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xticklemeemox · 4 months

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The Love You Want, III: Part Nine

if some of this feels rushed i'm very sorry i struggled with the end smut and also the sex convo towards the beginning <3 and this ended up way longer than i thought, which seems to happen a lot

okay fine i struggled with pretty much this entire thing i kind of hate some of it for not being detailed enough but my mind has failed me

Word count: 15,426

ao3

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Vessel was exhausted. All he wanted was to rest. As much as Vessel enjoyed the sex, enjoyed the pleasure and the affection III gave him, he's so fucking tired. It wore him out, the most taxing thing he's done physically in a while. There will be no rest to recover from it either, no death to reset his body at the end of the day. He promised.

Vessel feels worthless. All he had to offer was his body. Now III won't even want to have sex with him, Vessel is sure, and II hasn't come to Vessel yet. Vessel is sure he won't want to have sex with him, either. He'd heard, and well, felt, II and III have sex. Maybe III has decided that Vessel isn't good enough. He knows II must have been good, made III feel what they'd made Vessel feel, if III was that loud, if their pleasure was that great even if he was confused as to why neither of them seemed to actually cum. Vessel doesn't know how to take control like that, never, ever would have dared Before. He could never make III feel that good. It's no wonder they went to II if Vessel wasn't enough.

Vessel... didn't know how to make them feel as good as he did. He wants to, though. To show them how much he loves them in a way they won't get tired of. Maybe they'll stay with him if he's good.

I was trying so hard though, Vessel thinks, pacing back and forth in his room as he holds his arms around himself so tightly it hurts, nails digging into his sides. A silent sob squeezes his lungs, trying to keep up the image of concentration over the bond to make it seem like he was working on something. Its more difficult than trying to fake calm, and it feels wrong to do after III had asked him not to, but Vessel can't help it. They can't know that Vessel is being pathetic over something like this.

He was quiet, and obedient, and Vessel actually ended up enjoying sex for the first time in, well, ever. Vessel knows he slipped up a little bit, but III was kind enough not to hit him over his mistake. They even lied and said they liked it when Vessel bit them. That was so nice of III to do... Vessel didn't deserve that kindness. Didn't deserve III's kindness when Vessel demanded they stay inside, or keep fucking him, that first time. Vessel really shouldn't have done that. Maybe Vessel's actions drove III away and it only took a little while for the infatuation to go away.

Vessel was desperate to punish himself. He needed to. He'd been bad, he knew one wrong move and III would leave him, wouldn't love him anymore. He knew II, fuck- Vessel's beloved II, was far more worthy of III's love and affection. They deserved each other, deserved to be happy. Vessel fears he might get in the way of that.

His claws finally break the skin below his ribs, but the pain does not bring much relief. It brings guilt, and shame. The only thing he can see in his minds eye is the terrified expression on III's face when Vessel had cut into his arm what feels like so long ago. The way II's eyes had seemed to dim, usually such a bright blue, as he forced a smile on his face for Vessel's sake, still giving Vessel kindness he didn't deserve.

Vessel drags his nails, just a little, as he pulls his hands away from his sides. He clasps them tightly around a bicep, holding himself in a hug. The house is silent when he leaves his room, II and III's bonds still fuzzy with sleep. Silent footsteps tread the floor until he reaches II's room, and Vessel is glad the door doesn't creak when he opens it. Minimal light from II's window shines in on the bed, golden rays illuminating the two cuddled together. III, the warmest of the two of them, has kicked off the sheets exposing long legs and some insanely short shorts that make Vessel blush up to his ears. II is curled into his side, face hidden in the space between III's side and arm, only his top half covered by the sheets. His sweatpant-covered legs are entangled with III's, his hair peeking out from under the blanket. Elvira opens her shining eyes to leer at Vessel from her spot curled up at II's feet, tilting her head. Vessel tilts his in return, and for just a moment, cat and vessel to a God stare at each other. Vessel looks away first and accepts defeat with a small huff of a laugh.

Vessel takes his phone out and snaps a picture, or three. The smile that had twitched onto his face falls at the glimpse of something that fills Vessel with more shame. Visible on III's neck is a purple bite mark, teeth indents a darker color than the rest of the bruise. Vessel knows he is the cause of the damaged skin and hates himself all the more for it.

He turns from the doorway, closing the door behind him as quietly as possible. He thought it would be alright to go in, to join them, but Vessel doesn't feel as though he deserves it, doesn't deserve the safety and the reassurance it would bring to lay with them. Not after he left a bruise on III. If III won't punish him for it, Vessel will do it by denying himself the comfort of their presence.

Vessel finds himself outside, wandering Sleep's realm aimlessly. No shoes adorn his feet as he follows a small stream deeper into the forest. A hand trails along the bark of the trees as he passes, enjoying the harsh scraping against his fingertips. It feels less like he's intentionally hurting himself, and it makes him feel less guilty about pressing his fingers further into the bark so that the pain becomes greater.

Bracket mushrooms follow his fingertips, sprouting where he touches. Vessel loves this forest, every habitual breath he takes that he does not need is echoed here. He feels it in the trees, with every step he takes. The forest thrives with his presence, and Vessel feels at peace. The objects of Vessel's desire lay in that big house that contains his heart, but it is not his home. He has no home, has never had one.

A snap of a twig to his right causes Vessel's mind to be brought back to the present, to his body. He notices the silence in the forest first, no rustle of leaves in the wind nor birdsong. No animal life skittering over the floor or the telltale humming of a bug's wings. His head turns with the force of some instinct he can't resist, and he meets the empty-socketed gaze of a deer, a stag easily taller than Vessel. Its large off-white horns branch out from its bare skull, a skeleton with mottled remnants of muscle and tendons hanging off its bones. The stags ribs on one side are completely visible, showing empty space where organs should be, and where there is less bone, ghoul fungus protrudes and red moss is in the place of fur. It stands out against the greens and browns of the forest, the red leaves and vines like splashes of blood over the antlers, dripping down from the bones. It steps forward on legs that should not move, missing all of its nerves and tendons on its limbs, just a single step, and no further, then seems to wait for something, empty gaze seeming to bore into Vessel's intensely.

Vessel had seen this creature before, he realizes with a start. In Sleep's realm, the one time he had been allowed to rest. It had been there, nearby, staring at him when Sleep had returned Vessel's mind to this realm. It was such a brief encounter Vessel hadn't recalled it when he woke up, desperate to get out the lyrics his God had given him. He recalls it now, though, with the stag in the earthly realm.

A bird caws. All six of Vessel's eyes move towards the sound at its nearness, ending the stare down he had been having with the stag, both of them still as statues. On a low hanging branch, a crow sits, head tilted at Vessel curiously with a necklace clutched in one foot. Vessel tilts his head in return, following the crow's lead as it tilts its head the other direction.

"Pretty birdy." Vessel murmurs, and the crow stills.

It does not blink, nor even seem to breathe. Then, so suddenly it startles Vessel, it caws loudly, so loudly it hurts Vessel's ears. He flinches back from the sound, ducking his head as the bird takes flight. The necklace is dropped at his feet, and he reaches down to pick it up. Antique gold and littered with coins all along the lengthy chain, Vessel turns one over in his fingers, taking in the etchings.

When Vessel turns back to the stag, he finds it gone, nowhere to be seen. There are no footprints left where it stood, nor a trail leading off anywhere into the forest. It is as though the deer had never been there at all, and Vessel wonders if he hallucinated the whole thing. The necklace clutched tightly between his fingers says otherwise.

He fiddles with its coins for the rest of the walk, running his thumb over each coin, then the other side before moving along the chain. He repeats the cycle, taking in the forest and readying himself for when the others wake up. He's not ready to talk about anything sexual. Wonders what he should or should not say. There is no attachment to the act, for Vessel. At least... at least there wasn't. He can't shake the image of III falling apart above him, rough but never hurting him as they fucked Vessel... listened to Vessel's selfish requests and did not hurt him. III should have, Vessel would have deserved it.

It should be easy enough, in theory, to let II and III talk about whatever they want... but Vessel is confused, already, about what they're to talk about in the first place. He knows if he asks, they'll answer. They've always answered him. They have never ignored him, never made him feel as though his voice is not welcome. He feels guilty when he cannot give it to them, even.

It could have been minutes or hours since Vessel had seen the crow and the stag, lost in his thoughts, before he feels III waking. He starts back as soon as the fuzziness of sleep begins to clear from their bond, realizing quite suddenly that he did not leave them a note or a text to let them know where he was going. He brings out his phone as he walks, attempting to type as he goes but trips almost immediately over a stray root he had not seen. Vessel manages to save his phone from a terrible fate, but not his knees. They ache faintly when he stands, birds tweeting mockingly, and he makes sure to stand still while he texts this time.

(Eepies)

Vessel: Good morning :::) Went out on a walk, heading back now.

?¿?: good morning pretty! i love you see you when yuo get back!! be careful!!!

Vessel: I love you, too! :::D

III spams Vessel's phone with heart emoji's and blushing, smiling faces and Vessel feels warm with affection. He loves III so, so much. Wants III to love him enough to stay, for II to stay.

"You'll grow flowers without even being asked, and yet you let me trip and fall without a care. I suppose you really are attuned to my hearts desire for pain." Vessel mutters to the forest as he continues walking.

Another root sticks up and almost trips him again before he even finishes his sentence. Vessel huffs out an irritated laugh, "Do as you will with me, but try any of this with Two or Three and I'll set you on fire."

A raven croaks out something that resembles a mocking laugh and Vessel finds himself amused. He can't believe he's talking to a forest and the life within it is responding to him. The walk back is quicker, Vessel eager to see the others again, no matter how the conversation later is going to go. III is humming from the kitchen when Vessel enters the house and stops at the open doorway, hopping down from the counter after setting their drink down.

They taste like coffee when they ask Vessel for a kiss, sweet caramel flavoring on Vessel's split tongue as their curls tickle Vessel's cheeks. "I made your usual." III smiles, a pretty thing that lights up their face.

Vessel flushes under the affection, something warm bubbling up in his chest, taking the offered mug with both hands. He lets it warm his cold fingers as II stumbles into the kitchen, shirt askew, hair a mess, and sweatpants very low on his hips. Vessel finds himself staring over the lip of his mug as he takes a generous sip of his coffee, watching as III kisses II just the same as they'd kissed Vessel, handing II his own mug filled with steaming tea.

"Thank you, love." II says, holding the mug with one hand as he takes a sip, leaning into III's side.

"Anytime, Doll. We should have that conversation when you wake up fully. Vessel just got back from a walk."

"Yes, yes, of course." II agrees, walking over to Vessel's side and asking for a kiss.

Vessel leans down so his face is nearer to II's, smiling when II places a kiss to his chin instead of his lips. Vessel leans down just a little further at II's pout, letting the other plant a soft kiss to the bitten skin of Vessel's lips.

"Good morning, Vessel." II murmurs as he pulls away, breath ghosting over Vessel's mouth.

"Good morning, Two." Vessel breathes out, feeling a little dazed from just a single kiss. "I'm... I'm gonna put something in my room. I'll be right back."

Vessel sets his mug down, face warm as he fingers the necklace in his pocket. He wants to put it somewhere safe before he forgets about it.

"Miss you already, love." III says, taking a sip of II's tea.

II grumbles incoherently as he leans into III's side. Vessel walks away with a blush and a fond smile. Vessel's mug has been brought from the kitchen to the living room by the time he returns, and it makes Vessel feel warm, for a moment, that they had thought of him. Even so, Vessel shoves himself into the far corner of the couch, away from where the other two have pressed close, still sipping at their drinks. II looks far more awake now, tired eyes watching Vessel over his mug, just as III is.

Taking a deep breath, Vessel asks what has been on his mind since they first got together, diving right into the conversation even as he feels he may throw up from the nerves.

"Your main intent was to bed me, was it not? That is what all of the kissing is for, right?" Vessel blurts nervously, and almost stops talking entirely at the thunderous expressions that strike over II and III's faces, "It took longer than I thought it would. You waited longer than my other partners did."

III is practically vibrating with his fury, spindly fingers clawing at their jeans until he forces them away when they stand. II lets out a measured breath as he sets his mug down.

"No, Vessel. That is not at all why I have kissed you so profusely since we got together." III's voice is filled with barely contained rage, and Vessel shrinks back at the sound, arms coming to wrap around himself.

"Oh." Vessel's voice is small, shaky, as he keeps his gaze focused resolutely on the floor.

Despite what III has said, Vessel expects a hit for his gall. He knows he will expect a hit... for a long time, but he wants to believe that III won't hit him. He wants the other vessels to be different than the others of his past. He wants, and wants, and wants. Even so, he tenses, and resolutely does not meet III's eyes. That had only served to make his first partner angry, and Vessel learned better. There was only one scenario he had wanted Vessel to look at him, and this isn't it.

III keeps his hands loose at their sides and in full view of Vessel as they move closer.

"I'm going to take your hands now." III states as they kneel in front of Vessel.

Vessel does not verbally respond, does not nod or shake his head, he doesn't do anything. Only sits there, frozen like a statue. His hands are cold in III's when they take them, shaking visibly.

"I kiss you, because outside of holding your hand, Vessel, it is the only way I can show my love for you physically. I do not want to upset you, so I heed your wishes to leave your chest alone when all I want is to trace the markings there, to- To be able to hold you. I heed your wishes to not touch your neck when all I want is to lavish it in attention when I fuck you so you know you're mine. So you do not doubt my affections."

"I..." Vessel starts, voice hoarse as his throat starts to close up from the tears he is trying desperately to hold back.

They slip down his cheeks anyway, overcome with the desperate echoes of believe me, believe me, believe me, being sent from III's bond.

"I had sex with you because I love you, and I've been blessed with another way to physically show you."

Vessel feels stricken, and it shows clearly on his face. His fingers twitch, aching to reach for his mask to hide behind. His bond is a mess of so many emotions that he couldn't begin to properly pick them apart.

"I did not know. I am sorry. I am..."

Vessel swallows thickly. He wants them to know him. He wants them to love him despite how broken he is.

Vessel has always been quick to bend and break under his basic need to be loved and close to someone.

"I am not used to my partners wanting to show me affection without sex being the end goal." Vessel bites his lip, slowly moving his top pair of eyes to meet III's, "They did not kiss me for any other reason than to use my body. They did not show me affection unless they wanted something. Sex was not an act of love."

"...Any of them? Not a one of them fucking-" II mutters, shoving his hands under his thighs to keep them still.

"My first partner had already broken me out of refusing sex. I loved him, so I didn't mind. It just meant a few minutes of- Of his weight smothering me. Of pain when we fucked cause he was... so rough. But he was kind afterwards, would hold me if I asked, would kiss me as much as I wanted. He... stopped being that nice eventually. The others, neither of them ever asked to- and- and I wanted them to be pleased with me so-. I loved them. I loved them and- and they loved me too so it was okay if it hurt- I deserved it. I loved them."

"You deserve far more than whatever pitiful excuse for love they gave you. They did not love you in return, sweetheart." II cannot hide his ire, but he tries his damn hardest to not raise his voice.

"Is that why you were so confused when I prepped you, Vessel?" III struggles to keep the enraged bite out of their voice as they reach up very slowly to wipe at Vessel's tears, hating how Vessel still flinches back.

It just makes III angrier. Vessel had been working so hard to stop flinching, he'd been doing so well. Even as those thoughts flood III's mind, they can't stop going back to what Vessel had said, at what that means has happened-

And Vessel doesn't even understand it himself. Doesn't understand what has been done to him. III isn't sure he ever wants Vessel to know- to realize...

III glances up to II, foot tapping with the fiercest grimace III has seen since he's known him.

"I did not know it was something you did for whoever was on the bottom. Not with another male, at least. My other two partners after him were female. They did most of the work, didn't like when I- existed. So- I kept quiet, and did as told. I have always been easy to push around. My parents made sure of it." Vessel continues blandly, even as his face has crumpled into a nervous expression that screams of despair and shame.

So much shame.

"It felt better with the girls, almost good, even. It didn't hurt to have sex with them like it did my boyfriend. They- Liked to hurt in other ways." Vessel knows he should stop talking, knows that the other vessels don't want to hear any of this, surely don't want to know how useless he was at sex, but he can't, not now that he's started.

Talking about the sex is the easiest part of talking about his past. He had so little care for the act until III pleasured him like he'd never felt before.

"I didn't know sex was supposed to feel that good for whoever was on the bottom."

"It is." II says, distraught but striving to be gentle with his tone, "Sex is supposed to be feel good for everyone involved. Your past partners did you a disservice, Vessel. Every one of them."

"Sex is not a blood sport Vessel. It is not something where you fight for control and only one person comes out on top and gets to feel pleasure. We're going to show you that, if you'll let us. You deserve to know what sex is supposed to be like." III follows up with, looking just as miserable as II.

"I don't- I'm sorry. I didn't know." Vessel murmurs, feeling as though his shame is going to replace the blood in his veins.

"It is not your fault. You had no one to teach you. We will." II states, desperate for Vessel to understand.

"Did you really enjoy it when we had sex or did you lie with the bond again?" III asks, head falling down to rest their forehead on Vessel's hands still held in their grasp.

III feels nauseous at just the thought of Vessel not telling them if he was hurting him, if- If Vessel didn't want to have sex at all and III has just become like everyone else that has hurt Vessel. More tears prick their eyes, and III fears he may throw up.

No, no, Vessel didn't want III to think- This isn't what he intended.

"I enjoyed it. Believe me." Vessel insists, practically begging, "You were the first person I've ever wanted to fuck me. Before you, I had never- I always wanted it to be over quick. I knew they would leave when they were done. You- You stayed. You- Were so kind to me. You made me feel good."

"You, um, cleaned me up after, too. I didn't even bleed and you still-." Vessel mumbles, flustered, still feeling surprised at how nothing had hurt with III.

The relief III feels is immediate, flooding their system and loosening their tense muscles. His tears spill over at the relief, a harsh breath being released even as III knows it should be a sob, but they refrain with tremendous effort. Alongside that relief is the ever present hot coil of anger. Vessel had looked pleasantly surprised when he had said there was no bloodshed when they'd had sex. III knows that kinks can be painful, bloody, if that is what is desired. III knows that was not what Vessel meant, can see it on his face, can feel it in the bond.

"That's what you're supposed to do, sweetheart." II says gently, and Vessel can only nod because he didn't know that either.

"Can we, uh, get on with the conversation we had originally intended, about the sex?" Vessel tries to move on, needs the attention to move on from him even if only momentarily.

II and III share a loaded glance as III wipes their tears. It takes effort to stifle their shared rage, their shared despair, but Vessel is still keeping his bond open to them, is still willing to share parts of himself. They're not going to waste the chance to know more about him, no matter how it grates so deeply under their skin, against bone it feels like. It hurts to love Vessel, and yet it is so easy. They want him, they love him, no matter how it hurts because the pain that has been dealt to him is not his fault. The pain that has been dealt to him has not turned him towards cruelty. He has kept his kindness, kept his softness. He has not let it harden his heart. Vessel is a man filled with love for everything around him unless it threatens those who have his heart. Love for everything except himself.

"Okay, sweetheart. I know you don't have much to go off of, so I'll start, then Three can go. If you have questions about what either of us are into, I want you to ask." II starts off, and Vessel nods, even if he's still unsure about this whole thing.

"As Three found out last night, I'm into edging."

"Is that what you were doing last night?" Vessel asks, and II nods.

"Yeah, I like when I'm brought to the edge of cumming and then not allowing myself to. I find the orgasms feel, ah, more fulfilling I suppose?"

"Why were you doing it to Three, then?"

III snorts, cheek leant on Vessel's knee. He looks so pretty below Vessel, watery blue eyes filled with mirth. "I was being a brat. That's the role I like playing in the bedroom. I disagree or disobey and get manhandled or ordered into obedience. It doesn't hurt unless I ask it to. It's something to be talked over with your partner beforehand, though. I did something Two told me I shouldn't and he didn't let me cum yesterday. That is what's considered a punishment, but one I didn't mind receiving. Its not supposed to be anything detrimental to your health or peace of mind."

Vessel isn't really sure if that is something he would consider a punishment. Before III had finished speaking, the idea of II punishing them was concerning. Vessel could only think of II hurting III, but he didn't feel any pain from III yesterday when the two had sex.

"It would be better to show you, sweetheart." II says when he feels Vessel's concerned confusion down the bond.

III nods along, agreeing, "You and I have a different bedroom dynamic than me and Two, which is completely normal. Your dynamic with Two will likely be different too, if you have sex."

"I'm also technically considered a dom, or dominant. I like having control during sex, and usually don't like it being taken from me. I do like when Three fights for it, though. I know they have no intention of keeping any control they gain." II explains, finally scooting closer to press their thighs together on the couch.

"Well, maybe I do like having control for a little while." III smiles mischievously, winking up at Vessel playfully.

It makes him smile even if he's still confused. "It does sound different than when you topped me." Vessel adds, reaching slowly to play with a strand of III's hair.

III's leans into the touch with a smile, and Vessel carefully threads his fingers down to the scalp, holding his fingers there. III's eyes flutter closed for a moment, but Vessel does not yet move his fingers. He watches, waits for any sign III is going to pull away, any sign they will grow angry with Vessel, and then begins to run his fingers through III's hair.

"My third would pull my hair." Vessel blurts, and guilt immediately floods the bond like a dam has broken.

"I wish you would have told me, Vessel. I wouldn't have done that." III says, wiping a stray tear away hurriedly as he blinks his eyes open.

Vessel wishes he hadn't said anything. He expects III to pull away, but the other doesn't move away from Vessel's gentle hand that has stilled in their hair.

"Its alright, though. It didn't hurt when you did it. I did not even lose any strands of my hair. She would pull back so far that it made it hard to breathe, but she liked that. You were so careful that the memory slipped away before I could, ah, panic."

"I wouldn't mind if you wanted to do it again, since it's you, but it didn't make me feel good. It was just something you had done- Does that make sense?" Vessel stumbles, trying to explain but not sure he's managing.

"That just means its not one of your kinks, sweetheart. It's normal to not be into everything your other partner is." II reassures, pressing his arm into Vessel's so their bodies are flush against each other.

"I... liked being told I was good." Vessel offers, with a tilt of his head.

II and III don't even mind that the conversation has detailed from its original intent. Any information from Vessel is a blessing, no matter how saddening or enraging.

"I noticed. I like being called a good boy in bed, too." III affirms with a smile.

Vessel is a little confused though. It wasn't being called a good boy that made Vessel feel good, it was- It was being praised, he thinks.

"I think I just like being told I'm being good. In general. I like- I like feeling like I'm contributing to your pleasure. I just- I-" Vessel can't seem to articulate it properly, and he doesn't know if there's even a term for it.

"You've got a praise kink, probably." II offers up, almost certain he's right.

"You like biting, too. When you bit me, I could tell it was an instinctual reaction. You... stopped and pulled away very quickly." III brings up exactly what Vessel was hoping they wouldn't.

"I'm not allowed to bite. It's- It's weird. And just another of my freakish mutilation habits."

"Things are different here Vessel. If you want to bite, then you can. When you bit me, we both enjoyed it. I love the teeth marks you've given me, loved the sting when I received it. It's like- Like you've marked me as yours."

Vessel ducks his head to hide the embarrassed flush over his cheeks.

"I was surprised you didn't hit me when I did it. I expected you to. My previous partners would have... I bruised you. I left a mark." Vessel starts trying to braid strands of III's hair just to have something to do with his hands, trying to will away the new tears gathered in his eyes.

"Hitting you has never crossed my mind. It will never be something I even consider." III should feel offended that Vessel thinks so little of them, but knows that other, less kind hands, have hurt him.

"I deserved it, Three. I know I hurt you when I did it. I deserved to be hit for it."

"Would it make you feel better if every mark you left on me, I return? I'm entirely willing to bite you back." III offers, trying to compromise in a way Vessel will agree to.

III hates that they know Vessel will likely agree to this, if it means Vessel gets hurt back. They're going to get him out of this thought process that sex is going to hurt. If III is right, then Vessel is going to enjoy being bit in return. He's going to teach Vessel that III wants to be bitten whenever the need strikes Vessel because III likes the thought of being owned by him. Whether its during sex or not.

"I do not expect either of you to pander to my tastes." Vessel states, trying desperately to grasp on to some familiarity.

Fuck, Vessel shouldn't have said anything. He should have kept his mouth shut about anything sexual, for his own sake. They're going to leave him now for sure. He wants them to love him, he wants them to stay. He wants them to stay so badly.

III eyes the expanse of Vessel's thighs near his face, wondering where would be best, before they lean down and sink their teeth right above Vessel's knee.

Vessel's hand slips out of III's hair as he lets out something akin to a surprised squeak. III's teeth do not break skin through the fabric of Vessel's clothes, but that wasn't their intention anyway.

III catches Vessel's confused gaze, feeling triumphant at the thread of arousal now thrumming through the bond that certainly wasn't there a moment ago.

II watches in a mix of wonder and amusement as III moves to a different spot to bite down, sinking their teeth into a different part of Vessel's thigh. Vessel's arousal only grows, along with his bafflement and the blush staining his cheeks pink. Not once does Vessel's bond show any pain, a testament to III's control as they move to Vessel's other leg, biting on the inside of the thigh as Vessel releases a breath of held air.

"I am not pandering to anything. You're mine, ours, and I'm showing you. Claiming you. I've left my mark, now. I'll happily leave more if you'll let me." III says, finally pulling away.

His head lays on Vessel's knee again, a hand coming to trace the line of spit in the shape of his mouth soaked into Vessel's jeans.

Arousal surges through Vessel like a tidal wave at the words, and he wants nothing more than for III to fuck him right then. A smirk slides onto III's face, knowing exactly what Vessel wants and completely willing to give it to him.

III goes to stand, blue eyes stormy with lascivious intent, but II stops them, "Ah, ah, we've not finished our conversation. You can go at it in a little while, once we're done."

"But Two, he really wants it-"

"I said no, Three, or did you not want to cum today either?" II smiles knowingly, a hand coming to rest on Vessel's unoccupied knee.

A pout makes its way onto III's face, but they nod in agreement anyway.

"Words, pretty."

A groan is muffled into Vessel's thigh as III turns to hide, "Yes, sir. I understand."

"Good boy."

Vessel tilts his head, wondering if this is the dynamic the others had spoken of coming into play. It is... interesting to watch, to see how II handles III whining and pouting playfully. Its endearing to see, even, to see III this way. Vessel knows he would never have the courage to do something like this, nor be allowed to.

"Explain the safe word and color system, like I asked yesterday, Pretty." II says, and III nods, cheek smushed against Vessel's knee.

"I'm sorry, Vessel, I should've explained this to you when we had sex. Do you know what a safe word is? Or the color system?"

Vessel's head tilts involuntarily in confusion, and while II and III love how cat-like it makes him seem, it clearly shows he has no idea of what III's just asked.

"It's where you have a word used during sex if someone needs to stop. Its usually used for more hard-core sexual scenarios, but can be used whenever. The color system is basically like a stop light. Green for go, yellow for slow, and red for stop. Red means you stop whatever you're doing entirely, no matter what it is."

"I've never heard the terms before." Vessel admits quietly as his mind races.

II and III nod, having already expected this.

Vessel doesn't understand why they're explaining this to him. Doesn't understand what this has to do with him. He thinks, heavily confused, that they could just stop. They could pull away, stop kissing him, stop fucking him. They don't need to tell him anything, or use some weird color system.

"It's pretty easy to utilize once you're actually having sex, even if the concept seems a little simple, silly even." III goes on, both he and II watching Vessel closely for any ounce of comprehension.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Vessel blurts, brows furrowed.

II and III share a glance that Vessel does not miss. "So you can tell us how you're doing during sex, Sugar."

Vessel hunches into himself further, very slowly inching his hand back to wrap a finger around one of III's curls.

"Why would I say anything if it ruins your pleasure?" Vessel asks, meekly.

"Getting off means little if you're suffering mentally or physically, Vessel. You matter more to us than either of us cumming." II tries, but Vessel still doesn't seem to understand.

"We want you to enjoy the sex too, Sugar, and we want you to tell us with the color system if we do something you don't like."

"We went over this earlier, sweetheart. We want to have sex with you because it will feel good for all us, but mainly because we love you. We want to make you feel pleasure, just as much as we want to feel it too."

"I don't- I do not understand why it matters though. I will be content if only you two found your release. Mine does not matter."

"It matters to us." III asserts, "We want you to tell us if you're not sure about what we're doing, or if you want to stop entirely. We want you to tell us if you don't want to have sex at all. I will always listen to you. Always."

"Okay." Vessel agrees quietly, and III kisses Vessel's knee affectionately, an arm hugging his leg.

II leans his head on Vessel's shoulder, taking Vessel's hand and bringing it to his lips to kiss his knuckles. The conversation continues after a moment, as II and III go back to going over their preferred kinks. Neither have anything they don't particularly care for, but III admits that there hadn't been much want to explore anything. They keep trying to encourage Vessel to add on his own preferences, if he had any, but they all find that Vessel never got the chance to figure out what he likes outside of his biting kink.

"That's okay, sweetheart, we'll figure it out together." Is what II reassures Vessel with, but Vessel isn't sure how well that is going to play out.

Vessel does not intend to use the color system, does not intend to share his likes and dislikes. Just because the sex is suddenly amazing, it doesn't erase what everyone who has ever fucked him has said, what they've done.

III stays wrapped around Vessel's leg, only shifting positions a little once the conversation is over. II curls up at Vessel's side, leaning into him as far as Vessel allows. Vessel knows III's knees must ache as he continues kneeling, but III seems perfectly content to stay there as they reach for the game controller on the coffee table, starting up NieR: Automata again on their shared save file.

Vessel lets III play first since he's gotten through this part off the game on his own, content to run his fingers slowly through III's hair again, loose enough to pull away quickly in case III does not like him doing so anymore. The other vessels bonds were a mess of emotions, even as they all tried to distract themselves with the game. Vessel was sure that II and III were angry with him. Why else would their bonds be filled with such rage? He must have said something wrong, been too curious about what was being said. He must have made some sort of mistake. Vessel wishes he had the courage to ask what could be done to rectify it.

II frowns, eyeing Vessel as he glances back at the game. "Penny for your thoughts, Ves?" II's voice is quiet, barely above a whisper, trying not to disturb III who is hyper focused on the fight they're in.

Vessel takes some time to think of what he should say. If he should say anything at all. He wants them to know him, wants them to love him, to stay with him.

"I- Are you angry with me?" He murmurs, leaning over just far enough that his cold breath ghosts against II's ear.

It sends a shiver down his spine even as one side of his mouth tilts just so into a frown. "No, I'm not mad at you. I can guarantee that Three isn't either. We are upset, yes, but its at the people who hurt you."

"Why? There is no need for it."

II's brow furrows, first in confusion, then in thought. "I love you. I do not want you hurt. To imagine what you must have gone through, the pain... It makes me sad. It makes me angry at those who did it to you. It is the same as when that bastard hurt our Three. You were angry for him, as was I. It's- Vessel, honey, it's the same thing."

Oh... Vessel supposes he understands, and yet...

"I am not worthy of it then, your anger on my behalf."

"You are worthy of it though. You became worthy of it that first moment you smiled at me, the first time our eyes met. The first kind word you gave."

Vessel averts his gaze, gnawing at his lip in thought. II is glad to see him not refuting his words immediately, turning his head to place a featherlight kiss to Vessel's shoulder. "... It- feels nice to have someone be angry for me, instead of at me. I just- I do not feel as though I am worth the effort. I don't think I ever will."

"It took me a long time to realize that I was good at drumming, that I was skilled, not just talented. That I deserved the praise given to me by my teacher, by my mother's. I never thought I was going to go anywhere with my drumming, it was just a hobby, but... We're going to start a band. You, Three, and I. I know you two acknowledge what I've done to gain that skill. If we never make it anywhere with our music, you two, your acknowledgement of my time and effort, will be enough. What I'm trying to get at is that... accepting yourself, accepting your flaws, it is not easy. It took time and effort on my part, and my mothers belief in me, to want to love myself. To appreciate what I've done and the effort I've put into the things that are important to me. Am I- Am I making any sense?"

III pauses the game, leaning back between Vessel's thighs and looking up at him and II through wet lashes. "You are to me. I did not accept myself, when I was younger. I tried very hard to be someone I wasn't-"

III sucks in a sharp breath, turning in between Vessel's legs to kneel between them properly, reaching out for comfort through Vessel and II's hands, freely given. III's grip is tight in Vessel's own, and Vessel wants to show his support, to transfer all the comfort they've ever given him back to III. Their head comes to rest on Vessel's thigh, eyes falling closed as they think over what to say.

"I saw all of these people, kids like I was. Adults, elders, no matter their age... So many of them in that town went along with what was expected of them and they were not happy because of it. That old woman from that thrift shop we went to... the first time I'd ever bought a skirt for myself was there. I was terrified going up the register, trying to think up an excuse. She didn't care about what I was buying... She only asked if it was for myself or a friend. I told her the truth, and she smiled without many teeth left, and was so kind. She told me it was fine to wear whatever I wanted, no matter what anyone else said. It- It was a very short interaction but it meant the world to me. I never got to thank her for it. I'm surprised I remember that, actually. I thought Sleep had taken almost everything but our painful memories."

"He left some of my good ones, too. The important ones." II murmurs, lifting III's hand to kiss the palm.

III continues, "What I'm trying to say is that, if it weren't for that old woman showing kindness, accepting me, I'm not sure if my road to accepting myself would have been possible at all. Just one person believing in you, believing in your potential to change, to grow, can be enough."

"To love oneself is not the easy task we are sometimes told it is. We are all limited by something. We are all guilty of something. The first step is wanting to try."

Vessel does not say anything for some time. He turns their words over and over and over in his mind. He did not realize that II had struggled with his own self-confidence before. You would not guess it, seeing him now. Knowing what his wish to Sleep was. Seeing how much skill he contains in his short body. It was hard won skill, Vessel realizes now.

III had asked to be accepted by those around him. Vessel did not realize with them, either, that their want for acceptance from others had to first be attained for himself, by themself. They had both worked to be the people they are today.

Vessel, he does not want to stay the same. He does not want to be the same person he was before he became the Vessel of a God. Already, he knows he has changed. It was more than the physical changes gifted to him.

There was not a chance in hell Vessel would have ever tried to lessen his own pain, Before. Every slice into his skin was done with the intention to hurt. Every slice was meant to sting for as long as possible. He never would have cleaned them, bandaged them, Before. Not even when he first arrived to the manor.

II had helped him, encouraged him to take a little better care of himself. He always seems so proud of Vessel when he comes to him, having hurt himself and yet still had tried to take care of the self-inflicted wounds. Vessel never wants to see that look on III's face ever again, when Vessel had taken a knife to his skin right in front of them.

Vessel wants to be better for them, even if they do not stay with him. He... isn't sure if he wants to be better for himself which he is sure is what II and III would say is most important, knowing them.

He wants to be worth their love and care, if what they say is true. He wants to be worth the time and effort they've put in with him.

Vessel doesn't say anything, but he nods shortly, and II smiles, kissing Vessel's shoulder again, once, twice, before lifting Vessel's hand to kiss his palm. III unpauses the game after pressing a short kiss to Vessel's stomach, an action that causes him to let out a small laugh as III turns back around. A quiet thing that couldn't even be considered whisper-level, and yet the sound sent II and III's hearts soaring in adoration. III leans back between Vessel's legs again, and Vessel's threads his fingers through their hair, other held clasped in II's.

II and III stand to go make lunch around midday, dragging Vessel along with them despite his light protests. They stay close to him, giving him simple tasks that absolutely do not require the use of any sort of blade.

Vessel remains thoughtful, truly thinking over what II has said. II isn't sure he completely got through to Vessel about being worthy of their love and care, but this is progress. He never would have believed him when they first met. He declines when they ask him if he wants to join them in worship, and they let him go off to his room without a fight. Each had the same request of their God, and it was better for Vessel to not be near in case he refused them.

II and III kneel together at the altar, thighs pressed close. In front of them are bunches of daffodils and bellflowers tied together with string on either side of the table. Individual flowers without their stems lay strewn about, and a bouquet of the prettiest ones, touched by Vessel's hand, glow gently from their place on the offering plate.

They have been trying to keep their seething rage under wraps since their talk with Vessel. It was not rocket science to puzzle out what Vessel had said happened to him. What atrocity had been done to him, repeatedly, by people who claimed to love him.

The candles are lit, all except the largest in the middle of the table, set towards the back. Their skin darkens, going fuzzy around the edges while bits of black seem to flake off into the air before dissipating. The sight is familiar as Sleep's powers wash over them, as their worship commences. III's eyes glow brighter than II's, striking blue in the midst of the black of their sclera, of their skin.

"Would you allow us to kill those who hurt Vessel?" II starts off, voice a sharp blade of anger.

He tries keeping his voice low, so Vessel doesn't hear in the room over. The red candle lights, golden glow flickering against the sigil on the wall above and behind it. Their God has arrived, and in turn their eyes glow brighter, bodies humming with the presence of their God. It is a pleasant feeling, familiar. Their worship is stronger together.

'Those who hurt him? It is a long list including himself... Ah, I see. My First's past partners. If you wish it, the people of his past still live... Alas,' Sleep explains, voices heard only in their minds, 'It is not time for their lives to end.'

"What? But why?! Do you understand what they've done to him?" II struggles not to shout, hands fisted over his thighs.

In Vessel's room, they can hear a thud against the floor and a brief flash of pain. They both send their alarm down the bond and Vessel sends back his own reassurances, the blurred image of a knocked over stack of books following.

III's hand reaches out to take one of II's once they're sure Vessel is okay, forcing II to clasp their fingers together. The touch helps ground II, to calm himself some.

'You have not heard of all that has been done to him. All that he has done. You are ignorant of many things. When the Fourth is chosen, when you find out everything of import, you must all decide if you are to stay with my First. I will not keep fickle vessels who will not adhere to their purpose.'

"We're not going to leave him no matter what happens." II snaps, angry at the mere thought that he would ever abandon Vessel.

"He killed people for me. I would do the same for him, for Two. Nothing that has been done to him or that he has done is going to make us leave him." III tries, firm in tone and gaze.

'You are still ignorant of many things. Your continued devotion to him, to me, is not certain.' Sleep reiterates, distaste clear in His tone.

"What about the person, or people, who killed Vessel? Can we at least kill them so Vessel never suffers what I have?" III tries to bargain, grasping at any way to release their anger on those who hurt who they loved.

'There is no need. That will never happen to my First. Their killer is no longer of the human realm.'

"So they've died already?"

'Yes.'

"That's a relief, then." II says, turning to smile hesitantly at III, bond still a mess of anger and frustration.

"Yeah, Vessel doesn't need to suffer over something else from his past." III says, just as relieved.

If III could take back those words, knowing what is to come, then he would have in a heartbeat, would cut out their own tongue if it meant Vessel could be spared the pain soon to follow.

Sleep does not say anything further, does not spill the truths that his First has asked him to keep. Despite intending to keep the First's secrets, Sleep does not understand why the secrets need kept at all. Does not understand why Vessel refuses to tell the others what he does so that he can rest. The death is only temporary. With every blood offering Vessel gives Him, the easier it is to bring the First back from his death.

His First seems so sure they will leave him. That they will not choose to stay. Sleep is sure they will... but cannot be certain. His vessel has no heart in his chest, and human love, no matter how strong, can be torn away in the face of one's lack of understanding or compassion or a strong sense of morality. Sleep supposes he does understand, then, His First's worries. But Sleep chose these vessels for him, these vessels chose to live for as long as Sleep himself for Vessel.

"Two and I are offering our best selection of flowers, touched by Vessel's hand for longevity." III goes right into the worship they had also intended. "Oh, and this stone I found outside. It looks like a bit of meteorite, and reminded me of my devotion dream. The stars that were around me."

'I appreciate your offerings, my vessels. Truly. They are heartfelt, and so strengthen me. How are thingscomingalong with the musical aspects of your worship?'

II takes over the conversation, "Well, I think. The record label you influenced has given us a manager. We still need to come up with a name, though."

'I see. Decide quickly, Second. You may leave, if you wish. You'vedone well today.'

"Thank you, my God." II murmurs, bowing his head in reverence.

Despite their differences in opinion on how Sleep handles Vessel, II does love their God. Worships him the same as the other vessels. He will never agree with the God's indifference to the pains Vessel inflicts upon himself.

"Yes, thank you, Sleep." III adds as they, too, bow their head.

Sleep's presence brushes against their back, their marks tingling, and then He is gone.

"You didn't tell us about already having a manager! Sleep's right, we don't even have a name." III blurts, turning to II immediately.

II shrugs, sending down apologies, "Vessel will only freak out. He's nervous enough as it is with our new relationship. I planned on mentioning it when we picked a name."

"If you think that is what's best..." III says, "What about a guitarist?"

"I'm not sure. I was going to leave it to our manager, or put out an application or something. Its difficult because of what we are. I had been hoping for the Fourth to be with us by now, but that is not the case."

"Now that I think about it, how are we to work with anyone? We look... different."

"Masks on at all times, I'd assume. I don't think that's going to work well with anyone closely involved in the band though. Do you think we should call Sleep back?"

"Probably, but it can wait until tomorrow. We'll pick a name first, then worry about our image. Are we done here? I want to see Ves." III agrees, already moving to stand before they have even finished speaking.

II laughs, a sad, weak little thing, at the reminder of Vessel and their intentions with worship today after finding out how he had suffered. It is quick work putting out the remaining candles, III leaving the flowers on the offering plate.

II and III corner Vessel in his room, intending to cuddle him, as close as he allows anyway, for their own benefit. III crawls onto the bed and asks for kisses, eyes a little wet and bond a muddled mess as Vessel sets his book down at his bedside. II follows, slower, shutting the door softly behind him, watching the two as he makes his way to the bed. There are more books in here than before, definitely going over the limit II had set, stacks of them at the foot of the bed. There is one nearer to the door that is still askew, teetering dangerously as though it had been restacked with little care. Little flowers that II knows III had gifted Vessel sit in small glasses and vases, glowing gently, on every available surface of the room.

As III curls up at Vessel's side, his plushie acting as a barrier between them, III notices that the plague doctor has gained a new necklace. II sits at Vessel's other side gingerly, smiling when Vessel tries to scoot over so they all have room on the bed.

"That necklace is neat Ves, where'd you get it? I don't remember seeing it around."

Vessel is silent, hesitant to respond. III waits patiently for an answer, running a finger over one of the coins gently. "There was a stag in the forest today, a skeleton more like. It looked otherworldly, which I know it must have been since I've only ever seen it once, in Sleep's realm. Crimson moss in place of fur, mushrooms growing out between the ribs. It was larger than I was, with red vines and leaves twining through its antlers. It- Had no eyes. Just empty sockets in its bare skull. It was beautiful. A crow had startled me so I turned to look, then it dropped this necklace at my feet. The stag was gone when I turned back."

"If you saw it in Sleep's realm, how did it get here?" II asks, curious.

"I'm not sure... You believe me?" He asks, quiet and avoiding the gentle gazes resting on his form.

II leans forward and places a tender kiss to Vessel's brow, "Of course we believe you, Vessel. If you went out into town, came back, and told me the sky had turned neon green, I'd believe you. I'll always believe you."

"Besides Sugar, we're vessels to a God." III muses, "I can probably turn my whole body into something very much not human. You have six, beautiful eyes. Two is unusually strong for such a short man."

Without a thought, II reaches over and flicks III right between the eyes. III grabs ahold of II before the other can pull away, wrapping a long arm around his shoulder and pressing all their weight into him so they both go tumbling onto the bed. Vessel watches with wide eyes as III steals a kiss from II whose brows furrow. "You're never going to stop making jokes about my height, are you?" II huffs, and III laughs, whole body shaking.

"Never. Unless they actually hurt you, then I'll stop. Promise."

II eyes III with serious eyes for a moment, gaze falling to their lips briefly, "No, its fine. I don't actually mind all that much. I get my revenge eventually."

"Is it really revenge if I like it?" III jokes, eyes bright.

The tension in II and III's shoulders seemed to have slipped away, and Vessel was glad for it. He didn't mean to, but he made them worry. Their arguments never turn cruel or painful, and Vessel is continually surprised by it. By the playfulness that they are able to so easily fall into. Vessel wants that. Wants to be comfortable enough around them- Wants to trust them enough-

Vessel doesn't know how to let loose that way. His jokes always fall short, he's sure the others only laugh out of pity. When II and III danced in the kitchen, Vessel had wanted to join, even if he knows he would surely not be able to dance so freely as III did. He'd end up as stiff as II, Vessel thinks. He can't remember the last time he had danced or had fun with his body like that, simply moved our of enjoyment or because he felt a beat in his bones and had to move with it. The closest he had ever gotten was listening to II drum away at his kit to a song Vessel had written. The beat had reverberated through his bone marrow and Vessel had the strangest need to move with it. He did not.

Vessel is torn from his thoughts, eyes growing wider, as II reaches up and grabs III's hair, slowly tilting their head back. Just once, II tugs on III's hair with as much force as they'd already agreed on, "We're both supposed to like it, honey."

Using his strength to pull his body up, II kisses III then, claims III's mouth as his own at the same time he pulls just that little bit harder on III's hair. III moans, eyes fluttering as they struggle to watch II, feeling II's tongue slip into their mouth to tangle with their own.

Vessel can't tear his eyes away, feeling himself growing hard as he watches them. He doesn't know what to do with himself, and nervously picks dirt out from the underside of his nails to have some sort of release for the restless energy he can feel slowly building inside of him.

II pulls away, body dropping back down to the bed, cheeks and neck flushed red, lips swelled slightly from the ferocity of the kiss he'd just shared with III.

III moves to follow II down, to take II's lips again but II stops them with a simple command to wait. II turns his head to look at Vessel, taking in the light blush on his cheeks and the growing bulge in his pajama pants.

"To clarify before we start anything serious, are you okay with me watching?" II asks, searching Vessel's gaze and bond for any uncertainty.

He finds none as Vessel nods.

II's voice is so terribly gentle as he asks, "Use your words, pretty."

Vessel's blush gets more pink, gaze flitting away nervously before forcing himself to meet II's gaze. "Yes. That is fine."

"Sir." He adds, a little panicked.

"You don't need to use that name with me unless you want to. And I mean it, Vessel, only if you want to. Three is a little brat, and likes to taunt me with it. That is likely not going to be your intention, is it?"

Vessel would never dare taunt II- Could not even imagine-

Vessel shakes his head profusely, and II smiles reassuringly. He turns towards III, who has sat back on their heels to watch Vessel and II, head turning to stare at whoever is speaking almost comically. "You've been quiet, Three. Not plotting anything, are you?"

"No, sir. This is important. I'm being patient." III smirks, proud of themself.

"Good boy." II praises, smirking in return before turning once more to Vessel with a kinder look, "Have you ever had a blow job, my love? Or given one?"

Vessel shakes his head to the first, nodding to the second, adding on quietly with a grimace he tries to hide, "My girlfriends would use their hands to get me ready for them. Was that for the same purpose?"

"Probably, yes. Different parts need different prepping. By the look on your face, I take it they weren't very good at giving hand jobs." II frowns, but forced a smile on his face for Vessel's sake, "How would you feel about Three giving you a blow job?"

"Giving me...? Why?"

Its so damn endearing how Vessel tilts his head to the side, something he does so often, but the confusion that seems ever present when they talk about anything sexual is saddening.

"I want to make you feel good. Will you let me?" III practically begs when Vessel's bond does not dip toward negativity at II's question.

"Think it over, sweetheart. Is it something you want to experience?" II urges Vessel to think it over, and he just grows more confused.

Vessel can only think of how it felt to take a cock in his mouth, the way his jaw had ached painfully for days, his throat bruised from the inside, how he couldn't breathe. The first time Vessel had taken a cock in his mouth, he shoved away, even with the hand still gripping his hair, no matter how it hurt and tore strands free, just to get away in time to puke at his side. He had not been given time to wipe away the vomit from his mouth before his boyfriend had pulled him back by his hair.

'Fucking look at me. God, you can't even do this right? Seriously, ___? You'd better learn fucking fast, fucking crybaby. If you don't want me to fuck you every time, the least you can do is learn to do this properly.'

Vessel couldn't have seen him through his tears as he shoved him to the ground, finally letting go of his hair. Vessel was ordered to go brush his teeth and be back at his boyfriends side quickly, or he would get angry. Vessel hated when his boyfriend was angry. Wanted to please him so he'd be kinder, gentle like he used to be. Vessel had choked on the toothpaste, too, scalp and knees aching as he retched into the sink, sobbing as quietly as he could manage at the time.

Why would III willingly want to experience something like that?

"I promise I'll make you feel good. Whatever experience you had with it before, I'm going to replace it with something better, I promise."

Vessel wants to believe III. He really, really does. III had made him feel things Vessel did not even know were possible, made him feel pleasure. So he nods, slow and hesitant.

"Your agreement in words, Ves, if you can." II requests, and Vessel does as asked only marginally less hesitant.

"Vessel will want to keep his shirt on, sir. Can I- Undress him?" III asserts, crawling closer to where Vessel leans against the headboard.

Vessel cannot stop his eyebrows from lifting in surprise as III makes a request for Vessel's own continued comfort, finding himself touched. Strangely, being considered makes him grow harder, to his own embarrassment.

"I am fine with it if Vessel is."

III turns to Vessel eagerly, trying their hardest to stay quiet and still, to let Vessel decide on his own, but the bond is rife with their anticipation. III has already seen him before, so Vessel nods easily, despite his worry over what is to come.

III closes the small distance between them, very gently pulling Vessel's legs so they're laid straight down the bed. There is indecision through the bond as III tries to figure out how he wants to go about getting Vessel undressed. They want to straddle Vessel, to see him under them as they take off his clothes, yet knows it is not likely to be easy that way. III finds he doesn't care when he glances up from inspecting Vessel's body to find Vessel watching him, all six crimson eyes attuned to every move III makes. III finally just reaches forward, kneeling on the bed at Vessel's feet.

His hands come to rest on Vessel's hips, barely brushing the fabric there as III comes to rest their knees on either side of Vessel's own. "Is this okay?" III asks, watching Vessel for any signs of distress.

Vessel nods, murmuring a yes. The action causes III to glance down at Vessel's lips, finding himself staring without a care for what he was just doing.

"Kiss?" III whispers, leaning in close as they finally press their hands to Vessel's waist, thumbs slipping into the waistband.

Vessel nods again, anticipation making his eyes bright. III leans over Vessel, pressing their lips together and slipping their tongue in to tangle with Vessel's own. III starts slowly sliding Vessel's pajamas down his waist, purposefully not dragging his underwear down as well. Vessel's split tongue slides against III's, and for a moment, III wonders what it would feel like for his tongue to be on III's cock and he moans into the kiss at the image. Surprise flits down the bond at the sound, and somewhere beside them II lets out a short laugh.

Vessel has grown increasingly harder with every gentle touch, with every second III's mouth remains on his. His underwear is growing increasingly tighter as his bulge grows, the friction it causes only making Vessel feel worse. Or better, to be more precise.

III only breaks away from the kiss to slowly slip Vessel's pajama pants down and off his legs, leaving him in only a shirt and boxers. He does not do so quickly, they take their time. They sit and watch as more and more of Vessel's skin is revealed, cannot stop themselves from tracing one of the tendrils of ink crawling their way up Vessel's thigh, as though reaching for the bandages still wrapped there. The gentle touch causes Vessel to shudder as tingles spread through him.

Vessel's underwear comes off next as II slowly slides one hand down his sweatpants, starting to slowly stroke himself with the limited movement his hand is allowed. Vessel's cock is leaking pre-cum when III manages to get his boxers off, stopping at the sight of it before he can get his underwear even halfway down Vessel's thighs.

The sight makes their mouth water, just imagining taking that large cock in their mouth or ass. Fuck, the stretch would be delicious.

"Finish getting him undressed, Three. You don't want to keep him waiting, do you?" II orders, leaning on his side with his head propped up on a hand so he can watch III when they inevitably start.

III refrains from taking Vessel's dick in their mouth right then, letting out a whine of impatience as Vessel watches with wide eyes, a deep blush overtaking his face and traveling up to his ears. They're quicker about getting Vessel's underwear off, then, dropping them off to the side of the bed with his pajamas.

It is quick work getting Vessel's legs bent and spread before him. III stops to take Vessel in with his hands on the others hips, the blush over his cheeks and cock hard, leaking pre cum from the tip. His shirt is slightly askew, lips swollen from all the kissing the other two had subjected him to, and he is staring at III with half-lidded eyes. III wants nothing more than to take a photo to capture Vessel's divine beauty.

A hand slides up from Vessel's hip to his stomach, taking his shirt with him. III's hand deliberately does not go even close to his sternum, keeping to Vessel's only rule. III lets their hand rest there, splayed over Vessel's stomach and feeling the barest hint of abs beginning to form.

"Such a pretty thing." III croons, "My pretty boy."

Vessel's blush gets deeper, one hand coming up to try and hide his face in bashfulness.

III moves up enough to stare in one pair of Vessel's eyes, taking the hand from his face gently, before planting a kiss over each of his six eyelid's. III peppers kisses all over Vessel's face, every one as worshipping as the last. They move to Vessel's jaw, placing a kiss on the right side before moving down to the exposed skin of Vessel's stomach.

Vessel's breaths get shorter, harsher, as III kisses down to his bellybutton and then lower, nuzzling into the pubic hair there before a long stripe is licked up Vessel's shaft. He lets out a whine, hips just barely bucking up as though he couldn't stop himself.

"Want it really bad, don't you, my love? Don't worry, I'm going to make you feel good."

III gives no other warning except for a small lick at Vessel's tip before opening their mouth wide, flattening their tongue, and taking Vessel's cock in their mouth as far as it will go. It is not an easy fit, III taking short, measured breaths in as he slowly swallows more and more of Vessel's dick.

Vessel can do nothing but watch, utterly entranced, at the sight of III taking him in with tears beading at the corners of their soft, mischievous eyes. It bumps against the back of III's throat, but III doesn't gag or show any signs of discomfort except for the involuntary tears. Their bond remains painless, happy even, as III sinks their mouth down further.

Vessel can't quite think of much outside of the warm, wet heat of III's mouth around him. This is what it feels like to be given a blow job? Fuck, it felt divine.

III does not allow Vessel a moment to breath, hollowing their cheeks and sucking while their tongue presses flat to the underside of Vessel's dick. Swirling their tongue around the shaft shoots more pleasure down the bond and Vessel's cock twitches in III's mouth.

Then III lets out an intentional moan, a low thing that grows in sound and the vibrations bring Vessel very close to the edge.

"Can you take him deeper, Three?" II asks, smirking as he runs a thumb over his tip, enjoying the show.

III hums out an attempt at an agreement that makes Vessel's head tilt back into the pillows involuntarily with a breathy little keen. He is quick to move his gaze back down to III, selfishly enjoying the sight of their pretty lips around Vessel's cock, taking him in so well. III looks beautiful like this, Vessel thinks, reaching down hesitantly to brush a stray strand of wavy hair behind III's ear as they take more of him down his throat.

Two pairs of Vessel's eyes remain on III, capturing every movement with ease, while the top pair watches II slowly jerk himself off, off to the side.

A swirl of III's tongue spurs a small whimper out of Vessel, eyes clenching shut at the pleasure coursing through him. He feels close to cumming, body alight with the ecstasy III's mouth is giving him.

Vessel's eyes shoot open when he feels movement on the bed, II crawling towards him with intense eyes. He stops directly at Vessel's side, kneeling on both knees before reaching out and cupping Vessel's face. Vessel leans into the touch, "Cum for Three, love."

Vessel does, hips bucking up into III's face as the other gently holds them to keep Vessel still as they swallow the cum spilling down their throat. III ruts into the bed, cock craving friction as Vessel's release spills over their bonds, too. His eyes glow brightly, like bloody moons in a night sky, and II's voice is firmer than intended when he asks Vessel to look at him, taken with the beauty of finally being able to watch Vessel cum with his own eyes. That, perhaps, was his mistake.

III is already pulling away when the first tremor of terror rocks down the bond between the three of them, eyes wide as Vessel completely stops moving.

"Red." II blurts before falling into a mutter, "Shit, shit, shit. "

He pulls his hands away from Vessel, afraid the touch will make him panic more. II isn't sure if it was something he did, or said, or if it was something III did.

Vessel can't breathe. Can't hear anything. Not past the voice in his ears, demanding he look at them and to stop fucking crying. Can't feel anything but the hand pressing painfully into his jaw, unkempt nails digging into his face and the smell of minty breathe in his nostrils.

Somewhere inside Vessel knows what II has said, has done, is not the same. Vessel feels terrible for ruining everything, trying to keep from crying as III pulls away and II stops touching him. He wants their hands back on him, the only kinds hands that have ever graced his skin.

"Ves, sweetheart, are you okay?" II asks, and the pure concern in his voice causes Vessel to let out a sob as silent as any other he's ever released.

The lack of touch only makes him feel worse, and he wants to beg, plead for them to hold his hand, or go ahead and hit him for being so pathetic just to feel the touch of their skin on his. He just wants to feel them again, when he needs it. Instead all he can do is lay over on his side, struggling to breathe with aching lungs, choking on the words he wants to say but is too afraid to let out.

His breaths come out in shorter and shorter pants, arms wrapping around himself as he brings his knees up to his chest. He looks small, II thinks, curling in on himself on the bed as if he could become one with the sheets and disappear completely if he tried hard enough.

Gold leaks from his eyes, clenched shut tightly. Vessel feels alone, even if the other two are right there beside him. They feel too far away, not close enough. He wants them near. He wants them to hold him. Vessel wants their gentle hands to brush his skin again just so he can force his mind away from the feeling of other hands on him, other, rougher hands pulling his face up with a bruising grip, straining his neck, demanding he look at them-

Please, please, touch me, hurt me, anything, please-

Vessel thinks that if words could be sent down the bond, his thoughts would have been shouted down the tether connecting their souls.

II must take pity on him and his pathetic form, staining the sheets with gold as he sobs silently.

"Is it alright if I touch you, Vessel? Just my hand, if that's alright, sweetheart."

Vessel nods so fast he gets dizzy, trying his damndest not to reach forward and crawl into II's lap, desperate as he is for them to show him the kindness he craves but does not deserve.

"Please." Vessel begs with every bit of desperation in his blood, fingers twitching with want.

III shakes, still half-hard and struggling to shove away the tingles of pleasure still coursing through them, longing to hold Vessel so badly it hurts. Not being able to hold Vessel, at the mans own request, has to be the worst torture III has ever faced and he was beaten and murdered for fucks sake. They want to reach for Vessel, too, to take his hand and run a soothing thumb over his knuckles just as II is doing, but Vessel's bond is just so overwhelmed with emotion, III fears he'll make it worse.

Anxiety and terror and the thick tar of being lost in one's mind that is filled with bad memories are all swarming Vessel's bond, fighting over which will cover the tether thickest.

"Don't leave, don't leave, please, please don't leave." Vessel mutters repeatedly, so quiet the other two vessels can barely make out what he is saying.

When they do manage to decipher it, it breaks their hearts. "Not going anywhere, my love." III says, watching helplessly.

They take Vessel's hand in their own when they notice him reaching out, only to pull back, then reach forward again. He can tell what Vessel wants but will not ask for.

II and III feel a little helpless as they watch Vessel's chest hitch with sobs that make no noise, face turned away into the pillow to hide. His trembling does not cease for what seems like eternity, squeezing II and III's hands tightly. It surely must be uncomfortable, to still hold their hands and yet be curled up, arms needing to stretch to reach. III uses his available hand to pick up Vessel's plushie, placing it under his chin. Vessel immediately tries to hide his face in it instead of the pillows. It takes time for his sobs to lessen then peter out entirely, breathing becoming less erratic, but still heavy. His mutters begins them not to leave have continued, but the vacancy in his eyes has cleared with the end of his sobbing.

"What happened, Ves? Was it something we said, or did?" II asks, so gentle, always so, so gentle.

"He used to grab my jaw when I couldn't meet his eyes. Jerked me around by my chin with a bruising grip." Vessel mutters, "Wasn't good enough. Have never been good enough. Not for anyone."

"Fuck, I'm sorry Vessel, I didn't know. I won't do it again." II looks so defeated as he says it, leaning into III as they continue holding one of Vessel's hands each.

Vessel scrambles to fix what he's done, needs II to know it wasn't his fault. "No, no, please, Two... you've asked me to look at you before and it didn't bother me! I promise. I think..." Vessel starts, stumbling over his words as more tears slip down the side of his face, "You've cupped my face before, too. It may have been the situation. I- This scenario was familiar enough. I was just never on the receiving end."

It feels strange for Vessel to be the one rationalizing what happened, when usually its the other two trying to reassure him, but his heart is so disconnected from anything sexual that his mind can see what has happened far easier.

"I liked it when you held my face, carefully like I was worth something. I liked what Three was doing, liked you watching. I've never- I didn't know that's what a blow job was supposed to feel like for the person on the receiving end. Suppose I was shit at giving them, Before." Vessel huffs out a humorless laugh, sitting up and wiping away tears.

Vessel hates the looks on their faces, not quite pitying but so distraught, and Vessel did that to them. He's the reason they look like that, all because he couldn't keep in control of the bond well enough to cover up what had happened. And then they'd shown him concern, and he'd crumbled.

Vessel forces his body to relax completely. Forces his muscles to finish untensing, shoves more calm down the bond, forces himself to meet II's eyes, to look at him like he had asked for. They'll be pleased with him when they finish here, Vessel is sure. Maybe they won't look so upset if Vessel offers up his body once more.

"I'm ready to continue with whatever else you wish. I feel better now." Vessel murmurs as he sits up, steeling himself for how he's going to have to fake his interest in the sex.

No matter how good it had felt, Vessel is exhausted. He wants to lay down and beg for sleep that will not come.

"No, it's alright. We'll continue this another time." II says, and III nods along easily, concerned.

"I- I do not mind." Vessel tries, desperate, gripping the sheets tightly to stop himself from reaching out to III, who gets off the bed to collect the damp rag they'd set aside.

He doesn't want them to be disappointed, knowing he is the cause.

"Sweetheart, you just had a panic attack. Neither I nor Three mind continuing whenever you're ready, but I don't think that time is now." II refuses gently, reaching out and adjusting Vessel's shirt so that it sits properly on his body, no longer crumpled haphazardly.

"It's happened before. It- It doesn't matter. I can continue. I know I can." Vessel insists, but II's expression remains firm.

"No, Vessel. You're still shaking."

"I'm- No, I'm not." Vessel holds tighter to the sheets, fabric beginning to tear under the force of his claws, trying in vain to still his body.

"I don't want to continue anyway. I kinda want to go watch a show, why don't we do that instead?" III offers, climbing back into bed with the rag in hand.

Vessel levels suspicious, guilty eyes on III but their bond remains truthful, calm. II sends III a grateful look that Vessel misses while trying to probe III's bond for any sort of lie.

"I'm down for that, honey. How about you Vessel?" II agrees, gently wiping Vessel's cock off.

Vessel sits there, trembling, still fighting valiantly to keep any more tears from falling, and nods imperceptibly.

"You're not in trouble, Vessel. No one is upset with you. We're concerned, and so we're going to take care of you." II explains, helping Vessel slip his underwear back on, then his pajama pants.

Vessel feels a little like he is being coddled. Still, he thinks back to what II and III had said to him before. They say they love him. They... get angry on his behalf. They do not yell at him, they do not hit him. They kiss Vessel like he is something to be adored... Vessel's mind is a muddled mess of thoughts as his present fights with his past over the truth of their words.

Vessel lets them coddle him. Breathes out a shaky, but truthful 'yes' when II asks to kiss him. Leans into II's lips on his, does not expect anything further when II slowly slides his hand onto Vessel's thigh, where it sits, merely laying there.

III hops out of bed first, picking up all of their phones and holding them in one large hand, fingers bent in what is surely awkward positioning. They watch as II and Vessel kiss, a slow, languid movement of lips as II sends down every ounce of love his body possesses towards Vessel's bond. There's a spark of recognition on Vessel's end, a small thing, and III hopes it is Vessel beginning to realize that it is their love for him.

Vessel knows they do not love him, not the way he loves them. If they love him at all, it is the version of himself he has allowed them to see. It is the version of himself that hides his lack of heart, hides his desire for death. A version of himself close enough to his core that they think they know him, truly.

If they think him pitiable now, they know nothing of what is to come should they ever find out all of Vessel's hidden truths.

The spark dies, and whatever realization Vessel had been having slips away to be replaced by his crushing self-doubt and anxiety and aching, bone-deep pain.

II pulls away slowly, ever so gently resting his forehead on Vessel's. "I love you." He murmurs, pressing a chaste but tender kiss to Vessel's lips again.

The smile Vessel shows them is twinged with uncertainty, but he repeats the phrase back with every ounce of love in his soul, because he means it. He loves II. He loves III.

"Here, Ves." III calls, holding out Vessel's plushie as he and II climb out of Vessel's bed.

Vessel reaches out and grabs it without hesitation, holding it close to his chest with both arms. "Here, for if you get cold. Your hands and feet are always freezing." III says again as he wraps a large blanket around Vessel's shoulders, pulling a large bit of the fabric over Vessel's head as though he were wearing a hooded robe. Vessel lets II lead him out of his room and down the stairs while III goes to brush his teeth quickly.

Their hands shake as they do so, taking a deep, deep breath in and releasing it before stepping back into the hallway. Elvira waits for him, tail flicking back and forth as she sits regally.

"Hey, pretty kitty, going to come hang with us? Vessel could use the support right now." III says quietly, crouching down to pet her.

She rubs into his hand as he scratches her head, petting a line down her spine and up her tail that she leans up into. Elvira follows him back to the living room, hopping up on the couch beside II.

"Lay your head in my lap, sweetheart." II offers, patting his thigh invitingly as Vessel flounders on what to do with his body, more anxious than usual.

III starts up the TV as Vessel very carefully lays down on the couch, scrunched up as small as possible, placing his head on II's warm thigh. It's familiar, and comforting. Vessel realizes it has been a while since either he or II laid their head on the others thigh. III picks up Vessel's feet, placing them back down on III's own thighs after they sit. One hand remains on Vessel's sock-clad ankle as III settles back into the cushions, scrolling through an anime app.

Vessel listens as II and III debate over what to watch. When they ask his opinion, Vessel is honest, more forthcoming than he should be. He wants them to know him, as much of himself as he can bare. "Wasn't allowed to watch anything that wasn't a documentary. Or read anything other than educational books."

"Well, you can read and watch whatever you want here, Sugar. Let's watch Fairy Tail then, it's a good starter anime, despite its length." III says, knowing he and II will need to talk with each other, and Vessel, about it eventually.

It must have been his parents, III notes. They're not sure who is higher on his shit list, Vessel's parents or his past partners. Right now, Vessel's parents are at the top of the list, III decides, watching Vessel with an adoring smile. Vessel's book and movie choices so far have been explained. To think they wouldn't let him watch or read anything fun. It explains why Vessel never knew anything about video games, or any of the movies they had watched previously. They'll have to compile a list of their and II's favorites to show him.

Observing Vessel as he watches the show with rapt attention, body slowly losing the tremble, one hand coming to grasp II's by the shorter man's knee, III considers Sleep's words from when they had last spoken with the God, slowly trailing their fingers over Vessel's calf and back down to his ankle rhythmically.

Sleep had said that Vessel's killer had already passed on. III can't help but wonder how.

It's of no matter now though. As long as Vessel remains safe from that threat, III is content. He supposes getting a hang of his transformation power would be useful for the future. They'll have to speak with II about it, since they already intended to work on their gifts together. Maybe they can rope Vessel into it as well, though it doesn't seem as though the other needs it.

III turns his gaze back to the show, one hand slowly crossing the space between them to rest at II's side, just barely touching him as III's arm lays gently over Vessel's form. Vessel huffs out a laugh, pretty ruby eyes sparkling as he finds enjoyment in one of the characters penchant for taking off his clothes subconsciously. III adores him, they think, as their gaze slides over to II who is also watching the show with tired, but interested eyes. III adores both of them.

#sleep token fanfiction #sleep token #vessel sleep token #ii sleep token #polyvessels #sleep token fic #sleep token iii #poly sleep token

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redstainedsocks · 1 year

Text

Writing? Writing! A burst of inspiration, posting before I can second-guess it.

Contents: Near-fatal injury, blood, fist fight, (re?)capture/failed escape. [brief allusion to needles being used]

He stumbled onward, one hand clutching the bloodied wound in his side. A slashing injury that he desperately hoped it hadn’t done too much damage. Though the weakness he felt… the blood coating his fingers…Thinking about it made him woozy. Fainter. All that mattered was putting one step in front of the other.

The streets were dark; that should have been an advantage if he could move faster or dart between alleyways and buildings. As it was all he could manage was one slow, meandering wobble clutching onto streetlamps, benches, and bins to keep himself upright.

His abdomen throbbed with each jolt as he kept one arm locked tightly around his waist so that his hand could press over the injury. His vision wavered but he sucked in a breath. And another. And another. And he moved. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was aware of other things: the bruised knuckles from the fight, the wrenched knee, the gash across his collarbone, the dull ache in his head. They were distant problems, locked behind a sort of numbness.

Each sound drew his attention in a way that added to his exhaustion. The extra rushes of adrenaline drained his already over-taxed system. There were a few other people out and about. Voices echoing from late-night bars, passing citizens laughing and joking. Cars careening past blaring heavy-bass music. He had no idea what he looked like in comparison, he just hoped no-one noticed him.

He turned down a side-street and walked a little further, casting long glances back over his shoulder as he went. His pulse was louder than anything else, a constant thud-thud-thud in his ears.

But there was something else. Footsteps? Coming closer? Car doors? He whipped his head around and spotted them. Three of them. Stalking closer. Two in front and one behind. His nostrils flared with the need to breathe deeper.

Slowly, he dropped his hand. Blood dripped from his fingers onto the pavement as he curled them into a fist. He’d go down swinging. God help him, he wouldn’t make this easy.

The first attack came from behind, a kick to his legs that he dodged but not far enough to prevent a stumbling blow. Then a fist that collided with the side of his head. He jerked backwards. No pulse anymore, just a long, high-pitched ringing. Sluggishly he stepped sideways and brought down his elbow, slamming it into the bicep of the one who’d punched. A third hand on his shoulder pulled him backwards. A wordless noise of pain and anger burst from his lips.

He kicked back, made contact. Ducked under another blow. But there was a third that caught him across the cheek. A body that slammed him sideways into the asphalt. Raw, sharp pain across his palm where he stopped his descent. He flew upwards, throwing the weight of his body behind the assault. He caught one in the throat and they went down. But more hands grabbed his clothes and shunted him once again. He stumbled, found his balance. And they circled him.

He wheezed. Wavered. “Fuck. Get it over with!”

“You’re making it a little easy on us, don’t you think?”

“You said we were done,” he snarled.

“And then you took my knife and tried to gut me, so forgive me if I changed my mind.”

It was the leader who talked, facing him head on. That hated voice, the loathsome face thankfully concealed by the night.

“You would’ve killed me.”

“Would I?”

“You’re a liar if you say otherwise.” He took the reprieve to clasp his hand over the wound again. The last fight hadn’t done him any favours and this one looked to be going even worse. “You’ll forgive me for not taking any chances.”

“Well now you’re just being pathetic. If this was the chance you took, you’re doing a terrible job of seeing it through.”

He just glared. The blood loss wasn’t helping. Every minute made him weaker. “I won’t let you touch me, not again.” Not with a knife, not with anything else.

They just jerked their head and two hands pushed him forward. He cried out with the force of it and fell right into their waiting hands. One wrapped over his shoulder. Thumb right on the gash on his collarbone. They squeezed.

Even in the dark of night his vision went blindingly bright. White flashes of starry-nothing as pain overrode everything else. In a blink his knees hit the ground. The thumb pressed harder and he wailed.

“Not very strong in your convictions, are you? What happened to not letting me touch you?” Their voice was a sneer, a stain across the ego that he wanted rid of. He batted for the hand on his shoulder but was caught, vice-like, around the wrist.

“Little busy bleeding out,” he gasped.

They made a noise of derision. “As if I’d make it that easy on you.”

A lump caught in his throat. “You gotta help me, then.”

“Say please.”

“Screw you!”

They did laugh at that. “I’ll put it this way, if you come quietly we’ll give you something for the pain before we start patching you up. If not…” their hands finally left his body and opened before him. Like a shrug. Like it wasn’t a threat of pain on top of pain.

From his knees, in the middle of the street, his options narrowed and narrowed until they were nothing more than a spec in the darkness. With each heartbeat his life force ebbed away under his fingertips. With each blink his eyes got heavier and heavier. His resolve thinned like a wire doomed to snap.

He hung his head and nodded. Arms raised in surrender. Knife-wound leaking in a steady, terrible display of agony.

“Good.”

One snap of the fingers and he was hauled upright. A van came around the corner, black metal against the black tar of the road. In the moments before he was shoved inside it he saw their flash of a grin, and then a black bag came down over his eyes and he saw nothing else. The vehicle moved under them but it didn’t register, didn’t mean anything. Fingers pried his own bloodied hand away from his side. Thoughtful noises followed as someone assessed the injury. His wrists were zip tied down to something unforgiving on either side of his body. He closed his eyes and drifted as something pricked into the hollow of his elbow. Weakness became distance, became relief, became certainty. Because all that mattered was that he wasn’t going to die.

#injury #knife injury #blood tw #whump #whump writing #violence #fist fight #recapture #failed escape attempt #enemies #threats #defiant whumpee #knives tw #collapse #needles tw #surrender #beaten #forced to kneel

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thedeluluverse · 2 months

Text

POSTING IT EARLY!!

Author’s Note: So happy to finally get this out there! BIGGEST thanks to my bestie @starfire21, as this is mainly her baby; I just wrote it down, hehe. I hope y’all like it, and please let me know what y’all think! Until next time, lovelies! <3 Also here is the link for Part 1 so you can get additional info :)

Summary: A talented saber smith’s life changes forever when the Sith crosses her path as she attempts to reform the corrupt government she serves. Will they be a help or a hindrance?

Pairing: Sith!Wooyoung x femjedi/sabersmith!Y/N. Other kpop idols in the story, but the main relationship is between Woo and Y/N.

Rating: 18+

Genre: angst, fantasy, kpop, smut, fluff

Word Count: 5,703

Warnings: verbal abuse/bullying kind of all around, mentions of attempted suicide, abandonment and self-worth issues, HJ kinda bipolar and entitled/creepy, bisexual suffering, oral (m. receiving), tit play, clit play, p in v raw sex (don’t do this irl y’all), slight mentions of kink

While Wooyoung is busy trying to decide whether to go out of his way to a farther shop or enlist the help of Y/N to fix his saber, Y/N is eating breakfast and informing Huyang of the previous night’s events.

They both agree that Winter’s attack seems quite random, as they have no personal strife with the Sith and have only met her once.

Huyang suggests they both lie low and not make any far treks unless absolutely necessary for at least a few days in case their lives are in jeopardy.

Still sore from the fight, you don’t disagree, for once. There is plenty of work to be done in the shop, and there is no rush, so lying low sounds nice.

Meanwhile, in Coruscant, the Council discusses the growing threat that the Sith are becoming to the galaxy.

After a long while of brainstorming, Master Choi Minho has an idea, “Why don’t we collect more taxes from the people and place military personnel around our headquarters?”.

There is a wave of silent, approving nods until Chaewon says, “That isn’t much of a plan. What about protection for our people? If their livelihoods are getting strained, they deserve to reap some of the benefits as well!”.

Resounding chuckles fill the air as her cheeks turn pink and her eyes start to well up with tears, feeling embarrassed. However, before she can speak up, Master Chungha smirks. “Oh, you know what, that would be a lovely alteration to the plan! If we were still younglings. Grow up, Chaewon; that isn’t how the world works. We maintain order, and our subjects will be at peace if we are safe. Imagine we are in danger, then they panic; how dangerous that could rapidly become!”.

Most of the Council is clapping for the Master's use of logic when the youngest female Jedi to ever be on the Council, Rei, speaks up, "Yeah, even I know better, and you surpass me by 3 years. You’ll never make it onto the Council if you stay so naïve”.

At this point, Chaewon’s knuckles are white, and she is about to burst with fury at the disrespect.

Luckily, Master Jaeyun diffuses the impending explosion just in time. "All right then, this has been a great start in figuring out how to counteract the Sith issue, but we should dismiss for the day. When we gather next time, let's be more respectful and open-minded. Until next time, stay safe, everyone. Meeting adjourned.”.

Waiting until everyone else leaves to discuss the new developments with Somin and Jihyo, Chaewon remains seated while the rest of the Council files out of the room. Adding insult to injury, Chungha and Rei pat her head as if she were a child as they leave.

As soon as the door shuts, the floods can no longer be contained in her eyes, and Chaewon breaks down. Thankfully, she isn’t alone for long as her allies rush to her side quickly.

Somin reassures her gently while gently rubbing her back, "Let it out, dear; I am so proud of you for standing up for the people and keeping your emotions in check with everything else that happened. While you do need to fine-tune the execution, it was better than staying silent."

Meanwhile, Jihyo kneeled in front of Chaewon with a fierce look in her eyes, “Say the word, and I’ll use my strength training on that prick Minho and his ‘secret’ lover. I’ve been dying to slap them both for so long!” Somin scolds, "Now, why are you listening to those rumors? Whether true or false, it doesn’t concern us or our cause. We need to stay focused, Hyo."

Amongst sniffles, Chaewon chuckles, "I appreciate the offer, but it's okay; we need to make them think we are still aligned with them for the time being.”

At this, Somin looks down at Chaewon with a motherly, proud smile as she kisses the top of her head, and they all head out before curfew is enacted.

Back at Y/N's home shop, she is just finishing her morning routine, getting dressed, and trying to make a game plan for the current list of orders when she hears the bell ring that someone has entered.

Huffing in annoyance, she heads to the front. "I thought I told Huyang to leave the sign off today. Oh well, maybe someone is just lost, and I can get them out quickly,” she mutters.

When she sees who entered the shop, she turns on her heel to walk away, saying, "Look, I have had enough run-ins with you and your gang for a lifetime, so please let me work in peace. Between your elevator ambush, your slightly creepy leader randomly dropping in to apologize for the prior event and slightly offering to work together, then that Winter chick tracking me down, burning my shop, and trying to kill me, I’m all Sithed out, sorry.”

His eyes widen as he pieces together what he has just been told with the argument he heard before leaving. Immediately, he is filled with rage and is concerned for you more than he should be.

Sadly, he doesn’t have time to waste with silly ponderings right now. “Look, I can only speak on my actions, and I apologize if I annoyed you; I was just trying to have a little fun,” he says as his signature shit-eating grin spreads across his face.

He switches modes when he realizes the extent to which you are in no mood for his usual antics. "Okay, look, seriously, I need your help."

You cackle for 2 minutes straight, "Wait, so your crew pesters and threatens me for the last 24 hours, including your insults yesterday, and you think I’ll help you? Get lost.”

Your foot is almost across the threshold of the next room when he says, “You’re right. You can refuse service to anyone. I would, too, if I were you, but I have an offer. I need you to check out and possibly replace my kyber crystal. In exchange, I will pay double your normal service charge to help show you that I am serious about my apology and for information about what happened last night. Do we have a deal?”.

Shocked doesn’t cover how you feel now, “Hold on a minute. Why do you want information about your buddy’s attack? Wouldn’t you just ask them?”

Woo sighs, “ I would, but she is quite emotional right now, and I want the truth. She acted outside of Honjoong’s permission and wounded the integrity of our organization, which, as you know, is already being threatened. She will not know that I know anything or that I got the details from you. The intel will go straight from you to me, then to Hongjoong, who can concoct a story of how he learned about the specifics.”

For once, you can see genuine sincerity in his eyes and give a nod of approval, showing that you understand everything and agree to his terms.

Moving into the connected workshop structure, he sits and watches as you run diagnostic tests on his saber.

After about 15 minutes of this, you start dismantling it in silence so you can replace the crystal that looks like it got jostled by falling off his bedside table or something.

Suddenly, you break the silence. “Wanna know why what you said in the elevator hit such a nerve? Well, even if you don’t too bad. If you can just speak your mind whenever so can I."

Looking taken aback yet endeared at your spunk, he extends his hand in a go-ahead motion.

You continue explaining, "I built this business with my mentor's help after not being taken seriously for 5 years. Just having moved into the city, having no official training, and being a human woman made for an extremely steep uphill climb to where I am now. It was nothing new after a lifetime of having no parents and fending for myself, but there is only so much a person can take. One day, Huyang found me in an alley, about to inject myself with an instant death serum I bought from this shady tent because there was no more hope in my soul. He didn’t realize what it was until he fed me, and I broke down and told him my whole life story.”

Finishing up the saber, you drank some water and proceeded, “I won’t bore you with that, don’t worry. The main point is that after being abandoned and abused multiple times by so-called friends and family alike, I learned I can only depend on myself and, eventually, Huyang. I then put these silver streaks in my hair to remind myself that there is always light in the darkness; the same is true with most people, even those on the Sith side. The way I look at it, they are just misunderstood, and if their methods changed, they would be more respected and less feared.”

Laughing, you realize, “As far as core values go, the Sith is less corrupt than the Council at this point. Your leaders apologize and are protective; you all seem roughly the same rank. On the other hand, the Council likes to pretend to be more open-minded because it has a diverse membership and cares about the people. Yeah right. They overtax and overwork their citizens, who are practically slaves just so they can live posh, secure lives while the rest of us are dying from a myriad of terrible factors. A few secret friends and I in the Council are trying to gather support to overthrow those who have let greed poison them, but who knows if success will happen in my lifetime...”

Realizing you have been rambling for a while now, you feel self-conscious and hurriedly recount the run-in with Winter and tell him which shop was damaged. Thanking him for his time, you rush him out as questions bombard you.

Why did you open up so much to him? That isn’t like you... must still be off from yesterday. That must be it. Yeah. By busying yourself with other orders, you try to forget about your lapse in fortress status.

As Wooyoung stands outside your shop with a newly repaired saber and the old crystal in his pouch, which is special as it was his first, he has much to think about on the way home, more like the burned shop.

Too much is on his mind, and he can use the longer time away as evidence that he didn’t go to your shop so Winter doesn’t get suspicious when Joong has more details about the event later.

Woo is confused on several fronts as he talks to himself throughout his trek, “Why would anyone hurt her? Wait, why do I care? Why would she tell me about her past? It must be a trick to try to protect herself. Is she that type, though? Whatever, I don’t care.”

The last point is immediately disproven upon seeing the damage that Winter caused to the shop. Instinctively, he starts cleaning up the area and making mental notes of supplies to bring next time to fix up the place.

After about 2 hours, he starts heading back, and his inner turmoil has only heightened. He shouldn’t care, so why does he? I mean, you made some excellent points. But he is also under orders to kill you...decisions must be made.

Once dusk hits, you start tidying up the shop, content with the work you got done today (and yes, still repressing the swirl of thoughts from earlier).

Huyang enters with fresh meals he bought from the market nearby. You can both rest and enjoy easy food after the stressful last couple of days.

During the meal, you confide in Huyang about what happened earlier, and he is eerily silent. Not able to take it, after about 5 minutes, you shout, "What?! Just talk, damn... it’s weird when you’re quiet.”

Clearing his throat, he says, “Apologies, ma’am, I just don’t think you want to hear my notes on this situation as they are similar to the last run-in you had with this Wooyoung. It is admirable that he repented and was able to be sincere with you. As for you, you already know the truth deep down and don’t want to admit it. That is all I shall say”.

Rolling your eyes, you just get up and go to your bedroom as Huyang chuckles to himself.

Unable to sleep due to the mixed emotions, countless questions, and thoughts, you decide to check out your shop at dawn to assess the damage.

It is evident that someone else has been there as soon as you arrive. All of the lesser damaged items are in one corner, and it looks.... swept. You shrug and are happy that good people exist; they could have easily robbed you, but everything is accounted for despite its state.

Wooyoung, on the other hand, had a restful night’s sleep. Being physically exhausted and pleased that Winter got scolded more due to the intel he gave Hongjoong made him pass out as soon as he lay down.

Unfortunately, he was awoken in the middle of the night. Winter was knelt by his bed, blocking his saber, shaking him awake, “Woo, I cannot sleep. Can I sleep with you instead?.”

Smiling, he rolls onto his side, facing her, and says, “Sure, c’mon in, babe.”

As soon as she is settled in, he opens his eyes and pushes her onto the floor. Yelping with tears in her eyes, she says, “Why did you say sure and call me babe just to do that?!”

Startled fully awake by her screams, Wooyoung realizes what he has done.

In truth, he was dreaming about you too domestically, and in dreamland, her request was presented as yours.

So, when he was met with Winter in reality, he was appalled not only by her presence so close to him but also anxious about the contents of the dream.

He cannot tell her that, though, so he crafts a half lie; “Oh, um, sorry, I was having a dream about this babe I met at the cantina today while I was getting my saber fixed. Go back to your own room, petulant child.”

Whimpering, she refuses, “NO! I am not a child, and I will not be treated like one anymore, not by you especially. Can’t you see how perfect we would be together? Much better than Joong and Y/N; it is so pathetic.”

At the mention of you, Woo bolts upright, “What do you mean?” Winter is confused by his sudden interest. Nevertheless, she explains, “Well, Joong went to Y/N yesterday and plans to go alone tomorrow, too. It seems like he likes her, but, knowing him, he is probably just toying with her.”

Pondering her words, Wooyoung says, “That is his business, and we should not pay any attention to anything he does not discuss with us. Now go to your own room and sleep or not, I do not care, but goodbye.”

As he turns towards the wall, he cannot help but feel a stab of jealousy at this latest information.

Winter goes to her room, kicking herself for being vulnerable yet again, but damnit, she needed a win. Multiple scoldings by Hongjoong lately, along with neither of her crushes giving her the time of day, has her dejected.

She decides to go into an intense isolation period, claiming it is “that time of the month” to ward off Joong and Woo and to get out of doing fieldwork.

The following day, Wooyoung broaches what Winter told him with his leader. "Sir, I have a question: is what she said true? I told her to keep her nose out of your business, but as your second in command, I feel I should know what is going on to aid however I can if needed.”

Shocked at the initiative, Hongjoong smiles, “Thank you for putting her in her place, and I agree. For Bibi's will to be done, there must be nothing but honesty between us. While I admire Miss Y/N’s tenacity, and she is fairly easy on the eyes, I would not be so foolish as to let animal instinct take over. She is merely a pawn in this game, nothing else. Both you and Winter tend to lack professionalism, so I meet up alone to speed up the process.”

Satisfied with his answer, Hongjoong excuses himself from the table and prepares to meet up with Y/N.

Wooyoung waits until Hongjoong is gone to leave for the burned shop and continue making repairs, feeling thankful yet insulted.

Huyang let you sleep in as you caught up on most of the orders yesterday. You awoke with lunch by your bed with a note that he would hang flyers and for you to take it easy today.

Naturally, you ate and paid no mind to the resting part as you wanted to fix your shop more.

About 2 miles from your shop, you see a familiar figure approaching you, but it can't be... it is Wooyoung!

Sadly, there is nowhere to hide from him, so you continue strutting in his direction, acting like his presence is unnoticed.

The moment he gets close to you, anxiety radiates off of him as he tries to make small talk and turns around to walk with you. “What are you doing in the middle of nowhere alone? That is dangerous.” He says.

You scoff, “Since when does the Sith care about the life of a lowly sabersmith? And I can handle myself, thank you very much. The better question is, what are you doing out here? Miss me already?.”

Silence and a heated smirk are all you are met with until you trip him and hold your lilac-hued saber to his throat, “Did you fuck with my shop more? I swear I will slit your throat right now, and you will not like it..”

Attempting to scooch away on his back, he pleads with you, “NO, no, I swear, I did not mess up your shop. I was just.. uh... scouting the area to make sure no defectors from the Sith were in hiding.”

Mainly convinced by his story, you sheath your saber and help him to his feet. He nods and says he has to be on his way but decides not to tell you that Hongjoong is on his way to meet up with you.

It is childish, he admits, but something in him likes that he got to see you today, and Joong did not.

You feel played as soon as you step into your shop; he most definitely fucked with your shop but in a positive way.

It is even cleaner than last time, and repairs are obviously underway. You pin that for the next time you see him and try to focus on the work ahead.

Wooyoung returns to headquarters to hear the sound of things being thrown and screaming; he rushes inside, worried they are under attack, only to find Hongjoong as the source of the cacophony.

Hearing the door close, Joong pauses and half turns around with a crazed look while grinning like a rabid dog. Seeing it is Wooyoung, he starts venting, "Can you believe it? She has the nerve to not respond to my attempts at communication and then stand me up at her own shop?! Does she not realize how much I could fuck up or enhance her life depending on how she plays my game? How could she not want to see me? I am charming, handsome, mysterious; everything a spunky bitch like her would want. That is fine. I will show her what happens when you reject the mighty Hongjoong!”

Before Woo can react, Joong storms into his chambers to plot against Y/N. Just a pawn...sure, Wooyoung thinks to himself.

Wanting to test his newly fixed saber, he heads to the practice room to self-spar. Engrossed in the improvements you made and the scenarios played by the holograms for practice, he only notices Winter watching from the doorway when he trips over his foot and falls.

For once, she is calm as he asks, “H-how long have you been standing there?!” “Oh, only a few minutes, but that’s all I needed to bring you down,” she replies.

Confusion colors his features, “What in the galaxy are you talking about now? How and why would you want to bring me down?”.

She saunters over and stands over him, displaying a newfound dominant aura. “Oh, now you are the naïve one, it seems. Firstly, a girl can only take so much rejection before she snaps and turns on those she once wanted most. Secondly, there is only one smith around here whose trademark is white kyber crystals. You are as good as dead once Joong finds out you lied to him about where you got it fixed.”

Panic evident in his eyes, Woo quickly defends, "Okay, true, that trademark is well known amongst the customers of Y/N, but that does not mean she has a monopoly on them; plenty of other shops have them in stock from time to time. Also, how are you still so childish? Oh noooo, I don’t return your crush, so you are going to vaguely threaten me? Geez, go to counseling or get laid, shit.”

Winter is semi-convinced, so she stays to practice for a bit. Meanwhile, Wooyoung exits to wash off the near-death experience and plans a trip to warn you about a potential second attack from Winter.

After Wooyoung bathes, he heads to your shop, praying Joong does not cross his path. He arrives about the same time as you, and being too tired to argue, you let him in while you hydrate and catch your breath from all the manual labor you just did.

As you rest, he warns you, “Look, Winter saw me sparring with my saber. Great work, by the way! Anyway, now it is seen as betraying the Sith by going to you. You could be in a lot of danger, and while I can’t directly protect you, I can give you a heads up at least."

Furrowing your brows, your only response is, “Why would you, though?” He deeply exhales, “ I don't even know, okay, but there is your warning. Have a good day.”

Confused and amused by his awkwardness, you say, “I will, actually. It has been productive so far, plus my efforts have finally shut down a gambling center where the money goes to the Council, so I am happy! Plus, I have even more followers of my cause!”

Turning away, he grins, happy to see you reach your goals, but that smile fades rapidly as you say, “By the way, I know you were the one who has been helping with my damaged shop. Thanks.”

He leaves since he does not know how to respond or why his motivation has been pro-you and anti-mission lately, but not without quipping, “I mean, why would I help you? But if you want to reward me for this supposed aid, you can give my biological saber lip service next time, doll.”

As he leaves with a wink, you are annoyed, not by him for once, but with yourself. That kind of remark usually elicits nausea and a desire to kill every man.

This time, you just giggle once he leaves and feel your entire body heat up at the thought. Yep, you are screwed.

The next day, after you both have very intense sexual dreams about each other, you decide to go to Tatooine. His reason is simply to attempt to distract his brain, while yours is to check on your small shop.

It is a request-only shop as it is the least trafficked area for you, but with recent events, you might as well check in while you collect more kyber crystals.

As you are about to leave, you get a surprise visit from Hongjoong; shocked and perturbed, you politely excuse yourself; "Terribly sorry, but I was just on my way out; you can come back tomorrow, though, if you'd like.” He does not like that at all and backs you into your workbench.

Displaying a devilish, darkened gaze of determination, he states, “Oh, you foolish girl. I do not want to make the trip tomorrow. I am here now, and I want you. Do you know how much business I could get you? I would even share what I collect from the Sith citizens from ‘taxes,’ aka my fun fund. Stop fighting this attraction. It’s just me, not like I am the big bad wolf darling, though I would love to eat you,” he states, smirking a couple of inches from your lips.

With his eyes closed, you take the opportunity to hit him in the head with one of your tools and run out, hopping on your speeder and quickly zooming away with tears in your eyes.

You are reeling from the encounter and frustrated that your heart wants to flee to Woo for comfort.

With Hongjoong yelling at you that nobody is ever going to love you if you do not let them in or just be grateful that a god like him designed to give you his attention, you decide against walking into the lion’s den; you stay the course to Tatooine ignoring your yearning for comfort.

After a while, you head to the local cantina to grab something refreshing to drink since you have been in the sun crystal mining for 3 hours now.

En route, you notice people fighting and pay no mind, believing it to just be a couple of drunkards squabbling over the bill. Until you get closer, that is, and find that the fighters are Wooyoung and Hongjoong!

Staying a safe distance away yet being able to hear every word of their conversation makes you worried. Yet, you know it would be foolish to get in the middle, so you stand there paralyzed.

It seems that your rejection led Joong to the desert looking for a hook-up at the bar, where he ran into Woo and immediately went on the offensive.

Hongjoong is slurring at Woo, “Why did you go to that bitch for your saber? You know she is mine! Now, you ruin my attempts to get rid of the blue balls she gave me earlier? You are dead, apprentice.”

Wooyoung retorts between defending Joong’s strikes. “First off, she is not a bitch, and she was the closest sabersmith. Secondly, blue balls are not a thing, and you would not be looking for a drunken desperate cunt to sink into if she had initiated it, so stop lying to yourself and to me.”

Hongjoong looks victorious, “HA, so you admit going to her! For once, Winter was the good pupil. Maybe I will send the signal for her to attack Y/N while you are busy here..since you cannot even kill her like you were ordered."

Too worried about you, Woo freezes for a split second, which is enough for Joong to pull out his dagger and slice Wooyoung’s right cheek and left shoulder.

Right after, Joong hears a speeder and does not want witnesses, so he runs away; thank goodness your idea worked.

Helping Wooyoung onto your speeder, you head to your shop. It is not an ideal reason to head over there, but you were already planning on checking on it, so oh well.

Upon arrival, you help support him off the bike as he got beat up quite a beat; laying him on the bed in the back of the shop, you start taking off his robe to assess the wound.

Always a smartass, he smirks, and then he is screeching for dear life. He stares at your attempt at stifling a laugh, "Hey, don’t look so pleased.” You snort, “Sorry, just nice to see you are human sometimes.”

He pouts and turns away, forgetting his cheek is sliced too, so he turns back, defeated, towards you while you tend to his wounds and wrap up his shoulder.

You hate to admit it, but damn, his body looks even better than you thought; no, you scold yourself, not the place or time.

You change the subject, "So why can't you kill me? Or was he drunk?". Still on edge, he barks, "I don't even know, okay?! I warn you; I fix your shop secretly; I duel my master to defend your honor. It is all worth it, but-“

You interrupt. “You don't need to get hurt for me, though, idiot.” He grins. “I know I don’t have to, but I do, and I’m not sure why, but I want to help your cause and think it’s a great thing you’re doing and-“

This time, you interrupt him with a kiss that immediately gets returned. Pulling away, you apologize, “Sorry, but I had to stop your nonsense. I think I know why you do the things you do. It’s the same reason I helped you today, and don’t mind your drop-ins as much as I let on.”

He raises an eyebrow, asking why, to which you lean in close to him again and whisper in his ear, “Because we want each other badly but are scared of being that close and getting hurt.”

Sitting up, you blush. “I mean, maybe it’s just me, but it feels like we are very similar and fated in a way; just tell me if I –“

He stops you with a hungry kiss, supporting himself with his good arm, cradling the back of your head with his left hand as his tongue explores your mouth.

Your boldness peeks through as you lightly suck his tongue and let your hands gently trail down his abs and palm his covered, very strained bulge.

He groans into your mouth as he snakes his hand under your tunic and palms your voluptuous breasts in response, rolling your hardening nipples between his fingers.

This does not last long before his skilled tongue is swirling the buds and sucking on your tits, bringing you to ecstasy quicker than expected.

Sitting up as much as he can, you remove the rest of both of your clothes and straddle him, both of your sweat mixing in an intoxicating concoction of desire and safety in each other as your hands roam all over each other, passionately making out and making up for lost time.

You feel him grow beneath you, and with remarkable quickness, you shimmy down and lick the slit of his leaking tip for a moment or two before engulfing his thickness down your throat with ease earning you a nonverbal good job on the cheek with his veiny hands.

As he approaches his climax, he pulls you up by your hair, your lips releasing him with a pop and gestures for you to kiss him.

He gazes hungrily into your eyes, “I need to be inside of you, Y/N god, like right now.” You look sideways and reveal, “I want that too, but I, um, well... you would be my first. Can we go slow?"

His energy softens as he caresses your face, tucking your hair behind your ear. “Of course, baby, I simply want to be closer to you.”

Nodding, you line yourself up and sink onto him slowly. It hurts a bit at first, but you quickly adjust to the sting, and it feels sinfully good to have your aching cunt being filled by him finally.

The shop is consumed with the sound of your delicious moans and skin coming together more and more rapidly until you are about to reach your high.

Wooyoung can tell you are close to your release and reaches down to play with your clit, “C'mon love, make a mess on me, princess” At his words, your body reacts by cumming so many times you lose count.

With his help, you ride out your high for about 10 minutes as you feel his heat fill you up three times before you both slump over in exhaustive bliss.

Over the next few days, you stay in that shop talking about everything, and he officially decides to join your cause and recant his Sith ways.

You reveal that you chose his kyber crystal on purpose because you saw the light in him. He tears up and hugs you tightly, "I know it's soon, but I love you, my moth."

You kiss him, saying you love him as well, and have for a while through light sobs.

You both return to Coruscant after going to a nearby hair studio for a change of pace.

He adds blonde streaks to his black hair to remind himself of the light inside and has his old crystal fashioned into a necklace to remind him of where he has been and that he has changed.

You, however, exchange your silver-streaked hair for more of a rust color to match the sentiment of his crystal, promising to keep each other in check and make sure no corruption enters your hearts.

Back at the Council, you, along with Somin, Jihyo, Chaewon, and Wooyoung, expose the corrupt members despite Masters Moonbyul and Jongseob trying to rationalize their actions but failing as they all get carted away to the highest security prison.

Later that day, the secretly good trio became the new faces of the Council and immediately threw a celebration for the city's people, returning all the money that had been wrongly collected.

You and Wooyoung, of course, attend in support. As you are about to steal a kiss, you notice a familiar pair of beady eyes peek behind a pillar.

But now, they are filled with pride and wonder instead of obsession. “What did you see?” Wooyoung asks; you smile and say, “Oh, an old friend, they are shy now but are doing better, I can tell, and I’m happy for them.”

He kisses you, and you lean your head on his shoulder, relishing in this beautiful life you have built for yourself and glad Huyang was right. It is true what they say: if you allow it, change will happen for the better.

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astridbecks · 3 months

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hiii. 6, 18, 20 from the ask game for either/both fics 👀👀👀👀👀

hiiii thank you <3 // ask game in question

(6) describe the premise/plot of [project] from the perspective of each main cast member.

against all my sins: jenna sees this as a period political-romance drama. astrid sees this as a political thriller. both of them get psychosexual about it.

[roadtrip au, as yet unpublished]: for context, this one’s a modern with limited magic au where beau (reporter for the cobalt press) and astrid (executive at cerberus corporation) end up having to work together when a zombie apocalypse strikes. beau definitely sees this very weird road trip as an investigation to uncover what astrid does or does not know about this situation, and astrid sees it as an increasingly catastrophic unraveling of basically her entire life.

(18) pick 1-5 songs which you believe define either [project] or [character (relationship)] and elaborate on why with attached lyric selections. (optionally: link a playlist)

against all my sins: [full playlist here]

p.s. nevermind / the wild reeds // i’m reckless, i did it, and i’ll do it again, never knowing where to draw the line; i’m worn out, jaded, in over my head, just give them what they want this time

narcissus / lizzie no // i’ve been an echo in my own mind but i’m a hero in some stories i could tell; and you’re a liar but so am i, love

happiness will ruin this place / san fermin // honey, can you see the bloodstains on my teeth, i’m not the beast i used to be; silence intervenes, she looks up from her tea, says everything goes extinct.

[roadtrip au]:

the calling / the amazing devil // we’re both unwanted daughters but there’s more than water in these autumn hands, i look into the waters and see a face i don’t recognize

break the sky / the hush sound // before the world dies at my door

the disappearance of the girl / phildel // i don’t know where i stand faced with a cruel world

bloodshot / julien baker // after all that i did, i’d have done it to me, too

paprika / japanese breakfast // i opened the floodgates and found no water, no current, no river, no rush

(20) do you think there's anything about [project] which is predictable from your previous works/interests, or to anyone who knows you well enough? if the work was written by someone else, what would a recommendation designed to personally bait you look like?

for both, the predictability lies in the “oh yeah okay 20000 words about another obscure f/f rarepair, that sounds about right.” as far as recommendations go:

against all my sins: wait i literally have a pitch typed up for the target audience of 3.5 of which i am one: you should read this if you: 1) love archmage astrid beck(e), 2) think astrid should get to kiss at least one woman as a treat but also as a matter of political intrigue, 3) read explorer’s guide to wildemount and thought oh shit, i want to know more about this doppelganger archmage, she seems cool, 4) enjoy wizard politics and interrogating the ideological underpinnings of empire, 5) think counterspelling someone is a valid form of foreplay, 6) liked the first third of the traitor baru cormorant where it was all economic intrigue and homoerotic tension (except i promise this is a lot less mired in the details of fantasy tax code), 7) think unreliable narrators are sexy, 8) all of the above

[roadtrip au]: reluctant road trip buddies is always a weakness of mine, plus: zombie fighting instead of therapy + bathing together (hostile) + enemies to reluctant allies to “are we going to kiss about this.” also, bird metaphors.

#answered #sunsounds #ask game #someday i swear i will post the next chapter for the jennastrid fic. i swear.

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inkinmyheartandonthepage · 1 year

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WIP Wednesday

My first WIP Wednesday! I did post a little snippet on the WIP i’m working on Sunday! You can find that here. Here another little snippet from the same piece The Ripple Effect. I’m at 10K which isn’t something I’ve done for a long time but I’m really enjoying working on such a larger story! Any way, hope you guys enjoy!

Buck could have brought up that he had to move during their 12-hour shift. The calls aren’t taxing – a call out to a park where a teenager is stuck in the baby swing, a young boy stuck in a tree trying to rescue his cat that had gotten stuck first, and a hotel worker who thought hiding from their boss in the industrial washing machine was a good idea.

There were plenty of opportunities to tell them; cooking lunch with Bobby, while battling Hen and Chimney in Mario Kart, doing inventory with Eddie. Except, every time Buck opened his mouth to say something, nothing came out.

Because Eddie was dating Ana, Hen was studying to be a doctor, Chimney had a new baby and as much as Buck wished, Bobby wasn’t his dad. Buck couldn’t help but feel that he was being left behind and he hated the ugly twist his stomach gave at the thought. He tried to quieten the sneer in the back of his mind, practicing the techniques that Doctor Copeland gave him. But it was hard when –

“Hey, you guys want to grab a drink?” Buck asked after their shift had ended and they were civilians once again.

“Sorry, Buckaroo.” Hen’s smile was tired and sympathetic. “I’ve got a ton of study to get through.”

“And I have some very beautiful girls waiting for me at home,” Chimney added with a grin.

“Uh yeah, sure,” Buck nodded, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He turned to Eddie, a hopeful smile on his face.

“Sorry,” Eddie shook his head. “I’m seeing Ana tonight.”

Buck could recite the excuses off by heart now. They were the same ones they had given him the last time he had asked to hang out. And the time before that. And the time before that. Buck had stopped counting the number of times he had been blown off with other plans.

“Sure,” Buck said, shoulder’s slumping. He shut his locker door (and he winced at how loud it sounded in the locker room.) He grabbed his duffel bag, swinging it over shoulder and strode out of the locker room without another word or before he could do something truly embarrassing like getting on his knees and begging for just one night out.

“Buck!”

Buck paused with his hand on the handle of his jeep, turning to see Eddie jogging to catch up to him.

“Why don’t you come around this weekend?” Eddie asked, eyes warm and inviting as he smiled easily at Buck.

Buck’s heart gave a traitorous little flip at the sight, and he could feel himself weakening as he stared at his best friend. He wanted to be mad at Eddie for blowing him off constantly, for only seeing him when he needed Christopher babysat (which was never a hardship and Buck looked forward to his nights with his best friend) before Eddie was rushing out the door to go meet Ana. But he couldn’t because it was Eddie, and he was so in love with the man it was pathetic.

Opening his mouth to agree, the words died on his tongue as Eddie’s phone rang loudly.

“Sorry,” Eddie said, fishing his phone from his pocket. He checked the screen, a little smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “It’s Ana.”

Buck’s little bubble of happiness popped.

“Looks like you’ll be busy, Diaz,” Buck said, opening his door and tossing his duffel into passenger seat. He climbed in after it, settling behind the wheel. He grabbed the door handle, glancing at Eddie. He swallowed as he saw the confused pull of Eddie’s brows and the slight hurt in his eyes. “Maybe next time.”

Buck yanked his door closed, satisfied with the slam it made. He turned the engine on and carefully peeled out of the station car park, leaving Eddie standing there, watching Buck’s jeep leave.

Buck wondered if there would ever be a next time.

#9-1-1 fanfiction #9-1-1 #9-1-1 fandom #evan buckley #Buck #buddie 911 #buddie #Eddie Diaz #ao3 writer #AO3 fanfic #writing wip

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wheretheharekissesthefox · 1 year

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Baby, the stars shine bright: Chapter 2 - Meeting Cazador

(Trigger warnings (18+): angst, canon-typical violence, graphic description of assault, gore & violence, grooming, non-con/rape, psychological horror/terror, torture)

"Ugh, why me?!"

Annoyed, Astarion squinted at the Szarr Palace. His superior demanded that he take care of Cazador Szarr.

The Szarr family was one of the richest and most influential in Baldur's Gate. With their tax money and donations, much could be achieved in the city.

Astarion wrinkled his nose, let out a groan, and fussed with his hair before he knocked. A maid opened the door for him and led him inside.

What a tasteless decor, Astarion thought as he strode down the hall.

The maid entered the office, curtsying.

"Master, the magistrate's here."

"Fine. Go," spoke Cazador annoyed, waving her away impatiently.

Astarion bowed politely.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister Szarr. I'm Astarion Ancunin, and I'm here on behalf of the magistrate circle."

"Hm..." the addressed hummed, stroking his chin. His piercing eyes bored into Astarion (were they red?) and the corner of his mouth twitched up into a smug grin. Astarion shivered and his hackles rose. Something about the other man's presence was unnerving, but he ignored the feeling in favour of his job. The faster he was done, the faster he could leave this eery place.

"Well, then..." With a self-assured smile, Astarion sat down on the chair in front of Cazador's desk. "How can I assist you today, Mister Szarr? I'm all ears."

The high elf opposite him, chuckled darkly.

"Now, my dear Astarion, do you always get to the point so quickly? Is there no time for foreplay? For pleasure?"

"I always strictly separate work and private life."

"What a pity. - Well then, let's talk business. It's about the tax increase. A person as meaningful as me should be relieved of that, don't you think?"

"Excuse me?" Astarion blinked at him, offended.

"You heard me correctly," Cazador purred dangerously. "I demand that the magistrate releases me from the tax increase and in return I will pay for the Open Hand Temple's new roof. Well, what do you think? Do we have a deal?"

Astarion opened his mouth to object, but closed it wordlessly. The magistrate circle would be furious if he'd piss off one of the most influential Baldurian families and they'd lose money because of it. Thus, he gritted his teeth, forced a smile onto his face, and replied: "Of course, that can be arranged, Mister Szarr. I'll discuss it with the magistrate and let you know their answer as soon as possible."

"Good, good," Cazador smiled. "Then I hope to see you soon, my dear Astarion."

The addressed forced another smile and stood up. He turned around to leave the room, but suddenly, Cazador stood beside him and held him back (how had he been able to move so quickly?). The nobleman's hand was cool as it closed around Astarion's wrist.

"You are a real feast for the eyes," he purred. "The gods have truly blessed you."

"Thanks, that's kind of you," Astarion gritted out.

His fight and flight instinct had kicked in as Cazador towered over him. He felt threatened, backed into a corner like the prey of a hunter. Cazador leaned closer, taking in an audible deep breath right next to Astarion's ear, and rumbled: "You will accompany me to dinner tonight. There's nothing more stimulating than pretty company. I'll make it worthwhile."

Astarion jumped backwards, wrenching himself from Cazador's grasp.

"I prefer being punched in the face by a Gur than going on a date with you, Mister Szarr," Astarion replied, sharply. He was proud that his voice was steady and more confident than he felt.

As quickly as possible, Astarion rushed out of the palace, hoping never to return.

#baldur's gate 3 #fanfic #astarion #cazador szarr #mind the trigger warning #bg3 #astarion ancunin #cazador

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jase-is-ace · 2 years

Text

Back into the Pit

Chapter 26: Shipahoy Dudley

Twist made it back to the miracle station without any further delay, thankfully. Carmen was pacing around, biting the tip of her finger, a nervous habit.

As soon as she noticed her demon companion, she rushed to her and jumped into her arms.

The two embraced, Carmen immediately started to scold Twist for dealing with the Ink Demon all by herself. Twist shrank in and took the lecture.

Once all was said and done, the two realized they were both near the city.

The same city where Bendy abandoned twist and Audrey. Twist took Carmen by the hand and the duo entered the city.

Twist disliked being near the signal towers, for fear that she would be turned into a useless toon again.

To her surprise, she spotted Audrey carrying a small wooden crate. Twist bolted over to her, rather menacingly; Carmen followed close behind.

Audrey, being rightfully terrified, pulled out her gent pipe ready to swing. When she realized it was Twist, she sighed and tried to calm down her fast-beating heart.

“Twisty! You scared the living daylights outta me! Don’t do that!” she said exhaustedly.

Twist grinned from ear to ear, finding amusement in Audrey struggling to regain her composure. Carmen lightly hit Twist and wagged her finger at her in a scolding manner to which Twist shrugged.

“Um, hello. My name is Carmen. I’m a friend of Twist,” Carmen spoke with a soft tone and held her hand out in a friendly fashion.

“You must be Audrey.” She said offering the nicest smile she could muster.

Audrey stared at her hand for a moment before smiling and taking it.

“Yes, that’s me. Nice to meet you too I suppose.” Audrey shook her hand firmly but not aggressively.

Soon after greetings and much needed context was provided. The three girls made their way back to the nice housekeeper, Betty. Audrey was running an errand for her apparently.

“Well now that you’re here Twist, I should have no problems getting back!” Audrey laughed, very much relieved that she wouldn’t have to sneak around for once.

It would have been very taxing, carrying the crate.

Twist simply smiled and nodded.

The three boarded the train, after Carmen basically dragged Twist onto it. Twist hated trains. And elevators. And cars. Basically, anything that required sitting or normal human proportions.

The demoness couldn’t hide the distaste she felt while walking into Wilson’s oh so wonderful abode.

She refused to go any further, her head was splitting from the signal towers, even though they were off.

Audrey allowed Carmen to stay beside her, the angel was very worried about the Demoness’ growing aggravation. Betty was waiting by the door, and if Audrey could see her real face she would have seen a very shocked and terrified expression.

The animator was quick to explain to Betty that Twist meant no harm to her or Wilson.

Which was a damn bad lie. Twist was ready to pop the old crusty janitor’s head clean off. Betty reluctantly took the ingredients from Audrey and awkwardly excused herself.

Not before letting Audrey know that Wilson was waiting for her.

Audrey bid her friends a brief farewell before going into the inn.

Carmen waved, then turned her attention to her Demoness.

She was really on edge.

Audrey descended a flight of stairs, deeper into Wilson’s den. She spotted a spilled canister that had colorful ink leaking out.

The young woman was very surprised by this. At this point she was so used to the ugly beige that covered this realm. Color seemed almost foreign and out of place.

As she went farther, she saw more color.

Until she approached a set of doors and a glass window. She went closer and spotted Wilson inside. He seemed to realize her presence and spoke dryly.

“Audrey! You made it. Good! Come inside my dear! We have much to discuss.”

The door opened allowing Audrey to enter Wilson’s lab.

There were papers and test tubes strewn about. A blueprint of the ink machine laid on Wilson’s desk.

“Thank you for coming all this way. The Ink Demon is a formidable foe. To trully destroy such a monster, he must ne dethroned. Humiliated.” Wilson wasted no time in getting straight to business. Audrey could appreciate that.

“For months now, I’ve been working on something that will do just that.” The janitor led Audrey deeper into his laboratory.

“To cast the Demon, and put a new deity in his place. Stronger, more powerful. And controllable.” The two approached a large metal cylinder of sorts.

Audrey couldn’t help the unnerving fear from returning to her core. Something felt a bit off, but she needed to hear him out. He might be the only hope they have.

“Together, we just need to unleash our ultimate weapon. Come! Let me show you my creation.”

Wilson then presented the metal cylinder, which as if on cue, turned to reveal a small painting.

A small figure, dressed as a sailor, accompanied by a little crab.

“Isn’t he beautiful? Simple yet elegant. A treasure. Powerful beyond anyone. The Ink Demon will fall along with his pesky counterpart and we can finally have peace.”

Audrey doubted he would believe her if she told him that Twist was willing to give this a shot. She was struggling to believe it herself. It was just a drawing after all. Unless he was going to bring it to life via the ink machine. Guess that makes sense. Kind of.

“I suppose it could work. But it sounds risky. How will we control him? We don’t want to repeat Joey’s mistake.” Audrey reasoned.

“No. We don’t. All of the factors must be perfect. The right design, the right science…” as Wilson spoke the cylinder began to turn again, this time, revealing an empty compartment. Just big enough to fit a person or two.

“And…the right soul.” As soon as Wilson finished, sharp circular saw emerged. Audrey took a step back in realization.

“No.” she spoke slowly.

“At last your purpose is revealed, Audrey. This is why you are here!” Wilson stood in front of her approaching her with ill intent.

“With your soul inside him, my creation will live forever!” Wilson spoke with determination. A type of determination Audrey could not reciprocate.

“Stay away from me! You’re insane!” Audrey warned, clutching her gent pipe tightly.

“Come now, Audrey! Part of you knew this was your path. Leave yourself behind…and ascend!” Wilson continued with his ramblings. Audrey wasn’t having any of it. The man was crazy!

“I thought you said we needed to save your father! I thought you said you had a plan to send me home! To make everything right!” she screamed. Her frustration was breaking through. She was sick of this. She wanted out.

No more demons and insane angels. Just her warm bed and a good nights sleep.

Wilson simply grinned and uttered, “I lied.”

Obviously. All he does is lie.

He then explained how his father was Nathan Arch. How he always lived in his shadow. Audrey could care less about his sob story. It gave him no right to drag her into this.

In her anger, she reached to banish him. He caught her hand with some newfound ease.

“NO need to struggle. My signal prevents you from using those devilish powers of yours…”

Audrey swung her pipe, he caught that as well, now she was out of arms.

Cool.

“But more importantly…It keeps the Ink Demon from getting in.” Wilson grinned manically.

He proceeded to drag the poor lady towards her doom. She struggled and managed to free her right hand.

“NO! Not this time!” she grit her teeth and swung with all her might.

Wilson gripped his head in pain. Audrey immediately took advantage of his vulnerable state and shoved him into the blade filled cylinder.

His cries rang out and filled the laboratory. Audrey shielded her eyes from the gruesome sight. When she looked back, the cylinder was closed, and the remains of the old janitor laid about the floor.

Disgusting.

She would have felt guilty if it was anyone else. But he brought her nothing but false hope and suffering.

“Huh, guess the Ink Demon was right about him.” She thought aloud.

A sign lit up next to the cylinder.

SUBJECT ACCEPTED.

Great.

At least it wasn’t her.

The door leading further opened. She pressed onward. Time to end this. After walking through yet another long twisting corridor, Audrey made her way into a very large room.

There, in front of her hung the ink machine. This was the first time she has seen it since she was in the real world.

Her thoughts were cut off harshly by the Ink Demon’s voice invading her headspace once again.

“You were birthed from the darkest shadows. Audrey, it is time to ask the question…”

As he spoke, a lever came into view. Audrey instinctively pulled it. The screech of the signal towers bursting to life cut the Ink Demon off mid-sentence.

Audrey cringed when she remembered Twist was nearby and silently apologized.

Her hand began to burn, she clutched it while gritting her teeth. Her powers were blocked.

She really should not have pulled that lever. Stupid move on her part.

A huge anchor suddenly burst forth from the ink well in front of her. She just narrowly dodged it, landing on her bottom side in the process.

A huge monster lept from the well, an abomination. The little sailor known as Shipahoy Dudley was now a twisted image of what he was supposed to be.

No better than the Ink Demon.

Audrey sprung to her feet and took immediate action. She got to work on shutting off the signal towers. Luckily, there was a broken wall with a power circuit, much like when she fought the spider monster.

She fought off some lost ones that emerged from the ink, now adorned with colored ink. Once she shut off the last signal tower, she watched as Shipahoy was electrocuted by the same signal that capped off Twist, Bendy’s, and her own abilities.

The monster regained itself and started to pursue Audrey. Since Audrey was smaller and nimbler, she had no trouble dodging his attacks. The animator got a few hits of her own while she was at it.

She was able to use her abilities again and dashed every chance she got. The twisted Shipahoy almost crushed Audrey after cornering her.

Audrey held up her pipe and was about to dash under him, a small chance of getting away, but a chance none the less.

A rumbling was heard and Shipahoy was momentarily distracted. Twist burst through a puddle, roaring and very pissed.

The Demoness needed no explanation on what happened. She saw Wilson’s mangled corpse. Twist growled and leaped onto the amalgamations face, scratching the smaller eye out. The demoness lept away just in time to dodge the oncoming attack.

Twist landed in front of Audrey, turning for a second to acknowledge the artist. Audrey smiled, relieved to have some backup.

“Do you think you can distract it long enough for me to banish Wilson’s soul?” Audrey asked, pointing to the bulging head of the janitor. Twist felt a little upset that she wouldn’t get to tear the life out of Wilson but nodded.

The two split up, running to the opposite side of the room. Shipahoy took priority in ending the Demoness it seemed. He chased the Demoness, who taunted him all the while. This beast was no match for the Ink Demon, let alone her.

She got in a good few tears. Ripping at its inky flesh, it was pure bliss to hear it cry out. Twist was quite the vengeful little devil.

She lept on its back, it reached back to grab her. As it did, it left a good opening for Audrey. The animator took full advantage and beat the life out of the janitor’s head.

It was unrecognizable by the end of the abuse. Audrey grabbed Wilson’s skull with both hands, mustering all her strength to banish him away.

The janitor screamed in agony as he faded from existence, leaving the monster soulless.

Shipahoy managed to grab Twist and toss her across the room. The demoness let out a painful grunt as she hit the wall and plummeted to the floor.

“Twisty!” Audrey shouted.

Shipahoy grabbed the young woman and stared her down with malice. To her absolute horror, she heard a horrible crunch before she too was thrown to the floor.

Audrey looked on in dread as her legs were now gone. A sharp pain shooting up her thighs. Shipahoy prepared to strike her down, she shielded her face.

Twist lept from behind her and shoved the beast back. It stumbled just long enough for Twist to run up and tear one of its large crab-like legs clean off.

The beast had little to no time to even comprehend what had happened when the Ink Demon joined the fight. Shoving the beast down to the floor and tearing out it’s throat with his bare teeth.

A horrible squelch was heard throughout the room. Twist and Audrey were both left in shock as the Ink Demon dragged the corpse into the ink well.

He soon emerged once more, Twist stood in front Audrey, protectively.

“Do not get in the way, Logan. Audrey’s destiny is not intertwined with yours.” The Ink Demon warned.

Twist let out a snarl before charging forward. The Ink Demon roared, matching the violent energy, lunging to meet her oncoming attack head on.

The demons collided.

Chapter 25 / Chapter 27

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sleepysheepy6 · 1 year

Text

Pelham Astor Chapter 1 [Part 1]

Region: Dunelands

Starter Town Name: Dunewell

This company my Father created has existed before I was born…

He said he made it to provide people with what they need.

He said I would inherit it one day.

So could continue providing for the people.

The Chapter first starts up as Pelham is looking over Dunewell from a higher up place.

Pelham: “As always this town thrives.”

Pelham: “My family does it’s best to help the towns.”

Pelham: “As it’s next heir I will not let them down!”

???: “There you are, Pelham.”

Pelham looks to where the voice is coming from to see her Brother Edgar.

Pelham: “Edgar! You don’t usually come up here.”

Edgar: “Father requires you. He’s back at the mansion.”

Edgar: “Apparently there is a problem he needs you to fix.”

Pelham: “Oh what kind of problem?”

Edgar: “No idea. He wouldn’t say.”

Pelham raises her arm up towards the sky cheerfully.

Pelham: “Well don’t worry Edgar I’ll solve this problem quickly!”

Pelham: “Oh and thank you Edgar!”

Pelham rushes past Edgar and heads off.

Edgar:”...”

Edgar: “Tch.”

Edgar: “Always you…Always…”

Pelham then heads off towards the mansion.

But before that she notices a child trying to sell some cloth.

So as a Merchant she takes interest in the cloth. And buys it from the child using her Day Action Purchase.

After buying the piece of cloth she continues her way to the mansion to greet her Father.

Pelham: “Father! Edgar said you needed me for something.”

Edwin: “Ah. Pelham my sweet girl you’re finally here.”

Edwin: “And yes. We do have a problem. It’s very unfortunate…”

Pelham: “Well what could it be?”

Edwin: “As you know our company provides so much for the Towns it resides in.”

Edwin: “But sometimes. Selfish people are unfortunately living within these Towns.”

Edwin: “And they decide to not pay us back.”

Pelham: “Huh? Why?

Edwin: “As I said they’re selfish.”

Edwin: “They think they can just live life here without paying back what they owe us.”

Edwin: “Don’t you think those people should be taught to not take from us?”

Edwin: “After all we’ve done so much for them. And this behavior is unacceptable.”

Edwin: “As the future heir of the company.You must make an example of them.”

Edwin: “To make sure they never do this again.”

Pelham: “Hmm I see.”

Pelham: “Alright Father! I’ll get to it right away!”

Edwin: “As expected of my Daughter.”

Edwin: “They’re located far west of Dunewell. Show them the fairness of our company.”

Pelham: “Of course Father.”

Pelham then heads off far west of Dunewell.

Pelham: “This is the place.”

Pelham: “Hmm. Well I’ll knock first, maybe we can just talk this out.”

*Knock* *Knock*

Pelham: “Hellloo! I’m here to collect the payment you owe Astor Company!”

There was no response.

Pelham: “Ahem! Hellllooo! Do not hear me!? Or…Wait, are they even home?”

Pelham stepped away from the door and thought for a moment.

Pelham: “Could they have run off?”

Harsh footsteps head towards her as she grabs for her spear blocking what was going to hit her.

???:Hmhp.

Pelham: “HEY WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM YOU TRIED TO STAB ME!?”

???: “My problem… MY PROBLEM!? MY PROBLEM IS YOU AND THAT ASTOR COMPANY!

Pelham: “Me and Astor Company? What do you have against them? I mean we provide many Towns with products to help them.”

???: “Trying to pretend you’re doing the right thing? I won’t let you take the leaves my Family needs.”

Then a fight happens between the man and Pelham.

After the fight.

???: “N-No…”

Pelham: “There! Now tell me what’s your problem with me and Astor Company?”

???: “I told you. It’s all your fault and that stupid company.

???: “All that overpricing. The large amounts of taxes… And those faulty products…”

???: “Do you really think that’s ok?”

Pelham: “Faulty products…? Overpricing…? Large amounts of taxes…? I thought they were all correct.”

???: “A-Are you serious!?”

Pelham: “Um…Yes.”

Pelham: “When I sold them I just went along with what Father told me. He said that these prices were all fair and that’s just what the products look like.”

???: “Have you ever sold anything without your Father telling you the price for it? Or what you were selling.”

Pelham: “No I just went along with what my Father said.”

???: “...”

???: “Tch.”

???: “What kind of Merchant even are you?”

Pelham: “Um what?”

???: “I asked what kind of Merchant even are you!?”

???: “You just went along with everything and didn’t even question it!?”

???: “A real Merchant wouldn’t be doing this!”

Pelham: “I…”

???: “How is this even happening…”

Pelham: “...I’m sorry…I didn’t know…”

???: “Think an apology will fix this?”

Pelham: “No. But I want to help.”

Pelham: “(But what should I do? I don’t think Father will be easily convinced.)”

Pelham: (But…That doesn’t matter, I will confront him right now.”

???: “...Fine.”

Pelham: “Huh?”

???: “If you’re really willing to help then I’ll help you.”

Pelham: “Thank you. We’ll go talk to my Father. Even if he isn’t convinced I’ll make him listen to us!”

???: “I guess that could be a start.”

Pelham: “Say I didn’t catch your name.”

???: “Call me Dusty.”

And Dusty joined the Party. He uses a Dagger as a weapon

Then Pelham and Dusty head back to the mansion. But after they left Edgar walked out from where he was hiding.

Edgar: “Oh how interesting Pelham. Hehe.”

At the mansion Pelham opened the doors.

Pelham: “Father is most likely at his desk working.”

Dusty: “You certainly live in a big place.”

Pelham: “Yeah but I do spend most of my time outside with sales.”

Dusty: “I see.”

Pelham: “But let’s waste no time.”

They head over to Edwin’s room.

Pelham: “Father. Hello?”

No answer.

Pelham looks around to see the room is empty.

Pelham: “He’s not here.”

Pelham sighs.

Pelham: “Well that just ruins things.”

Dusty: “He has to be somewhere right?”

???: “Miss Pelham.”

Pelham and Dusty turn to see one of the workers.

Worker: “What are you doing in Mr Astor’s room?”

Pelham: “Oh we were searching for him. Any ideas where he is?”

Worker: “I do but…”

Worker held out his hand.

Worker: “It’s fair you owe me something for this information right Miss Pelham?”

Pelham: “...I guess…”

Dusty: “Greedy worker.”

Worker: “Well?”

[End of Part 1 here next part will be posted a bit after.]

#octopath traveler #octopath traveler 2 #octopath traveler ii #octopath #octopath traveler oc #octopath 2 #octopath oc #long post

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cafemilk-tea · 2 years

Text

First Time

❒ pairing - evelyn x mingyu

❒ word count - 3.2K

❒ synopsis - evelyn and mingyu’s first time

❒ time - May 2022

❒ ⚠️ warnings - 🔞 smut 🔞 read at your own risk!

(a/n : This post contains mature themes. This is also my first time writing smut so please bare with me )

“Today was such a long day.” Mingyu whined, falling back onto his bed pulling Evelyn down on top of him, “I’m so exhausted.”

“You say that every day.” Evelyn giggled, burying her face into the crook of his neck leaving behind little kisses. With being so busy the last couple of days with the comeback, it was becoming increasingly hard to spend moments like this with each other without wanting to fall asleep right away.

“They weren’t kidding when they said this was our busiest year yet and we’re not even halfway done.”

Evelyn snorted, picking her head up and leaning to press her lips to his cheek. All of the hard work they were putting in towards this comeback, while it was taxing, it was so worth it in the end. He smirked, turning his head just as she was about to plant another kiss to his cheek, and kissed her on the lips instead.

She pulled away after kissing his lips again, staring down at him taking in every single one of his features. He brushed the few strands of hair that had fallen in front of her face behind her ears.

“What's got you thinking?” Mingyu brushed his thumb across her cheek.

She bit her lip, sitting up from his hold. Nari’s words from the day before flooded her mind. Having sex with someone you love is a normal thing for couples to experience.

“Um…I wanna talk to you about something.” She mumbled, picking at her fingers as her cheeks blushed, “I don’t want to wait any longer.”

“Hmm?” Mingyu sat up beside her, grabbing her hand to squeeze.

“Remember a few days ago, we were talking about when our first would be and you told me whenever I was ready?”

He wrapped an arm around her, kissing the side of her head, “I’d wait an eternity.”

She held his hand tighter, cutting the awkward silence, “I-I think I’m ready.”

“Evie-“ He leaned away to fully look at her, “Are you sure? I don’t wanna rush you”

“You’re not I-…Nari always talks about how good it feels and I want to experience what it’s like.”

“As long as you’re ready,” he leaned his forehead against hers, pecking the tip of her nose, “I can't wait to show you how beautiful you are.”

Getting up from the bed, Evelyn let go of his hand and reached for her bag packed with her clothes for the night, “I’m just gonna go shower real quick.”

Her mind was racing as she scrubbed her body clean from the day’s sweat and grime. It was the first time she has ever been this intimate with someone, especially with a person that she loves more than anything. Ever since getting together with Mingyu, she had thought about this exact moment a million times. The thought made her excited and scared all at once, all sprinkled with nervousness.

With what felt like forever, she stepped out of the shower, eyeing the lingerie. Her stomach had never felt so full of butterflies as she dried herself off quickly, slipping on the garments carefully.

She entered the room, taking in the dim lighting and soft music playing in the background. His back was turned away from the door as he was fixing up the bed. She smiled to herself as she stepped closer into the room, and even though the bed would be a mess afterwards, it was the thought that counts.

“I just turned on my playlist if that’s alright-“ He turned the corner of the bed and his breath hitched. She could feel her heart beating faster watching as his eyes made a quick swipe down her body before meeting her eyes again. This was the least amount of clothing she’s ever worn in front of him and would hate it if this is what turned him off.

“If it’s too much, I can go put something else on.”

“No- I-,” He breathed out, backing up until his legs hit the edge of the bed, “You’re so beautiful.”

Evelyn looked down at her feet, suddenly feeling shy with being so exposed to him. He reached his hand out, grabbing her hand bringing her in gently to stand between his legs, rubbing across her knuckles with his thumb trying to ease away her nervousness.

He leaned upwards, grabbing her chin gently and pulled her in deeply for a kiss, swiping his tongue across her bottom lip asking for permission to enter. She placed her hands on his forearms, needing a place to ground herself as they continued to kiss passionately.

Evelyn breathed in heavily, wanting to take a little charge, breaking away from the kiss to straddle his lap. His hands rested gently on her waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck going back in for another heated kiss, slowly pushing herself down on him. He started to trail his kisses down along her neck towards the valley of her chest.

Evelyn’s body began to heat up, watching as his hands worked their way up from her hips to her breasts. He made slow movements across each mound, thumbing over each nub gently, mumbling to himself on how she was so pretty. She let out a quick gasp, arching into his touch, gripping onto his shoulders tightly. It was such a simple gesture, but no other guy has made her feel this way in a long time.

Mingyu twisted his body around, gently laying her down against the bed, removing his shirt and crawling back on top of her.

“Are you okay?” He pecked her on the lips, brushing the hair that was sticking to her forehead away from her eyes. She panted out a nod, chest rising and falling rapidly.

Holding himself up by his forearms, Mingyu lowered himself down to kiss and suck at her neck and collarbone, biting softly at the skin. She closed her eyes, falling deeper into the sensation as he worked his way around her upper body. She was caught off guard, gasping out as he made his way back down her chest to suck at one of her nipples through the thin fabric, pinching the other at the same time. Evelyn couldn’t help the moan that escaped, clamping a hand over her mouth.

“I’m sorry,” She gasped out, biting her lip to try and control herself.

“Don’t apologize,” He leaned to kiss her cheek and then her lips, “Make all the noise you want.”

He kissed her lips again and returned back down to her chest, this time switching nipples. He switched between sucking and biting softly, rolling the other between his thumb and index finger. Evelyn squeaked out another moan, nails digging into her palm as electricity radiated through her body.

“Do you wanna continue?” He pulled back, lifting his head searching for any sign of discomfort from her.

“Please,” Evelyn nodded, closing her eyes briefly to catch her breath, “It feels good.”

He smiled at her, sliding further down the bed to readjust his body. He lifted up the tulle fabric, bunching it up underneath her chest to expose her bare stomach. He leaned down and began to trail kisses around her stomach, lingering the lower he got.

“Let me know if you need me to stop.”

Evelyn nodded as his fingers danced around the waistband of her panties, trailing across the lace fabric detailing at a painfully slow pace. She covered her mouth with the back of her hand as he dipped his hand lower over the spot she desired his touch the most. He pressed harder on the outside with two fingers, rotating them in tiny circles to get her going. Fire ignited in her stomach, the thong being in the way felt like complete and utter torture. Evelyn couldn’t help the whines escaping her mouth, Mingyu coming up to nibble at her jaw as he worked her.

“Please,” She squirmed, grabbing at the comforter for support, “More.”

He shimmied his way back into the space he was previously occupying, sliding her panties down and off her legs, tossing them away from the bed. His fingers found their way back to her core, circling her faster than before. Evelyn bit her lip, tilting her head back taking in the intense pleasure. Of course she’s done this to herself before, but nothing could ever compare to this moment in time with his fingers.

“It’s gonna feel a little strange, okay?” Mingyu stopped his movements briefly, “If you need me to stop, please tell me.”

Evelyn nodded, furrowing her eyebrows together as he slid his index finger into her entrance. She choked out a gasp, grabbing at the comforter for what felt like the millionth time that night. She’s done this to herself a handful of times as well, but the stretch was something else with wider fingers. After giving her a few moments to adjust, he added in his middle finger, moving them in a slow pace rhythm. His thumb found its way to her nub, rubbing in pace with his fingers.

“Doing okay?” Mingyu leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers.

“Yeah,” She whimpered against his lips.

“You’re so beautiful Evie.” His lips lingered against hers, his fingers continuing to work her open, “I wish you could see how you look right now.”

Just when she thought she couldn’t get enough pleasure, her body jolted forward, making her toes curl when a new sensation was added alongside his fingers. He licked right between her folds, focusing directly on her nub with his tongue. It was the first time that she had ever received oral from someone, never actually making it past a few touches here and there. A high pitch moan left her body as the feeling was to the point of being too much.

“Gyu-,” Evelyn whined, reaching her shaking hand down to tug at his hair, whining as the pleasure was becoming so overwhelming.

She felt like she was losing her mind as an odd feeling began to build up inside. She couldn’t help but grip his hair tighter, digging the nails on her other hand into her thigh. Mingyu glanced up from his position between her legs, watching as Evelyn was closer to reaching the edge. He drove his fingers in and out faster than ever, curling and uncurling as he went.

Evelyn’s ears rang as every part of her body tensed up, toes curling and back arching as the pleasure overcame her, her walls tightening around his fingers. Sweat was running down the side of her face as she panted out, chest rapidly rising and falling with each breath she took.

“Breathe Evie,” Mingyu crawled up the bed, kissing her temple, “It’s okay.”

“It felt so good.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded, tired eyes staring up at the ceiling trying her best to control her breathing. Her body felt completely like jello as her post orgasm continued to course through her body. She blindly reached for his hand, squeezing it once she found it.

“How are you feeling?” He squeezed back, running his thumb across the back of her hand.

“I feel good,” She breathed out, looking at him, “Really good.”

The two sat in silence for a moment, just enjoying each other’s company. He smiled at how she was already radiating with such a pretty glow to her body. She couldn’t stop her mind racing at how much she wanted to be with him even more, and judging by his face, she knew he felt the same way.

“I-I’m ready again.”

He kissed the back of her hand, “Are you sure? We can stop and take a break.”

“I’m sure, I want you so much.”

“It’s gonna be a lot, and I won’t lie and tell you that it won’t hurt,” He kissed her hand again, “But I’ll try and make it hurt the least amount that I can. I promise.”

“You love me too much to hurt me.” She giggled, letting go of his hand so he could stand up from the bed. He smiled at her, making his way to his bedside drawer pulling out a condom packet and a little bottle of lube, ridding himself of his sweatpants and boxers. With one last look at him, Evelyn turned her attention back to the ceiling, knowing that this was going to be the hardest part of this whole experience, her nerves already eating away at her on the inside.

Mingyu tore open the packet, rolling the condom down his length, squeezing out a decent amount of lube into his hand. He gave himself a few pumps, spreading the lube as evenly as possible. Evelyn reached out for his hand again, pulling him onto the bed and as close as possible. Her bottom lip trembled as he climbed on top of her, squeezing her eyes shut. She could swear her heart was beating outside of her chest, loud enough for the whole world to hear.

“Baby, we don’t have to do this if you’re not ready-“

“I am! I promise. I’m just…scared,” She mumbled, hand finding its way to his shoulder and squeezing tightly.

“It’s okay to feel scared,” Mingyu rubbed his thumb across her cheek, catching the single tear making its way down her face. He connected their lips together, trying to find a way to calm her down and ease her body’s tension. She cracked her eyes open, staring back into his eyes that were filled with so much love and admiration, “But I’m right here, always right here.”

She nodded, chest falling much slower as he kissed her forehead, lips lingering before pulling away completely. He rested his forehead against hers, breathing in the same air until he felt her body visibly relax.

“I’m gonna start, okay?” He grabbed himself in his hand and aligned outside of her entrance, hiking her leg up for a smoother access, “Please tell me to stop if it hurts too much.”

As he pushed in slowly, Evelyn tilted her head back, clamping her eyes shut as a sharp moan ripped its way out of her. She felt like she was being split in half, the sharp burn paired with the intense stretch was to the point it was almost unbearable. Even though his fingers were on the bigger side, this stretch couldn’t even come close to the stretch from just his fingers. She dug her nails into his bare shoulders, gasping as he continued to inch his way through.

He bit his lip hard, groaning as he sank into her deeper, eyes scanning her face for any sign that she wanted to stop. Her walls squeezed around his shaft like a vice grip causing him to clench his jaw tight. He pushed the last little bit in, finally sinking the full way inside, dropping his head down onto her shoulder letting go of her leg.

“F-Feels so good,” Evelyn whined, scratching her nails down his back, leaving red trails behind.

Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes as he brought himself out and back in again, creating a slow rhythm to start off with. The pain that was almost unbearable slowly started to fade as he continued with his pace, breathing deeply against her shoulder. The feeling of being here in the moment, wrapped in his arms as they shared this moment together, felt so surreal to her.

He pulled his head away from her shoulder, strands of hair sticking to his forehead, connecting their lips together. The speed of his hips picked up pace, hitting a certain spot inside of her over and over again, Evelyn couldn’t help but cry out in pleasure.

“Gyu- I-,” Her body shook as he thrust into her continuously. The heat was building up inside again rather quickly, knowing full well that she was about to come undone again.

She arched her back off of the bed, the familiar feeling from earlier overtaking her as her body shook from the overwhelming pleasure of another orgasm. She was seeing stars as his movements became sloppy, pistoning his hips quickly chasing his own release. The sound of skin slapping together drowned out the music playing in the background. He laced his fingers with hers, pressing her hands beside her head, moving to connect his lips to her neck, sucking and biting at the sweaty skin.

He rocked into her a few more times, slowing his movements as he spilled into the condom with one last thrust, groaning into her neck. He gently lowered the rest of his body on top of her, trying to slow his rapid breathing.

“I love you,” She whispered, turning her head to the side, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck.

“I love you. So much,” He littered her neck with tiny kisses, nipping gently at her jaw.

He picked himself up on his hands, bending to kiss at her lips, pulling out of her slowly before getting off the bed.

“I’ll be right back,” He rubbed at her ankle, disposing of the condom in his trash can, heading for the bathroom.

She watched him leave the room, scooting further up on the pillows, bringing her legs to her chest. She focused her vision up at the ceiling, eyes becoming glassy, the tears falling in competition with each other. All of the emotions were hitting her all at once; happiness, relief, satisfaction, but most importantly, love.

“Evie, what’s wrong? Did I hurt you?” Mingyu crawled across the bed, eyebrows scrunched together as he wiped away the tears.

“No, I’m okay,” She laughed wetly, grabbing his wrist lightly, “I just love you so much.”

“I love you more than anything,” He brushed away the hair that was glued to her forehead. She glanced down and noticed that he returned back in his boxers, holding a damp washcloth.

“Did you even check if Wonwoo was here before you left earlier,” She chuckled, laying her head against the headboard.

“I think he went with Vernon to see a movie after practice,” He scratched the back of his neck with his free hand, “And besides, it’s a little too late to be thinking about if he was here or not.”

Evelyn slapped her hand over her mouth, throwing her head back to laugh. It didn’t even cross her mind to make sure they were at the dorm by themselves, but what’s done is done.

“I brought this to clean you up, if it’s okay?” He motioned towards the washcloth in his hand. She brought her hand down away from her face with a nod, exhaling when the cold rag wiped gently at her skin.

“It’s cold,” She giggled, goose bumps appearing across her skin.

“It was warm when I brought it out, I swear!”

He tossed the washcloth into the hamper, pulling the comforter back so they could slide underneath. Evelyn grabbed the bottom of her lingerie top, pulling it over her head and throwing it off the end of the bed, now being completely naked. She had never been this exposed to anyone before, but being with Mingyu made her feel so loved and comfortable showing all parts of herself.

“You’re so beautiful,”

Mingyu threw his arm around her, pulling her closer to his body to keep her warm. She rested her head against his chest, throwing a leg over his waist getting comfortable under the blanket. He rubbed his thumb against her waist, leaving gentle kisses on her forehead.

“Thank you for tonight,” Evelyn kissed his chest, resting her chin to look up at him, “I loved it so much.”

“Thank you Evie, I’m so proud to call you mine.”

[Taglist : @justmochi @cosmicwintr ]

#deluxeocnet #aes!ocnet #aesocnet #seventeen oc #idol!oc #14th member of seventeen #kpop addition #kpop oc #oc!idol #seventeen 14th member #fake kpop addition #fake kpop idol #cafemilk-tea: evelyn #svt.meve

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getosubaru · 3 years

Text

come home

pairing: nanami/gn!reader

warnings: angst, arguing, thoughts of death, shibuya; small text only for summary; not proofread

summary: a fight with nanami brings old fears back to the surface

wc: 765

You knew he could be mean. The blunt edges of his personality were not foreign to you, not when they were the reason you struggled to get close to him in the beginning. Cold, unfeeling, formal. It wasn't some deeply held secret he kept from you.

Still, sometimes his cruelty stole your breath like a blade to the chest.

"Then I just won't come back!"

You didn't even hear the door slam as he left. He meant not returning to your apartment, of course. The mere idea of not seeing him at night brought up the old fears: a call from Itadori at 3 in the morning, Gojo pounding on the door, or worse–no one noticing until you woke alone.

Panic it up your nerves, forcing you off the couch and reaching for your phone. No texts. Not out of the ordinary when one of you was on a mission, but it stings all the same. Kento didn't say where he was going, so your only option is Gojo. Once you establish that dismemberment isn't off the table, he tells you easily enough.

It's not far. Some dilapidated factory that once specialized in textiles. The afternoon rush hour clogs the train carriages and sidewalks. You barely keep yourself from pushing through the crowds and sprinting until you're free of them. All these people going about their daily lives like a small handful of humanity's "blessed" didn't risk life, limb, and worse to keep them safe. Content to let their emotions spiral into monsters for others to clean up. It's a wonder only Geto is the only one who left. Kento finds you before you find the warehouse. Aside from his loosened tie, he looks like he's done nothing more taxing than paperwork. He startles when you come into view, panting from bolting through the industrial complex.

"What–"

You crash into him before he can finish, simultaneously clutching him close and smacking his chest. "You're such a fucking asshole."

"Love–"

"No!" He's made of actual brick, considering how your fist throbs after you land a punch to his chest. "Don't act like you weren't completely out of line, Nanami. Throwing shit like that in my face was fucked up."

Kento forces you back by the shoulders where your hands can't reach him. With his glasses on, he's almost unreadable. Anyone would look at the hard set of his jaw and flattened lips and think anger. His tells are more noticeable to you; the pinched brow and open posture say worry.

"Tell me what this is about," he says, voice low and stern.

"'Then I just won't come back'," you scoff. The rage bubbling in you tempers to hurt, glossing over your eyes with tears and making your lips tremble.

Clarity overtakes Kento's expression before he softens. The grip on your shoulders shifts to him pulling you into his chest. "Oh, sweetheart..." His arms bind you in tight, keeping you against him even as you struggle to hit him again.

"You can't just say shit like that," you mumble. The hands gripping his jacket shake. "Not in our line of work. It's not fair."

He kisses your temple slow, more for the skin contact than anything. Bergamot, leather, smoke, and rain. You picked his cologne out yourself and would know it anywhere. It turns sweet on his skin after an hour or so, mixing with his personal chemistry and leaving you addicted. It smells like safety, like home. You let yourself drown in it a bit before you realize he's talking.

"I'm so sorry, my love. I didn't think. I'm sorry," he repeats into your ear.

You relax against him, arms wrapping around him to toy with the handle of his blade. It's starting to rain and the sun has fully set, but neither of you make to leave. Kento pulls back enough to look into your eyes, glasses tucked into a pocket.

"I will always come home to you." His dark eyes are as serious as ever with a pleading undercurrent you've never seen. "I will always come back to you, love."

You let yourself believe him as he kisses you and apologizes again. On Halloween night with a ring on your finger and a naginata in your hand, you make him keep his promise by slashing a fiery cursed spirit to pieces before it could blow. He overpowers the patchwork curse and returns to your side with a kiss on your forehead. There are hours before you can safely leave the area, but he keeps his promise every step of the way.

#nanami kento x reader #nanami x reader #jjk x reader #nanami kento #kento nanami #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #drabble #lo.writes

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shurisneakers · 4 years

Text

harmless (i)

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)

Warnings: cursing, nonsense writing

Word count: 1.5k

A/N: listen i just needed something to keep my mind busy and a perry the platypus!bucky and dr. doofenshmirtz!reader was the only thing i could think of. dont have any high expectations from this series, you will be sorely disappointed.

If you have any ideas for this series, lemme know!! it’d be cute to write!!

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

Series Masterlist

Bucky Barnes, for all intents and purposes, is edgy.

His SHIELD salary is definitely enough to afford him a simple beanie, gloves even if he’s that eager. His long hair, though a spectacle in itself, isn’t as good at keeping away the cold as he claims it to be.

It’s a personal choice, a fashion statement even, to be roaming the streets in a long flimsy t-shirt that does nothing to accentuate his broad shoulders, and tactical pants that look a little too comfortable.

It’s cold. He says he likes it, to appease his blond haired best friend who insisted that he wear a cardigan at least. He won’t like it in a while, but he would never admit it.

The bike ride to the other side of town for a minor mission takes longer than he expected. The wind rushing by gets his adrenaline racing.

Official missions are long and gruelling, and oftentimes not fun. But it gives him a purpose.

It’s easy, therefore, to find him brooding when he’s not on one.

No one wants their room to be on the receiving end of Bucky’s stress-cleaning sessions. His baking is more appreciated.

So when there’s news of a small time villain creating havoc again, it made sense that he volunteered to go sort it out. No one else wanted the job. They’d all been at it before.

SHIELD didn’t seem particularly bothered either.

“It’s not that serious, Barnes.”

“I’m going.”

“Just stop her from doing whatever dumb plan she has today. She seems to have a new one every week.”

“Can I-”

“This is not an assassination mission.”

“Fine. Can I-”

“No.”

“Fine.”

He didn’t know what to expect. He had an idea of how they should be. Smaller villains tended to be more aggressive, vicious to prove their point. They were here to stay.

He wears his regular gear. Enough knives to make a butcher look away in shame, and guns including, but not limited to, his biceps.

He finally pulls the bike to a stop a few metres away, leaving it out of reach in case things got too out of hand. He didn’t want to have to walk back to the Tower, and his friends, as much as they loved him, would never go out of their way to pick him up. Little shits.

The address is a dingy, plain concrete house near an old construction site. It was flat and felt more like an afterthought than an actual building. It looked more like an abandoned Walmart than an actual villain lair.

The only entrance is the door in the front. He counts to three, lifting his leg to kick it down.

It falls down ungracefully, loud and creaky like it was bound to the doorframe by rust.

The only light source inside is a green light. All the way at the other end on an elevated platform is a desk and a chair facing away from him. He can’t see much other than that.

Someone’s laughter comes back loud and booming. He raises his gun, feet apart in a defensive stance.

“I’ve been expecti-” the voice pauses mid-sentence- “Did you just kick down my door?”

He looks behind him to where the wooden piece is on the floor. He certainly did.

He can finally see you as you stand up, green light illuminating your face. You reach over to the side, pressing a few switches.

He squints when all the lights turn on, pulling the both of you from darkness.

“Dude!” you cry out, face twisting into what only could be described as a mix of horror and disdain. “What’d you do that for?”

He doesn’t say anything but he doesn’t lower his gun either.

“You’re an Avenger, just fuckin’ pick the lock or something. This is expensive!”

He only watches as you whine, looking beyond him at your now demolished entrance. You take a few steps closer, jumping down from the elevated platform.

“Insurance isn’t going to cover this.” You drag your palm across your fist before extending it towards him. “Pay up.”

He wasn’t sure if he heard you right.

“What?” he finally asked, voice gruff.

“All you superheroes go around, destroying walls and cars in the name of world peace like you own the damn thing. Not today, bitch boy. Pay up.”

He doesn’t have his wallet with him. He didn’t expect to need it.

“I’m supposed to be stopping you.”

“You can do that once you pay for my door.”

You sound resolute, unshaken. A little annoyed. There’s what appears to be a gun in your hand, although it’s unlike any weapon he’s seen before.

“What’s your plan?” Bucky looks at your hand. Your stare follows his. You lift the thing up and he tenses.

“I was going to freeze some jerk but now my plan is to get you cancelled on Twitter.”

“Why?” his eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“Local superhero destroys property of tax paying citizen for no good reason.”

“I mean-” he shakes his head, discarding what you’re saying, “-why were you going to freeze someone?”

“Because I wanted to. But you’ve ruined the mood now, so that won’t happen.”

He blinks, lowering his weapon when he realises you weren’t making any attempt to move. “What’s your ulterior motive?”

“Nothing! I just wanted to mildly inconvenience that stupid fuck for being such a prick.”

He doesn’t know what to say.

“Is that the freeze ray?” Bucky asks instead, raising his gun when he realises there’s a very real chance he could end up like his best friend.

“You got a problem with it?” You hold it up carelessly.

“I can’t let you use that.”

“That’s all you’re going to do?” you huff, “Is this what you call an intervention? This is so boring.”

“Give me the freeze ray and no one has to get hurt.”

“No one was going to get hurt in the first place, genius. All this does is slow him down for 5 minutes so he misses the subway.”

There’s nothing technically that evil about what you’re doing. He doesn’t even know how you ended up on SHIELD’s radar. He gets why no one was particularly driven to take this seriously.

“And for fuck’s sake put that gun away. You’re not scaring me.”

He doesn’t oblige, even though something tugs at him, telling him that you’re speaking the truth.

“Here, take the stupid thing.” You don’t bother waiting for his response, bending over and sliding the gun towards his feet. “I’ll find another way to get back at that dickhead.”

It hits his boot with a small thud. He looks down. Its design is ridiculously comical, like you ripped it straight out of a kid’s TV show.

“Next time, bring some drama. Wear a cape or something.” You wave him off. “Now get out of my lair. I need to fix the door.”

“You don’t have another one of these lying around, do you?”

“Why, do your friends want one too?” The glare you give him is dangerous. He doesn’t react to it. “No, it’s limited edition. I don’t build the same thing twice.”

“You have others?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, weather boy?” A smile grows on your face, dropping as quickly as it arrives. “SHIELD will tell you if I do. Now leave.”

Bucky looks at the freeze ray in his hand. He supposes his job is done. He was told to stop you, but you didn’t seem to have any inclination to go on with your plan.

“You can ask them if you want, they know about me.” You roll your eyes. “Go ahead, call them.”

He doesn’t want to take a chance. As odd as the situation is, it’s still novel and he isn’t quite sure how to deal with it.

He tucks your weapon under his arm, pressing his phone to his ear.

“Yes, Sergeant Barnes?” Maria’s voice is crisp as ever.

“I confiscated a... freeze ray.” He feels ridiculous even saying it. “But I’m going to bring her in to SHIELD headquarter-”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“But we can’t trust-”

“We’ve been keeping tabs on her for a while. She’s more or less harmless. You can take the rest of the night off, Sergeant.”

He cuts the call, not entirely at ease with the smug, expectant look on your face.

Still, he couldn’t disobey direct orders.

“I’m gonna... go.” He mentions towards the gaping hole in the wall.

“That would be ideal, yes.” You nod, crossing your arm over your chest.

“Okay.” He hesitates, but finally takes a step backwards. He peeks over his shoulder as he leaves, but finds you swivelled away from him again.

He steps back outside. The cold greets him again like an old friend. The weight of his weapons feels stupidly embarrassing now.

It’s a long drive back to the Tower. He keeps replaying the entire story in his mind. He’s unsure of whether he made the right call, but no one else really seemed to care.

He had seen weirder things. It came with the gig.

He leaves it at that.

“How’d it go?” Steve asks him when he walks into the living room.

“T’was fine,” he answers, toying with the stupid device he took from you. Maybe he would test it on Clint. He had been getting annoying lately. Breathing too much in Bucky’s general direction.

A part of him feels guilty for his carelessness towards your building. The other part is just bewildered.

That night he looks up the cost it takes to replace a door, making a mental note to draw some money from the ATM soon.

Next part

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #mcu fic #bucky fic #bucky barnes fic #bucky fluff #bucky barnes fluff #bucky angst #bucky barnes angst #harmless fic #winter soldier x reader #Winter Soldier #bucky barnes #bucky

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elithegnome · 2 years

Text

A little FACE family story.

A/N: Heavy FRUK shipping, I know, I ship them, shocker amirite? Also Shakira song reference, I know she committed tax fraud so yeah people might not like her as much but lyrics from one of her songs are mentioned.

——————��—————————————

Arthur was sitting on a plush, vintage chair in the living room, awaiting the arrival of his husband Francis, just to chat about their twin sons. To Arthur, the two seemed to be acting unlike themselves for the past couple of days. The Brit snapped himself out of his thoughts when his darling Francis walked into the room, blue eyes full of concern.

“Mon Cher what is wrong? You look worried!”

“Yeah Francis, no matter how hard I try I cannot shamidamida eh-eh waca-waca eh-eh from the troubling fact that our sons are acting strange! Matthew won’t even make eye contact with us and Alfred’s being dead silent! And every time I see the two talking they’re always whispering about something and it irks me that I don’t know what’s going on!”

Arthur spat aggressively after taking a long sip of his tea. ( I WAS LISTENING TO SHAKIRA WHILE WRITING THIS AND WHEN I CAME BACK TO IT I STARTED LAUGHING MY ASS OFF, I REFUSE TO GET RID OF THAT IM SORRY DHDHEHEHEGSGSH)

The Frenchman frowned, slowly leaning in to kiss his husband on the cheek, before sitting on the man’s lap.

“Is there anything I can do?” Francis pleaded, wrapping his arms around Arthur’s neck.

“No, not until we find out what’s up with our sons.” The Brit sighed

Francis gripped Arthur’s hand tightly, taking a moment to observe the rings on their fingers. After this he gazed back up at the Brit, who didn’t look so angry anymore.

“I promise mon lapin, there is nothing wrong with the boys. But even if they are acting odd they’re still the same twins we adopted 11 years ago.” Francis chimed, twirling Arthur’s ash blonde hair in his fingers.

With that, the sound of a lock clicking echoed through the hallway of the Victorian style house, with two little blond boys shuffling into the house, one shutting the door behind them.

Francis beamed, raising himself up from Arthur’s lap, ambling himself towards his sons. Both Matthew and Alfred stared up at their Papa, a look of impatience in their eyes.

“Garçons! Comment était l'école?” The Frenchman beamed, kissing his sons on their cheeks.

“School was fine thank you Papa.” Matthew blurted, rushing up the stairs with his brother.

Francis and Arthur turned to face each other, with Francis shrugging and sighing slightly.

“See what I mean now?” Arthur buzzed, scoffing.

Francis nodded, “Oui, I do. But I think you should be the one to sort out the situation. You were worried first.”

Even though somewhat reluctant, Arthur nodded and made his way upstairs. His footsteps echoed through the hallway as he made his way towards the sound of two voices discussing some unknown topic. Slowly, Arthur turned the doorknob to Alfred’s room, where he saw the two boys seeming to be drawing and gluing paper onto a poster board.

“Matthew, Alfred,” He began, “What on earth are you doing?”

Matthew jumped up to his feet and tried his hardest to shut the door, “No you can’t see it-“

Arthur however was stronger, and looked at the poster board intently.

The words, “Happy Anniversary Papa and Dad!” were written in Alfred’s handwriting across the top of the board, with photos of trips and family pictures plastered below, and “We love you!” also written below those. The Brit felt a tear prick the corner of his eye, had the boys really been spending their free time making an anniversary gift for their parents?

Alfred rubbed his arm sheepishly, “We didn’t want you to figure out until tomorrow.” As if to respond, Arthur pulled the twins into an embrace, slowly stroking their hair.

“Oh boys you didn’t have to do this.”

“Yeah we did!” Matthew rebutted, “You and Papa have done so much for us and we just wanted to make up for it!”

His father chuckled lightly, “You do enough by just being here.”

Alfred’s eyes widened, “Really?”

“Yes, really.” Arthur smiled, “I love you two so much.”

The boys began to speak simultaneously, “We love you too Dad!”

Slowly, Arthur backed away from the twin boys, starting to leave the room.

“Well, I’ll leave you both to it.”

#hetalia #hws #aph america #hws america #aph england #hws england #aph france #hws france #aph canada #hws canada #fruk #face family

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bestofbucky · 4 years

Text

Eavesdrop

Pairings: Bucky x Reader

Word Count: 5.1k

Warnings: none really, enemies to ?

A/N: This is my first time posting something I have written. I hope you enjoy it! Thank you so much @tuiccim for your help, couldn’t have done it without you.

Being an Avenger is tough. Of course, there are the obvious missions and kicking ass that are exhausting, especially because you don’t have any sort of enhancements or powers. You are just a regular human being, fighting with and against some not so regular human beings. Naturally when you have downtime, you spend it doing things with the least amount of effort. Watching Netflix, listening to music, taking baths, etc, meaning that your social life outside of the compound was, to put it simply, non-existent.

You had just returned from the worst date of your life, well, one of the top five worst dates of your life. Over the past couple of months Steve and Natasha had grown tired of you whining about being single but not making any effort to change it and began sending you on blind dates. Somehow, they managed five different times to find five completely awful people. This time they had set you up with Arthur, a recruit for SHIELD and a good one at that. You wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the elite squad soon, but when it came to your date, he was really blunt and inappropriate, and you had cringed your way through the entire thing.

Once you got back to the compound, you first went to your room to get changed into gym clothes for training with Nat, then headed to her room. On your way you passed one of the common rooms and heard two voices. One familiar but one you didn’t recognise, you decided to check it out and found Steve and another man.

Steve called your name inviting you over to them as they both stood up. ‘This is Bucky. He’s moving in today to begin training.’ Steve explains. You nod and smile at Bucky, remembering Steve told you about him and that he would be living here and eventually joining the team.

You have to stop yourself from gasping out loud at the sight of him. He is a 6 ft something hunk of muscle and beauty and you can’t stop yourself from trying to take him all in with your eyes.

Steve then introduces you to Bucky who looks in your eyes for all of two seconds to say, ‘hi’ before looking down at his feet. He is probably really nervous. Even from that two second glance, you could tell he had one hell of a past. They had you hooked already, you wanted to stare into those eyes and let them tell you the stories of the lifetime they had seen.

‘You were just in Wakanda right? How was it? I have only ever seen it in pictures but I really want to go.’ You let your excitement show, hoping to relax him a bit.

‘Yeah, it was nice. I was frozen for most of it though’ Shit, he curses himself. He didn’t mean to come across so rude but he was really nervous, you are really pretty and it is messing with his head a little. It doesn’t help that he has had to meet a lot of different people today and he is all socialised out. He sees your face fall slightly before you quickly compose yourself, any normal person would have missed it but he has his past of being a trained assassin.

‘Well, Nat is probably waiting for me, she told me she would show me some new moves today.’ You say realising that Bucky had probably been under a lot of stress lately and most likely just wanted to be alone, or with Steve rather than chatting to you, a stranger. At least you hoped this was the reason and it wasn’t that he already disliked you. Saying goodbye to the two of them you head off to Natasha’s room.

Not even bothering to knock, you walk into her room leaving the door open behind you, since you’ll be heading down to the gym soon anyway. Natasha is sitting on the end of the bed braiding her hair. ‘You almost ready?’ You ask.

‘Yeah, just got to finish my hair then put my shoes on.’ She tells you so you take a seat on her bed while you wait.

Meanwhile, Bucky told Steve that he wanted to go get his room sorted. Really it was just an excuse to be alone for a little while. On the way there he walked past a room with the door open and heard two voices talking, recognising them to be you and Natasha. He was just about to carry on walking to his room when he heard Natasha ask, ‘did you meet him yet?’

Bucky assumed she was talking about him and wanted to hear what you had to say. He hoped you would be understanding of his reticence after his taxing morning.

‘Yeah, I met him today.’ You sigh and roll your eyes.

‘That bad?’ Nat asks, raising her eyebrows with a slight smirk on her face.

‘Yes, I tried to be as friendly as I could but he seemed like a jerk.’ You huff.

‘How so?’

‘He was so blunt he just came across really rude. I had high expectations, especially after hearing Steve say so many nice things about him.’

‘Maybe he was just having a bad day?’ She attempts a defence.

‘Bad day or not, he should have the courtesy to smile and be polite even if it is fake.’

Bucky was so hurt to hear this. Yes, he wasn’t the nicest to you but your reaction seemed a bit dramatic. He didn’t want to hear you say any more so he rushed off to his room.

‘So, I guess you aren’t going to go on a second date with him then?’ Nat asks.

‘No, I really appreciate you and Steve trying to set me up but seeing as this is the 5th time and none of them were any good, I think I’ll go back to my old methods.’ You smile at her.

‘What, never putting yourself out there and waiting for the right person to just fall into your lap?’ Nat teases and you both laugh when you nod. She finishes tying her shoelaces and you head off to the gym.

The next day you were leading a meeting of recruits who have the potential to be moved up into the squad that worked with the Avengers. The elite squad. Unfortunately for you, Arthur was in the group of recruits and was probably the next one to be promoted. You finally dismissed everyone and started getting your stuff together to leave as well when Arthur came up to you.

‘What’s the word on who is moving up next, dove?’ You look up in shock, surely, he didn’t just call you dove.

‘Excuse me?’ You look him dead in the eye.

‘I said what’s the word on who is moving up next? I think you might need to get your hearing checked.’ He laughs at his own joke so you fake laugh with him.

‘That’s confidential., we’ll let everyone know when we have made the decision.’ You say and go to walk past him but he grabs your arm.

‘Does someone need a little convincing. If it’s you, then I can think of some ways.’ He whispers seductively in your ear. You pull your arm out of his grasp and frown at him.

‘I’m only joking, dove, come on, you can’t even take a joke?’ He laughs again.

You put on your best fake smile and your customer service voice. ‘There will be no convincing necessary. You are a good agent but you also have good competition. We will inform you all of our decision when it is made.’ You say and quickly turn and walk out the door before he can say anything else. When you get into the lift you ask FRIDAY where Steve is.

‘Common room A, Agent Y/L/N’. You make your way there as quick as possible. Heading around the corner, you slam into a solid object. You hiss at the contact on your fresh bruises, a frown appearing on your face. As soon as you look up to see what or who you bumped into, the frown quickly fades into a smile when you see its Bucky. He is already looking at you.

‘Sorry I should have been watching where I was going.’ He mumbles quickly.

‘No, it’s just as much my fault as yours. I shouldn’t have been in such a hurry.’ You apologise to him. As much as you would love to stay and chat with Bucky, you need to get to Steve to explain what just happened with Arthur and hopefully you can get him kicked off the team.

Bucky had left his room to try and find someone to help him figure out a few things with FRIDAY but as soon as he bumped into you that completely left his mind. You were all that filled his mind ever since he met you. He stood in the hallway for a while before realising he should ask you to help. Maybe this would be a good excuse to make up for his poor first impression. He heads in the direction you went but stops short when he hears your voice.

‘I think he bruised me. The dick.’ You say and Steve frowns at you ‘Come on, Steve. I’m allowed to be angry. He has been nothing but a jerk to me,’ you explain and shift to get more comfortable.

‘What did you say to him when he did this?’ Steve asks, holding your arm and examining the newly formed bruises in the shapes of fingers.

‘I put on my best fake smile and pretended like everything was ok,’ You joke and Steve laughs, ‘as much as I hate the guy, I don’t have the confidence to actually show it.’ You sigh and Steve pulls your sleeve back down and leans back into the sofa. ‘Is there any way we can kick him off the team?’ You exaggerate batting your eyelashes at him.

‘He isn’t even on the team yet and you already want to kick him off?’ Steve questions.

‘Yes! I really don’t like him. I know he is your friend but I trust him about as far as I can throw him’ You explain and Steve nods.

Bucky had heard enough. He can’t believe you could be so horrible. You had the sweetest exterior and, from first impressions, you didn’t look like you could hurt a fly. But as he heard you say, you clearly put on a fake act to come across as polite and kind when really you are rude deep down. He didn’t mean to eavesdrop on you. Twice now. But he is so glad he did, because now he knows not to waste his energy on you. He knows what you think of him and he has formed his opinion of you. He hurries back to his room.

‘He’s not my friend Y/N, I only said that to you to make you go on the date with an open mind. I’ve only ever had one conversation with the guy,’ Steve jokes and you playfully push his arm, ‘All jokes aside, his behaviour breaks a lot of conduct rules and is a good enough reason to have him knocked down a few squads.’ Steve replies and you sigh with relief. You hug Steve and thank him for his help, he’s taken slightly off guard but hugs you back before you go your separate ways.

A few weeks later, you walk into the kitchen to find the whole team eating their breakfast. Sam is cooking and when he sees you, he makes a plate and hands it to you.

‘Thank you Sam.’ You hug him and take the plate, turning around at the sound of Bucky’s scoff. You haven’t had a conversation with Bucky since you bumped into each other in the hallway. You had tried to but he either completely ignored you or just rolled his eyes and left the room.

At first it hurt, you wondered if you had done something wrong. The team seemed just as confused by it as you. Bucky didn’t have a problem with anyone else. That wasn’t to say he was extremely friendly with them, he wasn’t there yet and nobody blamed him but he could hold conversation with the others. He even laughed at their jokes. You were starting to get fed up with it so after breakfast you headed to Bucky’s room to talk to him. You knocked on the door and it wasn’t long until he answered it. As soon as he saw you his face fell visibly.

‘Can we talk?’ You asked hoping he would let you into his room. He paused to consider it then stepped out of his room, closing the door behind him. He stood there with his arms crossed and waited for you to talk.

‘Is there something I did wrong?’ You ask him and he keeps a blank face.

‘Why do you care?’ He asks still arms crossed over his body.

‘I care because you are always scoffing or rolling your eyes at me whenever I try to talk to you.’

‘I’m not scoffing or rolling my eyes now.’ He points out.

‘No but you’re not exactly being very friendly.’

‘Would you prefer for me to fake it then? Just put on a smile and pretend to like you?’ He jabs. You take a moment to process what he just said. You didn’t realise he could be so mean.

‘No Bucky I would prefer for you to maybe make an effort to get to know me before making a judgement.’ You scowl at him.

‘I have a perfectly fine judgement of you. I am not going to fall for your fake smiles and fake friendships.’ Bucky snarls and walks back into his room closing his door in your face. You are left to stand there in shock.

On the other side of the door Bucky is leaning there conflicted. The shock on your face looked so genuine. No, he has to remember it is all an act with you.

From that day on you decided you weren’t going to make an effort with him. It wasn’t the most mature decision but you were tired. What used to be eye rolls and scoffs, now turned into snarky comments and you were no longer afraid to throw them right back at him.

Steve had tried a few times to talk to you about it but, when he couldn’t tell you why Bucky hated you, he realised there was nothing he could do to change how either of you felt about the other. What he could do was change up your schedules so the two of you were rarely ever in the same room together.

Unfortunately, instead of the arguments happening quite calmly but consistently over the course of the whole day. They were now much shorter, confined to just mealtimes, and much more heated and intense. None of the team knew which was worse.

You were sparring in the gym with Natasha trying to work off some steam from this morning’s argument with Bucky.

‘Your moves are sloppy, get whatever is making you emotional out of your head.’ She grunts at you but this only forces you further into your head.

You go hard at her, but she blocks every move so you go to defence. She smirks at you, ‘Has a certain super soldier got into your head?’

That causes a surge of anger to hit you and again you go hard at Natasha, but your anger only allows her to catch you off balance and you are pinned to the mat in a matter of seconds.

‘So it is Barnes.’ She pulls you up and you brush yourself off before getting back into a fighting stance.

‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ You grunt at her and start your attack. Your moves are still predictable and anger clouds your mind. You feel yourself getting more and more worked up with every hit she blocks.

You retreat to take a breather, you hear the door open and you glance over, the man of the hour has just entered and you roll your eyes but continue to spar with Natasha.

Out the corner of your eye, you see him make his way over to you both, watching as you take a lot of hits from her and barely manage to land any of your own.

‘I have seen toddlers fight better than you Y/N.’ You hear him chuckle.

‘I don’t need your opinion.’ You grunt, still trying to keep your focus on Natasha.

‘Fight like that on the field and you’ll be dead in two seconds.’

‘Keep talking and you’ll wish you were dead.’

He laughs ‘Is that a threat?’ You ignore him and continue sparring. ‘Your punches are so weak, how did you become an Avenger again?’ He is still smiling knowing exactly which buttons to push.

You stop and make your way over to him. ‘I became an Avenger because of my talent and my strength, that I worked hard to earn.’ You are right up in his face, almost chest to chest. You are breathing hard, partly from the exercise but mostly because of how riled up you are. You notice he is breathing hard as well, his breath fanning across your face.

Your mind can’t help but drift, is this what he would look like in bed, his chest rising and falling faster than normal. Small beads of sweat gathered at his hairline from his recent run. You suddenly realise how close the two of you are and force the inappropriate thoughts from your mind. You hate how seeing him so riled up is actually a huge turn on. How could you let yourself be attracted to such an asshole?

‘You wouldn’t stand a chance against me.’ His voice drops so low that in a different circumstance you would have happily dropped your panties.

‘You’re right. I wouldn’t stand a chance against you and your metal arm that you were given. Or you and the super soldier serum that you were given.’ You know they are cheap shots but you just couldn’t help how absolutely fuming he makes you. He had managed to get under your skin and the thought of him being successful only made you angrier.

He leans down even more, your noses almost touching ‘I don’t know how everyone else can’t see through your little nice act. You pretend to be so kind on the outside but deep down you’re a bitch.’ Ouch. You deserved that one for what you said to him but it didn’t make it hurt any less. Especially because if you were hooked up to a lie detector and asked to say those things again, it would flash up as a blatant lie. However, looking into his eyes there was not an ounce of regret for what he said.

Bucky knew he shouldn’t have said what he did, but you had hit a nerve and it was the only thing he could think to say back. He saw the hurt flash across your eyes but it was too late to take it back now. The only thing he could do was exit the situation before it got any worse. He turned on his heels and left the room, leaving you standing there in complete shock at your exchange.

Natasha calls your name but you quickly leave for your room before anyone can see you like this.

The team was split all across the base. This wasn’t how you would usually handle missions but as soon as you arrived the mission started to go sideways.

‘Target headed towards the west elevator. Anyone nearby copy?’ You hear Steve’s voice through comms.

‘I'm on it.’ You say back, your comms crackling more than usual.

‘Copy that.’ Bucky said, his comms crackling from the two of you talking at the same time.

The rest of the team had heard both of your voices but neither of you had heard the other. So it was a big shock when you were waiting for the elevator and you heard his voice behind you.

‘You have got to be kidding me.’ He sighs and slowly walks up to you to wait for the elevator as well. ‘Did you not hear me say I got it?’ He snaps at you.

‘No because I was the one that said I’m on it.’ You snap back and thankfully the elevator dings it’s arrival. Normally in creepy Hydra bases you would avoid elevators but seeing as there was no stairwell nearby, this was the only option.

‘Age before beauty.’ You say to him, gesturing to the elevator.

‘Very funny’ he says sarcastically before stepping inside. You follow after him and press the only floor button available.

Silence permeates the small space as you prepare for what’s to happen once the doors open. Instead, the elevator jerks to a stop.

‘No.’ You panic and start pressing the floor button over and over. ‘No no no no no.’ Nothing is working.

‘Let me try.’ Bucky says pushing you out of the way, you so badly want to say something but the only thing you can focus on is the fact you might be trapped. Bucky taps the button and looks around for anything else to press but there is nothing. You can feel yourself start to get light headed as claustrophobia takes hold and the thought of falling to your death in this metal box takes over your thoughts. You shrink down onto the floor and hold your head in your hands.

‘Do you always have to be so dramatic?’ Bucky huffs. You don’t answer him, the only thing you can think about is the pain starting in your chest and your breathing getting heavier.

‘Stop breathing so fast. You are going to make yourself pass out.’ Bucky grunts but when you don’t reply or make any effort to slow your breathing he gets worried. He kneels down in front of you ‘Hey? Doll? Can you hear me?’ You can’t answer him, you just feel the impending doom and the immense pressure on your chest. ‘I’m going to move your hands.’ He announces then you feel him take your hands and pull them away from your face. You look at him, tears in your eyes, a look of pure fear across your face. ‘Breathe with me, doll. Can you do that?’ He asks and you manage to nod. He speeds his breathing up to your pace then gradually slows it, you follow him as best as you can and eventually you get your breathing back to normal, with the occasional hiccup or sharp intake.

Once he sees you are ok, he lets go of your hands and sits on the floor as far away as he can. You both continue to sit in silence.

‘Thank you.’ You eventually manage to whisper, he nods without meeting your eye.

You can’t help but feel disappointed, you just got to see a caring side of Bucky and it felt amazing to be on the receiving end of it, but now you are back to him not giving a shit about you. You go back and forth wondering whether it is the right time to bring up the issues between you two. If not now, when?

‘Why do you hate me so much?’ He looks across at you and sighs before he answers.

‘I don’t hate you.’

‘Yes you do. It seems like you go out of your way to make me miserable.’ You push, making him lean his head back on the wall behind him.

‘I don’t hate you. I just don’t like how you formed opinions about me so early on. You wanted me off the team before I even got cleared to be on the team.’ Bucky explains. You stare at him in confusion.

‘How do you know what opinions I formed of you? I may have wanted you off the team but it was only because you were mean and that was after you were cleared.’ You could feel yourself starting to get angry.

‘Then how come I overheard you talking about the first time we met to Nat, you said I was blunt and rude. Then after I accidentally bumped into you, you told Steve you wanted me off the team.’ Bucky says agitatedly.

‘I never-‘ you think back to any conversations you had with Nat and Steve about Bucky. The only ones that came to mind were asking them if they knew why Bucky didn’t like you. Then it hits you, he had overheard you talking to Steve and Nat about Arthur. You sighed.

‘Let me guess, you overheard me and Nat talking not long after we first met. We were in Nat’s room getting ready to go train?’ You ask and he nods.

‘Then the conversation you overheard with Steve was straight after we bumped into each other. We were in the common room?’ Bucky looks confused but nods again.

‘You are such a prick. You eavesdrop but don’t even listen long enough to hear who we were talking about.’ You can’t help but chuckle at the situation, even though it’s not particularly funny.

‘What?’ Bucky looks more confused than ever.

‘Well, if you had listened properly to the whole conversation you would know I was talking about that asshat agent, Arthur.’ That came out more blunt than you intended.

‘The recruit that got bumped down a few squads even though he is really good?’

‘Yep. That’s the one’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘Before you came Steve and Nat had been setting me up on blind dates with people. Arthur was the fifth one, I really didn’t want to go so Steve convinced me by saying they were friends and all this nice stuff about him.’ You pause to take a deep breath. ‘The day we met, I had just come from the date with him and it was awful. That's what me and Nat were talking about. Then when we bumped into each other in the hallway, I had just come from a meeting with the recruits. Arthur had been inappropriate and he hurt my arm, I was rushing to Steve to tell him and ask if he can be kicked off the team.’ You finally manage to say and Bucky just looks at you. You can see the cogs turning in his head as he is finally getting context to the snippets of conversation he overheard.

‘Shit. I am so sorry. I am such an idiot.’ He scolds himself and you can’t help but feel bad for him.

‘I am not going to disagree with you, but we have both said and done some pretty nasty stuff. I am sorry for any hurt I caused you.’ You say sincerely and he looks over to you and smiles.

‘So you didn’t think I was rude when we first met?’ He still holds your eye contact and you take a moment to look at him. You have never seen him look so vulnerable before, he almost looked scared.

‘No, Bucky, I thought you were probably nervous or tired from meeting loads of new people.’ You explain and his shoulders fall.

‘I feel like such a jerk.’ He sighs and you scoot yourself closer to him so he has to look at you.

‘I’m not all that innocent in this either. It was a misunderstanding. I am just glad we have cleared it up now.’ You say meaning it and he smiles earnestly back at you. It is something you have never experienced first-hand. You have seen him give those gorgeous, slightly lopsided, smiles to other people but seeing one directed at you causes a rush of heat to your cheeks and you find yourself blushing.

Bucky must have been thinking along the same lines ‘You’re cute when you blush. I have never seen this side of you before.’ He brushes some hair out of your face and behind your ear. ‘You know, part of the reason I was so nervous when I first met you was because I was taken off guard by how beautiful you are.’ His cheeks flush slightly at his confession.

Before you can say anything the elevator jerks again and starts moving, you and Bucky are quick on your feet, preparing yourself for the doors to open.

When they finally do you are met with a group of Hydra agents ready to attack. You and Bucky work in tandem, playing off each other’s strengths. When the Hydra agents realize this, they work to separate you. The majority of them are on Bucky but you are fighting four at once. You are onto the last one when he raises his gun to shoot but you force his arm down. Not quick enough, it fires and clips your calf causing you to cry out from the pain

It is not as bad as actually being shot in the leg but it still hurts like hell and you can’t put pressure on it. The room is pretty silent apart from footsteps you recognise to be Bucky approaching. You move quickly and uppercut the guy in the nose. The crack echoes throughout the room as the guy falls to the floor at your feet.

You turn to Bucky, his mouth agape and eyebrows raised in shock. ‘That was hot.’ He announces finally, making you laugh, you go to take a step towards him but realise too late that your injured leg won’t hold your weight. You would have fallen to the floor if Bucky hadn’t rushed to catch you.

‘Thanks.’ You chuckle, your faces are extremely close. Your eyes completely entranced in his. Your whole body warms at the safe feeling of being in his arms. You start to wonder what it would be like to fall asleep in these arms, to wake up the next morning still wrapped up in them. Protected.

You force yourself back to reality by clearing your throat. ‘We should probably get back to the team.’ You say and he nods. He puts his arm around your waist and you put yours over his shoulders to use him as a crutch.

The ride back up in the elevator goes smoothly this time and before you know it you are hobbling up to the quinjet where the rest of the team awaits. Natasha and Steve are both looking back and forth from you to Bucky in confusion.

‘What the hell happened?’ Steve asks not trying to hide how baffled he is that you and Bucky are holding onto each other and not arguing. Natasha simply smirks. Bucky helps you into a seat then sits opposite you with a wink as you smile at him.

‘No, this is too weird. Please argue, bicker, roll your eyes. Anything.’ Sam begs Bucky who doesn’t break his eye contact with you. Bucky simply laughs knowing his behaviour is unsettling Sam and enjoying the newfound comradery with you.

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