#there are usually a few more plants that live on this table that got cleared off for photo op purposes

[recurring-polynya]

Double feature today on the houseplant spotlight, except not really, because both of these are Peperomia obtusifolia, or baby rubber plants. The one on the right is the 'Golden' variety, the one on the right wasn't labeled, but it might be an 'Alba'?? It's not really important.

I love these little guys! They like low, filtered light, and to dry out between waterings. Non-toxic to animals. They've both been growing very well since I got them-- I actually have two more of these because I split them when I replanted them out of the pots they came in.

There are lots and lots of Peperomia species, which are broadly known as radiator plants, because they do well on a window sill above a radiator (a thing I have a lot of in my house). I'd really like to get a watermelon peperomia some day!

I also want to show off this cool 70's lamp-end table that I got from my parents. This was in our house growing up, and I definitely did not think it was cool when I was a teen. Recently, I noticed it because my mom had put it up in my old room, which is the guest room where we stay when we visit, and I was like "can I have that???" and she was like "PLEASE." I popped a GE led lightbulb in it, which just screws into a standard lamp socket. I've got it on a timer, so it's on most of the time, but it's an LED, so it only uses a little electricity, plus it's a really nice quality of light. These bulbs don't provide a whole lot of light more than a few inches away, but it's just perfect for a low-light plant to live in one of my house's many dark corners. (not shown: the piece of aluminum foil I have on top of the lamp shade to reflect as much light as possible back down).

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

The Man 2

Warnings: non/dubcon, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

Character: mob!Lloyd Hansen

Summary: a demanding customer complicates more than your work life.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging.

A few days pass as the humiliation of your big lesson clings in the air. You think about it too much. Enough that you find yourself cringing to yourself on your bike ride home or even when lying in bed. You’ve never been the most socially adept so the encounter leaves you reeling.

As you help Bre with opening, you feel your heartbeat pick up once more. You need to chase the elephant from the room. You puff out and wet your lips as you glance over at her. She measures out grinds into the silver machine as her eyes pinpoint on the task.

“Um, so, Bre,” you approach her warily with a fresh sleeve of cups, “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Mm,” she grumbles groggily. She’s on her second coffee already and she only just got there twenty minutes ago.

“So, um, that guy, from the other day,” you rub your boiling neck, “with the mustache. You said he’s the boss. So he owns this place?”

She scoffs and rolls her eyes as she shuts the lid of the machine and turns the silver dial on the front. She shakes her head as the machine starts to brew and she plants her hand on the counter in front of it. She faces you, her other hand going to her hip.

“Mr. Hansen? Lloyd. Hansen.” She enunciates as if you should know the name.

Your lips downturn and you shrug, “is that his name?”

“Are you new in town?” She asks hotly.

You nod, “yeah, actually. I used to live about forty minutes out of town but there was nothing there--”

“It shows,” she retorts, “he owns this shop, he owns the street outside, he owns me, he owns you. He owns this city. Got it?”

You hum and nod as you look thoughtfully to the ceiling, “not really. But he’s important, got it.”

“Just if he comes back in, come get me and say as little as you can. And please, for the love of god, do not ask him for money,” she snips.

“Oh, alright,” you deflate, “I didn’t know--”

“Now you do. Just trust me when I tell you, you don’t want to fuck around with him. If he tells you to pour boiling water on yourself, you’re better off just doing it,” she sneers.

You wince, “okay, sorry, Bre, I was just asking.”

“You ask too many questions,” she turns and goes into the backroom. She returns, dangling a keyring from her finger, “open up. It’s time.”

You take the key and go to unlock the door and flip on the sign. You retreat back behind the counter, swallowed up by the tension between you. You regret asking. You thought it might help clear the air but now you can barely breathe.

When the first customer enters, you volunteer to help them. Bre just mutters and slurps from her coffee. She might have less of a headache if she takes it easy on the caffeine. You don’t say as much to her, nothing really at all as you work through order after order.

She hops onto prep as you man the till while the queue grows. The morning rush is in full effect as you slide baked goods into little paper sleeves and hand them over before sending customers down to the window to wait for their drinks. The hectic flow helps you forget about the awkward start.

When at last the crowd trickles down and the cafe hums with voices sitting at the tables, you have a moment to catch your breath and center yourself. You like this job, it’s just like your last one, but the company isn’t as pleasant. Bre taps her thumb on her phone screen and ignores you.

The ebbs come with hide tides and soon lunch has you scrambling once more. The smell of toasted bread and cinnamon has your stomach grumbling. You’re too busy to let the emptiness bother you for long. When high noon influx subsides, Bre yawns.

“Lunch,” she announces, “I’m going to head down to Tabitha’s. They’re having a clearance sale.”

“Oh, alright,” you agree, not mentioning that she said earlier you could go first, “I’ll be here.”

She doesn’t respond as she disappears into the back to get her things. You hear her leave through the side door that leads through to the alley. You sigh out and watch the sit-in customers on their laptops or chatting with friends.

You resist the temptation of the tarts staring at you from the display. You can hold out until it’s your turn. The door jingles and a new customer enters. You’re too fixated on the painting of a latte to glance over. Not until you sense the sudden shift in the air. Several people quiet and pack up to go.

Footfalls scuff across the floor and customers leave their unfinished drinks on the table as they hurry for the door. You peer around then at the approaching shadow. It’s him. Oh no. Bre isn’t here.

“Um, hello, Mr. Hensen,” you smile shakily, “how are you?”

He stares at you as he comes to stand across the till from you. His blue eyes darken as he lets a long exhale out through his nose. You gulp and your cheeks tremble. He tilts his head and arches a brow.

“Hansen,” he corrects.

“Right, Floyd Hansen, I remember--”

“Lloyd,” he hits his fist on the counter and you gasp. “Lloyd fucking Hansen.” He leans forward and bares his teeth, “get that through that thick fucking skull.” He reaches for you, grabbing the front of your shirt, “you won’t forget who I am.”

“I’m s-sorry, I’m bad with names--”

“Shut up,” he twists the fabric until it strains against the back of your neck, “if you weren’t so goddamn pathetic, I’d drag you across this counter.”

Your eyes round and you bat your lashes. He’s only an inch away from you. You shiver as he opens his hand and presses the vee of his index and thumb to your throat. You’re frozen, terrified. Who is this man?

“Get me my fucking coffee,” he squeezes then shoves you so you choke.

You stumble back and bring your hand to your neck. You nod, eyes glittering with unspent tears, and look around. You can’t remember what he ordered. You’ll just have to make something up. Or maybe you could just sneak out like Bre...

[fumekara]

MORE THAN ANYTHING 

Kento Nanami x Gn reader 

n/a: English is not my first language, besides, this Fic comes from a draft taken some time ago. I hope you enjoy it. It is my first time back to writing in a long time. 

Tw: Just pure fluff and soft sfw, I would like to specify that this post does not contain any type of sexual content. The title is inspired by HH's song. 

WC: 1.1K

That night you could not fall asleep.

After turning yourself several times on the sheets of the bed, on which you had lain a couple of hours before, you looked at the half-open door through which a dim light filtered from the living room, giving the bedroom a thread of light in the darkness of the night.

You hoped your man would decide to drop the papers and paperwork he often brought home from work and come to bed with you, wrapping you in his arms so you could finally sleep in complete bliss as you usually did.

"I'll be right with you, it won't take long," he had told you when you proposed to sleep with him after you both went through a long day at work.

However, this was one of those evenings when Kento would spend hours on the kitchen table filling out paperwork late into the night. Although he hated office work, he was always diligent and meticulous when it came to completing his tasks.

It was a characteristic that made you feel proud of the man you loved, yet no matter how responsible and careful he was in managing his time and energy, you were sure he was beginning to place less importance on his rest. You wanted so much for him to give up those silly practices and take the rest he deserved.

After staring at the ceiling for an hour, you sat on your side of the bed, shivering from the sudden cold due to the lack of blankets, and looking at the bedside table you saw that 00:50 was written on the screen. And even today he worked late 

You got up and, making as little noise as possible, took small steps towards the living room.

Kento was writing something on his laptop, surrounded by a pile of papers divided into folders of various kinds lit by the light of the monitor and the lamp you kept in the corner of the kitchen.

He noticed your presence and gave you a small, tired smile, giving your heart some warmth.

"Are you still awake, love?" He asked as he leaned against the back of the chair.

"I could tell you the same thing," you replied a little sleepily, returning the smile and moving closer to the blond. As sorry as you are that he was exhausted from work, you couldn't help but think about how handsome he was. Even though you'd been together for a few years, the love you felt for this man had always had that effect on you. I've been waiting for you,' you said, heading towards him. 

You sit on his lap and he wraps his big arms around you, you notice that the sleeves of his shirt are rolled up and show off his forearms, something he always did when he came home. Leaning his head on your shoulder and inhaling deeply, he loses himself in your scent and warmth. Suddenly all the tiredness he had put aside to work on his papers came over him like a wave of a stormy sea, but the fact that you were there with him gave him a feeling of comfort.

He always felt at home with you. 

"I'm sorry Y/N". He rubbed his head in the crook of your neck "I was late again without me noticing" he said, planting a chaste kiss on an exposed spot on your shoulder.

Gently you brushed his hair back with one hand, while with the other you closed the laptop he was working on just now, making it clear that it was time for him to take the rest he so richly deserved.

"Come to sleep, Kento, it's not good for you to stay here late and I miss you," you said as you rested your head on his soft hair on your cheek.

"I know, you're right," he lifted his chin, placing a kiss on your neck, "I don't like leaving you alone either."

Lifting your head slightly, you turned to stare at him, touching his cheek lovingly as you looked intently into his eyes.

Pure love

You couldn't have found any other words to describe the way he looked at you whenever you were in situations like this, alone, with no one else to interrupt you, without Gojo, just the two of you. He made you feel loved, important, and you often thought back to the moment you realized you had fallen in love with him.

As a result, Nanami couldn't understand how he could have you in his life, how lucky he was to have you and how much he regretted making you go through nights like this when he left you alone. He felt selfish and the only thing he wanted at that moment was to go to bed and wrap you in his arms with your head against his chest. 

You remained in that position for a long time, a wonderful feeling for both of you. He placed his face on yours and then gave you a kiss on the cheek savoring the aroma.

Without saying anything, you got up from his lap, took his hand without taking your eyes off his and, after switching off the lights, slowly guided him towards your shared bedroom.

"I'm sorry I don't spend much time with you," he said as he shed his work clothes, "I don't want you to stay up because of me, but I appreciate you doing so." After slipping into his sweatpants, he settled next to you in bed as you wrapped him with the quilt.

"You don't have to apologize for working so hard, you have done and are doing a great job. I just want you not to overdo the work, everyone deserves a break and you especially." After turning off the lights you lie down beside him and feel him encircling your waist with his arm "Don't think you are being mean to me Kento, you always do so much for me, you show me that every day and remind me every time you look at me." 

In the darkness you could glimpse his small smile that made your heart melt.

"Come here," he told you as he felt butterflies in his stomach, as if he had managed to fall in love with you even more than before.

More than anything. 

You felt his grip envelop you even more as you brought faces closer and met lips in a chaste, soft, pure kiss. 

When you pulled away, you rested your head on his chest and closed your eyes.

"I love you Y/N."

"I love you too, darling." 

You both fell asleep wrapped in bliss.

[xas24]

birthday boy ~ pedri

summary: a birthday where it's just pedri and his girlfriend.

the sun peaked through the curtains, throwing itself towards the bed and coating it in its warmth. it shone on y/ns face and she scrunched her nose, squinting her eyes against the light. her eyes slowly opened and she rubbed the sleep out of them with her palm.

once her vision cleared, she took a peak at the time and realised there was only a few minutes until pedris alarm went off and he had to go to early morning training. she huffed but a smile crept up onto her lips when she read the date. 25 november.

she instantly turned around in bed, thrashing against the sheets as she turned to her boyfriend who slept peacefully, curled up in a ball, making him look extremely kissable right now. y/n leaned forward and started pressing soft kisses to his cheek to wake him up, feeling all too giddy and happy.

“wake up, pepi.” she whispered close to his ear. pedri felt her voice tickle the skin at his ear and instantly scrunched his shoulder into it with furrowed brows. the pecked kisses returned on his cheek and he felt himself slowly waking up to the unexpected affection he was being showered in this morning.

he opened his eyes and his girlfriends face was the first in his blurred vision, which he cleared by blinking a few times. her smiley face came into view and he immediately smiled too.

“happy birthday, amorrrr.” she whispered in her raspy morning voice and pedri then realised why she was so giddy this morning. honestly, he’d forgotten today was his birthday and he usually paid no mind to it, but this was his second birthday with his girlfriend and he had to get used to all this attention.

his arms came up to wrap around her waist, engulfing her body with his strong arms as he pulled her closer to his own body.

“gracias, cariño.” (thank you, darling) he whispered with closed eyes and a hint of a smile. he was tired and wanted to sleep some more with his girl now in his arms. as he was reaching down to plant a kiss on her cheek, the sound of his alarm rang throughout their room and he internally groaned at the horrific sound.

pedri sighed and reached over to turn it off. y/n groaned to herself, not wanting him to leave the comfort of their bed especially on his birthday, a day where he deserved to sleep in for a while and wake up to a delicious breakfast. however, y/n understood that it was his work and he couldn't stay - it was only a few hours anyway.

pedri looked down at his girlfriend, looking so warm and cosy under the big blankets and all he wanted to do was stay here for the rest of the day. her hair was all over the place and the tiredness crept up to her in her eyes, but he couldn't deny she was still the most beautiful thing he's ever laid eyes on. he gave her an apologetic look to which she just slightly smiled and pecked his cheek.

“have fun at training, birthday boy.” her voice was low as she repeatedly pecked his skin, not wanting to move from this position.

“don't wanna go.” he almost whined, lazily wrapping his arm around her body again and tightening his hold.

“querido, you have to. i'll be here when you come back and we can do whatever you want.” she promised him, knowing it'll be just the two of them today. his family won't be coming in from tenerife for another two days, and pedri let out a relieved sigh at the thought of having her all to himself for his birthday.

•••

it was about three and a half hours later when pedri got home, announcing his arrival with a shout as he opened the door. he dropped his training bag on the floor and hung his keys up before eagerly making his way throughout the house in search of his girlfriend.

y/n stood in the living room after just having set everything up. pedri walked in and his jaw dropped open in shock before being replaced with a grin at the sight before him.

a small chocolate cake sat on the table, with a huge, silver 21 balloon floating beside it. a few candles were also burning around the room, instilling the environment with a warm ambience but also not making the room look too dark.

it was nothing big, but nothing too small either as y/n knew pedri wasn't a big fan of over-the-top parties. it was perfect, and just the two of them.

she watched the grin appear on his lips, mirroring her own. the blush was gradually arising onto his cheeks too, and not just from the fact that he'd just ran around the field in training. his heart was beating much faster and he felt as though it could burst at any moment, especially when he saw her wearing one of his more recent hoodies from his springfield collection. it looked even better on her, he realised.

pedri looked at y/n, stared at her, and she only watched him with a little smile on her face as she made her way over. he caught her in a hug, wrapped his arms around her waist whilst she snuggled her face into his shoulder and neck, taking in his familiar perfume and savouring it.

“happy birthday again.” her voice wavered as her head was still pounding by the attractive smell of his perfume. she loved it so damn much, couldn’t get enough of it.

“thank you, but you didn't have to do all this.”

“shhh, this is nothing. just wait for your family to arrive. your brother is going to go crazy.” she murmured and he laughed into her shoulder, emitting a small snicker from her too.

y/n leaned back from the hug and her eyes came into contact with his. the gratitude and love and devotion was swimming in his brown eyes as he stared at her and she loved the way his gaze heated her body, filled it with warmth and his adoration.

she loved how it made her feel as though she was the most precious person in the whole world.

which she was, to him.

she leaned up to plant a kiss to his lips and he returned it with just as much happiness and ecstasy and passion. their lips slotted against each other, and pedri breathily sighed at the butterflies that were flapping around in his stomach. his fingers tightened around her waist, her hands moved up to tangle themselves in his hair and everything was just perfect.

they kissed for a few moments, drowning in each others presence and basking in the shared heat of the moment.

however, before they could get anymore carried away, y/n leaned back almost breathless. the smile on her lips and the love radiating off her features brought him nothing but happiness, and he didn't care about any parties or presents or endless happy birthdays.

all he wanted was her. his best gift in life.

“you need to cut your cake! i made it myself.” he laughed as she grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the coffee table where a small cake sat, iced to perfection and the rich smell of chocolate practically made his mouth water.

he should tell her that he shouldn't break his diet, but the proud smile on her face told him otherwise.

maybe he could break his diet just for today, a small bite just to please her.

[stayevildarling]

can you write billiexdeliaxwilhemina (love your stories) with reader suffering from bad panic attacks?

Billie Dean Howard x Wilhemina Venable x Cordelia Goode x Reader- Breathe sweetheart

A/N: again I have no idea what happened here. I got carried away by writing about their chemistry and Billie and Mina roasting each other so. Again tried to proofread this a few times but it's too long. I'm sorry for any mistakes

tw: anxiety, panic attacks, agoraphobia, cursing, smut (choking, mommy kink, praise kink)

word count: 10k 😅

taglist: @lunaticwhittaker, @billiebeanhoward, @lanawinters-ily, @kenzbro, @minaslittleone, @httpfiftyshadesofgay,@whitelotus00, @ninaahs, @vintagepaulson,@isle-of-earle,@paulsonsratched, @stepintomyworld, @grilledcheeseandguavajelly, @lucyintheskywithxanax, @fanfics4world, @mymiraclewitch, @hazard-to-myself, @awritersometime

The anticipation had been building up all day, it was Saturday which meant date night. It eventually became your routine, the four of you deciding to clear your schedules to spend the day in the company of each other. This week it was Billie's turn to decide and she had booked a table somewhere, deciding on a nice dinner together. Cordelia was usually the one opting for dinner, whether home cooked meals or going somewhere. Billie often chose fun things like karaoke bars, while Wilhemina and you opted for things inside of the walls of your home, board game nights or movie marathons.

The last few hours you spent planning your outfit, showering, applying just a little but the right amount of makeup. As you perfect little bits of your makeup, you feel a rush of excitement as you look forward to the fun evening ahead. ,,You look beautiful darling'' Delia told you as she brushed past you after you finished in the shower, despite wearing nothing but a towel around your body and head. ,,Exactly my point'' she whispered and you simply chuckled.

,,I like that colour on you little one'' Mina admitted, as she fetched something, slipping into the room and seeing the lilac underwear you chose. As you finish, you make your way down the staircase, eventually finding your three girlfriends in the living room. You take in their features, Billie wearing a silk blouse, skirt, her signature pearl necklace and some heels finishing her look. As you glance at Cordelia, she chose a long flowery dark dress, complimenting her beautiful features. Smiling softly, your eyes at last meet Wilhemina's opting for a lilac set and you couldn't adore her more for how predictable the choice was.

,,You look beautiful sweetheart'' Cordelia tells as she approaches you, pressing a gentle kiss on your cheek. Wilhemina can't help but smirk, not being able to focus on your outfit much as the only thing on her mind was the purple underwear and thinking about all the things she was going to do about that later that night. As Billie grabs her keys, complementing your looks, you all groan a little, not pleased the medium was going to drive. ,,You may as well cancel the reservation Howard, driving with you is going to get us all killed before we get there'' Wilhemina remarks and you can't help but burst out laughing. Billie simply rolls her eyes and shoots you a little glance before dragging the three of you out of the house.

It was true, Billie was somewhat a reckless driver, safe of course but the three of you often joked about her driving getting you all injured. Delia was the safest driver you had ever met and so damn slow, as a result you liked driving with Wilhemina, she wasn't exactly calm and knowing to road rage but she always drove safe and carefully, without going under or over the speed limit. Settling into the backseat, Wilhemina taking a seat next to Billie due to her back, you find Delia sitting next to you.

,,How are you feeling baby?'' she whispers into your ear while planting kisses down your face. ,,I'm good, excited'' you squeal a little and for the remainder of the short drive, she holds your hand, enjoying the quiet and little moments with you.

After a little while you make it there and after five attempts Billie finally found a parking spot, refusing to parallel park to the point where Wilhemina was going to make her get out of the car and do it herself and Cordelia even offering to use her magic to help out the medium a little. Delia and you chuckle as you walk towards the entrance, watching Billie and Mina jokingly fight about the redhead driving back home and the medium refusing.

As Billie walks inside, letting the hostess know about the reservation, you take in the setting and atmosphere. It was definitely high end but in a casual way. You liked the artwork on the walls, the chandeliers and the smell definitely clouded your mind for a second. ,,Sweetie, you coming?'' Delia asks, chuckling at you being a little distracted before you quickly follow after her.

After sitting down next to Wilhemina, your other two lovers across from you, the ambiance fills with lively chatter. Billie opts for wine which the three of you agree to. The conversations quiets down for a moment as you all inspect the menu. ,,Found something little one?'' Wilhemina asks gently and you nod and smile, finding her brown eyes meeting yours.

After a little while the aroma of the delicious food hits your taste buds and you can't help but let out a little moan of approval. ,,That good hm?'' Billie teases, causing for your cheeks to grow red a little. As you listen to your three girlfriends talk about the week prior, you can't help but feel a sense of contentment wash over you. The prospect of spending quality time with your loved ones fills you with warmth and happiness.

You listen intently to the supreme talking about the academy, how well most of the girls are doing, some council things. Billie rambling about her show and some fashion designer launch she was very excited for. Mina was usually more quiet, not sharing things about her work or days unless asked to. But Cordelia knowing this by now, makes sure to include her and you in the conversations.

As the meal progresses, a sense of unease begins to creep in, a gnawing sensation in the pit of your stomach that refused to be ignored. You try to push it down, hiding your trembling hands underneath the table, ignoring the banging of your heart against your chest. Trying hard to push it aside, you try to focus on the conversation and laughter flowing around you, but the feeling only seems to grow stronger with each passing moment.

And then, without warning, it hit you like a fright train, a tidal wave of panic crashing over you with such force that you feel as though you are growing in it's wake. The room starts spinning, your legs shaking and your head keeps telling you ,,You are going to faint''. Your heart continues to race, your breathing coming in short, shallow gasps as you struggle to hold onto reality.

Your gaze lingers on Billie and Cordelia laughing and talking softly, however it doesn't help. ,,Breathe'' you think to yourself, this feeling definitely not being a stranger and trying your best to think back to your methods. However all you wanted to do was run away, get up and run somewhere, escaping the situation and how you are feeling in this moment. Not wanting to spoil dinner, you try to open your mouth to excuse yourself to the bathroom but no words come out. Clutching your hands together, fiddling with your rings, in an attempt to make this go away.

However it was no use and your girlfriends aren't oblivious. Delia, Billie and Mina notice the sudden shift in your demeanour, their expressions shifting from lighthearted to concerned in an instant.

,,Are you okay?'' Delia asks, her voice filled with worry as she reaches out to touch your hands

But you can't bring yourself to answer, the panic gripping you in its vice-like grip, squeezing the air from your lungs and leaving you slightly gasping for your breath. You try to push through it, force yourself to calm down but the harder you fought, the more intense the panic becomes.

Unable to reach your hand, Cordelia meets Wilhemina's gaze sitting next to you and suddenly you feel her hand taking your own, gasping a little bit. ,,Little one, you are trembling'' she states, looking at Billie and Cordelia unsure what to do or say.

Cordelia's mind tries to take her back to anything she had missed, anything she is currently missing and then it dawns on her. You had mentioned this before, your panic attacks years ago before meeting them and how they got better. She connects the dots after seeing your pale and slightly panicked expression, the trembling hands and legs shacking underneath the table. As your chest heaves a little she leans forward ,,Sweetheart breathe'' she instructs and as you meet her gaze she figures you need to get out of this situation.

,,Come on, let's get some fresh air'' she instructs, leaning down to Wilhemina and Billie before whispering ,,It's okay, I think its a panic attack'' she explains, worry overwashing the medium and redheads expressions.

,,Can you walk?'' Cordelia asks softly as you brush past Wilhemina with shaky legs. You simply nod, despite your legs still feeling wobbly. She takes your hand into her own, holding it tightly before leading you outside. As the cold air hits your features you feel calm for a moment as you lean against the wall of the building.

,,Sweetheart, are you okay?'' she asks, moving closer and searching your eyes. As your eyes meet her own it's enough of an explanation for her to know you aren't in fact okay. She takes your hands into her own, guiding you through your breathing. ,,Alright sweetie, breathe with me.. in .. and hold... and ...out'' she instructs over and over again until your breathing calms down, heart beating less angrily against your chest.

As you finally meet her eyes, feeling as if the daze has lifted, you quickly open your mouth, aware of your surroundings and what happened. ,,I'm so sorry'' you apologise, meeting Cordelia's confused expression. ,,Sweetheart, you have no need to be sorry'' she explains softly, her features still laced with concern.

,,Do you want me to take you home?'' she asks but you are quick to shake your head in protest. ,,No I'm good to go back in'' you reassure and her eyes meet yours with a bit of doubt but she agrees, pulling you into a little hug whispering ,,I'm so proud of you'' and guiding you back inside, holding onto your hand.

As you make it back to your table, Billie's and Wilhemina's worried expressions meet you as both of you take your seats again. ,,Are you okay little one?'' Wilhemina asks quietly as she reaches out her hand, noticing your hands aren't trembling nearly as much. ,,Yes I'm okay now, I'm really sorry'' you apologise again.

,,Don't be sorry babydoll'' Billie coos, tilting her head a little as she smiles at you. ,,Do you want me to get the check?'' she asks but you shake your head, noticing they aren't even half way through their meals yet. Cordelia opens her mouth to protest but you take her hand reassuring her it's okay.

As the four of you finish your meals, the three of them a little more aware now, including you in the conversation more and overall checking on your state, you slowly feel the effects the panic attack had on you. Still trembling a little and definitely exhausted you muster your best smile, hating to having ruined the evening already and not wanting to do so any further. Exhaustion creeps up on you a little and you try your best to blink away the sleepiness and push away the thoughts in your head, trying to figure out what caused this, after not having one of these for nearly two years.

,,Either of you want dessert?'' Billie asks after you have all finished your meals and you simply shake your head before Wilhemina takes charge, still noticing your state suggesting it was better to head home. You couldn't argue anymore and so in response you simply carry your tired feet towards Billie's car. Leaning your head against Cordelia's shoulder you are unaware of the words of comfort she whispers into them and the concerned glances exchanged between your girlfriends.

After making it home, you wake from your little slumber as you hear some shuffling in the car. Cordelia was ready to take you into her arms and carry you upstairs. However having regained some strength you didn't want to depend on her further. As Cordelia helps Wilhemina out of the car, steadying herself on her cane, you walk towards the front door, Billie following behind, occasional sniffles being heard as you try to hold back tears of frustration and embarrassment.

As you quickly make your way upstairs, the three of them follow behind, Mina's expression one of concern as she watches over you like a guardian angel. Not knowing where to put your frustration and embarrassment, you quickly make your way to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind you. As you slide against the bathtub, sitting on the floor you can't help yourself as sobs wreck through your tired body.

,,Bad bad bad'' your head keeps repeating, reminding you how you have ruined their night. The sound of your own tears was defeating, a relentless reminder of the turmoil inside you. You don't understand why this was happening again, especially after so long. You bury your face in your hands, unable to face the reality of what happened, the memories and severity of the panic attack, still fresh and replaying in your mind.

Meanwhile Cordelia and Billie make it up the stairs, their footsteps echoing in silence of the house. Wilhemina stands in the bedroom, meeting their gazes. ,,She's in the bathroom'' she softly announces, concern lacing her beautiful features. Delia and Billie exchange a worried glance before the medium walks over to the door ,,Babydoll?'' she tries but the only sound meeting her are your muffled sobs.

,,Darling can you open the door?'' Cordelia tries to call out, her voice soft and soothing. ,,We just want to make sure you are safe'' she adds. There is a moment of silence and understanding as their eyes meet, a silent nod exchanged before Cordelia flicks her wrist and unlocks the door.

As the door swings open, Delia and Billie rush to your side, their eyes drawn to you, sitting on the floor with tears streaming down your face. Without a word, they kneel down beside you, their arms wrapping around you in a tight embrace, as they hold you close. ,,What's the matter sweetie?'' the supreme asks and as you meet her eyes you mumble ,,I'm sorry for ruining the night''. The two of them shake their heads before saying ,,You haven't ruined anything'' almost at the same time.

After a little while they scoop you into their arms, their movements gentle and deliberate as they guide you to bed. Mina follows close behind, her expression concerned. Billie fetches one of her oversized t-shirts before taking your clothes off and sliding it over your tired body. Cordelia returns with a washcloth, gently wiping the makeup off your face. As the two blondes leave momentarily to fetch some water and get changed themselves in order to get into bed with you, Mina sits beside you, her hand reaching for yours as she leans in closer, her voice soft but firm as she addresses the elephant in the room.

,,We need to talk about what happened tonight'' she explains, her tone gentle but serious. The other two return just at the right time, Billie kneeling in front of the bed and Cordelia positioning herself behind you, wrapping her arms around you. ,,Darling?'' Cordelia tries and your gaze meets hers acknowledging her statement. ,,You told me once it's been two years since you've last had a panic attack'' and you simply nod in reply, too tired to talk about your past experiences. ,,I'm worried that there might be something underlying that we aren't addressing babydoll'' Billie gently adds, reaching for your hands.

Delia nods in agreement, her expression grave as she reaches out to brush a stray tear from your cheek. ,,We love you sweetie, we want to help you through this'' she explains her voice filled with compassion. ,,But we need to know what's going on so that we can support you in the best way possible'' she adds.

Billie's eyes flicker with concern as she speaks up, her voice tinged with worry. ,,Is there anything you aren't telling us babydoll? anything bothering you?'' she tries gently.

You hesitate thinking back hard to what might have triggered this tonight but you genuinely can't think of anything, thoughts of worry racing through your mind, scared it would get as bad again as it did years ago, worried this was the trigger for all of this to start again. You shake your head explaining ,,I promise I really don't know and don't understand myself, I have been a bit stressed lately but nothing unusual'' you explain.

Cordelia simply nods, and gestures to the other two you are telling the truth and to drop this for now. ,,Are you feeling sleepy sweetheart?'' she asks and you simply nod, still being in her arms. In response she pulls you back into her embrace, wrapping her arms around you and spooning you.

Wilhemina gets into bed next to you, Billie behind her as the redhead turns to face you, her brown eyes searching yours. She can see a flick of guilt and embarrassment once again. ,,What is it little one?'' she asks and as you whisper ,,I'm sorry for ruining the night, I'm sure you had other plans'' she can't help but smirk a little at your last statement, knowing exactly what you are implying.

,,Oh trust me little one, we got all day tomorrow'' she smirks, taking your lips into hers gently before you lean in closer, Cordelia's soft arms still wrapped around you protectively. Slowly but surely you doze off, the events from the night subsiding, focusing on the gentleness and warmth of the bed, keeping you comfortable and safe as you fall into a soft slumber, little noises escaping you and echoing through the dimly lit bedroom.

----

As you stir from sleep, the warmth of the morning sun casts a golden glow across the room. Before even opening your eyes you feel Wilhemina's presence. Opening your eyes, you notice it's just the two of you and as she gently smiles at you asking how you are feeling, you can't help but notice the little flicker of lust in her eyes.

Despite the evening before passing without an incident, Wilhemina couldn't get the image of your lilac lingerie out of her mind. A silent invitation that begged to be answered. And so, as the morning broke a little while ago, the rest of the house soundly asleep, Cordelia and Billie downstairs already, she finds herself drawn to you, remembering how the fabric hugged your curves in all the right places last night, igniting a fire of desire within the redhead.

As you meet her eyes, her hands gently roam over your skin, her touch gentle, yet hesitant, however as you melt into her touch she is met with a hunger that matches her own. Meeting Mina's gaze your eyes find a look of raw desire, her lips curled into a seductive smile. Without a word, she leans in close, her lips meeting yours in a passionate kiss that sends sparks flying through your veins.

The kiss deepens, becoming more urgent and intense with each passing moment, as if the weight of all your unspoken desire hangs heavy in the air between you, long forgotten about the previous night. As her tongue enters your mouth you try to fight for dominance but it's no use as she quickly dominates you. Her hands roam your body hungrily, her touch setting your skin on fire with need.

You moan into the kiss, your fingers tangling in her hair as you pull her close, unable to get enough of the intoxicating taste of her lips against your own. With practiced skill, she strips you off the oversized t-shirt leaving you in the same lingerie set she had been dying to see you in since the previous night. ,,So beautiful'' she praises as she quickly climbs on top of you, ignoring the aching of her back for the moment.

As she leaves you gasping for air, the redhead takes in your body coated in the colour she loves most. Her eyes are filled with desire, as she trails her fingers down your stomach and to where you needed her the most. ,,Hmm'' you moan as her fingers come into contact with your drenched underwear. ,,So wet for me already'' she teases, a smirk playing on her lips.

Despite the bliss you couldn't help but notice that she was softer today. Dominating like she usually is for sure but somehow she wasn't as rough with you, you aren't sure whether this was due to you simply obeying her lately or if it was due to the events of last night. Your thoughts are interrupted when she slides two fingers into you without a warning. ,,Mina'' you moan into her, trying your best to stay quiet, not wanting to wake the coven or anyone to hear you whimpering for the redhead.

As your soft gasps fill the air, you arch into her touch, a silent plea for more as she begins edging you, her movements slow at times and then ruthless the next second. As she begins to explore the contours of your body, you feel a rush of pleasure course through you, electrifying every nerve ending and leaving you breathless. ,,Please'' you whimper as you melt into her touch, chest heaving and kisses sloppy.

,,Please what?'' she teases as she takes her fingers out, licking them clean of your juices. ,,Please Mina'' you try again, despite knowing she wasn't going to give in that easily. Her eyes sparkle with a fire before meeting yours. ,,Please what little one? use your words'' she instructs, her voice low and commanding. However you can't respond, the pure bliss of the situation, your core aching causing your words to get caught in your throat.

Without a moment's hesitation, Wilhemina's right hand tightens around your throat, a familiar sensation that sends a jolt of electricity coursing through your veins. For a split second, your eyes open wide, the same spark of panic from the previous night flashing through them.

But then, just as quickly as it happened, the panic vanishes, replaced by the fierce desire to give yourself over to the pleasure that awaited you. Wilhemina however senses your hesitation, quickly releasing her grip on you, searching your eyes for any discomfort or fear. And yet, despite the fierce flashback of panic, you find yourself craving her touch more than ever, aching for the release that only she could give you right now.

,,It's okay'' you reassure, your voice barely above a whisper as you lean in closer. ,,Please mommy, can you make me cum?'' you ask, giving her exactly what she wanted in the first place. Yet she hesitates, searching your eyes one more time for confirmation and making sure the panic was replaced by desire. ,,Please I want you so badly'' you whimper again.

And at those words she falters, brushing off her concern before entering you again and not stopping. With each passing moment, the intensity of your desire grows, threatening to consume you whole. And as her fingers find their way back to your core, you feel yourself on the edge ,,Please may I-?'' you start, whimpering with each thrust.

,,Go on little one'' she encourages with a knowing smile and with a flick of her wrist, Wilhemina sends you spiralling over the edge, your body tensing as waves of pleasure and your orgasm ripples through you. As you cry out her name, your voice slow and hushed as you surrender yourself to her completely, she simply lets you ride out your orgasm as her forehead meets yours, guiding you through it gently. ,,There you go little one, doing so well for me'' she praises.

As you catch your breath, the lingering echoes of pleasure still thrumming through your veins, the redhead licks her fingers clean with a satisfied smirk. The sight sends a shiver of arousal down your spine, your desire for her increasing by the minute.

However, as you still struggle to catch your breathe, the exhaustion creeps up on you a little. Wilhemina shifts a little, to ease the discomfort of her back, a painful reminder of the physical toll the intimacy had taken on her. As she positions herself next to you, her eyes meet yours as she searches for any signs of panic or discomfort. You meet her gaze with a soft smile, your eyes filled with warmth and affection as well as sleepiness.

,,Are you feeling okay, little one?'' she asks, as she brushes some strand hair from your sweaty face. ,,Perfect Mina'' you mumble into her as you pull yourself closer. ,,Sleepy though'' you continue, your eyes already falling shut, despite trying to blink the sleepiness away. She smiles contently before pulling you a little closer, holding you into her arms and whispering words of comfort and affection into your ears.

As the minutes stretch into nearly an hour, Wilhemina finds herself lost in the comfort of your embrace, the outside world fading away as she allows herself to simply be in the moment with you. Despite knowing she should get up and start her day, the allure of staying close to you too strong to resist, especially on a lazy weekend morning like this.

She wouldn't admit it to anyone but she missed these moments with you. Wilhemina had a feeling that in your relationship, Cordelia was mostly the person giving you comfort, Billie always showering you in gifts and attention. However Wilhemina didn't have a whole lot to offer, at least her insecurities told her that much. She had no idea the comfort and safety she gave to you, a different comfort and safety than Cordelia did. Whenever you find yourself in Cordelia's arms or her lap, you felt safe but it was enough to be in the same room as the redhead to truly feel content and happy.

But eventually, with a reluctant sigh, the redhead knows that she couldn't linger in bed forever. With a gentle kiss to your forehead, she leaves the comfort of your embrace and makes her way towards the shower. Minutes later the warm water washing away the lingering traces of sleep and sweat from her skin. As she finishes her shower and getting dressed a little while later, she is met with an unexpected sight.

Her two blonde girlfriends, standing in the bedroom, their expression a mixture of concern and amusement as you still peacefully sleep in the bed behind them.

,,And how come I wasn't invited to this blissful morning Ms Venable?'' Billie Dean teases, quickly connecting the dots after finding you naked, slightly sweaty and sleeping in the bed.

,,I don't know what you are talking about Ms Howard'' Wilhemina simply mutters, a smirk playing on her lips as she makes her way towards her armchair by the corner.

,,I hope you didn't over do it Mina, especially after last night'' Cordelia scolds, worry evident in her expression as she glances over at Wilhemina, her eyes filled with concern.

,,I did no such thing, she's fine'' Wilhemina reassures, rarely annoyed with Cordelia's antics.

And as she takes a seat, she can't help but think back to the moment before, worry etching on her features, hoping despite everything she didn't make you feel uncomfortable with her actions.

Her thoughts are interrupted as you stir from sleep, mumbling the words ,,Mina'' as you open your eyes.

,,Well hello there babydoll'' Billie smiles, making her way over to you and leaning on the bed.

,,Seems like you had fun this morning'' she teases as she takes in the sight in front of her.

Your cheeks flush a little with embarrassment as you try and reach for the blanket to cover yourself. ,,No don't hide, I want to see, pretty one'' she whines which you can't help but tilt your head and smile to.

,,Hey sweetie, how are you feeling today?'' Cordelia urges, handing you a glass of water, before you gladly take some slow sips.

,,I'm good Delia, sorry for sleeping in'' you apologise. Her soft features meet yours as she shakes her head. ,,No need to be sorry sweetheart''.

The room fills with comfortable silence for a moment as you look around, Billie still lingering on the bed, Mina sitting in her armchair, glancing at you from time to time and Delia's soft features looking at you, hiding the concern mixed underneath the shadows.

,,What do you feel like baby? maybe a shower, a nice bath, some breakfast?'' Cordelia begins. Thinking about it for a moment, you decide on a shower wanting to freshen up a little.

As Cordelia passes you some towels and some comfortable clothes, Billie's eyes follow yours. ,,How about I join you babydoll?'' she smirks and as you smile shily at the medium, Cordelia simply shakes her head a little, half disapproving, half amused way. ,,Enough Billie Dean'' she scolds before you make your way into the bathroom.

The rest of the weekend was spent in the comfortable embrace of each other. The usual really, breakfast while watching a show, Delia working a little while Billie, Mina and you spent the afternoon in the living room, a bit of reading, knitting, quiet chatter. But most of all cuddles, Billie showered you in them all day, loving to have her babydoll closely. Wilhemina's hand always lingering on you somewhere, soaking in the warmth of your presence. And eventually as the sun started setting, the four of you in the comfortable embraces of each other, falling asleep softly.

----

The following week took you all back to the normality of your lives. Billie working, stuck in meetings most of the day, the same for Wilhemina, and Cordelia attending to the academy, in between teaching classes, taking care of paperwork and her witches she cared about so deeply. You had nothing to do this week however, you decided to take time off this week, not wanting to deal with anyone or anything.

As the day stretches on, you find yourself retreating further into the comfort of your own solitude, seeking solace in the familiarity of your own thoughts and emotions. With each passing hour, the outside world seems to fade away, leaving you alone with your thoughts, the only comfort being your headphones and the soft tunes, they provided as you stay under the covers, pulling them closer, hiding further.

For some reason, your three girlfriends didn't seem to notice at first. They assumed you had been busy, working, ignoring the fact you didn't talk to them in your lunch break or send any text messages, their own responsibilities and work catching up on them. However, as Wilhemina returns home one evening, greeting Billie and Cordelia as they prepared dinner, the weight of the day's responsibilities still heavy on her shoulders, she is surprised to find you in bed, curled up under the covers. As your back faces her, she doesn't realise anything unusual at first, assuming the day at work had simply tired you out.

As she makes her way back into the kitchen, she hesitates for a moment before asking ,,How long has she been home?'' the concern lingering on her features. ,,What do you mean Mina?'' Billie chuckles, laughing at something Cordelia had said seconds ago. She clears her throat before speaking up again ,,Y/N, she's in bed upstairs'' she explains as Billie's smile quickly fades and Cordelia's head snaps into the redheads direction.

The three of them quickly make their way to your shared bedroom, Delia's eyebrows furrow in confusion, her mind racing to connect the dots and unable to believe how she possibly missed this. Billie's eyes widen with realisation as she glances over at you, connecting the dots as she notices that you are still wearing the same clothes as when she left for work this morning.

"Wait a minute," she says, her voice tinged with worry. "She's been here all day?" the medium questions.

Cordelia and Wilhemina exchange a worried glance, the supreme wondering whether the events of this weekend may have anything to do with you hiding away all day, highly unusual as you wouldn't voluntarily spend all day in bed, especially without them.

Billie walks to the other end of the bed, the sound of soft music playing through your headphones, as she reaches for them gently, placing them on your bed side table. ,,Sweetie?'' she whispers, stroking your cheeks slightly. Your eyes flutter open and you smile noticing the presence in front of you. Suddenly it dawns on you, as your phone screen lights up from disconnecting the headphones, as you realise the time, your eyes widen, quickly sitting up.

Glancing around the room, you notice your other two girlfriends standing there, worried written in their features. ,,Shit'' you mutter, realising you spent all day in bed, not helping them with any tasks, despite their busy days. ,,Language little one'' Wilhemina teases, hoping to coax a little smile out of you, and indeed she manages a little smirk, despite your cheeks coated in a dark red as the embarrassment creeps up on you.

,,I'm so sorry'' you explain as anxiety washes over you but Cordelia is quick to step forward. ,,It's okay sweetie, you deserve rest too'' she reassures before the back of her hand makes its way to your forehead, checking for any signs of physical discomfort. ,,Would you like to join us for dinner?'' she asks gently and as you nod eagerly, the concern fades from their features, writing it off as you spending a day in bed and simply being tired.

Wilhemina notices something still on your mind as you hesitate a little. ,,What is it little one?'' she asks and is met with a set of puppy eyes meeting hers. ,,Would it be okay if I take a quick shower? I promise to be quick'' you ask nervously. Her features soften before Cordelia takes your hand into hers ,,Take all the time you need sweetie, we'll wait''.

,,What a shame, was hoping I could join'' Billie smirks and you can't help but chuckle a little before heading to the bathroom, soon after joining them for dinner.

----

As the week continues in it's monotonous path, you find yourself sinking deeper into the comfort of your solitude, retreating to the comfort of bed, the same playlist ringing through your ears on repeat. Despite their initial concern, the three of them brushed it off as figuring you needed a break from work and whenever they checked on you, you seemed fine, still joining them for dinners and your evenings together, which calmed Cordelia, knowing if you retreated completely it would be something to be concerned about.

However as midweek approaches, Billie decides to take matters into her own hands, after texting back and forth with Cordelia about you. Determined to break you out of your self imposed isolation, she decides to bring a spark of joy back into your life. And so, she decides to take the rest of the afternoon off, wanting to spoil her babydoll. As she opens the bedroom door, finding you in the all familiar spot, she finds you laying there, your eyes open but mind clearly occupied by something.

,,Hi there babydoll'' she startles you a little, as you quickly fade back into reality, pulling your headphones off and giving her your best smile.

Panic bubbles inside you, worried you missed an entire day but she quickly reassures ,,It's okay, I have got the afternoon off, get dressed for me baby, I want to take my pretty one out'' she declares, giggling a little with excitement.

,,Shit'' you think to yourself, not remotely feeling ready to leave the house after the events from this weekend and feeling your chest tightening at the thought of actually having to go somewhere. As the walls of the house became a shield against the outside world and all its uncertainties. Despite your best efforts to hide your fear, Billie senses your hesitation as usually you would be jumping around excitedly already by now.

,,If you don't feel like going anywhere, I have got all sorts of other plans, don't you worry'' she teases, quickly replacing your concerned features with a chuckle.

,,How about we finally have that shower hm?'' she teases, licking her lips and you can't help but feel the aching her words leave inside your stomach.

Unable to form any words, you simply nod and as she takes your hand, she gently guides you towards the bathroom. Her eyes sparkle with desire, not having had you all to herself for far too long. ,,How about you help mommy undress, kitten?'' she asks suggestively, leaving you gasping a little.

And of course you comply, helping her out of her heels, unbuttoning her trousers and pulling them off gently. However as you reach her shirt you can't help wanting to rip it off, she stops you though ,,nuh uh babydoll, one of my favourites'' she teases as she unbuttons it herself, making you watch.

You bite your lip, the image of Billie in front of you naked, causing you to squirm a little. Noticing your eagerness, she quickly helps you out of your clothes, before stepping in the shower, turning on the hot water and pulling you inside, pressing your body against the wall as she roams your body.

As the warm water cascades over your bodies, enveloping you in a cocoon of heat and steam, the tension that had been building up between you and Billie for days, reached its breaking point. With each touch, the desire that simmered beneath the surface grew stronger, igniting a fire that threatened to consume you yet again, your worries washing away with each droplet landing on your body and Billie's lips exploring your body.

Without a word, Billie presses you further against the cool tiles of the shower, her lips crashing against yours in a fierce kiss that leaves you breathless. The water droplets mingle with the taste of her skin, creating a heavy mixture that sends shivers of pleasure through your entire body.

,,How about you make mommy feel good, kitten?'' her hot breath on your ear. You simply nod, scanning her features, knowing exactly what she wanted. Switching positions, Billie's back makes contact with the cold tiles, as you kneel in front of her, keeping your eyes on her with each move.

As you finally kneel down to where she wants you the most, she parts her legs, silently begging for the release. Trailing kisses up her thighs, you reach her centre and without warning you take her clit into your mouth, leaving her a moaning mess, as her hands grip to your hair.

,,Right there kitten, doing so well'' she moans, holding onto you as her legs feel like giving out on her any second.

Moments later, still keeping her eyes on the medium you can feel her getting to where you wanted her. Using her closed eyelids to your advantage, you push two fingers inside her without warning. ,,Shit'' she curses under her breath, meeting your gaze still lingering on her.

,,Language Ms Howard'' you tease, causing Billie to smirk.

,,Keep going babydoll'' she pleads and being the good submissive you are, you comply pushing your fingers deeper and deeper, your tongue still exploring her and without warning you feel her release all over your mouth, all sorts of words flying from her mouth.

The water pounds against your skin like a symphony of ecstasy, as you make your way back to the medium, kissing her deeply as she explores her own taste on your tongue. ,,You're such a good girl'' she praises, moaning into you.

With each kiss you get lost in the whirlwind of pleasure, Billie switching you both over again, pushing you into the wall, her fingers quickly reaching your dripping centre. ,,Please'' you whimper as she parts your legs a little, quickly picking up the pace. Now the medium loved teasing you as well, however she could never deny you after doing so well for her before.

As you cling to her, holding on for dear life as your legs feel like giving in, the previous day slowly creeps its way back into your memory, reminding you how lazy you had been, how bad you had been for not leaving the house. However, your thoughts are quickly interrupted when the medium tips you over the edge, letting you ride out your high before she catches you into her arms, your legs feeling weak after the intense orgasm. ,,I've got you babydoll'' she murmurs, as you bury your head in her chest, your own breathing still heavy.

And if it hadn't been for the shower, Billie would have noticed your damp cheeks, water droplets quickly replaced by hot tears as the adrenaline and overwhelming feeling creeped up on you. ,,Let me take care of you'' she whispers as she leans you against the wall again, grabbing some shampoo and conditioner. As her soft acrylics softly rub the shampoo into your scalp you can't help but hum softly, the feeling sending little shivers down your back.

The next few minutes you feel in a daze, not really aware of your surroundings, as Billie softly washes your hair for you, caressing your skin and taking care of her babydoll. And as you open your eyes again the next time, you find yourself in the comfort of Wilhemina's armchair in the bedroom, a set of comfortable pjs hugging your body and a blanket wrapped around you. The sound of the hairdryer causes you to jolt a little but as you feel Billie's hands on your scalp again, drying your hair gently, you smile before closing your eyes contently.

As the evenings descends, casting a soft glow over the cozy dining room, the four of you gathered around the table for dinner, after Billie coaxed you out of your daze before, helping you out of Wilhemina's armchair and guiding you downstairs. Despite the warmth of the room and the comforting aroma of the meal that Cordelia had prepared, there was a sense of unease lingering on your features, the exhaustion weighing heavily on your shoulders. Mixed with the thoughts of doubt, for having spent another day mostly in bed.

Wilhemina glances over at you, concern etched into her features as she notices the weariness in your eyes. ,,Are you feeling alright, little one?'' she asks, her voice filled with genuine concern as she reaches out to gently squeeze your hand.

You manage a weak smile, though it threatened to falter slightly under the weight of your fatigue. "I'm just a bit tired," you admit, your voice barely above a whisper as you try to shake off the exhaustion that clung to you like a heavy cloak, while taking another bite.

Cordelia, ever perceptive, furrows her brow in concern as she studies your expression. "You seem more than just tired," she observes, her voice tinged with worry. "Is everything okay?"

You hesitate for a moment, unsure of how to put your feelings into words, as you glance over at the medium, a smirk playing on her features remembering the intimacy from a few hours ago.

Billie, seated across from you, lets out a soft chuckle, her eyes sparkling with mischief as she leans in closer. "Maybe I shouldn't have worn you out so much earlier," she teases, a playful grin tugging at the corners of her lips.

But before you can respond, Cordelia's angry glare cuts through the air, a disapproving look on her features. ,,What?'' Billie shrugs, not sharing the supremes concern, Wilhemina simply observing, unsure whether the blonde was simply a little overly concerned about the situation.

,,She needs rest Billie, not further tiring out'' the blonde scolds, causing for Billie's expression to soften, a hint of guilt creeping into her features as she glances at you. ,,I'm sorry for tiring you out babydoll'' she apologies sincerely.

The weight of Cordelia's words only seems to add to your exhaustion, the last thing you wanted was them arguing now, sending a wave of anxiety through your veins. As your leg begins bouncing up and down, you take a deep breath, which doesn't go unnoticed by the redhead sitting next to you.

,,Have you finished little one?'' she asks softly before you give her a nod, her words pulling you back into the present. As you simply nod, suddenly your eyes pleading with the redheads. ,,Come on, I'll take you upstairs'' she suggests, before taking your hand and leading you to the safety of your shared bedroom.

"I just wanted to take care of her" Billie mumbles, before reaching for everyones plates, walking over to the dishwasher.

,,I initially wanted to take her out somewhere but she didn't seem to want to leave the house and so one thing led-'' she explains before Cordelia cuts her off. ,,I know love, I'm sorry'' she apologises, feeling bad about her little outburst. As words of apologizes are spoken, the two of them exchange a little moment.

However, Cordelia makes a mental note, finding it unusual that you hesitated to leave the house, usually excited at any opportunity to go anywhere with them, especially Billie adventures. As the two blondes head upstairs, the supreme can't help but slowly connect the dots, your panic attack, taking the week off, not leaving the house or bed much.

----

As the week draws to a close, you find yourself sinking deeper into the abyss of your own despair, the days stretching on in a never-ending cycle of emptiness and solitude. Despite your best efforts to find solace in the safety of your bed, the familiar comfort of its embrace only served to exacerbate the sense of isolation that weighed heavily on your soul.

But Cordelia, ever perceptive and attuned to your needs, slowly senses the depths of your despair, refusing to let you drown in it. With gentle determination, she finds you curled up in bed, your back turned away, the familiar sound of music to be heard. Through her senses she could tell that you aren't asleep, simply wasting away in the comfort of your bed.

"Come on, love," she murmurs her voice soft and coaxing as she gently tugs at your hand, urging you to rise from the depths of your despair. "You can't stay in bed forever. It's time to come back to the world and us again."

But the thought of leaving the safety and familiarity of your bed fills you with a sense of overwhelming dread, the outside world a daunting and unfamiliar landscape that seemed to hold nothing but pain, anxiety and uncertainty.

However, you know Cordelia can't be easily fooled or pleased, the way you had managed with your other two girlfriends. You face an inner battle, not wanting to leave bed but at the same time not wanting to make it harder for your girlfriends, sensing they are starting to catch on.

"I can't," you want to explain as you cling to the safety of your blankets, the weight of your despair pressing down on you like a suffocating blanket. "I'm not ready'' your head reminds you.

Cordelia senses your hesitation, however refusing to be deterred, her determination unwavering as she continues to coax you gently, her words a soothing balm against the raw edges of your despair.

,,Okay'' you mumble, feeling a little angry with her as to why she couldn't simply leave you alone.

,,That's my good girl'' she praises, as she takes you to her office, placing a warm cup of tea into your palms.

As you sit on the sofa in her office, she watches your every move, not wanting to press you about the subject too much, glad she can at least be close to you to observe and take care. Fiddling with your hands, you feel nervous under her gaze, unsure what to do with yourself and suddenly feeling incredibly guilty.

,,Can I help you with anything?'' you eventually coax out, your voice quiet and fiddling with the sleeves of your oversized hoodie.

,,No no darling'' she reassures, glancing up from her laptop. There was genuinely nothing the supreme needed help with, as she got everything mostly sorted for the week, leading towards the weekend.

The room fills with silence, the only noises to be heard, the clicking of her keyboard, writing some emails and working on teaching. Feeling a little awkward and useless, you try to make some conversation.

,,Do we have any plans for the weekend?'' you ask her, drawing her attention towards you again with a gentle smile.

,,Other than tomorrow I don't think so sweetheart'' she reassures before the daunting idea of date night consumes your thoughts. The slight mention of it, takes you back to the week prior. Your thoughts race, unsure whose turn it was and whether that meant having to go out anywhere.

,,Wh-what are we gonna do?'' you ask hesitantly, hiding your trembling hands as well as the tremble in your voice.

,,I haven't decided yet sweetheart, anything specific you would like?'' she asks, typing away on her computer.

,,Hide'' the panic voice in your head tells you as you feel the waves of a panic attacks slowly approach.

Silence fills the room, and as Cordelia glances up from her computer, she finds your trembling state, tears threatening to spill from your beautiful eyes.

,,Sweetie?'' she calls out gently, abandoning her work and walking over to you.

,,I- can I go please?'' you call out, suddenly on your feet as you want nothing more than to run away.

Before the supreme can protest you are already out of the room, hysterically running down the hallway, needing to flee unable to be confronted by the blonde about it. Sometimes the worrying, gentleness was too much, especially when she connected the dots before you did, knowing and being able to read you so well at this point.

In your panicked state, you don't know where to go, knowing she would immediately find you in the bedroom, greenhouse or any predictable spots of comfort. ,,Mina'' you remember, her being at her work today, which means her office should be quiet and giving you momentarily some relieve as the panic continues to haunt you, following with each step you took away from the supreme and her office.

Your heart bangs against your chest angrily, and so with trembling hands you burst into your redhead girlfriends office, managing to at least shut the door quietly before retreating to a quiet corner, curling up into a ball and rocking yourself back and forth, leaning against the wall, your kneels pulled to your chest. However, in your panicked state, you are known to be unaware of your surroundings, not realising the time again and how long it actually took for Cordelia to coax you out of bed before, Wilhemina had returned home a little while ago, wanting to finish one last email before joining you and Cordelia.

The redhead sits in shock for a moment, observing your panicked state and the way you entered her office without even realising her presence. Her heart aches, seeing you like this, so vulnerable, alone and sad. ,,Little one?'' she calls out, as she balances on her cane and begins walking over. The sudden noises startles you as your eyes force open, instantly getting up from the floor, the shame of the whole thing consuming you whole. ,,I'm s- sorry Mina, I didn't realise'' you coax out in between cries, hyperventilating as panic washes over you again.

,,Run'' the panic voice tells you before you try to leave, leaving a very confused Wilhemina, following behind you, yet to understand what's going on with her little one. However as you open the door, you run into the supreme, your body hitting against her own as you stumble backwards, the fear and panic finally having the upper-hand and causing you to lose control.

,,Sweetheart'' Cordelia calls out and as you continue to tumble backwards, you suddenly feel your vision blurring before two arms wrap around you from behind.

''Hey, I've got you" Wilhemina's voice cuts through the chaos, her arms a reassuring embrace as she holds you close, her own heart racing with concern for you. But even as she speaks, she could feel the tremors wracking your body, the weight of your despair pressing down on you like a leaden weight.

Cordelia's voice joins hers, her tone filled with love and compassion as she kneels beside you, her hands gentle as they brush away the tears that are beginning to stain your cheeks. "You're safe, breathe sweetheart" she whispers, her voice a soothing melody in the storm of your emotions. "We're here for you, sweetheart. You're not alone."

But despite their comforting words and reassuring touch, you feel as though you are drowning in a sea of despair, the weight of your own thoughts and feelings threatening to drag you under. With each passing moment, the darkness seems to close in around you, suffocating you with its suffocating embrace.

And then, with one last desperate gasp, you lose consciousness, surrendering to the darkness that engulfs you.

,,Shit'' Cordelia curses, taking you into her arms, relieving Wilhemina of the weight as she held you up. The supreme takes gentle yet urgent steps as she takes you to Wilhemina's armchair, in the corner of her office. As she sets you down, she grabs the little lilac stool, resting your tired legs on them. With a flick of her wrist she lights the fireplace, reaching for a blanket and wrapping it around you. Her slightly trembling hands reach for your forehead, your wrists to check your pulse after.

,,What's wrong with her?'' Wilhemina's voice cuts through the quiet room before Cordelia turns to her. ,,It's a panic attack'' the supreme explains before the redheads eyebrows furrow. ,,Again?'' Wilhemina asks, remembering the weekend prior. ,,I'm afraid so'' the blonde replies before her guilty eyes meet the redheads.

,,What is it darling?'' Wilhemina asks, noticing the tears lingering in Cordelia's eyes. ,,It's my fault'' she admits, her gaze averting the redheads and meeting your fragile state. She knows that Cordelia would have never willingly triggered or pushed you, so she simply steps forward, her cane hitting on the floor, before taking her hand. ,,What happened love?'' she asks, much softer now.

,,I dragged her out of bed and made her stay in my office, she asked me about our plans this weekend and I guess that must have triggered it, considering the last weekend. I just had no idea how bad this all was and how much she has been struggling with it'' Cordelia explains now under tears.

,,Hey hey it's okay, you did your best, it's not your fault'' Wilhemina reassures before stroking the blondes shoulder, caressing her cheeks in a gentle way before Cordelia melts into her touch.

After a moment of silence, the door swings open, the sound of heels echoing through the large office. ,,Hey ther-'' Billie starts, excitedly at first but her smile quickly vanishes as she sees your state. ,,Whats wrong?'' she asks, her eyes meeting two sets of brown ones, the concern matching in each set.

,,It's okay Billie, she had a panic attack but she's stable'' Cordelia coos, walking over to the medium and greeting her in a reassuring hug. Billie Dean frowns, hating to see her babydoll in any sign of discomfort. ,,Poor baby'' she coos, kneeling down beside you resting her hands on your knees, rubbing soothing circles to comfort you, despite your sleeping unconscious state.

,,She's afraid to leave the house'' Wilhemina admits, finally understanding the events of the past week.

,,We need to help her, we should take her out tomorrow and try'' Billie suggests but Cordelia quickly shakes her head.

,,We have to do this the right way'' she admits, remembering her own struggles with anxiety especially in her younger years.

,,I see, how about we stay in tomorrow then? cook something nice for her and watch her favourite movie?'' the medium suggests and is quickly met with a compassionate and approving smile from her blonde girlfriend.

,,Would either of you be okay to stay with her for a minute?'' ,,I want to make us some food, so poor darling can eat'' Cordelia asks, before Wilhemina is quick to reply.

,,I'll stay'' meeting the mediums eyes, before she adds ,,I'll help you Delia''. Wilhemina nods thankfully, appreciating the moments where she gets to take care of her little one.

A little while later you stir from your unconscious state, feeling the gentle presence of someone in the room. Opening your eyes, you find yourself still in the armchair where Delia had left you, with Wilhemina sitting beside you, her gaze filled with concern and love.

,,Hey there little one'' Wilhemina coos gently, her hand reaching out to gently brush the hair from your forehead. ,,How are you feeling?'' she asks gently, not wanting to overwhelm you.

You take a moment to gather your thoughts, the events of the day swirling in your mind like a storm. "I'm okay, I think," you murmur, your voice barely above a whisper as you try to make sense of the jumble of emotions inside you. ,,I'm so sorry for all of that'' you apologise, guilt consuming you for having them see your weakness.

Wilhemina nods understandingly, her eyes full of empathy as she takes your hand in hers. "I know things have been tough lately," she says gently. "But I want you to know that you don't have to go through it alone. I'm here for you, always."

,,And little one?'' she asks, her eyes searching for yours as she tilts her head a little. ,,I never want you to apologise about these sort of things, I don't want you to keep it from us'' she reassures.

Her words warm your heart, a glimmer of hope flickering in the darkness that has clouded your mind for so long. "Thank you," you whisper, a tear slipping down your cheek as you lean into her comforting embrace.

After a moment of quiet , Wilhemina speaks again, her voice filled with determination. "How about we go for a walk in the gardens?" she suggests, a hint of excitement in her tone. "It might do us both some good to get some fresh air and stretch our legs."

You hesitate for a moment, the thought of leaving the safety of the house sending a shiver of anxiety down your spine. But Wilhemina's reassuring presence gives you the courage to take that first step, to step out of your comfort zone and face the world once more.

With a nod, you agree, allowing Wilhemina to lead you by the hand as the two of you make your way out into the gardens. And as you walk hand in hand, surrounded by the beauty of nature and the warmth of Wilhemina's love, you feel a sense of peace settle over you, knowing that no matter what challenges may lie ahead, you will face them together, hand in hand, heart to heart.

,,Are you feeling okay little one?'' she asks, noticing how tight you are holding onto her hand. ,,Yes, just a little scary'' you admit. She gives you an emphatic but proud smile. ,,I know little one but I have got you, always'' she reassures again.

,,Delia?'' Billie gets her attention, her tone sounding serious as the supreme sees the mediums face, eyes filled with tears. ,,What is it love?'' she asks before Billie points out the window.

Watching from the window, Cordelia and Billie share a bittersweet smile, their hearts filled with love and pride as they witness the strength and resilience of their beloved. And as you and Wilhemina disappear into the garden, their love for you only grows stronger, a beacon of hope in the darkness that has been surrounding you lately.

,,Look at her'' Cordelia murmurs softly, her voice filled with love and adoration. ,,She's so strong'' she adds, tears blinking in her eyes.

,,Yeah'' Billie agrees, on the brim of tears. ,,She's stronger than she knows''

As they continue to watch you, Cordelia and Billie are filled with a sense of hope, knowing that you are not alone in your journey. ,,We will be okay'' Cordelia eventually mumbles as Billie leans her head on the supremes shoulder.

[dancingdonatello]

Can I request a (oneshot) rise! Donatello x gn! reader who loves climbing, and is also super stealthy? like one minute, they'll be standing across the room from Donnie, then the next second they'll be hanging upside down from the roof or something in front of him 😭

donnie x gn reader

“It’d be a shame if I were to be suddenly frightened and accidentally burned someone with my blow torch.” He looked around the room and waved his blowtorch around. It was a clear warning. You’d be stupid if you tried anything.

Lately, you had been having fun by sneaking up on the brothers. None of them knew how you were so stealthy and anytime they asked, you’d never answer directly. You thought it was funnier if they didn’t know and instead had to wonder.

Donnie slowly got back to his work but not without quick glances around his lab every few minutes.

You dropped from the ceiling and landed directly on his shoulders. It hurt, pretty badly, but it was worth it as he let out a large squawk.

It became not so worth it when he started ripping backwards, knocked off balanced.

You two fell to the ground, but unluckily, your upper back and head hit his table, sending everything on it crashing to the floor.

You two stood up and stared at the damage. Glass was spread all across the floor from broken glasses and beakers he had placed there for easy access.

“Haha… ha,” you picked up the only intact beaker and put it on the lopsided table. It slid back off the table and broke when it hit the floor again. “Uh.”

“Get out.” He pointed to the lab door.

“C’mon, Donnie, you know I didn’t mean to—”

“Get out!”

You flinched at the sudden raising of his voice. He looked very angry with you, so you decided not to push or agitate him any further. You turned and left.

The door shut more loudly than usually, making you jump again. You stared at it, guilty. He probably wouldn’t come out for hours.

You went to go find Mikey or Leo to distract yourself but then you noticed the newly potted plant in the corner of their living room.

You reached over and plucked a flower from the plant. It would be dead in a few days anyways. Mikey probably hadn’t yet thought about the sewer being too dark for a plant just yet and that was why the five other ones he got perished within days. He’d figure it out eventually, hopefully. But for now, you’d make use of his plant.

You tiptoed back over to the lab and stood beside the door, just out of sight if someone were to open it and look out. You pulled out your phone and texted Leo to make Donnie come out of the lab.

In a few moments, you listened to rapid movement in the lab. “The Jupiter Jim movie with Atomic Lad and Lass is on?!” You could hear him fangirling even from behind the door. You tensed, preparing to finish your quickly thought of plan.

The door opened.

You appeared in front of Donnie, seemingly out of nowhere. He glared at you. “Do you mind?” He went to step around you but you stopped in front of him again. He went to go the other way but you still moved. “What are you doing?”

“I’m sorry, for trying to be all sneaky and stuff and ruining your beakers,” you said, sincerely. You held out the flower. “I just liked doing it since you guys are ninjas and stuff and I’m just… some regular person.”

Donnie took the flower from you and inspected it. After a moment or two, he nodded, satisfied with how it looked. “I forgive you. I wasn’t too mad, just in that moment I was surprised and overwhelmed… I’m also sorry for yelling at you. We can watch the Atomic Lass special together, then.”

You smiled nervously. He even apologized too, which was rare. This was definitely going to ruin the moment. He narrowed his eyes at you. “About that…”

[archiveoftara]

London Boy

Part 2

I found myself under a pile of bills. Utility bills, water bills, rent, things that needed to be paid but I don't even have a single penny to feed myself .

This small precious dream of mine is costing my life but I can't back out right now.

Six months ago I ran away from my toxic family, to make a living in London, to own a jewelry company but it didn't go as planned.

I banged my head on the table in frustration. What am I gonna do?

After a moment of contemplating my life, I begin to clean up the mess. Slowly picking up scattered papers when my eyes fell on an advert.

Lockwood and Co

The prestigious psychical agency requires a junior field operative and an assistant researcher. Duties will include on-site analysis of reported hauntings and the containment of same. The successful applicant will be SENSITIVE to supernatural phenomena, well-dressed, preferably female and not above fifteen years in age.

Unsuccessful applicants will include time-wasters, fraudsters and persons with criminal records. Apply in writing, together with a photograph, to 35 Portland Row, London W1.

I carefully folded the paper and rushed to my room.

33..34..ah 35. This must be place.

I check the advert again just to make sure I'm at the right place.

I fix my hair and clear my throat one more time before ringing the bell.

"Um hi-"

"Are you Arif's new girl?"

"....who's Arif?"

"Runs the corner store, usually sends someone over with donuts as you don't have any, you must be here for the interview."

I nod awkwardly. Not the best start I see

"Name?"

"Y/n y/l/n. Are you Mr. Lockwood?"

"Me? No." It seem like he is offended. "The last girl just went down but from the look of her, she won't take long."

I step inside the wide hallway, filled with artefacts, books and a chipped plant pot around the corner. This is where they keep their rapiers I guess.

"You win George. That was the last one."

"Then who's this?" The boy named George pointed at me as if I'm some alien. (and I took offense to that)

A boy with very bright, dark eyes and nice lopsided grin said "Hello, I'm Anthony Lockwood." I shook his hand and introduced myself.

"What's your talent?" Lockwood asked.

I gave a small smile "I don't have one."

For a minute I thought the time stopped. I tried to read their faces. I'm sure they're gonna kick me out.

"Well that's fine, we're looking for a researcher anyway and it doesn't need much talent, does it George?" He looked at the boy, sitting at the corner sofa.

He wiped his glasses on his t-shirt "I don't mind."

"Do you have any past experience?"

"Not really." I blushed. "But I am a fast learner, I will work hard. I really need this job."

"George will train you so don't worry." He clasped.

"This means..I got the job?"

"Yes. Welcome to Lockwood and Co"

My eyes shined like a diamond. "I'm not going to disappoint you sir, I desperately needed this job. I'll do anything, thank you so so much." I thanked them like my life depended on it and it kinda did. Lockwood and George exchanged a look (they were talking in some code word I can feel it.) It doesn't matter. I won't be here for too long.

It's been a few weeks since I've been working as a assistant researcher. We also have a new member, her name is Lucy Carlyle. She's really cool, we get along well. Lucy stays with them, they offered me accommodation, too but I refused, I still have a dream to chase.

The work is actually interesting but George makes it a bit difficult for me, he's a perfectionist. I don't blame him. I just try my best to live up to the standards. 

It's the beginning of November, the nights are chilly lately. I've just finished some papers regarding the latest case.

"We should head back it's getting late." George looks at his watch.

"Hmm?" People already left the library, it was just me and him now.

I quickly stood up but felt dizzy. I felt an arm around my waist, I felt a pair of warm brown eyes on me. His mole is cute..has he always been this cute?

"Y/n you alright?" George holds my arm.

I clear my throat "yes. perfectly fine." I quickly gathered my books and walk as fast as I could. The moment I step out of the building I was welcomed by the chilly wind hitting my face. I stood for a moment, my back against the wall. 

I feel so weird.

"Y/n, It's best we see a doctor." He frowned.

"I'm fine." 

"You wanna walk by yourself? Alright, Let's see that." George scoffed.

"Why are you so mean George Karim?" I winced.

"You're being crazy. You clearly need help." 

"George, I can manage." 

"At least let me walk you home." He insisted.

"Nope." With that I make my way home little did I know what was waiting for me.

Maybe I should've been more polite. All he wanted was to help me but I'm a big girl I can manage. It's just a little fever. I slowly made my way to the neighborhood when I felt something strange. I feel nauseas, like something rotten is near me. I felt a heaviness on my chest, something was pulling me away. Soon I felt the cold hard ground, I tried to call for help but nothing came out of my mouth that's when I heard a sound of metal drawn.

"Are you alright?" He keenly looked at me.

"What happened?" I panted. 

"You were ghostlocked. Please just let me walk you home we can argue later." He pulled me with him. 

I think my dream is gonna end before it even starts.

Hello my dear readers, first chapter is done and dusted. Excuse my crappy writing. Hope you like the chapter. Do let me know your thoughts in the comment section. I love you!!! 

Word count: 968

[bratty-telepath]

Tidbit Tuesday

(except it's actually Sunday)

Listen, my name got called so much while I was working and I did not have the time, HOWEVER, now I do and I'm making it your problem with a lil add-on of me showing tidbits for every time I was tagged! Let's get into it!

I was tagged by @konnorhasapen @autisticempathydaemon and @febreze-bottle-without-febreze

1.) Don't Hold Your Breath

(DAMN polycule w an emphasis on Gavin/FL/Lasko, a.k.a the polycule goes rollerskating)

Lasko adjusts his foot and feels his leg move forward while the rest of his body slides backward as his roller-skates carry him wayward from his intended movement. He's ready to brace for a collision with the floor but finds himself stood firmly as gentle hands keep hold of him. "Sorry." Even though there was nothing to be at fault about, he doesn't truly feel guilty as the freelancer helps stabilize him. Hell, he almost wants to do it again just to see them look down at him like that again. "Don't apologize." They reassure him. "Try not to slide forward, and instead focus on making steps. From there, you just need to move with the blades." Lasko nods affirmatively. "Also, Lasko…" "Yeah?" Fern plants a kiss onto the elemental's lips. "Don't hold your breath." He's dazed for a second as his head attempts to fly up to the clouds before metaphorical gravity kicks in when he finally notices that he's no longer in Fern's arms and instead is being held from behind by Gavin's. "Hi, Lasko~" the incubus purrs.

2.) Heart Strings

(Asher/Darlin/Baaabe, w Darlin teaching Asher how to play guitar)

"You want me to teach you something?" "Really?" His expression instantly beams, perking up even more from his usually upbeat expression as unfiltered excitement and joy shined through his now wide grin. Darren nodded as he rolled his eyes. "Sure, I don't mind." With a smile that rivaled even that of the cat that ate the canary, the beta quickly glances over at 'Carmen' and gently removes her from the display before assuming a clumsy grip on her. His fellow pack member shakes their head and takes a few steps before walking around and approaching him from behind, gently taking hold of his wrists, adjusting the man's grasp of the instrument as they leaned in closer as to ensure they'd placed his implements just right on the guitar. "You have to make sure you hold her right or else you're going to drop the guitar and worse, damage her." "Right, right, right." He nods enthusiastically. After confirming his handle on the guitar, they step back and return to his front and face him directly. "What happened to waiting til you could play to use her?" Asher shrugged. "I said I wanted to wait. Wanted. Emphasis on the 'ed' part of that word."

3.) Learning curve

(pre-inversion Lovely/Vincent, with lovely showing off their magic to Vincent)

"Lovely wait–" Vincent quickly shifts his hips to avoid colliding with the dining room table as Logan pulls him hurriedly through the house. "Sorry." Their pace slows and suddenly Vincent finds himself in the living room before the spritey electro let's go of his hand to start moving one of the sofas. "I just–" they're cut off as the furniture slides against the tiles. "Sorry. I just need some space." "They're just chairs Lovely, I think they'll survive some temporary relocation." Vincent smirks as he leans back against a nearby wall. "Right right right." They nod as the last sofa finally finds itself pressed against the edge of the room whilst Logan hurries back to the centre of the space and clears their throat. Vincent's eyes are instantly on them again, the red and silver in his eyes melting together as adoration sweeps over his expression. He can't help but smile seeing his partner excited, it's infectious to see them containing their excitement with their signature bubbly grin. "Alright–" "Alright." Vincent nods along playfully. "Shhhh." The electro presses a finger to their lips. "I'm being serious now." "No, I understand. This is extremely serious." He puffs up his chest in mock bravado for a second to see his Lovely stifle a chuckle before standing up pointedly again. "Vinny." "Ok, go ahead. What do you have to show me?"

That's all folks! See ya around!

[elliaze]

GODS WARRIOR - CHAPTER SEVEN

A/N: Oh my I finally get you a new chapter of Gods Warrior. It was some time from the last chapter and I am ashamed about this. Sorry! But now you can enjoy your reading!

Pairings: Steven Grant x fem!reader x Marc Spector

Warnings: age gape (everyone is an adult, nothing illegal), few curse, slow burning

Words Count: 2800+

MASTERLIST

SUMMON THE SOUP...OR THE SUIT?

GETTING ON THE ROOF WAS THE EASIEST TASK.

Y/N however, found that it was a real madhouse. And all she had to do was look out through the hole in the roof once. There was a whole group of people inside the building, and it looked like this was some kind of their main meeting place. On one side, a documentary about animals was playing from a projector, and she almost smiled at the sight of a cute, leaping dolphin, which she had a weakness for ever since Poseidon saved her life. On the other side was something along the lines of a garden with plants, with several volunteers working at them, each with typical gardening clothes or instruments in their hands. All sorts of tables and chairs were arranged in the middle of the hall, and the smell of some kind of vegetable soup even reached the very top, where Y/N was standing with Layla. 

“We should wait and see what happened,” whispered Layla as they both headed for more scaffolding, this time in the middle of the building, right by the roof. 

“At this point, we can't manage on our own anyway,” replied Y/N.

“Marc in his costume would be able to manage.” 

So, she knew about his skills after all. 

“Probably, but somehow I don't see how Steven had any idea that he could do something like that.” 

Layla sighed quietly, and then stopped. The scaffolding had unexpectedly snapped off, and the other part of it was two metres away from them. There was no other way to get to the other side without attracting attention. 

“We have to wait here,” Y/N decided, hiding behind the plastic sheeting. Layla sat down next to her. They pushed back the plexi slightly so that they could see Steven clearly and keep an eye on what was happening below.

“You know I'm completely not buying this disorder?” Layla spoke up briefly, glancing fleetingly at the other woman. “It may be true, but it's surreal. How can two people live in the same body?”

“I don't know, I don't know anything about it. I can put you in touch with my mum, she's a specialist in it.”

“Is she a psychiatrist?”

“No” she shook her head. “She works in a grocery store, but she's got a thing for psychology and brain behaviour.”

Layla did not reply, and meanwhile a particularly interesting discussion was taking place downstairs. At least that's what it all seemed to indicate, although it was hard to imagine what could be discussed over a bowl of soup. Y/N knew they had to get out of here as soon as possible, but the fact that Steven was right in the middle of things didn't help at all. The best solution was for Marc to regain control of the body, summon the suit, and together they would run, as quickly as possible. The only problem was that Steven was fiercely reluctant to give in to Marc, which was exactly what she herself had heard just a few minutes ago in the car. And she honestly couldn't blame him in any way for that. If there was a second, annoying personality living in her body that turned out to be a professional assassin, possessed by an Egyptian deity, she herself would do anything to prevent it from regaining control. 

Fortunately, possessed is just me here, and not any of my inner self. 

Everything seemed fine until the room suddenly became quiet from all the voices. All those gathered began to get up from their usual places. They surrounded the table where Steven was sitting, and she cursed hastily in her mind. This did not sound good. 

Later, Steven's voice rang through the building, even reaching the upstairs where the women were hiding. 

“Since Ammit judges people before they commit a crime, doesn't that mean he judges the innocent?” He asked loud and clear. “After all, thoughts are not evil. I often think of killing my boss, but I would never do it. What about the child? Would she kill a child who does something wrong 30 years from now?”

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was damned impressed by Steven's courage, because this kind of behaviour was not easy. Standing up to a sick follower of a mad goddess who wants to judge everyone, even based on what they haven't done yet? ? Somehow, her heart beat harder, and she couldn't take her eyes off Steven. Pride swelled her and whatever was about to happen in a moment, she believed she would still have a chance to tell him how much she liked his behaviour. 

Harrow replied, but his words could not be heard upstairs. 

“Do you guys agree with this? To the killing of children and so on?” Steven spoke up again, this time addressing the rest of the gathering directly. Then he turned back to Arthur. “Maybe I'm weird, but murder is not for me.” 

If she had been completely impressed before, she was now completely picking her jaw up off the floor. The warmth that spread throughout her body was indescribable. All she knew was that she had underestimated Steven. He might not have been as skilled as Marc and didn't have a magic costume, but he wasn't at all inferior to him and could fight in his own way.

Harrow stood up from his seat, took the cane in his hand, and pointed it directly at Steven. Y/N didn't need to see the different parts of the object begin to glow purple to know that this wasn't normal. She could feel the magic of the deities hovering in the air much more strongly than just moments before. The cane must have had some particularly destructive power, because all those gathered began to move backwards, as if in fear of what it might do. 

“I need to know where the scarab is,” Harrow said loudly, propping himself up with his walking stick. Steven had earlier risen from his seat and started to back away, but had no option to escape. 

“Okay, I'm going to do something completely crazy and reckless now,” whispered Y/N quietly, glancing at Layla. 

“What...?” Layla started, but didn't have time to finish when the girl pulled a scarab out of her pocket. 

“I've got it!” She called out loudly, drawing everyone's attention to herself. Harrow looked up, and she slipped out from behind the plastic wrap and raised the hand in which she held the sparkler. “Give me a moment, I'll come down, and we can discuss the terms of our exchange.” 

“Exchange?” 

“The scarab for Steven. And you hide that glow stick of yours.” 

“You're not in a position to make conditions, Y/N,” Arthur announced, and she laughed briefly. 

“Last time I checked, I'm the one in possession of what you so desperately need. Even so, you are outnumbered.” 

Y/N quickly found her way off the scaffolding. She stood up from her seat, but before she could take any step, she felt Layla grab her arm. 

“Are you sure you know what you're doing?” 

“I'm improvising,” she said frankly. “Although, I could use some help.” 

Layla sighed heavily and nodded. If she thought this was a completely suicidal mission, Y/N would definitely go along with it. She thought it was the stupidest idea she'd ever come up with and knew that if Steven's life didn't depend on it, she wouldn't have made such rash decisions in the first place.

That's why I always work alone. 

After a while, Y/N and Layla found themselves next to Steven, and Harrow was watching them very carefully. 

“You have no idea of his value,” Arthur announced, extending his hand towards her. “Give it to me, and it'll be safe with me.”

“It's quite a pretty shiny thing, I must say,” she glanced at the scarab she was holding and noticed Layla from the other side approached Steven and whispered to him to summon the suit. She doubted Grant understood anything, especially as she heard his reply and 'summon the soup' certainly didn't sound very convincing. “You know what I'm going to tell you? I'm not a fan of crazy people who want to take over the whole world. It's funny how after all these failures, they always find another one who keeps trying.” 

“Y/N” Harrow said her name warningly. “Hand over the scarab.” 

The girl smiled slightly and approached Steven close enough to slip the scarab into a pocket in his jacket. 

“Keep an eye on our little sparkler,” she whispered in his ear, and he looked at her uncomprehendingly. She exchanged a quick glance with Layla and the latter nodded to her, pointing to the nearest exit from the room. Later, she turned to Arthur, who lowered his arm along her body. Apparently he had already guessed exactly that he was not going to get the scarab without a fight. “In the end, I changed my mind. I propose to change the terms of the deal. You won't get the scarab, and we'll all walk out of here as if nothing ever happened, eh?”

“If, that's how you see it,” sighed Arthur, joining his hands on his staff. The assembled people, too, seemed to have forgotten the power of the magic object and began to approach them dangerously. 

“And this is a good time to escape,” Layla announced nervously, and then all three of them ran towards the exit. 

Y/N was at the very end, so she was the one who felt someone trying to stop her. A man grabbed her around the waist, but she quickly flexed her fingers into a fist and punched him full force in the nose. She heard a quiet crunch and was sure she had broken his bone, which definitely satisfied her. She quickly extricated herself from his grasp and ran up the stairs, turning into one of the corridors. Steven and Layla disappeared from her sight for a moment, and she ran into two men who tried to stop her. One of them grabbed her arm, but she quickly grabbed his arm, turned around, pushed her back against him and flipped him forward. The man fell on top of the other man, and together they flew out over the small balcony next to him. 

“Y/N!” Steven shouted, and she saw Layla dragging him to the upper floors. She quickly moved behind them and after a while they leveled off. - That was great!

“Thanks, but now we have a bigger problem. Harrow is using that magic stick. I can feel the magic getting thicker in the building.”

All three of them ran through the only door they could see. Steven locked it with a metal lock, and as they made their way deeper into the room, it was clear they were stuck. Y/N tried to think of a solution, but all that was in the room were a dozen dead and white sheet covered bodies. It was not a particularly reassuring sight, and the fact that they were too high up to jump out of the window did not help at all. 

To make matters worse, Steven had a panic attack. 

“I'm going to die in the evil sorcerer's den,” he said in horror, looking around the room. If the situation had been completely different, Y/N would surely have laughed. But with their lives at stake, it was difficult to understand even the best joke. 

“We have to find a way out.” 

“What we need to do is have Marc summon his suit,” Layla announced firmly and approached Steven. “Listen to me, damn it! Your name is Marc and you have the suit! I've seen you use it. Put it on!”

“No,” Steven shook his head, and the door began to wobble under the pressure from the other side. 

“Where are you? You have to use it!” Pressed Layla, and Steven practically froze in place. His gaze stopped on the mirror on the floor, and he stepped backwards, as if he wanted to escape both his reflection and Layla. 

“No, no, please, stop!” He shouted loudly and glanced fleetingly at the door, which was beginning to wobble ever harder. Y/N quickly sprang into action. She swept past the other woman, faced Steven, and grabbed his face in her hands. 

“Hey, hey, calm down,” she said, trying to catch eye contact with him. “Don't listen to anyone, not Marc or Layla.”

“Y/N” interjected El-Faouly, but she ignored her. 

“Look at me,” Y/N asked, and Steven looked at her unconsciously. “If you can manage to summon the suit, that's wonderful. If not, we'll manage otherwise.” 

“I can't,” he finally confessed, in a trembling voice. “I'm sorry, Y/N. I won't be able to do it.” 

“It's alright, Steven” she assured him and kissed him on the forehead. “This isn't the only suit we can summon.” 

She didn't have time to explain anything more when the door opened with a bang, and in it appeared the silhouette of a similar creature to the one they had encountered just the day before. The jackal sharpened its claws and readied itself for an attack, until it finally threw itself at them. They both fell out of the window, and she decided that she had held off using her abilities long enough anyway. She quickly found the dolphin pendant, spun it around three times, and immediately felt the power engulf her entire body. 

Y/N landed on her bent legs, one of them extended slightly forward, and propped herself up with her palms on the floor. Right next to her was Steven, who sank down on one knee as he lifted the other up. He propped himself against the pavement with his right fist and had his other hand extended backwards. However, he did not maintain his balance for long. He started waving his left hand solemnly and then fell to the floor, and she immediately came to him, helping him up. 

Once they were both on their feet, each could not take their eyes off the other. Y/N immediately noticed that the suit Steven had summoned was completely different from the one Marc had used yesterday. There were no bandages or cape, but a white suit, including shirt, waistcoat, tie, gloves and shoes of the same colour. Even the handkerchief was in his jacket. What wasn't very different was the head covering with a gouged crescent moon on his forehead and the shiny neon eyes. 

“If I didn't believe before that you were fighting for the Greek gods, your outfit practically screams it,” Steven finally spoke up. “You look... beautiful.” 

She felt herself blush at his comment, but subconsciously agreed with Grant. She had never complained about the way she looked, and maybe she wasn't the most beautiful woman in the world, so when she put on that costume, that's exactly how she felt. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Aphrodite herself had helped design it, and that gave her even more confidence. The truth was that Y/N simply looked gorgeous. Her uniform jumpsuit was made from a lightweight navy blue fabric, which was decorated with gold inserts in some places. The top had thick straps, a delicate neckline and fitted her figure perfectly. On her shoulders, she wore two gold bracelets that were shaped like a laurel leaf and wrapped around her skin from her elbow to the bend of her arm where it joined her torso. Complementing all this was a navy blue eye patch, which, like the costume, was decorated with gold elements. Her hair still remained pinned up, but instead of a loose chignon, there was an elaborate updo that was decorated with a circular pin, where an arrowhead was on one side and its tip on the other. The pin was a gift from Artemis, whom Y/N admired as much as Poseidon. 

“You look handsome too,” she said, pointing her finger at him. “Although you had a completely different outfit yesterday. I mean, it was Marc who had a different outfit.” 

“Yes, he has already started complaining that I look like a psycho version of Colonel Sanders.” 

She giggled quietly. 

“In a way, he has a point.” 

“Well, I don't know” Steven turned and looked through the nearest glass. “I do look sharp, though. What? Ohhh, a scarab” he started looking through his pockets and when he reached back he pulled out two metal batons, which he looked at in surprise. “What's this? What are these little poles for?” He fell silent for a moment, looking at his reflection. “Actually, it's cool. I like it.” 

Then the jackal appeared again. It fell on Steven, knocking him to the pavement. Y/N also reached for her weapon and immediately in her hands were two daggers - one resembling a trident and the other a simple straight one, but also beautifully decorated. 

Then she moved to attack.

⸻

TAGLIST:

@officialholyagua

@graciexmarvel

@princessleah129

@simonsbluee

@inwisper

@ahookedheroespureheart

[trixxiephantomhive]

August Minific Challenge day 07

@lovebugs-and-snakecharmers

Prompt: “Are you just quoting song lyrics?”

Word Count: 770

(No beta so it’s probably awful)

Fugitive!Marinette and Luka are trying to find a helping hand they can send to Paris to clear their names.

In the morning Luka and Marinette wake up, Tight in each other's warm embrace. They cuddle for a bit then after hearing some clanging in the other room, they rise from bed and go to investigate.

Shu-Yin promptly walks up to them from the kitchen. “It’s late but there is breakfast in the dining area. Help yourselves. Then I recommend starting your search on how to get out of this predicament.” She nods then struts away. A force to be reckoned with.

They sit and eat, chatting about their ideas. “Actually.” Luka states “I believe I have an old.. Acquaintance who may be willing to help us out. I believe he still lives here as well.”

“Oh?” Marinette says, wondering who Luka might know. “He’s a bit intense but he’s got a heart somewhere.”

“Well when can we go visit this friend?”

“Later in the evening, he’s most likely working all day”

Marinette nods and smiles, hoping that this means she can finally go home soon. But Luka looks away, Knowing that if everything ends and they save Paris once and for all, he’ll go back to normal life.

A few hours go by, and Luka grabs some cash and beckons to Marinette, they set out walk for a good while. When they arrive at a large house bordering on a mansion they see the building is comfortably decorated with White with bright blue trim and plant boxes on every window. Luka hops the gate and knocks on the door , Marinette struggles a bit but also manages to get over. She walks up next to Luka as.. a blond boy opens the door, someone Marinette could swear is all over Paris billboards.

“Agreste Poster boy?”

“No, Absolutely not. You better not be one of those psycho fans.”

“I’m not you just-“ Luka gives Marinette a look that tells her to stop talking. He stands a bit straighter and looks at the blonde boy.

“Felix. It’s been a while.”

“Ah, The violin maker.” Luka smiles at this as Felix leads them into the mansion

“ I believe I know why you’re here. I’ve been following the case.”

“Good, So I was wondering if you-“ Luka is cut off as Felix stands up and Looks at Marinette. “Hm, so you’re the famed Ladybug. I saw you once when I was visiting my cousin.” He lifts his hand up to touch her earrings, Marinette quickly swats him off and storms out “I’ll wait outside”

“Sorry about that Fe, she’s been on edge lately, for obvious reasons.”

Felix chuckles, his usually pompous attitude fades away as he becomes more comfortable around an old friend who was made back when Felix simply needed a new Violin.

“So as I was saying-“

“Yes, I’d assume you want me to go to Paris and investigate in your stead. Being in journalism gives me a good excuse. I also have an idea who the villain may be, which only confirms that you two have done nothing wrong.”

“Right yeah” Luka chuckles “Only you know as much about how people think as I know how they feel “

“We’re smart people Luka, And what else is on your mind?”

“Who’s the person you're thinking about” Luka retorts.

“There’s a girl in Paris I’ve fallen for” Felix hangs his head silently as Luka says “I want to propose to Marinette once everything is over” at the same time.

Marinette, who happens to be right outside the door hears her name and starts to listen in

“I wanna do this right. But I’m having trouble getting up the nerve” Luka starts, as he taps his foot against the coffee table, Felix looks at him and replies

“For the record this is self destructive”

Luka leans in and glares “for the record, I’m aware of that.”

He looks at the ground, “It took me ten long years just to look in the mirror, and find just what I’m staring at. But I’ll never tell.”

Felix holds up a hand to change the subject “She is the one, she’s such wonderful fun, such passion and grace.”

Luka smiles, and responds in his own conversation “She so warm in the night when I’m right in her tight embrace, tight embrace” Felix continues to talk about his own predicament “So I keep it all in, it’s like I’m invisible in my own skin”

At that point Marinette walks in “What the hell was that conversation? … are you guys just quoting song lyrics?!”

Both of the boys smile and laugh, which only makes Marinette glare even further

[fumekara]

MORE THAN ANYTHING 

Kento Nanami x Gn reader 

n/a: English is not my first language, besides, this Fic comes from a draft taken some time ago. I hope you enjoy it. It is my first time back to writing in a long time. 

Tw: Just pure fluff and soft sfw, the title is inspired by HH's song. 

WC: 1.1K

That night you could not fall asleep.

After turning yourself several times on the sheets of the bed, on which you had lain a couple of hours before, you looked at the half-open door through which a dim light filtered from the living room, giving the bedroom a thread of light in the darkness of the night.

You hoped your man would decide to drop the papers and paperwork he often brought home from work and come to bed with you, wrapping you in his arms so you could finally sleep in complete bliss as you usually did.

"I'll be right with you, it won't take long," he had told you when you proposed to sleep with him after you both went through a long day at work.

However, this was one of those evenings when Kento would spend hours on the kitchen table filling out paperwork late into the night. Although he hated office work, he was always diligent and meticulous when it came to completing his tasks.

It was a characteristic that made you feel proud of the man you loved, yet no matter how responsible and careful he was in managing his time and energy, you were sure he was beginning to place less importance on his rest. You wanted so much for him to give up those silly practices and take the rest he deserved.

After staring at the ceiling for an hour, you sat on your side of the bed, shivering from the sudden cold due to the lack of blankets, and looking at the bedside table you saw that 00:50 was written on the screen. And even today he worked late 

You got up and, making as little noise as possible, took small steps towards the living room.

Kento was writing something on his laptop, surrounded by a pile of papers divided into folders of various kinds lit by the light of the monitor and the lamp you kept in the corner of the kitchen.

He noticed your presence and gave you a small, tired smile, giving your heart some warmth.

"Are you still awake, love?" He asked as he leaned against the back of the chair.

"I could tell you the same thing," you replied a little sleepily, returning the smile and moving closer to the blond. As sorry as you are that he was exhausted from work, you couldn't help but think about how handsome he was. Even though you'd been together for a few years, the love you felt for this man had always had that effect on you. I've been waiting for you,' you said, heading towards him. 

You sit on his lap and he wraps his big arms around you, you notice that the sleeves of his shirt are rolled up and show off his forearms, something he always did when he came home. Leaning his head on your shoulder and inhaling deeply, he loses himself in your scent and warmth. Suddenly all the tiredness he had put aside to work on his papers came over him like a wave of a stormy sea, but the fact that you were there with him gave him a feeling of comfort.

He always felt at home with you. 

"I'm sorry Y/N". He rubbed his head in the crook of your neck "I was late again without me noticing" he said, planting a chaste kiss on an exposed spot on your shoulder.

Gently you brushed his hair back with one hand, while with the other you closed the laptop he was working on just now, making it clear that it was time for him to take the rest he so richly deserved.

"Come to sleep, Kento, it's not good for you to stay here late and I miss you," you said as you rested your head on his soft hair on your cheek.

"I know, you're right," he lifted his chin, placing a kiss on your neck, "I don't like leaving you alone either."

Lifting your head slightly, you turned to stare at him, touching his cheek lovingly as you looked intently into his eyes.

Pure love

You couldn't have found any other words to describe the way he looked at you whenever you were in situations like this, alone, with no one else to interrupt you, without Gojo, just the two of you. He made you feel loved, important, and you often thought back to the moment you realized you had fallen in love with him.

As a result, Nanami couldn't understand how he could have you in his life, how lucky he was to have you and how much he regretted making you go through nights like this when he left you alone. He felt selfish and the only thing he wanted at that moment was to go to bed and wrap you in his arms with your head against his chest. 

You remained in that position for a long time, a wonderful feeling for both of you. He placed his face on yours and then gave you a kiss on the cheek savoring the aroma.

Without saying anything, you got up from his lap, took his hand without taking your eyes off his and, after switching off the lights, slowly guided him towards your shared bedroom.

"I'm sorry I don't spend much time with you," he said as he shed his work clothes, "I don't want you to stay up because of me, but I appreciate you doing so." After slipping into his sweatpants, he settled next to you in bed as you wrapped him with the quilt.

"You don't have to apologize for working so hard, you have done and are doing a great job. I just want you not to overdo the work, everyone deserves a break and you especially." After turning off the lights you lie down beside him and feel him encircling your waist with his arm "Don't think you are being mean to me Kento, you always do so much for me, you show me that every day and remind me every time you look at me." 

In the darkness you could glimpse his small smile that made your heart melt.

"Come here," he told you as he felt butterflies in his stomach, as if he had managed to fall in love with you even more than before.

More than anything. 

You felt his grip envelop you even more as you brought faces closer and met lips in a chaste, soft, pure kiss. 

When you pulled away, you rested your head on his chest and closed your eyes.

"I love you Y/N."

"I love you too, darling." 

You both fell asleep wrapped in bliss.

[miiserableee]

( 𖤘 ) ▸ like a baby : scaramouche x fem! reader !

with you cramming to finish a work with a deadline due the next day , and him who awoke amidst an episode of sleeping , what do you think would become of you two once you collide again in bed ?

( !!! ) mentions of flowers ! weird house and specifications with the reader ! mentions of past bad deeds of scaramouche's ! sort lf like a timeskip to treat me right ! add the usual ooc scaramouche ! modern au ! some cussing ! 2.3k words !

YOU STARE . at your laptop's lightened up screen , your sight hasn’t left the flat surface within minutes that turned into hours . you shake your head , rubbing your eyes . can't even exert anymore demise . not like you had the right to complain any more than you have earlier this midnight . the given time to have this multiple paged position paper done wasn't just one night , you've been given a whole ass week .

to save you some slack , you weren't really at complete fault , said week you've been given was quite the busy course of seven days after all . events and responsibilities piling up on each other , you had quite the hard time climbing atop it's built mountain and sticking your flag to consider it done and over with . you almost forgot about this paper and other works to be done too . you wouldn't say you were ashamed , it's normal that you cram . you get things done .

today's paper had you in quite the slump though . you couldn't even count anymore the moments you pause and your mind go blank , fingers that were the fastest suddenly brought in the quickest halt . you'd even say it was a miracle you got it done .

pressing on the dark blue button with its text submit . the button you've been pinning eyes at since earlier . having clicked it now felt like a miracle as well . you swore you could hear a chorus of some angels' cappella , going their way in your ears once the slide of you've submitted blahblahblah ; pops up next in your screen . finally . you could finally rest that hunched back of yours . true , the living room have always been your favorite , with the lenient sunlight or consoling moonlight passing by the huge wall windows , and the comfy couches of monotone colors , the fake plants , a variety of those . the shelves and the pretty table you've picked out yourself . but right now , the bedroom at the second floor at the very end of the right corridor is the only place you wish to be .

"It's late . Are you done ?"

your e/c eyes darted to the side , your lover standing on the door frame with no actual door aside , got your breath stopping for a bit of a while . he states his words with much groggy-filter to suffice the fact that he probably just woke up . he leaned there by the white of the walls with his arms crossed to touch his elbows , his hair somehow a bit unruly , his face not that seen clearly . you notice the clock atop where he stood . 2:30 . somehow the heat of your laptop rested on your lap , felt even more hot . you put it away , as if fearing your skin could get any sort of scalding .

you don't answer to him . he probably doesn't need you to . you place your laptop somewhere in the living room's table , beside the clear vase and its lilacs . scaramouche changes those flowers every day . where he gets his tattoos , a good flower shop is near . some pretty man works there so no matter how he loved the flowers and want it somewhere in your house ; fresh and alive no matter the time of day , he would never let you go get it yourself . he wouldn't say it aloud but he didn't like how long you stared at that guy with his weird red streaked pale hair . you really just thought the florist's vibe fit his part .

you stood from where you sat with a few taps at your thighs . exhausted couldn't even described what state you're in right now . you were about to tell him that he could go back to sleep if he wanted , and you'll be there after you wash up . you might be assuming , but you'd rather try and piece up an assumption than not even show any consideration for his sudden awakening . you assumed that he awoke since he couldn't feel you on the bed by his side . he did say he was having trouble sleeping these nights and you did mention that you'd help him sleep well . you have been doing just that , until this day .

when you were about to pass him , with a small peck on his cheek . he grabs at your wrist , sliding his fingers between the gaps of yours . "I'm gonna wash up . You can go back to bed , I'll be there soon ." he says nothing , just staring sleepily at the way his hand fit snug against the small of yours .

". . . I'll wait ."

you didn't think of it much and just nodded . heading your way to the bathroom to get it all over with , you just needed to wash your face and brush your teeth anyway , you've done all essentials earlier before these late hours . with him .

he doesn't let go of you . when you were about to brush your teeth and tugged at your hands that held each other , he opens his eyes lazily and sees you motioning how you couldn't squeeze the toothpaste out and hold your toothbrush at the same time . he closes his eyes and grabs the toothpaste himself , putting some for you and gesturing you to hurry up . he didn't have a choice but to part and relax his knuckles though , when you had to wash your face . he just rests them on your waist as he statues himself behind you .

he's being awfully handsy .

you don't really mind . after you were done , he even pats your face dry for you , brushes your hair even though you didn't intend to do it . after all that , he's got you in his boxers and a loose white t-shirt , since your earlier tank top got wet with the washing of the face incident . he mentions how you shouldn't wear a bra when you sleep and shimmy you out of it himself . you let him do what he thinks he needs to do . when he hugged you after slipping you into his big shirt , you were wondering if he was planning to carry you to bed himself .

but he doesn't . he just grasps at your hand again .

not letting go again . climbing in the bed first , and putting out space and lifting up the covers . his bent arm failed to keep him up any longer and it stretched out the space he's supposedly given you . as if the bed wasn't big enough for you to roll around in . you do as unmentioned . slipping your own arm somewhere under his chest area since he seem to be up for some big-on cuddles .  what you didn't expect was how he slides and rests his head on your chest . your arms slumps on his shoulders and you hear him groan .

the room is indeed cold . the air is conditioned to have it the most coldest room out of all the other rooms , especially during nights . since scara supposedly likes it cold . you like to think that he likes it cold enough that he wouldn't feel hot under the thick blankets , which you liked , and the cuddling of your body against him , which he liked .

scaramouche is a cold person . he's rude . he's arrogant . he's sometimes even immoral . he has this naturally sharp tongue , accompanied with his resting bitch face that practically screams fuck off , don’t bother me unless necessary , i'll destroy you and your pathetic life , and more things that everyone would gladly point out for you to turn your back to him like how they all did . all these have brought him no good anything , only ever those backhanded compliments and sometimes just straight insults . he's so handsome , too bad he got that shit of a personality . if only he was nice . have you heard ? he's rich as hell too ! no wonder he's so fucking arrogant !!

when you started dating . you didn't care at all , just like how you did now . you weren't hurt by his knife-sharp words , they came to you as dull and tacky . you weren't that affected by his roughness , mentally , at least , physically ; you get bruises and marks and he'd cuss at himself internally . gritting his teeth as his whole face , for a second , resort to such show of regret and worry . while you didn't really mind since you figured the reddish purplish bruise on your wrist looked much like a bracelet , and it looked cute .

he cares a lot . so much , too much . he gets worked up when you look more tired than usual . he hated it when you crammed for things . he's used to you being idle and aloof while he does everything . he is subtly affectionate . he isn't as bold . he masks his acts of love with excuses , even if he uses your insecurities and incapability to his wits . he's still training his tongue , though you doubt the teasing remarks will stop .

he makes time for you . even if your schedules are always like those misunderstanding-trope in novels , wherein your schedules sometimes overlap but your free times just don’t match up , your idle-moments never incline at any given time . he gets you dinner . he prepares the bath . he washes your hair , combs it , dry it , you name it . he kisses away all worries with his pretty lips . 

many would deny that he loved you as much as you loved him ,  but they weren't you . they couldn't see this ‘him ’ . they couldn't , no , wouldn’t . if they can , then maybe they'd shut up for once .

be that as it may . he isn't usually this clingy . his hold on you is much tighter than usual too . his legs locking yours , his muscles tense up when you caress his nape like he did with your lower back and that's when you wonder if he was alright .

"Neh , Scara ," you call out . he doesn't say anything , so you close the small half inch keeping your body away from him . hugging him back , his hair is a bit wet . you washed it yourself , each lock reeked of lavenders . like the scent your home diffuser bursts all around . you still ask , "Is something wrong ?" he immediately clicks his tongue and pulls you closer , "Nothing is . Shut up ."

you still at his response , taken aback but that's his usual choice of words , the way he said it is quite rougher too . you try to pull back and have a look at his face he keeps burying against your breasts . he may have mistaken you for being hurt and pushing him away so when you tap and try to push him by his bent arms , he kisses your chest thru his thick shirt . "Sorry , I didn't mean to say that ." despite the lack of sincerity , you felt satisfied with the way his lips trail up from your chest to your collarbone . he's looking at you now . chin pressed where his nose once was at .

it's rare for him to say sorry .

you kiss the side of his lips , relishing in the state you two are in . "I'm not mad . It's alright . Old habits die hard ." putting your hands on either side of his cheeks , you noted he looks a lot sadder tonight . you wonder why . "Was it a bad dream again ?" he's been having those a lot these days . his eyes moving away from yours and his hold securing more came to you as a silent yes .

you slide back some of his bangs and looks at him thru his indigo eyes , before putting a kiss at it's very edge , which got his breath stocking on the hollow of his throat . you smile . "Does it have something to do with me ?" one more kiss and he seemed to have wanted to stop you smiling so much to his flushing cheeks , he then scoots his head on the crook of your neck . "You left me . Again ." he sounded like he was spitting the venom he sucked out of his own wound . you sigh , hugging him back , patting at his hair . he's acting like such a baby . and as much as it's cute , it's quite worrying .

"If you don't do any more of those shits , then you won't have to worry about anything . I won't leave you ." he smacks his lips gently and grunts . "I know ." seemingly liking the way you played with the strands of his hair . you laugh at his answer , so he knew .

you feel him rubbing circles on your back . "Does it hurt ?" he knew you were stuck in that hunched position since the time he was persuading you to just sleep and until he woke up amidst said bad dream . "It does ." hah . you've always been honest , he liked that .

"Here ?" he traces the lower regions , you hum , encouraging him . he presses on to it gently . after all that , he was sure you've gotten your tense body relax more against him . like jelly were you between his arms . you didn't know if he said it thinking you were already asleep , "Love you ." but you were sure he didn't mean for you to hear it with that hushed voice he used as he kiss at the side of your neck . you just pat at his back and answered anyway , voice coarse but he probably didn't mind . "Love you more ."

you could feel his lips forming into a light smile that'd probably look smug in your eyes , he hums . hugging you even more . like a baby , that's how he acted . so cute and feeling small against you , seemingly trying to hide beneath your skin . somewhat wishing to be held . yearning for the love and affection that'd lead him to learn . to be better . to not hurt you in any way at all . not anymore . he can't do the same horrible thing again .

when you awoke , your paper was renowned to be so great , and even with his somewhat noncaring reaction , as you informed him of so , he still sits you in his lap and showers you with kisses and small praises . short and sweet . you couldn't ask for anything else .

"Eat , we'll get what flowers you like today ."

SCARA-LiNE / WORK NAVi !

A/N : special thanks to mah pal / bro / ex / prend / sensei / idek nemore ; @bwompbomp ! helped me proofread and adjust sum shits vsisnqk aigoooo thank u sm <33 luv u bro :') !! and as said this is somewhat like a peek of y/n and scara's second take with their relationship after all that happened in treat me right ! im not vvy sure if the tag-permit is still valid but @chickynn ! im sorri if this isn't all dat great but agen , tyvm for even asking to be tagged on my scara works ! i hope u enjoyed this scarashot !

[myafterlifeisbetterthenyours]

Can you please do reader meeting Octavia for the first time after reader and Stolas officially dating? You know, after the divorce with Stella 🌟

Octavia meeting Stolas' S/O for the first time after his divorce.

You were hunched over the bathroom sink, having a borderline panic attack.

You were only able to keep your composure thanks to the warm embrace of your loving boyfriend, his arms wrapped around your stomach.

"What if she doesn't like me?" You asked breathlessly, staring at yourself in the mirror.

Stolas rubbed his hands up and down your arm, planting a few gentle kisses on your shoulder, "You'll do fine, sweetheart. Octavia will love you, you Just need to be yourself."

You took several deep breaths, running some water you splashed some in your face.

Wiping your face, you took one last deep breath and gave a nod. "Alright... lets do this." You told him.

Puffing out your chest, you turned, holding his hand and walked out of the bathroom.

You found Octavia sitting in one of the palace's tea rooms, staring down at your phone. Your breathing hitched when she saw you, the young girl getting to her feet.

She stood before you, before lazily looking you up and down with an unimpressed expression.

Extending your hand you told her, "You must be Octavia, ive really been looking forwards to meeting you."

Octavia looked at Stolas for a second, before sighing, reaching out and shaking your hand. "Yeah. Nice to meet you to." She said clearly unhappy to be there.

You just took it in stride, 'That's alright. She doesn't need to like you straight away. Baby steps (Y/N), baby steps.'

You all sat down, Stolas pouring us some tea.

Stolas tried his best, he really did.

He tried sparking up a conversation, talking about what Octavia liked, bringing up any of your shared interests.

All that usual first meeting stuff.

But no matter what he said or tried, it was clear Octavia wasn't having any of it.

There was a few more minutes of this slow grind, the conversation dying out several times.

You just sat there for a minute before one of the staff came in.

Aparently something had come up that required his immediate attention. And so with a brief apology to you both he got up and left.

You of course you were freaking out, this is literally the last thing you needed. You couldn't handle Octavia alone.

You could barely handle angst alone. How were you expected to handle it from the most vicious creatures of the social world.

The teenage girl.

The moment Stolas was out of sight, Octavia whipped out her phone. The two of you sat in silence for few minutes, the young owl staring at her phone.

"Sooooo..." you began.

Octavia glanced up at you before going back to her phone "So..." she replied sarcastically.

You sighed, leaning on your elbow. "You don't really like me in, do you?" You asked almost playfully.

Octavia stopped what she was doinh, looking up from her phone she scowled at you, "What do you think?" She asked, sarcasm dripping from her words.

You just released a dry laugh. "Yeah, I get how you feel."

That got the first real reaction from her of the day.

The young owl shot to her feet, slamming her hands on the table and screamed "How the hell could you know how I feel?!"

You looked at her for a moment before taking a sip of your tea, "You know... you are the most important thing in your fathers life." You told her sternly.

The owlet was seemingly taken aback by that, sitting back down she wore a frown.

"You consume so much of his waking thought, and you know what?" You asked her.

The owlet just raised a brow, shrugging her shoulders. You gave her a warm smile, "I love that."

Octavia seemed shocked at that, asking "Why?" To which you chuckled, "Because, you have a father that genuinely loves and cares about you. You have family." You told her warmly. "And I'm happy to be a part of that... even just a little bit."

There was silence for a few minutes, the young lady clearly processing what you'd said.

"So... you have a thing for my dad... because he's a good dad?" She asked, clearly puzzled.

You chuckled again, leaning on your elbow, "Octavia... I've been with a few guys in my youth." You told her somberly. "And every one of them ended up being..."

You were silent for a long minute, looking to the side, "Bad... They were bad people a-and they did bad things... to me" You finished, rubbing your arm.

There was another long pause, neither of you saying anything, but after a moment a gentle smile crossed your lips.

"But your father..." You began, warmth in your voice. "Your father is a good man. He's good to me and he's good to you."

There was another long pause, before you reached out and gently cupped her hand, "I understand you don't really like me Octavia. And I want you to know, I don't blame you" You told her.

"My father disappeared when I was probably a bit younger then you. My mother dated a few guys, and some tried to be the 'father figure' role, but it never worked out."

There was a long pause, the young owl telling you "I'm... I'm sorry." She told you, clearly upset.

You squeezed her hand, "Its alright." You told her, "I survived, and I know youll survive as well, because you've got such strength in you octavia. You've already put up with so much, and I'm sorry to say, there will probably be a bit more to put up with." You told her somberly, "But you'll survive, you've got too much of your dad in you to give up." You told her, trying to raise the mood.

Octavia looked surprised and a little emotional, wiping her eyes.

You sighed, running a finger over her hand, "I'm not trying to replace anyone Octavia. I understand you can't replace what you had... but I love your father and I And I want to be a part of both your lives." You gave her your best warm smile, "Do you think you can give me a chance?"

You tried to look calm while internally you were freaking out, praying to whoever was listening that Octavia would believe you were being genuine.

Octavia was expressionless for several moments, eyes looking down at your hands before she looked up at you.

A small smile crossed her mouth as she brought her other hand up to grab your own.

"I last thing need right now is another parent... I can barely handle the two I already have." You both had a little chuckle at that, "Buttt... I could use a friend. You know? Someone I could come to, that understands what I'm going through." She finished a little meekly, looking up at you.

Your heart swelled with joy, giving her a big smile you nodded your head. "Yeah... I'd like that." You told her, wiping the dew from your eyes.

You both smiled for a moment, a warmth filling the room.

A sound at the door got both your attention, turning to the sound, you found a very happy Stolas, face absolutely dominated by a wide smile as he hugged himself.

"Ooooh, I'm so happy to see you getting along." He practically squealed.

And like that Octavia pulled her hands back, pulling her beanie over her face, "Ugh, Dad!" She growled.

Stolas released a little dad chuckle, coming over and sitting besides you, planting a kiss on your cheek. "Everything alright when I was gone?" He asked sweetly, curling his hand around your own.

You smiled, giving him a nod before telling him "It went..." You looked over at the Octavia.

The young owl peaking at you from beneath her beanie, "It went perfectly." You told him, planting a kiss on his cheek.

After that, things really picked up, now that Octavia was actually interacting with you.

The two of you actually had a lot in common, most surprisingly being your taste in music. The two of you spending easily half an hour talking about your favourite band.

Stolas just sat there, silently watching the two of you having your lively back and forth, the Owl could barely contain the immense amount of joy he felt at seeing his two most favourite people in all Hell getting along.

And it would be as Octavia was finding something on her phone that you noticed his gaze, looking at him, you asked "What's up?"

The owl said nothing, shaking his head he leaned down and kissing your cheek. Holding you close as you and Octavia went back to your conversation.

[shurisneakers]

harmless (x)

Summary: Bucky volunteers to go stop a small time villain, but nothing can prepare him for what exactly he has to deal with. (Bucky x villain!reader, drabble series)

Warnings: cursing, frustrated bucky, dramatic reader, anxiety, smidge of angst, mentions of violence

Word count: 7.8k (i went overboard. clearly.)

A/N: as well all know, i am a humanities student writing science geeks. if any of this sounds unrealistic or nonsensical, it’s because it is and i am honestly too exhausted to research data privacy and AI so here’s my take on how STEM should work i.e. the power of friendship  <3 major shoutout to @iamlittlesparkler for the idea for this chapter!

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous Part  || Series Masterlist

“As you know, we have a busy week ahead of us.” 

Coffees line the conference room table, pens click against the stacks of paper that settle in front of various agents and the smell of deodorant mixed with post-training sweat lingers at the back of the room like a disgusting witch concoction. 

“The annual parade is coming up and since there are a few security threats, SHIELD has been asked to step in. Therefore, all of you will be working security this week, possibly even at the parade.” Murmurs broke out in the room the minute this was said; mostly from first year field agents who were way too excited to have earpieces and fingerless gloves. 

Bucky, on the other hand, doesn’t think much of it. They’ve dealt with threats before, most were declared empty the minute it got out that SHIELD or the Avengers were involved. It’s the 12th one that year. 

“That’s only if we don’t catch it first,” Steve continued. “Our first priority is precaution. The tech and analytics teams are working on it. However, if you see anything suspicious, bring it up with Director Fury. He’s going to be around to make sure we’re not overlooking anything. Do you have any questions?”

More whispers erupted at the mention of Fury’s name. Wait till they realise he lives up to his name when they accidentally manage to set him off just by existing incorrectly.

Bucky smirks at the thought.

“You can leave then.” Steve straightens up as chairs shuffle against the carpeted floor, over twenty people leaving the room.

“And remember, if you see an eagle today, be sure to stand there and thank it on behalf of Steve for its service. Freedom! Liberty! And whatever else,” Tony calls out from the corner of the room, earning a sigh from the captain. Others only snicker as they close the door behind them.

“Thanks.” Steve stares at him stone faced, bemused at the symbolism that had been bestowed upon him.

“Gotta keep the patriotism high.” The only ones that remain are the official team. Bucky thinks that he should have left with the other agents but apparently, it was rude and not a good show of team spirit.

“How serious is this threat anyway?” Clint has his head face down on the table, hand holding his to-go coffee cup so it doesn’t fall over. 

“We’re not sure.” Steve finally takes a seat on the chair in front of him. “It’s the biggest event we’ve had this year, wouldn’t put it past them.”

“If it’s those Welsh kids again, I’m gonna punch a hole through their house this time,” Clint warns, voice muffled through the furniture. 

“It’s not them, we checked.” Nat had her leg up on the armrest of Clint’s chair. “Tech team’s been working overtime to figure it out.”

“You have anything that could help?” Sam sends a nod towards Tony.

“I got a few things but it’d take a while to put it together.” 

“Didn’t you learn quantum physics in a night?” Wanda’s picking apart a cookie into pieces, chewing slowly.

“Thermodynamic astrophysics,” he corrects her. “Quantum science took lesser.”

Bucky scoffs slightly at the brag, eyes still trained on the table in front of him. Maybe if he made no noise, they would forget he’s here.

“Yeah, so this should be a piece’a cake.”  

“If your cake was somehow made out of a highly specified tracker that somehow doesn’t violate the data privacy of the entire world while analysing millions of terabytes worth of information, then yeah. A piece of it.”

“What he means to say-” Bruce interjects, “-is that we’re trying. It’s just taking longer than usual.”

“Well, the parade’s this Sunday. Think it’ll be done by then?”

“Hey FRIDAY,” Tony crosses his arm over his chest. “How many hours have I slept this week?”

“Three and a half, boss.”

“How much more will I be getting?”

“From previous experience, about six.”

“Yeah, we can get it done.” Tony looks back at Steve. 

“Ask someone on the tech team to help you out.” Everyone was well aware of Tony’s bad coping mechanisms and how futile it was to get him to change his mind about it, but they still tried.

“They’re too busy.” Bruce pressed his lips into a straight line. 

Bucky tunes out at this point. If he could help, he would have reluctantly chimed in by now, but he couldn’t. 

“So what now?” Sam rips Clint’s doughnut into two, keeping one half for himself while leaving the other to the latter who still hadn’t lifted his head up from the table.

“I actually asked Fury if I could call in an external to come help,” Tony pipes up. 

“And he agreed?” Nat raised an eyebrow.

“After he realised I wasn’t going to leave his office until he said yes.” He pulled out his phone, rapidly typing out a message before hitting send. “It didn’t take too long.”

“Do we know this person?” Steve asks a little suspiciously.

“Well-” Bruce sneaks a glance at the broody man on the chair, “-kinda.”

Everyone can tell Bucky isn’t paying attention by the way he’s glaring holes into the plant. He doesn’t mean to, it just so happens that it looks like he wants to kill it. Nobody tends to bother him during meetings, knowing well and fully that he did not care.

“You’re about to.” Tony jumps up, making his way to the door to pull it open.

Bucky perks up. An open door means they can leave, right? He can go watch The Bachelor? He’s not sure what everyone was talking about, but if the meeting was over he could go ask Wanda who was always kind enough to help.

“Our newest recruit,” the billionaire announces, quickly adding the next part, “on a trial basis.” 

Bucky looks at the door.

His jaw drops open.

“No,” he says loudly, posture immediately stiff as a plank. 

“Hello to you too, Barnes.” You roll your eyes before sending a small wave to everyone else. “Hey everyone.”

“What are you doing here?” He looks like he’s seething. 

“Don’t tell me you forgot about our date.” You cross your arms over your chest in defiance. “You told me 3 o’clock, you player.”

“What is she doing here?” He whips to Steve for an answer.

“Hey Y/N,” Sam greets with a smile on his face before Steve can reply.

“Sam Wilson, good to see you again.” You grin.

“Right back at ya, sugar.” 

Wanda looks amused, Clint finally lifts his head off the table at the mention of your name while Nat takes her feet off his armrest, and Steve’s body relaxes when he realises what’s going on. 

“Okay.” Tony claps his hand. Bucky shoots daggers at him. “As you all know, this is Y/N. She’s going to working with us this week.”

“This is ridi- how did you even find out about her?”

“Aside from the fact that she’s all you talk about?” Clint snorts. Bucky shifts his glare to him. It was bullshit and an exaggeration and Clint was going to get a shoe up his ass very soon.

Your grin only grows bigger.

“We saw one of the repulsors she made some time ago,” Bruce answers his question like the sane person that he is. “Tony’s had her in mind for a while.”

“Repulsors? How on ear-” Bucky connects two and two together before turning to Sam. “You. You got her this job.”

“Sam’s my best wingman.” You send him a small heart made from your hands. Whether the pun was intentional or not, no one would know.

“Don’t look at me, I had nothing to do with this idea.” Sam raised his hands to brush off the blame.

“You’re a villain,” he points out loudly.

“I’m a saint.” You raise your hand to your heart in mock offence. “I have done nothing wrong in my life, ever.”

“Listen, Robocop,” Tony interrupts your conversation, bringing the attention back to him, “I cleared it with Fury. He’s the boss here.”

“Fury doesn’t know-”

“What don’t I know?” The atmosphere of the room changes the minute he saunters in. 

With an eyepatch on his face, gaze sharp and a long black coat, Nick Fury puts Bucky’s dark outfits to shame. Not like he was competing. 

Bucky doesn’t continue his sentence. Nick’s imposing presence loomed at the doorway, putting a stop to the ridiculous arguments that were beginning to boil. Instead, he looks at you, only to find your attention trained on the man of the hour.

“Nicholas,” you half cheer from where you had shifted to in the middle of all the commotion. 

Nicholas?

Nicholas?

No one had ever called him Nicholas. 

“Y/L/N,” Nick addresses in return. “Been a while.”

“You haven’t come to the lair in months, Nick.” You pout at him. “I even sent you an invite.”

Bucky furrows his eyebrows. Since when are you on such good terms with Fury? Since when was anyone on good terms with Fury?

“It must have gotten lost in the mail,” he fires back, “Or maybe it’s because I just happen to be the busiest man in the damn country. Take your pick.”

You roll your eyes, muttering something under your breath, but the good natured smile on your face shows that you didn’t take any of his passive- or straight up- aggressiveness to heart. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I was interrupting your little tea time.” He looks around the rest of the room with an edge in his voice. “Don’t you all have work to do?”

“We do,” Tony interrupts, holding up his hand before pointing to Bruce and you. “Everyone else just sorta sits around and looks pretty.”

“I’m gonna go talk to the organisers, see what spots are most vulnerable.” Steve stands up. “You coming?”

“Yep,” Sam responds, flicking Clint’s shoulder to drag him along. “Come on, man. When was the last time you took a shower?”

“I’ll go see what the kids are up to in training. They’re probably flying off the handle right now.” Natasha brushes off crumbs from her lap. “Barnes, you in?”

Bucky silently shakes his head, eyes focused on you as you introduce yourself to every Avenger who walks out of the room, sharing a small fist bump with Sam.

“I’ll do it,” Wanda volunteers instead, finally leaving behind only the Science Bros, you and Bucky in the room with Fury. 

“I’ll give you a tour of the lab.” Tony beckons and you nod, following him. “New eyepatch, Fury? Prada, I assume?”

“Stark,” Nick says curtly. 

Bucky stares after you, arms still folded across his chest.

“Any problem, Sergeant?” 

Other than the fact that his arch nemesis was now working with his friends, no, not really. But that did seem like a pretty big one.

“No,” Bucky mumbles instead, getting up from his place finally.

Apparently, no one else was worried about the possibly lethal combination of you and Stark, even with Banner there to dilute it. 

Fine.

Guess he just has to observe you the whole week.

Well, half a week. It was Wednesday. 

He observes inconspicuously over the rim of his coffee cup. He has a newspaper spread in front of him at Bruce’s table. 

It’s not suspicious. He’s been there multiple times to sit in silence with the scientist who occasionally tinkers with something while engaging Bucky in tidbits of conversation. He finds it calming, refreshing even

Today he has an agenda. Everyone knows about it too. 

“You know he’s staring at you, right?” Bruce looks up briefly from the giant blueprint laid in front of the group. 

Tony had been dragged away to get a proper meal into him after he stayed up for 36 hours straight with caffeine keeping his system running. 

“He has a tendency to do that.” You’re looking over the plan the three of you had come up with the day before. There were certain changes to be made in terms of efficiency. “Turns out if you annoy him, he stares harder.”

“We’ve heard about the inventions. Inators, he calls them?”

“Yeah,” you point out something on the sheet, drawing a circle around it to come back to later, “only good things I hope?”

“He doesn’t really talk much.” Bruce writes down a small comment against your arrow mark. “But if he hated them, he’d have a lot to say. So I’d take it as a compliment.”

“Would it annoy him if I did?”

“Probably.”

“I’ll take it as a compliment, then. Pass me the ruler?” You draw a line connecting two pieces. 

Bucky’s ability to lip read is excellent but he refuses to do it, for privacy purposes. He knew that SHIELD had pulled some strings and had another teacher substituting for your classes the whole week since your other option was to come only after school hours. Anything else about this plan was murky.

“You gonna sit there all day?” Tony looks over his shoulder, following his line of sight.

“I’ve done it before.” He continues to look over the newspaper at you with your finger extended at something on the blueprint as you explained something to Bruce.

“You look like- how do I say this nicely.” He wasn’t going to. “A fuckin’ stalker.”

“I’m supposed to stop her from doing anything evil.”

“Sure.” Tony snorts. “That’s what this is. Should I get you a fedora and sunglasses while we’re at it?”

Of course Stark wouldn’t care; he brought you into this project. It was pretty much impossible to get him to agree with Bucky.

Bucky just narrows his eyes and continues his observation. 

The menu of the cafeteria keeps changing. They like to keep things interesting.

Every time they do, Bucky spends too long staring at the menu, trying to figure out what exactly is familiar enough to order. Vietnamese week had him eating pho the entire duration it stayed.

“You plannin’ on eating anytime this century, sarge?” He recognises your voice immediately. 

He knows what time your break is and he knows that you generally eat lunch in the cafeteria with the science team. Generally, the three of you pour over solutions and debate points all through the meal, and he spends the time getting acquainted with his new, lowkey Instagram account. 

He blocks the Bucky Barnes hashtag the minute he gets an account again. God save his eyes from people asking him to break their back like a glow-stick. However, one afternoon of accidentally watching three cat videos has led to his entire explore page being taken over by them and he’s been trying for three days to get it to stop. 

“Just trying to-” he tilts his head. “-understand what I’m reading.”

“Not a big fan of Greek food?” You join him in looking at the menu. 

“Never really had the chance to try.” Tony and Bruce don’t seem to be in the room, probably pushing aside their meal to work on it as they’ve often done.

“Ah.” You already had your order in mind but you wait there. 

Two minutes later he’s still staring at the menu. He can feel your presence next to him, unmoving. It unnerves him.

“Why are you still standing here?” He cranes his neck to look at you.

“I’m just seeing how long it takes for you to order.” You shrug. “So far it’s been five minutes and forty six seconds. Forty eight now.”

“Go away.” The concept of someone standing beside him, waiting for him to do something reminded him far too much of him trying to bag his stuff at the grocery counter rapidly while other customers waited to pay. 

“Six minutes and thirty seconds. This is just sad now.”

“Your face is sad.” It was pathetic that he had now resorted to this.

It earned a laugh from you. 

As entertaining as it was to be able to get on his nerves by just standing silently next to him, you finally ask, “Do you want a recommendation?” 

He eyes you wearily. “You gonna give me food poisoning?” 

“Not today, no.” You shake your head slightly. “Maybe tomorrow.”

He stares a little longer. You remain unshaken in your offer.

“Fine.” He sighs, stepping aside. 

You tell him that since it’s his first time, you’d get him something basic. He thought it made sense. 

He argued with you when you ended up paying for the both of you, only shutting up when you told him he’s holding up the line and that he could pay you back later. It doesn’t stop his incessant mumble complaining. 

He ends up with gyros at his table and you sitting opposite him with your meal. He asks where the Science Bros are. You tell him it’s Science Hoes now, as christened by Tony, and that they’re in the lab.

“So?” You look at him eagerly.

“What?”

“How is it?” you urge, nodding at him.

He takes a cautious bite, really taking his time with it to annoy your impatient ass. 

“Well?” You raise your eyebrow at him.

“It’s-” he pauses, looking down at his food. “-good.”

“Aha.” You lean back victoriously. “Knew it.”

He likes it. He also knows that this is probably going to be the only thing he orders for the next week unless you had planned otherwise. 

“You’re not eating?” He gestures to your untouched tray.

“Taking it up to the lab. Got a few things to work on and we’re already behind.” You gather up your stuff and get up.

“Uh-” he pauses from practically inhaling the entire thing. He was already halfway done with it. “-thanks.”

“No problem. You wink at him. “Try figuring out what’s wrong with it.” 

You turn on your heel to leave, taking your order with you. He can see your shoulders bobbing with silent laughter. 

He stares down at his plate, swallowing slowly. 

He pokes at it with a fork, lifting up the leftovers to check if there’s anything underneath. Nothing. 

He checks to see if his limbs are still intact or his face was a different colour. Nope.

His stomach twists in worry about what’s going to happen. He still has a bit left but he pushes the tray aside.

The rest of the day he spends supervising you has you occasionally catching his eye, only to laugh. It only freaks him out more.

It takes eight hours of waiting and self induced tests later to realise there was nothing wrong with it. You were just playing with him.

He’s surprised to find you in the rec room when he strolls in with Sam, given that you haven’t taken a break all day.

You don’t share the same surprise... almost like you expected him.

“How long have you been waiting for me?” he immediately asks.

"I wasn’t here for you.” You raise an eyebrow at him. “Heard that Wilson was makin’ an appearance here soon so I stopped by to get a good look at him."

"Take a picture, it'll last longer.” Sam laughs, inserting a dollar into the machine and punching in the code for what he wanted.

"Gladly. Strike a pose, would you?" You grin, raising your phone.

“Maybe when I’m not covered in sweat.” Sam counter offers and you accept with a thumbs up.

“You going to the parade, Sam?” You toy with the can in your hands.

“I’ll be working security, so probably.”

“Sarge?” You take a swig of your drink.

“Huh?” He snaps back into the conversation, putting a stop to the mental list of reasons he was making of why you could be here at the same time as him. He knew your schedule, it wouldn’t be very hard for you to figure out his.

“You coming to the parade on Sunday?” you ask again.

“I guess.”

You wince.

“What?” he asks instantly, curiosity making him a lot sloppier than usual.

“It’s just- you wear so much black.” You gesture to his current getup to prove your point. ”I feel like all the bright colours would vaporise you if you looked at them.”

He doesn’t look amused.

“You know, like Prince Philip.”

“I think I’ll be fine.” He gives you a sarcastic smile.

“You comin’ Buck?” Sam laughs, unwrapping the bar he bought from the machine.

“You go ahead, I’ll catch up,” Bucky says offhandedly, still glaring at you innocently drinking your soda.

Sam chews absentmindedly on his protein bar as he walks out, amused at the situation Bucky pulled himself into.

“What’d you do?” Bucky asks, studying your body language.

“I bought a soda.” You lift the can to prove your point. “And now I’m drinking it.”

“Why are you waiting for me?”

“I thought I’d return the favour,” you point out. “I’m supervising you.”

“Don’t.” He walks to the vending machine, pulling out his wallet for some loose change. There was a Snickers bar he had been craving since morning that he bought every alternate day. Small joys.

“Why? I have the time.” You take a sip, setting it down with a clang.

“You’re only here for this week.” Bucky counted the coins he had. He’d use a dollar but he was trying to get rid of the jingling in his pocket that made him sound like a fucking clown when he walked.

“Actually,” you begin innocuously, “Tony offered me a full-time position.”

Bucky’s movements stop, hunched over the money in his palm.

“What?”

“Yeah.” You nod seriously. “A full nine-to-five as a researcher here.”

“And you’re taking it.” He shakes himself out of the minor shock to assess the damage.

“I don’t know. I got a lot of things to consider.” The chair scrapes against the tiled floor as you stand up. “But maybe you should get used to seeing me a lot more around here.”

He punches in the code for his Snickers. The row whirs forward slowly.

“See you at the lab.” He hears you discard the empty can in the trash before exiting.

He waits patiently for his bar to drop while his mind internally screams about the consequences of having you work here. You wouldn’t be evil anymore. Unless you were here to steal secrets from the Tower. On the pro side, his weekend would be free again. On the con side, his weekend would be free again.

His bar stops right at the edge of the row. He waits for it to fall over. It doesn’t.

He shakes the machine, suppressing the primal urge to beat the shit out of it when the damn bar refuses to fall.

He punches in a few random buttons hoping that at least it would give his money back.

The little monitor instead flashes a new message across the screen.

‘Have a good day, sarge <3’

Motherfucker.

Captain America looks less daunting up close, you realise. But he is still a very large man with very large shoulders. You know at least four people who would like to scale him like a tree, not that you’d ever tell him.

“Hey, Y/N.” He sends you a small smile when you walk into the room for a mid-week update. A clipboard in your hand, report attached and a few stationery items in case some points needed to be noted done, you look professional and ready.

“Afternoon, Captain.” Tony saves a seat for you and Bruce beside him since you’re on the same project. You almost miss the fact that Bucky isn’t in the room.

He walks in a few minutes late; tall, dark and brooding, immediately bringing the excitement in the room down by 40% by just existing. 

Bucky surveys the room before catching your eye. He picks up his chair with ease and drags it over to where you are, sitting right beside you, ignoring the small cry of protest from an agent whose view he now obstructed. Everyone else just silently shifted over.

“Clingy much?” you whisper at him, eyes still trained on Steve who had waited till everyone was seated to continue.

“I’m supposed t’be keeping an eye on you,” he rebuffs in a hush.

“Well, you’re late. What if I went rogue, huh?”

“Therapy ran overtime,” he mumbles.

“Oh.” You blink. “How was it?”

“Same old.”

“You good?”

He refrains from answering when Steve starts addressing the room but yes, he was fine. He sends you a nod to confirm. 

“This is just a usual checking in. We’ve received all your reports, but just to keep everyone on the same page-”

Bucky logs out mentally. He knows what his job is, he’ll probably lead a division of the security team or join the mission to neutralise the threat in case they find it first. Either way, he’ll figure it out without having to listen to an intern nervously stammer their way through their team’s report. 

On the other hand, you’re not listening either. You were until you saw Bucky’s eyes glaze over while glowering at the window, assuming that he had stopped paying attention when his gaze doesn’t shift.

You should be listening. You’re new here and you should know what’s going on because any bits of detail are crucial to the working of your system. 

Instead, you rip out a sticky note and discreetly place it on the back of Bucky’s metal arm. He doesn’t notice.

You bite your lip to stop yourself from smiling. More post-its from your pile of stationery make their way onto the vibranium, shades of pink, purple, green and yellow decorating his arm like a bulletin board. 

You’re about to contemplate sticking one on his shoulder blade when he whips around to look at you. You freeze, hand in the air with a sticky note. He looks down at his arm, a scoff escaping him in disbelief. 

“Are you serious?” He twists his arm to check the extent of how far you’ve gone. “What are you, six?”

“How’d it take you so long to notice?” You watch as he tugs them off one by one, counting to see how many you had managed to get on there.

“It’s impossible not to zone out in these shitty meetings,” he mumbles, pulling off the last one, crumpling all of them into a ball to throw at you. You skilfully avoid them. 

“Don’t you feel pressure or heat or anything here?” You poke at his metal arm.

“No.” He clenches and releases the fist. “It can block bullets though.”

You snort. “Bet that’s a popular line in bed.”

He rolls his eyes. “I mean, it helps that I can’t feel anything. Sometimes,” he adds the last part as an afterthought. 

“Like when you’re blocking bullets.”

“Especially then.” He nods. 

“Would you ever want to?” you ask casually. “Like if you got the choice, would you prefer having feeling in that arm?”

“I don’t know.” He’s thought about it, but it doesn’t seem feasible in his line of work. He’d like it, though, to feel sand slipping through his fingers and the comforter under his palm. “Maybe when I’m retired.”

“Aren’t you well past that age?”

“Shut up.” He rolls his eyes. “And pay attention. You’re next.”

“So you are listening.” True to his word, Steve asks about what’s going on with your team. “Traitor.” 

Tony shoots off about how you only had to test it out on a small batch first to see if you could acquire the targeted data without compromising anything else. You chime in about a few specifics, and Bruce more or less just confirms what you both are saying, only stopping to let them know that you’d be finished in a day or two.

Steve nods, moving on to the next committee.

“Did I get a good grade?” you whisper when you lean back again.

“B minus at best.” 

“Fuck you, dude. I was great,” you protested. “It’s definitely worth a gold sticker.”

Someone shushes you sharply. You apologise quietly, whacking Bucky’s metal arm when you see a dumb smirk on his face. 

He narrows his eyes at you. 

You try sticking another post-it on him.

You’re only here for a week. That’s what he’s been told. Over six times, actually, after which he’s been told to go away the next time he asked.

No one’s brought up the job offer so he asks Tony if it was true and all he gets is a dismissive ‘yeah, whatever’. Besides, you haven’t told him if you accepted or denied it yet so isn’t sure if this entire thing is set in stone, per se.

So then why do you have a giant box of your belongings that you’re lugging around the lab, looking to set down?

And why does Tony allow you a table right in the centre of the lab for everyone to see as soon as they walk in?

There are a gazillion trinkets, picture frames and obnoxiously bright stationery that stands out against the dull minimalism of the lab.

“Every single one of these is a fire hazard,” he reports, standing over your desk.

You give him a side glance before reaching over to the side of your desk, pulling up a fire extinguisher and setting it on the table in front of him. “I came prepared, bitch boy.”

He doesn’t dignify that with a response. He chooses to look at what exactly you’ve brought with you because it’s a lot.

There are small cards with ‘thank you!’ sprawled on them in uneven lettering, bits and pieces of paper with small cartoons on them, little clay models and other miniature trophies with ‘you’re the best!’ under it.

“Your students gave you these?” He can’t remember the last time he gave his teacher anything other than a headache.

“Sometimes they learn or communicate better when they have something to keep their hands busy.” There’s a certain fondness in your voice that he isn’t used to hearing. “I end up with a lot of doodles and craft.”

“’s nice of them.” He can tell that this means a lot to you. He hasn’t seen it before.

He thinks the little decorations are adorable and maybe he’d keep another fire extinguisher on hand, just in case. 

Until you start pulling out a set of framed photos and his smile drops.

Several collages of Bucky in flower crowns, him with terribly edited backgrounds of beaches and mountains, a photo of him laughing with ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ next to it in an italicised font.

“What the fuck,” he states, grabbing one of them.

You stifle a laugh, pulling out several more to place along your table.

“Where did you fucking get these?” He starts pulling them off the table one by one.

“I don’t think you know how much the internet is obsessed with you.” You set an especially large one of him in a Hello Kitty bowtie right in the centre. He doesn’t miss the star shaped frame you chose for this.

“What is wrong with you?” He swipes that up immediately, looking for a place to discard, possibly burn these pictures. “Why do you even have these?”

“It’s imperative that people know we’re friends.” You bite your lip, bringing out the last thing to annoy him.

“What is that?” A teddy bear with a blue jacket and a grey felt arm stared into his soul.

“A Bucky bear.” Don’t laugh, don’t laugh, don’t laugh. “Limited edition.”

He snatches it along with the fifteen other picture frames, thinly veiled distress and mostly disgust on his face.

“I hate you.”

“But I love you.” You lift the small heart shaped locket you hung on one of the pictures of your class.

You use both your hands to click it open for him, watching his face morph into one of disbelief.

Bucky my beloved, it read on the right with a small picture of him on the left looking intensely disgruntled. He doesn’t bother asking where you found that specific picture of him outside a Burger King at 3am.

He doesn’t even make an effort to take it away this time. He knows that you’ll simply bring up more and more until you drove him crazy.

“You still have to see the Avengers calendar.” You reach for the inside. “I changed all the pictures to you, it looks great-”

He turns around and leaves before you get a chance to flip open the pages.

He wanders around, looking for the best disposal area he can find. He knows there’s a giant fireplace in the common room in the Tower, and for that, he’d have to go up a couple of floors.

He steps into the elevator, chin pressing down on the several picture frames in his hands to prevent them from falling over.

No one sees him carrying a couple of fan edited pictures and merchandise of him. Which was good.

Unfortunately, the doors ding open on the next floor and his best friend steps on with possibly the worst timing ever.

“Buck?” Steve sounds confused. He should be, considering the sight.

Bucky shimmies slightly to get a better grip on his belongings. “Steven.”

Steve glances at what he’s holding.

“Is this,” Steve pauses, trying to frame his words correctly to sound as supportive as possible, “a therapy thing?”

“No.”

Steve waits for a further explanation.

“It’s Y/N’s,” he elucidates. Steve’s eyebrows furrow.

“Why are there so many pictures of you?” He looks at the content in his hands a little closer. “And a bear.”

“She’s evil. And I hate her.”

“Alright.” It doesn’t answer his question but his friend looks irked enough.

The elevator dings to the common room floor.

Bucky turns on his heel to head toward the place to set all the pictures on fire. He saves the picture frames to give back to you though, he’s sure those cost money. But he makes sure every last square inch of the picture with several hearts around his portrait burns to ash.

Bucky knows that by the time Saturday afternoon rolls around, the three of you would have been working for thirty hours straight, scrambling to get the last minute details done.

You’re still at it but he can tell through the adrenaline of the upcoming deadline that you’re exhausted. 

Now he’s grouchy but he’s not an asshole. He’s already done two coffee runs for the team and brought you food when you didn’t show up for lunch. He mumbles something and dismisses it when you call out a ‘thank you’ his way. He considers it a debt repaid for the gyros.

He’s still keeping an eye on you but along with an emergency box of doughnuts for any sugar rushes that may be needed and bottles of water that he occasionally leaves at the corner of the table for you three to subconsciously keep yourself hydrated. 

“Are you sure we checked it?”

“Yes.” Bruce nods.

“Double checked it?”

“Yes.”

“Triple checked it.”

“Yes.” 

You look satisfied enough to move on to the next item. “Pass me the welding torch for a second.”

Bucky has a book in front of him that he hasn’t moved beyond the second page of. He’s more interested in seeing who collapses from burnout first. He has the infirmary on speed dial. 

After another hour or so Tony holds up a silver tablet, roughly the same size as a smartphone, examining it from all sides.

“That’s it,” he states. “The final product.”

You exhale lightly.

“We should name it.” You have your hands on your hips, looking down at it in wonder. Maybe the zero hours of sleep was finally kicking in because you couldn’t believe you were finally done. 

“You got any suggestions?” Tony asks. 

To be frank, no, you didn’t.

“No.”

“Okay, we’ll do that later.” Tony sets it down, not sounding too disappointed. “F.R.I.D.A.Y, tell the team to get down here, please.”

“Yes, boss.”

Bucky jumps off his chair to join you in the lab, leaving the book behind. 

It only takes a few moments for the others to join. Fury and Steve walk in together, already engaged in conversation.

“Greetings.” You clap your hands together. “We did it. We think.”

“We think?” Nick raises an eyebrow.

“We know,” Bruce clarifies quickly, stepping in. “We’re positive it works. We tested it out.”

Tony pulls up the holograph of F.R.I.D.AY’s system, sliding the tablet to the middle of the table.

“Is it secured under FRIDAY’s core?”

“Locked and loaded.” Tony hits the table lightly to signify that it was safe.

“I think we’re ready,” Bruce confirms.

“We better be, or else half the country is suddenly going to lose their internet connection,” you say under your breath.

“What?” Bucky’s eyebrows knit together.

“Nothing,” you beamed, “Okay F.R.I.D.A.Y., run sequence, global parameter.”

“Running sequence,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. parrots. 

There was no going back now. 

From what Bucky can see, Tony looks fairly confident but you have your bottom lip caged between your teeth, chewing on it nervously. 

There are several hundreds of photographs popping up and disappearing within a minute. Everything looks like it’s going according to plan.

The giant holograph of the AI dims. Your face drops when F.R.I.D.A.Y. seems to sputter to a halt. 

No one breathes.

In the midst of the tension, Clint mutters if they should play some background music. It’s followed by a swift ‘ow’ when Natasha flicks him in the shoulder.

You could hear a pin drop.

It suddenly picks back up again, running faster than the last time and the sigh everyone collectively heaves is almost comical.

It runs for a few seconds more before a list of names suddenly pop up accompanied by a series of photographs and geo locations.

“Sequence complete. Six names detected, zero encroachment on public or private databases,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. broadcasted. “Location determined to be Holland. Exact coordinates are computed into the quinjet.”

You let out a small cheer, looping your arm around Bruce, squeezing him in a half hug. He has a smile on his face, dropping his head as he laughs slightly. 

“How dangerous are they?” Tony, however, continues to ask.

“A few prior convictions and a series of similar threats. Danger level determined to be at approximately five out of ten.” 

“That’s not bad,” Steve commented. “Looks like we don’t need the full team there.”

“Romanoff, Barton, Wilson, Rogers can go ahead and take care of that,” Nick finally spoke up. “Everyone else is working security tomorrow, just in case anyone else decides that terrorism is on their fuckin’ to-do list for the day.”

“Buck, assemble a team and go over strategy for tomorrow,” Steve adds on. “Everyone else go suit up, wheels up in thirty minutes.” 

“Fuckin’ Holland,” Sam scoffs, shaking his head. “Of all the places.” 

“What do you have against Holland?” Nat asks as they leave together.

“Just don’t like ‘em.” Their voices grow faint the further they get.

“Hey.” A small greeting from behind you has you turning around.

Wanda stands in front of you and you have to ignore the fact that the most powerful being on Earth is talking to you. 

“Hey,” you say back.

“I just wanted to say congratulations. You did a great job.” Bits and pieces of her accent poked out. She didn’t seem like she was putting in the effort to cover it up as opposed to the press interviews you had heard a few years ago. 

“Thank you.” You smile. “T’was a team effort.”

“Well, we owe you one anyway,” Steve joins the conversation, leaving aside Tony who was still talking to Bruce.

“I wish I was humble enough to turn it down but I’m not.” You laugh. “It’s nice to have an arsenal of superheroes at my disposal.”

Steve looks like he’s going to respond but his attention is drawn towards F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s announcement that the quinjet was ready to go. He shoots you an apologetic look but you sign for him to go on, you’d meet with him later.

You watch as he claps Tony on the back, telling him to go get some sleep and something with more nutritional value than a pizza pocket in him, nodding at Bruce before taking leave. 

“Y/L/N,” Nick stands beside you, looking ahead at the conversations being had as Steve tugs Clint along with him.

“Nicky,” you tease.

“I know at least seven underground prisons I can put you in if anyone hears you calling me that,” he says stoically. 

“We all know you won’t get rid of me.” You shake your head. “Who’s gonna send you a Christmas card then, huh?”

He simply shakes his head, jutting his hand out and offering a handshake. “Not sure anyone here could handle another day of a highly caffeinated, sleep-deprived Stark.”

“Just say ‘thanks’, Nick, geez.” You roll your eyes. 

Bucky watches the entire interaction unfurl; only the body language, not employing the lip-reading ability. 

“You’re welcome.” You let go of his hand, a devilish look on your face. “You know what I want in return.”

Nick gives you a long, hard stare that could probably melt through Steve’s shield before turning around to leave. 

But Bucky doesn’t miss the subtle high-five he gives you while walking out, unbeknownst to anyone else, bringing the biggest grin to your face.

He makes it a point to ask you what the fuck kind of leverage you have over the man for him to play favourites with you. 

You finally collapse at your desk, letting out a loud exhale. You clench your eyes shut, your body finally melting into your chair. You look exhausted.

He’s not sure how to help. You don’t seem like you have the energy to tell him.

Bucky leaves a doughnut and water bottle on the table in front of you before shuffling out of the room quietly. 

He’s certain that he’s spent far too long in Bruce’s lab this week. He liked the man as much as the next guy, but he probably wouldn’t come down there for the foreseeable future. 

You’re at your assigned desk, reading light illuminating the space. Thankfully you’ve cleared up most of your stuff from the table, leaving no more liabilities to fall over in case he walked into the desk. 

“So you’re done for the week.” His voice surprises you. You were scrolling through your phone, slightly hunched over.

“It appears so.” You put your phone down, swivelling the chair to look at him. 

“How’d it go?” He leans against your table, making sure he isn’t using his full weight.

“Well, I slept for fifteen hours straight, so...” you leave him to connect the dots. He’s done the same several times.

“You’re probably gonna need more,” he says, mostly from his own experience, “I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Actually-” you reach beside your table and lug your gigantic box of belongings onto the table with a loud thud, “-you won’t.”

He looks at the box that was nearly overflowing with its contents, the majority of the space being taken up by empty picture frames. “I thought you said Tony offered you a job.” 

“He did,” you confirm. “I didn’t accept.”

“Why?” He watches you shift through a few things, adjusting it so that it wouldn’t fall over.

“This whole thing- it’s cool and all, but it’s not what I want to do.” You shrug. “I like teaching. I miss my class.”

He gaze lands on one of the thank you notes sticking out from the corner of the box. “Ah.”

“Back to school from tomorrow.”

“And evil on the weekends?” he prods, dropping a pen into the heap of stationery. 

“Obviously.” You give him a lopsided smile. “Where else am I gonna use all this brilliance?”

You point to your head. He lets out a small exhale in the form of a laugh.

“Speaking of-” You look like you just remembered something.  

You rummage through your backpack and pull out a small container, handing it to him.

“What’s this?” He turns it over, looking for any hidden clues. “Are you proposing again, because I’ve said no-”

“I’m not proposing,” you interrupt, “yet.”

He gives you a deadpan look.

“Open it,” you urge, and he complies.

Two small squares sit side-by-side. They’re slick black, barely bigger than the face of a dice.

“You put one of them here-” You tap on his bicep “-and the other here.” You tap his shoulder, a few inches below his clavicle.

“What does it do?” He thinks it’s like Nat’s little taser things, a nifty little tool that he could use on missions.

“It, uh-” you hesitate “-it allows you to feel sensation in your metal arm. Heat, pressure, texture.”

His breath hitches in his throat. He doesn’t mean for it to happen, it just does.

“You said that sometimes you’re glad you couldn’t because of the bullets and stuff. They’re detachable, so just take them off when you go on missions and wherever it is you Spandex ambassadors go.” You scoff slightly. 

He can’t remember the last time he felt something soft with that arm or used it for something that wasn’t directly related to his job.  

“I’m not messing with what the Wakandans gave you. It’s the most advanced piece of tech out there.” You shrug. “But if you ever want to feel it when someone attaches sticky notes to your arm, this could work. Just thought it’d be nice to have an option.”

He can’t decipher what he’s feeling right now. He looks up at you, only to catch you eyeing him cautiously, assessing his reaction. When you notice he’s looking at you, a nervous smile makes its way onto your face. 

His stomach does a flip. 

“Thank you,” he says quietly. 

“Don’t mention it.” You sound a little relieved, picking up the box that he’s pretty sure weighed a ton what with all his memorabilia in it. “See you next week.”

He doesn’t know how to explain what it means to him. 

Instead, he shoves his hands into his pockets. “What are you doing later?”

“Nothing.” You pause. “Why?”

“Are you gonna watch the parade?” 

“Yeah, probably.” You shift your weight to your other leg to compensate for the box.

“Want some company?”

“Aren’t you heading a security division?” You have to consciously hide the bewilderment from your voice. 

“Yeah. The place I’m stationed just so happens to have a good look into the street,” he explains, toying with the bracelet on his wrist. “Can’t really promise that I’ll be paying attention to it or that I’d even be there the whole time but for the most part...” he trails off. 

“Uh-” You force yourself to shove aside your surprise at his determination, “yeah, sure. That’d be cool.”

He nods. “Okay. See you there.” 

“See you,” you murmur as you walk to the elevator. 

He opens the tiny container to look at the small chips. They’re still there, silently like they don’t change his world just by existing. 

Gosh.

Next part

[opalesense]

dinners at diluc’s

kaeya & f!reader & diluc (NSFW)

5.5k words • ~40 min. read

summary: after lightheartedly joking about a threesome for the past few weeks, a drunken kaeya decides to shamelessly suggest that diluc should join in on all the fun.

warnings: alcohol, facefucking, double penetration, bondage, overstimulation, big dicked duo !!

notes: reader is in a relationship with kaeya before all this (kind of a sequel to this!) and thank you so much for 100 followers! i hope you enjoy this as a token of my appreciation <3

DINNERS AT DILUC’S MANOR used to be as rare as a sighting of a dragon in Mondstadt. Though, over the past few months, Diluc and Kaeya have been slowly rebuilding their previously severed bonds over weekly meals together in an effort to achieve some sort of reconciliation. It was mostly my idea, but I’m sure after all these years of unforgiving distance, they were secretly grateful I was the one to finally push them towards reunion. With the strong sense of pride and swelled ego they shared, they wouldn’t outwardly show it, of course.

 Despite the good progress they were finally making now, I won’t forget that it started as a painstaking process.

 At first, the meals were tense and rather snappy, the boys sarcastically ganging up on me for forcing them into a room together when they “clearly had nothing to say to each other,” as Diluc remarked during the first dinner. Kaeya had agreed with silence, rolling his eyes and shaking his head, impatiently waiting for the night to be over. All I could do was sigh and pray things would get better from there.

 But now Kaeya had a drink in his hand, one that was made personally by Diluc despite having kitchen staff who could’ve done it for him. The brothers were riding waves of laughter, reminiscing on good memories and inside jokes with grins planted on both of their faces. They bounced stories off of each other as if they were completing each other’s thoughts, their minds so in sync – just like they used to be when they were growing up together.

 My heart fluttered to see a look of genuine happiness on Kaeya’s face. I could tell he’s been wanting a moment like this, a moment to truly reconnect with his only family, for a long time. And one glance at Diluc told me he was thoroughly enjoying the night as well, his smile breaking the usual stoic façade he upheld. So even after the meal was already finished and the staff had cleared the table then went to their quarters for the night, I sat and listened to their stories despite being unable to contribute anything to the conversation. Even though it was getting late, how could I possibly interrupt this rare moment?

 Then Kaeya had swiftly downed his drink. So he asked for another. And another. Then we collectively moved from the dining room to the living room to warm up by the fireplace. Kaeya asked for another drink. Then one more.

 “Kaeya, don’t you think that’s enough to drink for tonight? We still have to walk home,” I gently reminded him, feeling bad for interrupting the conversation so suddenly. But it was getting extremely late. I was getting extremely tired and cranky for sitting around and doing nothing for the past few hours but mindlessly listen to the men talk.

 “I’m having so much fun, sweetheart. Just one more?” he teased me by making puppy eyes at me, “Please~?”

 “Kaeya...”

 “No need to worry about him, [Y/N],” Diluc politely waved off my request, “I could always walk you guys home – it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to drag him along after a night of drinking. Or better yet, you two can stay in the guest bed upstairs then return home tomorrow morning when he’s sobered up.”

 I placed a hand on Kaeya’s arm. “Would that be okay with you? If we spend the night in his guest bed? I’m rather exhausted.”

 “Guest bed? Why don’t we just spend the night in Diluc’s bed!” Kaeya’s words began slurring as he giggled, “Maybe we can have that lil’ threesome we’ve been talking about.”

 My mind snapped awake immediately, eyes widening as I nervously glanced to Diluc who also had his jaw slightly dropped in shock. “K-Kaeya, you really must watch what you’re saying–“

 “Aw, don’t act all shy now, sweetheart!” He took his eyes off of me to face Diluc, who was now clearly perplexed. I sat perplexed as well, unsure of how I was going to come up with an excuse for what he said. Because it was true. We had been lightheartedly talking about having a threesome lately. But mentioning it to Diluc of all people on such a wholesome night like this made my heart quickly sink. He must be appalled.

 “Diluc, I’m so sorry, you know he says too much when he’s drunk-“

 “No, no, but it’s true! ‘Luc, you wouldn’t believe how much we’ve been talking about fuckin’ around with an extra... fuckin’...” Kaeya’s face began to soften at the realization of his actions as his gaze turned to the floor. “Oh... shit.”

 The three of us sat to process what had just happened for a moment, the firewood softly crackling to fill the silence. I didn’t know if I was feeling embarassment, awkwardness, anxiety, or all of it at the same time. All I knew was that for some twisted reason, the sudden mention of our fantasy out loud to Diluc made my thighs slightly twitch in excitement without thinking. How in the world did I just get aroused? I internally shamed myself.

 Diluc was the first to break the silence. “So... how long have you been thinking about this again?”

 “Diluc!” I snapped at him, not wanting him to encourage the thought. But one look at him and I could tell he was dead serious about the matter. Embarassment definitely kicked in now through a blush that quickly crept up to my cheeks. Are we really going to discuss this right now?

 Kaeya took a slow sip of his drink, finally putting some thought into what he was going to say. But just as I hoped he was going to take this opportunity to dismiss the topic entirely, to my dismay, he quickly muttered, “A few weeks now.”

 “Kaeya!” I smacked his arm lightly. My body shrunk into the sofa in disbelief. But my thoughts were racing along with my heartbeat. Diluc seemed to express genuine interest immediately after the initial period of shock. It was almost as if he had been thinking about it lately too. I couldn’t help but imagine the things that these two could do to me, or imagine specifically what Diluc was thinking about doing with us to be interested in the first place. Even though I hated to admit it, jolts of excitement started to tickle my nerves throughout my entire body but I didn’t dare show it. I can’t believe this is conversation is actually happening. I can’t believe we could actually do this.

 Diluc leaned back into his chair with a content hum. “If you’re seriously offering... I can’t say I would be opposed to the idea.”

 “Now that’s my man!” Kaeya excitedly pointed to Diluc, who then slyly chuckled in response. Kaeya exchanged glances between me and Diluc a few times before finally settling on Diluc. “Wait, you’re actually serious?”

 “Are you actually serious?”

 “Tell him, [Y/N], am I being serious?” Kaeya poked my leg, which elicited another twitch at the sudden touch. I looked up at him dumbfoundedly, failing to find words when I was getting embarassingly aroused. “I don’t think I’ve been more serious about something in my life, brother!”

 “I can’t believe the two of you right now,” I scoffed as I stood up, snapping myself out of the fantasies bubbling in my head. There was no way we would actually do it, after all, the brothers were getting along but not that closely. “Diluc, can you show me to the guest room, please? I’ll go to bed while the two of you joke about this convulted fantasy.”

 “Joke? C’mon, sweetheart! You know we’ve been talking about it!” Kaeya stood up to follow me to the main floor of the manor with Diluc trailing along, “Don’t play innocent just because Diluc’s around.”

 The three of us climbed the stairs, the two brothers still trailing behind. “It’ll be the last room down the hall once you turn left,” Diluc directed me. Kaeya hummed in what sounded like satisfaction.

 “Just look at that ass, ‘Luc. You know, you can touch her if you want, I wouldn’t mind,” I immediately turned around once I heard Kaeya mutter those words and glared at him. They both stopped in their tracks at the same time, Kaeya returning a stare more intimidating than mine and Diluc’s eyes trailing to the floor. I felt so small under the lust in his sapphire eyes, which were staring me down with a craving to touch me.

 “Listen, sweetheart, I know you’re being a brat right now but once we get our hands on you...” he stepped close enough to place his gloved hand on my thigh, shooting a chill up my spine and causing my thighs to squeeze together. I didn’t want to let him know that I wasn’t entirely opposed to this idea either but my body couldn’t control itself. My core was secretly craving his touch. He noticed my subtle reaction and let out a low chuckle.

 “Ah, I can tell you’re excited. Just keep walking, baby. You can drop that innocent act now and show Diluc how much of a slut you can be, okay? Can you do that for me?”

 I didn’t have the energy to hide it anymore, let alone answer him with words. I let my lips quiver as I turned back around, taking a few more steps up the stairs then walking down the hall while the brothers exchanged inaudible whispers with each other, presumably about me. My instincts told me they were plotting behind my back but they were so quiet that I couldn’t make out any real words. Before my hand could reach for the doorknob, Kaeya’s arm got ahead of me and gripped the knob himself. “Let me get that for you, sweetheart.”

 He opened the door and walked inside first. The room was surprisingly larger than I expected for a guest room. A large bed sat near the wall and with a glance to the side I could see it faced a large vanity. The rest of the room consisted of a warddrobe, drawers, a seating area, and a bookshelf.

 “This used to be my room, you know,” Kaeya pivoted his heels to face me while placing his drink down on top of one of the nearby drawers. “Diluc picked a good room for us. Hopefully it’s just how I left it.”

 “It should be,” Diluc followed close behind as I stepped forward to get a better look of the space. “I never asked any of the staff to touch this room aside from the occasional dusting and I don’t get many visitors who need to spend the night.”

 “Perfect,” Kaeya smirked. That grin usually indicated he was plotting something. My stomach was a mess of excitement, curiosity, and anxiety at the same time. Was this really happening?

 He knelt down to pull out the bottom drawer in front of him and rummaged through his belongings to pull out a bundle of something, though I couldn’t tell exactly what it was from the dim lighting of the room. “Just as I had hoped.”

 He hid the item behind his back as he stood up and took a step towards me, gently planting a kiss on my forehead. He then began to shower my face with kisses, wrapping his arms around me in a cute embrace and making me giggle. Just as I was about to push him away in jest, he simply said two words that made my heart stop. “Now, Diluc.”

 Before I could react or comprehend what was going on, Diluc had pressed his hips against mine with a grip on my waist while Kaeya squeezed me harder in our seemingly sweet hug, knocking a bit of wind out of me. Kaeya, despite being unbelievably drunk, still had an inescapable strength as he managed to pull both my arms down while keeping me in his embrace. My panicked eyes looked up at Kaeya’s face, which was focused on my arms now being pinned behind my back. Once I felt rope being looped around my forearms, I knew exactly what was about to happen.

 “Be a good girl for Master Diluc, okay sweetheart? I’m going to get another drink,” Kaeya loosened his grip on me and gave me another kiss on the cheek. “You want to do this, right?”

 I hated to admit it, but I shyly nodded yes. Kaeya smiled contently. “You can trust him. Everything he’s going to do is part of our plan. We’re going to have fun tonight, okay?”

 And with that, Diluc finished tying my folded arms together as Kaeya walked out the door. Before I could form a thought, Diluc held my waist to slowly guide me to sit at the edge of the bed, pressing his bulge against me throughout each step and kissing my bare neck. He then turned me around and planted a knee between my thighs into the mattress, slowly laying me down then beginning to unbutton my blouse as he continued licking and nibbling my skin. I breathily moaned at the excitement and nervousness of a man other than Kaeya touching me so calmly, so naturally. Diluc pulled the tucked in fabric up once it was unbuttoned to reveal my bare torso in its entirety, letting out a low growl at the sight. The excitement burned inside my core and I couldn’t help but gently grind against his clothed knee for some stimulation.

 He took notice of this and responded by pressing his knee deeper into my aching core which was so much more forgiving than what Kaeya would have done if I wanted to grind against his leg. Diluc trailed the kisses up towards my jawline, stopping just an inch away from my lips and muttering, “Do you care about this blouse?”

 “Rip it off,” I mindlessly whispered, not wanting to go through the trouble of getting untied for my blouse to come off. I craved touch, it could be from anyone at this point, but I needed to feel hands on my skin. Diluc made quick work of the insignificant piece if clothing, ripping it apart as if it were a piece of paper then tossing it onto the floor. He tossed his gloves along with it, my exposed skin suddenly meeting his warm touch as he caressed my sides and continued to kiss my neck, definitely leaving marks at this point. I sighed at his warmth, a stark contrast to Kaeya’s cold touch. Albeit, Kaeya always loved to use his vision to tease me, and maybe Diluc was doing the same thing here.

 “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Kaeya stepped into the room and walked towards us.

 “She’s gorgeous, Kaeya. Seriously, you found yourself a keeper,” Diluc paused his kisses to respond, never breaking eye contact with me, “You better treat her well, otherwise I might want to steal her away for myself.”

 “Ha! In your dreams. I’ll let you play with her all you want but in the end, she’s mine, dear brother.”

 Diluc scoffed lightheartedly and placed his hands on my back to lift me up, fully releasing my neck from his kisses as Kaeya waved a glass in front of me. “Now drink up, sweetheart.”

 “What is it?” I looked up at him expectedly.

 “It’ll make things easier for you later. Make sure to drink every last drop,” he gave out a short laugh, “That wouldn’t be the first time I’ve told you that in the bedroom, huh?”

 I scoffed at the suggestive joke and wrapped my lips around the edge of the glass. It was some kind of concoction that I couldn’t exactly recognize, but there was definitely hard liquor in it. I connected the dots and figured he probably had something planned where he wanted me to drink something strong to chase away whatever pain he was going to inflict on me tonight. My legs trembled with excitement at the thought, wondering what the two had planned for me behind my back.

 With each sip, Diluc worked on unbuckling my pants to reveal my half naked body, which was now completely surrendered to the two brothers who were also unbuttoning their own shirts without taking their eyes off of me. Kaeya finished first, having his top already halfway unbuttoned anyway, and reached down to strip me of my underwear. Resuming from where Diluc had left off, he leaned down to leave marks on my neck as well, his kisses being more sloppy and aggressive than sensual like his brother’s. Small pants escaped my mouth as his teeth nibbled down at the spots that were already slightly bruised, but he didn’t seem to care and only bit down harder knowing I was sensitive.

 But his passionate kisses on my fragile skin were only fleeting moments, and after one quick peck on the lips and a smirk, he climbed off of me to reveal a half naked Diluc tying his long hair up into a ponytail. Diluc’s messy red locks couldn’t distract me from his hungry stare. He eyed me down with such intensity, never breaking eye contact despite turning his head from side to side to gather all his hair into a bundle. My eyes darted to Kaeya, who had began unbuckling his pants and was also observing my body with pure lust in his eyes. I couldn’t help but trail my gaze down towards their hips, and in the soft moonlight, I could see their bulges creating large tents in their underwear, aching and yearning for me. I could’ve drooled at the sight of their bulky erections if my mouth wasn’t closed shut from nervousness. My core lit up with butterflies, wanting them now more than ever.

 My thoughts were interrupted by Diluc climbing onto the mattress next to me then swiftly grabbing me to turn me all the way around so my head conveniently hung off the edge of the bed. I let out a soft giggle at how he manhandled me, how he had lifted me and gently threw me on the mattress like I was dead weight. He must’ve noticed that I liked what he did because as he positioned his head near my throbbing folds and pinned my thighs up with both his hands, he gave a quiet chuckle to himself not long before wrapping his lips around my clit and gently sucking.

 I gasped at the sudden warmth but shock quickly turned into pleasure as Diluc’s hot tongue lapped at my wetness, making me flinch and arch my back at the sensation. I instinctively tried to pin my thighs back together in an effort to try and keep the tiny amount of pride I had, but Diluc was quick to shoot a dominant glare at me while he pushed my legs back apart. If anything, the subtle act of defiance only made him hungrier for me, his movements getting a little more aggressive and passionate. My sighs and moans of bliss made the redhead happily groan back in response, the simultaneous buzzing of his lips against my saliva coated cunt causing my brain to malfunction. I couldn’t think anymore and it had only been about a minute or so. I was in heaven.

 I looked up to Kaeya for reassurance that I was still in Teyvat as he hovered above me, stroking his cock in front of my face and looking down at me with a devilish smirk. “You should really give me a few pointers, ‘Luc. She’s going crazy over you.”

 Diluc kissed my clit before responding. “Have you ever considered learning how to properly please a woman instead of selfishly chasing your own needs?”

 “And have you ever considered sleeping with girls other than your maids?”

 “Fuck off,” Diluc’s warm breath against my entrance as he sarcastically laughed had me lean into his touch even more. “You know that’s not true.”

 His mouth latched onto my clit again, and as if it couldn’t feel any better, he managed to snake two fingers into my entrance while he sucked on my clit, his long digits teasing my walls by slowly scissoring my insides. If Kaeya weren’t a sucker for orgasm denial and hadn’t trained me to hold back my releases for months, I surely would have broken under Diluc’s touch by now.

 “Alright, don’t get too excited now, sweetheart,” Kaeya reached out to caress my cheek with his thumb, “Let’s show Diluc how pretty you look with a bulge in your throat.”

 “Yes, sir,” I mindlessly muttered and eagerly opened my mouth, earning a grin from Kaeya. He placed his hands on both sides of my jaw, chuckling as he rested the underside of his cock on top of my face, thinking about how it managed to in my throat when it was bigger than my head. My breath stuttered as Diluc’s tongue kept trying to grab my attention but Kaeya’s thickness always seemed to captivate me no matter how many times I saw it.

 “Very good girl,” he then guided his tip to meet my tongue and let out a low growl while he slowly pushed his entire length into my throat inch by inch. “My good little girl...”

 He wasted no time to fuck my throat as if my head were his toy, his fingers digging into my jaw with each groan that escaped his lips. At times Diluc would suddenly curl his fingers inside me causing me to moan in surprise, which then made Kaeya twitch in ecstacy as the vibrations in my throat clenched tighter around his cock.

 The feeling of being touched by two men at once made my insides burn like a wick fighting for its life at the bottom of a candle. My senses were overloaded as I tried to focus on one aspect of what was going on, darting between sensations as if I couldn’t decide what to pay attention to. Maybe Kaeya’s hands gripping my teary eyed face. Diluc’s fingers prodding my walls. Kaeya’s grunts and groans filling up the room. Diluc’s hot breath panting for air against my folds. Everything that led up to this moment was completely blocked out of my mind and I could think about was how restlessly aroused I was. The brothers’ movements became more merciless and the more I tried to hold back my release, the more it fought back. I found my legs gradually tensing up and my moans becoming more and more desperate to the point where I was dangerously on the edge.

 “Diluc, stop,” Kaeya quickly pulled himself out of my mouth and despite his initial hesitation, Diluc gave my clit one more kiss and pulled his head away to sit up straight. I was a coughing mess when I finally took a deep breath from suffocating for the past few minutes, and as a sign of mercy, Kaeya gently lifted my head to allow better airflow into my throat.

 Despite coughing my organs out, my legs shook violently as I still tried to hold back my release. I whined and wanted to scream in frustration at the denial of my climax, the ropes around my arms and Diluc’s hands pinning me down preventing me from getting up to stimulate myself a little more. Kaeya only laughed sadistically.

 “I knew it. You got a little close there, didn’t you, princess?” he teased. I groaned impatiently as my eyes were glued to his cock, which I noticed had strings of saliva still attached to my face. The drool all over his length only made him smirk, and it made Diluc sigh in envy.

 “P-Please,” I could barely think of words as my body trembled in pleasure, “M-More...”

 Kaeya’s laughter subsided as he caressed my cheek lovingly. “Tell us what you want, baby. Use your words.”

 “M-More...” more tears swelled up in my eyes as I struggled to come up with proper words or coherent thoughts, “K-Kaeya...”

 “Yes, princess?” Kaeya gently reached under me to lift my torso up and Diluc leaned over to help guide my shaking body until I was sitting up with my back leaning against Kaeya, my thighs still pried apart to prevent me from pleasuring myself. Kaeya climbed into the spot behind me while Diluc comfortably sat in front of me, staring at my body as if he were in a trance.

 “I...” the strength in my voice was faltering as I tried to form a sentence, “need you both...”

 “Poor thing. The alcohol must be kicking in,” Diluc placed one hand on the side of my thigh, gently massaging the spot and exchanging looks with Kaeya, who hummed in approval behind me. Kaeya’s hands ran up my from my waist to my shoulders where he began massaging my tenseness away.

 “Just relax now, princess. We’ll take good care of you, okay?”

 “Okay...” I whimpered innocently as I leaned into their massages, taking deep breaths while I bathed in their attention under the moonlight.

 Time always seemed to pass differently when I had a drink. In one moment, the brothers were massaging me to calm me down from edging, and in the blink of an eye, Diluc was pulling me down on top of his chest, kissing my neck softly like he did before. In another blink of an eye, my eyes stared into my reflection from the vanity across the bed to see that my thighs were bound together with rope and Kaeya was leaning over my back, whispering into my ear.

 “Can you tell us what you want now, princess?” he rubbed his cock to spread my wetness to my butthole and I could feel Diluc’s cock radiating heat as it was pressed against my stomach.

 As if the words travelled out on their own, I found my lips muttering, “I want to get stuffed full...”

 And as if the brothers were magical beings that could grant wishes on command, they were strategic and patient when they pushed themselves inside me. Diluc’s hands first pushed me down onto his cock. Each thick inch slowly stretched me out and my eyes widened once I felt his tip finally kiss my cervix. With a sigh of relief and a quivering breath, I planted my cheek into his chest at his sheer size alone, and just when I thought I had settled down comfortably, Kaeya had positioned himself behind me and slowly pushed himself into my other hole. Even though I imagined the pain of having two cocks penetrate me at the same time would be excruciating, the feeling was extraordinary, making me pant like a dog in heat. I subconsciously thanked Kaeya for giving me that drink earlier, knowing their large sizes would have painfully split me open otherwise.

 “Look at yourself in the mirror,” Kaeya groaned as he buried himself as deep as possible. My reflection was all I could stare at. I could clearly see every detail of the sticky situation I was in and I loved every inch of the sight. My attention darted around once again. Diluc’s hands gripping my ass, his knuckles going white with his strong hold on me. Kaeya’s soft hair draping down on me and Diluc, his muscles illuminated by the moon. Diluc’s eyebrows furrowed with his eyes completely closed, breathing heavily at the tight fit. Kaeya’s sapphire eyes staring right back at me, studying every part of this scene just like I was.

 “Don’t hold yourself back this time. Cum all over Master Diluc’s cock for me, okay princess?”

 And with that, he leaned back up, stabilized himself by holding my waist, and began fucking me steadily. Diluc followed suit, keeping his grip on me to fuck my soaking cunt as if he were waiting for this moment his entire life.

 It took awhile for me to process what I was feeling at first. My brain was fully expecting pain, but once I realized I was going to cum after only a few thrusts in, I completely lost control.

 “F-Fuck!” I yelped into Diluc’s chest as I watched the brothers pound into me in the damned mirror, “M-Master!”

 “Which one, baby?” Kaeya teased, earning a slight chuckle from Diluc. I moaned uncontrollably in response, my voice shaking with the way my body was being rocked by the two men who started at different rhythms at first but synced up each thrust moments later.

 “K-Kaeya! Diluc!” I sighed mindlessly, earning grunts from the two of them. They always seemed to be teasing me with chuckles, acting so nonchalant as if they weren’t fucking my brains out at the same time.

 An orgasm immediately hit me like a wave without any warning and I failed to hold back the loud moan that escaped my sore throat. If my legs weren’t tied right now, I would’ve definitely been shaking uncontrollably, but even now my abdomen violently curled up as I rode the waves of my climax. But the two didn’t care. They took my moment of weakness to fuck into me even harder, silently agreeing to pick up the pace and torture me in the best way.

 “Good girl,” Diluc whispered into my ear, clearly picking up the pet name from his brother. “Tightening around me like that... you really are such a good girl.”

 “I felt it too,” Kaeya groaned out, “Can you cum for us again, princess? You’re being such a good slut for us, you know that?”

 “I’m... I’m a good slut...”

 “Then cum for us again,” Diluc’s voice was almost demanding, his movements getting more desperate and sloppy as he started to take a little more dominance in speed over Kaeya, craving the sensation that I gave to him once more. “Cum on my cock, [Y/N].”

 Kaeya ganged up onto the intensity by leaning his chest over my back again, propping himself up with one hand and grabbing a fistful of my hair with the other, making me choke on my own air. “Don’t make him tell you twice, sweetheart. Be a good girl.”

 I had managed to reach my climax again shortly after, panting and trembling as I was cutely sandwiched between the two. As the two groaned at the sensation, they asked for another a few minutes after. And another. Then we collectively switched places so Kaeya could feel me cum around his cock. Kaeya asked for another orgasm. Then one more.

 “I c-can’t fucking take it anymore...!” I screamed into his chest, overstimulated and almost writhing in pain. “P-Please s-stop!”

 The brothers that I knew were long gone by now. Now they were simply horny messes chasing after their own pleasure, edging themselves and using my body as their toy, teasing that the night would be over soon then immediately asking me to cum more. They endlessly praised me about how my body felt so good, how tight the fit was, and how sweet my moans were. And despite the aching pain in my core, I secretly didn’t want this sensation to end either. But alas, all good things come to an end, and Diluc was the first to break.

 “F-Fuck,” he grunted weakly, “I can’t hold it anymore, I’m going to...!”

 “Cum in me,” I panted out, “Fill me with cum, please, Master Diluc...!”

 With a loud groan and a cry of pleasure, Diluc’s thick load had slowly surged through my insides, his cock throbbing with each pump of cum he dumped into my abused asshole. My tongue fell out of my mouth at the sensation of Kaeya still sloppily pounding my cunt while Diluc’s movements slowed until he finally came to a complete stop, his cock still firmly buried to hold his cum inside. Kaeya took this opportunity of having me all to himself to reach a hand to the back of my neck and pull me down for a kiss before finally releasing his seed in me as well, coating my slick covered walls with his seemingly endless loads of cum. Even when his movements began to slow to a stop as well, he continued to kiss me sweetly, sneaking in small smiles here and there before pulling away to press his sweat covered forehead against mine.

 “You did so good, sweetheart,” he whispered proudly, “You’re so perfect, filled with our cum like a good slut.”

 I let out a weak laugh, wiggling my hips gently while the two were still stuffed inside of me. “I feel so good... I’m really filled with cum...” I happily grinned, giggling as I softly cuddled against Kaeya’s forehead.

 “You sure are, cutie.”

 The three of us stayed comfortably in this position for a few moments, taking in the afterglow of such a celestial feeling of finally reaching our climaxes. Our tired pants echoed throughout the room, sweat trickling down our faces and my tears slowly subsiding as Kaeya massaged my scalp and showered my face in more kisses. Diluc let out a deep breath before slowly pulling himself out of me and climbing off of the bed. He started to pick up his clothes from the floor, his eyes glancing at the way his cum slowly trickled down from my hole. Even though I wasn’t facing him, I could practically envision his stupid smug grin forming when he finally decided to say something to us.

 “Can I expect you two for ‘dinner’ sometime again soon?”

[bebepac]

A Piece of Heaven on Earth: Part 4

AN1: So I thought I could finish this in four parts, but I was wrong.  This story really seems to almost write itself.  I originally thought three parts would work, but now I think I’m splitting this last part up. There will be 5 parts and an Epilogue. I think this works the best.  This is part 4 of A Piece of Heaven on Earth, to catch up on what you’ve been missing, please check out:  A Piece of Heaven on Earth

The Book:  TRR (no royals) Pairing:  Liam x Riley Word Count:  3225 Warnings and Ratings Profanity, sexual innuendo, mention of character death: Teen Summary:  Liam makes a choice that could impact both his and Riley’s lives. Song Inspiration: Make You feel My Love by Adele Movie Inspiration:  Just Like Heaven

Original Post:  03/29/22 at 3:59PM EST

A/N 2:  This is very special to me.  So please be kind.  I’m writing this as a tribute story to my Riley FC, the late Cheslie Kryst, in a way to deal with my grief which has almost been consuming my life.  I started following her in 2019 when I was watching the Miss USA pageant.  I rooted for her immediately.  Not only was she from my home state, but she was just this bright twinkling light on stage, she was a minority, like me. So when I came to the fandom in January 2020 and started writing stories for TRR I picked her as my Riley FC because she embodied what I wanted my “Riley” character to be.  Even in her untimely passing, I am still finding out more about her life and I have written her pretty accurately, even down to having depression.  So I will say it again.  If you need help please reach out.

Three Years Ago

RILEY

When they had all got back to the apartment they shared at 4AM, she had thought they really should have tried to get a few hours of sleep before rounds, but they listened to Nico instead.

His idea was to just stay up, go to the corner diner and get breakfast, and roll into work, on no sleep and as much coffee as they could drink.  

Just so we’re clear.....It was not a good idea.  

At 7:45AM when they should have been preparing to start rounds, Riley was waking up after she had face planted on the table at the diner. Still groggy from lack of sleep, she realized that they hadn’t even ordered breakfast, but the waitress just let them sleep.  Tracie, the usual waitress there,  had seen many of the interns come into the restaurant over the years.  

“God Nico, you actually drooled on the table.”  

“Um at least I don’t have a quarter stuck to my face.”  He plucked the quarter free that was lodged to Riley’s  left cheek.  

“This was your worst idea yet Nico.”  

“At least we’re going to be at work on time.  Shit we’re fucking late!!!”

They put cash for a tip for Tracie on the table  and ran across the street to Mount Sinai.  They hid at the corner, and when their group of interns  walked by.

 They tried to seemingly incorporate themselves in like they weren’t almost a half an hour late for rounds, mingling in the back.

Dr. Ramsey noticed immediately.  

“You four are late.”

“We’ve been here the whole time.”

Dr. Ramsey side glanced at Nico.

“Are you wearing women’s scrubs Karahalios?”  

“I knew these felt too big.”  Riley adjusted her top.  

“Because they’re mine, Riley.”  

“How do you know they’re yours?”

“Because my name is written in them!”

He pulled the back so he could see the collar. Riley twisted the top so she could see his name written on the collar in black permanent marker.

“What are you, five?  Then why did you not put on the scrubs with your name in them, Nico?”

“Because they weren’t in the dryer!!! You got dressed first remember!!!!  But these do wonders for my figure. Damn RB1, I get why you twitch in these.

 My hips don’t lie.”

There was a light dusting of laughter from Nico’s comment which infuriated Dr. Ramsey.

“You four over here now!”

“I’m putting you on morgue duty for the rest of the week.  If you don’t want to take this seriously, you don’t need to be here.  Coming in a half hour late for rounds wearing each other's scrubs, is bad but this conversation that ensued after  is down right ridiculous.  You four were accepted into this program because you showed promise.  You four are like the Harry, Ron, and Hermione  of your class.”  

“That’s really a compliment, because we win it all in the end though.”  

“Nico, shut up. Not helping!”  Hana whispered, shaking her head.

“Get your shit together you four.”  

Over the next few days they had prepared many bodies to take to the morgue.  Mostly older people, which you can always say lived a full life.   The trip to the kids’ cancer ward was sad.  Even though all the children knew but shouldn’t have known at their tender ages  what death truly was, all the children’s doors had been closed and the shades pulled tight so they couldn’t see the Morgue crew bringing the body of another child out of the cancer ward, because they lost their battle with cancer.

On the last day, it was her.

“How do you think she died?”  

“Don’t know, don’t care.”  

“Nico don’t be an ass.”

“I’m not, we are morgue crew this week, it’s not our job to care, about what happened to them. We are  just here to bag ‘em and tag ‘em.”

“She  has no bruises so, it wasn’t in an accident.”

“And she’s still wearing her pajamas from home.”

“So it had to be something quick, they didn’t get a chance to even take her out of her clothes. Maybe an aneurysm or something.  Possibly anaphylaxis or an asthma attack.  She looks too young and healthy for some sort of cardiac event. She was DOA on arrival most likely.”

Riley stared at the woman with a fair complexion with long crimson locks.  

“The husband  was a mess.”

“You saw him, Bryce?”

“Leaving yes.  I don’t think I’m ever going to get completely used to watching people cry after we deliver bad news.”  

Riley again looked at the  young woman with the scarlet hair in sadness.

“I couldn’t imagine starting the day with someone you love, and before the end  of the day, you lose them. It must have been difficult, for the both of you.” She whispered to her.

When Riley went to wash her face, she felt the equivalent of what felt like an electric shock to her body, and during it she was sure she could hear someone whisper, but she couldn’t make out the words.  It really scared Riley.

“Can we hurry up guys?”  The uneasiness was evident in her voice.

Nico laughed.

“Are you scared Riley?  Come over here, I’ll protect you.” Nico flexed his muscles.

“Ugh never mind Nico.”  

“Come over here girl! I mean it’s only a formality now as we’ve already been in each other’s pants.  We mine as well, make it official.” He winked at her.

“I’m not putting those scrubs on again until you wash them.  There’s no telling what’s going to jump off you onto my lady garden.”

“So we’re clear, is it a garden that is well trimmed, or a jungle safari?”

Hana gasped.

“And the next body the morgue crew is picking up is....”  Bryce whispered.

“Hey now I didn’t say I wasn’t down.  I’m definitely down, and go down. I’m just saying I need to know what kind of tools do I need to bring on the first ever RB1 expedition.”  

The group roared in laughter at the two of them.  He actually had calmed Riley down quite a bit.

That night was the first time she had a dream of his garden.

Riley felt the need to straighten out her clothes as the woman approached her.  

“This must be strange for you isn’t it?”  She asked.

“I don’t know what this is.”  

“Isn’t this garden beautiful?”

“It is.  I’ve never seen anything like it before.”  

“He’s very creative, you know. The way he manipulates flowers, is the way artists use paint on a canvas. Make sure he continues to share his gift with the world.”  

“Who?”

“You showed me kindness and were empathetic for me, for us  when you didn’t even know us. A trait I don’t have,  that the both of you share. That’s how I know.”

“Know what?”  

“This whole situation is going to change who he is, and make him grumpy, sarcastic, and possibly a bit mean, but I think you’ll be able to still see past all of that to see him for who he really truly is.  I think in another place, another world, you and I could have been good friends."

She paused for a moment.

Actually knowing me probably not.”  

She laughed.  

“I don’t understand.”

“I know you want answers to your questions Riley, but that’s not what I’m here for.  You will get all the answers you seek in time.  Just know, fortune smiles on the kindhearted and empathetic, and that’s what’s going to bring the two of you together.”

The  Present

LIAM and RILEY

“Wow.  Liv came to you in a dream after her death basically giving you her blessing for now?”

“Looks like it.”  

“So we’ve been connected through her all this time?”  

“Yes, it appears so.”  

“It’s almost unbelievable.”  

Liam was so flabbergasted, he didn’t even hear his phone ringing.

“Liam your phone.”  

He jolted back into reality glancing at the caller ID.

“It’s Taylor, I’m going to put it on speaker.”  

“Hi Liam.  Is  Riley with you?”  

“Hey Taylor.  She is.”  

“I’m sorry Riley.  They don’t believe me.”   She burst into tears on the phone.  

“I feel like if it was you telling them they would believe you. They think this is a scam, and Liam is trying to scam us.   I even told them about Chance.  I’m so sorry.  I don’t know what to do!!!!”

“It’s okay Taylor.”

“Is she angry with me Liam?”  

“No Taylor,  she’s not angry with you.  Riley loves you and she always will.”

“Riley, I wanted to tell you in case, this is the last time I get to talk to you, and for you to hear me.  We don’t know the baby’s gender yet, but I already decided, since the name Riley can go both ways. I’m naming the baby Riley after you. Max is completely okay with it.”

“She says thank you. Your husband’s name is Max?” Liam asked.

“Yes Max, short for Maxwell.”  

“Maxwell Beaumont?”

“Yes….”

Liam slammed on the breaks.  Riley flinched, her whole body drawing up in fear.

“I’m sorry Riley I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m so sorry.”  

“You’re saying Maxwell Beaumont is your husband?”

“Yes.  What is it Liam?”  

“Three months ago my brother  called me to see if I would be interested to go on a blind date with one of Maxwell's friends but dinner was canceled.”  

Realization hit Liam like a ton of bricks.  

“I was going to meet you that night Riley.”

“But I got into a car accident.”  

“The BMW SUV, was your vehicle wasn’t it?”

“It was.”  

“You’re DOG MOM!!!!”

“I am.”  

“I wondered about what happened to you.  I saw your vehicle. How did you survive that?”  

“Nico saved my life.”  

“Did you leave flowers in our door Liam?”  

“I did. They were for my blind date.  For you Riley.  There are so many coincidences that put us together. This is not how this is going to end.  I refuse to let things end like this for us Riley.  Taylor, we’ll figure this out.  We’re down but we’re not out yet.  There’s still time.”

After he hung up with Taylor, he glanced over at Riley.  Her head was hung, and tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Talk to me Riley.”

“I don’t want to die, Liam.”

Liam bit his lip trying not to cry as Riley sobbed in the car next to him.  

“I know.”  He whispered.

“But I believe my parents think they are doing the right thing, given what they know about science, my odds for recovery, which are nonexistent at this point, and my current physical condition.”

She took a few deep breaths trying to control her crying and relax a bit.  

“If this is really going to be my last day on Earth, I don’t want it to be a sad one Liam.  So can we go somewhere special?  I want to see one of your gardens.”

“Okay, we’ll go, but know Riley, this is not me giving up on us.”  

It took a little over ninety minutes to get there, and Riley was shocked.

“I’ve been here before,  this was the one in my dream that I had about  Olivia.”  

“This was Liv’s favorite garden.  It was my first one.  I…. proposed to her here.  Is that weird I brought you here?  I’m sorry if it is.”  

“She was right, you are so talented. Why aren’t you doing this anymore?”  

“Because I lost my muse, and my love for it.  Losing her changed me.”  

“And you say I’m Casper the Cranky Ghost, but you’re actually living your life as a ghost Liam, but you can’t even call it living. You have a chance to just live Liam, and I need you to do that.”

“I NEED YOU TO LIVE TOO RILEY!!!”

“I don’t know if that’s possible.  But I promise, I will be here with you as long as I can. And you might not always be able to see me, but know my heart is with you.  Let’s just walk around for a bit, and enjoy the evening together.”  

They walked around the gardens in silence.  

“You know, I can smell the flowers.  I don’t remember smelling anything before when I was with you.   Even when you had pizza, and Liam I love pizza.”  

“Yeah, I like it myself, probably eat a little too much more of it than I probably should.”  

“But that’s life though.  It’s all about balance.  Breakfast, an egg white, spinach and cheese omelet, lunch a grilled chicken salad with almonds and arugula   but for dinner, a double bacon monster burger  with chili cheese fries from Ruby’s a large chocolate milkshake and a brownie sundae.”

“That’s a very specific example Riley.”  

“I’m a very specific person Liam.”  She winked at him.  

“You have a gift; a gift you should be sharing with the world.  The world needs more of this beauty.  Please stop hiding.  Get back out there.”

“All I’ve known is loss.  Everyone I love leaves me.”  

“That’s not true. You still have your brother, and you love him.  There is love all around you Liam, you just have to grab hold of it. Promise me, you’ll try Liam.”  

“I promise.”  

“If there is such a thing as unfinished business, I think I’m here for you Liam.  

That night three months ago changed so many people’s lives, but you’ve been stuck in a day from over three years ago, and it’s time to let that go. And I believe that’s what Olivia would want, and I know it’s what I want for you.  It’s time for you to start living again.”  

“Why?”

“That answer is so simple.  Because you can. You owe it to yourself and  to the people that you have loved and lost  to live your life to the fullest, and after tomorrow, I might be on that list too, and I'm really sorry for that.”

Riley wiped her eyes, and gave him a weak smile.

"Let's watch the sunset together, it looks like it's going to be a beautiful one."

They watched the sunset in silence.  

“Are your feet hurting?”  

“What would you do if they were, if I was your girlfriend?”  

“I’d carry you Riley.”

“What do you think it would have been like if we would have met that night?”  

“I wouldn’t have been able to take my eyes off you, in that dress.  Just like now.”

“I wish it would have happened like that.”  

"It's okay though we still met Riley. We were fated to meet."

“You're right. We were. Are you hungry? We’ve been gone all day and you haven’t eaten.  It’s getting late, we should head back.”

Liam stopped at Ruby’s and got a double bacon monster burger and chili cheese fries.

“You talked it up Riley you know I had to get it.  I’m going to eat it in a little bit, though.”

He rummaged through his pockets.  

“What’s wrong?”  

“I guess I locked myself out.  My key must be in the apartment.”  

“I keep a spare under the fire hydrant over there.”

When Liam moved the fire hydrant there was the spare apartment key with a red tip, the same color red that matched Riley’s door.

Forty-five minutes later Liam was putting his plate on the table, he had reheated his food, and when he brought out his drink Riley smiled.

Liam  had put his last Tahitian Treat he had bought in the freezer and was taking it out, and Riley saw it had frozen a bit.

“You did say letting it get slushy was the best way to drink it.”  

“I did….. I know what you’re doing Liam.”  

“This isn’t me saying goodbye to you Riley.  It’s not.  Because we’re not.  We need more time and we’re going to get it.”

“How?”  

“They can’t pull the plug on you if you’re not there for them to pull the plug… Is it an actual plug Riley?”

“It’s a machine, you turn it off, and how am I not going to be there?  We tried putting me back together and I wouldn’t stick.”  

“I’m going to steal your body from the hospital.”

Riley laughed.

“I’m serious Riley.”  

Riley abruptly stopped laughing.

“Okay Liam, let’s board the bus back from Crazy Town.  You can’t do that.  They could put you in jail. You could get arrested.”

“I don’t care!  It would give us more time together to figure this out.”

“There would be so many things to consider. Do you know how many things you would need to sustain the life of a person that is in a coma?”

“Well you’re a doctor, you can tell me, and it would only be temporary until we could get you back together. This could work, Riley.  You just have to tell me what to do. We could do this. It could work.”

Riley thought for a few moments.

“First we are going to need a van, and someone you trust that has a proclivity to be a little bit morally gray.”

“I need to make two calls.”

First Liam called his friend Drake.

“Drake do you still have your white serial killer murder van, and can I borrow it tomorrow?”

Liam gave a thumbs up to Riley.  The second call was to his brother.

“Leo I need you to come over, I need your help.”  

Leo showed up a little while later.  Liam explained  the whole situation to Leo.

“So you’re telling me she’s like a ghost but not, and you want to steal her body from the hospital, because you care?  Tell her to stand behind me. Ghost chick!  Tell Liam how many fingers am I holding up behind my back.”  

“Three…..  Five….. Two…. three….. None….. now three again….Hey, are you giving her the finger right now?!?!?!”

Leo turned around to look for her,  but he couldn’t see her.

"That's some crazy shit, and you can see her behind me  right now. RIGHT NOW?"

"Yes, she’s standing right behind you.  She's actually giving you the finger back."

"I like you Ghost Chick. My bad maybe I should be more PC. Would you prefer the term Lady Spirit?"

"She's good with Ghost Chick. Or you could not be a dick and call her by her given name which is Riley. Those are her words."

"Okay now I really like you…. Riley."

“So what are you thinking Leo? Will you help us?”

“We ride at dawn Bitches!!!!!!"

“And.....Morally gray?  Check.”

"Dawn is too early. More like 10:30AM."

"We ride at 10:30AM BITCHES!!!"

After Leo left  he looked at Riley.  “Please stay with me tonight.”  

“I wasn’t going anywhere.”

Liam talked to Riley as long as he could  until she could tell he was starting to fall asleep. Half asleep he whispered the words to her.

“I will do everything in my power to make sure you’re still here, this time tomorrow Riley.”  

“I know you will. I believe in you.”  

The next morning when Liam woke Riley was not next to him.  

“RILEY!!!”  

“I’m right here. I’m still here.”  She was sitting in the lounge across from the bed.

“I thought you left!!!”

“No. not yet.  Did you take this?”  

She pointed to the picture beside the bed.  The photo of Riley from New York.

“Yeah.  I thought I might never see you again when I left you with…. You.  And I wanted something to remember you by.  I’ve never been to New York; I’ve always wanted to go and see the Statue of Liberty in real life.”  

“Then promise me you’ll go.”  

“I want to go with you.”  

“I don’t know that I can.”  

“Promise me Riley. Please.”  

“I want to, but I can’t.”  

Riley burst into tears.

“Riley don’t lose faith in me. You said you believed in me.” 

Riley put a smile on her face for Liam.  

“Okay, we’re going to go together. We’ll make plans for it soon.”  she whispered.

There was an urgent knock on the front door. When Liam opened it, there stood Leo and he dangled a set of keys adjusting a pair of dark sunglasses.

“It’s go time. Let’s go save your lady love.”

CLICK HERE FOR PART 5 OF THIS TRIBUTE PIECE