eating one of her cookies.

“These look good,” Negan muttered reaching for one of the cookies that looked meticulous and perfectly decorated. Wrinkling his nose, Negan knew that his daughter liked baking, but she wasn’t this clean. “These look too nice.”

“Maggie did most of the work and we gave her company,” Beau brought two glasses of milk over. One for Erin and one for Negan when Negan took the first bite of the cookie. “And we just talked while she did it.”

“Oh, that’s…nice,” Negan spoke hearing Maggie moving into the kitchen while he ate the cookie that he grabbed. It almost tasted store bought and while they were good, he was more of a fan of the homemade kind. Negan also considered himself a bit of a good cook and baker, so he knew maybe he was being a bit too judgmental but he knew his were better. Often, he’d let Erin decorate them too so while they may have been messy, they still tasted great. Beau joined them at the counter and brought a glass of milk for himself too before reaching for a sugar cookie himself. “Are you guys all packed for tomorrow?”

“You know I am daddy. You’re the one that packed my things,” Erin reminded Negan with another lighthearted giggle and it made Negan smile. “I don’t understand the whole Santa thing though. How is he going to know that we are at Maggie’s family’s house?”

“Well Santa is still going to come here and leave a lot of presents for both of you for when we get back,” Negan swallowed down what was left of the cookie he grabbed before reaching for another one. Maggie moved around the kitchen and Negan could see that she was preparing a glass of the hot chocolate that they were talking about earlier for him. “But he still is going to manage to bring some gifts to where you are on Christmas. Just the bigger things will be here for when we get back.”

“Oh,” Erin finished off her cookie and reached for the glass of milk that Beau got her, grabbing it firmly with both of her hands. Watching her chug down the milk made Negan snort and he shook his head when she slammed the glass back down on the counter. “That was good.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Negan snorted, leaning in to pepper kisses against the side of her face. “I love you and your brother so much you stinker.”

“Crap,” Beau heard the sound of the alarm he set going off. Hopping down from his seat, he went over to the oven and used an oven mitt to get the pizza he was warming up for his father out. Turning things off, he tossed the pizza onto a plate. Heading back over to the island, Beau placed the plate in front of Negan before heading back to his seat.

“Thanks kiddo. You’re the best,” Negan appreciated that his son still helped to take care of things around the house. At thirteen, Beau really had to step up to be the man of the house when he wasn’t there and he was proud of his son. Reaching for one of the pieces, Negan blew on it in attempts to cool it before taking a big bite. After the night he had, he didn’t care if this wasn’t fresh, it still tasted good. “This is great Maggie. Thank you.”

“It’s no worries,” Maggie looked back at Negan with a half-smile while Negan finished off the piece he was eating before reaching for another. Maggie’s smile tugged at her lips from where she was standing working on the hot chocolate. “I know it’s your favorite. I figured Beau and Erin would like it too.”

With a simple nod, Negan smirked and went back to eating the pizza. Feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket, Negan reached for his phone to see that it was a text from Y/N. Making sure that no one was close, he opened the text.

Tonight was great Negan. Thank you.

An inexplicable smile pressed in over Negan’s features, his thumb swiping in over his phone. Thinking of something to write back, he gazed up once more to make sure that he was safe in responding to her.

We’ll have to do it again sometime soon, Boss. Working with you tonight was a real pleasure.

“Did something good happen at work today?” Beau spoke up and it made Negan’s jaw flex, his eyes lifting from his phone to stare out at his son who was sipping on his milk. Shit. Maybe he was smiling too much with his phone. “You look happier today than normal.”

“He’s probably just happy that he finally gets a break from everything there,” Maggie suggested from where she was standing behind Beau. Nodding his head, Negan snapped his fingers and pointed toward her. Shoving his phone back into his pocket, Negan made sure that it was safely away when he finished up his last piece of pizza.

“That’s exactly it,” Negan was curious if he seemed to be in a better mood than normal and it was that obvious that something happened that lifted his spirits at work. “I’m just happy I get to spend the next few weeks with my children and enjoy the holidays.”

“I’m just warning you now that my family is going to be excited having children around. It’s been a long time since we’ve actually had children at these things so they are going to be wanting to do everything with them,” Maggie finished up with the hot chocolate and moved around Negan to hand it out to him. Accepting the mug that she gave him, Negan brought it up and took a long sip of the hot liquid treat. “None of my siblings have had children yet and I think it disappoints my dad. He always wanted grandchildren, but none of us have had any. Not even my stepbrother. So they are going to be pampered while they are there.”

“Even though we’re not your kids?” Beau spoke up in a whisper and Maggie smirked, reaching out to mess at Beau’s dark hair like Negan had done previously. Beau wasn’t as comfortable with Maggie doing it as he was his father, but he let it slide. “I mean, we’re just your boyfriend’s children.”

“I’m telling you, they are going to be super excited to have you there. Especially my stepmom. She’s really good with children and having them around for Christmas will make her happy. She really loved doing this kind of stuff with us when I was little,” Maggie assured Beau with a wink and she sighed loudly. “Even if they weren’t ridiculous about Christmas with children, they would be good to you because you’re important to me.”

Hearing that made Negan feel guilty. This was still a pretty new relationship for him. He’d been dating Maggie for about six months and he never really expected it to get as serious as it did. Truthfully, when he met Maggie, he didn’t think much about things. Maggie chewed him out on the street that day, he offered to buy her dinner and the two of them ended up having sex in a bathroom together after a few drinks. It wasn’t something he even thought would be more than a one-night stand, but they kept running into one another, so he figured it was the world hinting to him that maybe there was something there. Maggie was the first person he slept with after his late wife Lucille passed so it felt like he had to feel a certain way toward her.

“This is good,” Negan commented after he took another sip of the hot chocolate. For a few, they were just all silent and Negan didn’t know exactly what to say. He was still tipsy, his mind on other things and he knew that his kids were uneasy about the idea of being with Maggie and her family. Christmas was hard for all of them without Lucille. Finishing up the hot chocolate, Negan rubbed his hands together and pointed down the long hallway toward their bedrooms. “It’s time for bed. Daddy has to get in a shower and you two need to sleep.”

“I’ll get a shower ready for you,” Maggie pointed back down the hallway causing Negan to smirk.

“You don’t have to do that,” Negan suggested, but she was already headed down the hallway and he sighed.

“This is gonna suck dad,” Beau spoke up when Maggie disappeared into his bedroom at the end of the hallway. “I know she tries. She really does, but she’s nothing like mom. She’s so uptight and on all the fucking time.”

“Hey,” Negan hushed Beau after he said that word making Erin giggle and bury her head against Negan’s shoulder.

“Like you don’t swear all the time,” Beau reminded his father and Erin’s big eyes looked up at her dad. Sighing loudly Negan knew that he was right. Picking Erin up from the seat, Negan held her in his arms while they stood in the kitchen together. “I think Maggie is nice dad, but she’s just so…”

“Not like mom,” Erin reiterated reaching for Beau when he moved around the island. Erin clung tightly to her brother while he held onto her. “Mom was fun. We could get messy, play and she wouldn’t care. Maggie is not really fun. She brings nice gifts and she’s nice, but not…mom nice.”

“No one is ever going to be your mom guys. Your mom was one in a million,” Negan responded with a shrug of his shoulders knowing that they were right. Lucille was an incredible woman and the kids loved her just as much as he did. She brought light to their lives and happiness. Without her, something was definitely missing with all of them. “Maggie is trying. You have to remember that she’s not used to children being around.”

“It’s obvious,” Beau blurt out with a roll of his eyes, spinning his sister around in his arms making her laugh. “Sometimes I think she knows that you are a good catch so she doesn’t want to let go of that.”

“A good catch?” Negan chuckled with a thick rumble of laughter and Beau threw one of his arms out to hold it about gesturing to the apartment they were in.

“Dad, you have a good job. Your apartment is amazing. I’ve been to my friend’s homes. I know how lucky we are,” Beau stepped toward the large windows in the kitchen that looked over the city. “You’re rich dad. You have your shit together…kinda…”

“I don’t think Maggie is a gold digger if that’s what you’re suggesting,” Negan knew to stand up for Maggie in that sense because he never got that feeling from her, ever. Maggie was more of a relaxed woman that never took advantage of the fact he had money.

“No, I don’t think she’s a bad person dad,” Beau declared, his voice hitching because of how it was getting deeper with his age. “I just…she doesn’t feel right in our family. As a friend, sure…”

“I hear you buddy,” Negan hooked his arm around his son’s shoulders leading him toward the hallway to get them to their rooms. “Let’s get through the holidays and then we will figure everything out. Okay?”

“I hope we make it through the holidays,” Beau huffed, helping Negan get Erin in for bed. They both hung around to read her a story until she was finally asleep. Following Beau to his bedroom, Negan stopped when he saw the drawings that were on Beau’s desk. Reaching out for one of them, he saw that it was a photo of Lucille that Beau had been drawing. “That’s not done.”

“Beau, this is…” Negan reached for a few of the other drawings that were there noticing how talented his son had grown over the years. A lot of them were focused on Lucille and it took his breath away. “These are beautiful.”

“It’s the one way I can keep her alive,” Beau stepped in beside Negan who was staring down at the drawings. “Sometimes I get scared that I will forget what she looks like. So I draw her the way that I remember her. Her smile…”

Gazing at his son, he saw the tears that were developing in Beau’s eyes and Negan felt his heart break looking at the emotions his son was experiencing, “If I didn’t have that message she left for me on the phone, I think I would have forgotten what her voice sounded like.”

“I miss her too,” Negan was honest with his son noticing that he was getting emotional himself over the small moment they were having here. “I miss her painting the walls a new color every few months. Her ridiculous projects that she was always coming up with…”

“A lot of them never made sense, but they were fun,” Beau remembered reaching up to wipe at his eyes with the back of his hand. “I don’t want you to think I don’t love you dad, but Erin was always your shadow and I was mom’s. I miss that. I miss it so much.”

“Come here,” Negan set down the drawings, wrapping his son up in his arms tightly. Squeezing him close, Negan could hear his son crying and he didn’t blame him. This time of the year was always the worst for them. Lucille was so good with Christmas. By now, their apartment would have been covered in decorations. Top to bottom. Lights would have filled the hallways, music would be playing and everything would have always smelled like Christmas. Now he had a tree in the corner of the living room, but it wasn’t quite the same. Holding Beau long enough for him to calm down, Negan leaned back and captured his son’s jaw between his thumb and his index finger. “You were the one thing she was always the proudest of. You know that?”

“Yeah?” Beau muttered, his voice rasp and full of sadness when they talked about Lucille.

“Yeah. Me too. You were a surprise, but shit kid, you’re the best surprise I’ve ever gotten,” Negan brushed his fingers through Beau’s hair and he shook his head. “You might look like me, but you are so much like your mother. And you are so fucking talented. I couldn’t be prouder. You’re good at everything. It’s unbelievable how much talent is in one young boy.”

“You’re just saying that,” Beau pulled away from Negan to head over to his bed to sit down on the edge of it.

“I’m not. I have the coolest fucking kid in the world. You draw, you play like what…four fucking instruments? And you’re good at all of them. You’re an actor. You’re a good cook. You know how to fix cars…” Negan listed off and Beau snickered, curling his fingers around the edge of the bed. “You love photography, you paint…”

“You taught me that stuff dad,” Beau pointed out and Negan threw his hands up in the air.

“Beau, I was never this fucking talented at your age,” Negan nodded toward the drawings that were on Beau’s desk. “You’re smart. You’re sweet and you’re a great big brother. I don’t think you realize how awesome you really are kid. Truthfully? You’ve probably had to grow up fast because of me. You take care of your sister,” Negan headed over to sit down beside Beau on his bed and he sighed. “And you’ve taken care of me. Which was something you should have never had to do.”

“We’re a family. That’s what you do when you love someone,” Beau claimed, drawing Negan to stare out at him and narrow his eyes out at his son. “You’re an amazing dad. You work hard, yet you always still manage to make time for us. You always have. That’s what mom loved the most about you. You showed up, all the time. When you fall, I pick you up. When I’ve fallen, you’ve always saved me dad. Mom and you taught me from a very young age that when you love someone, you work hard to show it. You never know when someone is going to be gone. We learned that with mom. So I will always show my love for you and Erin. You work hard for us, so I will work hard for you.”

“I don’t know what I would have done without you,” Negan muttered with a shuddering breath, hooking his arm around Beau again to pull him in close for another hug. That was something he meant. If Beau wasn’t there, he was sure he would have broken down and given up, but his son always kept him going. Even in the worst moments of his life. “I love you so much bud. You’re the best kid a dad could hope for. Just listening to you talk…seeing the way you are…I don’t know how I got so lucky. I love you so fucking much.”

“I love you too,” Beau repeated, giving Negan one more big hug before getting up to get ready to go to bed. Even though Beau was upset, he was putting on a strong façade. It was his way of dealing with things and Negan knew that. “You should go get some sleep. We have a big drive tomorrow.”

“Yes dad,” Negan teased his son, standing up from the bed nudging his son playfully before heading for the door. “I love you so much kiddo. Never forget that.”

Giving Beau a wink, Negan closed the door behind him and then unhurriedly moved to his bedroom. Entering his room, he let out a tight exhale when he saw that Maggie was getting ready for bed standing before him in her lingerie. Swiftly closing the door behind him, Negan started undoing the buttons in his shirt and he knew that she noticed he was sad.

“Everything okay? Did the kids get to bed?” she spoke up and Negan nodded. Getting his shirt apart, Negan pulled it from his body and tossed it toward the hamper hearing her sigh. “What happened?”

“We just started talking about Lucille. Beau and I,” Negan didn’t lie. There was no point. Working to get his pants off after he kicked out of his shoes, Negan stood before Maggie in his boxer briefs and shrugged his shoulders. “It’s hard around this time of the year.”

“I understand,” she stepped forward, her hands reaching out to caress in over the side of Negan’s face. Lowering down, Negan hooked his fingers into his socks to pull them off and sighed. “What can I do to make you feel better?”

“I just need to take a shower,” Negan informed her pointing in the direction of the shower. Going to move for the bathroom, Negan stopped when he felt her fingers hooking around his wrist. “Maggie, I just…it’s hard around this time of the year without her. Things are really different. The kids miss her, I miss her…”

“I know,” she hushed him, pulling herself in closer to him with her fingers stroking over the center of his chest to tease through the dark curls of hair. “I just wish I knew what I could do to help you. A way to make you feel better.”

“Just time,” Negan responded knowing that he would never get over the death of Lucille. She was the love of his life and nothing would change that. He would always love his wife and he wasn’t sure that Maggie would understand that. Truthfully? Negan wondered if he was the first big relationship that she ever had. “Thanks Maggie.”

“Sure,” she eyed him over when he headed for the bathroom.

Turning on the shower, Negan noticed that she put out a towel for him along with a set of clothes for him to put on once he was done with the shower. The kids weren’t wrong, she was kind of controlling in a way. Negan kicked out of his boxer briefs and then stepped under the warm spray of the water. Today was a big day mentally for him. Between what happened with Y/N at work and his conversation with Beau, Negan was in a whirlwind of emotions. Pressing his hands against the wall of the shower, Negan remembered what it was like tonight with Y/N. It was something that was lingering in his mind and he wished he could have talked to her right now.

With Maggie in his bed, Negan spent more time in the shower than he should have. Scrubbing good enough in hopes that she wouldn’t realize something happened tonight. Turning the shower off once he was done, Negan grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his body. Wiping the steam off the mirror, he braced his hands on top of the counter and he stared out at himself. The right thing would have been to tell Maggie. Instead of dragging her on. Then again, she did mention the kids being pampered at her family’s home. They deserved that kind of thing during Christmas after everything they had been through with Lucille.

Pushing aside his feelings, Negan got dressed, brushed his teeth and then headed out into the bedroom to see that Maggie was sitting up watching something on the television. Crawling into the bed beside her, Negan turned off the light that was beside his head and laid down trying to get comfortable.

“What do you think about marriage?” Maggie muttered after Negan had cuddled his head in against the pillow and closed his eyes to try to sleep. Gradually, his eyes fluttered to an open and he looked up at her. “That way you can try to start over?”

“We’ve talked about this before,” Negan reminded her knowing that it was something Maggie had brought up a lot in the past. He knew that she wanted him to ask her to marry him, but there were a lot of factors that had kept him from doing that. Negan knew this was a relationship where he got into it because he felt lonely. And that’s not how relationships were supposed to be. In his mind at least. Sure, he was comfortable enough, but he didn’t feel that connection that he knew that he felt when he was with Lucille.

“I know we’ve talked about it before, but with Christmas around the corner, it was just on my mind. All of these romance films playing on almost every channel,” she waved her hand about pointing toward the television where she had one of the typical Christmas films on. “It gets you thinking about things. Where you want your life to go.”

“I prefer Die Hard,” Negan scoffed, lifting his head enough to look over at the television knowing that he was never a fan of those kind of movies after Lucille passed away. She liked them a lot and it was kind of her thing that the kids and him would tease her about. “Or Home Alone. Those are good.���

“Negan,” Maggie frowned that he was avoiding the discussion and he shrugged his shoulders. “You know when I first met you, you drove me crazy.”

“Yeah, you hated me. And then you fucked me,” Negan reminded her hearing the snicker that she released and it made Negan laugh. “I mean it’s the truth. You wanted to kill me and then we were screwing in the dark bathroom stall of a bar. You were wild, even for me. And that says something because I had a time where I was a bit too much myself.”

“We know how things started with us,” she noticed that Negan was lifting up on his elbows to stare out at her, his eyebrows arched. “I just thought by now I would be married and found the love of my life. Here I am now with you and it’s close to Christmas…”

“I know Christmas makes people feel a certain way,” Negan stated letting out a tense breath when Maggie adjusted in the bed beside him. Huffing out, Negan felt her crawling in over him and her hands braced in over the center of his chest. “Mags.”

“I like your children. I like you…” she palmed down in over the center of his chest down toward his abdomen to grasp at his body through his pajama pants. “You have one of the nicest cocks I’ve ever seen.”

“Is my cock important to you?” Negan’s slurred not sure how to respond while she palmed up and over his body. In other circumstances this may have turned him on, but it really wasn’t.

“I’m just saying you have a nice one,” she pointed out and they both looked down having him shift underneath her uncomfortably. “A lot of people don’t have a big dick and know what to do with it. You do. You make me feel good. I like being around you…”

“So that’s what you’re looking for? Someone with a nice cock that can make you feel good for the rest of your life?” Negan arched his eyebrow, trying to understand what she was saying and he could tell that he had her flustered. “I’m just trying to understand here Maggie. What is it about me that makes you want to marry me?”

“Of course it’s not your cock that makes me want to marry you. I want what every woman wants. To find a man that she is head over heels in love with that makes her happy. I want to have a life with someone that I enjoy sharing my life with. Someone that is my best friend where our chemistry is off the charts. Where every moment we look forward to being with one another and when we are apart, it’s miserable,” she lowered down to pepper kisses over Negan’s bottom lip. It was hard to react to that because Negan didn’t feel that with Maggie. He never did. He just liked not being alone. Loneliness made the pain of everything else feel so much worse.

“And that’s what you feel when you are with me?” Negan didn’t even really know how Maggie felt because she would tell him that she loved him. She was over all the time, but they never really connected with one another that well.

“Of course,” she kissed him further, reaching for the drawer that was beside the bed. Pushing a few things around, she returned with a condom and Negan licked his lips. “Let’s get one of these in before we go. I doubt we’re going to be able to get something in when we are there so…”

“Listen,” Negan slid further up, stopping her when she went to undo his pajama pants. Giving her an empathetic look, Negan looked down toward his lap and shook his head. “I don’t think I’ll be able to get it hard Maggie. I drank a lot tonight and with the kids still bouncing around…us having sex probably isn’t a good idea.”

“I’m sure after some work I can get the big guy going,” she went to move again, but Negan snatched the condom from her fingers to drop it back into the drawer. Closing it, Negan reached up to stroke his fingers over the side of her face. “Is everything okay?”

“I feel kind of vulnerable right now,” Negan pulled her further in over his lap allowing her to cup his face in her hands. “Can we just kiss tonight? It’s just with everything so focused on Lucille tonight, I’m just sad and I could really use some cuddling and kissing.”

“Aw, baby,” she frowned stroking her fingers in over the side of Negan’s face. With a weak smile, Negan didn’t know why he didn’t click with Maggie. She was feisty and he liked them that way. She could kick his ass easily and she would if she wanted to. She was stunning. Beautiful. Full of energy, but there was just something that was missing. Bringing their lips together, Maggie stroked her fingers over the back of his neck attempting to get intimate with him. A soft, faint knocking sound was heard and it was followed by the bedroom door opening which had Maggie pulling herself from over Negan.

“Hey honey,” Negan sat up in the bed seeing that Erin was standing at the door holding her blanket and her stuffed animal in her arms. “Are you okay?”

“Daddy? Can I sleep with you tonight?” Erin begged of her father and without even thinking about it, Negan pat the bed beside him making room for her. Sure, he could have asked Maggie, but this was his daughter. And honestly? He was thankful for her wanting to be in here with him. It stopped Maggie from getting handsy with him. Closing the door after she entered the room, Erin hopped up on the bed and Negan adjusted the blankets for her to get comfortable in beside him. “I just don’t want to be alone right now.”

“There is nothing wrong with that baby,” Negan pressed a loving kiss over his daughter’s cheek, getting comfortable as she cuddled herself in his arms. Gazing back over his shoulder, he shot Maggie an empathetic look and she seemed to understand. Turning off the lights, Maggie got comfortable in bed with them and her arm hooked around Negan from behind. Having the warmth of her breath at the base of his neck felt nice and being held was something he enjoyed, but he wondered if it was really Maggie that he wanted it to be with.

Like this? It was pretty easy to fall asleep. And he was exhausted. So he didn’t wake up until it was morning and it was Maggie that started moving. Even Erin was moving about before he finally got up. There was the headache that he was expecting from over drinking last night. Usually, he didn’t drink that much and that was why. He hated having hangovers. At this point, he just had to get dressed and finish packing a few things.

Frowning, Negan looked back over his shoulder at his dresser. Moving toward the top drawer, he pushed a few things around and grabbed the black box that he had shoved in there a week or two ago. Opening it, he gazed over the engagement ring that he had bought for Maggie after she had brought it up several times. Knowing that he hated being lonely and he liked the company, Negan had bought this in hopes to appease Maggie. There was the notion that he would propose to Maggie at her family’s home on Christmas. Swiping his thumb in over the ring, he sighed and closed the box backup. At this point, he didn’t even know if he should bother bringing this with him. With how he was feeling in the last day, he was actually questioning his judgement.

“Fuck,” Negan heard someone moving throughout the hallways and he headed over toward the bag to push the box into his bag to keep it hidden. Beau knocked at the doorframe and Negan threw the bag in over his shoulder.

“I got some coffee started for you,” Beau informed his father with a weak smile. Beau didn’t want to do this and Negan knew that, but he wasn’t complaining. Which was something that he appreciated from his son.

“You’re a life saver,” Negan pressed a kiss against Beau’s temple before moving to the kitchen with everyone. All of the bags were ready, Negan just needed to drink his coffee and then he would take everyone’s things to the car.

Beau helped him get things situated before they all got into his SUV and started their journey. Negan picked something up for them to eat and then they were headed to Maggie’s family’s home. The sad thing is? When they used to do this with Lucille, the car was never quiet. They always had some kind of fun or talking going on. Right now? It was silent. Maggie was holding onto his hand, Erin was taking a nap and Beau was reading a book. Boring would be an understatement.

Every so often Negan would try to start a discussion, but it was hard to get really any of them interested. Lucille was always the one that was good at this stuff. He was good at being silly and getting the laughs, but she was good at keeping everyone excited and happy. No matter how lame their vacation was about to be.

The drive was longer than any of them would have liked. By the time they started getting out in the middle of nowhere, Negan could see that Beau was staring out at the window and he was panicked. The only life that Beau and Erin ever knew was the life of the city. So this? This was completely different for them.

Maggie directed Negan to her home and when Negan got there, he drove up the long winding driveway to the large home that sat up on the hill. It was nothing but land, trees and their farm and that alone made his family uncomfortable. Negan could just tell by their breathing that neither one of his children knew how to react.

Getting out of the car, Negan noticed that people were coming to the door after they heard the car. Maggie got out of the car and ran up the driveway to meet a younger blonde girl to give her a big hug to spin her around. Beau got out of the car with Negan and met him at the door where he was going to grab Erin.

“What the hell did you get us into dad?” Beau wondered, grabbing a hold of Negan’s arm to get him to look back at the home before Negan went for Erin. “There is enough time for us to turn around and take off. What do you think?”

“We can’t do that Beau,” Negan frowned, rubbing at the back of his neck in a moment of tension. “I do agree with you though, I’m not a fan of how all of this feels.”

“Shit,” Beau muttered under his breath, his eyebrows furrowing when he helped his father get Erin out of the car along with their things. By the time their things were unpacked, Maggie was bringing her family down to meet them.

“Negan, Beau, Erin…this is my little sister Beth, this right here is my stepbrother Shawn, this is my stepmother Annette,” Maggie was introducing them and each person would shake the hand of every single one of them until she got to her father. “And this is my daddy, Hershel.”

Now that’s where things got weird. Hershel shook the hand of both of the kids, but when he got to Negan, he stared down at Negan’s hand like it was disgusting. Maggie looked tense when she reached out to place her hand in over her father’s shoulder, “Daddy.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Negan let out a tense sound when Hershel finally accepted his hand, but the pressure that Maggie’s father was putting on his hand was extraordinarily hard. It surprised Negan because even by the look in Hershel’s eyes he seemed furious with Negan. A man he had never met or even talked to. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“So you’re the guy that’s keeping my daughter all the way out there in the city?” Hershel confirmed with Negan making Negan let out a hesitant exhale and looked to Maggie. At this point, Negan was trying to let go of Hershel’s hand but he was still holding onto his hand.

“I thought Maggie was in the city long before she ever met me,” Negan recalled and he pulled his hand back enough for him to stumble after Maggie nudged her father to release Negan.

“I was,” Maggie offered up and Beau shot his father a look like he was shocked with what just went down. “Do you guys want to see around the farm? We have horses, those are pretty cool. What do you say Erin?”

“Sure,” Erin shrugged her shoulders, not sure what to exactly agree to now that they were on the farm.

“Hershel,” Annette nudged Hershel’s arm nodding toward a car that was starting to pull up the long driveway and it parked beside Negan’s SUV. “She’s here.”

“And?” Hershel rumbled surprising Negan, his head tipping to the side when both Hershel and Maggie stayed back when the rest of the family ran out to the car that had just arrived. At this point, Negan was seriously considering what Beau suggested. At first, Negan thought this was going to be easy, but he noticed there was an immediate hate that Maggie’s father seemed to have for him.

“I’ll be back,” Maggie caressed over Hershel’s arm before nodding toward the car that showed up. “You will have to excuse me, there is another one of the members of the family.”

Clinging tightly to his bag, Negan didn’t know how to respond to everything happening. Negan was thankful that the spotlight was taken off of him, but maybe he shouldn’t have done this. Maggie was the one that convinced him that this was a good idea. And now with his children standing behind him uncomfortable, he felt like maybe this was a stupid idea to begin with.  

“It’s so good to see you,” Maggie had stepped forward drawing Negan to look over his shoulder. A grunt fell from his throat, his chest tightening when the woman that she was hugging turned on her heel after hugging Maggie.

Immediately a yelp fell from her throat when Negan’s eyes connected with hers, “Negan?”

“Y/N?” Negan muttered, his head tipping back when he realized this was the world’s way of fucking him over to the extreme right now.

“You two know one another?” Maggie pointed between the two of them noticing the discomfort in both of their bodies when they saw one another. There was a silence and everyone was looking between the two of them. “Negan?”

“Yeah, she’s my boss,” Negan threw his hand up in the air pointing out at Y/N feeling his heart hammering inside of his chest. Dropping his head down, he felt a warmth flooding into his cheeks realizing exactly where this was going. “Shit.”

----

Tags: @slutlanna976 @fuckthis-and-fuckthat @jennydehavilland @de-gabyconamor​ @ibelongtonegan @smallsadjellyfish @labyrinthofheartagrams  @msjamesmarch @thebeautysurrounds @hotfornegan @redmercysugar @caprithebunny​ @tuttifuckinfruitty @emoryhemsworth @a-girl-interupted @akumune​ @stoneyggirl2 @xsarcasticwriterx  @insertneganhere​ @haleygreen23​ @xhannahbananax03 @sanctuaryforthelost​ @burningredaffair @killaweiser @dead-of-niight  @ayumi-wolf @hollyismentallyillhelp @promiscuousbarnes​ @tone-stark @lanadelnegan

[am-i-interrupting]

Six Feet Under | Alastor & Child!Reader, Vox x Alastor’s Child Reader— OATSH

Summary: After the monthly graveyard visit with your father, you ask him some questions. Years later, you carry on his traditions.

It wasn’t a special day. There were no big plans or events on the horizon. In all definitions of things, it was a very simple day. At least for you. Simple days defined by other people didn’t include cooking actual human flesh with your father but that was their loss.

You were cutting some radishes when you let your thoughts wonder.

Today had been the monthly visit to the graveyard. Your father liked to keep his mother’s stone clear. Once a year you’d make the four hour trip to your mother’s gravestone to clean it. He liked things organized but your mother had family you’d only met a few times and they were far away.

Your hand slipped and so did your mouth. You felt a light smack to the back of your head and swiftly apologized.

“Sorry, daddy,” you said as you set down the knife and went to wash your hand.

“You are much too young and far too sophisticated for that talk,” Alastor said. “Where did you even learn that?”

When you gave him the name of a certain performer he sighed and shook his head.

You put a small dot of ointment on your finger and then wrapped your hand tight. You went back to cutting.

Your mind didn’t stop though and eventually you asked, “What was mama like?”

Alastor’s humming stopped. “She was a fine woman to know. What makes you ask?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know. I just want to know, I suppose. You don’t talk about her a lot and I never got to know her so I’m just curious.”

“Hmm, well, there’s no harm in indulging you.” He waved his hand. “Go on, ask your questions.”

You stared at him for a moment but he didn’t look back. He continued his humming and cooking.

“How did you two meet?” you asked.

“It was 1918,” he began. “I was working at a The Sherry Diner with my mother. Our darling little swearer came in with your mother, chattering on about herself as she’s so prone to do. She introduced your mother to me. If I recall, she said my mother and I made the best food in all of New Orleans so she had to make sure your mother got a good idea of real food before it was spoiled by everything else.”

“She was right,” you said. “You make the best food, daddy.”

“A rare occurrence then,” he said and you both laughed at the tease. “What else?”

“When did you two start dating?” you asked.

“Ah, that is a bit more of a complicated answer,” he said. “We never planned on courting one another. We partially ended up doing so and getting married eventually because of you.”

“Why would you do that?”

“There are certain things people do to protect their public image and therefore themselves. Now, next question,” he said swiftly, with a face that spoke his discomfort without explicitly saying so.

You dropped the subject. “If you didn’t plan on datin’—“

“Dating,” he corrected.

“—dating, did you love her?”

“No, I did not,” he said bluntly. “I did my best to take care of her as much as she’d let me but I did not love her.”

There was something, like a twisting in your stomach, that washed over you at that. “Well, why’d you marry her?”

“Because of you.” He booped your nose. “Rest assured, I did do everything I could to keep her happy when she was alive regardless.”

“Did she love you?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” he said. “That is how we ended up where we are today.”

“What’s that mean?”

“I’ll explain it to you when you’re older.”

“Okay.”

“Any other questions?”

“No.”

The next morning you woke up to the smell of food cooking which was odd. Normally your father would wait for you to wake before he’d begin cooking or come to get you himself if you slept too late.

You sat up in bed and stretched with a yawn. You pulled off your blanket and rubbed your eyes. Your feet hit the floor that never really got cold in Louisiana.

Then you saw it. A chest.

“Daddy!” you yelled.

“Yes, my dear?”

“Why’s there a chest in my room?”

“There’s nothing in your room that’s not yours.”

You rolled your eyes and pried it open. Your eyes widened what was inside.

Carefully, you pulled out a blue pair of beach pajamas, a white flapper dress, a dark blue skirt and a light blue blouse, a parasol, and several nice pieces of jewelry. Then you saw the picture of your father and a woman in wedding clothes. You put everything back in the chest with as much care as you’d taken it out with.

You ran out of your room and nearly knocked your father over with the force of your hug.

Little did you know that in just a few years you’d add his clothes to that chest. Not many things, just his favorite shirt, tie and cologne.

You’d drag that chest with you; fiercely protect it from anyone who dared look at it the wrong way. It went from your home to a foster one to a different foster home to an orphanage from that orphanage to three more. Then it would go with you as you lived on the street then in a shitty beat down apartment and follow you into a slightly better beat down apartment where you lived with four different girls trying to live in a place with one bedroom. It would come to you to a place you’d thought would get you published and then back to those same girls but one was in jail and one was dead and a new one had joined. It’d stay there for several years before finally joining you back where you began.

A different show host entered the house as you’d said he could stay while he visited. You’d been gone all day instead of joining him like you normally did on the rare occasion he was in town.

He knew what today was though. He wasn’t so stupid as to forget the anniversary of the day your father was shot and killed. It’s why he came in the first place. After you’d drunkenly let slip that you dreaded this time every year, he couldn’t just leave you alone but you insisted.

For now though, he smiled to himself as he saw you curled up in an old but well taken care of men’s button up. He picked you up and put you to bed. Your hand caught his wrist and you dragged him in the bed with you, grave dirt beneath your fingernails.

[observeowl]

Unwanted Marriage | Chapter 7 - Getting Risky

Series Masterlist

"Y/N, please come here!" You were working at your desk when Millicent called you. "Y/N, you did very well last month. Therefore I want you to do this important interview. Director Lancaster from Lancaster Group has just gotten married. We will be interviewing him this time." That raised alarm bells in your head. Why would they be interested in him? "I think I can't..."

"Why not? Several people in the company saw him come to see you." She reasoned. "It's not like that, I-"

"Y/N, I think highly of you. That is why I decided to let you do this interview. Go and prepare the interview outline first."

You sighed as you stepped out of her office. The relationship with your family has become so complicated and weaved into your work. "Y/N, what is wrong?" Wanda asked. You dragged to somewhere quieter and told her that Millicent told you to interview Director Lancaster. Someone told her that you were his friend, but you don't think you're up for this job.

"Millicent asked you to interview Director Lancaster? Isn't he the handsome one that came last time? What's up with him?" You shook your head, Wanda would never get it without you telling her the whole story. She's much too focused on a person's look to see anything else. "Why? Skeleton in the closet? I brought this interview up during the meeting. You have to thank me!" Sharon came out behind you.

"Is there anything odd with the interview?" Wanda asked timidly. "Nothing odd, I am afraid that someone is too guilty to take the task. Afraid to meet him since he is married, and more afraid of being bullied by the legal wife!"

"Sharon! What nonsense are you talking about?" Wanda came to your defence. Despite knowing nothing much, the one thing she know is your personality and there was no way you would break a couple's relationship.

"I'm not talking nonsense, you'll know later."

You've done quite a few since you started working at Stark News and the outline was quickly done and vetted by Millicent. "The interview outline is okay. Since you and Mr Lancaster are friends, you can meet privately first. Afterwards, I'll arrange for him to come here and take pictures for the cover. If it wasn't for you being able to get an interview with Natasha Romanoff, we wouldn't have sold out all of our copies. The Chief Editor will definitely reward you! This is the last edition, you can keep a copy." She handed you the magazine with Natasha Romanoff on the front page. You could see why so many people have a crush on her. You were embarrassed to admit that you were staring at the front page for a while until Millicent told you you were free to leave.

You arrange a meeting three days later with Marcus with Lancaster Group. When the arranged date arrived, you went to his office but Stephanie was sitting on his chair instead of him. "What? Don't feel surprised?"

"You have painstakingly sent Marcus away. Is it because you have no confidence in him?"

"How is that possible? Don't think that I don't know that you still can't forget Marcus after so long." You rolled your eyes at her comment. She and Marcus kept getting involved in your life, you can't forget him even if you want to. "You're thinking too much. I'm not into taking someone's leftovers, only you treasure him."

"Hello? Is this Starks News? Your employee is very arrogant! We're here to do an interview, not to look at your employee's negative faces! Director Lancaster is very angry now! You must give us an explanation! What has she done? She hit Director Lancaster and even splashed coffee on him!"

"Y/N, we'll see how you try to explain your way out this time!"

"There is no need for an explanation. You have said what you wanted to say. I can't do anything about it." If you can handle Sherry's accusation about you, she is nothing to worry about.

===

You were told to enter Mr Stark's room and it was only your second time here after your interview. "I'll give you a chance to explain what happened today."

"I didn't meet with Director Lancaster, I only met his wife."

"Stephanie Y/L/N? Your sister?"

"How did you know?"

"I attended your wedding. I had some doubts at first. However, Natasha Romanoff's interview last time was successfully completed, so I can basically confirm it. I will let another person interview Marcus. It's okay if you can't do it. Don't worry about it."

"Are you giving me this privilege because I am Natasha's wife?" You asked. Mr Stark looked at you like you have a second head before holding her belly and laughing out loud. "Y/N, what are you talking about? Even though the Romanoff family is supreme, the Stark family is also not that bad. It's only that I want to protect this magazine. You're a dependable hard worker, not arrogant nor bad tempered. That's why I keep you here."

"Sharon will be in charge of the interview with Mr Lancaster. I hope Group 1 will cooperate with Sharon." Mr Stark told the company in an open meeting. You and Wanda were happy to see that Sharon was reaping her own words.

"Mr Lancaster, someone from Stark News just came, they left when you weren't here." Marcus's secretary told him as he came back. "Alright, I'll call them back." Normally, he would leave such a task to his secretary, but since he knows you are working there, he decided to be the one calling instead.

M: Hello?

S: Hi, Director Lancaster. I am the editor from Stark News. I am so sorry for what happened. I will let Y/N Y/L/N apologise to you!

M: Apologies? I had a meeting in the morning so I wasn't in the office and was unable to meet her.

He knew it had something to do with Stephanie telling him that there was something wrong with the factory and that his father was unable to do anything about it, pulling him away from his office.

S: ...I hope Mr Lancaster can give us a chance.

M: About the interview, I have no problem with it. You can arrange for it.

S: Thank you Mr Lancaster, shall we meet tomorrow at 11am?

M: Alright, see you at Birkins Restaurant.

Marcas was excited to see you at work. He wondered how you would look, and you must look very professional in your work clothes. "Prepare a new suit for me. It must be presentable and good looking. The more handsome the better!"

Words somehow spread and Natasha caught news that Tony Stark knew of your identity because of the conflict of Marcus's interview. "It is not a problem. I know Tony Stark. He has only started managing the company for the past few years. He has the capabilities but no ambition."

===

While Marcus was waiting for your arrival, he was daydreaming about how it was going to go. He really thought how the both of you were going to have a good time at the interview, chatting about work and not.

"Mr Lancaster, sorry to keep you waiting." A voice said as she pushed open the door. "It's fine, I have just arrived too... you are?"

"I am Sharon Carter, editor from Stark News, nice to meet you."

"Is it only you?" He asked as he subtly looked behind her. "What do you mean, Mr Lancaster?"

"Where is Y/N Y/L/N?"

"Mr Lancaster, because of Y/N's conflict with you previously, the company has decided to send me to interview you. You're looking for her now... to reapproach her?"

"Who asked you to change the interviewer?! What did she do wrong? Did I tell you to change her?!" He stood up and shouted at her. "Mr Lancaster, please listen to my explanation."

"Forget about the interview this time! If there is an opportunity, we will cooperate again in the future." He walked out a room without giving a second thought to Sharon. She clenched her fist, there's always you standing in her path. Before you appeared, everything was smooth sailing for her.

"Hello? Are you Stephanie Lancaster? I am Sharon Carter from Stark News..."

In the end it was Stephanie who was interviewed on behalf of Marcus. News was that Marcus had something on suddenly so Stephanie took the interview instead. As expected, the interview included remarks of her supposed confidence in Marcus to not get lured by other ladies.

"Y/N, don't you think she's provoking you?" Wanda asked as she read the interview printed out. "You think too much. It's just a simple interview. I'm going to the washroom."

You were washing your hands when you saw Sharon from the mirror with her lackeys. It was always the usual two following her. "So, do you feel anxious after reading the interview?" They surrounded you, making you unable to go anywhere. "I don't know what you are talking about." Sharon gave the signal and one of them went to the door to flip the sign indicating that the washroom was undergoing maintenance.

"What do you guys want to do?" They took a hold of your arms, locking you in place.

"What can I do? I'm just following orders. After all, I got an interview, and I had to do something for Mrs Lancaster, right?"

"Aren't you guys afraid that the Chief Editor will find out?"

"Ah! Really? I'm so scared!" She faked. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, the Chief Editor took a call and went out. Furthermore, the soundproofing of this washroom is pretty good. Who will know what we did to you?"

"Wanda knows that I'm in the washroom. If I don't go back, she definitely will look for me!"

She gave another signal and the others smacked your head on the counter. "No worries, Wanda can't come in even if she wants to." She took out her phone and snapped a photo of you. "Look at you, all fine and tender, the face of a vixen. No wonder Natasha Romanoff and Marcus Lancaster are both seduced by you!" You continued staring at her and pissed her off, making her knee you in the gut. "Bitch! How are you stare at me!"

"Sharon, how about we let it go? If anything happens to her, we'll be finished."

"What are you scared of?! I specifically hit her in places that can't be seen. Do you think she will go out lifting her shirt, telling others that we beat her up?" She shouted. "I will teach you a lesson today! A mistress is like a rat running across the street, everybody shouting and wanting to kill it." She turned to you and lifted you by your hair and pushed you into one of the stalls. "I want to see how you'll hang your head up high next time!" She closed the door and you rushed to open it but it was not budging.

You heard the sound of water only after it hit you, leaving you drenched in your clothes. "You just stay here and behave yourself. I'll let you out if I remember." You started hyperventilating and bangging on the door for anyone to help you out. You didn't want to be stuck here alone.

Message from Stephanie: You did a great job! I have long thought that your abilities were above average. If there is any problem in the future, come and find me.

"What are you doing?" Sharon asked when she saw Wanda walking past her. "I'm looking for Y/N, she's been in the washroom for quite a long time."

"The water pipes of the washroom on this floor are not functioning. The washroom is out of order."

"Then why hasn't she come back yet?"

"I just saw she seemed to have met someone she knows. They were talking and walking with each other, who knows where they went."

Wanda accepted it as it is and went back to her table with a thought. You wouldn't leave your bag and phone on the table, unless it was an emergency? There was a sense of unease with her the longer you left.

When everyone was clocking out of work, one of Sharon's lackeys asked if she was really going to leave you alone in the washroom. "Why even bother to care about her? After a while, the cleaner will come and know that she is there."

And true enough, the cleaner came round and saw someone place the maintenance sign in front and questioned it. No one told her that there was going to be maintenance here. "Who did this?! What the hell are they doing?" She grumbled when she saw a particular stall being really wet with a chair in front of the door.

"Ahhhh!" She screamed, getting the attention of Wanda heading there to check again. "Some-someone is dead!"

"Y/N! What happened to you? Wake up! Hurry! Call the ambulance for help!" She rushed out of the washroom to get to her cart and bumped into Tony Stark. She hurriedly explained what happened and he jumped into action. "It will take a while for the ambulance to come, I will drive her to the hospital."

At the emergency room, Tony and Wanda were waiting for any news of you as the doctors determined the best course of action for you. "It's my fault. If only I had gone into the washroom to have a look."

"It's okay, we can't change the past now. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Let's pray she isn't too affected."

The sounds of wheels turning caused them to turn their heads. "Where is Y/N?"

"Y/N is in the emergency room." Tony replied. "What happened? How did Y/N end up here? Now is not the time to be crying! Tell me!"

"In any way, I will give you a satisfactory explanation."

"I don't only want an explanation." Tony experienced Natasha's piercing eyes first hand and almost cowered in fear. It was no wonder rumour had said that she is merciless. "Well, I think I know who did it."

"I went to the toilet to look for Y/N. Sharon told me that I couldn't because it was under maintenance. Now to think of it, she just didn't want me to know that Y/N was inside. And also she always goes against Y/N, and even said Y/N was a mistress."

"Clint, go and check it out."

"What about you?"

"I will wait here for her."

===

It wasn't long before a doctor came out with the result. Your fever was high and ongoing and you were lucky you were brought to the hospital in time or it would have turned into pneumonia. They were also informed that you were going to be wheeled to another room later.

"Y/N... you're finally awake!" You saw three figures in front of you as you opened your eyes. "Why am I in the hospital?" You mumbled to yourself until you remembered what happened in the washroom. "Y/N, don't worry. We won't let her get away with this! Mr Stark already knows the entire story, they can't get away with it."

"We don't have proof."

"Are you just going to let her bully you and let her get away unpunished? This is just too unfair!"

"I remember there is a security camera installed outside the washroom. Once we get the footage, they have no way to run to. I will arrange for someone at the security's office to check now." Mr Stark said but Natasha stopped him. "It's no use. At most, the footage only captured them going in or out the washroom. What happened inside cannot be captured. I will handle this. She should pay for what you've gone through."

"My guard was down this time. I promise, there won't be a next one. You stay out of this, okay?" She was about to protest until she saw your puppy eyes and let it go. "Okay, just this once."

Wanda, upon seeing how close you were with her idol, broke her. "Wanda, what's wrong?"

"Wh-what is their relationship?"

"Can't you tell?" She refused to shake her head, not wanting to acknowledge what was in front of her. "This is my wife, Y/N." Natasha said. "W-wife?"

"I didn't say anything." You chuckled, relieved that the tension wasn't as thick anymore.

Series Masterlist

@natsxwife @franfineashell @dvrkhcld @reginassweetheart @marvelogic @autorasexy

[issa-pheonyx]

RE2 VS RE4 Leon Ramble

I like how some people see Leon from RE2 to be like 'he is just a sweet little boy🥺🥺' and then when they see him in RE4 all of sudden it is like 'FUCK ME DADDY EVEN IF MY SPINE BREAKS👹👹🫣'

You know who you are...

No shame in that of course, but in my reality Leon is still the same like in RE2, but with much more spicy trauma and all. Stress and other mental conditions can change the persons behavior and all. But, soft Leon is there when he is with Claire, Chris, and Sherry. Ada seems complicated since she did cause this whole major trust issues, but I feel like he is the kind of person to still have high hopes for those who mess him over even when his friends tell them he can not change them and that is not worth it. He feels like they will change if he keeps being there for them and doesn't want to give up or when they are helping or returning him favors

Another thing is that when he starts to grow on Ashley is when he is fully himself just like his time during the police academy. I wish that was mentioned more when we catch glimpses of him smirking or grinning in RE4. It gives him more life. More ethereal presence to him. Sure, it makes him seem like he doesn't want to enjoy things in life anymore, because of everything he has been through. They make him seem so tough, cold, hard on the edges-he has to be, because of the endless battles he has to be put up with and the government forces counts on him. He just want everything to be over. It distinctly causes his alcoholic addiction to slowly end it all

But, on the lighter sight as much Leon makes himself look like a scary dog 24/7 he would most likely turn to the golden retriever that he truly is. He's got that spark of enthusiasm in his eyes, the boyish sweet smile, and the stern-resting bitch face soften into this gentle and kind welcome. I love him so much!😭🖤

[bumblesimagines]

“ do you ever hear yourself? ”  

“ how many people have you killed? how many? “

Joe or Love

“ how many people have you killed? how many? “

“ do you ever hear yourself? ”  

He/Him/His

The back of your head throbbed, sending goosebumps down your arms from the pain. Your eyes felt heavy and your body demanded more sleep but you couldn't bring yourself to doze off. Instead, you forced your eyes open and squinted through the blurry vision, blinking until everything came into focus.

"You didn't have hit him, Joe." A voice rang out, familiar and gentle. It took you a moment to become aware of your surroundings. A long dining table... A dining table? Your brows furrowed and you lifted your head, wincing at the pain only to realize something sticky was pressed against your mouth. A glance downward and you spotted your wrists, each tied to the armrests of the chair.

"I know, I panicked, alright?" Another familiar voice. A man, this time. Joe. You blinked. Could it be-

"You're awake!" Your gaze snapped in the direction of the voice and your suspicions were confirmed.

Love clicked her tongue and approached you, a damp rag in hand. She lifted it up and gently pressed it against the back of your head, frown deepening each time you winced.

"I'm sorry." She cooed, reaching down to touch your arm and rubbing it soothingly. The act would've felt comforting under normal circumstances.

"I sincerely apologize, (Y/N). I truly didn't mean to hit you as hard." Joe came into view next, a frown on his face as he studied you, unfazed by his wife tending to you.

Your response came out muffled and Love set the rag aside, taking the tip of the duct tape. "Ready?" She didn't wait, ripping it off.

"Fuck!" You hissed, feeling Love place a hand on your cheek and rub her thumb back and forth.

"You must have so many questions." She whispered and dropped her hand, leaning against the table.

"What do you want from me?" You glanced between them. You couldn't remember a single time you'd wronged them. In fact, you thought the couple liked you. For God's sake, they'd allowed you to babysit Henry! They certainly didn't need anything of yours with the money they had.

"Well, it's complicated, sweetheart. We just..." Love pursed her lips and sighed, glancing back at Joe. Her husband pulled out the chair across the table and sat down.

"It's simple. For us, at least. We... love you."

"What?" You laughed breathlessly. It had to be some sort of sick prank. You half expected Sherry and Cary to stroll around the corner with stupid grins on their faces.

"You've been so kind to us, so sweet and gentle. Offering to help us with Henry, keeping us company... saving us from Sherry and her posse." Love smiled fondly. "You understand us."

"You don't hurt or kidnap people you claim to love." You spat back, the fabric digging into your skin as you wiggled your wrist. Love placed a hand over your arm again to stop the movement.

"We wanted to take things slow, (Y/N). But then we found out you plan on moving away, and we had to be quick." Joe explained.

"Do you ever hear yourself? This isn't normal or romantic." By the looks of things, this didn't appear new to them. In fact, they seemed to genuinely believe they loved you.

And then it clicked. Natalie had gone missing only a short time after the couple moved in and not long after that, an ex of yours had stopped visiting.

"How many people have you killed? How many?" You couldn't help it. If they planned on hurting you further, you at least wanted to know what they were capable of. What the people you had allowed into your life with ease were capable of.

"You don't need to know that, (Y/N)." Love shook her head and touched your cheek again, frowning when you looked away from her.

"Don't worry... You'll learn to love us. We'll wait however long it takes."

[alamusprime]

Sherry had a complicated relationship with her mother.

[possessionisamyth]

can’t read even 1/4 of the het ships in this tag because people put all the women into such tradwife roles it makes me want to vomit, so here are my headcanons when it comes to cooking abilities

Jill Valentine- Military rationing because it’s less time consuming. She cooks once and makes enough food to eat on for two weeks. She will eat that soup/beans&rice/chili for every other meal until she runs out. All her recipes are “throw everything in a pot and let it simmer overnight” style. Anything that has her sauteing, baking, or frying will get burned since she gets distracted doing other more important stuff.

Rebecca Chambers- Does not cook. Can not cook. Has not figured out how to cook. Take-out Queen. She can find a good restaurant or cafe in any area and this skill was honed on purpose. Hates long wait times for food though, so if she can she’ll send someone else to get her food/drinks.

Claire Redfield- Cooking level is tolerable as in she can follow easy recipes when there’s a video to watch, but may get an ingredient or measurement wrong and wonder why the dish tastes off. Anything more complicated than meatloaf or country fried steak is her nemesis.

Ada Wong- Fucking hates cooking. Can cook something decent with the littlest variety of ingredients, but hates it so much. She hates the mess during prep time, the mess during cooking, and the clean up afterwards. Hires a personal chef where she can or goes out to eat. (Before anyone disagrees saying she doesn’t trust strangers this much, consider she has a lot of money from her jobs and most people do not actually know who the fuck she is.)

Sherry Birkin- Substitution Queen. Loves to cook, and loves to experiment with food even more. If she starts cooking and finds she’s missing an ingredient, she’ll look at other recipes to see if she can replace it with something else. Will finish eating her food experiments or new recipe attempts even if they’re a little bland while constructing ideas on how to make it better next time.

Ashley Graham- Cooks college student food even into adulthood. Lactose intolerant but ignores it.  Her mom couldn’t cook, and no longer having a personal chef left her in the wild to figure things out. She will put together any strange combination of food for the taste and calories. She mixes cereals together. She mixes plain yogurt into her ramen. She will lovingly add a slice of cheese on top of the most white looking piece of baked chicken before adding hot sauce and sandwiching it between 9-grain wheat bread for the sake of getting some kind of fiber in her body.

Ingrid Hunnigan- The planner. She can follow almost any recipe without too much difficulty, and always makes sure she has all the ingredients before she starts. She cannot improv or substitute ingredients to save her life.

Sheva Alomar- Teaches herself how to cook a new recipe or better a current recipe when she has the time. Has 5 go-to recipes she’s mastered which everyone loves, but no consistent recipe book. Will default to military rationing where she’ll make a big pot of something and eat on it for a few days until she gets bored of it and goes out to eat. Forgets about ingredients she purchased and only used a little of, and they go bad making her feel guilty.

Helena Harper- Frozen meals or box meals where she adds a “secret ingredient” into whatever she cooks. The secret ingredient is always cayenne pepper or bouillon powder.

Mia Winters- Can cook only the most white american food possible, but thankfully is not afraid of spices or spicy food. Hamburgers, steak, casseroles, tuna salad, and so on, she can manage pretty well. Any “foreign” food is lost on her. The first time Ethan brought home an avocado with plans to make guacamole, he caught her using a potato peeler on it.

Let me know if you’d like a similar list with the men of RE.

[saintsenara]

Been reading through your ship asks and cackling at your responses for the better part of the last hour, so I thought I’d ask some of my own! Alright, here we go:

Sybill Trelawney/Barty Crouch Jr.

Molly Weasley/Sirius Black

Igor Karkaroff/Severus Snape

Great-Aunt Muriel/Arabella Figg

thanks anon, great choices. it's always a pleasure to meet someone with taste.

barty crouch jr./sybill trelawney

yes, one hundred percent.

we know that "moody" was committed to searching every teacher's office [such a method actor, he walked so lady gaga in house of gucci could run], and trelawney's was definitely given a thorough going over [behave] so that barty could report back to the gaffer that the prophecy wasn't just gathering dust in her filing cabinets.

and - well - she's starved for company, isn't she? it's the easiest thing in the world for her to suggest that they crack open a bottle of sherry and complain about what a knob snape is.

plus, she's canonically not very good at divination, so she's bound to miss that her tealeaves have arranged themselves into a red flag.

sirius black/molly weasley

obviously, the easy way round this pairing is to make it a sort of hate-sex thing, in which molly and sirius fire themselves up for a night of passion by arguing over who's right about harry. the easy-and-also-degenerate way round it is to connect it to sirius'... complicated relationship with his mother...

but a hill i'll die on is that this fandom really overestimates the tension between molly and sirius in order of the phoenix [and also, to be quite frank, that she's in the right...], and that their relationship can actually be explored really interestingly without the idea that they hate each other.

while we know that molly conducts missions for the order, her primary role in the period 1995-1998 is a domestic one. she's the person who is responsible for things like making grimmauld place habitable, or for feeding the collected members of the order. the importance of domestic and caring work within resistance and revolutionary organisations is really overlooked - because of misogyny! - but it's something which is absolutely vital to those organisations being able to carry out their aims.

and the series does actually show us this - even if unintentionally. order meetings frequently take place in the kitchen around mealtimes. the domestic spaces of grimmauld place and the burrow serve not only as organisational bases but also as centres of support and community for order members [tonks coming round to see molly for tea and sympathy; lupin being asked to christmas at the burrow; snape's refusal to eat with the order being considered further evidence that he's a prick, and so on]. the difficulty molly has with bringing grimmauld place under control serves as a metaphor for the order's struggle against voldemort.

which brings us to sirius during order of the phoenix.

one of the things i think is often overlooked when we think about sirius' depression and feelings of uselessness while he's confined to grimmauld place is that these stem from him holding the belief that the only viable way of helping the war effort is to take a combat role. one of sirius' great tragedies is that he's reckless and self-destructive - and part of how this manifests is that he can only see value in being someone who fights, who's out and about, and who's putting himself at risk for the cause. he's unable to consider himself useful to the order outside of that context - which is why he chafes so much against the idea that staying in the house and remaining safe is crucial work, in that the very fact of him living protects harry.

you can do so much with the idea that - once the kids are back at school - the only people rattling around grimmauld place all day every day are molly and sirius, and that she spends her time trying to chivvy him into recognising that the domestic labour she'd quite like his help with is really the only thing holding the rag-tag order together. he's not going to give a shit at first, but he can learn...

and food and love exist on both sides of a coin marked comfort, don't they?

igor karkaroff/severus snape

i mean, this one's basically canon, isn't it? karkaroff's always sneaking around trying to catch snape on his own in cupboards so he can have a look at his forearm-length snake [tattoo]. it's giving "hooked up once but only one of them realises it wasn't going anywhere".

arabella figg/muriel prewett

yes. they broke up when one of mrs figg's cats pissed on that goblin-made tiara.

[precambrian-sea-pancake]

Giving context to things in Shadows of Rose that really needed context because I didn’t like them and they barely got context.

1) The Winter’s separating: it’s very much established they would not willingly separate. Mia loves Rose. There’s no way she’d willingly give up another family member after being widowed. Plus, Chris OF ALL PEOPLE should not want to separate the family. Literally the whole theme was about family. Hot take but there’s 3 of them.

2) Chris saying he would protect Rose and then asking her to join the squad: I refuse to believe Chris would go against his dying friend’s wishes. Putting someone in a fight isn’t protection

3) Rose barely knowing anything about Ethan: I mean…come on. That’s your dead husband and your dead friend who basically made you the godfather. There’s got to be a reason, right?

So…enjoy me fixing all of that by saying things Capcom loves to leave out

———

Mia raised Rose in the beginning when she was a kid, with the help of Chis. They were close. She was very paranoid about her safety and did everything she could to help Rose live a normal life considering they were under even stricter protection than before. Because of this and the fact that Rose would be too young to understand at the time, Mia and Chris were very selective about what was said. They told her things like “your father loved you” “he died protecting you” “he would’ve loved to be here”

The two of them wanted her so do to school because she needed socialization. Unfortunately she had a very hard time. Chris and Mia did their best to be supportive but it was a very tough situation for all of them.

Eventually when she got a little older the higher ups realized how much at risk the Winters were (and also for selfish reasons because Rose powerful. I mean…let us not forget Sherry ;-;), decided it would be best to separate the two to “protect” them. Be it by boarding school, training, etc. It’s kinda unclear but it happened.

Mia hated this. She couldn’t lose Rose but ultimately didn’t have any power over the situation. Chris hated it just as much also tried to prevent this but he too couldn’t change it.

Chis contact with Rose given his job and was the bridge between the two but as time went on things got more complicated and messy.

Eventually Chris got to a point where he wanted Rose by his side more often and to be the one in control instead of the higher ups. So he wanted Rose to join his squad so she could defend herself and not belong to some shitty government thing. At least this way it was easier…at least in Chris’s mind. To him it was protection. Was it the best idea? No, but to him it was.

After the DLC, they learn Ethan is still present in some sort of way. It motivates Chris to try fighting once more for the family to be together again.

Rose remembers everything she saw in the Megamycete’s recreation of her old house and how both of her parents loved her…and sees the mother on the bus reading a book to her kid.

Now both motivated to try again they’re successfully able to get visitation between Rose and Mia.

It starts off slow but eventually it happens more and more. It’s hard because it’s been so long, but they work to reconnect. Since Rose is older and has context, Mia (although very hesitant and needing some encouragement. Plus taking a few meetings for it to even happen) explains their family history to Rose piece by piece until the story is complete.

As for Rose joining the squad?

She joined because she knew her dad fought to help her family. She, like her father, is a kind person. She wants to help protect people and make sure they don’t suffer the same fate as her family. One more good soul to combat a corrupt world. She’s at an awkward age at a very emotional time. Her decisions might not be final but it’s giving it a try. She might stay or she might not. She might like it or she might hate it. Only time and experiences will decide that.

While things aren’t perfect, the Winters are at least together. Just like what Chris tried to do, and just like what Ethan wanted.

———

It’s not perfect, but I tried my best with what was available and worked within the confines of the story. I loved the DLC, but it does have flaws that annoy me. So I fixed it UwU.

[septembercfawkes]

What is a Character Tag? Definition, Purpose, and Examples

A character tag is a word, phrase, description, trait, or concept repeatedly associated with a specific character.

Purpose of Character Tags in Fiction

There are several purposes for character tags:

Tags help define a character, making him more distinct, more individualized from other characters in the story.

Tags work as identifiers--they make it easier for the audience to quickly identify a character.

Tags help with recall. When used appropriately, a character tag allows the reader to immediately recall the character, his traits, personality, and mannerisms.

Character tags can be particularly useful for flat characters and characters with small roles, who are often only defined by a few features, but tags can also be useful for round characters and characters with major roles.

They're especially important when working with a large cast of characters, because they allow the audience to easily keep track of who is who. 

But in order to better understand them, let's look at some examples.

Examples

Harry Potter is loaded with characters, but almost every character is tagged, making him or her more distinct and easy to identify, as well as recall.

From Harry's jet-black hair, green eyes, and lightning bolt scar, to Ron's freckles and long nose, and to Hermione's bushy brown mane and big front teeth--all of the lead characters are tagged. But so are many others.

Dumbledore is regularly noted as having half-moon spectacles, and eyes that can seem to x-ray others on occasion. Professor Trelawny wears shawls and usually smells of sherry. McGonagall is strict. Hagrid speaks in an eye dialect and has an enormous stature. Snape has his greasy hair and hooked nose. Cornelius Fudge frequently runs the brim of his bowler hat through his fingers. Collin Creevey has his camera. And Umbridge has the face of a toad with bows in her hair. 

Even Ernie Macmillan, a character with a very small role, is repeatedly associated with the word "pompous."

Despite the series having literally hundreds of characters, the writer's use of character tags helps the audience keep track of them with little effort.

Other books and series use character tags too, of course. In The Hunger Games, Katniss has her bow, braids, and Mockingjay pin, Peeta his blond hair and lashes, Gale his fiery eyes and personality, Haymitch his drunkenness and affinity for the word "sweetheart," Effie her wigs and politeness, Cinna his gold eyeliner, and Rue her regular stance of looking like a bird about to take flight.

Some more examples are, Olaf and his unibrow and shiny eyes in A Series of Unfortunate Events, Smeagol and his distinct voice in The Lord of the Rings, and Augustus with his cigarettes in The Fault in Our Stars.

A character tag can be almost anything: a physical description, a scent, a distinctive way of speaking, a mannerism or gait, a stance, a specific word.

But there are some dos and don'ts when it comes to working with them . . . 

Tips for Choosing, Using, and Writing Character Tags

- Avoid selecting generic and forgettable tags for your characters. For most stories, regularly mentioning that a character is in a white shirt is about as effective as not mentioning her shirt. It's too generic to be memorable. 

- Instead, choose a tag that is distinct and easy to recall--after all, that's kind of the point of having a character tag! So make sure you choose the right details to turn into tags. And honestly, human beings usually notice the most distinct features of a person first anyway, so your POV character should as well. Don't settle for a white shirt, when the character has a music note tattooed on her neck.

- At the same time, make sure the tag can be conveyed succinctly. If it's too long and complicated, it's going to slow pacing, since you have to refer to it repeatedly. It will probably also get annoying to your readers.

- Generally speaking, the smaller the character's role, the more succinct the tag should be. Out of the Harry Potter characters mentioned above, Ernie Macmillan has the smallest role. Notice his tag is one word, "pompous." Characters with bigger roles can have longer and more detailed tags, and more tags in general (that you can switch between). With that said, all tags should be somewhat succinct.

- If possible, mention a character's tag(s) when she first comes "on stage." This will help individualize her as audiences get a first impression, and will help audiences recall her and their experience with her later. This can be particularly important for supporting characters with small roles. Obviously with some major characters, like a POV character, it may not always work well to introduce the tags straight away, but you should have the character's voice to pull from at least.

- If the character has a small role, it becomes more important to repeat or reference the tags when she comes back "on stage"--that way the audience can quickly recall her. If the character has a major role, you don't need to repeat the same tags every scene he is in--don't overuse the tags. That could become annoying. Just refer to them often enough to be memorable and effective. It also helps to have multiple tags to switch between.

- Avoid using the same tag for multiple characters. If you've tagged Chelsey with the scent of rosemary, don't tag Olivia with the scent of rosemary too. This will make it harder for the audience to individualize the characters. However, if that's the point--that Chelsey is similar to Olivia, and that Olivia reminds the POV character of Chelsey--then that might be a justifiable rule break. Just know what you are doing and the effect it will have on the audience.

- It's nice when the tag communicates something more about the character than what is directly on the page. The reason Professor Trelawney often smells like sherry is because she drinks sherry when upset. It's her go-to coping mechanism. But this is more an added bonus than a rule--not every character tag needs subtext.

- Generally speaking, concrete tags (such as a music note tattoo) are more effective and memorable than abstract tags (such as "cute"). But abstract tags can be useful in keeping things succinct (i.e. Ernie being "pompous.") So while it's best to lean toward the concrete, it's okay to use the abstract on occasion.

- It can be helpful to write down a character's tags in their character bible, so you can easily recall and use them as a writer.

- Choose the tags you want the audience to remember the character by. What dominating qualities and characteristics best define this character?

- Not every single character needs a character tag. Your protagonist's one-time taxi driver might be a background character not worth tagging.

Other Kinds of Tags

Character tags can be used in other forms of storytelling, in films, plays, or comics. In The Office, Kevin Malone usually speaks in monotone and has a dull manner, while Dwight almost always wears a mustard-yellow button-down shirt, and Angela is surrounded by cats and baby pictures.

However, with that said, tags are particularly important for novels and short stories, because the audience doesn't have visuals to help them remember the characters.

Character tags are not to be confused with dialogue tags--which are used to identify the speaker of a line of dialogue. Examples include, "he said," "she whispered," "Mack complained," and "Savannah yelled." You can read more about dialogue tags and which to use in my article on them.

Finally, while tags are associated with characters, you can technically use them to tag places and experiences. What would the Gryffindor common room be like without its cozy fireplace and four poster beds? And every time Harry apparates, he gets a tug behind his navel. Such tags help the audience identify and recall other things in the story as well.

Related Articles:

3 Methods that Keep Details Interesting

Working with a Large Cast of Characters

What You Need to Know Most about Character Voice

Dos and Don'ts for Writing Your Viewpoint Character's Voice

Breaking Writing Rules Right: "Only Use Said"

Writing the RIGHT Details

[sapphire-weapon]

“sleeping with Ada was the inciting incident behind Leon’s drinking problem and he doesn’t even know it” theory/analysis - wait have you talked about this before? I missed it if you did :(

No, I haven't. I meant to. I actually have a half-finished post about it sitting in my drafts, but then the ADHD kicked in and I got distracted and wandered off and haven't bothered to go back to it since.

The thing with this analysis is that like... it's both not that complicated and also very complicated and abstract, and so just the thought of explaining it feels daunting.

To put it in the simplest terms possible: Leon spent RE2 and RE4 chasing an idealized version of Ada that didn't actually exist, so when he finally got the actual Ada in bed and realized that it didn't bring him the catharsis that he was looking for -- and that he actually still felt incomplete/damaged -- his brain just kind of shut that down and rejected that reality and didn't want to face it, which then led to a drinking problem that culminated in a damn near full-blown emotional breakdown in RE6.

It all sort of ties back to my analysis of the relationship between Leon and Ada as it exists in OG -- where Leon has tricked himself into believing that Ada is the only thing that's keeping the memory of his old self alive. We as the audience know that that's objectively not true, and that it's Sherry and how she's modeled her life and her worldview after him that's keeping the old Leon alive -- but that's also really painful for Leon to think about, because he's under the impression that he fucked up Sherry's life so badly that he doesn't deserve to be in it anymore, so it's easier for him to just project all that shit onto Ada.

And so chasing Ada was about more than wanting to romantically/sexually pursue the pretty lady who makes his heart go dokidoki. Despite the bond that they have, Ada is still mostly a mystery to Leon and always seems to be 20 steps ahead of him -- and so, on some level, chasing her was less about getting the girl and more about finding the answers that he's been looking for.

But Ada is just a person. She has her fingers in a lot of pies, sure, but she's not omnicient or omnipotent. She doesn't have the answers to how or why or when things went wrong in Leon's life, and she doesn't have the answers as to how to fix them or make them better.

So, when Leon slept with her and found that divine inspiration didn't enter his consciousness through the tip of his dick and travel its way down his boner and then up his spine and then into his brain like the weirdest venereal disease ever -- instead of feeling relieved at finally having taken care of the sexual tension between them, or comforted by her physical presence, or humbled by her intimacy -- he probably just felt... empty.

This was something he'd wanted so badly. He'd been chasing it for so long. And now that he'd finally gotten it, it was nothing that he'd hoped/thought it would be.

Because he wasn't really chasing Ada. He was running from his own demons, and Ada just happened to have been in front of him.

And instead of face that, instead of deal with that, his brain shut down and went NOPE DIDN'T HAPPEN and reached for literally anything that could distract it from that truth -- regardless of the form it took. Whether it was a slavish devotion to his job that was quickly leading to burnout or the flask he always kept in his back pocket -- it didn't matter what it was.

A lot of this theory/analysis/whatever you want to call it really comes from how fucking weird and bizarre their conversation about it is in Damnation. It always struck me as weird. This isn't how normal fucking people talk to each other about setting up a booty call.

Ada: By the way, when are we going to, um... carry on from where we left off that night? Leon: Any time but now. Ada: You're angry with me, aren't you? Suits you.

Something happened that night that: A) left things feeling unfinished and B) was emotionally charged enough that Ada is under the impression that Leon's mad at her for it, but C) wasn't a turn-off enough for Ada to not want to try again.

It almost seems like Ada had picked up on a weird vibe coming from him and didn't let him stay the whole night through. It probably went something like:

sex happened -> lying in bed together in the afterglow -> something about Leon's general demeanor post-coitus just doesn't feel right -> Ada pulls a "you should probably go" -> Leon gets butthurt but leaves without a fight -> Ada spends the next however many months going "that dick was bomb tho" -> they meet up in Damnation -> Ada decides "no the dick was worth it idc how weird he got" -> propositions him for a round two

I don't think that round two ever happened, though -- or, if it did, it just made things worse. And that's why, by the time we reach RE6, Leon's attachment to Ada has become so unhealthy and unhinged that he damn near has a total break from reality towards the end.

Chasing Ada had given him a personal goal to work towards -- it gave him hope that there was still some lost, forgotten part of himself that he could reclaim. And now that he knew that that was all just a massive cope and none of it was real, he didn't know what to do with himself.

It's not dissimilar to the idea of a character feeling empty after finally exacting the revenge they'd been planning for so, so long. Without that goal to work towards, what else do they have?

This is why the progression of RE6 to Vendetta to Death Island is so important.

In RE6, Leon finally comes to terms with the fact that he doesn't know who Ada is and probably never will, which is why he tells Helena "No" when she tells him to go after her.

And with the Ada thing resolved, Leon throws himself into his work, because what else does he have? But his job makes him completely fucking miserable, so it doesn't fix or stop the drinking habit he's developed.

But then in Vendetta, here comes Chris to drag Leon to his feet and tell him he's not alone -- which is the first time ever, in Leon's entire adult life, that that has ever happened. Ever since Claire left him and Sherry on the side of the road outside of Raccoon City, Leon has been going through this nightmare hellscape alone. So, for Chris to actually come around and help support that weight is a massive, massive fucking deal.

And now, by Death Island, Leon has finally started to really wake up to the reality that is his life. He's more grounded and self-aware in DI than he has ever been at any point in his entire character arc.

And I just so badly want to believe that a massive breakthrough is coming for him in RE9 and he actually puts his foot down and takes control of his life for the first time ever. Because, remember: Leon gave up years and years ago. His life is the way that it is because he allowed it to become that way.

It's long since past due for him to finally stand up for himself.

But we'll see how it goes.

[aquarian-queen]

My thoughts about 8x08 “Iron Tiger” Under the cut: it’s a bit long and I tried to add all my thoughts on what I remember.

The writers: playing on our nostalgia and it’s working

I think because the writers are focusing on nostalgia and the past NOW that yeah it's nice but also these retcons just make it feel so empty and on surface level. Some things were bs and made no sense. It’s like the writers are trying to prove, see we did watch S3 (which is overall praised) but then they bend it to make Troy this bad guy but also not because he has a kid now so it’s more complicated than that. But I have seen that in general those that liked S3 liked that for example Luciana had a bigger role, she reunited with Daniel, but also the callback to earlier seasons. But even addressing things like Charlie killing Nick and Madison’s reaction to it.

The OG gang reunion

Also, the reunion between Madison and Luciana... wtf was that? Or between Daniel and Luciana and the others. I don’t know, the whole gang is together, but it didn’t feel as emotional? Also Kim’s acting (no comment) but whoever liked it. Glad you did.

Jeremiah Otto: I don’t give a shit about my old man

The mention of Troy not giving a shit about his father. Like, can we acknowledge that Troy has a complex relationship with Jeremiah? He cried for him, while Jake just looked by staring in shock, and yes Troy did cal; him a drunk. I think at that point he was confused, angry, sad, and everything in between so his feelings are multifaceted. Now, we can say he got over it after all these years, but we as the audience have to fill in that gap.

Tracy: Troy’s daughter

Now about his daughter being named after his mother. PHEW. I know Troy has mommy issues, but just NO. Again, it’s like the writers are like, look at how we can tie this S3 fact to the current storyline without making that deep dive. I know I am giving them too much credit, but still. I can demand that. Ya’ll are the writers and directors. In what world would Troy name his daughter after the woman who was supposed to love him but still didn’t when he was the only one who took care of her and was still hated. We know his mental state is peculiar, but WHY. Even Madison taunted him with is mother and Troy was ready to slit her throat (also because she was just taunting him and undermining his authority) for it. In what world would this make sense? I did love how Troy went from dark, ruthless leader to worried and frantic father in a flash. I am curious how Troy raised her. He was raised pretty militant so I wonder what he took from his childhood. Tracy snuck out to see a tanker truck cause she’d never seen one before, so she’s probably aso been raised sheltered? I mean, the kids were kept in separate safer place in the hotel and also Troy kept infected in cages. Just to spite Madison though, lol.

Troy’s wife / Tracy’s mother

Troy and his supposed SO. I’ve given it some thought. I knew they were going to go this route when it was revealed his daughter was named Tracy. Do I like it? I’m still 50/50 on it. We might or might not get more or she will just be a nameless phantom. Either way, I would not feel any type of way about it if I am being honest. I agree with the fanfic type, because I think most of us who write for Troy and go by S3 canon in some way and wanted him to live had this in mind. And also a lady being his saving grace and making him this better man (a lot of guesses) or she could have been the same as him? But then why would she save a strange man drifting in some water after the Dam exploded. But yes, I do agree it’s a gap with the Troy we got in S3 knowing what we know, but it could’ve been a slow burn guys and given that we got 2nd chances hammered into us in 8B that’s what we have to take from it. It’s up to us to fill in those gaps more so because we have like 3 episode with Troy left (since the next on is focused on Dwight and Sherry and their codependent relationship). If she will remain nameless and faceless more for us to fill in.

Troy and Madison

I liked their dynamic and how they played the game and Daniel and Kim together is electric. I did cringe at certain things like her not being out of breath fighting his ass surrounded by smoke and who knows what. It’s so convenient. I do wonder what we will get. From spoilers these two will work together to save Tracy from Padre. So either Madison sacrifices herself to save that little girl so Troy can get his happy ending with his daughter?

Troy and Alicia

I don’t think Troy is lying about this? Troy’s daughter makes a comment that she saw Alicia in the horde. I know people have this hope that she is coming back or secretly filmed something. I hope we get that question and Madison puts her down. I do wonder if in the same episode where we get Troy and Madison working together, he will share more details about Alicia’s last moments no matter how bad or villain-like they made it.

Other thoughts:

Daniel and Troy’s back and forth is hilarious. Him threatening Troy and Troy just looking at him right, alright old man. But Ruben Blades said Daniel would something big in the finale… if they kill Troy that’d be the biggest cop out Strand… what is his role? I feel it’s played out Sherry and June going to ask Dwight for backup against Troy I liked the Trick friendship mention and Troy being sad about it Charlie’s death. I wasn’t as attached to her, but the actress did a good job knowing the shit she’s been getting by fans since she killed Nick. I thought its sad they brought her back to kill her again to simply drive Madison and Daniel’s story and vengeance against Troy