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liveontelevision · 4 months

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Suffer Pt. 6 | Lucifer x Reader

(This series is complete! All parts are listed on my master list and are linked below!)

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6

A single anon request and a 56-page Google doc later, this is the last part, my friends. Thanks to everyone who's been so invested in this, this turned into a bigger project than I thought it would lol But! I'm so glad everyone's been enjoying it, and I hope y'all like the ending! I'm sorry for all the cliffhangers along the way haha (not really)

An extra thank you to the anon who requested a simple babysitter fic and ended up inspiring this whole deal!

♡♡♡

It’s almost been a year since you arrived to the hotel. You arrived when the building was in less than pristine condition, and just a few new guests had arrived. It was a few days after you saw Charlie’s interview on the news, that being what brought you in, despite it’s failure. You were just happy to see her face after all that time. Yet, above the cluttered space and the holes in the walls, there was a more malevolent scheme being hatched.

Any soul who might pass the princess’s room would be bombarded by curses, screams, and growls that sounded less than human. So, most the hotel residents decide it best to avoid that corridor. But not our trusty hotelier. His hand reached for the handle, after deciding that making a bold entrance might not be the best idea. His motion was put to a quick halt by a flurry of curses coming from the other side of the door. Alastor didn’t realize Charlie held such a..colorful vocabulary. Despite that, he went on.

He was greeted with a sight that, unfortunately, wasn’t new to him. An intricate web of red thread connected to pins, all scattered across a once pristine wall. It all connects a collage of images, some that he recognized, some that looked like nonsensical scribbles. The view is obstructed by a furiously pacing princess of Hell. Mumbling completely incoherent complaints, she doesn't notice the opening and closing of her bedroom door.

Alastor, being the sadist he is, props his stance with his microphone, his forced smile unmoving. He enjoys the view for a moment before finally clearing his throat to bring her attention to him. She nearly stumbles over her own feet, ready to scold him for materializing into her room, despite the fact that she was just too out of it to see him walk straight in.

“Al! Good! I need another pair of eyes, come here, come here, look!” She approaches him faster than he expects, and he’s ready to reel away, but is unfortunately hooked around the neck with Charlie’s disturbing strength. With an arm around his shoulders, she drags him forward to examine the wall, as if it made sense to anyone other than her. She starts talking nonsense, again. Something about friendship and Heaven, things he never really cared about. Things he usually tuned out whenever they came up. He only seems to partake in the conversation once he heard your name.

“Alastor.. She’s one of our first guests. I honestly can’t believe anyone showed up after that terrible interview I had earlier, I’m worried i’ll mess things up, again! I mean, all of Hell already thinks i’m a joke.. I just- really need this to go well.” Her mood seems to calm, but to a state of despair. Alastor let’s out a symphahetic awe, patting the top of her head.

“Aw, our poor princess. I understand your concern, my dear, this hotel must mean quite a lot to you.” He faines a sympathy that only convinces Charlie because of her state of disarray.

“Of course it does! And she’s already so kind, I’m sure she’s close to redemption! Maybe this will be a quick one! A-and we don’t even know it, right? That has to be it!” She seems to be reassuring herself, only to be met with an unresponsive radio demon. She groans. Dragging her feet as she walks to the edge of bed, She sits down and lets her head fall into her hands.

“I really need this to work. I’ll do anything for this to work..” It was a quiet mumble, muffled into her palms, but Alastor heard exactly what he wanted to hear. His grin twisted, something Charlie didn’t see, as he sits at her side. He gives her a quick pat to her back, in some form of comfort.

“Charlie, dear, I understand how much this little project means to you.. I do. And I want nothing more than to witness you trying as hard as you can to keep it up.” Even if it fails. Charlie looks up to him, the bags under her eyes suddenly very apparent. “How would you feel about a little deal? Just a small one, no souls on the line, I guarantee.”

She’s been warned by Vaggie in the past. Actually, his entire reputation is enough to make her uneasy by the idea. but…

“I-I don’t know. What did you have in mind..?” She asks reluctantly. He let’s out a chuckle that almost sounds sinister.

“Believe it or not, our little guest and I have a bit of a history.” You can barely call it a history. You served him and Rosie on occasion when you were working in cannibal town. “I’d be delighted to oversee her safety and process to redemption! It’s just as you said, she’s already a gem, Heaven is waiting for her, I can feel it. This will be a breeze for the both of us.” His offer comes off as sincere and touching to Charlie. It wasn’t like him to openly mention his relationships with other demons yet, the idea of you having a close friend throughout this process might just be what you’re missing.

“That’s so sweet of you, Alastor, but.. What do you want from me?” She has to ponder a moment before even considering letting this go on any further.

“Well, you’ve given me a roof over my head and.. A tower for my broadcasts.. Hmm..” He taps his chin, as if he’s in thought. “I’m not quite sure I’ll need from you at the moment, since you’ve just been so hospitable already.” He places a hand to her shoulder, the kind words causing her eyes to well with tears a bit in her weakened state.

“There has to be something.. Well, maybe we can both think this over, once I have a clear head.” She sighs her words, standing from the bedside. Alastor takes her hand and brings her to a halt.

“Oh, but I’d love to get to work as soon as possible, if I may be so bold.. I’m not quite sure what you could offer me in this moment… How about we work out the details, later?” He speaks as if he’s coming up with these words on the spot. He’s had this planned since day one, though. Any chance to get a favor from the princess, he’ll take. Charlie turns to him and sees the strange green glow surrounding their hands. She attempts to pull away, but his grasp is tight.

“Well.. I mean…” She’s still hesitant. He watches her rub her eyes. The still relevant exhaustion gives him a bit of hope.

“It’s simple. I’ll do everything in my power to keep our little guest comfortable and on the path to redemption, no acception. In return, I’ll ask of you one single favor when the time comes.” The glow only continues to swell with his words, and it's clearly making her reconsider. “It’s not as serious as you may think, Charlie. Just a favor between friends, really.” Friendship seemed to strike the right tone.

“I guess.. If it’s for the hotel… Okay, Alastor. It’s a deal.”

Back to the dreaded fight just a few months later. You're seeing red.

“Charlie! You made a deal with Alastor?? What were you thinking?” You’re scolding her at this point. The situation barely had time to cool down before your worries began to kick in. Her horns and ruby eyes are still present, she hasn’t even had time to calm herself from the previous display. Lucifer is essentially holding you back, a hand across your front as you try to approach her. It hurts you a bit. Does he think you’re some kind of danger to her?

..Are you putting her in danger?

Alastor is still propped on the ground. He holds a hand around his neck, in hopes of soothing the aggressive collar that had materialized around it just moments ago. You’re all keeping your distance from eachother.

“I-I wasn’t! I wasn’t thinking! It was after the interview! You saw it, you know didn’t go well! I-I had all of Hell laughing at me, laughing at the hotel- He was offering help, I have no idea why he’s acting this way, I swear..! I.. I-” Charlie’s demonic features start to recede when she feels a hand on her back. With heavy breaths, she looks over to Lucifer, who was standing by her side now, ready to comfort her. With a small hiccup, she falls into his arms, gripping his shirt tightly as she did. Her head fell to his shoulder, thoroughly staining his vest with her tears.

The room is uncomfortably filled with her silent sobs. Your heart aches too much looking at the touching display between father and daughter, and your guilt from snapping at her is making you fidget. That’s when you got to thinking.

The deal was for Alastor watch over you until you got to Heaven. For him to do anything in his power to keep you on the path to redemption. To prevent any behavior that might stunt that process..

“Oh.. oh, my god. You’ve been buttering me up this whole time.” You turn to face a still recovering Alastor. The realization grabs the attention of both Morningstars, they raise their heads to look towards the commotion. “The gifts, all the time we spent together.. Was because of this deal? Did.. did you ever actually care about me?” You grip at your heart, ready to rip it straight from your chest. He stands, brushing debris from his entirety.

“I doubt you’ll believe me after such a display of violence, but.. Yes. I did enjoy our time together, despite the requisite of being under my protection. It was quite entertaining before it was… tainted.” His hisses out his final words, contrasting the sweetness of it all. Tainted?

He was kind to you as soon as you arrived in the hotel. Despite the drama, you’ve been inseparable since. Things only got convoluted after..

“Under your protection..? Is that why you’ve been turning me away from Lucifer?! Fuck- it is! You’ve been playing games with me for months! Getting in my head..! H-How could you..” He hasn’t just been physically keeping the two of you apart. From day one, your mind was manipulated into thinking Lucifer never wanted you.

“Well.. not to defend myself, dear, but I was merely considering your redemption. I believe there’s some sort of sin in worshipping the Devil.” Oh, now he’s just trying to make more trouble.

“Oh, fuck you Al, I don’t worship him, I love him!” Your comical response seems to drive a shocked expression or two towards you. But you’re too upset to elaborate. You want to tear him apart. You want to see him experience as much pain as you’re feeling now. Luckily, you weren’t the only one. In a blur of a movement, Alastor was brought back to the ground with a thud.

A foot to his chest, Charlie has him pinned to the ground. Her fists are clenched, the aura surrounding her creates a suffocating heat.

“You took advantage of me, Alastor. You betrayed my friends, my family.. My trust.” Despite the demonic tones underlying her voice, it still sounds pained. You didn’t know she could do this, but her clenched fists become encased in fire. Just like her fathers’.

You’re surprised to see him lurking behind, but not attacking. After all you’ve seen, you were sure he’d have ripped Alastor’s head off at this point. His eyes widen, a display of fear you werent expecting. You follow his gaze to see Charlie holding a familiar angelic spear to his neck.

You hear an unearthly growl come from her chest, and before you can think, your arm is wrapped around hers. You can feel the resistance, realizing you had stopped her right as she was about to put an end to it all. Put an end to him.

“Charlie! Stop!” You yell out. You have to do it once or twice more, your words not quite reaching her yet. Once she turns to you, her eyes are still dripping with tears. “Charlie, don’t. This isn’t you. You’ll regret it, I know you will.. I know you.” You’re begging her to stop. As you feel the muscles in her arm start to relax, you reach for the spear and pull it gently from her hands. She releases her grasp without a fight.

You usher her off, glancing back to Alastor for a moment to see his wound had reopened from that. He had an obvious slash across his neck. You gulped, realizing how close she was to actually killing him. She places her hand over yours, where your arms are still linked.

Charlie let’s out a sigh, looking to her shaking hands, then clenching her fists. She looks to you, then back to Alastor.

“But.. everything he’s done to you… It’s not right, I’m not sure I can forgive him..” She’s speaking quietly to you.

“Well.. You don’t have to forgive him. But he doesn't deserve to die, Charlie.” You state the obvious and it makes her flinch. “And.. you should let him stay.” You hear a collective What? from the room.

“I know I know.. but… this whole place is about second chances. I.. think he can change. And even though, he is being such a dick right now-” Your voice is cracking, as if you can hardly believe your own words. “-I still believe it. You taught me that.” You smile up to Charlie. After a moment you turn your head to Lucifer, meeting his eyes. He looks more in shock than anyone, almost hurt by your act of mercy. You’re surprised by his expression, not realizing Charlie had slipped from your side to approach Alastor.

“She’s right, you know. I can’t forgive you, Alastor. Not yet, at least.. But you’re welcome to stay here, considering all the help you’ve done for the hotel.” She sounds stern, still not entirely convinced this is the right call.

“Yeah, some help you’ve been, you prick..” Those are the first words Lucifer has muttered in awhile. You approach his side to jab him with your elbow and shush him. Despite your scolding action, your presence only reminds him of your previous confession. He crosses his arms and continues to curse quietly, despite his flushed cheeks. Charlie steps closer to Alastor.

“You’re still here, because of her.” Charlie’s voice goes dark as she gestures to you. “That favor I owe you? Is letting you live. This deal is done, Alastor.” She hisses her words out. The intensity and anger radiating from two of the most powerful creatures in Hell is enough to leave even Alastor a bit weary. He nods, still gripping his wound that has been repeatedly opened these past few days. Other than that, he slinks away with barely a scratch. Lucky him.

Once he’s out of sight, Charlie let’s out a groan and falls to her knees. With a unison call of her name both you and Lucifer rush to her side. You place a hand on her back, attempting to keep any displaced hair from her face. She leans into Lucifer’s chest, a heartaching sight of sniffles and apologies.

Before long, she seemed to exhaust herself. Curled up to his chest, Lucifer smiles, despite the circumstances of their closeness. He lifts his eyes just slightly to see yours. You look embarrassed. Before he has a chance to question you, you rise from the ground.

“You should take her to bed.” You say in a hushed tone, gripping your arms and making some distance. “She needs some rest after.. all that.”

“Sure, but.. are you-” He speaks just as softly, opening a portal behind him silently.

“I’m fine. I’m-” You let out a sigh, beginning to move towards the stairs. “She needs to rest, Lucifer.” You remind him.

“Oh- Oh.. Right, yeah.” He rises to his feet, effortlessly lifting Charlie into his arms and stepping through the portal. You try to keep moving. You try to not meet his eyes as the portal shuts, but you find yourself unable to go on. Once they’re gone, you cover your mouth, only making your labored breaths worse, but you’re desperate to muffle any cries. You feel yourself wobble in place, before seeing a portal open to your side. It leads to your room.

After stepping through, you silently approach your bed. Your legs suddenly turn led, and you're hitting your bed with a gasp. Your exhaustion is enough to keep your sobs to a minimum at least.

The feeling you have when you wake up is worse than any hangover you’ve had. With alcohol you can at least forget your troubles. But on this morning, you can vividly remember the previous night. You sit up, your body aching. You only wonder why for a moment, before realizing you had fallen asleep sideways across your bed, your legs still dangling off the side. You still need sleep.

You remove any uncomfortable clothing or accessories that had pressed marks into your body and return to bed. The right way, this time. Your pillows feel like heaven after all that’s happened. Heaven..

You try your best to sleep, you really do. Your body is essentially begging you to empty your thoughts just for a few more minutes. But your mind is sending you tossing and turning, any times you close your eyes, all you can imagine is everything you've done wrong. Your eyes drift open after trying to force them shut, and your eyes spot the radio on your nightstand. You sit silently for a moment, maybe try to close your eyes again..

Nope.

Before you have a chance to process every movement, you’re opening your door and thoughtlessly throwing the radio outside. You don’t care where it ends up, clearly. You were waiting to hear it break, into multiple pieces hopefully, before shutting your door. You’re met with a startled groan instead. Taking a moment to process that you had thrown an old-timey radio at someone, you stand at your door with a yawn.

The panic hits you. It could’ve been Alastor, assuming he stayed. It could’ve been Charlie, who doesn’t need any more conflict. You could’ve taken out Niffty as far as you know. Swinging the door open, your eyes see the radio first. They’re wrapped in your victim’s arms.

“Good catch.” You let out hoarsly, rubbing the sleep from your eyes to clearly see Lucifer.. It could've been worse. He let’s out a breathless thanks, clearly having the air knocked out of him. You definitely didn’t hold back with that throw. And it wasn’t exactly a lightweight radio.

“Er.. Sorry. I meant to say sorry.” You try to recover, your words are followed by another yawn. You watch him drop the radio into a small portal he conjured below his grip.

“Good morning to you, too. I was, uh.. about to check on charlie, but-” He’s ready for a conversation that you aren’t. You quickly shake your head, pulling your door in.

“Nono, I need some time.. To wake up. I’ll see you around, though.” You didn’t expect him to perk up from his words, but he does. His smile is infectious. You watch him give you a little wave before shutting your door. You lean against it, your smile that you had been presenting to him, leaves you almost immediately.

There’s so much on your mind. You scan your room, memories of Alastor popping up no matter where you looked. Every chat you’ve had in here, every moment you’d call him in for advice for clothes or accessories, all the nights you’d fall asleep listening to his voice. Your eyes stopped at your vanity seat. Draped across the back is a bittersweet sight, your gifted red sweater. You finally rise to your feet, quickly reaching for it and holding it tightly in your hands. You hesitate before bringing it to your nose. You’re not sure why. Why would you want to remind yourself of anything involving him? Did you think that same scent that’s brought you comfort so many times would have the same affect? You give it a shot.

Hesitantly breathing in, you’re immediately reeling back, throwing the sweater down to your ground. Your hand covers your nose, that sickenlingly sweet honey scent now smells like rotten flesh. Like road kill. You need some air. Digging out a different sweater, one you haven’t had to use in months, you decide you just need to walk around for a bit. The hotel was big enough that you could safely avoid any unwanted attention. Plus, you were sure Alastor’s pride was too wounded to freely roam the hotel. And his other wound.. You hope he’s okay.

You groan out loud, mentally cursing yourself for your sympathetic thoughts. You make your way down to the lobby, and are met with a surprisingly clean lounge. You scan the walls that were previously cracked, the carpets that should be stained with blood, then wonder where Vaggie’s suddenly conjured spear might have gone. What would have possessed Charlie to choose such a weapon.. an angelic spear? She didnt really want him dead, did she? She's emotional. And extreme. Like her father. You decide not to question it any further. It’s not like you were upset by the erasure of the previous night's events.

A day or two passed. Your mind seemed unwilling to accept the reality you're currently in. You're anxious, and paranoid to any sentence thrown your way. You're constantly looking around corners, checking all parts if your room before locking it for the night. Yet, if someone were to ask what was making you so nervous, you wouldn’t have an answer.

You found yourself taking those little strolls often, though. Keeping your body in motion, with only the sounds of your breathing keeping you company, seemed to clear your mind. It never helped come to terms with any seething pain you felt, but it cleared your mind at the least.

You'd pieced together a few things in the meantime. After passing the bar, where Angel and Husk were chatting, they would smile and wave, ask you join them form a drink, but you’d decline. Neither of them seemed to know about anything. Maybe Niffty cleaned the mess. Maybe Alastor asked her to. Before anyone could see the outcome of his mistakes.

You passed Vaggie in a hall, and she immediately looked concerned. She opened her mouth, an Are you okay? sits on the tip of her tongue. But then she looked at you. Your body only mirrored the fog of your mind, baggy eyed and wrapped in some blanket as you roamed the halls like a damned ghost.

“Hey, um- it's.. it's gonna be-" you held your hand up to her.

“I know. Thank you.” You smile, the action stiff, considering you hadn't used those muscles in awhile. Vaggie knew. That was fair, though. You were glad Charlie had someone to confide with. You walked on after she gave a hesitant goodbye wave.

One night, when your body had taken over and you were wandering aimlessly, you realized where you ended up. Not only were you standing in front of Lucifer's workshop, he had already spotted you through the window on the door. He opened it before you could fully take in your surroundings.

“Hey..” You let out softly. What else are you supposed to say? You didn’t come prepared. You feel embarrassed standing in front of him, realizing how much of a mess you must look. You're not even sure what part of your mind made you end up here.

He doesn't respond at first, another speechless moment letting your mind wander. He opens the door more, offering his space to you. You look at him and he smiles before you shuffle inside. You take in the sight. You haven't actually seen it, considering your circumstances after the hotel was renovated.

“It looks nice in here.” You say quietly, your voice cracking just a bit. You walk through, tracing your fingers along desks and tables, stopping and looking at family photos on occasion. You looked to Lucifer’s smiling face in a picture where he was lovingly holding his wife and daughter. How did you end up like this?

“Oh- um.. thank you, it's more than enough space for me, but, uh.. it's nice.” His voice sounds unfamiliar as it snaps you from your mindset. He moves to his main bench, which is slightly elevated by a platform that connects to the windowed wall. You eventually make your way around, standing near him.

“Are.. you… How are you..?” You listen to him struggle to form such a simple question, and yet you have an equally hard time trying to respond. Obviously, you were crushed. devastated by the betrayal and overwhelmed by everything else.

“I'm okay.” You reply thoughtlessly. It was your go-to answer. You hear a muffled chuckle and look over to him. He's blocking the laughter with his fist in front of his lips. Is he laughing at you?

“Sorry sorry, I just.. know that you're lying. You've done this before, don't forget how much time I've actually spent with you.” You want to scold him for acting so bold, for saying he knows you better than yourself, but..

You're leaning against the table in one moment, and before you know it, you're hoisted to sit on its top. You felt like a relief you didn't realize. Your feet were aching. How long were you walking the in the halls today? The sensation of his hands planted on your waist. to steadily bring you to the counter, lingered after he had removed them.

“I used to see you wandering around back home- at the mansion, I mean. usually after a tough day. But it's been a few days, so I just thought you might be-”

“Why are you so calm?” Your sudden question made him visibly finch. "You were tricked, too, you know. He tore us apart. How can you be handling this so well?” Your voice starts to turn agitated. You weren't sure why you were taking it out on himm, but you both knew in the moment that this was the first time you’ve let any emotion out since the fight.

“It's like some.. malevolent force is constantly tearing us apart. One moment I'm happy, I'm in love, I'm smiling- then the next, you're just gone. and everything else that keeps me sane goes with it.” You feel a flood of tears beginning to well. Tears that you should've been letting out days ago. “Is this some kind of fucking curse? Why can’t things just be easy..? A-Are we just doomed?” You're wiping your face clear, your words becoming sloppy and hoarse.

“Maybe.” Your head lifts to see him, still calm as before, but with a solemn look on his face. “But, we keep finding eachother, right? And all the good times.. they'll stay good, won’t they?” You nod your head reluctantly.

He approaches you, with a hand on your shoulder, he's wiping away tears with the other.

“Honestly? I'm not handling this well at all. You're right, the universe has done nothing but tear us apart and hurt both of us. And I’m just about ready to tear Alastor limb by limb. I want Charlie to be okay.. I want to keep you by my side and never let you out of my sight this time.” You see his emotions range throughout his words, his eyes flashing red for a moment. He calms himself down, running his hand down your arm to hold your hand. You don't resist.

“But, you made some good points back there. And I just thought.. if you're strong enough to let that prick live, after everything, then.. Maybe I-I.. I'm trying to be strong.” He sounds almost embarrassed to admit it, and the comment on your strength leaves you a bit red in the cheeks. “You've always been so strong, darling. I just wish you'd tell me how you're really feeling.. I miss talking to you. Not this.. empty shell.” His words stung and he knew it as soon as they slipped from his lips.

“W-wait, no, I mean..”

“It’s fine, you're not wrong.. Jerk.” You share a little laugh with him, the mood lightening for just a moment. “Lucifer, I'm.. I'm so tired.” You let out weakly. That barely scratches the surface of everything. It's as if your mind was boiling over, with all the thoughts of Alastor turning sour, and the thoughts of redemption suddenly in question, not to mention all those feelings of Lucifer that were repressed until just recently. You want Charlie to be okay. You want things to be normal, but.. you're not quite sure what normal looks like. You wish you could say all this to him.. it’s hard to put it to words. But you're trying. He makes you want to try harder.

You feel a gentle hand holding your cheek, bringing your blurred thoughts to clarity and meeting eyes that left you breathless. When was the last time you've looked in his eyes? A blush forms across his cheeks, your gaze seems to fluster him. He clears his throat, getting his mind back.

“You're not okay. But.. You will be. I promise.” With a wry smile, you let the weight of your head fall into his palm.

Your eyes meet. He leans in and you feel his arms snake around yout waist. Looking back, you're almost embarrassed by the way you leaned towards him, eyes shut, head tilted, your lips just slightly parted. You were startled by the feeling of his head resting on your shoulder. He only pulls you closer after he feels your breath start to deepen, his hands gentle across your back. You finally return his touch, digging your nose into the crook of his neck and gripping tightly at his shirt.

It used to feel like, if you let go, you'll never hold him again. God, how the possibility scares you. But.. it feels a little different this time. You weren’t worried about him disappearing, this time.

You’re so comforted by his presence, you let yourself fully relax to him. You open your eyes just slightly, blinking out some tears that still remained, thoroughly ruining his top. You pull away, meeting his eyes again.

You feel as if you were close to forgetting this side of him, but you recognize this face. You saw it the night you first kissed him. You saw it after seeing him at the hotel for the first time, then when he decided to sweep you off your feet for a little date. You saw it after every little date that followed. You realize he's never stopped looking at you this way.

“I love you, too.”

I had to put that worship the devil in there it just made me laugh so sorry if that seemed out of place lol

And not to fear my friends,

I plan on making a little epilogue about how everyone's recovering, and some sweet, yummy, fluffy goodness to top it off.

Again, Thank you all so much for your support! :)

I'll be working on some requests next, and some more vamp Luci! Kind of in love with that guy ngl

Taglist! (good lord I hope I got everybody )

( @vififofum / @thornwolfy235 / @tinywolfiegirl / @chipper-chip / @bat-boness

@misfitgirlwrites / @nayomi247 / @lonelynmisunderstood / @escapistoftherealworld / @b4ts1e / @hamthepan / @kyo-kyo1 / @looking1016 / @polytheatrix / @littledolly2345 / @lillianastuff / @yourlocalcryptidbee /@0strawberrysorbet0 / @themageofblood / @jayyyayaysblog / @floralsightings / @azmosposts / @8har0ley8 / @actuallyspiderwoman / @sirenetheblogger / @christineblood / @kaytemchugh / @cimadreamer / @simpdevil66 / @azmosposts / @m3ow1 / @acrazyartist / @redfoxwritesstuff / @4k1to / @meesachan / @corvusskid / @alientee /@xx-spooky-little-vampire-xx / @alon3lylov3r /@sapphireravensworld / @mjmdragons / @catticora / @the-maladaptivedaydreamer / @carrie0-1 / @shamblezzz / @cassandras-nest / @wendigonamecaller / @chirimeimei / @sapphireravensworld / @sillywormtrixareforkids

#hazbin hotel #hazbin #lucifer morningstar #lucifer hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel fandom #lucifer hazbin #lucifer magne #hazbin hotel fan fiction #hazbin hotel fanfiction #hazbin fanfiction #hazbin fanfic #hazbin hotel fanfic #hazbin hotel fic #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin alastor #lucifer x reader #lucifer x you

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ramblingoak · 5 months

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The Cardinal's Bride, Chapter 13: And You Can Hold Me

~~ Please visit The Outlaw Brides Masterpost to catch up and read more stories from this world ~~

Thank you to @tasty-ribz for the wanted poster, @ghuleh-recs for the collage, @gothdaddyissues for the dividers and @foxybouquet for the Italian help! For some more amazing fanart check out: @missygoesmeow (1 / 2), @snail-shell2335 here, @vahvco here, @ghulehgwen here, @rabidghoul here, @nocterish here, @enjoy-my-swearing ( 1 / 2 ), @blacktie-whitenoise (1 /2), @z-xmyers (1/2/3/4), @foxybouquet ( 1 / 2 ), @delulluart here, _simpera_ on instagram and valkyrieinpink on twitter. Also thank you to @kissingghouls for all her help and emotional support.

Cardinal Copia x Female Reader: A night of bliss, some Italian lessons and lots of love.

Warnings: descriptions of drowning during a nightmare but then it's very sappy and smutty, nsfw, 18+ only mdni, 3,800 words

He wasn’t here.

You had been glancing around the church almost constantly, each look becoming slightly more desperate than the last. The only people you saw though were the guests in attendance. Each face turned to look directly at you. As you kept your eyes on one of Saltarian’s business partners his face seemed to contort and morph before you. His smile grew wider and wider, his eyes darker and more menacing. When you were able to finally look away you could see the same thing happening to every other person there.

He wasn’t coming.

The priest continued to drone on although none of his words were making sense. It suddenly felt like you were under water, your movements slow as if you were drowning. The only thing keeping you in place was the harsh grip of Saltarian’s hands. His fingers felt like claws, the tips of his nails digging into your wrists. He must have known that if he let go you would drift away, your dress billowing around you in the water as you sank and sank and sank.

He didn’t care.

They were yelling at you, their faces contorted now like the others. You tried to yell back, to scream at them that you couldn’t hear what they were saying. That you weren’t supposed to be here, that Copia and his Ghouls should have been here by now. They should have swooped in and saved you and burned this place down. Cruel words from Saltarian began to echo in your head. He was telling you that you belonged to him now. That Copia had changed his mind, that he wasn’t coming.

He changed his mind.

You opened your mouth, using all your strength to try and scream at him that he was wrong. Still no sounds came out. Your mouth just filled with water, your lungs burned for air. He’d be here, he promised he’d be here. When you looked at Saltarian again his eyes were red and black wings jutted out from his back. He was laughing, they were all laughing and clapping and cheering.

He didn’t love you.

Finally you were able to scream, bubbles erupting from your mouth as you shoved Saltarian away. With desperate movements you tried clawing yourself to the surface. The priest tried to grab you next, his hands tearing at your dress to keep you underwater but you kicked at him viciously. More hands were on you then. Hands taking hold of your feet and pulling you back down again. The light above you, above the water was dimming. You couldn’t scream any more but you still tried...

“No! No no no n–”

“Principessa!” Copia’s voice had you jerking awake and gasping for air. You panicked when you didn’t recognize anything around you, the darkness of the room reminding you of your nightmare immediately. “Hey now, you’re safe.”

You clung to him, still trying to catch your breath. He was holding you close, his hands soothing over your hair and back while he continued to reassure you. Soft kisses were pressed along your cheeks and then onto your shoulder, each touch of his lips helping to pull you from the nightmare. You pressed your face against his chest, right over his tattoo. His chest hair tickled your skin but you didn’t move, you never wanted to move from this spot.

When your breathing finally slowed and your heart calmed down you were able to focus more on Copia. Memories of the day before, of the night before, came rushing back and you could feel your cheeks heating up. You became aware of your nakedness, of his nakedness, and you were suddenly afraid to move. It wasn’t until you started to focus on the soft words he was murmuring into your hair that you finally got the courage to pull away.

“What are you saying?”

Your eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the room so you could see his smile and his fond gaze. He cupped your cheek, sweeping his thumb across the skin before he answered.

“I am praying.” He leaned close, gently kissing your forehead and your nose before whispering for a moment in Italian. When he was done he pulled away, a somewhat shy smile on his face. “Asking Lucifer to watch over you.”

“Isn’t that your job?”

He chuckled while rolling onto his back. Copia’s arms were still wrapped around you so you ended up being pulled along, your body now pressed against his side. He was warm, his skin surprisingly soft against yours. His fingers started trailing up and down your arm, goosebumps appearing in their wake.

“I need all the help I can get. You get into lots of trouble Principessa.”

“Excuse me?” You stared up at him accusingly, annoyed to see that damn smirk on his face. “In case you’ve forgotten all of this is your fault.”

“All of it, eh?” In a flash he was moving, tumbling you onto your back and hovering over you. “Even this?”

He didn’t let you answer, instead dropping his head down to kiss you. His mouth was demanding and persistent but you matched his movements. Would you ever get tired of kissing him? Of him holding you close and making you feel safe? And after last night would you ever get tired of this?

His mustache tickled your neck when he trailed kisses down to your shoulder. You buried your fingers in his hair and wrapped a leg around his waist. The both of you moaned when his cock rubbed against you, the tip already wet.

“Copia, I–oh.” He had reached back to grasp your knee, pulling your leg away from his waist and then pressing it down onto the bed. You whimpered when he moved away but the wild look on his face had you instantly silent, your breath panting as you waited for what he would do next. “I want you.”

You didn’t really want to wait.

He gave you a bright grin before straightening up, his eyes slowly trailing down your body. His hands were quick to follow, the rough calluses catching at the skin of your breasts. Your nipples hardened when he rolled them between his fingers. With an impatient noise you hooked a leg around his waist again, desperate for him to take you.

“Patience, Diavolessa.” One hand continued to cup your breast while the other slid down your belly before moving to your side. “Let me savor you.”

“Savor me later.”

It was his turn to pant when you took his cock in hand, the both of you watching as it jumped under your touch. He let out a string of Italian, you had no idea what the words meant but they sounded just as desperate as you felt. With a whine he pulled away, his hands finding the inside of your thighs and parting them. Copia’s eyes caught yours when he moved a hand up to your cunt, his fingers rubbing through the wet flesh there.

“Così bisognoso, così bagnato.”

You reached up behind you and grasped the metal of his headboard, your hips lifting off the bed when he pushed a finger inside. He didn’t look away as he started pumping it in and out of you, soon adding a second and a third. The wet sounds of them moving added to your panting, all of it echoing around you until the sensations crescendoed and you came around his fingers. You couldn’t keep your eyes open, squeezing them shut as your breathing slowed.

He was still watching you when you finally opened them, his hand wet with your release moving up and down his cock. A sudden flash of shyness moved through you but you didn’t look away, the tendrils of worry from your nightmare still there. The fear that maybe this was all you would have, all you could have. And that soon everything would come crashing down around you and you’d be alone.

“Hey now, come back to me.” You took a trembling breath, furiously wiping at the few tears that had broken loose. “Where did you go?”

“Nowhere I wanted to be.”

Copia smiled and he looked so beautiful right then you wanted to cry some more. The moonlight that snuck past his curtains caught on his eyes, on his smile and on the various scars that littered his chest and arms. You looked lower and saw the knife wound from the story he had told you before. A moment that felt like ages ago now.

“Bene, because you only need to be here. With me.” As he spoke he shifted so he could run the tip of his cock over you, making both of you groan. It caught at your entrance and your hips moved on their own accord to try to get him to move deeper. “Forever, sÌ?”

All you could do was nod because he chose that moment to start entering you, his thick length stretching you like his fingers never could. You wrapped your legs around his waist trying to pull him closer and he obliged, pushing into you as far as he could go. He flexed his hips, grinding against you and making you cry out. It felt so good, so wonderful you knew you would never tire of it. Of him.

“Copia…” He looked up from where you were joined, his smile still firmly in place. You reached up to smooth his hair back before tracing a finger down his forehead and to the tip of his nose. His eyes crossed briefly as he followed it and when it went lower to trace across his mustache he moved quickly to nip at it, making you laugh. “I love you.”

“What’s not to love?” He chuckled when you scoffed and rolled your eyes but before you could retort he rested your foreheads together and whispered the words you would never tire of hearing, “I love you too.”

You kissed then, your tongues tangling briefly before he started to move his hips. The slow drag of him pulling out was just as good as you remembered. Copia was pressing back in soon enough, building up to a rhythm that had you both hanging on to each other. Your hands slipped on his sweaty skin until you finally gripped one hand in his hair. That had him letting out a desperate sound and he began to move faster, Italian falling from his lips onto your skin.

Each time he pulled out you flexed your legs to bring him back and he obliged with a snap of his hips. It was so different from earlier but exactly what you both needed now. You knew there would be more tender moments in the future, hopefully an endless amount of them. But right now you just needed him to take you, to make you his again and again.

“F-fuck me, oh please Copia I–”

He let out a delirious laugh at your words, starting to move faster and bringing you closer to your peak once more. One of his hands wandered down to where you were joined and you started seeing stars when he rubbed at you.

“If you start talking like that I’ll never let you out of this bed.” His movements became a little less coordinated and you were so close all he had to do was circle your clit with his thumb and you were gone, whimpering his name over and over as you came. Copia followed soon after, his cock kicking inside of you, emptying inside of you. With a wild sounding moan he dropped down, burying his face in the crook of your neck. “That’s actually not a bad idea.”

You’d agree with him if you could speak so instead you just held onto him, cataloging how he felt inside and around you and falling more in love every moment.

“Capo.”

Copia moved your finger out of the way and kissed the spot where you had pointed to on your forehead. Your nose scrunched up like it usually did at the feel of his mustache tickling you.

“Capo.” He smiled when you repeated it, pulling your hand close to your mouth and nipping at your fingertip. “Hey!”

“So bossy.” His tongue peeked out to soothe the sting left by his teeth and then he let go, grinning when he saw you glaring at him. “What’s next?”

“Here.”

He kissed where your finger had been, right at the tip of your nose.

“Naso.” Another kiss before his eyes glanced lower to your lips and he was soon kissing you there, sucking your bottom lip between his and pulling away. “Labbra.”

“Again.”

“Labb–”

“No, kiss me again.” He tutted at you, leaning back quickly when you tried to initiate the kiss. “Copia.”

“Ask me nicely. In Italiano.”

“Per favore.”

Your reward was instant, his warm mouth moving against yours once more. You nipped at his tongue when he slid it between your lips, smiling when he pulled back with a growl.

“Diavolessa.” He raised an eyebrow when you just smiled smugly at him, sighing before moving to hover his lips over your cheek. “Guancia.” You obediently replied, smiling when he stopped to kiss your mouth again. Copia moved lower then, dropping a series of kisses down the column of your throat. “Collo.”

“Collo.”

He had already started moving again when you began to repeat him, open mouthed kisses lower and lower until he was between your breasts. His hands came up to cup them and you sighed at the feeling, throwing your arms up behind your head to grip the pillow.

“Tetta.” He nipped gently at the side of one, his teeth barely grazing the skin. While he mouthed at the sides his thumbs started to rub your nipples, getting them to harden quickly. His mouth moved up to cover one, sucking the tip into his mouth and flicking his tongue against it roughly before pulling off with a pop. “Capezzolo.”

“C-capezz–oh yes, like that.”

Copia was lapping at your nipple, lathing across it with his tongue and then just barely touching it with his teeth. You dropped a hand to grip his head, scratching your nails across his scalp as he worshipped your flesh. Too soon, far too soon he pulled away, his lips swollen and his hair wild from your fingers.

“Shall we keep going?”

All you could do was nod and he smiled as he trailed kisses down your stomach. He was murmuring as he went but you couldn’t catch any of the words. Not until he flicked his tongue across your belly button causing you to shriek.

“Copia!”

“Ombelico.” You glared at him, refusing to give in to a smile when he laughed. With a shake of his head he moved lower, his eyes not leaving yours. His smile grew when he skipped over your cunt, his breath barely tickling you there before he placed a sucking kiss to the inside of one of your thighs. “Coscia.”

“Coscia.”

He kept going, quickly touching your knee down to your ankle with his lips.

“Ginocchio, caviglia…”

“You missed a spot.”

Copia raised his head up from the top of your foot, giving you a questioning look.

“Did I?” When you nodded he frowned, trying and failing to appear innocent. “I don’t think I did. I’ve been very thorough Principessa.”

“Quit kidding around.” You yanked your foot away, prodding him in the shoulder with your toes when he didn’t move. “Finish.”

When he stayed still you pushed him a little harder, laughing when he clutched at his shoulder and feigned being hurt. He took a hold of your ankle again, kissing it once before sighing and shaking his head.

“You are so cruel to me. Here I am, trying to impart knowledge on you and you kick me.”

“I barely touched you. Besides, you're the cruel one! Skipping over that.”

“Hmm, this?” He was kissing his way up your leg, pausing at your knee with a raised eyebrow. When you shook your head he frowned and looked your leg up and down. “I’m not sure what I missed.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“Un idiota? Me?” You nodded, refusing to laugh at him when he laid his head against your thigh and gave you a pathetic look. “Show me what I missed and I’ll make it right.”

Your cheeks immediately flamed, which seemed silly considering you had been laying naked in his bed for hours now. After taking a fortifying breath you widened your legs further, opening yourself up to him. His eyes quickly went between your legs while his nostrils flared and his tongue snuck out to lick his lips. Slowly, far too slowly, he ran his hand up your thigh until his fingers grazed your cunt.

“There.”

“Here? Is this what I missed?” Speech was impossible so you gave him a quick nod, gripping the sheets when he brought his face closer to you. His tongue was warm against your clit when he circled it, flicking it just like he had done with your nipple. “Clitoride.”

His lips closed around it and he sucked, his cheeks hollowing as he drew it into his mouth. While he gave it attention the fingers of one hand brushed over your entrance and you cried out, gasping please, please, please over and over. He pulled off your clit, shushing you while he kept tracing around your wet opening.

“C-Copia. P-per favore…”

He didn’t say anything before his mouth closed over you and his tongue began to lap at your entrance roughly. You threw a leg over his shoulder trying to open yourself up for him as much as you could. His tongue was quickly inside of you, rubbing the inside of your walls and making you cry out as loudly as you dared. While he licked inside of you his nose rubbed against your clit, the dual sensations working you to orgasm faster than you expected. Right when you were on the edge Copia pulled away, his smile smug and infuriating.

“Fica.”

With that he lowered his head, his tongue finding its way back inside of you and your orgasm finding you not long after.

“What will we do in the morning?” Your voice was barely over a whisper, like you were afraid to speak too loudly and break the spell you’d both been under since last night. “Do we have to leave?”

“No. Not yet at least.” Copia’s voice was just as quiet, his eyes even closed as he spoke. “But I’ll need to talk to Secondo. See where we stand.”

“Do you think more men will be coming?”

“I don’t doubt it, Principessa.” One hand rubbed soothingly up and down your back while the other cupped your chin. “But we’re safe here for the moment.”

“Where would we even go? If we left.”

“Hmm. Probably Primo’s.”

You hummed, laying your head on his chest when he let go of your chin. He had barely spoken about his eldest brother at all so you had no idea what to expect. You still weren’t sure what to expect from the other two brothers, especially after their actions to try and send you away.

“And after that?” Copia tensed beside you and you immediately regretted asking but the shadow of your nightmare was still fresh. “Will I…will I still have to go to Saltarian?”

“I don’t know.” You squeezed your eyes shut at his answer, hating how scared it made you. Copia murmured your name but you stayed still and quiet, not trusting yourself to speak. With a grunt he turned onto his side making it impossible to avoid meeting his eyes. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to let you out of my sight again.”

“Then don’t.”

“Don’t think about it, just think about this.”

He kissed you then and you could feel the emotion he was pouring into it. They were emotions you returned, eagerly kissing him back and sighing into his mouth when one of his legs slipped between yours. Copia kept moving it higher until it was pressed against you and it was impossible not to start moving your hips. You broke away from the kiss with a gasp when the fingers of one of his hands found your clit, knowing exactly how to touch you to make you wet.

“Copia…”

“That’s it, Principessa. Come for me, I want to watch.”

It didn’t take long with his sweet words continuing next to you. He lowered his head to suckle at your breasts and it was enough to have you coming once more, a broken whimper leaving you as you ground against his fingers and his thigh, coming all over both. You watched as he started to touch himself, his hand moving quickly and you covered his hand with your own when you realized how close he was.

“No, in me. Take me, please.”

He grinned, tangling his fingers with yours for a moment. The muscles in his arm were fascinating to watch as they flexed when he moved. Copia was going a lot slower than he had been, trying to savor the feel of your fingers on his flesh. You couldn’t help but start to move against his thigh again, his skin still wet from your release. With a curse he released your hand, rolling onto his back and tugging you with him.

“Come here.” You let him maneuver you until you were sitting up and straddling him. His cock hard in front of you, wet and ready. He smirked as he gently patted your thighs, encouraging you to raise up as he took his cock in hand again. “Like this.”

Your mouth fell open as you hovered over him, your body eager to take him in. The muscles in his arms strained as he helped slowly lower you down, your legs shaking until you were seated fully. You could tell he was holding himself back, his body trembling a bit while he waited for you to get used to the position. He sighed when you placed your hands on the soft flesh of his belly and moved your hips slightly.

“Like this?” He nodded, grabbing your hips and helping you move in a way that had you both moaning. Copia had started to talk in Italian while his hands began to wander from your hips to your ass. “N-no more Italian lessons Copia I c-can’t, ah!”

With a grunt he stilled and you looked forward again to watch him, instantly becoming suspicious when you saw him clearly trying to hold a laugh in.

“No more Italian lessons, Principessa.” His hands moved back to your hips, holding you tight as he bent his legs and planted his feet on the bed. “Time for a different lesson.”

“What kind of lesson?”

He grinned, covering your hands with his once more and giving them a squeeze.

“Hang on and I’ll show you.”

If you'd like to be added/removed from the tag list (or if I accidentally left your name off) of this fic or any of my others please leave a comment or send me a dm! Thank you 💙

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#the cardinal's bride #copia x female reader #the band ghost fanfiction #ghost band fanfic #cowboy copia #oakie's writing #copia fanfiction

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shamelessexplosions · 7 months

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What I've learnt about the Batfamily from Tumblr

I know nothing about Batman - I have never read a comic, I have never watched a Batman series or cartoon or movie with him in it (except from that one scene at the end of wonder woman). This is what I have learnt about the members of the Batfamily entirely from tumblr and other social media.

1. Bruce Wayne

Bruce Wayne is Batman, and his superpower is being richer than God.

He lives in a mansion in Gotham, which is basically a city entirely made up of psychos

He cannot stop adopting children

Like I'm pretty sure he sees a child on their own with a vaguely traumatic backstory and has to adopt them.

Probably carries adoption papers in his utility belt for that very purpose

I'm not entirely sure how many children he has but that's okay because I don't think he knows either.

When he's in the mask his voice is really deep and he keeps saying "I'm Batman"

When he's not he acts like a complete idiot but probably tips a waitress by paying for their collage tuition

His parents are dead and this is very important - in a world of orphans, he is THE orphan

2. Dick Grayson

Bruce Wayne's oldest adopted son

He was in the circus as an acrobat until his parents died in front of him

I think they were murdered

He was the original Robin

Then he got bored or something and moved to somewhere called bludhaven which honestly sounds Norwegian, and renamed himself Nightwing.

Has extreme big brother energy

3. Jason Todd

Robin #2 because apparently there's a second one

I think he met Bruce after stealing the tires off Batman's car (the batmobile?) and then hitting him with a tire iron which is such a power move, especially for some random kid

He died but it's ok because he fell in a pit and got better

He renamed himself red hood and became a mass murderer for a bit

I think it was just a phase?

He was trained in the way of murder by someone called Talia. He either slept with her or was adopted by her.

I hope it's the second one because I know Bruce slept with her

Likes guns

4. Tim Drake

I think he stalked batman until he found out he was Bruce Wayne

In other words this random kid did what no megalomaniac with a grudge against the furry that routinely beats them up could

But then I think he was Bruce's neighbour pre-adoption so maybe he just noticed batman flying out from under the mansion each night, which says something problematic about his secret identity

He became robin too like how many robins does one city need?

Jason refers to him as 'replacement' which seems cold given 1. He himself was a replacement and 2. tim got replaced as well

I think he's Red Robin now, so clearly not too interested in change.

5. Damien Wayne

Bruce's biological son with the aforementioned assassin/murder trainer Talia.

Was in something called the League of Assassins but left to find his father, which given the name is the League of Assassins sounds like a smart life choice

Talia may have sent Damien to Bruce so she didn't have to deal with a teenager, but it also sounds like he left after an argument with his grandfather and League head-honcho Ra's so not sure whats going on there

Also Robin but I think at this point someone is taking the piss - possibly Batman

Feral Child(tm)

Likes swords

6. Cassandra (Cassie/Cass) Cain?

Maybe her surname is cain? Or maybe it's not?

I'm really confused because I'm pretty sure there is both a Cass and a Cassie in the Child-soldier Justice League and I think one of them is a bat-family member and one of them has something to do with Wonder Woman and they may or may not be the same person

Was an assassin involved in the same organisation as Jason and Damien

Is this where Bruce Wayne is finding his kids?

Was a Robin too (yay for feminism, boo for originality? Get some other names for your feral murder children Bruce)

Now called Spoiler and likes purple

May have at one point been batgirl?

7. Duke ???

Honestly I have no idea, I've just seen his name a couple of times

He was probably Robin at some point - they all appear to have been Robin at some point

I think he likes the colour yellow

8. Stephanie Brown

Another person that I have only vaguely seen the name of

She might have dated one of the batkids, Tim maybe?

May or may not be a batkid herself

May be batgirl, or maybe that was Cassandra, or maybe both. There have been so many robins nothing would surprise me

9. Barbara (Babs) Gordon

Daughter of a police commissioner

hacker

Her father may or may not be aware of her extracurriculars, but Commissioner Gordon has a massive flashlight for summoning batman when he needs help with a case so I don't think he has any room to talk

Goes by Oracle

Not a proper batkid but I doubt that stops her being on the family Christmas card

May have at one point been a Batgirl?

But at this point I'm just guessing everyone was batgirl

Maybe Duke was batgirl!

May use a wheelchair but I'm not certain

10. Alfred Pennyworth

Indeterminate age, may be immortal

Bruce's bulter

Raised Bruce Wayne, but still calls him 'Master Bruce'

Also refers to the batkids as 'master xx'

May or may not be sarcasm

English, ex-army and all-round exceedingly polite badass

Correction, he's English, I can say with confidence it is sarcasm

That is all the people I can think of, sorry if I missed anyone

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whore-era · 2 years

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collage!ellie x reader hcs? <3

a/n: im gonna assume u meant college!ellie so HERE IT GOES just for you anon friend <3 sorry for how short it is kfkdkkd

tlou 2 university: college!ellie x reader headcanons <3 18+

i have a feeling ellie is either a biology major, engineering major, or a physics/astrophysics major (cuz our girl loooves space), meaning she's extremely intelligent and does very well in class!! she's always answering the professor's questions, taking notes, paying attention. when you struggle with any science/math related subjects, she's ALWAYS willing to tutor you. but, this doesn't mean she's just gonna give you the answers, she's gonna make sure you actually learn and study, even using any means possible — like having you strip off a piece of clothing every time you get an answer wrong and making it a fun time for the both of you.

when you have important projects/papers/quizzes/exams to do that day, she'll make sure to send an encouraging message. don't get me wrong, she always does, but on especially important days like these, she'll always make sure to send an extra special one <3 'good morning baby! you're gonna fucking KILL this chemistry exam babe! you worked your ass off and you're gonna do amazing and get the highest score ❤️ i love you my smart girl let me know what you get when you're done' 'ty els <3 i love you most babe ! i'm abt to start talk to u laterrrr 🏃🏻‍♀️'

ellie will always fulfill her girlfriend duties and walk you to and pick you from classes! even tho she's always a tiny bit late because your class was all the way across campus from hers, but she wants to make sure you're protected and safe so she doesn't care either way! and she'll always carry your books for you, making sure you don't strain or 'hurt' yourself (her words not yours). "els, i have two, capable working arms!!" you whine, as she takes the textbook off your hands, "and so? what if you get a muscle spasm? or you sprain your hand?" she retorts, "by a two pound book?" ellie shrugs, "the possibility is never zero, babe."

when ellie has a project or an essay to work on, it'll be a little difficult to reach her as she gets in the zone when she's working. you'll probably send her some texts throughout the day to check in on her, but as the day progresses you'll find yourself worrying and thinking about stopping by her dorm with dinner because you already know she hadn't ate all day from being cooped up in her room typing away:

you - 9:30 am: els! just got out of class!! gnna go get some lunch w jesse :) hope ur doin okay <3

you - 11:45 am: miss u babe hope ur work is coming along great !!!

you - 2:21 pm: havent heard from u......kinda worried....hope u have been eating n staying hydrated missy >:(

you - 5:56 pm: ok i'm On my way! to ur dorm rn w/ dinner i already know u haven't ate yet n ur gonna feel my wrath

you - 5:56 pm: ignore that extremely enthusiastic On my way! it autocorrected im still mad at u

hearing the booming pounding on her door, ellie takes off her earbuds and walks to the door, opening it. to her surprise, you're standing there, take-out in hand, and a grumpy expression gracing your face. "do you know what time it is? have you even ate yet, ellie williams-miller?" ellie grimaces at the sound of her full, government name leaving your lips. "i'm so sorry, babe. i was working all day, i didn't even realize how much time had passed 'til you showed up," ellie mutters, her stomach grumbling on cue. you hand her the take-out from her favorite spot on campus, and she graciously takes it from your hands. "you better be thankful you have a very caring and worrisome girlfriend, els," you say, "i really missed you today." a smile curls on ellie's lips, "i know, baby. here, let me take a little break from my paper, and i'll make it up to you, yeah?"

and that night, ellie was extremely thankful she worked on most of her paper, as she completely disregarded anymore work as she decided she'd rather fulfill her appetite by eating you out instead. leaving her take-out cold and untouched. but hey, she held her part of the deal and indeed made it up to you.

that was also how 5 papers ended up taped up against her dorm-room door, complaining of the 'fucking loud ass moans' the morning after.

"how'd they even know it was us?" ellie queries, reading over the complaints. "oh wait, it says here 'please tell your girlfriend to keep it down. she was screaming your name all night. thank you for reminding us who lives in dorm 114.'" needless to say, you were red as a tomato and it gutted you to leave her dorm, feeling everyone's eyes on you as you walked down the hall.

let me know if yall would like more college!ellie hcs!! <3

#ellie williams #ellie tlou #ellie williams tlou #the last of us #the last of us ellie #ellie williams x reader #ellie x reader #tlou #ellie x fem reader #ellie williams x female reader #ellie williams fluff #ellie x reader hc #college!ellie williams

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decodedlvr · 1 year

Text

the band-aid to my wounds

Older!Eddie Munson x naive!Fem reader - eventual twins Steve Harrington x reader x Kurt Kunckle series| pt 1 | pt 2 | pt 3 … TBC

Summary: After stumbling into an old barn after being stranded by your freshly new ex boyfriend, you wake up strangely in a room..that isn't yours..

warnings: talks of cheating, abuse, angst, slight stockholm syndrome at a glance, anxiety, childhood trauma, parent problems; daddy issues, eventual smut, cursing, drinking, smoking, perviness, slight dub-con, miscommunications, blood mention

word count: idk? 1k?

June 12th, 1988 the roads were closed off.

I have no idea why im still together with this asshole, why am i so stupid? oh because id do anything for people to love and not leave me. Looking at him now..hands beating the steering wheel, veins popping through his temples..not to mention his breath. Ashton my oh so loving, narcissist, no good boyfriend. We've been together for 6 years, basically high school sweethearts. Went from flirty glaces, to lab partners, to collage students with an alcohol addiction. Mainly his addiction...he got me started on it.

Ashton basically took me in with his fatherly like protectiveness when we first got together. He was walking me to my front door after a bowling date he asked me out to my sophomore year, of course i said yes.; until the front door opened. Uh oh, dads home; Bill. The moment the door opened i watched my father tackle Ashton to the ground without so much as a reason screaming words like "get off my property, boys like you should be dead in a gutter, ill kill you"...

Lets just say that date night was a bit too eventful for my liking.

My dad always had a problem with Ashton because he went to highschool with his father. Ashtons dad was a bully back in the day, made my dads life a living hell.. took everything away from him. the girl, the looks, the job..

Dave, Ashtons father, was caught making out with Shannon, my dads ex lover but also first love. Dave knew he had the upper hand when it came to getting the things he wanted. Hell, Shannon seduced him into it. Shannon was only with my dad for the money. Got knocked up but gave him the baby and ran away to be with his dad. As you can see I am that baby now today.

I made a promise to Ashton after sneaking him to my bedroom window that same night cleaning his wounds; that it was me and him against the world. He knew about me and my parents relationship. How my step-mother only has good things to say about me in a room full of people, but how she degrades me behind closed doors. How my dads drinking problem gave him alcohol poisoning, twice' and about his anger problems. You'd think being in a household that is always loud would help you shape up to loud sounds in the future. Boy was that theory proven wrong.

anytime someone yells or raises their tone, you're immediately in fight or flight response. tense..anxious. You hate going to basketball games just for that reason. Its uncomfortable.. and he knew that, but apparently in this moment, he didn't give a fuck-

"Did you hear me??" Ashton says impatiently. "No im sorry, i cant hear when you mumble.." you reply

you also hated when people uttered things under their breath.

dad does that shit.

"Don't be smart with me y/n, ill leave you right here,right now in the middle of the fucking road

"Yeah whatever Ashton, just stop talking to me and drive" feeling the breaks pull forward and in a flash he was out of the drivers seat, and already pulling you out of the passenger-

"WHAT THE FUCK" i yell- what the fuck are you doing Ashton?”

“Shut up!” he smacks me. Your eyes widen in more shock than fear over anything. “Did you j-just hit me?” i ask with a scratched voice--

“I told you more than once not to back talk me didnt i?”

“i didn’t.. it was once and i stopped ashton”-

-“You’ve done it all goddamn night, accusing me of cheating, clinging onto me when i ran into Tommy, i told you to give me some fucking space --i interrupt him.

“YOU did cheat on me you asshole!! That bitch was fucking bragging about it in the bathroom”—

“Do you really think after what 4 years-“6 actually“ i say pissing him off further. he looks at you angrily

He sighs. “Do you really think after years of being together, i would do that to you?” he say looking down at the ground sadly; making you instatly regret your words

“..no-no of course not i just thou”-

-“You thought wrong! he snaps-I would never do that to you baby..y/n?” he says letting go of the grip on my arms, caressing my cheek-“..I know you get a little confused sometimes, its okay come here” he says pulling you into a deep hug

“..im sorry ash”-

“shh” he coos.

“I really thought—what the fuck is that?” you shove him away

“Y-you piece of shit!!” you pull around back collar piece of his shirt up to his face; showing him the peach colored lipstick stain

“Are you fucking serious Ashton?” his eyes widen and stomach drops when he sees the prominent evidence of his past events—

“B-baby look-“

“No! fuck you were done!”

He grabs me closer, “No we fucking arent- ive gave you everything! he starts shouting making you flinch

P-please stop yelling at me! you plea tears rolling down your face

“Just—here” he opens the car door “just get back in and ill explain on the way”—

“No.” you shove past him running and crying

“Y/N come back here!. its too dark—

“ i dont care leave me alone!”

“Y/n theres crazy people out here..!”

you stop in your tracks, turning back to say- “You’re the crazy person!”

he laughs. “Oh im crazy? Ill show you fuckin crazy”—he says marching over to the drivers side of the car starting it back up—mumbling ill show you a fucking crazy person babe—and he spees off

you cant believe he actually just left you.. standing here.

“ASSHOLE!” you shout regulardess if hes still there or not, turning back around to walk down the cold empty road

are you fuckig kidding me?

wow he fooled me

how didnt i see this before

did he love me?

he says he does

then why did he leave me..

fucking jerk!!

The long 7 mile walk with a head full of shitty thoughts walk you to a sun burnt orange barn.

you're exhausted. your hearts broken. your feet hurt. its too dark to keep walking

"I mean i could crash here right?" you say already walking towards the musky building

hay bells, chickens, tools. looks already owned

you dont care you just need a place to rest you head for a bit.

stinks in here. muttering to yourself, opening and shutting the barn door behind you.

perfect you say spotting an old rocking chair..and yard sale signs?

does somebody live here?

you're too exhausted to think any more tonight

this'll do. taking your jacket off to use as a prop pillow, climbing into the chair almost immediately drifting off.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

whats that smell? smells like bacon?

bacon? your eyes are still shut but you can sense a different environment around you. Fluttering your eyes open.. a clock? pictures? what?-jumping up at the sound of a shoe

"WHO ARE YOU?" your already in flight or fight mode

"Whoa whoa its okay, im the owner of the barn i found you in”.

is he lying?

"YOU'RE LYING!" you look around in a panic

"Sweetheart if i was lying, how come i specifically found you in my rocking chair, you must of been tired, i got my buddy who also runs the farm to scoop you up and bring you to our guest bedroom, couldn't just leave a woman out in the open like that.. especially at night"

your stomach knots when he calls you sweetheart.

okay maybe he harmless, just very kindly harmless?

"Here" he throws his arm out, "I'm Eddie, Eddie Munson."

- - is this interesting so far? lmk- -

reblogs appreciated:>

#older!eddie x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader smut #steve harrington x reader #kurt kunkle x reader #stockholm syndrome #daddy!eddie munson #daddy issues #naive reader #eddie munson x steve harrington #steddie x reader #kurtsworld96 #joseph quinn #joe keery #perv!eddie munson #dilf!eddie munson #perv!steve harrington #tw abandonment

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eddiessluttywaist · 2 years

Text

desiderium

an eddie munson series

AGELESS/BLANK/UNDER 18 BLOGS ARE NOT WELCOME TO INTERACT. PLEASE RESPECT MY RULES AND BOUNDARIES.

summary: eddie’s odd, forgotten childhood friend seeks him out when he needs her more than he realizes.

pairing: bsf!mechanic!bartender!eddie x eccentric!bsf!fem!reader

word count: 4,752 words

content/warnings: eventual smut so MDNI, angst, swearing, loneliness, mentions of drugs and crime, mentions of imprisonment, family issues, feeling unwanted, slight bullying, anxiety, nightmares, insomnia, depression, loss and grief, mentions of spit, super brief mention of alcohol and vomit, very brief mentions of breakups and inappropriate sexual relations (nothing reader or eddie are apart of). i think that’s it!

a/n: this is my first attempt at a slow burn series so i hope it’s good! i’m also trying a new setup with photos instead of gifs ^ i’ve seen a lot of other people do it and i think it looks really cool so! also creds to who owns and posted these photos! they’re not mine, i just made the collage!

part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5

Eddie Munson had grown bitter since you last saw him. To be fair, the last time you saw him was when you were kids but still. You always knew him to be boisterous. Adventurer Eddie. Eddie with the weird ideas and cool drawings. Eddie who made you laugh until your stomach cramped and you would cry out that he was going to make you wet yourself.

You didn’t know it as a kid but even then he couldn’t catch a break from the world around him, and apparently it never stopped spiraling even when it beat him into a hollow shell covered in grease during the weekdays and alcohol—and occasionally vomit—on the weekends. He was worn down by his own worries that never seemed to cease and miserable stories of others admitting things they should’ve never said aloud. Sometimes the stories were fun or at least amusing, but mostly just depressing. This was Hawkins after all.

This wasn’t an Eddie you knew. Had someone told you that man in the garage wasn’t him, you simply would’ve nodded and kept going on your journey to find him.

But it was him, and you were positive he was meant to be back in your life. No matter how much it was hurting right now.

You didn’t know why he left at first. It was as if he ceased to exist, and sometimes—when you were all alone at night—you wondered if he had been a ghost. If he had been an imaginary friend, but surely not? He had his own home you hung out in. His own dad who let you guys eat too much junk food and stay up too late. He looked and sounded real when he would scarf down several bowls of honeycomb cereal with those slurping noises you always hated and would whine at him over. He felt real when you would play wrestle—and unfortunately very real when he won and would pin you down while slowly letting a string of saliva stretch down towards your face in an empty threat. He never really did it, but it was gross all the same, and when he’d let up you’d punch his arm as hard as you could.

One day, you asked if your parents remembered him and your father scoffed at the question while he stared at the newspaper, but at least he acknowledged you at all. Meanwhile your mother had all her focus on putting her earrings in and checking her makeup in the small mirror on a wall surrounded by family photos. Those framed pictures felt emptier than the looming threat of Eddie’s spit touching your face.

“Well his father’s a bottom feeder stuck in prison,” your dad flicked his paper to straighten it out again from where it had begun to bow backwards. “And his kid is probably no better. You’ll make other friends.”

You never understood why he was so cold about the loss of your only friend. You’ll make other friends. Yeah right. No one liked you. Everyone made fun of the way you sat idly on swings just to kick on occasion as you focused more on the book in your hands, or the way you’d squat down and give all your attention to a bug in front of you. Either a line of ants that you regarded with pure intrigue because you wondered how they always filed so neatly and did their best to stay together. Sometimes you left crumbs by them just to see if you could watch them pick them up. You’d watch snails and show them the attentiveness and respect you felt they deserved as they slowly trudged along—so determined, you thought. You’d watch butterflies and try to keep track of all the different kinds you saw. A lot of them were small and fluttery with those buttery white wings, but sometimes you saw a monarch and your eyes would grow large with excitement.

You cried when Zachary McKay would stomp on the anthills or teased you about how the French ate snails—something his dad would say was just more proof of how odd Europeans are. They were one of those arrogant “We love our Country!” households with an “I can do whatever I want—America is the land of the free” ideology and it showed in their unbridled and privileged ass of a child. You didn’t inform him that one Spring of the wasp nest that formed on the underside of the slide he frequented. Maybe it was mean, but you were content in silence over on your swing when you heard him crying out in pain one day. He developed a crush on you in high school that dramatically contrasted how he treated you in grade school—and even tried to make a move at Maddi Ecker’s 17th birthday party—but you could only think of the ants and the snails. You turned him down and he was horrible to you again.

You eventually did make some friends, other odds and ends throughout your school, but it wasn’t the same as it was with Eddie. Maybe it was childish and stubborn, but you could feel it deep in your gut that he was one of a kind. So you couldn’t let him go. All those years you ached for your friend who you considered lost. He always came up with wild stories and (when you were still relatively young) you imagined he had become a pirate and was lost at sea. Or became a gunslinger in the Wild West and didn’t draw fast enough. Maybe he went to slay dragons and wound up a burnt crisp of a human. That last one made you cringe the most, but he probably would’ve liked it the most. He loved mythical creatures the way you adored real creatures. By high school you weren’t as naive. You heard about his dad—caught with multiple charges of grand theft auto, a hit-and-run in one of said stolen cars, and dealing drugs. The hard shit. Not weed or shrooms. But the kind of stuff that really ruins lives.

You always thought Eddie had a good home. His dad didn’t hate him the way you were sure your parents hated you, and he had a nice house. It wasn’t a mansion or anything, but they really didn’t need anything beyond a one story and a sizable basement with only two of them. In hindsight, you supposed he couldn’t find a home in that childhood house anymore than you could with yours. Yours lacked love. His lacked a reliable source of income.

Over time you heard about the night with all the sirens and social workers. The night he turned into a spirit that had finally moved on—an imaginary friend that your growing mind ceased to conjure. He lived with his uncle over in Indiana, rather than your small town in Ohio. Even in your mid twenties, he flashed in your mind like a small blip on occasion and it still twisted your stomach.

You thought of asking if you should go to him whenever you remembered, but you thought you needed a sign. What if you showed up too early? And you messed up any possible grand plans? So you avoided indulging in questions about him to your tarot cards or over your pendulum map. On occasion you caved and just asked a simple question: is he safe? It was a yes every time you broke and just had to check up on him, and the answer reassured you for long enough until the next time the concern rose up to unbearable levels.

But then you started getting those dreams. Sometimes they were just memories playing from deep within the archives of your mind. Sometimes they were nightmares of yelling at someone to go away, only to realize it was Eddie far too late—and when you wanted to run after him to correct the mistake, you couldn’t move as quickly as you knew you were capable of.

It went on for about a month before you finally broke. Your eyes had snapped open, accidentally waking yourself in the middle of saying what you had been shouting to Dream Eddie out loud into your pitch black room. You glanced at the time. 11:11 PM. You felt your heart skip a beat before you shoved yourself out of bed. You had to take a moment to steady yourself against your bedpost from the sudden movement making you dizzy, but then you were flicking on the light and digging through your belongings. You didn’t even give yourself a chance to wipe away at the thin sheen of sweat over your skin from August heat mixed with a cheap fan that really didn’t make that much of a difference, and the stress from the events that had played deep in your mind while you slept.

With a shaky breath, you smoothed out your map on the floor where you were squatting, and steadily held your pendulum over the center. Does he need me? You finally asked and watched as the chain connected to a sphere of rose quartz slowly began to circle. It sped up and then began to dart in different directions before finally swinging back and forth between both of the “YES''s on the piece of cloth.

It took a little over a month to arrange your departure from your life in small town Ohio—not that small town Indiana was really all that different. You had briefly been back at your childhood house after your lease came to an end for the apartment you shared with a friend (who didn’t want to renew because she wanted to move in with her boyfriend, and you didn’t have the heart to tell her that the card spread you had laid out all pointed towards a breakup). All of this to say you didn’t have a lease or mortgage to tie you down. You certainly didn’t have a boyfriend (you haven’t had one since college), and you didn’t even like your job at the local mart so it was easy to give your two weeks. Your parents were just as sick of your presence now as when you were a child, and were willing to help you in every way possible to get you to just leave again. Had you not been so focused on your end goal, you might’ve taken a beat to really feel the hurt that always came with parents who only came to your aid when it meant keeping you at arm's length. But you couldn’t focus on it and really (for the sake of your mental health) you shouldn’t focus on it. All of your energy went towards Eddie who seemed so far, even if he was supposedly just a few hours and a state line away.

You didn’t have a place yet, which was a mistake on your part for rushing, but you could stay in a motel for the time being. The prices were pretty low anyways and the owner seemed pleasantly surprised by the sudden source of money and company. The lot belonged to her husband who had passed a few years back, so now it was only her running the place. Her daughter helped sometimes, but she had another job to focus on—only coming to help when the older woman was ill. So even though she appeared kind of grumpy at first, she really softened up to you when you wound up padding out of your room the first night and asked if she wanted to play Go Fish. You had been feeling antsy and lonely, and you were right to assume she felt lonely too.

Over the past week or so, you found a friend in that creaking, groaning motel. You did have a bit of a tendency to befriend the adults around you more often than kids your age when you were younger and it still happened now, apparently. A shrink at university pointed out once that it had to do with the lack of guardianship and guidance growing up. That you were trying to replace something that had always been missing, but you didn’t go back to him after a couple sessions. You didn’t like how patronizing he was, telling you things you already knew. And when you asked your dowsing rods if he was sleeping with any of his clients, the two pieces in your fists whipped open in a blatant “Yes!” But he wasn’t around now to make you feel low with his supercilious commentary and his notes that he always scratched down right in front of you. Your parents weren’t around to remind you of how utterly unlovable you can be. It was just you, Martha at Hawkins’ Blue Bird Inn, and hopefully a pleasant reunion on the horizon.

Today was the day to finally see Eddie, and Martha urged some confidence into you this morning before sending you on your way with the directions to the garage. No matter how many times you clarified he was just your childhood best friend, she got that sly look about her that always showed when an adult was all amused about the novice in front of them being openly or involuntarily blind to love.

So there you were. On a mild Wednesday morning in late September, standing before Thacher Tire after a lot of asking around, a lot of time flipping through Martha’s phone book, and even more odd looks. You let out a careful breath, doing your best to reassure yourself with the knowledge that the people you spoke to knew his name in the first place. He had to be here, and even if he wasn’t working today he should at least be employed here. Maybe you could be told when to come back to speak with him or where you could find him outside of work. Would they share something like that? People don’t tend to care about privacy in small towns, that’s why everyone knew (generally) where everyone else was. Maybe if you clarified that you’re an old friend, they wouldn’t treat you as a customer and tell you where he would be.

You were wringing your hands as you eyed the door in front of you. The glass looking in was worn from age and weather, clearly cleaned so people could see through it, but there seemed to be an aging to the corners where the rectangle of glass met the surrounding wood that couldn’t be scrubbed out. It felt like a portal looking into what could be, and you suddenly felt yourself getting anxious with what exactly meant could be. You had a knack for catastrophizing, and spiraled in all of the worst case scenarios until you were running back to your car and abandoning the lot.

“Trust me, it’s not as scary as it seems. Going for those intimidating opportunities is always better in the long run than letting ‘em slip away,'' Martha murmured to you before biting into the sandwich you brought her.

You bought typical fast food that you always came running back to when you were stressed, but she didn’t like the grease. You learned that over the past week when you brought up your bad habit, and her nose scrunched up at the mention of crappy burgers and overly salted fries. Instead you got her a tuna sandwich from the nearby marketplace, and she shared her big jug of iced, sweet tea with you.

“I haven’t seen him for over ten years…,” you sigh, toying with the crackling paper that was wrapped around your cheeseburger. “What if I’m the only one who clung onto our friendship? What if it’s stupid to him?”

“Mm, us women always do hold on longer,” she hummed thoughtfully and you refrained from your urge to correct her old-fashioned view of gender dynamics for the sake of staying on topic. “I still think you should go for it.”

“What if… what if it’s not what I think it’ll be? What if I’ve turned him into someone more fictional than Eddie in my mind, and when I’m faced with how he really is now I just… I dunno…wish I didn’t come here?”

“They never are what you conjure up. They’re always better up here,” she pointed a bony finger to her temple and you focused on one of the curls in her short gray hair for a second before bringing your gaze back to hers. “I still think you should go for it.”

You huff out a laugh at her repetition, smiling sadly to yourself as you look down at your hands and notice the thin sheen of grease on them. Maybe Martha’s right. Maybe this food is gross. You grab a few napkins from the brown paper bag and wipe at your fingers.

“Just think of it this way: is it worse knowing the truth or worse never knowing?”

Eddie had been having a shit day. Actually he had been having a shit week. If he let himself truly indulge in his pessimism, he’d be acknowledging that he’s altogether just had a shit life, but he was trying not to fall into that trap. It would make him the kind of depressed and bitter that made him snap at others and then feel guilty about it—which only made him feel worse about himself.

He hasn’t been sleeping well, a sudden flare up of his insomnia throwing off his circadian rhythm. He thought with how busy his schedule was that he’d knock out the second his head hit the pillow, but he only seemed to be exhausted until he finally laid down. Then was when his thoughts randomly chose to run and his heart would race with the sudden surge of anxiety-inducing thoughts. He was beginning to feel so overwhelmed by everything that his eyes burned with the beginnings of hot tears but he wiped at them carelessly with the heels of his hands before they could become too real. In his mind, they didn’t exist until they fell.

Eddie ached with exhaustion that only seemed to let up when he could actually get a shot at some rest. He ached with loss and grief. He ached with pure misery and painful seclusion and a silent trailer—besides the occasional buzz of electricity through his lamp that he turned back on when he realized he wouldn’t be sleeping anyway, or the groan of the old mobile home settling against its cinder blocks. The upcoming season made itself known through the ever growing chill that formed at night and occasionally blew through every crack and crease of the trailer, making him shiver and pull his blankets up before inevitably growing hot again and kicking them away.

He missed his friends that he rarely saw. Everyone is busy nowadays. He missed Wayne who… god, he couldn’t even think about it. He missed Chrissy who lit up his world Spring of ‘86 just for them to drift apart. People seemed to drift from him a lot. People seemed comfortable with forgetting him and giving a brief call only when they got a pang of guilt at any reminder that they were getting awfully close to leaving him behind. But who was he to drag them down? It was heart-aching enough to live the way he did sometimes, let alone when people acknowledged just how heart-aching it was. Sometimes he even missed his dad, but he always avoided thinking too hard about him before it could sink his mood to a new level that would be hard to crawl out of.

He hadn’t been able to fall asleep Wednesday night until early into Thursday morning. He settled into a deep rest around 4 AM just to be abruptly woken up by his 6:30 alarm to make sure he was at Thacher’s by 7:00.

“Fuck off…,” Eddie groaned out loud and slammed his fist down onto the alarm clock, never lifting his face from where it was planted right against his worn pillow.

He laid there for what felt like forever, but was really only a few minutes before he finally peeled himself out of his spot. Forcing himself from the comfort of his old mattress was never easy, especially when he couldn’t rely on any excuses he made up as a teenager to just flop right back into his bed. He had to get up. He had to work.

He went to make his usual toast just to see there was only the end piece left in his loaf of bread, and let out a guttural groan of frustration as he tilted his head back. He forgot to stop at the store. Grumbling a bitter so that’s how today’s gonna go under his breath, he shoved the sad excuse for a slice of bread into the toaster and then began looking through the kitchen for something else to satiate him until lunch.

He wound up eating what was left in his jar of peanut butter with a spoon after slathering the small piece of toast with jelly. He didn’t have time to clean a travel mug (which he forgot to clean last night) so he took a regular one with him on his commute, and wound up dumping his coffee all over himself mid-sip when he had to stop short for a kid suddenly biking across the road. The young teen laughed at the close call and made his way to the other side of the street. Eddie glanced down at his drenched t-shirt and coveralls, releasing his third irritated groan of the morning while he rolled his eyes up to the ceiling of his van before focusing back on the road and moving his foot to the gas. He focused on taking deep breaths as he gripped the steering wheel and made his way to the shop.

Thankfully, Linda had already started a pot of coffee in the break room which he happily drank and patted at his wet clothing with one of the blue shop towels. Staining was inevitable and it really didn’t matter with the coveralls anyways, but that didn’t mean he had to be damp. Taking that moment at the start of his shift helped with his mood, but the amount of customers bitching over the phone about how long it was taking to get their cars back were steadily draining him back into a surly mood. The most he had to look forward to and keep himself from unnecessarily snapping at someone was the fact that it was almost the weekend—and yes he would still have to work nights at The Hideout, but at least he didn’t have to get up early.

Never knowing was decidedly worse.

You had concluded this after ruminating on it all night—with and then without Martha’s help. And despite all of your anxieties that were just barely buried under the surface, you made yourself go to the garage again.

An obnoxious, tinny bell sounded and a dull voice said from behind a counter: Welcome to Thacher Tire. What can we do for you?

You approached carefully as if you moved too quickly, the depressing gray and beige setting around you—which held far more meaning for you than just fixing cars—would suddenly melt away and you’d wake up.

“Do you know where I could find Eddie Munson?” you asked in a soft voice, and the woman obnoxiously chomping at her gum looked up at you over the top of her glasses before looking back down at the paperwork in front of her.

“He’s in the garage. Is he working on your car?”

Your heart jumped and although you hated to lie, you did.

“Yes,” you said probably too quickly, but it seemed nothing could get this woman to care.

“Wait over there, please,” she spoke in a voice that was just as greige as her place of work.

You thanked her meekly and shuffled over to one of the worn, faux leather and hard plastic seats. The room smelled of cheap pine air fresheners and the potent combination of oil, and that specific rubber scent of brand new tires. The space with the front desk and the waiting area was small enough to be cramped if it was a busy day, but since you were the only visitor at the moment you didn’t have to be confronted by the full potential of such limited space. You toyed with your hands and tried to pay attention to the fuzzy television in one corner of the room, but you couldn’t help listening in on the receptionist’s call.

“…’s a girl here to talk to ya… uh-huh… yeah I know… uh, no I don’t think so. I doubt it. Her voice is different from the one that keeps calling about the Ford. Might be though... ‘Kay.”

You anxiously wiped your sweaty palms over your jeans as you heard the clunk of hard plastic settling back into its cradle. What if he didn’t remember you? What if he did, but didn’t care? What if he thought you were weird for showing up? What if he grew up to be someone who stomps on anthills?

Your head shot up at the sound of a door opening and then closing from the back, and a man in filthy coveralls approached the woman behind the desk. He had messy, curly bangs settled on his forehead and the rest of his long hair was in a low ponytail. He was sweaty and clearly exhausted as he wiped at his forehead and left a swipe of grease in his wake, speaking quietly to the receptionist before making his way over to you. The closer he got, the better you could smell the grease and sweat and bitter coffee, but it didn’t deter you. What truly threw you were the circles under his eyes and the sort of pale cast to his skin that people got when they were fatigued or ill. You weren’t sure why a part of you expected to see an eleven year old kid approach you with a god awful buzz cut and big brown eyes, even after fourteen years.

This was it. This was your moment. The time to reclaim your best friend, and have the greatest person you had ever met back into your life. Why was your throat suddenly so dry? You swallowed anxiously and then parted your lips to speak and-

“Miss, I know you’re waiting on your car to be fixed before the weekend—I promise I’m working as quickly as I can.”

You tried not to cringe at the use of “miss” and looked up at him with wide, sad eyes wondering why he didn’t see an almost ten year old girl with a messy braid in her hair that she did by herself, complaining at him to chew with his mouth closed.

“I lied,” You said bluntly and the man stared at you in a way that felt blank and still despite his wonderment.

“I-I don’t have a car here. I just wanted to talk to you.”

He eyed you curiously, his hands slowly wiping onto an old rag. It looked like it had been used so many times, you doubted it was even picking up any filth on his hands but just moving it around instead. He was clearly thrown off by the sentiment which brought a sort of youthfulness to his face in that moment of curiosity before his features hardened.

“Listen. I’m sure whatever prank you have conjured up is hilarious, but I’m tired and trying to do my job.”

“No-- no, no,” you tried to clarify, shooting up from your seat. “I—I-”

But he was already swiftly stomping away from you towards the back, muttering to the receptionist with a quick and surely rude comment about you on his way. You were moments from being politely asked to leave, you’re sure, but the woman hesitated with a gentle expression when she saw you approach her with glossy eyes.

“Could you please just give him this?” you asked in a soft voice that you did your best to keep even, but of course it wobbled just enough to be humiliating. You could feel the heat in your face and (even worse) the moisture in your eyes so you did your best to avoid eye contact.

You outstretched your arm and she met you halfway with a nod, allowing you to drop the old friendship bracelet into her palm.

#eddie munson #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson imagine #stranger things x reader #mechanic!eddie #bartender!eddie #bartender!eddie munson #angst #slow burn #slow burn eddie munson #eddie munson x fem!reader #bsf!eddie munson #eddie munson angst #stranger things fanfic #eddie munson series

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darkacua · 1 year

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Weird headcanons of the guys that are just hanging around in my head:

Yuu

They can be very good on instruments, but they sound like a dying animal begging for God's mercy when they sing. Sadly for our freshman group, they love to go to karaoke.

They can't ride skates. You won't find someone with worse balance than them.

There is an eternal discussion about whether he is a girl disguised as a boy or just a very effeminate boy. Ruggie has a lot of money attached to Yuu being a boy and constantly begs him to tell him that's the truth.

Grimm

He is allergic to peaches, they discovered it when they put him on a diet for having gained 4 kilos in a week. Use this as an excuse for not eating healthy.

Somehow, he's good at origami. He surprises many with his paper cranes.

Riddle

He wears braces, hardly anyone notices them because he rarely smiles in front of someone he doesn't consider his friend.

He likes to make collages with papers that are no longer of use to him or someone else. Her favorite is one of a rose that she made from history notes for a subject that was taken out of the syllabus.

Trey

Can't weave even if his life depends on it. He tried, thought it would be cute to make some place mats to put his baked goods on, but failed miserably.

He tends to hum a lot when he's baking. Has a specific tune for each dessert he makes.

Cater

He usually wakes up on the opposite side from which he falls asleep. He moves and kicks so much that it's impossible to share a bed with him without getting hurt.

Hates talking to his sisters on the phone because they always end up complaining about their exes.

Ace

He has the palate of a 5-year-old. If there are no burgers and fries or nuggets on the menu, he simply won't eat anything.

Can't whistle. He would say yes, but if you ask him for a demo he will fake an urgency and run off.

Deuce

He called Professor Trein dad on one occasion. Trein didn't say anything for a good 5 minutes and poor Deuce wanted to jump out of the window in embarrassment.

It is the teachers' favorite. He's not the smartest, but he's one of the few students who really tries to pay attention in class.

He cried like a baby the first night at NRC over the fact that he left his mother home alone. He didn't calm down until I called him around 3 in the morning.

Leona

He has slammed himself into a glass door at least 2 times for being more asleep than awake while skipping class.

Although he does not like vegetables or greens, he is a keen lover of fruits in any type of presentation. He almost bites Ruggie when he tried to steal his mango milkshake.

Ruggie

Have had lice more times than he can remember. You know he got them again when he completely shaves his head.

The first time he ate at NRC he cried. He cried because for the first time in a long time he wasn't hungry after eating and because it was unfair that his grandmother couldn't enjoy that privilege.

Jack

Didn't believe Ace about Riddle's rages until he saw them for the first time. Now he fears him as much as he respects him.

Firmly believes that if he doesn't exercise for a day, all his performance will go down the drain. He tried to go to training once with a bent ankle.

Azul

It's a mama's boy. They talk to each other every day and even have video calls scheduled on the weekends for her mother to give him business advice, sometimes his stepfather participates.

He had a lot of trouble adjusting to the surface air. Occasionally he still has trouble breathing, especially in places with a lot of dust or dirt in the air.

Jade

Has costumes of all kinds in his closet, from the most common to the most extravagant and bizarre one can imagine. He has used each of them on at least one occasion and won't tell anyone why or where.

He likes to talk to Silver about the mushrooms that can be found in the forest, he treasures one that was given to him by one of Silver's rabbit friends.

Floyd

It is lightweight. One drink of alcohol and he's dead to the world.

He joined all the clubs (excluding Jade and Malleus) for at least a week. He got bored with everyone and is only in Basketball because he was given the ultimatum that he will no longer be allowed to join anyone else if he gets out of it.

Kalim

All of his siblings are from different mothers and many of them do not officially consider themselves to be members of the Al-Asim family. He completely ignores this and treats all of them the same.

On one occasion a business associate of his father called one of his sisters a whore and Kalim almost beat the man to death. It was the first and last time anyone saw him get into a physical altercation with such intensity. He has also thrown out many party guests for such comments towards his siblings and their respective mothers.

His hair color is the cause of Marie Antoinette syndrome.

Jamil

Because of him there is a massive fumigation in Scarabia once every two months.

Secretly hates Vil's food so much that he gave him a recipe book along with a set of spices.

He has a large scar on the palm of his hand from an assassination attempt.

Vil

He sets aside a couple of hours a week for his “stress deportation” session, taking pictures of the people who have pissed him off that week and throwing darts at them.

Vil indeed knows his mother. He met her at the age of 15 and she tried to emotionally blackmail Vil for money, his father placed a restraining order after that day towards the woman.

Rook

He loves his family more than anyone can imagine. Once one of his younger brothers came back pretty beaten up by a bully and Rook went to said bully's house to "talk" to him. The boy and his family moved within a week.

Will go out with anyone who asks him to, his motto is that anyone can be the ideal. Whether the relationship lasts more than a week is another story.

His family nicknamed him “Macaron le glouton” because more than once he was caught eating the cookies and cakes they had stored in the middle of the night.

Epel

He has a recurring dream in which he is on a raft along with a zebra, an astronaut, and a ballet dancer. He always wakes up scared and without understanding the dream.

He firmly believes that it shouldn't look bad to hit an old man, if you make fun of him he'll punch you in the house he doesn't care how old you are.

Idia

Tried to crash some women-only event for some kind of collectible figurine. He was discovered instantly and kicked out.

He's totally gone on a personal hunger strike because some anime/manga doesn't have the ending he wants. Ortho always ends up breaking down the door to force him to eat.

Once a girl he met online confessed to him and asked him to be her boyfriend. He instantly blocked it because he thought it was a scam.

Ortho

He has at least three certificates and trophies as a winner of cosplay contests. They are contests that he did not sign up for and he was not wearing a cosplay.

Once tried to eat something out of curiosity as to what the act of chewing and swallowing would be like. It took 4 days to get all the food residue out of his system and gears.

Malleus

Its body is covered in dark green scales, almost reaching black. They don't sting or anything, but sometimes they get caught in his clothes and it's hard to get them off without hurting him.

It has eaten 3 cell phones. This was a method of revenge against Lilia.

Lilia

He often has a nightmare in which Silver's biological family shows up to take him away, leaving him completely alone in his cabin. He always ends up sneaking into his son's room to calm his nerves when he wakes up from this nightmare.

More than once he has bumped into random women who end up slapping him even if he doesn't talk to them. Whenever this happens, he reminds the Diasomnia group that they should end their love affairs correctly and not make careless promises about getting married.

Silver

Another guy who wears braces. Sebek's father put them on because his mouth looked like a shark's with how crowded his teeth were. He always receives a star sticker on his visits for being a very calm patient.

He has calluses on his hands from his practice with the sword.

He has so little interaction with women that prior to joining NRC his only female acquaintances were Mrs. Zigbolt and Sebek's sister. So at the first event where girls showed up at school he just didn't know how to interact with any of them.

Sebek

As a baby he had a wooden stick which he bit when his teeth barely came out. He has it in storage and still uses it when he is stressed.

His appetite isn't hereditary or something fairies have, he's just a glutton and has a fast metabolism.

His horse threw him many times because he scared him with his screams.

He'll never admit it but Riddle terrifies him when he has a fit of rage. This fear only increased when the latter had to be electrocuted TWICE in order to kidnap him in chapter 6.

Español bajo el corte

Headcanons extraños de los chicos que solo estan por ahi dando vueltas en mi cabeza:

Yuu

Puede ser muy bueno con los instrumentos, pero suena como un animal moribundo rogando por la misericordia de Dios cuando canta. Tristemente para nuestro grupo de primer año, le encanta ir al karaoke.

No pueden andar en patines. No encontrarás a alguien con peor equilibrio que ellos.

Hay una discusión eterna sobre si el una chica disfrazada de chico o solo un chico muy afeminado. Ruggie tiene mucho dinero puesto en que Yuu es un chico y le ruega constantemente que diga que esa es la verdad.

Grimm

Es alérgico a los duraznos, lo descubrieron cuando lo pusieron a dieta por haber subido 4 kilos en una semana. Usa esto como excusa para no comer saludable.

De alguna forma, es bueno con el origami. Sorprende a muchos con sus grullas de papel.

Riddle

Usa frenos, casi nadie los nota porque rara vez sonríe frente a alguien que no considere su amigo.

Le gusta hacer collages con papeles que ya no son de ayuda para él o para alguien más. Su favorito es uno de una rosa que hizo con los apuntes de historia de un tema que fue sacado del plan de estudios.

Trey

No puede tejer aunque su vida dependa de ello. Lo intentó, pensó que sería lindo hacer unos manteles en los que poner sus productos horneados, falló miserablemente.

Suele tararear mucho cuando está horneando. Tiene una melodía específica para cada postre que hace.

Cater

Suele despertar del lado contrario al que se duerme. Se mueve y patalea tanto que es imposible compartir una cama con él sin salir herido.

Detesta hablar con sus hermanas por teléfono porque siempre terminan quejándose de sus ex parejas.

Ace

Tiene el paladar de un niño de 5 años. Si en el menú no hay hamburguesas con papas o nuggets el simplemente no comerá nada.

No puede silbar. Él diría que sí, pero si le pides una demostración fingirá una urgencia y saldrá corriendo.

Deuce

Llamó al profesor Trein papá en una ocasión. Trein no dijo nada por unos buenos 5 minutos y el pobre de Deuce quería saltar de la ventana por la vergüenza.

Es el favorito de los profesores. No es el más listo, pero es uno de los pocos alumnos que realmente intentan prestar atención a las clases.

Lloro como un bebe la primera noche en NRC por el hecho de que dejó a su madre sola en casa. No se calmó hasta que le marcó alrededor de las 3 de la mañana.

Leona

Se ha estampado al menos 2 veces con una puerta de cristal por estar más dormido que despierto mientras se saltaba las clases.

Si bien no le gustan los vegetales o verduras, es un amante vivido de las frutas en cualquier tipo de presentación. Casi muerde a Ruggie cuando este intentó robarse su batido de mango.

Ruggie

Ha tenido piojos más veces de las que puede recordar. Sabes que volvió a tenerlos cuando se rapa por completo la cabeza.

La primera vez que comió en NRC lloró. Lloro porque por primera vez en mucho tiempo no se quedó con hambre después de comer y por lo injusto que era que su abuela no pudiera disfrutar de ese privilegio.

Jack

No le creía a Ace acerca de los ataques de ira de Riddle hasta que los vio por primera vez. Ahora le teme tanto como lo respeta.

Cree firmemente que si no hace ejercicio un día todo su rendimiento se irá al caño. Intento ir a entrenar una vez con un tobillo doblado.

Azul

Es un niño de mamá. Se hablan todos los días e incluso tienen videollamadas programadas los fines de semana para que su madre le de consejos de negocios, a veces su padrastro participa.

Tuvo muchos problemas para adaptarse al aire de la superficie. De vez en cuando aún tiene problemas para respirar, sobre todo en lugares con mucho polvo o tierra en el aire.

Jade

Tiene disfraces de todo tipo en su armario, desde los más comunes hasta los más extravagantes y extraños que uno se pueda imaginar. Ha usado cada uno de ellos en al menos una ocasión y no le dirá a nadie porque o en donde.

Le gusta hablar con Silver sobre los hongos que se pueden encontrar en el bosque, atesora uno que le dio uno de los conejos amigos de Silver

Floyd

Es de peso ligero. Un trago de alcohol y está muerto para el mundo.

Se unió a todos los clubes (excluyendo los de Jade y Malleus) por lo menos una semana. Se aburrió de todos y solo está en el de Basquetbol porque le dieron el ultimatum de que ya no se le permitirá unirse a ningún otro si se salía de este.

Kalim

Todos sus hermanos son de diferentes madres y muchos de ellos no se consideran oficialmente como miembros de la familia Al-Asim. Él ignora por completo esto y los trata a todos por igual.

En una ocasión un socio de negocios de su padre llamó a una de sus hermanas puta y Kalim casi mata al hombre a golpes. Fue la primera y última vez que alguien lo vio entrar en un altercado físico con tanta intensidad. También ha echado a muchas invitadas de reuniones por ese tipo de comentarios hacia sus hermanos y sus respectivas madres.

Su color de cabello es causa del síndrome de Maria Antonieta.

Jamil

Por él hay una fumigación masiva en Scarabia una vez cada dos meses.

Odio secretamente tanto la comida de Vil que le regaló un libro de recetas junto con un conjunto de especias.

Tiene una gran cicatriz en la palma de la mano de un intento de asesinato.

Vil

Tiene apartado un par de horas a la semana para su sesión de “expulsión de estrés”, toma fotografías de las personas que lo han hecho enojar esa semana y les lanza dardos.

Vil de hecho si conoce a su madre. La conoció a los 15 años y está trató de chantajear emocionalmente a Vil por dinero, su padre puso una orden restrictiva después de ese día hacia la mujer.

Rook

Ama a su familia más de lo que alguien se pueda imaginar. Una vez uno de sus hermanos menores regresó bastante golpeado por un matón y Rook fue hasta la casa de dicho matón para “hablar” con él. El chico y su familia se mudaron a la semana.

Saldrá con cualquier persona que se lo pida, su lema es que cualquier persona puede ser la ideal. Que la relación dure más de una semana es otra historia.

Su familia lo apodo “Macaron le glouton” porque más de una vez lo atraparon comiéndose las galletas y pasteles que tenían resguardados en medio de la madrugada.

Epel

Tiene un sueño recurrente en el que él está en una balsa junto con una cebra, un astronauta y una bailarina de ballet. Siempre se despierta asustado y sin entender el sueño.

Cree firmemente que no no debería de verse mal golpear a un anciano, si te burlas de él te dará un puñetazo en la casa no le importa tu edad.

Idia

Ha intentado colarse en algún evento solo de mujeres por algún tipo de figurilla coleccionable. Fue descubierto al instante y echado a patadas.

Totalmente se ha puesto en una huelga personal de hambre porque algún anime/manga no tiene el final que él quiere. Ortho siempre termina rompiendo la puerta para obligarlo a comer.

Una vez una chica que conoció online se le confesó y le pidió que fuera su novio. Él la bloqueó al instante porque creyó que era una estafa.

Ortho

Tiene al menos tres certificados y trofeos como ganador de concursos de cosplay. Son concursos a los que no se inscribió y no llevaba un cosplay.

Una vez intento comer algo por la mera curiosidad de como sería el acto de masticar y tragar la comida. Tardaron 4 días en quitar todos los residuos de comida de su sistema y engranajes.

Malleus

Su cuerpo esta cubierto en escamas de un verde oscuro, casi llegando al negro. No le pican ni nada, pero a veces se atoran en la ropa y es difícil de soltarlas sin lastimarlo.

Se ha comido 3 celulares. Esto fue un método de venganza contra Lilia.

Lilia

Suele tener una pesadilla en la que la familia biológica de Silver aparece para llevárselo dejándolo completamente solo en su cabaña. Siempre termina colándose en la habitación de su hijo para calmar sus nervios cuando despierta de esta pesadilla.

Más de una vez se ha topado con mujeres al azar y estas terminan dándole una bofetada incluso si no habla con ellas. Siempre que esto pasa le recuerda al grupo de Disomnia que deben terminar de forma correcta sus relaciones amorosas y no hacer promesas sobre casarse despreocupadamente.

Silver

Otro chico que usa frenos. El padre de Sebek se los puso ya que su boca parecía la de un tiburón con lo encimados que estaban sus dientes. Siempre recibe un sticker de estrella en sus visitas por ser un paciente muy tranquilo.

Tiene callos en las manos por su práctica con la espada.

Tiene tan poco interacción con las mujeres que antes de entrar a NRC sus unicos conocidos del sexo femenino eran la Señora Zigbolt y la hermana de Sebek. Así que en el primer evento en el que se presentaron chicas a la escuela él solo no supo cómo interactuar con ninguna de ellas.

Sebek

De bebe tenía un palo de madera el cual mordía cuando sus dientes apenas salían. Lo tiene guardado y aun lo usa cuando está estresado.

Su apetito no es nada hereditario o algo que las hadas tengas, él solo es glotón y de metabolismo rápido.

Su caballo lo tiró muchas veces porque lo asustó con sus gritos.

No lo admitirá nunca pero Riddle lo aterra cuando tiene un ataque de ira. Este miedo sólo incrementó cuando este último tuvo que ser electrocutado DOS VECES para poder secuestrarlo en el capítulo 6.

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gentlebeardsbarngrill · 7 months

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02/22/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Rhys Darby's 3 cameos Jeez; Clowning/Honking (no clown pictures); PhoneInFriday in the UK; SaveOFMD Crew Events on IG; Fan Spotlight; Custom Jackets; Collages; Chxrlotte New Song: OFMD; Morale/Love Notes; Daily Darby/Tonight's Taika;

== Rhys Darby ==

Good god, 3 Cameo's today? I hope you all enjoy dopamine-- remember to take a break in between because SHEESH. My brain overloaded real bad on #VitaminRD.

= Cameo 1: =

The latest cameo features Rhys as Murray from Flight of the Conchords Thank you @it_llpass and "The Maybe Dids", a group of FotC fans, for getting this cameo and sharing it with everyone! Rhys Sings Leggy Blonde at the end, be sure to hold onto you seat. Src: Cameo Link - Also up on the Repo in the Cameo's section

= Cameo 2: =

This cameo was put together by NDKiwi and The Giggle Bytes (and special thanks to @yronnia for keeping me in the loop, I've been waiting for this one since you mentioned it! The Giggle Bytes are a group of fans who really love Rhys and his Robots and sound effects! Thank you to everyone who was involved in getting this wonderfully whimsical video made! Src: Cameo Link

= Cameo 3: =

Thank you to the HWCC for this wonderful clowning video! Rhys scared the crap out of me in the first 6 seconds, so CW with jump scares friends. Src: Cameo

Speaking of clowning...

== Clown/Honk Alert ==

So normally I would leave this in the cast & crew section, but they're part of the honking narrative today so here we go! The very first thing today that triggered some honking was Con O'Neill posting on his IG page the Rotten Tomatoes stats (which btw I know a lot of you have been reviewing-- and it's totally working! Those numbers have gone up from the last time I looked! GREAT JOB!)

Which of course Samba, and Erroll posted in their IG Stories. Then, to add to the excitement, one of our crew-mates @soglamwow on twitter @'d Samba with our latest stats and he RESPONDED.

Annnnnd to continue the clowning, Rhys JUST SO HAPPENED to take a little hiatus from Cameo until March.

Okay so AND THEN, a sweet article from Paste was published today, and in it, Vico Ortiz talks about the SaveOFMD effort! See some of that article below!

These Thems‘ Vico Ortiz and Gretchen Wylder Talk Industry Obstacles to Making Queer Stories

If you've never seen These Thems' Please watch them here on youtube!

Now, this is all pure speculation, but the scuttlebutt around the bronzetub booze cooler is there seems to be a LOT of engagement from multiple cast members across MULTIPLE platforms SPECIFICALLY having to do with the renewal. All of that + Vico having an article published giving shout outs to the crew? AND Rhys deciding to take some time off (which could be because he's cranking out cameos like no tomorrow, or because he found out what Vianton means, we don't know) all together in one day--- FOLLOWING multiple days of BTS and increased engagement on all platforms... it seems like a perfect storm for clowning/honking.

I found this on @mytabsclosed's Twitter after writing this up, so it's definitely the TLDR; version:

I wouldn't be surprised if we get some sort of breadcrumb from Chaos Dad tomorrow, but don't quote me on that. I can clown town and hope though!

== UK Folks! ==

Feb 23 is #PhoneInFriday - Call in to B.B.C. 3 to request Gnossienne No. 5 at 6:30 am G.M.T., and B.B.C. 2 to request The Chain at 4 pm G.M.T. Those outside the U.K. can text or email! Need info on where to call/email, visit: How to Call into BBC

== Save OFMD Events on IG ==

The Save OFMD Crew has been doing a lot of fun engagement events on IG the last couple days! Yesterday was #Wrong Wednesday where folks submitted their incorrect captions for various pictures. Just a couple highlights below!

Today was #TheoryThursday! It's still going on if you're interested in joining! Just comment on their post here!

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Custom OFMD Jackets =

Tonight's new fan spotlight is @investedfandoms on Instagram! They make custom OFMD Jackets -- made to order! Check out these awesome designs!

If this is something you're interested in feel free to hit them up-- they're $200/each or if you provide your own jacket, $175 (which includes shipping). This is their only source of income at the moment so if you'd like one, this would be a great time order one and help out a fellow crew-mate!

= Collages =

More Collages for the month of February from our fabulous crew-mate @ WanderingNomad!

Day 22: #Boyfriends!!

Catch Up: Day 3: Kristian Nairn!

== Chxrlotte New Release! ==

Chxrlotte is a UK artist that gained public attention after the releease of their Good Omens song "Come With Me". She's just released a new song "Message In A Bottle" which is all about Our Flag Means Death! Thank you @libbyroseitm for sending me the deets on this! Please give it a listen! It's really lovely. "Message In A Bottle" On Spotify

== Morale / Love Notes ==

Wow friends. Today was a big one. Lots and lots of trending, lots of cameos, lots of honk honk honking. It was seriously busy. I hope some of the activity has helped raise some spirits! The cast & crew are definitely seeing our efforts and really showing us they are! Remember that when things feel down, they know we're fighting and they're behind us too! Vico's words: "It also makes me hopeful seeing how y’all are mobilizing and are incredibly earnest and passionate about seeing queer content on TV or wherever that may be. It makes me, as a producer, as a writer, as an actor, excited to know that there is a community of folks who are going to support queer content that I make and attach myself to with friends that are also queer creators, and writers, and producers, and actors, because I want to give it to y’all.” And to end on-- words from Rhys' own mouth today in one of his cameos: "Don't Stop Clowning! Until you get arrested!"

===================

Okay lovelies. It's that time again for me to be annoyingly loving towards you. I hope you're ready! Did you know you're doing an amazing job? Like, a fucking stellar job. Whatever you're struggling with, however you're coping, you're kicking ass! You are still here with us, and I am so fucking grateful for that! I know sometimes it's really hard to give yourself self-love (I am in fact terrible at it), so I just wanna take this moment to let you know I am rooting for you! Everyone on our crew is rooting for you! You are doing your very best, and there's no one in this world who can compare to you and what you're going through. Your struggles are hard, but you are making it through because you are a strong, resilient, powerhouse of a human being! YOU are a force to be reckoned with. YOU are a kind and caring soul who puts so much good into the world. YOU are an inspiration. YOU are mind-blowingly amazeballs (that's the technical term) and you are going to do marvelous things no matter how big or how small they are. I believe in you and so does everyone on your crew, whole-heartedly. When you're ready, go shine lovelies, you deserve to shine.

====================

== Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika ==

Annnnnnnnnnnnnd regarding gifs tonight-- The moment I saw it, I knew this was todays Darby Gif, Courtesy of @ofmd-ann, and then of course, found this lovely Taika Gif today courtesy of @agaywithcoffee that seems pretty appropriate.

#ofmd daily recaps #ofmd daily recap #daily ofmd recap #daily ofmd recaps #ofmd #our flag means death #rhys darby #blackbonnet #save ofmd #save our flag means death #vico ortiz #con o'neill #chxrlotte #erroll shand #adopt our crew #cameos #save ofmd crew #samba schutte #saint samba schutte

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theteasetwrites · 1 year

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Begin Again

Chapter 2: Ami ou Ennemi?

❧ Media: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon ❧ Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Female Reader ❧ Era: Season 1 ❧ Pronouns: she/her ❧ Warnings: violence, scary situation ❧ Word Count: 4.8k

❧ In This Chapter: On the road west, things take a turn when the first people you and Daryl come into contact with in France turn out to be a bit less welcoming than you'd hoped they would be. Meanwhile, a watchful pair of eyes just might be what saves you.

❧ A/N: Okay so this was going to cover the whole rest of the first episode but I didn't want to cram it all into one giant chapter, so here's a smaller (kinda boring tbh) chapter! This chapter is necessary because it leads up to the kick-off of the storyline in Chapter 3, which I promise will be MUCH more interesting (and have way better Reader x Daryl interactions, of course). But for now, please enjoy this chapter! I am having so much fun writing for the spin-off ahhh

Carried by a limp and an aimless hope still lingering in your heart, you walked.

In fact, you walked for days. About five total, you were sure. Well, you couldn’t be too sure. Everything was a blur, and you’d given up keeping track with the tally marks you’d scribbled on the edge of the map. All you could bother to rely on now was the natural movement of the earth, the sun rising on one shoulder, setting on the other. Then a few hours of sleepless sleep, then walking again, through what seemed to be a once sparsely populated countryside, amongst a collage of ancient ruins.

From your navigation, you’d determined that the snow-capped mountains you walked just at the base of were those of the Pyrenees. For miles you walked along those foothills of thick green shrubbery and ever-expanding stretches of woods, through which a wide gravel road snaked and occasionally branched into small hamlets or mysterious medieval ruins you didn’t care too much to research.

As your eyes squinted hard at the map you’d come to loathe the now taunting familiarity of, you felt your steps slow to a halt, crushing the ancient gravel underneath you with a dying enthusiasm. Daryl followed behind you, himself preoccupied as well, but by the wound on his arm, which had been festering for almost two days now.

You’d been tending to it, of course. Daryl could’ve done so himself, but you hardly trusted him to be as diligent with the care of his own injuries as you were.

The good news seemed to be that the burn did not inflict a fever upon him, or have any other kind of deadly effect. Still, as Daryl put so eloquently, “It hurts like a son of a bitch.”

You turned around, approaching him as he studied the burn, in the distinctive shape of a handprint. Taking his arm in your hand, you frowned at the festering wound, still a little too raw for your liking.

It seemed to be healing a little, though, with only slight accumulations of yellowish fluid around the parts where flesh had been burnt. That was good. It meant the wound was draining properly, exuding serous liquid that would help the flesh to heal and eventually scar over. But the inflammation, the redness, worried you.

“It’s not purulent,” you said. “So that’s good.”

Daryl looked at you, eyebrows furrowed. He didn’t have to speak to convey his confusion at the SAT vocabulary word.

“There’s no pus,” you clarified. “No green drainage… But we should cover it up again.”

Nearby, you settled by an abandoned car, mangled and ravaged by time. It was a good cover for the moment as you sifted through a first aid bag you’d scavenged yesterday. Thank God you had, otherwise his arm might’ve looked much worse than it had.

As he knelt beside you, you set out a roll of gauze, then uncapped your canteen of water. Daryl couldn’t complain too much about you using the water to wash his wound now, considering how much it was beginning to burn.

The sting was worse than yesterday as you poured the cool liquid over it. You yourself winced at the sound of Daryl’s hiss, knowing full well that his tolerance for pain was much higher than anyone you knew, so that burn must’ve been agonizing.

Spinning the gauze around his arm, you wrapped the burn tight. He sighed softly in temporary relief, but he could already feel the festering begin to return.

The back of your hand situated itself against his forehead, brushing back the loose hairs as you did so.

You swallowed down the lump in your throat. He was warm. Daryl always ran a little warm, of course. You’d often referred to him as a human heater. But this was off for Daryl, warmer than you were used to feeling.

It terrified you.

The thought that this burn could be akin to a bite was one which haunted you the last two nights, keeping you ten times more aware of Daryl’s state at all times.

You’d seen plenty of people in the process of turning. You’d known the signs. It was hard to tell now. Daryl didn’t have enough of a fever to render him fatigued, but it was enough to worry you.

“How do you feel?” you asked, still brushing back the hairs that framed his face, as if fixing his hair could somehow improve his condition.

“Like shit.” He took a sip of water from your canteen. A small sip, of course, lest he leave you without enough water to keep you moving.

“You just need some rest,” you said, watching as he began to lift himself to his feet, with half his body weight supported by the spear that had served largely as his walking stick.

Clearly, he wasn’t going to be resting anytime soon.

“I’ll rest when the sun goes down,” he replied gruffly, while a gust of wind began to blow his hair in wild patterns across his face. You rose up, too, despite your body’s inescapable urge to sleep right there on the gravel. “We still got a few hours of sunlight… Best to keep movin’.”

With a strained grunt, he reached for his spear, pressing it into the dirt below as he started to lift himself, using the spear as leverage.

The day Daryl would listen to you when you asked him to rest was the day Hell would freeze over, but you couldn’t fight him. After all, you weren’t itching to stay put in any one place for too long. You had to keep moving, to try to find some kind of way back home.

You raised yourself to your feet alongside him, reaching into your backpack to tuck the gauze and your canteen back inside. But there was a slight tremble in your hand, and a racing of your heart as your body reacted to the intense burn of a distant stare before your mind even could.

Daryl felt it, too.

Practically in sync, both of you turned to face the direction of the stare. There was a cliff just ahead, surrounded by lush shrubbery. The distance was great enough to ease your paranoia, but still too close for comfort.

There was a figure atop the cliff, looking down. Well, you supposed so, despite not being able to make out the figure’s face. What you could see was a reddish cowl encircling their head, but the rest was simply the shape of a human, standing still, watching.

It sent a shiver down your spine, the inescapable fear of being watched suddenly taking hold over you. It was something you’d known since childhood, with frequent nightmares of a decrepit elderly man cupping his hands as he looked in through the window of your childhood bedroom, smiling wide at you. Despite your dream self’s attempts to escape, you couldn’t move, you could only cry as the man stared at you, watching you.

But of course, that man was only a figment of your imagination, a childhood fear that stuck with you all through your life. You hadn’t thought of that man in years, but now, feeling the eyes of a stranger on you, you felt it again. Only this was real. Well, perhaps it was a mirage, induced by the emptiness in your stomach and the fog in your head, but it did not matter. There was nothing you could do. Maybe that was what was so frightening about it.

“C’mon.” Daryl’s hand brushed your forearm, dislodging you from that momentary stupor. Fortunately, he seemed much less perturbed by the mysterious apparition, though he couldn’t deny the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Keep movin’.”

So you did, following behind him by just a few steps, until he stopped abruptly shortly after, examining the road sign standing before him. On its pole, a small piece of paper was plastered to it, with handmade strokes of black paint spelling out three words: DIEU VOUS AIME.

Your curiosity piqued, you quickly shrugged off one strap of your backpack, reaching back to unzip the largest pouch and grab the French-English dictionary you’d so wisely picked up back at the boat in Marseille.

Looking between the pages and the sign, you flipped through the book, until the phrase appeared among the list of D’s.

Daryl looked at you in waiting as you let out a slightly amused huff.

“God loves you,” you said.

“Pfft.”

An hour or so down the road, and the eerie light of the dying afternoon had begun its domain.

Sleep was the new objective, somewhere to hang your hats for the night that would soon be upon you.

Just ahead, beyond a desolate field of tall, green grass, was a lone building, decrepit and overgrown, with a thick, swirling layer of fog rolling over the ground at its base. Not particularly inviting, but it could be a good place for shelter.

The place was dilapidated, to the point where you could hardly tell what it had once been, but there was just enough shelter to provide some protection from the elements, and the dead. It looked as though there had once been a fire, as the walls were blackened and opened up into a courtyard through a section of destroyed wall.

As you stepped carefully, quietly, over fallen beams and overgrown twining vines, you set sight on a string tied between a bush and the wall, stretching across the walkway with rusty tin cans tied to the twine. Either someone had once called this place home, or someone still did.

Stepping over the trap, Daryl went first, with you following shortly behind, alertness as high as it possibly could be given the famished state you were in.

A rustling from your right startled you. Daryl moved somewhat quickly to peer around the edge of the wall into the open courtyard—a young woman, perhaps in her early twenties, standing by an overgrown well and pouring the water from the bucket into a tin pail.

Daryl didn’t get a very detailed look at the woman nor the area, but he could tell that he didn’t want anything to do with it.

You weren’t so sure, however. People were exactly who you needed. You wouldn’t be able to get home without people, and maybe this woman knew English. She could help you, somehow.

But Daryl backed up, too fast for you to notice that he was about to activate the tripwire just behind him.

As the cans rattled together, making a loud clanging sound, you almost felt a bit of relief.

Looking back towards the woman, you began to step forward, ahead of Daryl, who followed rather reluctantly.

Unsure of what to say as you met the woman’s gaze, coming further into the pale light of the diminishing day, you raised your hands up in a gesture of peace which you hoped was universal. Daryl followed suit, moving close behind you, despite his instinctual urge to stand in front of you. It took a great deal of willpower not to, but he figured you were possibly more friendly looking than him, with the huge spear he used as a walking stick.

“Bonjour,” was the only word you could make out, the rest was a blur of very beautiful-sounding gibberish. From an archway leading further into the building behind the woman came an elderly man hobbling in on a cane. So far, the first two French people you’d met turned out to be rather unintimidating, which was a good sign.

The two of you kept moving forward, perhaps more out of confusion than curiosity, but a part of you just wanted some semblance of human interaction. As much as you loved Daryl and his company, it was a sight for sore eyes to come face-to-face with another woman, even if you couldn’t understand anything she said.

But she seemed friendly enough, raising her hand in a wave as she carried the pail across the way, coming closer, but never too close. Finally, she spoke another word you could understand: “Madame? Monsieur?”

You turned to look at Daryl, whose face looked confounded, bordering on worried.

As per usual, you’d have to be the more sociable one.

“I’m sorry,” you began speaking, despite your fear that speaking in English might be a waste of breath. “We don’t understand you.”

On the contrary, the woman seemed… excited.

“Ay!” she exclaimed, the old man now right behind her as they slowly but surely moved closer. “You Americans? And I speak English very good!” Her mouth formed into a wide smile. So far, so good. “What’s crackin’, noobs?”

Despite your slight confusion at her use of the colloquial term, one you had not heard since you were in college, you smiled back, nodding.

The woman spoke another French term, and waved her hand, gesturing for you to come closer. You did so, despite Daryl’s hesitation as he looked at you. He didn’t have to speak or even sign to indicate what he thought: I don’t trust them.

But it didn’t matter whether either of you trusted them or not. They had food. They must’ve, as they looked to be pretty settled here, at least for the night.

He followed your lead, stepping faster to match your pace as you moved closer, further into the courtyard.

“My, uh… grandfather, he hurt the ankle” the woman spoke again, carrying her pail of water to a gently roaring fire. Around it were a few bags and crates used as seats. A modest setup, but comforting nonetheless. “Only… Only small English, him.” She gestured towards her grandfather, whose eyes were covered by a black cloth wrapped around his head. Still, he waved in your general direction, then started to speak.

“Hello,” he said.

You smiled, your heart beginning to soften at the sight of the poor elderly man. You always did have a soft spot for older people, one which Daryl feared would make you a little too eager to spare your medical supplies.

“Hello,” you spoke back.

Daryl said nothing.

The woman’s face turned more serious now. “You got medical?” You did not answer, unsure of what to say. While you did have it, you weren’t so sure you’d give it away on a whim. You already had one old man to take care of—Daryl. “We trade you for apple or, um, uh… a rabbit, maybe.”

“Very good rabbit,” chimed in the old man.

Daryl heard rabbit, and suddenly he was walking past you, coming closer to the woman as he slung his backpack off his shoulders.

The man was always food-motivated, afterall.

Setting his pack on the ground, he kneeled as he rummaged for the first aid kit. For a moment, he held it up, then tossed it underhand towards the woman.

“Merci,” said the old man.

“Merci,” the woman repeated, the first aid kit now in her hands. She pointed towards a wooden crate just a few yards away. “Food there.”

Daryl did not hesitate, hurriedly crossing over to the crate as if the offer would be taken away at any second. You followed suit, coming up behind him and taking the handful of shiny, red apples that he held out to you, while he himself bit into one and chewed it hungrily.

“So,” the woman continued, but for a moment, you couldn’t hear her over the sound of your own chewing as you bit into an apple. “Where are you going to?”

This time, Daryl answered before you even had a chance to speak. The fact that they had given you food must’ve warmed him up a little bit.

“Back where we came from,” he said matter-of-factly, looking up at the woman to address her, then returning to gathering as many apples in his hands as he could.

“Across the ocean?” questioned the woman again.

“Yeah,” Daryl answered.

As he stood up, you both looked curiously at the woman, who spoke something to the old man in their native language. They appeared to be laughing, too. You wondered, in that self-conscious way the two of you shared, if they were making fun of you. Not that it mattered terribly, since the idea of someone making fun of you was nothing compared to what most people in this world would do without any hesitation. If subtle ridiculing was the worst of what you got out of these people, you’d consider yourselves lucky.

With a huff, the woman sat herself down on an upside down crate, whilst holding the skewered rabbit that had been roasting over the fire. Your mouth practically watered at the sight, which must’ve meant you were truly on the verge of starving. It took a lot for you to want to eat a rabbit.

“I’m Maribelle,” she said with a smile. Next, she pointed to her grandfather. “Um, he Guillaume. So maybe we go together, you know?”

That piqued your interest, but Daryl moved behind you, taking the apples to his pack and almost hurriedly stuffing them inside.

“Get somewhere safe, maybe?” Maribelle continued, and you wanted so much to say something, to say yes. Anything would help. Of course, you knew you couldn’t trust these people, and something about them, despite their friendliness, threw you off. Daryl must’ve felt it, too, because almost as soon as he settled in, he was ready to get out of there. “You can help us. We can help you find a way.”

Following Daryl, you knelt down beside him as he packed. You couldn’t speak much above a very hushed whisper. “They can help us get back.”

He looked up at you momentarily, a stern look in his eye. “No.”

“Hey, yankees.” Suddenly, Guillaume spoke up. You both looked his way.

Guillaume spoke more, but only in French. You turned your attention back to Maribelle, your eyes begging for translation.

She spoke with a slight laugh. “All the time he talk about World War II.”

“La résistance,” Guillaume continued, like the ramblings of your grandfather. In fact, you recalled his stories from that war, how young he was when he was stationed in England. Not quite France, but close enough. “U.S. GI’s fight together. Your country, my country. Like friends.”

Daryl did not say anything, only turned his attention back to packing his bag. You stood up slowly, managing a smile. You weren’t sure if the man could see it, but you wanted to somehow convey to him that you appreciated his ideology. Afterall, you needed friends.

But you couldn’t think of what to say. You knew Daryl was not going to budge, and it wasn’t your place to accept his offer of friendship. All you could do was think of something nice to say, but before you could, Guillaume spoke again, catching onto the silence that lingered for several moments.

“You are no friend,” he said, a tinge of vitriol in his voice.

“There ain’t no countries no more, neither,” Daryl replied.

You huffed, frustrated by his coldness. It wasn’t your favorite side of Daryl, his harshness, but you couldn’t entirely blame him—he was stressed, injured, and sad. You could tell, despite him never letting it really show. He held emotions inside, whereas you wore them on your sleeve. Still, you knew him better than anyone else, and you knew that this situation you found yourselves in was taking a greater toll on him than even he realized. You hadn’t pressed him about it much, but you knew: he missed your babies.

He missed home. He missed your friends. He missed the life he’d devoted himself to creating with you. Ultimately, he was tired.

Before you could try to talk some sense into him, though, you heard something that startled you: a distant roaring of an engine, coming closer. Fast.

Daryl stood up quickly as a rather militaristic looking jeep came through the wide archway into the courtyard. Two men were sitting in the front seat of the uncovered vehicle, both armed with guns.

Upon the hood of the vehicle was some kind of symbol painted in white that you couldn’t quite make out without taking your eyes off the two men as they stepped out, their guns seemingly locked and loaded.

Daryl kept a firm grip on his spear, you on your knife. Still, there wasn’t much you could do against a gun, especially in this open area.

As the men came forward, you took note of their appearance: each were heavily armed and wore camouflage patterns. They looked like some sort of paramilitary group, and from your history with such groups, you were not looking to make friends.

One of the men set his sights on you and Daryl, while saying something in French. All you could do was stare back at him, until he raised his gun, speaking again. This time, he spoke more commandingly.

Your heart dropped for a moment, but Maribelle spoke quickly to the man, then turned to face you both. She held her hands up, as if in surrender.

“Sit down, he said,” she said to you seriously.

Daryl exchanged a quick look with you, somewhere between reassurance and a warning of cautiousness. In situations like this, perhaps you fell into that old trap of taking the man’s lead, but Daryl had had a gun pointed at him many more times than you had, and it was true that he looked much more threatening than you, so you followed his lead, walking several steps with him over to the crates around the fire that were being used as seats. If you were going to sit down for two French assholes with guns, you were at least going to be a little bit comfortable.

Now sitting, each of you dropped your weapons, slowly raising your hands to match Maribelle. The two men seemed to trust you both much less than they did Maribelle and Guillaume, as both their guns were pointed towards you—one of you, one on Daryl. It was not quite reassuring.

One of the men began to speak to Maribelle again, going back and forth for a moment. The only word you could make out was American, which you weren’t sure was a good thing, given the way the man looked at you both suspiciously.

No, you did not like these guys one bit.

And now, after a few more rather ominous sounding words in French, he came forward, taking Maribelle by the shoulder and tugging on her jacket, pulling her away to God knows where. Though you couldn’t understand what he had said, you feared for Maribelle, knowing the kinds of things men could do, especially to women… It boiled your blood, especially as she tried to get away, yelling something at him in French and struggling against him.

The other man, meanwhile, kept his sawed-off double-barrelled shotgun pointed at Daryl, but he looked away, his eyes focused on the scene as the other man struggled to drag Maribelle away. When he became frustrated with her reluctance, he backhanded her hard, the force causing her to fall down with a thud.

And, with one look exchanged between you and Daryl, you knew it was time to do something… So much for making friends.

Daryl moved first, reaching for the knife he kept strapped to his leg and standing up to grab his spear with the other hand. He moved faster than you, and faster than the man who was supposed to be keeping an eye on you.

He used the blunt edge of his spear to first hit the man’s leg, then, as he raised his gun to defend himself, Daryl disarmed him, then dropped his spear to raise his knife and puncture his neck.

You stood up, too, sprinting towards the gun that had been dropped on the ground, while Daryl held the dying man in front of him like a meat shield. If there was one thing about Daryl, it was that he was resourceful.

But just before you could get your hands on the shotgun, the other man came towards you both, shouting in French as he held his gun out. In a matter of seconds, he fired, shooting towards Daryl.

The loud gunshot made you flinch and grab your ears as you instinctively flung yourself onto the ground, trying to dodge it. Immediately, though, you looked up, your sights setting on Daryl, himself on the ground, holding the left side of his neck and sticking out his right hand in surrender. The man did not seem so eager to show mercy, leaning down beside you to pick up the shotgun and point it towards Daryl.

“No!” you cried out rather helplessly, crawling on hands and knees to Daryl’s side. If you couldn’t sacrifice yourself for him, you’d die together. At least you’d die knowing you tried to save him.

But Maribelle moved quicker, striking the man in the back with Guillaume’s cane. The blow was so hard that he fell to the ground, allowing Daryl to quickly stand up and grab the shotgun. As he held his bleeding neck, he pointed the barrel towards the fallen man.

“Stop,” said Maribelle, coming forward with a spear. “Save the powder.” She plunged the spear into the man’s chest, causing you to wince in slight surprise.

Maribelle turned to Daryl, uttering a simple, “Merci.”

Quickly, you stood up, coming over to daryl and removing his hand from his neck to get a look at the damage. Obviously, the bullet must’ve only grazed him, because if the bullet had gone just a bit more to the right, he might not even have a head right now.

“Just a superficial graze,” you said, taking off your glove and pressing it to his face as a bandage, but of course you’d need something more suitable.

As you carefully helped him sit down on his knees, you called out to Maribelle, “Can you hand me the medical bag, please?”

All your attention, now, was on him, so much so that you didn’t notice how suspiciously silent it was, and how the two Frenchpeople did not seem eager to help.

But that was all peripheral to you, as you brushed back Daryl’s long hair to get a better look at the injury.

“You’re gonna be fine,” you said, with just a tiny curl of your lip to offer him some comfort.

And it did, his tired eyes softening as he felt your hand caress his cheek. Despite the stinging pain and the feeling of blood seeping into the glove you held tight against his wound, he couldn’t help but believe you. If there was anything in this world he truly believed in, after all, it was you.

But there was a horrible sense of suspicion growing between you, a lingering threat that became more and more apparent with each step the man behind Daryl took.

You raised your eyes, and Daryl turned to look at whatever had caught your attention—Guillaume.

His eyes were uncovered now, and beady with aggressive intent. But most startlingly, he held his wooden cane much too high for your comfort. He wielded it more like a baseball bat than a walking stick.

But he wouldn’t do what you thought he was going to do, would he?

Yes. He would.

The cane struck Daryl across the head, knocking him to the ground. Eyes wide as you started to lift yourself, you were met with the same fate: a strong hit to the head that sent you back down, reeling in pain.

You weren’t unconscious, though. Neither was Daryl, who opened his eyes despite the intense blurring that obstructed his vision. He caught sight of Guillaume, rummaging through his bag, while Maribelle got to work rifling through yours, throwing out its contents with carelessness as she seemed to be searching for something more useful than the maps and blankets you’d collected along the way from Marseille.

Notably, though, you watched the blonde Barbie doll you’d carefully tucked away in your bag get tossed behind her back like a worthless piece of junk. It almost riled you into a fit of sudden strength, but your head swam too much to allow your legs to carry you.

Your eyes became fixed on that doll, left abandoned amongst overgrown blades of faded green grass. Somewhere in your haze, as unconsciousness threatened to take over, was her voice, speaking the words she said to you before you left: “It’s okay, Mommy,” she said, her small voice echoing in the dizzied cavern of your head.

Just then, you felt a presence coming towards you, one which seemed both known and unknown.

Turning your head, your heavy eyes focused as well as they could on the approaching figure, cautiously side-stepping into the courtyard. Though you could not make out their face, you recognized one thing: a red cowl.

“We’ll be okay. Everything will be okay.”

A gunshot rang out, muffled by your fading consciousness. It had come from the approaching figure, and had seemingly run off Maribelle and Guillaume, which may have been either a good thing, or a bad thing.

“Maybe when you get back, Wes will know some more words.”

Your eyelids became immensely burdensome, and with each blink, you found yourself unable to keep them open for much longer.

“Yes… Robin…”

Thanks for reading! Likes, reblogs, and comments of any kind are always appreciated!

Series Masterlist Next Chapter ➳

#begin again series #begin again #the walking dead #the walking dead: daryl dixon #daryl dixon #daryl dixon spin-off #the walking dead fanfiction #the walking dead: daryl dixon fanfiction #the walking dead fanfic #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon fanfic #norman reedus #norman reedus fanfiction #norman reedus fanfic #twd fanfiction #twd fanfic #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon x female reader #daryl dixon x you

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train-wrecc · 1 year

Text

Champagne Problems 2

marcus baker x female!miller!reader

warnings: mentions of vomit, nausea, mentions of food, panic attacks, i think that’s all…

fluff with a sprinkle of angst?

word count: 4.5k

italics = sign language

A/N: this will probably be a series bc i wanna add more to this :) i would've posted this earlier but i was struggling to edit the lil collage below 😭 also, i feel like the first one was better but i tried :/ & i will try to dedicate more time to writing bc recently i’ve been gaming a lot more + struggling to write an essay but anyways… try to enjoy?

unedited!

part 1 part 3

。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ

You thought the Baker's reaction to your pregnancy would be worse. However, when both you and Marcus signed the words while simultaneously voicing that you were pregnant, they both wore a look of shock on their face, Max sitting on the couch with a wide grin. She practically threw herself at you and Marcus, pulling you both into a tight embrace.

“Oh my god, I-I don’t know what to say…” Ellen murmured, causing you to slightly frown, and Marcus to squeeze your hand in reassurance. Clint signed, “Well, at least I’ll be a young Grandpa,” He chuckled. Which caused a slight smile to grow on your face. “I wouldn’t say that this is the most ideal time for a baby, seeing as you both are so young, but just know you have our support, in whatever you choose to do. Being a grandma doesn’t sound too bad, the baby can call me Glamma!” Ellen began to ramble.

After you had told them your decision, they let you know that they’d be there for both of you, every step of the way. You felt the weight being lifted from your shoulders, pulling Marcus into a hug. You knew that you still had a long way to go, and you’d have to figure out how to raise a baby, where to raise your baby, and a lot more, albeit you had Marcus and he had you.

。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ

You woke up due to nausea causing you to run to your bathroom, and fill the toilet with vomit. You felt a hand holding your hair in a makeshift ponytail, another on your back, rubbing soothingly. You knew immediately that it was your mother. Her presence seemingly relaxed you. “It’s okay, baby, let it out,” She murmured gently, her voice slightly rough due to the fact that she had just woken up.

Once you were done spilling your guts, you pulled away from the toilet, the horrid smell of vomit hitting your nose, causing you to once again reach for the toilet. After you were finished, you slammed the toilet lid shut, leaning your head against it, a sigh escaping your lips.

You sat there for a moment, before getting up, your mother helping you up, you quickly rinsed your mouth with mouthwash, following it up by brushing your teeth, as you tried to rid yourself of the taste of bile.

“Come on, why don’t you go get some more rest, darlin’,” Your mom ushered you to your room, tucking you into bed before placing a kiss on your head. You smiled at her before turning to face the window. You reached for your phone, debating on texting Marcus. However, when you saw that it was 4:30 am, you decided against it, not wanting to wake him up. You gazed out your window as you tried to go back to sleep. However, you couldn’t, you tossed and turned, the moonlight shining in your room, seeing as it was still dark out. Suddenly your window was thrown open, and a figure fell onto the wooden flooring of your room. You immediately sat up, slightly frightened before you heard the slight murmur of a “Shit,”.

You turned your bedside lamp on, “Marcus?” You questioned the boy, “What are you doing here?” You gazed at him curiously. “Georgia told me you were up because of morning sickness, so I thought I’d come over, not only because she practically threatened me but because I wanted to see how you and the baby are doing.” He tiredly smiled, eyes slightly drooping.

A gargantuan smile broke out on your face, a giggle escaping your lips, before you patted your bed, so he’d come to lay with you. “You didn’t have to come over, but thank you. And excluding the morning sickness, we’re doing just fine.” You responded, your hand finding its way to your flat stomach, which would soon be not-so-flat with a baby bump. Marcus placed his own hand atop yours, “I know, but I wanted to,” He grinned, before gently placing a chaste kiss on your lips.

His hands found your waist, pulling you impossibly closer to him, cuddling you. “I can’t believe we’re having a baby.” He murmured. “I know,” You said, laying your head in the crook of his neck, breathing in his familiar, comforting scent, you let out a sigh. “What’s wrong?” He questioned. “Nothing, it’s just… I’m just kinda nervous about the appointment tomorrow- well, technically today.”

One of his hands left your waist, placing it atop your head. “Everything’s gonna go great, we’ve nothing to worry about, alright?”

“I know, I think it’s just cause, y’know it’s our first appointment…”

“Yeah, well let’s get some more sleep, everything’s gonna be okay, promise.” He smiled, before placing another kiss on your lips, causing you to smile against his lips. You pulled away, turning to shut off your bedside lamp. Out of the corner of his eye, your night light caught Marcus’s attention. He refrained from shutting it off, even though it slightly bothered him because he knew the gradual change of colors helped lull you to sleep, and you and the baby were the most important things in his life.

Marcus had drifted slightly away from you throughout the night- morning, which woke you up not even an hour later. You let out a whine, turning to find him practically at the edge of the bed, you scooted closer to him wrapping an arm and leg around his waist, the contact instantly relaxing you allowing you to drift off to sleep once again.

Marcus had gotten up a while before you, at around 9:30. Your doctor's appointment was at 12:30, so he figured he’d let you rest for another hour, while he went downstairs to make you a good, nutritional breakfast for you and the baby. He looked online and discovered that he should make you oatmeal, and decided he’d pair it with your favorite fruit and juice. Marcus placed your breakfast on a bed tray, making his way upstairs to your room, before running into Ginny and Austin. “Hey, I made some oatmeal, you guys can go ahead and get some, while I give this to your sister,” They both nodded in response, a small smile on their faces, Austin saying thanks.

Marcus opened the door to your room, placing the bed tray with your nutritious breakfast at the foot of the bed. He made his way toward you, gently rubbing your shoulder to wake you. “Princess, wake up I made you breakfast.” He gently voiced in an attempt to get you up. You grumbled slightly in your sleep, nuzzling your head closer to his hand. “Come on baby, it’s time to get up and eat, we gotta get you ready for your appointment,” He kissed your cheek, caressing the other one. You stirred, eyes slightly opening. Your eyes met Marcus’s brown ones staring at you with nothing but love and pure adoration, a small grin grew on your face.

“Hi, bub.”

“Morning, princess, you sleep well?” He laughed.

“Mhmm, amazing with you beside me.” You smiled at him, leaning forward to press a gentle kiss to his lips. You stayed like that for a moment, as he returned the kiss, before quickly pulling away, nausea once again rising in you. “Oh god,” You murmured, getting up and making your way to the bathroom as fast as you could. Marcus was quick on your toes, as you lifted the toilet lid and threw up. Marcus gently held your hair away from your face, caressing your back.

You pulled away, throat and back aching. “I’m so done with this morning sickness,” You groaned out. “I wish I could make it stop.” Marcus said, to which you responded with, “It’s okay, it’ll all be worth it,” You smiled at him. You went through the process of cleaning your teeth and mouth of the taste of vomit, before pulling Marcus into a tight hug. “I love you. Thank you for being here for me and the baby.”

“It’s the very least, the minimum I should be doing, you don’t have to thank me, bub.” He replied, arms around your waist. “By the way, I made you oatmeal, so you and the baby can eat before we head to your appointment.” This caused you to smile at his thoughtfulness.

“It’s the very least, the minimum, I should be doing, you don’t have to thank me, bub. After all, you didn’t impregnate yourself.” He replied with a grin, arms around your waist. “By the way, I made you oatmeal, so you and bub can eat before we head to your appointment.” This caused you to smile at his thoughtfulness.

“Thank you, love, we appreciate you so much,” You said, your hand gently caressing your stomach which would soon have a bump, a sign of your healthily growing baby.

“Don’t thank me anymore, I’m just doing my part in making sure you and our baby are taken care of,” He insisted.

“Thank you,” You stubbornly insisted, a giggle escaping your lips. Marcus was about to lecture you once again before you shut him up with a kiss.

Marcus returned the kiss, as he pulled you closer to him, both of you melting into the adulation-filled kiss.

He pulled away, a whimper escaping your lips as you chased his own. “One more kiss, please?” You whined.

“You’re lucky you’re so cute.” He muttered, allowing you to press your lips against his own once again.

Once again, you eagerly kissed him, before he pulled away. “Alright, no more kisses until you eat your breakfast, sweetheart.”

“Fine,” you sighed dramatically.

Marcus guided you back to bed where your bowl of oatmeal sat on the breakfast tray, along with your favorite juice.

“Come on, baby, eat your oatmeal before it gets cold or else I’m gonna feed it to you myself.”

You sat down, stubbornly crossing your arms, “I was gonna eat it, but because you said that, now you get to feed it to me yourself.”

He sat in front of you a laugh escaping his lips, “Fine by me,” He responded.

Marcus grabbed the spoon scooping oatmeal into it before lifting it to your lips. As you were about to eat the oatmeal, Marcus moved his hand, oatmeal getting smeared on your nose.

“Oops, I didn’t mean to do that, love, I’m sorry.” Marcus let out a quiet laugh at the pout on your lips.

“I think I deserve another kiss as compensation,” You murmured, Marcus giving into your wants as per usual.

。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ

Once you finished your oatmeal, you and Marcus got ready to go to your ultrasound. You insisted on doing your makeup because you wanted to look good to see your baby for the first time.

“Love, you already look amazing,”

“I know, but I wanna look even more amazing,” You said with a small grin.

“Alright, do you want me to braid your hair for you, while you do your makeup?”

“Pretty please,”

Marcus had been practicing braiding your hair, along with doing other styles as well, because he refused to be one of those dads that didn’t know how to style their daughter's hair.

Marcus nodded, standing behind you, “Alright, what do you want, French, Dutch?”

(A/N: I think you can dutch braid most hair types like curly, wavy, straight, and really tight curls, so I decided to keep this part in, if you have really short hair I guess this might not apply to you sorry! Imagine whatever braid/style you want!)

“You choose, baby,”

He decided on doing two Dutch braids, liking the way you looked with them. “And… done!” He said tying the end of the braid with a hair tie. “How do they look?”

“Wow, they look really good, bub, thank you,” You smiled at him, looking at the practically perfectly done braids.

“Your welcome, love, are you ready now?”

“Yup,”

“Alright, let’s start heading downstairs.”

You both made your way downstairs, running into Austin and Ginny in the living room, ever since you booked your ultrasound, they’d been begging to go with you and Marcus, and you just couldn’t say no to them.

“You guys ready?” You questioned them, and they both jumped up practically buzzing with excitement as soon as they heard your voice. “Yeah, we’ve been waiting for you two to hurry up!” Ginny exclaimed. “Alright… where’s Mom?” You asked. “Dunno,” Austin shrugged.

You let out a small sigh, before calling out for Georgia. “I’m comin’!”

“Mom, we gotta go before we're late!” You called back. You heard footsteps on the stairs, before your mom, Georgia, appeared on the landing looking extra as ever, as per usual. Suddenly Max barged in, “Oh my gosh, guys, this is it, is everyone ready?! I’m so excited, let’s go, go!”

Max and Ginny ended up riding with Georgia, and Austin insisted on riding with you and Marcus.

。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ

Everyone sat cramped in the small appointment room, with you sitting on the examination table, Marcus holding your hand, as he stood next to you. Everyone was talking about everything and nothing at all at the same time, however, as soon as the ultrasound tech walked in everyone went silent.

“Wow, it looks like we have a party in here!” She laughed, in an attempt to break the silence.

“Yeah, everyone really wanted to come with us.” You replied, giving a small smile to the woman.

“Well, it’s no problem at all, now, why don’t we get started? I assume you’re the father?” She gestured to Marcus, this prompted Max to pipe in, “Oh him? That’s so funny!” She laughed, “No, no, I’m the father.” She nodded seriously causing you to giggle quietly.

“Oh, uh…alright, we do get a lot of interesting couples in here.” The woman chuckled awkwardly.

“She-she’s kidding that’s- I’m the father.” Marcus nodded.

“Oh, okay…” She quietly answered.

“Alright, if you could just lay down for me, and lift your shirt a little just to expose your stomach, so I can apply the gel.” You nodded, doing as she said.

“Okay, it’s gonna feel a little cold,” She murmured before she applied the gel, “Now, this just helps the machine produce a clearer image as well as sound,” You slightly shivered as the cool gel met your skin.

(A/N: Idk what I’m saying tbh, just go with it…)

“Alrighty,” She grabbed the ultrasound probe, placing it on the skin where the gel had just been placed, “This can take a few moments to produce an image of the fetus,” She explained, moving the probe back and forth.

You simply nodded, as everyone intensely gazed at the ultrasound screen, just waiting for something to pop up. “So, it looks like you’re around 10 weeks pregnant, does that sound about right?”

You and Marcus nodded before she continued on, “So, because this is your first pregnancy, your bump can take a while to start showing, but you should start showing at around 12 weeks,”

“Now, I can’t seem to find- ah, there they are, oh my-”

“What, i-is something wrong?” You blurted out, beginning to sit up, worry immediately filling you as you gazed at the image displayed on the screen of the machine, Marcus’s grip on your hand tightened.

“Oh, no, no, nothing like that honey, it’s just- congratulations, you’re having twins!” She grinned.

“Twins?” Everyone exclaimed.

“Oh my god, we're having twins,” Marcus exclaimed, turning to you, he couldn’t stop himself from pressing a chaste kiss to your lips. You both pulled away, tears in your eyes.

“So, I’m seeing two placentas, this just means the twins are fraternal, not identical, right now the babies are about the size of a strawberry, now let me see if I can find their heartbeats,” She once again moved the ultrasound probe back and forth.

“Aww, there just two little twin strawberries hanging out in your uterus,” Max exclaimed in the background, causing Georgia to laugh and Austin to question what a uterus was. Ginny attempted to explain it to the young boy without explaining too much, resulting in Austin understanding that a uterus was your tummy. “I have oatmeal in my uterus,” He told Ginny. Which prompted everyone to burst out laughing. “I’ll just explain it when you’re older,” Ginny murmured.

A small yet strong thumping began emitting from the machine. “There they are, so far so good, the heartbeats sound nice and strong, the placentas seem to be forming properly, and everyone appears to be nice and healthy.” She smiled as tears escaped your eyes as you listened to the sound of your baby’s heartbeat, “Sorry,” You gave a teary-eyed smile to the woman in apology, Marcus gently wiped your tears with his thumb, before pressing a kiss to your cheek.

You were so happy your babies were healthy, but never in a million years did you think you’d be having twins. That was twice the crying, twice the cost, twice the feeding, and bathing. You tried not to show it but you were stressed. You and Marcus were going to raise not just one baby, but two small innocent humans, who were dependent on both of you.

“Don’t worry, almost every single parent cries when they first see their baby, in your case babies,” She grinned, grabbing an antiseptic wipe to remove the gel from your stomach. “Well, I’m gonna print the sonogram images for you, before I forget to mention it on your way out don’t forget to schedule you’re next appointment, we recommend you come in at least every 4 weeks.”

“Yes, we will do that, thank you,” You responded, pulling your shirt down, to its normal resting place now that the sonogram was over.

You sat up from your lying position, “I-I’m gonna go use the restroom,” You hurriedly murmured, before walking out of the room. You let out a breath, searching for the restroom, once you spotted it you quickly made your way to it. You slammed the door shut, locking it, taking a few more deep breaths in an attempt to not panic.

Albeit all you could think about was the twins in your uterus. Which caused you to slightly panic and spiral. But you were carrying twins you can’t panic, that’s not good for the baby. Before you knew it you were sitting on the restroom floor, having a panic attack. “I c-an’t do… t-this,” You quietly stuttered out through your tears, as they continued to cascade down your face. You tried to calm yourself down again but failed.

Suddenly a knock sounded from the other side of the door, “Bub, are you okay in there?” You heard Marcus question. “Mhm,” You managed to get out, a whimper escaping, as you tried to hide your sobs. “Baby, let me in, I can tell you’re not okay, please,” He quietly said through the door, his head leaning against it.

“Okay,” You sniffled as you stood up, unlocking the door, and allowing Marcus to walk in.

He immediately pulled you into a hug at the sight of you in distress. “What’s wrong, love?” He asked as you clung to him, tears rolling down your cheeks still. You attempted to get the words out, however, you’re breathing was too quick and uneven for you to get anything out. “Baby, you need to calm down okay? Listen to my heartbeat, and just follow my breathing, okay?” He told you in a questioning manner, pulling you in tighter, wanting to somehow squeeze out whatever was causing your tears.

You nodded, your head pressed against his chest as you listened to his calm heartbeat. Somehow listening to his relaxed heartbeat and being in his arms soothed you, following as he took a deep breath in and exhaled. Both of you stood there for a moment, a comforting silence enveloping you.

“I’m sorry,” You whispered.

Marcus shook his head, “You have nothing to apologize for baby, just please tell me what’s wrong?”

“It’s just- we’re having twins, Marcus, I mean, I was scared shitless when I found out I was pregnant with a baby, but now we’re gonna have two. I mean we’re barely gonna graduate, and I mean- how can we afford two babies!? I know you have your job, but- this is two babies, not just one anymore! And where are we gonna live? With my mom? Your parents? A-and what about college? I-I don’t know how you’re not freaking out, w-why aren’t you freaking out?”

Marcus simply smiled at you, “Because I love you, Y/n Miller, and I know no matter what, as long as I have you, and our families, we’re gonna be alright. We’ll figure everything out, I promise you,” He said his hands now gently holding your face in his hands, so you could look at him. “Just please don’t stress about this, it’s not good for you, or our precious cargo,” He grinned.

“You’re crazy.” You stared at him and all his calmness, causing him to laugh.

“Crazy in love with you? Yes, very much.”

“I probably look a mess now,” You said with a slight hint of sadness, as you fell into his arms once again.

“Well, if you look like a mess, then you’re the most beautiful mess I’ve ever laid my eyes on.”

“Hey!”

“What? It’s a compliment, come on,” He said, pulling you toward the mirror.

“See, still stunning, as always.” He told you, placing a kiss on the top of your head.

“Wow, my makeup looks pretty good still…” You said, grabbing a paper towel and patting the tear tracks away.

“That’s all you baby,”

“No, I think it’s that new setting spray I got.” You smiled lightly.

Another knock echoed off the restroom walls interrupting you, followed by Ginny’s voice, “Y/n/n are you okay in there? You’ve been gone a while… Marcus was supposed to come get you but he probably got lost, he’s kinda an idiot-” she was interrupted by a squeaky voice speaking up, “Hey, that’s not a nice thing to say, Ginny.” Austin said.

“I mean, is she lying though?” Max questioned.

“Honey, you alright?” Your mom called out after, as you and Marcus tried to contain your laughs.

“Maybe she’s not in there,” Max murmured.

You opened the door, being met with your family huddled around the door, “I’m fine guys, just a little worried, and hormonal, but besides that, fine.” You gave them a reassuring smile.

“Well, come on then, we gotta set up you’re next appointment,” Georgia said, nodding toward the front desk.

You all began walking toward the desk as you overheard Marcus, “Thanks for sticking up for me bud,”

Austin nodded, “You’re welcome, Ginny’s just a big old grump.”

“You’re right about that, Max too,” He replied teasingly, causing both girls to roll their eyes as you laughed at the conversation taking place.

。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ

You texted Padma images of the ultrasound seeing as she wasn’t able to make it. She congratulated you, her messages filled with love and excitement. Seeing as it was Saturday, the rest of the day was spent with your families, Clint and Ellen joining everyone at your house. They both sat in amazement as they stared at the sonogram images of your little strawberry twins.

“Wow, two healthy babies! We’re gonna have our hands full, again!” Clint signed.

“I know, I wonder if it’s because you and Maxine are twins Marcus,” Ellen murmured.

“Actually the ultrasound tech said something about it affecting ovulation, so Max would be twice as likely to have twins than me, or if one of our babies is a girl, she’d be more likely too. We just got lucky, I guess,” Marcus explained to his parents.

“Alright, remind me to never try for kids then, we don’t need two pairs of twins running around. That’s chaos is what that is.” Max laughed.

“I mean I’m sure you guys will be fine though,” She smiled awkwardly.

“Well, I can’t just wait to meet our little twins!” Georgia spoke, as you were all lounging around in the living room.

“Were they able to tell if they’re gonna be identical or fraternal? I don’t remember how many weeks I was when they were able to tell us, with Max and Marcus.” Ellen asked, Clint nodding in support of the question.

“They’re fraternal, thankfully, I don’t know how we would do it if they were identical. I mean we’d probably mix them up while they’re babies…” You answered while signing.

“There are actually a few tricks to tell them apart when they’re babies, like name bracelets or, painting their toenail a certain color, stuff like that,” Ellen responded.

“Yeah, and you guys might need to use some of those tricks, I mean, Max and Marcus looked almost identical when they were babies,” Clint informed you.

“Well then,” You smiled nervously, leaning into Marcus's arms even more. He rested his chin on the top of your head, as you sighed into his neck, beginning to feel slightly tired.

“You feel alright?”

“Mhm, just a little tired…”

“Wanna go nap for a little bit?”

“No, it’s okay, we can hang out down here a little longer if you want.”

“Y/n/n don’t make me drag you upstairs, if you’re tired, go nap,” Ginny said seriously.

“Yes, ma’am, I guess I’ll see everyone later,” You said, before Marcus helped you up and to your room. He closed your curtains to block the evening sun, before pulling the sheets back, allowing you to get into bed. You lay down, letting out a sigh in comfort, patting beside you for Marcus to join you.

He gladly obliged, cuddling you once he laid down. You nuzzled your head into the crook of his neck, breathing in his calming and comforting scent. “You feel a little bit better about having twins?”

“Yeah, especially since your parents have experience in that department, I still can’t believe it.”

“I know, we’re having twins,” He murmured.

“Yup, I wonder what gender they’ll be…” You mumbled.

“Me too, but as long as they’re healthy, that’s all that matters.” He said as he caressed your back with his hands, rubbing it soothingly.

“Mhmm,” You hummed, you’re breathing slowing as you began to fall asleep.

“Love you, bub,” You sleepily muttered.

“I love you too,” Marcus responded before placing a gentle kiss on your lips, “Sweet dreams, baby.” He whispered as you drifted off.

He pulled you closer to him as he began to drift off as well. Your favorite place was in his arms and his favorite place was you.

。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ

A/N: there are alot of like nicknames in this, lmk which one y'all think marcus would call the reader bc i really am unsure, also how do we feel about "princess" i think it's cute but ik it gives some ppl the ick... anyways have a great rest of your day/night/morning! 💞

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preciadosbass · 24 days

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23/8/24 [draft from friday — key + significant photos at end]

yay i can finally post this!! woke up at 6:30 and said goodmorning to boris. he was inside again, i think because of how cold it is out. i then got dressed as soon as i could so i was completely ready before the time we had to leave to go away. i put on a light gray low cut shirt, but then started freezing alive so i changed into my sleeping with sirens shirt as it was the only shirt out that i hadn’t already packed. i paired it with black ripped skinny jeans, gray + black striped arm warmers, knee high converse, danger days my chemical romance zip up, my kellin quinn necklace, a surfboard shaped wood carved necklace — and no cuffs/bracelets as this outfit is just to be worn for the car ride to the campus and then ill get changed for swimming.

after getting ready, i had a snack and painted my left hand’s nails with black nail polish. i surprisingly did them pretty neatly to how i usually do it and considering how small my nails are. within a few minutes of them being dried, half of my second smallest nail’s polish came off halfway lmao - i was going to put some more on to cover it up, but i was in a rush and i needed to do my teeth, i finished at 7. i then checked on boris again and replaced the pins on my bag. ive needed to ever since i took a ton off to put onto my jacket. all that’s left now is: incubus pin, spider-man pin, the last of us pin, t-rex pin, saliva pin, kittie pin, shark pin, beetle pin, brendon urie pin, chi cheng pin, soulfly pin, collide with the sky [pierce the veil] pin, and a silent hill pin. which sounds like a lot, but because of the way they’re set out, it dosent look like many. at least not compared to what i’m used to.

once i was done [7:18], i packed my bag. i packed: my camera, skeleton gloves, collage scraps, my collage journal, camera charger, headphone charger, extra bracelets, my spiral earrings, battery packs, my hairbrush, my wallet, hand sanitizer, meds, and my phone charger. after doing that and a few other odd bits around the house [turning off switches, making sure i’ve packed everything, etc] i went to see boris properly at 7:40. i told him about everything that’s going to be going on [who’s taking care of him, that she’s not comfortable letting him out, when we’re getting back, things like that] and said goodbye to him. i finished officially at 8:20. i’m gunna miss him so much while we’re away, but i’m excited to see him again afterwards and tell him everything.

everyone [me, my sister, my parents] got in the car at around the same. unrelated, but i also forgot to mention in yesterdays journal, archie was taken over to my sister’s friends house to be looked after. we set off at 2:30 and i looked through soul punk patrick stump videos along with a few pretty odd era panic! tiktoks. also watched my chemical romance’s song 2 [blur] cover, i don’t know why i haven’t seen this before i’m obsessed. i started journaling at 9:16 and wrote all of the paragraphs above. than at 9:30 i took a break and started listening to some music. [just surrender, fall out boy, gerard way + ray toro, frank iero, falling in reverse, blur, my chemical romance, death of a bachelor panic! at the disco, a static lullaby.]

i had a nap somewhere near 11:30 [on my seal plush] and woke up at around 12:40. i continued listening to music [CKY, HIM, frank iero, darling you should be ashamed, linkin park, lovehatehero, before today, a bullet for a pretty boy [[so underrated]], and sleeping with sirens.] i did so until 1:44 when we arrived at the resort. my dad pulled the car into the drive through place where you get your keycard/folder of leaflets and after driving round to our car park, we started unpacking into the room. on our holiday guide, it said that we could only get in our room at 3, so we were lucky to get in early. as soon as i found me & my sisters room and claimed my bed, and hung up my necklaces on the windows’ handle. along with taking a few things out of my bag + putting cuffs/band bracelets on. we did plan on going to swimming as soon as my extended family arrived, but that ended up not working out as they had to leave late.

i then took out my collage journal and started cutting up the leaflets from the folder into separate letters [etc] to make a collage tomorrow. well i say tomorrow, when i started cutting everything up, i intended for me to put everything together today. [photo at end] but i only got round to collecting the bits of paper i need. i used my stamps to print stars onto a yellow sticky note and took a couple pictures of the leaflets incase we needed anything off them after id cut them up [e.g wifi support]. me, my parents and my sister left for a show and arrived at the venue at 3:12. on the way to the venue, we met up with D [one of my cousins, his girlfriend — L, and her son, W.] we got the time wrong so we thought were really short on time, but it started 20 minutes after we found a table.

first up was a beatboxer, except he made more sound affects than sounds to make into some kind of song. he was also really funny with the way he made and timed the sound affects. it’s impossible for me to explain with unless you were there and saw him, but he was really good. next was four breakdancers, ive never really had much interest in breakdancing, but it was quite cool to watch them. one had come all the way down from japan or something.

after was one of those big hoop acts. there’s not much to say as there’s not much to explain — following on from that, a bmX rider came out and started doing all kinds of crazy tricks. i somewhat remember seeing the show itself around a year ago, but this bmX guy was different than last year. its tricky to explain a bmX show generally, but its even trickier for people to read id they don’t know what it is. so i recommend looking up bmX tricks. once he’d done his thing, a basketballer came onto stage. he was manipulating the ball and circling it around him shoulders etc. behind him was a fake button with “do not push” plastered above it. obviously, it’s a show, he ‘pressed’ the button and everytime another ball would roll out from backstage.

in the end, he was working with 5 different basketballs. it was super impressive. before the show finished, everyone came out and did all their tricks side by side. during the entire show, the beatboxer was singing and making even more sound affects. he actually had a pretty decent voice. at 4:30, after we’d all packed up our stuff and gotten ready to leave and do something else, me, my parents and my sister headed back to our room. D, L and W went off to their rooms aswell. upon getting into our chalet, i went to have a nap but ended up putting on my skates. my sister stuck on hers and we circuited a section of the resort, looking for D’s room. it didn’t take us long before we found it. but during skating around and checking door numbers, i stupidly sped round a corner on the second level of chalets and nearly fell headfirst down a huge staircase.

i assumed that it’d turn and go round the other side, so i could look at the numbers on the other rooms, as a few other of the second story ‘balconys’ or whatever you wanna call them - don’t have stairs and just follow on around the other side. but i was wrong. i slightly toppled down the first two stairs and then grabbed onto my sister’s back. luckily i didn’t make her fall over lmao // at 5:30, all of us [all of my family] went round to our restaurant for dinner. it was a little cheeky of us to even eat together as everyone in the family apart from my parents & sister have reservations for another restaurant.

after dinner, i went back to the room and stayed there for 30 minutes alone before me, my sister and my parents made our way to yet another show. we arrived at the venue and i sat near the front on the floor with my sister. my mum sat on some stairs and my dad stayed standing. it was a magic show, which is quite a complicated thing to explain, especially because i actually didn’t understand how any of the tricks were done, but i enjoyed it. also while the backstage staff were sorting out some more props the start of my generation by limp bizkit played!!

the show finished at 8, and me and my immediate family went round to the rest of the family’s chalets to check them out. i went into the more cousin based one first, the people staying in it were: RY and H, and R and E. i sat on R’s bed and just people watched [mostly] until H offered to paint my right hand’s nails dark purple as id forgotten to paint that hand in black when i was at home. then i went to see the rest of my family’s room. the family members in this chalet are my aunt and uncle, and L/W. when i came in my uncle had a jumper over the radiator and it smelt so bad and was clearly just about to light on fire. i went back into the cousin’s room/s and went to see E and see what she was doing.

she was applying gems to her eyelids with some kind of makeup glue. she asked if i wanted some and i agreed so she sat me down and gently glued the gems onto my face. [photo at end] when she was done and if verified i was happy with it, i went back to my room to quickly get something — i’m not sure what it was as im writing this on the 27th. when i got back at 9:10, we had to leave for another show. we walked across the resort and arrived at the venue to get ourselves some seats. me and E tried taking pictures of our gemmed-up eyelids together but wasn’t able to because of bad lighting. the show was advertised as a ‘rock’ festival, however the music that played was things like lizzo and ed sheeran.

i was kind of disappointed because i thought it’d be punk rock or something else i would be able to sing along to, but it was funny that we were catfished so bad. me and R just sat there making faces for eachother, indicating that ‘this isn’t rock, wtf is this’ - the performance ended at 10:20 and we went straight to another venue to join in with a ‘music dance party.’ as you can imagine, the music was dance music, but i like dance music. i somewhat danced with my grandad, E and R. R spun me around and my sister stayed swaying across the dance floor with my dad. [photo at end]

i haven’t really ever seen my dad dance before, but his favourite ‘party’ track came on and he went mad. he was doing all sorts of weird dance moves but it was cracking me up. if only whoever is reading this saw it in the moment. we parted with the rest of the family and went back to the chalet at approximately 11:30. i started to do a bit of my journal, made a picture collage of the day, and had a little nap. after my nap, i asked my parents questions about boris, said goodnight to boris via a picture of him [the picture in question is at the end] and went to sleep at 1:45.

🗝️ — boris/my cat, archie/my immediate family’s dog, questions about boris/i ask my parents questions about my cat to verify he's okay + will be okay in the morning. its a compulsive thing and i'm hopefully going to be tested for OCD in the future.

have a good day/night O_o

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ramblingoak · 9 months

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The Cardinal's Bride, Chapter 11: Confessions

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Cardinal Copia x Female Reader ~ You finally arrive at The Ministry but Saltarian's men are closing in and threatening the lives of everyone that lives there...

Warnings: violence, angst, slight smut, NSFW 18+ only MDNI, 11k words

“So that’s his big plan? Kill the girl and blame the rest of us?”

Secondo didn’t bother answering his brother, he kept his eyes aimed out the window towards the street below. The sun was just starting to peek over the mountains in the distance and soon the city would wake up. Businesses would open, children would be dragged to the schoolhouse by their parents, drunkards would be groaning into the light and thinking about their next drink. He tipped back the rest of his own drink, the whiskey the only thing keeping his nerves calm.

“The end of the Church of Emeritus.”

“Well that’s a little fucking dramatic.” Secondo turned to look at his brother, not at all surprised by his carefree demeanor. Terzo didn’t care much about anything these days unless it was alcohol or someone to warm his bed. Still, the bastard should have some sort of reaction instead of leaning back in his chair like everything was fine. “Maybe that’s the problem, Saltarian and Copia are too similar.”

“He actually said the same about him and I.”

“Really?” The sound of the chair legs hitting the floor echoed around the otherwise quiet room. “You and Salty?”

“He said in a different world we could have been business partners.” He walked back to his desk and set his empty glass down with a thunk. “Not that it matters.”

“SÌ, it’ll be hard doing business with a dead man.”

“I’m not dead yet, fratellino.”

“Oh please, you think we stand a chance against Saltarian? Ten years has given him ample time to build up whatever army of mercenaries he has.” Terzo shook his head while he looked around in his coat pockets for a cigarette. “We haven’t exactly focused on recruitment in that time.”

“No, we have not.”

Secondo shoved a hand through his hair, groaning as he sat down at his desk. Papers littered the top of it, things he hadn’t had time to get to in the last few days. Things that might not even matter soon anyway.

“What are you thinking fratello?”

“I’m thinking we don’t have a choice.” He glanced up to meet Terzo’s eyes, the both of them glowing briefly from the flame of a match as he lit a cigarette. “I can’t risk everything for one girl.”

“Copia won’t be happy. From what Cirrus said he and Salty’s fiancé have gotten…close.”

“Copia will be lucky if I don’t skin him alive when he shows up. He’s dug his own grave here.” Secondo gritted his teeth as he thought over what Cirrus had told them when she’d gotten back. While she hadn’t seen the two of them together, or the girl at all, the other Ghouls mentioned that something had been happening between the two. Secondo hoped that if Copia was fucking the girl it was out of boredom and nothing else. Anything beyond that and Secondo would have an even more difficult time with what he had to do. “If we can get her to Saltarian relatively unharmed he’ll drop the matter.”

“He said that?” Secondo nodded in reply, his eyes down at his desk. While Terzo had no room to judge his decisions he still didn’t want to see the look in his eyes when he shared the rest of what Saltarian had told him. “So what, we just dump her outside of town for one of his men to grab her?”

“We’ll need to distract Copia I’m sure, but yes. He wants us to send her out on her own for them to get her.”

“Lucifer’s balls.” Secondo’s expression shifted just enough for Terzo to freeze, the front of his chair once more dropping loudly onto the wood floor. “Good luck with that.”

“What would you have me do, fratellino? Let Saltarian and his men destroy everything again? How many more need to die before you accept the inevitable?”

“And what’s that? The inevitable?”

“That we don’t belong here, as we were. That Copia’s fantasy of rebuilding our church is just that, a fantasy. Nothing more.” Secondo shot Terzo a glare when the younger man started laughing. “What?”

“Out of all of us I expected you to lose your faith last. I never expected you to consider turning in our own blood.”

“Then what would you do? Better yet, what would The Morningstar do, huh?”

“He wouldn’t give up without a fight.”

“That’s funny, I thought he gave up a long time ago.” Secondo immediately regretted his words, watching as the spark that had ignited in Terzo’s eyes at the mere mention of his past went out. “Terzo…”

“You’re right, I did give up. But Copia didn’t, he kept fighting. He kept believing.”

“Believing in what?! A cause that we dedicated our lives to? A Dark Lord that was supposed to reward us for our devotion, to protect us while we celebrated what he stood for?” He took a deep breath, lowering his voice before he continued on. “Where was Lucifer when our lives burned to ash?”

“I don’t know, but maybe Copia does.” Terzo stamped his cigarette out on the arm of the chair, smirking when he caught Secondo narrowing his eyes at the action. “I’d like to hear your plan now.”

“Considering what Cirrus said I don’t think we’ll be able to convince Copia to willingly give her up. Someone will need to convince her to do what’s best.”

“Which is what?”

“Leave Copia behind and move on with her life. She belongs with Saltarian, not a bunch of outlaws.”

“Okie dokie, so you corner her, scare her off and then expect Copia to just let her go without a fight?”

“I’m going to try to talk some sense into him first. You’re welcome to help with that, by the way.”

Terzo let out a sharp bark of laughter, shaking his head as he looked for another cigarette.

“You need Primo’s help, not mine.”

Secondo nodded but didn’t say anything. Primo was the smartest of all of them, getting away from here and living on his own. Although if Saltarian did go through with it and take them out he doubted Primo would be able to escape. He would just be the last Emeritus standing for however brief amount of time he lasted.

“Copia will either see reason or he won’t. I refuse to lose everything again. Especially over some meaningless girl Copia gives two shits about beyond getting the ransom for her.”

“And what if he doesn’t see reason?”

“Then he’ll be the first to die.”

“Wake up Principessa.”

“Hm?” You attempted to bury your face back under the warm blanket but Copia just pulled it away again. “Hey.”

“Come on, I want to show you something.”

“It’s cold.” He grinned, throwing his duster at you as he got up. “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise. Hurry up now, before everyone else gets up.”

With a groan you escaped the warmth of the blanket, quickly shoving your arms into his duster. Aether was sitting by the fire when you finished getting your boots on, smiling at you when you walked by. Copia was finishing saddling Brizio when you made your way to his side. The horse shoved past him to get to you and you laughed when Copia swore as he stumbled back a few steps.

“He likes me better I think.”

“First my Ghouls and now my horse. What’s next?”

You wanted to say ‘hopefully his brothers’ but decided to keep that to yourself. The imminent meeting with them was weighing heavily on you. Sleep had been evasive the night before as you worried over what would happen when you reached The Ministry. You once more found yourself wishing you could travel around like this with Copia and the Ghouls forever. Dancing by the fire every night in Copia’s arms…

It was a memory you wouldn’t soon forget.

“Should I get my horse ready?”

“No, you’ll ride with me.” He winked as he held out his hand for you, grinning when you didn’t even argue. “Up you go.”

Once you were both settled onto Brizio he directed the horse away from camp. The sun was just barely peeking over the mountains in the distance, casting warm light over the land and warming the temperatures up. You still found yourself burrowing into his duster and leaning back against Copia’s chest. He held onto the reins in one hand and kept his other arm tight around your middle, securing you as close as possible. You placed your hand over his where it rested on your side and smiled when he interlaced your fingers.

Another moment to keep with you as long as you could.

Copia didn’t stop until you were far away from camp, hidden in a clump of trees as the sun continued to warm everything around you. After helping you down he let Brizio wander where he wanted to. You both watched as the horse began to much on the sparse grass, unbothered by how heavy the air had become between the two humans with him.

“Copia?” You reached out to touch his elbow, flinching when Copia jumped at the contact. “What’s wrong?”

“Niente. It’s nothing.” He shoved a hand into his pants pocket and you could hear the clinking of stones and metal as he pulled out his grucifix. Copia let it dangle from his fingers for a moment, watching the stones sparkle in the morning light before stepping right up into your space. “I wanted to give you this away from prying eyes.”

Your mouth fell open slightly as you watched his face. His mismatched eyes were bright as they met yours before looking back down to the heirloom from his mother.

“I can’t…I can’t take this.” You winced when his face fell a bit so your hands quickly covered his. “This was your mother’s, you should keep it.”

“I want you to have it. As a token, as a symbol of what you mean to me.” He dropped his head and kissed the back of your hand before straightening up again. “I want you to know.”

You held your breath as he stared at you, your hands shaking a little bit over his.

“Know what?”

He took a deep breath and pulled his hands away, shaking out the chain a bit to untangle it. You stayed still when he lifted it up and placed it on you, being careful not to snag your hair in the metal. When it was settled he took a moment to straighten it and then held the silver piece on the end in the palm of his hand. You looked down at the symbol of his church, covering it with your hand to hold it between you after a moment.

“That I care about you, Principessa. Far more than I should.”

You couldn’t help but press closer at his confession, trapping your hands between you. His head lowered again and you let yours drop as well so your foreheads pressed together. Both of you stayed quiet for a moment, letting Copia’s words hang between you. It wasn’t until his free arm snuck around your waist to pull you closer that you felt brave enough to speak.

“I care about you too, Copia.” He made a small noise in the back of his throat as he pulled his hand away from the grucifix to cup your cheek. “I lo–”

His mouth silenced your next words, his lips hot and needy against your own. You wrapped both of your arms around his neck, knocking his hat off so you could bury your fingers in his hair. The kiss deepened quickly and you opened your mouth for him when his tongue demanded entry. He groaned when you nipped at his tongue and began to walk you backwards until your back met the nearest tree.

Copia’s kisses were dizzying like always, enough to make you forget what you had almost confessed to him. It had been bubbling up in you for days now and with everything that still laid ahead you wanted him to know. You needed him to know how you felt. With a gasp you pulled away, tugging on his hair a bit when he tried to lean back in.

“W-wait, I need to tell you something.”

He brought his other hand up so he could hold your face between them, his thumbs brushing across your cheeks as he looked into your eyes.

“Not yet. Soon, yeah?” He kissed your forehead when you tried to speak again. “Will you wait for me?”

You pulled away so you could catch his eyes again and your argument about wanting to tell him now froze in your throat. Did he feel the same way? Is this why he wanted to wait to hear you say it?

Did he want to say it too?

“Okie dokie.” Copia let out a burst of laughter at your use of his phrase. He started pressing sloppy kisses all over your face until you squealed and tried to push him away. “Stop, stop!”

He relented but tugged you close again, his arms wrapped tightly around you as his breath fanned against your ear.

“Soon. I promise.”

You nodded against him, clinging to him tighter than you could remember doing so before. After a moment you pulled away, brushing some of his hair back when you did. Truthfully you thought you’d wait as long as it took to hear him say those words. It wouldn’t change how you felt about him.

“Should we head back?”

“I think they’ll survive without us for a little bit longer.”

He tilted your head up and leaned in to kiss you, deepening it quickly when you wrapped your arms around him once more.

“How long are we going to be waiting around for them?”

“I have no idea.” Aether continued to pack up his cooking supplies, stepping over Dewdrop’s outstretched legs while shooting him an annoyed look. “Got somewhere to be?”

“I’d like to get back to The Ministry at some point in my life.”

“I thought you liked being on the road, you get antsy as hell when we’ve been at the casino for more than a week.”

Dew shrugged and looked around camp rather than answering right away. Aether wasn’t wrong, he did get antsy if they were at The Ministry for too long. He didn’t really know the best way to describe the feeling. It was part boredom and part just not liking being cooped up. There was always plenty to do there (Secondo was always more than happy to boss any of them around) but Dew much preferred being on the road.

It was a helluva lot more exciting than dealing with drunks that was for sure.

“Usually we don’t have as large of a target on our back.” Dew glanced at Aether when his friend froze while shoving things into his saddlebags. “I’ll feel better when this whole thing is over and we have that ransom money.”

“You don’t actually think that’s still going to happen do you?” Dew rolled his eyes when Sunshine came over and sat down beside him. “I mean, there’s no way Copia is just gonna give her up to Saltarian now.”

“Why the fuck not? And don’t say anything about love.”

“It’s because he loves her.” Swiss plopped down on Dew’s other side, grinning when the smaller man groaned. “He’s got it bad.”

“You sure it’s not an act? They didn’t seem happy when we left the farm.”

“Well they sure as fuck are happy now.”

Dew didn’t bother answering Swiss because he knew it was pointless. Whatever had happened before they left the farm had obviously been solved. Just watching them dance last night had been all he needed to see. It had made his chest ache a bit as he watched them while he had played the guitar and his friends sung every stupid love song they could think of. He was happy for Copia, and for his princess, if they actually did love each other. It would fuck up a lot of other shit in their lives but that’s why Dew made sure he always had plenty of ammo nearby.

“Alright so they’re in love, super. That’s fantastic. What the fuck are we gonna do about Saltarian?” Dew looked around at everyone, snorting when none of his friends met his eyes. “Also you all know that Secondo is gonna be pissed, right?”

“He’s already pissed from what Cirrus said.” Sunshine pulled out a knife and started picking at her nails. “We should go back to the farm.”

“And do what?” Dew shoved her shoulder when she looked at him like he was an idiot. “You honestly think any of us would be happy settling down and farming for the rest of our lives? What about rebuilding the church?”

“What about it?” Aether had wandered back over then and was staring down at the three of them. “If we don’t have the ransom money we don’t have a way to rebuild the church, do we?”

“I vote to go back to the farm, I liked it there.” Swiss grunted when Dew kicked at his leg. “Fuck, what?”

“You’re telling me that you’d all be happy to live out your days farming in the middle of fucking nowhere?” Dew looked at each of his fellow Ghouls in turn before throwing his hands up in exasperation. “I’d rather not sleep in a barn for the rest of my life.”

“Some of us could probably sleep in the house, there’s plenty of room.” Sunshine turned and grinned at Dew before continuing, “Except for you though, Ethel hates you.”

“Fuck you. She just needs to get to know me.”

“Nah we’d have to build another house or something for all of us.” Swiss got up and stretched before holding his hand out for Sunshine to help her up. “I think Copia and Princess would want the house to themselves. Fill it up with a bunch of mini-Copias.”

Dew made a face before taking the hand Swiss now had outstretched for him, “Fuck, you don’t think they’d start having kids do you?”

Swiss yanked on Dew’s hand, jerking him roughly to his feet and laughing when he swore. With a quick move he hooked a leg behind one of Dew’s and then shoved him at the shoulders. Dew landed on his ass with a groan before launching himself at Swiss’s legs, bringing the man down roughly onto the ground. Aether quickly moved out of the way and stood next to Sunshine, the both of them watching the two Ghouls wrestle around and curse at each other.

“They don’t need kids, they have us.”

Sunshine flashed a grin at Aether but her smile quickly faded when something behind him caught her attention. Aether turned to look and saw two riders coming over the hill down the road.

“Copia and Princess?” Aether shook his head and continued to watch the riders approach, his body tensing even more when Sunshine spoke again. “Mountain and Rain?”

Four more riders soon appeared behind the first two and Aether could see the metal of their guns glinting in the morning sun. He shouted at Dew and Swiss before turning to meet Sunshine’s determined face.

“Fun’s over.”

It was easy to lose track of time with Copia kissing you.

He had eventually laid his duster out on the ground and pulled you down on top of it with him. His hands were everywhere, tugging at your clothes and maneuvering you until you were in his lap. Copia’s fingers were quick on the buttons of your shirt and as soon as he could he had a hand inside of it and under your chemise, his thumb rubbing against your nipple. He swallowed your little gasps and whimpers, his tongue teasing against your own while his fingers teased your breast.

The more time you spent together like this the more bold you started to feel. You were learning how he liked to be touched, how to get groans and whimpers out of him. It made you feel powerful that you could make him feel good just like he made you feel good. Before you could think too much about it you dropped a hand onto his crotch and began to rub his hardening cock through his pants. Copia broke away with a desperate sounding noise, pressing his forehead against yours and panting into your mouth.

“Fuck, Principessa you–”

The both of you suddenly froze when a barrage of distant booms invaded your little space. Brizio made a noise and sped over towards you both, the horse experienced enough to know what those sounds meant. He knew trouble was close and he was ready to get you both out of there. Selfishly you wished that was what would happen, that you and Copia would jump onto Brizio and ride away from whatever trouble was nearby. You met Copia’s gaze when he turned away from the path you had taken into the little clearing of trees.

“Is that…?”

More gunshots echoed from the way you came and Copia grabbed your waist to help you get off of him. You quickly began to do up your shirt as he grabbed his coat and threw it on. He was on Brizio in a second, his hand reaching down to help you get up behind him.

“Hold on tight.”

You did just that, snaking your arms and clasping your hands together around his waist as Brizio shot off down the path. Your heart was racing as fear started to take a hold of you. What would you be riding back to? How many of Saltarian’s men were out there? Were any of the Ghouls hurt?

Copia covered your hands with one of his own and squeezed them, doing his best to reassure you that everything would be alright. As you got closer to where you had camped the night before the gunshots lessened until finally you had crested the hill and the camp was in sight. You were tentatively looking over Copia’s shoulder, worried at what you might see. Copia himself was tense but not as tense as you had expected so that alone helped ease your worry a bit.

If he wasn’t going in guns blazing you would trust that everything was alright.

As you got closer there were a few bodies on the ground and you had to turn your head away. It wasn’t something you were used to seeing just yet but at least they weren’t wearing any clothes you recognized. Copia pulled back on Brizio’s reins as you reached the others. Mountain strode over to help you down and despite a streak of blood down the side of his face he seemed unharmed.

“Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up.”

“Shut up Dewdrop.” You rushed over to the smoldering campfire to see Aether leaning over Dew, his hands red with blood. “Stay still, damn it.”

“Is he ok?”

You dropped to your knees on the other side of Dew, wincing when you saw the blood spreading on his right thigh.

“He’s fine, just got grazed.”

“Fine?! Speak for yourself, this fucking hurts.”

“Don’t act like you haven’t been shot before.” Aether grabbed the torn part of Dewdrop’s pants and tugged at the fabric, ripping it open so he could see the wound better. He shoved at one of Dew’s hands when the Ghoul tried to push Aether away. “Knock it off.”

You looked up when a shadow fell over the three of you, Sunshine offering you a reassuring smile before she knelt down next to you.

“How’s the patient?”

“I’m bleeding out.” Dew hissed when Aether prodded at the wound. “Unholy fuck, what are you doing to me?!”

“Will you two hold him down please?”

Sunshine moved around so she was at Dew’s back and slid her arms around his chest to keep his arms immobile. When Aether nodded towards Dew’s other leg you placed your hands down on it to try and keep it still. He was still twitching and hissing as Aether checked the wound over but he quieted down when Copia came over to hold his ankles.

“Anyone else get hurt?”

“Mountain and Rain came back with some scrapes but otherwise Dew got the worst of it.” Copia nodded and muttered something in Italian under his breath when Dew tried to wriggle away. “Hold still, I need to stitch you up.”

“I’d rather you didn’t.”

“Maybe you should move out of the way faster next time to avoid getting shot.”

Sunshine’s voice had a teasing lilt to it but you could tell by the tightness of her features that she was putting on a bit of an act.

“Maybe you should go fuck yourself. I only got this because I pushed you out of the way!”

You bit back a smile as they continued to banter, your eyes watching Aether stitch up the wound on Dew’s leg. Aether caught your eyes and gave you a reassuring smile.

“Stick around Princess and you’ll be helping me patch everyone up in no time.”

“I think I will.” Copia and Aether looked your way so you grinned back at them. “Stick around. And helping.”

Copia reached over and tucked some of your hair back behind your ear, a dopey smile on his face.

“Ugh, fucking kill me.” You snorted when you looked away from Copia, blushing a bit when you noticed the three Ghouls watching you. Dewdrop was making a disgusted face and he dropped his head back against Sunshine’s chest. “Seriously I’d rather bleed out than watch the lovebirds any more.”

“Sorry buddy, you’re not gonna die on us today.” Aether tied off the final stitch and sat back to admire his work. “Let’s get it wrapped up and then get you on your feet.”

Copia took one of your hands and helped pull you to your feet as he rose. He didn’t let go, instead tugging you closer so you were pressed into his side.

“We need to get packed up and get out of here.”

He kissed your forehead before turning to look out towards where Mountain, Rain and Swiss were working on getting the bodies of Saltarian’s men gathered.

“Do you think there are more of them?”

His hand squeezing yours was all the answer you needed. Of course there were more. You took a deep breath to try and calm yourself down while your mind raced with the thought of how many others might be sent to get you.

“Hey, look at me.” Copia gripped your chin gently and forced your head up. You were a bit embarrassed at the tears that had been forming in your eyes but he just smiled at you and kissed your nose. “What did I promise you?

“That you’d keep me safe.”

“SÌ. I keep my promises, Principessa.”

With a few more kisses he helped ease your worries and you let yourself lean against him. Letting him take your weight a bit as you soaked in the feeling of being safe in his arms. Whatever the road to the casino brought you knew he would be there and you knew he would do everything he could to keep you safe.

Everything would be ok as long as he was with you.

The arrival at The Ministry was rushed.

You barely had time to take in the town around it before the large building was looming in front of you. Oil lamps were lit up and down the street as well as inside the businesses that lined it as the sun began to set. Copia had directed you to wear the hat Ethel had given you and Sunshine had thrown her coat over you. You weren’t sure what the point was because you doubted anyone in this town wouldn’t recognize Copia and his Ghouls but you let them do whatever they felt was necessary.

Behind the casino were the stables and another building, this one much smaller. You dismounted with everyone else and looked around trying to take everything in. A few men wandered out of the stable and exchanged words with Copia before they started to get the horses inside. Everyone started taking their bags and other belongings off the horses before they began to wander towards the smaller building.

“That’s where we stay.” You jumped a bit at Sunshine’s voice, glancing at her when she stopped right next to you. “The Ghoul dorms. That’s home.”

“It’s…nice?”

She snorted, shaking her head as she threw an arm over your shoulder. Dewdrop and Swiss wandered by on your other side, the larger Ghoul helping his friend limp along.

“It ain’t much but it’s a roof and I don’t have to share a room.” She threw you a wink before pulling you along a little faster. “Unless I want to.”

“Will I be staying here too?”

“Oh shit yeah, we gotta keep you close. Hey boss!” You turned to see Copia jogging your way, his bags slung over his shoulders and his rifle in his hands. “Where should I put her?”

“My room.” It was Copia’s turn to wink at you and your face heated up immediately. “I need to drop my stuff off and then go find Secondo.”

It was busier inside than you had expected. People that you assumed were Ghouls as well greeting everyone as they went inside. Swiss was nearly tackled by a smaller woman and she squealed when he lifted her up to swing her around.

“That’s Aurora.” Sunshine pointed at the woman and then started pointing at various others that were around, rattling off names you had no hope of remembering just yet. “You’ll meet Cumulus and Cirrus later, they’re probably performing right now.”

“Do you perform?”

“Only if Secondo asks nicely.” Your nerves came back at the sound of his name. You were getting more and more scared thinking about meeting him, wondering how he would react to you. “Hey, don’t worry about him. He’s more bark than bite.”

“What about Terzo? Will I meet him too?”

“Not if I can help it.” Copia’s voice was dark at the mention of his brother but you could see Sunshine trying to hide a grin. “Come on, Principessa. Follow me.”

Sunshine gave your shoulder a squeeze before wandering off and dumping her bags on a nearby table. You tried to look around as much as you could while Copia directed you up some stairs and down a hallway. He stopped at a door at the end, shoving a key into the lock before pushing it open and leading you inside.

His room was a lot nicer than you had expected, although it was messy. The unmade bed in the corner was bigger than the one you shared at Ethel’s. Thinking about sharing a bed again had you blushing once more so you quickly looked around at the rest of the space. There were two doors open that led onto a small balcony and when you walked closer you could see another street full of people milling around as the night darkened.

Other than that there was a dresser and a few small tables. All of which were covered with weaponry of some sort. Guns, knives and bullets spread over every surface. As you wandered closer to the large dresser he had you saw a few little trinkets and while you were tempted to poke around you didn’t want to pry into his things too much. This was definitely his space and you were a stranger here.

“Principessa?” You startled at his voice, spinning to find him right behind you with a grin on his face. “What do you think?”

“It’s nice.” He slid an arm around your waist and brought you closer, his eyes focusing on your lips. “Nicer than I expected.”

“Hmm, should I be offended?”

“No, no. It’s just not as bare as I thought it would be.”

“Ah, well perhaps it could use a woman’s touch, eh?” You rolled your eyes when he pressed you back against his dresser. It reminded you of that moment at Ethel’s when you had kissed for the first time. “There’s something else that could use a woman’s touch too.”

“Oh? And what would that b–”

“Fratellino!”

It was Copia’s turn to startle and he quickly shoved you behind him as he turned towards the door. There was a man leaning against the frame, a smirk that was even more infuriating than the ones Copia used to give you on his face. If the smirk didn’t give him away as one of Copia’s brothers the eyes definitely did. Otherwise he couldn’t look more different, his hair was dark, nearly black. His clothes were a lot nicer too. His ensemble was mostly black besides a dark purple waistcoat. Your eyes were also drawn to the shiny star pinned on his chest.

“Terzo. Get the fuck out.”

“Ah, Copia. You don’t mean that.” He wandered into the room, still smirking as his eyes didn’t leave you and Copia. “Won’t you at least introduce me to your bella amica?”

“No. Fuck off.”

“Well I suppose there’s no point in introductions. We all know who she is.” Terzo threw you a wink before wandering over to Copia’s bed and sitting on the edge. You couldn’t help but stare at him, your eyes looking over his bare face wondering if he ever wore makeup like Copia did. “See anything you like, bella?”

“Not really.”

Copia snorted, squeezing your waist briefly before letting you go to walk closer to his brother.

“I can already see you two are a good match.”

“What do you want, Terzo?” Copia had his hands on his hips as he stared down at his brother. “We just got here.”

“SÌ, I know. It wasn’t hard to miss your arrival.” Terzo’s face lost its teasing edge for a moment while he considered his brother. “Secondo wants to see you.”

“He can fuck off too.”

“No fratellino, you need to talk to him. There have been some…developments since we sent Cirrus your way.”

You started nervously fiddling with your shirt as the two spoke, feeling as if you were listening in to a conversation you weren’t supposed to hear.

“I think we ran into some of those developments on the way here. A band of Saltarian’s men attacked us.” Copia turned to walk back over to you but Terzo shot his hand out and grabbed his wrist to stop him. “Che cosa?”

“You’re lucky you only ran into one group of them, there are a lot more and they’re all looking for her.”

You could see Copia bite his lip as he thought over Terzo’s words. The worry lines on his face deepened as well and it took a lot of your self control not to wander over and try to smooth them out with your fingers. Copia looked up and caught your gaze. It bothered you that he didn’t even try to give you a reassuring look.

“Fine. Let’s go.”

“How about I stay here and get to know your lady, hmm?” Terzo grunted when Copia grabbed his vest and yanked him off the bed. “Okay! Lucifer’s balls, you need to lighten up, fratellino.”

Copia shoved him towards the door, watching as he wandered out with one final wink being sent your way. You watched as Copia stared at the door, the only thing moving was his chest as he breathed.

“Copia?”

“Stay here.” His voice was rough, similar to how he talked to you when you first met. You winced at the memory but he quickly spun towards you and held his hands up. “Per favore.”

“Am I safe here?”

“SÌ! SÌ, you are safe here I promise you.” He quickly moved back in front of you and cradled your head in his hands. “I don’t want you on your own just yet. Until I know what’s going on.”

You nodded, closing your eyes when he pressed a few kisses into your forehead. When he pulled away you looked at him, trying to offer him a reassuring smile but knowing it wasn’t really working. He kissed it away, his lips soft against yours. It was easy to get lost in him, to focus on this moment right now and not what might happen in the future. You were embarrassed at how your fingers clutched at his shirt when he backed away.

“I’m sorry. I just…”

“I know, Principessa.” He took your hands and rubbed his thumbs along the back of them before bringing them up so he could kiss along the pads of your fingers. “I’m worried too. Just stay here. Lock the door behind me, yeah?”

“Okie dokie.”

He smiled, moving in for a fierce kiss on your mouth before quickly pulling away and heading out the door. You followed him slowly, watching as he headed down the hall and down the stairs. With a deep breath you finally closed it, turning the lock firmly and then leaning your head against the wood.

At this point you weren’t sure who you should pray to but you decided to say one to whoever might be listening that everything would be ok.

The lure of having a bed to sleep in was too much to resist.

It felt weird to poke around his room when he wasn’t there so at first you just looked out his balcony doors. The city was still alive with people even at how late the hour had become. You found yourself imagining what each person’s life was like as they passed along the street below. It was so different from where you were from, so different from what you were used to. You couldn’t help but imagine yourself living here, thinking about what you might do every day.

Thinking about sharing a life with Copia.

You turned to stare at the door to his room, wondering what was taking him so long. It had been hours at this point and your anxiety was high imagining what Copia and Secondo might be talking about. There was no doubt in your mind that they were talking about you but what did that involve? What had really happened while Saltarian had come here? You shook your head like that action alone would make your worries leave.

There was so much happening, so much to deal with, that it was overwhelming for you. It had to be even worse for Copia. You wished you knew what was going through his head, what he felt like his options were. Saltarian wouldn’t give him the ransom money without also having you in his possession. You clenched your hands into fists at that thought. At how men like your father and Saltarian treated you. Like a thing someone could own, like a trinket to be put on display. You didn’t belong to anyone.

But you did belong with Copia, that you knew. That was something you could feel in your heart. You felt it every time he looked at you. Even when it was that smug smile of his, even when he was teasing you. You felt it when he touched you, when he kissed you. Your only hope was that Copia felt the same.

With a heavy sigh you turned towards his bed, deciding that it would be best to try to get some sleep rather than let your worries take over. You slipped your shoes and pants off before crawling in under the covers. They were a lot softer than you had expected, much more comfortable than the horse blankets you had become used to. Your eyes quickly grew heavy, your mind finally quieting from all your fretting. You fell asleep to the thought of sharing this bed with Copia for many days to come.

The room was bathed in morning light when you woke up again.

There was a slight chill so you found yourself pressing harder against the warm body next to you. Copia had finally come back a few hours after you had climbed into bed. He had stayed quiet, just wrapped his arms around you and held you close. His grip had remained tight throughout the early morning hours, like he was afraid you’d get up and leave if he let go. Your hold on him was equally strong, using him as a shield against your worries.

“You awake, Principessa?”

Instead of answering you turned in his arms and buried your face against him. The dark hair that covered his chest tickled your nose but you stayed still, daring to press a kiss right over the strange tattoo he had. His chest rumbled beneath your lips and in a quick move he rolled so that you were laying under him, his body effectively pinning you onto the bed.

You expected him to tease you but instead of talking his lips immediately were on yours, his tongue pressing against them and demanding entrance. With a soft groan you opened your mouth and flicked your tongue against his. Copia angled his head and deepened the kiss even more, like he was starving and you were the only thing keeping him alive.

The memory of what he had said after his apology creeped into your mind, of how he had promised to make you his when he had you in a bed again. It made you feel bold, he made you feel bold, so you shoved your fingers into his hair and wrapped a leg around his waist. He ground down against you and a much louder groan left you when you felt how hard he was. It pressed insistently against you, right where you needed him the most. When Copia suddenly pulled away you cried out, trying to use your leg to keep him close.

“Copia, please. You sa–”

“I know, I know.” Copia dropped his head into the crook of your neck and you could hear him mumble something in Italian before he pulled up to look into your eyes. “You are a temptress.”

“Is it working?” You weren’t sure when you had become so bold but it was probably somewhere between the farmhouse and the casino. Copia cursed under his breath when you lifted your head up to kiss him along his jaw. “You have me in a bed, in your bed.”

“Do I? I hadn’t noticed.” With a grunt he pressed against you once more, pushing you down into the bedding. “Was there something you needed, Principessa?”

“You.”

His eyes darkened and with a quick move he had you flipped so you were sprawled on top of him. One of his hands was in your hair, his mouth already on yours again. His other hand slid down your back until it stopped on your ass, gripping the flesh tightly and holding you still. You moaned when he spread his legs open and you felt his hardness between your legs again. It was straining against his pants and you wiggled against it, gasping into his mouth when you felt it twitch. He tugged on your hair, pulling you away from his mouth and then turning you so you were both on your sides facing each other.

“I knew I should have slept on the floor.” He chuckled when you tried to pinch his side, easily grabbing your hand and bringing it to his mouth so he could kiss your palm. “Mi dispiace, Principessa. You’ll have to wait a bit longer for me.”

“What?” You pulled away when he tried to kiss you. “Why?”

“I need to leave. And soon.”

Your heart sank and you put your hands on his chest to put some distance between you both.

“Leave? Leave where?”

“Those men we ran into yesterday, that wasn’t the only group of them lurking around.” When you didn’t budge he sighed and rolled over onto his back. “Secondo said there were more of them north of town.”

“Then why are you leaving? Shouldn’t you stay here?”

“You know why.” Copia’s eyes were soft when he turned to look at you. He reached over slowly to cup your cheek. “I have to keep you safe.”

“I feel safest when I’m with you, Copia.”

“You will be safe here, I promise.” He started stroking his thumb back and forth along your cheek. “Sunshine and Aether will be here.”

Your eyes widened briefly, surprised he wouldn’t want to take them along but also a little grateful that you’d have people you knew nearby. You bit your lip and scooted closer to him, resting your chin on his shoulder.

“How long will you be gone?”

“Hopefully not long, two days at the most I think.” His hand on your cheek slid back into your hair and he rubbed his fingers along your scalp. “Stick with Sunshine, she’ll keep you safe.”

“And what about you? Who will keep you safe?”

Copia laughed, the sound doing wonders to calm your nerves. He moved his hand and his fingers started tracing the chain of his grucifix that you still wore.

“Brizio.” You couldn’t help but laugh yourself, shaking your head against his shoulder. After a moment you moved so you could kiss his skin. Pressing your lips onto every freckle you could. “You’re making it very hard for me to leave, Principessa.”

“Good.”

Copia turned again and easily wrapped you up in his arms, holding you close against his chest once more. Tears started to form in your eyes but you squeezed them shut as hard as you could, not wanting him to see how upset you were. You trusted him to stay safe, you trusted whoever he took with him to keep him safe too.

“Stay in here or stay with Sunshine. Avoid Secondo, eh?”

“I don’t even know what he looks like.”

“Trust me, you’ll know him when you see him.”

You huffed against his skin, your nerves spiking while you wondered why you needed to stay away from him at all.

“What about Terzo?”

“Don’t you worry about him.” Copia touched your chin and tilted your head up so he could give you a brief kiss before leaning back and grinning. “I’m taking that stronzo with me.”

Sunshine refused to let you mope in Copia’s room.

A few hours after he left she showed up at your door, a wide grin on her face. The Ghoulette didn’t give you any other option besides going with her so you reluctantly left the safety of Copia’s room and tagged along. The first place you stopped at was a room further down the hall and you could already hear Dewdrop’s grumbling before Sunshine even opened the door. Aether was in there as well, quietly checking on the stitches he had put in the day before.

After a few minutes of Sunshine needling Dew Aether practically shoved the both of you out. Sunshine took you around the halls above the common area, pointing out who stayed where. You had no hope of remembering where everyone’s rooms were, except Copia’s at least. But it was fun to see where everyone lived regardless.

You had hoped to meet Aurora and Cirrus but they had gone with Copia and the others. Sunshine mentioned that Secondo hadn’t been very happy when he found out but honestly it didn’t seem like Secondo was happy about a lot of things. You had so many questions about him, and Terzo, on the tip of your tongue but you decided to keep them to yourself for now. Copia would probably be the better person to ask anyway.

The day progressed slowly, which did little to ease your worries. Sunshine did her best to keep you occupied and you even went back to see Aether for a bit. He helped you redo some of Dew’s stitches when the Ghoul had decided to ignore the fact that he was supposed to stay still. Aether seemed pleased with your work and even Dew was relatively quiet while you finished tying them off. It made you feel good being able to contribute in some way.

It made you feel like you had a place here.

As the day wore on you could tell Sunshine was getting a little bored of babysitting. She also seemed on edge so you imagined that she was also worried, just like you were. It couldn’t be easy to be left behind when your friends were riding into danger. Although friends almost didn’t seem like the best word anymore. It was clear that Copia and his Ghouls had formed a family. You only hoped that someday they would consider you a part of it as well.

When night fell you decided it would be best to head back to Copia’s room. The common area where the Ghouls stayed was getting a little rowdy and Sunshine was fielding a lot of questions regarding your presence. You had no reason to think any of them had ill intentions but it still made you nervous not having Copia at your side to help keep some of them at bay. Sunshine pulled you into a hug when you started to head for the stairs and you found yourself leaning into your embrace.

Perhaps you were already considered family.

The hall towards Copia’s room was quiet but you still found yourself taking careful steps along the wood. When you got inside you turned and gently closed the door, leaning your forehead against it for a moment and taking a few deep breaths. You weren’t looking forward to a night alone but hopefully Copia would be back in the morning.

“So you’re Copia’s Principessa.”

At the sound of the deep voice behind you your blood seemed to freeze. Slowly you turned, knowing that behind you was the one person you were most nervous to meet. He stood in the middle of the room, a much taller figure than you had expected. Again you were struck by the differences between him and his brothers but there was no mistaking what the different colored eyes symbolized.

There was no doubt that this was Secondo Emeritus.

“I-yes. Yes.” You winced when your voice cracked, knowing that he was probably the type of guy that quickly cataloged every little reaction people had around him. “Is Copia ok?”

“I would imagine so considering there’s nothing out there for him to find.”

“What?” You pressed your back against the door. It felt like you needed as much distance as possible from this man but you had no idea why. “I thought there were more of Saltarian’s men?”

“I have no doubt that there are, but they aren’t in the direction I sent him.” His voice was calm, almost bored as he spoke. “But it was an easy way to separate him from you. I knew he wouldn’t sit idly by if he was worried for your safety.”

“Why did you need to separate us?”

“Because I need to talk with you one on one without mio fratellino interfering.” Secondo took a few steps towards you making you wish you had more room to back up. “Because I need you gone before he gets back.”

“Gone?”

He snorted, shaking his head in annoyance at your question. You were sure that to him you were just some stupid city girl, much like how Copia originally thought of you.

“You don’t even know what you’ve done, do you?”

A flash of anger flared inside of you and you took a step towards him, feeling a moment of bravery.

“What I’ve done? Copia is the one that kidnapped me!”

“I’m aware of that but it seems circumstances have changed, don’t you agree?” He shoved his hands in his pockets as he stared you down. “From what I’ve been told you two have gotten…close.”

“That’s none of your business.”

With a snarl Secondo moved towards you and you once more felt the door against your back.

“No, Principessa, it is my business. Copia’s idiotic plan has put my livelihood at risk. It has put my family at risk. And for what? An easy fuck with some stupid girl.”

“It’s not just…we haven’t…” You stopped, unable and unwilling to finish what you were going to say. “He cares about me.”

“Does he? Or does he just care about what you can get him?” Secondo laughed when you didn’t answer right away. “I’ve known him a lot longer than you have. I know what motivates him, I know why he does what he does.”

Your mind was racing, trying to cling to every moment you and Copia had shared. What Secondo was implying wasn’t true, it couldn’t be true. You refused to give in to those thoughts.

“I don’t think you know him at all.”

“Think whatever you like, it doesn’t matter. Whatever you think is going on between you two is over. You need to leave.”

“No! I’m not leaving him.”

“Let me ask you this, do you care about him?”

“I…” You took a deep breath and straightened your shoulders, refusing to look scared in front of him. “I love him.”

“Then you have to leave.” Secondo held up a hand when you opened your mouth, stopping you from arguing with him. “Saltarian was here, as I’m sure you heard. He’s decided to use your kidnapping as a way to destroy us once and for all.”

“How?”

“You’re more than a business pawn to him now. You’re a way for him to be rid of the Church of Emeritus forever. He’s going to keep sending men after Copia, after you, and he doesn’t care if you get caught in the crossfire.”

“Why not?”

“Because he’ll blame it on Copia, on our church that barely exists anymore. He’ll use it as an excuse to burn everything we’ve rebuilt.” Secondo seemed to deflate a bit, his shoulders sagging under some invisible weight. “He’ll kill us all.”

“And if I go?”

“He agreed that if I could get you to him he would leave us be.” He let out a humorless laugh and looked around Copia’s room. “Unless provoked.”

“Copia will come after me.”

“Then you’ll have to convince him not to.” He pointed over to a small table against the wall and you saw a pen sticking out of an ink well. It was obvious he’d brought it with him. “Write him a letter, tell him you’d rather be with Saltarian.”

“He won’t believe me!”

“I’m not going to let you destroy what has taken me a decade to build. I don’t care what you write, whatever it takes to make him think you don’t want him anymore.”

You sagged against the door, gripping the handle to keep yourself from falling onto the floor. Tears were streaming down your face but you didn’t bother wiping them off. Your hand came up to your chest and you clutched at the grucifix from where it was hiding under your shirt.

“Please, I don’t want to go.”

“What did you actually think would happen here? Did you think you’d find a job dealing cards or serving drinks?” Secondo took a few steps closer, towering over you. “Can you sing? Can you dance?”

“No, bu–”

“You don’t belong here, girl. With Copia or with us. Stop fooling yourself if you think he feels the same way about you.” He held a hand out then and you stared at the worn black leather glove that covered it. “If you love him you need to leave.”

“When?”

“Now. They will be back in the morning I’m sure.”

You nodded, pressing your hands against the floor to push yourself back up, refusing to accept his help.

“Where should I go?”

“South, the road you came in on.” You felt his eyes on you as you wandered over to the table, your hands trembling as you picked up the pen and held it above the paper he had left there. “There will be men waiting to take you to Saltarian.”

“And Copia?”

Secondo already had his hand on the door handle but he turned towards you when you spoke.

“What about him?”

“Will he…will he be ok?”

Would he be safe? Would Saltarian leave him alone, would he leave all of you alone?

Would he miss you?

Secondo spent a few moments watching you, his face set in stone.

“He’ll get over it.”

The ‘over you’ was obvious so you just nodded, turning away from him to stare down at the blank sheet of paper. More tears were falling and you didn’t want Secondo to see them. You gripped the grucifix again, tracing the stones with your thumb through the fabric of your shirt. When the door closed behind you it was as if all the strength left your body and you fell to your knees to weep for the life you almost had.

Copia wanted to go home.

Although he wasn’t sure if he had ever felt like The Ministry was home. It was just someplace to keep what few things he owned. To gather with the Ghouls and to plan whatever scheme against Saltarian he came up with next. The main reason he wanted to get off the fucking road and go back there was you. He was pissed that he had left you but Secondo hadn’t given him much of a choice.

The conversation with his brothers hadn’t gone well. Like Copia expected, Secondo was pissed over the kidnapping. But he had never felt the fire Copia did to get revenge on Saltarian. He had never understood why Copia had dedicated the last ten years to taking him down. It was so close to being over with though, Copia was so close to feeling peace for the first time in so long. His soul ached for it.

Just like it ached for you.

He glanced around the campfire, irritated that Terzo had insisted on stopping for the night. There hadn’t been a damn sign of any of Saltarian’s men. Rain had rode ahead countless times but each time he had come back with nothing. Not a single sign that any men had been around those parts recently. That fact was eating at Copia, a feeling he couldn’t shake and it kept getting worse as the hours wore on.

“Sunshine’ll take care of her boss. She’ll be fine.”

Copia nodded towards Swiss, appreciating the Ghoul trying to reassure him. It wasn’t too long ago that a moment like this would have made him feel weak. That his feelings towards you would have made him feel weak. All of that had been changing though, especially since leaving Ethel’s. You had carved a place for yourself inside of his chest. He closed his eyes for a moment, letting himself picture you in his bed in nothing but a baggy shirt and his grucifix laying over your heart.

Fuck this.

He stood up and grabbed his blanket off the ground, throwing it over his shoulder as he picked up what little else he had around him.

“Boss?”

“I’m leaving.”

Copia stepped over Swiss’s legs to make his way over to Brizio but he stopped at the sound of Terzo’s voice.

“You seem impatient fratellino, is there somewhere else you’d rather be right now?” Terzo grinned when Copia shot him a look. “Or maybe it’s someone you’d rather be with? I can’t say I blame you.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“Salty’s fiancé. I can see why you stayed away for so long.”

“We stayed away because you told us to.”

“Oh that was Secondo, I didn’t really give a fuck.” Terzo laughed at Copia’s irritated face. “Che cosa? A little excitement never hurt anyone.”

“The only excitement you seem to enjoy anymore takes place in a bed.”

“Or a couch, a chair, a table…I’m not picky.” Copia just rolled his eyes and started moving towards his horse again, only stopping when Terzo stood up and went after him. “This girl, your ‘Principessa’, she’s very beautiful.”

“Is she?”

Copia stayed absolutely still as he waited for Terzo to continue. The chatter from the Ghouls around them had stopped, everyone seeming to be waiting to see where Terzo was going with this.

“Don’t play coy, she’s exactly the type of girl you always go for.”

“I’m not ‘going’ for her. She’s here for a specific purpose, that’s all.”

“Really? I could have sworn there was something else going on between you both.” Copia stayed quiet, unwilling to play whatever game Terzo wanted to start. His brother grinned when Copia didn’t immediately take the bait. “In that case you won’t mind if she and I become better acquainted, will you?”

Copia heard one of the Ghouls mutter ‘oh fuck’ but it was quiet enough he couldn’t pinpoint who. He turned so he was facing Terzo head on, he had an infuriating smile on his face and it just seemed to grow as he watched Copia’s reaction.

“Mi scusi?”

“I just figured there will be a few days before we can set up a rendezvous with Saltarian’s men so what’s the harm if she and I have some fun?” Terzo laughed when Copia grabbed the front of his shirt. “What’s the problem?”

“You don’t get to touch her.”

“And what if I do? What if I touch her just how she wants and she makes some pretty noises for me?” Terzo ignored every warning sign he had ever learned about his younger brother and kept going. “What if she chooses m—cazzo!”

Copia’s fist was swift and powerful when it landed on Terzo’s chin. The crack echoed around the small camp followed by the sounds of more blows landing. He was like a man possessed as he shoved Terzo onto his back and slammed his fist into his face again and again. Swiss and Mountain rushed over, grabbing at Copia’s arms but he shoved them away, snarling something dark when Terzo laughed. Swiss finally shoved his entire body into Copia’s side and managed to knock him over.

“Belial, Copia stop!”

“Get off me!” Copia was wild as he tried to get his friend off of him. “I’ll fucking kill him!”

“Awfully testy over a bargaining chip, fratellino!”

Terzo’s taunting words just had Copia fighting harder and Cirrus came over to try to help keep him on the ground.

“Satan’s dick Terzo, just shut the fuck up.”

The man just flashed Cirrus a bloodstained grin before wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

“I just wanted to see if I was right or not.”

Copia stopped fighting for a moment, lifting his head off the ground to look at his brother.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I told Secondo you had fallen for this girl. I could tell.”

“Why does it matter?”

Swiss and Cirrus let Copia sit up, staying close in case he went after his brother again.

“Well it changes things, doesn’t it? If you like her.”

Copia was silent because Terzo was right, it did change things. He hadn’t wanted to think about how his plan would have to change after his feelings for you did. Mostly he just wanted to get to the casino, to get you someplace safe, before he worried about anything else.

Before he told you how he really felt.

There was something about the look on Terzo’s face that worried him. A look that always seemed to precede bad news ever since they were kids.

“What did you do?”

“Well again, this was mostly Sec–”

“Terzo what the fuck did you do?!”

His hand was shaking as he held your note.

The grucifix was in his other hand, the stones glittering in the morning light. He had been reading your words over and over, trying to absorb them. Trying to get them to make some sort of sense but his brain refused to work. It was like his entire body had shut down. Thanks to Terzo he knew that you had written it under Secondo’s direction but it still hurt. It hurt to see you write that you didn’t want to be with him, that you felt your life would be better with Saltarian.

Even if you didn’t mean it, he was determined now to prove you wrong.

“Let her go, Copia.”

He crumpled the note in his hand as he turned to glare at Secondo. Copia could feel the bite from the chain of his grucifix even through his glove.

“Fuck you.”

Secondo narrowed his eyes while he took a few steps towards him. When he saw Copia’s hand drift towards his gun belt he stopped and threw his hands up in exasperation.

“Really? Over some stupid girl?” He shook his head as he looked his brother over, his eyes finally falling on the grucifix. “Don’t tell me you gave that to her.”

“What I do is none of your fucking concern, fratello.” Copia started towards the door, shoving the grucifix in his pocket and dropping the note. Secondo grabbed his arm as he attempted to pass him and Copia shoved him back with a snarl. “Touch me again and you’ll regret it.”

“You and Terzo are both fools. Giving something like that to any pretty face willing to share your bed.”

Behind Secondo Copia could see Sunshine and Swiss waiting in the hallway, the both of them ready to follow Copia wherever he went.

“Where did she go?”

“Where she belongs!”

Copia shook his head and moved past his brother again, nodding at Sunshine and Swiss as he went by. He could hear their footsteps close behind him and when he got to the bottom of the steps he was happy to see the rest of his Ghouls ready to go as well.

“Rain and Mountain already headed out to find her trail.” Sunshine’s voice was tight with worry behind him and he turned to meet her eyes. “Copia I’m sor–”

“It’s fine, it’s not your fault.” She nodded but didn’t look very convinced. He turned to see Aether arguing with Dewdrop, probably trying to convince the man he shouldn’t be riding with his wound. Right now Copia didn’t care, who knew where you were at this point? He needed all the help he could get. “You two get the horses ready.”

They quickly headed out the door and Copia was left in the common room with Sunshine and Swiss. He stiffened when the stairs started creaking behind him as Secondo followed them down.

“If you go after her you doom us all.”

“We’re already doomed. If you think Saltarian wouldn’t eventually come after us you’re a fool.”

“What makes this girl worth it? Why are you willing to risk your life, to risk all of our lives for her?”

Copia turned to stare at his brother, feeling the eyes of the other Ghouls on him. He was sure now. Sure about how he felt for you. Sure that you were his and that he was yours.

Sure that he would kill anyone that hurt you.

“Because I love her.”

Go to Chapter 12: Diavolessa

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