#why I tagged the lawyer huh

[indiafishydish]

Nick already knows somebody already has told him that he’s going to be healed. He has nothing to lose ha ha ha that’s not what I said but whatever.

So I got to go to Scottsville and explain that Nick is the culprit of this. He’s probably gonna go to prison or get killed either way, but what a mess.

If he can’t ever have that love, he doesn’t want anybody to have it

So I guess I was supposed to know that Mark would inject me with something before that’s nice. Really nice people all because you guys are afraid of children. Wow.

[winwintea]

how dreamies would react to bailing you out of jail

PAIRING ▸ dreamies x reader 

TAGS ▸ none, except jail and chenle being rude at first, and oh karen renjun

AUTHOR’S NOTE ▸ i have never been arrested, i am a lawfully abiding citizen. have a nice day. i am perfectly normal and sane.

Mark Lee

Mark has never had to deal with the legal system before, so when he receives the phone-call from you, he’s really confused. “You’re… where?” He makes you repeat yourself and how you got in the situation. “What do you mean you can… ‘bail’ yourself out? Don’t you… have to be tried, like in front of a jury?” You have to explain to Mark how bails work, and eventually he begins to understand. “Don’t worry y/n… I’ll get you out, give me a second.” You can hear him leaving his room and running out, “CHENLE ?? CHENLE !! I NEED SOME CASH.” 

Huang Renjun

Renjun is a little annoyed at first when he realizes that it’s the police station calling him and it involves you. “Well, what’d they do?” He asks, carefully, and as he listens to what the officers say, and his temper slowly starts to rise. “And you put them in jail for that?” He’s pissed off now. Not only was his day interrupted, but you got arrested for such a stupid reason. There was absolutely no reason why he needed to be involved either, so if they wanted him involved he would get involved. “You will be hearing from my lawyers…”

Lee Jeno

Jeno, like Mark, would be extremely confused on what exactly was going on. While he listened to you rant about what happened, and how you got put in jail, one thing would be on his mind: Were you a criminal now? He’s still technically trying to process everything that’s going on, nodding and expressing some “Uh-huh”s here and there to let him know you were listening, but his eyes are wide with concern. He really didn’t want you to become a criminal and agreed to buy your bail. (poor jeno)  

Lee Donghyuck

Haechan cannot remain serious for once. He immediately lets out a giant laugh as soon as he hears what happened, “Yo, can you send me the mugshot? I might make some memes with it.” Obviously you aren’t too happy with this at all, and promptly hang up the call, stating that you were going to call someone else. 5 seconds later though, Haechan calls back, apologizing profusely, “SORRY. SORRY. I’LL PAY, I’LL PAY, SORRY”

Na Jaemin

Jaemin is both disappointed in you, but still worried for your wellbeing, so obviously he agrees to come bail you out, “Are you okay? I’m coming… to pick you up, don’t be scared.” When he arrives at the cell, he immediately scolds you, which he deems as appropriate payment for him having to drive over and rescue you. However, Jaemin will absolutely defend you all the way. Once he pays the bail bondsman, he then turns his attention to the officers, “Look at that face officer! Does that look like the face of a criminal to you?” It’s not until you beg him to leave that he finally gives up arguing with them. 

Zhong Chenle

Chenle does not want to help you at all, “I don’t have time sorry.” (okay rude) But Chenle’s biggest mistake was calling you on facetime. You started crying and rambling about how your life was over, and how you were going to get sentenced to jail time, and this did the trick. “Okay. Fine FINE. I’M GOING.” He ends up paying a hefty sum to get your name cleared from the records and so there will be no trial for you! He doesn’t even ask if you did it or not. This is lowkey illegal and corrupt, but Chenle just doesn’t want to see you upset, and who are you to complain?

Park Jisung

Jisung is somehow so calm about the situation? Like, hearing that you got arrested doesn’t even phase him, “Where you at, send me the location, I’ll pick you up.” You’re shocked too, because you expected him to be in panic mode, but he just comes, does the whole bail process like it’s nothing and takes you home. When you’re in the car with him you can’t help but ask why he was so resolute about the whole situation. Jisung just gives you a nonchalant look, “It’s not the first time I’ve done this. Don’t do it again though.” 

[itwasthereaminuteago]

|| Next Time ||

Frank Castle x female reader

Tags/warnings: porn without much plot, fingering, p in v. We waaants hiiiim 🥺

You roll the moment your feet hit the roof opposite, the bullet whistling past your cheek as you rise from your crouch.

A bit too close this time.

"You're gonna have to work on your aim, Castle. Missed me again!" You yell at him despite your heart rate spiking just a little.

His growling gruff voice shouts back from somewhere behind you. "My aim's just fine darlin', that was a warnin' shot. Back off the lawyer or next time I won't miss."

He'd been chasing you around town for hours after he kept seeing you hanging out in places you shouldn't, getting a mite too close to the truth. You didn't know that Matt Murdock was Daredevil, and Frank was intent on keeping it that way.

You duck down behind one of the numerous vent shafts, sneaking around within the cloak of the shadows. You hear the leather swish of his coat.

"I'm no good at math castle but I know I ain't got enough fingers to count how many times you've said 'next time'. When are you gonna do it huh?" you call out.

He doesn't know where you are, too many places to hide on the roof and bounce your voice around for him to find you.

You wait. He doesn't respond. He's gone quiet.

Shit. You've lost sight of him while you were busy snarking.

You take a risk, peering back around the stack searching the shadows.

Big mistake, as you're suddenly yanked backwards with force and slammed up against the wall with a breathless oof.

He towers over you. You squirm but his bulk has you pinned hard, his huge forearm braced across the top of your chest pressing down on your neck and making you choke out a laugh.

"You finally gonna make a move, take me out this time?"

He increases the pressure, squeezing down harder making it extremely difficult for you to breathe.

You wheeze your words out, keep on goading him. "Gonna end this, Castle? C'mon, you ain't got the balls to shoot a woman and we both know it."

He growls and you feel the hard press of the cold steel muzzle against your temple.

Oops.

"You're a goddamn pain in my ass. Like a fucking fly always buzzin' round me."

"Well if I'm a fly that must make you a steaming pile of shit!" You retort.

"Fuck… you just love to run your mouth round me huh?"

You hiss as he shoves the gun harder against your skull.

"Just wanna see if you'll snap Frank, now you've finally caught me. Must say that I'm gettin' curious why you want me to stay away from Murdock so bad. He your boyfriend or something?"

His eyes glint in the dark as he stares you down.

"Shut the fuck up." He spits.

But it's not his words that shut you up when you open your mouth to get another snarky comment in, it's his bruising kiss as his lips crash against yours, hard and full of frustration. He drops the gun, you've touched a nerve. You're too shocked at first to do anything, eyes wide as he forces your mouth open against his, but then you hear your own moans as his tongue slides against yours, closing your eyes as he presses you into the wall, thigh wedging firm in-between your own, tasting the sweat, smelling the gunpowder residue, the scratch of his stubble against your face.

It's intoxicating.

Your hands fist around the straps of his stupid skull vest, grabbing and yanking him closer. You find yourself wishing you could take it off and feel the heat of his body against yours but that's not quite the way this is going.

Your hands snake upwards, holding his head and tugging at the longer lengths of hair on the top as you trade evermore ferocious kisses in a battle of lust, your leg wrapping around his hip, dryhumping like a pair of teenagers. You can feel the unmistakable evidence of his arousal as he grinds right into your core, annoyed that it feels so good and that you're doing nothing to stop it.

Frank's groping the firm swell of your breast as he feels your hand slip down between you and grabs hold of your wrist instinctually, slamming it back up on the wall above your head and grazing your knuckles painfully in the process, his mind screaming at him that you must be going for your knife.

"What the fuck?!" You yell, "I'm trying to open your pants, idiot!"

"Oh, right… yeah." He rasps as he lets you free when his brain catches up with his body and you continue ripping open his fly. When you get your hand around him your mouth drops open with an impressed huff.

"Jesus, to think that all this time I was bad-mouthing your dick."

"Fuck!" Frank grunts into the long column of your neck as you fondle him, soon scrabbling to loosen your own tac pants and shove his hand down between your legs. He doesn't know why he's surprised you're so wet. He hums as finds your clit, circling it a few times making you pant and writhe.

"Aw look at you. Now you got my trigger finger just where you want you're purrin' like a damn kitten."

"Are you clean?"

Your straight out question makes him stutter his answer. "Y-yeah, yeah m'clean."

"Alright, then shut up and fuck me."

"Jesus Christ-" he says under his breath as you race to push each other's pants down.

He hurriedly pulls off one of your boots to get a pant leg past your foot and then he scoops his big hands under your ass to lift you up, groaning with unrestrained pleasure as you help guide his rock hard cock inside you. The sound you make as he stretches you open is almost embarrassing, but then you realise Frank's going just as feral.

He's strong. You'd only ever encountered him in ranged combat, trading bullets not fists. You were pretty sure he could bench press you. At this moment however it seemed he was only interested in trying to fuck you through the wall. The tension between you both was still thick, you couldn't think about what would happen after this except that this was a dangerous line to cross, and not just for you.

You scrabble for something to hold on to, a drainpipe, the rebar sticking out of the wall, anything as Frank absolutely rails you into it. It's frenzied, it's fast, it's blowing your mind how fucking easily he's gonna bring you to orgasm. Your moans are increasing in pitch every time he snaps those hips and thrusts up into you.

You grab his hair and yank his head back from where he's buried it against your neck and he curses, legs shaking as you guess he's close.

"Mm fuck! You almost there? Cos m'bout ready to blow baby."

The waver in his gritted out words is scrambling your brain making you unable to form your own. Seeing him like this is like nothing you've ever imagined, and you imagine you're going to be replaying the night's events long into the future.

"Uhuh!" Is all you can manage as he fucks you deeper, harder than you ever thought possible until you're chanting something, almost screaming out as you quake around him, and you realise it's his name.

Frank Frank Frank.

And that's when he unloads into you, with an animalistic sound that trails off into a hot-as-fuck moan of release, his fingers pressing into the soft round meat of your ass, muscles locking up after he drives past the point of overstimulation to ensure you're satisfied after you've milked him dry.

"Oh fuck…" you collapse against him breathing heavily.

His hot breath fans over your face as you both come down from the unexpected high.

He gently lets you down, pulls out and tucks himself away.

"Back off the lawyer, okay?" He warns, pushing off from the wall you're slouching against, struggling to stay standing.

You shake yourself back to reality, bite into your lip and smile as you look up at him and the flush you've brought to his cheeks. "No promises." You reply, pulling your own pants back up.

"I mean it. I'll say it again just so it sinks into that pretty head of yours." He starts walking away and you're already missing his heat. "Next time… I won't miss."

"Who says there'll be a next time Castle?" You tease, wondering how long you'd feel the ache between your thighs.

"There's always a next time sweetheart."

You stay on the roof watching him climb down the fire escape, your legs trembling beneath you as you try to process what just happened.

[rainbow-nerdss]

Definition

Written for @augustwritingchallenge day 25 (Joker Prompt): Role Reversal Buddie, 2.8k Read on AO3

or: 5 times people get Buck's role in Chris's life wrong, and 1 time they set the record straight

1: 

It starts on a night in December, after Buck tagged along with Eddie when he was bringing Chris to see Santa Claus. 

“You two have an adorable son,” the elf says to Buck, after Chris is done, refusing to say what he wished for but laughing when Eddie picks him up and carries him off.

Buck doesn’t correct her. She’s doing her job, and she’s being nice, and there’s no point in making the situation awkward by pointing out the mistake. 

He can’t blame her for making the assumption, either — they’re two adults, together. taking a kid out to see Santa. They’d been sitting pretty close together by the fountain, and Buck knows he’s been looking at Chris like a proud parent even though he’s not one.

It’s like a whiplash, though, going from talking to Eddie about Shannon’s place as Chris’s parent, her place in both of their lives, to someone assuming Buck is the one in that place. It makes him uncomfortable, but at the same time… there’s a longing there, for that to be true someday. Not with Eddie and Chris, but with someone.

He rejoins Eddie and Chris, and he doesn’t tell them, either. But he keeps that little mistake, and the warmth it sparked in his chest, and he holds onto it. 

He doesn’t know why, not for a long time, but that one little sentence sticks with him.

2: 

It’s years later, and Maddie’s just announced her pregnancy to the whole team. Eddie already knows, Buck’s excitement at the news making it impossible for him not to spill. They’re at a barbecue in Bobby and Athena’s back yard, and everyone toasts the happy couple.

Bobby turns to Buck, once the initial round of cheers and congratulations for the parents-to-be. “So you’re gonna be an uncle, huh? How’s it feeling?”

Eddie sips his beer, smiling to himself. Buck’s spoken about anything else since he heard the news, so Eddie’s pretty sure he knows the answer.

“Well, he’s already an uncle, right?” Ravi interrupts. Eddie frowns at him, and Buck looks as confused as he feels. 

“What do you mean?” he asks.

Ravi looks between the two of them. “I mean, not by blood, sure, but like…” He gestures over to Christopher, playing with Denny on the ipad.

Eddie feels himself grimace. Something about it strikes him as wrong. Buck’s an important part of Chris’s life, but uncle? He thinks of his own tíos, how they’d come to visit every now and again, spend most of the time talking to his parents and talking to him just long enough to establish how he was doing in school, and whether or not he had a girlfriend. 

He knows Buck won’t be like that with Maddie’s kid, but it still feels…. different.

Eddie doesn’t know how to respond to it, honestly. "Buck isn’t—that's not..." But what can he say? That's not how it is. That’s not enough to describe Buck’s importance in Chris’s life.

Eddie looks back at Buck, and sees matching confusion on his face. “Chris doesn’t call me his uncle,” he says, as though the idea has never even occurred to him. Eddie smiles at him, and Buck smiles back, and there’s a mutual understanding there.

Buck’s not Chris’s uncle. He’s… Well, he’s something else — something Eddie’s not quite ready to name yet, but there’s a piece of paper in a lawyer’s office to attest to it.

3: 

Chris is not feeling good. His head is spinning, his stomach churning, and he feels both hot and cold at the same time. 

“Your dad will be here soon, okay, honey?” Nurse Rodriguez tells him, after hanging up the phone. “You just sit tight and let me know if anything changes.”

He’s in the nurse’s office, staring bleary-eyed at the linoleum floor. The pattern swims around as his vision blurs, and he hugs the little basin Nurse Rodriguez had given him close, feeling more like he was gonna need it with every passing second.

“I’m here for Christopher Diaz?” 

He hears a familiar voice outside the room, and it makes him relax, just knowing he’ll be home soon, able to curl up in bed or on the couch, watch TV and be taken care of.

“Mr. Diaz!” Nurse Rodriguez says, in her overly-friendly voice, and Chris laughs, lurching his stomach and making him feel so much worse.

“Uh, I’m not… I’m Buck—Evan Buckley, I mean, I should be…?”

Nurse Rodriguez backtracks, apologizing. “Oh! I am so sorry, Mr. Buckley, I see you on the emergency contact list. If you’d just sign here?”

Chris loses track of the conversation outside, focusing instead on his breathing until Nurse Rodriguez comes back in and escorts him out to Buck. Buck wraps an arm around him and helps him out to the car, then sets him up with blankets and a bucket on the couch, and serves up chicken noodle soup when Chris is able to stomach food.

He lets Chris curl into his side to take a nap, warm and comfortable, like he’s a little kid again, and he stays there even after Chris goes to bed, even after his dad gets home and comes in to check on him.

4:

Buck knocks on Hen's door, and is immediately met with an armful of sleepy infant as she passes the baby over to him. He takes it in stride, adjusting her in his arms so she's comfortable and following Hen inside. 

"Everything okay?" He asks, once they're in the kitchen, surrounded by dirty mixing bowls and flour dusting every surface.

"There's a bake sale at the school tomorrow, and someone forgot to mention it until about an hour ago." She raises her voice on the word someone, pointedly glaring out to where Denny is doing his homework in the next room.

"I said I was sorry!" Denny calls back, and Hen grumbles but Buck can see there's no real resentment there.

"That's rough," Buck commiserates. "I take it we're not going to see that movie tonight, then?"

Hen shakes her head. "Sorry, man. I gotta take care of this. I do not trust Karen with baking supplies." Hen makes a face. "Granted, I'm also not spectacular at it but…"

Buck laughs. "I can help out," he offers. "I've got a great recipe for cupcakes?"

Hen makes a face. "Are you sure? You wouldn't know it, Buck, but those PTA moms are so picky about what you bring and whether it's good enough for their precious little babies—"

Buck snorts, gently settling the baby in her rocker. She fusses a little, but calms down after a moment or two. He gets the recipe up on his phone. "Oh, trust me—I know."

Hen looks confused, so he elaborates with an amused smile. "What, you think Eddie Diaz does all that stuff? I'll never forget the look on Carter's mom's face when my cookies outsold hers at the last bake sale at Chris's school." Buck chuckles to himself, then starts gathering ingredients. 

"Huh, I'm sorry. I guess I just assumed—I mean, he's got his aunt, and Carla…" Hen trails off with a shrug and falls into place next to Buck, reading the recipe and pointing him to the right cupboards to find what he needs.

"They do some, when we've got work or something, but…" Buck falters. He wants to say something like "That's different," or "They're not his parents," but... neither is Buck, is he? He remembers the elf from all those years ago, how he hadn't corrected her. The feeling of wanting that. 

At the time, he’d thought the want was just for a family of his own, a partner, a kid. Now, though… those lines aren’t as clear anymore.

"I like to help out," is all he says, and then switches on the mixer, effectively shutting off conversation.

5: 

Eddie's had a few drinks. Buck's at work, and Chris has been coerced into going with Pepa to visit Eddie's parents for the weekend. Eddie had been supposed to go too, but he doesn't feel too guilty about playing up his injuries as an excuse not to join them. He did feel slightly bad that his parents hadn't let them off the hook entirely, insisting on taking Chris off his hands.

Chris had dragged his feet about it, but Eddie knows he's stubborn enough to stay behind if he really wants to — he likes getting to see his older cousins, and while he doesn’t want to live with them, he does like visiting his grandparents, too — if only because they spoil him rotten.

Buck hadn't wanted to leave Eddie alone tonight, not after he'd been injured on the bridge — no more than a dislocated shoulder and a few bruised ribs in the end, nothing compared to Chimney, to Bobby even Hen, but it was enough to get him signed off work for a fortnight. Things had been sketchy for a few minutes there, and for a moment, Eddie had feared… but then there was Buck, opening the doors, pulling him out by one arm.

It hurts like a bitch, but he's fine. Still, when Buck insisted on calling in Carla to keep him company tonight, Eddie didn't point out that was exactly what Buck had been so against Maddie doing for him after the lightning. He doesn't mind the company, especially since he hates being home alone at night.

Besides, Carla doesn't treat him like an invalid. She brings a bottle of some fruity gin, and Eddie orders from the nice Thai place, and they just hang out, catching up on all of the grown-up stuff they rarely get to talk about when they’re busy discussing Chris.

Still, they're halfway through the gin when Carla brings it up. "Buck said he was scared he lost you for a second there."

Eddie shrugs, then winces. He's not sure how much of the wince is because it tugged at his shoulder, and how much is the reminder. "Honestly, for a second, I was worried too. But Buck got me out." Like he always does, Eddie doesn't say. He'd come so close to telling Buck, then. Telling him everything, how he felt for him.

"You know, this house is weird without Chris in it," Carla slurs her words, just as tipsy as he is.. For a moment, Eddie thinks the subject has been changed, until she continues. "If anything does happen to you, there's no way in hell I'm letting your parents drag Chris to Texas for good. I'm gonna fight to keep that boy here, and I know Buck'll do the same."

Eddie laughs, realizing that he hadn't told her about his will. He hadn't told anyone, really, other than Pepa, Abuela and Buck. He'd known at the time it was a big deal, that people might get the wrong impression if he told them.

Turns out, it would have been the right impression after all.

"That won't be necessary," he tells her, after draining his glass.

"I know, I know — you're fine, you aren't going anywhere anytime soon."

"No, that's —well, yes, that too, but also—" Eddie gets up, gestures for her glass too, then pours them both a fresh drink. "My folks wouldn't get Chris, if anything happens. I have a will, so…" he shrugs, sitting back down and sliding Carla's glass over. "Buck's gonna look after him. If I can't anymore. Prob'ly still have to fight, but it's on paper, it's… official."

Carla hums, watching him carefully. "And Buck knows this?" she asks.

Eddie nods. "Told him after… after the shooting."

The last time Buck took Eddie’s hand, pulling him from danger, dragging him to safety.

Carla sighs, shaking her head. She looks at him like she's seeing something new, like this is the last piece in a puzzle she's been working on for years. "Why haven't either of you made a move yet?"

Eddie chokes on his drink, and she pushes a dishcloth across the table for him to mop himself up. Once he's composed himself, he meets her eye.

"Honestly?" He asks. "I can't speak for Buck, but… I'm sort of starting to wonder the same thing."

+1:

Chris is honestly tired of everyone making assumptions about Buck's place in his life. It's been clear to Chris himself for a long time—probably longer than Buck himself has known. The problem is, they've never said it out loud.

That's going to change today.

A month ago, Chris got home from Texas to find his dad and Buck making out in the kitchen.

He'd run to wash out his eyes, but then they say him down,  and the three of them had talked it out together, and he's happy for them. Happy they’ve finally started being honest with themselves, with him, and with each other.

And now, it's Christopher's turn to do the same.

He's not as good as Buck at making pancakes, but he can do French toast pretty well, so he makes enough for the three of them and sets it on the table. It's a little overcooked, but he doesn't think they'll mind. 

Then he knocks on their bedroom door—because Buck may still be paying rent on his apartment for now, but he basically lives with them already. Chris likes that, likes having Buck around even more than before.

He disappears back to the kitchen before they can get to the door, calling them down when he hears Buck ask after him in a sleepy voice.

"Oh my god," his dad says, taking in the sight of the food on the table when both of them shuffle in. "This is… you made this yourself?"

"It's Father's Day, dad. I wanted to treat you."

Chris accepts the tearful hug with only minimal complaints, part of the gift.

Once they're both seated, he goes back to his room, returning with the real present.

"Carla helped with these," he explains, suddenly nervous. "I designed them, and then she sent them off to be made with the money from my allowance, um…"

Chris hands over the one on top first, putting it in front of his dad. Buck chews on his French toast, eyeing the package curiously while Eddie opens it.

Inside is a plaque, printed to look like a dictionary entry. It's cheesy as hell, but if Chris knows his dad, he'll eat it up. 

It reads:

Dad (n): a firefighter with a terrible sense of humor, someone who drinks too much coffee and spends too much time on his hair. See also: Father

Just as Chris predicted, Eddie's eyes grow wet, and he reaches out for another hug, which Chris indulges again.

"What's the other one?" Buck asks.

Chris takes a deep breath. This is it, he tells himself, and he hands the second package to Buck.

Buck looks at it, then up at Chris in confusion, waiting for him to nod before opening it with slow, careful movements — it's so unlike Buck, who always tears into the wrapping paper on his birthday presents, that Chris almost wants to laugh. He doesn't, though. This is serious, after all.

Buck stares down at the plaque, the same style as the first, with a different message.

This one reads:

Buck (n): A firefighter with a terrible sense of humor, the maker of the best pancakes, someone who knows way too many random facts. See also: Father.

"Chris…" Buck's voice is soft, and he looks to be at a loss for words, so Chris speaks instead. He practiced what he’s going to say here, to make his meaning absolutely clear.

"I know I only ever call you Buck," he says, "but that's just because calling both of you dad would be confusing, and pops is Bobby." Chris laughs, thinking of the time he'd spent on his own in his room, thinking of different words for dad he could call Buck, none of them fitting until he realized why. "But… Buck means the same thing as those other names to me, and it has ever since the pier. Since you saved me. You're my Buck. And I'm your son."

Chris is bright red by the end of his speech, he doesn't think he's said that much uninterrupted to his parents in a long time, and they're both just… staring at him.

Chris initiates the hug this time, throwing himself into Buck's arms. Later, he'll claim it was just so he didn't have to see the sappy looks on their faces, but he buries his face in Buck's shoulder, feels Buck's arms around his back, and he knows without a doubt that he's safe there.

His dad joins the hug too after a moment, sandwiching Chris in the middle in a way that should be uncomfortable, but Chris smiles to himself anyway.

The two plaques hang side by side on the wall of the living room, for everyone who visits to see, clearing up any and all confusion in the matter.

Buck is Christopher's dad, nothing more, and nothing less.

[wildlife4life]

foaming at the mouth over the nfl au ❤️

I am honestly gobsmacked at how popular NFL Buck is considering American Football isn't the most popular around these parts. So I will never deny sharing a snippet of a much beloved fic. Here is a bit from the Ocean's 911 arc.

Eddie tries his damndest not to squirm under Hen and Chimney's annoyed glares. He shouldn't have said a word. He should have lied and said something along the lines of 'Yea my house was searched too. Was up all night cleaning.' But nope. He was honest to a fault and possibly now considered a traitor. "Why pray tell were you excluded from the search warrant?" Hen asks with a slight scowl. He clears his throat and looks anywhere but towards his fellow firefighters, "I have a good lawyer." Correction, Buck has a good lawyer and the moment he heard about the police wanting to question Eddie, Kameron's car was booked. "Uh huh. The blonde in the Armani pants suit and killer stilettos?" Hen questioned. "Mmhm. Her names Kameron Kane. Do you um, want her card? She could probably help the rest ya'll out." That earned another scowl from Hen and a snort of discontent from Chimney, "Pretty sure we can't afford the same lawyer that represents several professional athletes and other millionaires." Chim remarks. Eddie winces and grips his coffee cup tighter. Kameron was well known now a days, but when Eddie first met her, she had literally barged her way into Buck's room, drunk and bawling her eyes out about Connor, Buck's roommate at the time. She was only a first year law student and didn't even blink at seeing the future NFL star naked in bed with another man. Just stuck her clammy hand out, when she did notice Eddie and said, "I'm Kameron, Connor's-whatever. How the hell did Buck score you?" And became one of their closets friends. Evan hired Kameron the moment she passed the bar and immediately fired the lawyer on Maddie's self-defense case, replacing his misogynistic ass with Kameron. She won, made Maddie a national icon, and insured every dollar of Doug's estate went to the brave woman. Kameron's been building her empire ever since and she was a glaring link between him and Evan Buckley. So he really hoped his co-workers don't follow it to back to the quarterback. "Sorry. Honestly she told them that I really don't have much of a motive." Translation: The detectives found out during their investigation that Eddie was Evan Buckley's partner and robbing a bank for the amount of money that was missing was barely a drop compared to Buck's income. As for the diamonds, more than affordable for the millionaire quarterback (just look at Maddie's jewelry collection). The detectives probably also kept their search warrants away from Eddie after Kameron threatened to sue the entire department if even minute whisper about Evan's private relationship got out. Police showing up to the quarterback's home to search it would have been much louder.

WIP Tag Game

[jungle-angel]

From A Father To His Son (Rhett Abbott x Reader)

Summary: Despite everything he had been through, Rhett comes to a realization that his family would do anything for you, him and Amy

Warnings: Perry slander, shouting, cursing, mentions of abuse, custody battle, Perry being a total shithead etc. etc. 

Tagging: @sebsxphia @nobody7102​

It was a gloomy, rainy evening, one of those evenings where not a single person would have ever thought it best to go anywhere or do anything. Rain pelted the windows while thunder had begun to roll over Wabang, the chill in the air giving you and Rhett a glimpse of the chilly autumn that would soon be coming. 

Rhett sat at the kitchen table with a mug full of steaming hot cinnamon and vanilla coffee, made just a little lighter by the splash of milk that had come from the gallon jug in the fridge. It had been a long day and an even tougher one. Amy was only a week and a half old, the tiny little baby needing round-the-clock care, but the thought of Perry trying to get at her was always on his mind. Always it lingered like a bad smell, annoying and irritating, gnawing at his bones and his mind ceaselessly. 

The day that you had brought Amy home had been three days after Rebecca had left, not wanting a single thing to do with the family or her daughter. You and Rhett had both felt horrible and yet, you were both at ease knowing that Amy would be better off with the both of you. 

But he also thought back to the days when he and Perry had been children. Rhett had often been left to his own devices while Perry remained under the watchful eyes of his mother and father. Rhett had always wondered why, why they hadn’t paid as much attention to him as they had done for Perry. It was enough to drive him crazy.....utterly, fucking crazy. 

The kitchen door creaked open and in walked Royal who hung his hat on the rack near the microwave. “Hey son,” he said. 

Rhett didn’t respond, bringing the coffee mug to his lips and taking in that warming liquid. “Come back to gimme shit?” Rhett asked him. 

Royal sighed and shook his head. “Listen, Rhett.....” 

“Whaddaya want Dad?” Rhett questioned. “Huh? Still protecting Perry like he’s the prodigal son?” 

Royal snorted a little. “Wouldn’t protect that shithead after what he did.” 

Rhett scrunched his eyebrows together. “Whaddaya mean?” 

Royal seated himself across from Rhett. “Every day I look at that baby upstairs and I think back to you, Rhett,” Royal explained. “The day you entered this world, I held you and made a vow to protect you no matter the cost. When you and (y/n) brought Amy home last weekend, I thought of you.” 

Rhett had never expected to hear that from his father. Growing up, Royal hadn’t been the most affectionate with him.....no, that had fallen on Royal’s father, River Abbott, a salty Vietnam Veteran who had practically taken care of Rhett when Royal and Cecelia couldn’t. To hear it from Royal himself was a complete shock. 

Royal pulled an envelope out of the inside pocket of his coat and slid it over to Rhett, the corner reading the address of the Amelia County Courthouse. “What’s this?” 

“Paperwork for the lawyers,” Royal explained. “Perry signs that and he relinquishes all parental rights to Amy, you and (y/n) get full, legal and binding custody of her until she’s eighteen.” 

Rhett went wide-eyed. “Dad how did you.....?” 

“I’ve known the judge since we were kids,” Royal answered. “Your godfather promised to have Beth intervene if necessary too.” 

Rhett was in shock, complete shock at what Royal had done for him. “Dad you didn’t have to....” 

Royal held up a hand, a sign for Rhett to silence himself. “There’s somethin else too.....I owe you this more than anything.” 

He slid another envelope towards Rhett which was promptly opened. Rhett’s eyes grew even wider than before. “Dad?” 

“It’s the last twenty five thousand you and (y/n) need for the house in Montana,” he explained. “John and I had a good enough auction year that we could pool it together.” 

Rhett ran his hand over his mouth, his eyes beginning to mist over from the tears that were forming. “Dad I.....I dunno what to say,” he croaked.

“Ya’ll don’t have to say anything,” Royal insisted. “You three have been through enough.”

Rhett stood up and soon he and his father both had their arms around each other. “Thank you, Dad.” 

The sound of the porch stairs creaking, suddenly startled them both, but thankfully it was only Cecelia coming in from the barn. “Listen to me,” Royal warned him. “Ya’ll make sure that as soon as dinner’s over that (y/n) goes upstairs and locks herself and the baby in the nursery. I’ve got a feelin he’ll be home later and shit’s gonna hit the fan.” 

Rhett nodded and took the two envelops off the table, heading upstairs to put them away in the little wooden mailbox above his computer desk. He passed through the hall, right by the room that served as Amy’s nursery. Through the slightly ajar door, he saw you standing near Amy’s crib, calmly rocking her in your arms, cooing to her in the soft glow of her little Disney princess lamp that rested on her dresser. Amy looked so delicate and cozy, wrapped in the little Irish knit blanket that you and Cecelia had worked on since before she had been born. 

“Uh huh.....yeah I know.....but your Daddy will take care of that big, mean monster who likes to come around here and snoop,” you told Amy as she cooed sleepily. 

Rhett entered the room, unable to control the smile on his face upon seeing you. “How are my girlies?” he chuckled. 

“Well, one girlie is still having some trouble sleeping,” you answered. “And one has been wanting you all day long.” 

Rhett laughed a little bit, pushing a loose wisp of hair out of his face, drawing you in and kissing Amy’s little head. “Listen darlin,” he said in a low voice. “I’ve gotta tell you something.” 

“What’s up?” 

“Dad told me that after dinner he needs you and Amy to stay upstairs,” Rhett explained. “Don’t come outta here, no matter what you hear, no matter what’s said...lock the door and make sure you’re with Amy.” 

You nodded, not needing to ask any questions. The last time you had witnessed something in the Abbott household involving the huge fight between Perry and Rhett, had been something you wished you hadn’t witnessed. 

************

The kitchen was quieter than it had ever been, the two men dreading what would ensue the minute Perry saw those papers, Royal most of all. He didn’t feel guilty, not at all, but rather a deep sense of tension that left him and Rhett ramped up, the anxiety so noticeable one could have smelled it. 

“He ain’t comin,” Rhett muttered when the digital clock on the stove turned to eight. 

“Just you wait,” Royal said, taking a sip of the coffee in his mug. “He’ll come stompin through any minute.” 

Sure enough, there was the door, creaking open, only to shut again followed by the clunking of heavy boots.....Perry. 

“The fuck is this?” Perry asked when he entered the kitchen and saw the papers on the table. 

“Somethin for you to sign,” Royal informed him. 

Perry snatched the papers off the table, his eyes glazing over them quickly. The silent tension in the room had grown worse, Perry’s jaw clenching and his eyes burning before he slammed the papers to the table. 

“Hell no!” he declared loudly.

“You’re gonna sign those fuckin papers whether you like it or not,” Royal snarled. 

“That’s my daughter......MY daughter!” 

“She’s my daughter too,” Rhett said icily. 

“Fuck you!” Perry shouted. “She ain’t your flesh and blood! Your fuckin wife didn’t birth her!” 

Rhett and Perry lunged right for each other but Royal was quick enough to grab Perry by the shirtcollar and slammed him right onto the kitchen table, the coffee mugs spilling their contents and clattering to the floor. 

“Now you listen to me you shit-for-brains goat turd,” Royal sneered. “You go anywhere and I mean ANYWHERE, near that baby and I’ll fuckin bury you. You so much as TOUCH my grandbaby and I’ll have ya’ll shipped off to the backwoods in another country and see how ya’ll deal with it then.” 

“I’m your fuckin son, Dad,” Perry blurted out. 

“Not anymore,” Royal spat. “I gave ya every chance I could Perry. Enough’s enough. Ya’ll got two weeks to pack your shit and get the fuck outta my house. If ya aren’t out by then, I’m callin Joy to evict your sorry ass.” 

“M’sorry Dad,” Perry blurted out again. “M’sorry.” 

“Don’t you fucking say you’re sorry to us!” Rhett shouted. “You don’t know what either of us has given up to protect your sorry ass or to protect Amy from you! YOU’RE THE REASON AMY DOESN’T HAVE A FUCKING MOM!!!” 

Oh did that one shut Perry right up. He couldn’t even form words, much less a coherent sentence. 

“Go get the phone,” Royal told Rhett. “I want Rip, Kayce and Wes all in here as witnesses to make sure those papers get signed.” 

“Oh it would be my utmost pleasure Dad,” Rhett agreed, still coming down from the highs of his anger. 

*****************

Up in the nursery, you sat in the creaky old rocker that had been in the family for generations, gently rocking the tiny baby in your arms as she remained attached to your nipple. It wasn’t easy being on the medicine that stimulated the flow of milk, but Cecelia’s old home remedies had been an immense help as well. Besides, you and Rhett hadn’t been comfortable at all with the idea of Amy being completely bottle fed all the time. 

You tried not to think about the awful shouting and clattering downstairs in the kitchen, right below your feet, hoping it wouldn’t wake Amy. A wakeful little coo escaped Amy’s throat as she suckled away, filling her little belly full of milk to put her to sleep. 

“Slow down princess,” you chuckled, feeling her tug just slightly. “You must be hungrier than I thought.” 

You cringed a little bit when you heard a loud curse coming up through the floorboards, letting out the deep breath you held in. Thank God the door was locked. If anybody had broken in, you wouldn’t have been able to hide properly. 

You quietly sang to Amy, hoping that it would put you both at ease. You had always loved playing “Edelweiss” on the guitar or the little hand harp you had gotten as a wedding gift, the words so happy and full of love, reminding you of your first spring with Rhett and the story he told of his Oma Heidi and her journey to America. 

No sooner had you finished than a soft knock at the door signaled Rhett’s arrival. You carefully stood up and unlocked the door to let him in, a look of victory on his face. 

“Did you do it?” you asked. 

“Papers are signed,” Rhett answered, grinning when your face lit up. 

“She’s ours?!” you suddenly blurted out. “She’s really ours?” 

“She is sweetheart,” Rhett told you, kneeling beside the rocker and kissing the top of Amy’s head. “She’s all ours.” 

You were so full of joy that your eyes began to well up, even as Rhett pressed a sweet kiss to your lips. It would still be a bit of a long road, but at long last, Amy was rightfully yours.....and always would be. 

[welcome-to-sparkys]

Soup of the Day

TW: Smut, NSFW - MINORS DNI

Tags: securitywaiter, dreamtheory, Mike x ness, blowjob, riding, cock warming, sleepy Mike, Doug mention

Summary: Ness visits Mike to drop off some dinner while Mike works the graveyard shift. Things get a little frisky 👀 little to no editing so sorry for mistakes

Master list

Ness had the combination memorized. Mike never gave it to him, no, he was just... Nosy. Enough guards had come and gone and the number 1 Freddy's private investigator would know a thing or two.

Ness tip toed inside the abandoned pizzeria, easily finding the security office. "Knock knock!" He announced, knocking on the door.

It took a moment for sleepy Mike to open the door, his headphones placed in front of the cams, still playing the nature sounds.

"Ness? What are you-"

Ness squeezed his way into the office. He held a plastic bag with some Sparky's to-go inside. "I brought you dinner!" He set the bag down on the desk and began untying the square-knot. "I know you have a tendency to sleep all shift and not eat, and well, I was already on my way home so..." He continued on to ramble, knowing full-well Mike knew Ness's home was the complete opposite direction of Freddy's.

Mike rolled his eyes and sat back down. "You wanted to see me." He said with a slight huff, crossing his arms. "You know you're not allowed in here. You could get me fired-"

Ness stuffed a crumpled 20$ bill into Mike's hand. "I got tipped pretty well. Some lawyer guy. Seemed pretty excited to eat at the diner." He flashed Mike his iconic smile. A smile that is hard to be mad at, especially if your name is Micheal Schmidt.

Ness turned back to the desk, rummaging in the to-go bag. He set down a tub with a strong fragrance of clam chowder. The soup Sparky's had as the daily special for a week now, at least that's what it felt like to Mike with his daily visits. Ness also placed a styrofoam container down. He ran a hand through his hair.

Mike hadn't realized he had been staring until now. Ness's hair laid messily on his head. It's clear he needed a shower after a long shift at the hot (from the kitchen) diner. His eyes trailed down Ness's neck, examining his frame. Despite the large height difference, Ness towered over Mike, his body was small compared to his. Fragile. Mike had muscle, Ness had brains.

He could so easily sweep Ness up, it was tempting...

"Mike?" Ness had turned around, and noticed the man staring. "Hey, hey Mike." He snapped his fingers a few inches away from Mike's face.

"Huh? Oh-" Mike blinked and shook his head.

Ness softly laughed, his smile was intoxicating. "Fall asleep standing up, buddy?"

Buddy... Mike couldn't put his finger on why, but he didn't favor Ness's tendency to use such... Friendly labels. He noticed Ness didn't really use it on anyone else, besides like. Children. Furthermore, Ness really only used buddy on him.

What the hell did Ness mean by buddy?

So lost in his thoughts, Mike didn't realize Ness had stepped closer. He could smell the stale coffee scent on Ness's uniform. His eyes drifted down and lingered on his lips. Soft, supple...

What the fuck was he thinking?

"Mike...? What's gotten into you?" Ness's eyebrows knitted together. "You're so spacey."

"Why do you call me buddy? Why am I your buddy?" Mike blurted out, a little more aggressive than he had wanted.

Ness was startled. He stared for a moment. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Mike leaned a little closer, which in turn had Ness shuffle back a little. "I just... You always call me buddy. Why?"

"Do you not like it?"

"No, I-" Mike let out a frustrated sigh. He took another step towards Ness. "It's just. I-" Another step.

Neither of them had seen this coming. Ness bumped back into the desk, practically sitting on it. Which, in turn, knocked over the soup. It spilled all over his clothes. He yelped in surprise, the soup was hot but not scalding.

"Ah fuck- Shit, fuck- I'm so sorry-" Mike scrambled to help. He gently moved Ness aside and took off his shirt. He balled it up in his hands and used it in a sad attempt to mop up the soup. He then saw the damage to Ness's clothes. His entire ass was covered in slimy — in Mike's opinion — soup.

Ness struggled to spit out anything, his cheeks tinged pink. Mike now was just in an undershirt, letting Ness easily see his toned muscular body. He then squeaked as Mike proceeded to take off his pants, leaving him in nothing but boxers and an undershirt.

"Here," Mike said, a little breathless, holding out his pants. "I know they'll be short but... Better than nothing."

Ness hid his face behind his hands. His eyes trailed from Mike's hands down to his boxers. He was... Large. Ness burned a deeper red. It was extremely obvious Mike had a package and his boxers left nothing to the imagination. Ness felt his pants grow tight.

"I-It's fine-" He sputtered out.

"No, I insist." Mike came closer. In a brain-dead move, he grabbed Ness's waistband. He gave a harsh tug, undoing the belt, and then yanked Ness's pants down.

A silence fell over the room.

Ness was hard, and his body was burning hot. His cheeks, shoulders, knuckles, knees and fingertips were dusted in a deep crimson blush. He felt his dick twitch as he realized the non-existent distance between his dick and Mike's hands.

Mike swallowed, his mouth grew dry. His heart began to pound in his ears. There was no way either of them could deny the situation. He couldn't tear his eyes away from Ness's bulge. His hand hovered over it.

"Mike, what are you-"

Ness let out a shakey gasp and moan as Mike ripped his boxers down. His dick bounced up, a little bit of precum already dripping. It was then he noticed the bump in Mike's boxers beginning to grow.

Mike slowly moved his hand to Ness's tip. He gently pressed his thumb's pad down. It was so warm, and a strange feeling. Mike had jacked off, sure, and he wouldn't confirm nor deny if he had done so to the thought of Ness, but touching another man was an entirely different world.

Ness whimpered as Mike began to draw circles. He helplessly bucked his hips. God it felt good, and it was barely anything. He squeezed his eyes shut. You're such a whore, he's barely touching you! He thought. It didn't matter how much he cursed himself in his head, his body moved on its own. He craved more of Mike's touch.

Mike slid his hand down, stroking Ness's shaft. Ness kept twitching, struggling to hold still. One hand held him up against the desk, while he bit on the other, muffling moans.

To Ness's embarrassment, his writhing grew more erratic for a moment more before he pathetically cried out, his dick shooting cum onto Mike's tank.

"O-Oh my god-" Ness whimpered. "I-I'm so sorry-" He closed his eyes, absolutely ashamed.

Mike just stared. The sticky substance was on his hands but mostly his shirt. Why did it turn him on so much? He felt himself practically drooling...

Ness squeaked as Mike lifted him up, dropping him down on the desk (the non-soup laden part). He wrapped his hot mouth around Ness's cock and began to bob his head up and down.

Ness squirmed and whimpered more. He grabbed fistfuls of Mike's matted hair, the over stimulation was a pleasant torture. It felt like every nerve in his dick was on fire, and he soaked in the sensation of Mike's soft tongue.

He rocked his hips, selfishly bucking into Mike. He was practically sloppily fucking his mouth. It didn't take long for him to cum again.

Mike pulled away, swallowing the cum. His heart pounded as he looked up to see Ness.

"Kiss me." Ness pleaded, breathless.

Ness tugged Mike closer to him as Mike stood up. He wrapped his frail arms in a tight embrace, interlocking their lips. He swiped his tongue at Mike's mouth, catching the lingering salty taste of his cum.

After a moment, the two separated. They shared a moment of silence, besides their panting, and stared.

And then it was Ness's turn. He shoved Mike into his swivel seat, tearing off his boxers.

"Ness, what are you-" Mike protested.

"Shut up and just enjoy something for once, Mike." Ness barked back. It wasn't like him to be aggressive, but Mike wouldn't admit he did like it.

Mike's cock was certainly bigger than Ness's. Ness was a little longer than average, but Mike was thicker. Ness took a shakey breath before he spat in his hands and stroked Mike. Mike dug his fingernails into the arm rests of the chair. He never had someone else touch him before.

After a few minutes, Ness shimmied himself and climbed on top of Mike.

"Ness!" Mike nearly fell backwards out of the chair. "What are you-" It was too late.

Ness sunk down onto Mike's cock, wincing at first with a grunt. Mike moaned, much louder than he had wanted. Ness let himself get settled before he started to rock his hips. Back and forth, back and forth...

It was a gorgeous sight to Mike. Ness, riding his cock, with his dick twitching and bouncing against his torso. It was better than any of the fantasies he had.

In fact... He decided to take advantage of this.

Mike dug his fingers into Ness's soft sides, and lifted him up. Just slightly.

"Mike-!" Ness moaned.

Mike then slammed Ness down, Ness's hole swallowing Mike's entire dick. Mike continued to use Ness like a flesh light. Ness leaned forward, burying his face into Mike's shoulder. He pathetically muffled his whimpers and moans, even his little "fuck"s or "oh Mike"s.

Mike grunted, louder and louder, as the wet sloppy sounds of Ness's ass smacking his pelvis echoed in that tiny, dark office.

"Do you know..." Mike growled. "How badly I've wanted this?" He said through gritted teeth.

Ness could feel Mike's cock begin to tense up. "H-Huh?" He whimpered.

"Fuck, Ness- Fuck-" Mike bit his lower lip as he pounded Ness even harder. Ness could only cry out louder and claw at Mike. Their moans melted together.

"Fuck, Ness, I like you, okay?!" Mike shouted. Another thrust. "I-" He huffed. "Fuck- I, Ness- I can't-" it was too late, he gave in to what he wanted. He pounded Ness's tight little ass until he came, filling it with hot cum.

Mike quickly relaxed, wrapping his arms around Ness's waist. He tried to catch his breath.

Ness's head was swimming. It felt so... So good. He never imagined... Especially since he was still sitting on Mike. "Mike... I-"

Snores came from mike. He was snoring.

Ness rolled his eyes. He made a mental note to nag at Mike to fix his sleep schedule. He sweetly kissed his temple. "I love you too."

And he remained like that, until the end of Mike's shift where they then both awkwardly tried to somehow fix their wardrobes. It was useless, and they both shambled out the pizzeria without uttering a word.

When they saw each other the next day at Sparky's, both struggled to make eye contact. Ness doodled a little heart on their receipt, and Mike signed it with a heart over the i in his name.

[thesimpsbasement]

Randomly got a spur of motivation to write so I'm writing requests that were sent when they were closed

_______________

Fandom: Ace Attorney

Character: Apollo Justice

Author:Mod Betty

Warnings/tags: kabedon(against a wall),misunderstandings,confession,reader is a prosecutor and friends with Apollo

Reader is gender neutral

Word count: 559 words

___________________

Apollo has found himself quite in the predicament. Lately the prosecution wasn't Klavier or some rando he forgot about the minute he left the courtroom.Oh no it was much worse,it was you.The red clad lawyer is head over heels in love amd everyone else knows….Well everyone except you apparently. Mainly because Apollo has been avoiding you like the plague. He couldn't be anywhere near you without his cheeks flushing red,stuttering or stumbling in his words.He can't look this pathetic in front of you! But of course you didn't know that and you often found yourself questioning his actions.You've been friends for so long so why is he suddenly so distant?Did you accidentally say something wrong? Was he upset after a trial? You didn't know and it has been eating you alive,until one day you couldn't take it anymore.

The trial was tough,not necessarily because the case itself was hard,rather all you could think about was how you'll approach Apollo after this. Apollo also had his own dilemma, he couldn't really focus when you just looked so pretty,he was focused on your face,eyes,nose,lips,what suit you chose to wear in this case,the sound of your voice,everything. Trucy had to snap him out of his lovesick gaze and focus on the case at hand. Eventually things got sorted out and they began leaving the courtroom. While in the lobby Apollo managed to see you from the corner of his eye and told Trucy they should go but before they could rush out of there,you're already in front of him.

"Excuse me, but can I borrow Apollo for a second? It won't take long, just need to have a private chit chat " you say,hoping Trucy would get the memo. And she did as she gave Apollo a smirk before leaving much to his dismay.Great there's no way out of this.

"S-So uh what did you-" Apollo couldn't even finish his question before getting pushed against the wall,you hand right besides his."Don't pull that shit on me Apollo,spit it out,why have you been avoiding me?" You demand,not taking note of how your current position was rather…intimate. Apollo could barely utter a response, his face red as his uniform. "Apollo?" Unable to contain it anymore he blurts out."I'VEBEENAVOIDINGYOUBECAUSEILIKEYOU" in a rather loud voice. Despite how fast he was talking, you understood every word. "Huh? Wait, hold on! You're telling me this whole time you had a crush on me!?" You were flabbergasted, to say the least. "Of course! Everyone knew, so I thought you did too…I mean, how can I not!? Just look at you! You're a well-respected prosecutor, and y-you're just so..so perfect! I mean the way you talk and your stance,not to mention your charm and beaut-" Apollo cut himself off ,realizing he's rambling and should probably stop embarrassing himself when suddenly he heard you giggle "Man, I'm an idiot, here I thought you hated me or something, turns out it's the complete opposite" you laugh,face palming,your own cheeks flush. Apollo stood there and asked "so…do you…reciprocate?" You laugh again,inching closer."What kind of question is that, Mr. Justice? 'Course I do" *you smile before pressing your lips on his.

[probablyintensemuses]

What To Expect When You're Not Expecting (4)

Chris Evans x Black (pregnant) Female Reader

Summary: It's no secret that Chris wants to be a daddy. He's said it in many different interviews and blogs before. He just never expected the mother of his child to be someone he didn't know, let alone fuck.

Warnings: 18+ angst, mentions of alcohol abuse and cheating/ malpractice, talk of abortions!, TALK OF SU*C*DE, TALK OF DMV! BE WARNED!

Note: If this gets a few hits and is well received I can make it a mini-series. If not I'll leave it one and done.

Edit: To my surprise, many of you like this and asked me to continue, here's the fourth part and a tag list to join! I'm trying to start my blog up so this really helps!

Series Masterlist

divider by: @firefly-graphics

taglist link here

(the reader is finally finishing her first trimester, we have to move it along hehe)

Chris wanted to throw his phone against the wall he was so angry. He knew it came with the territory of being a celebrity, but sometimes he wanted to damn the paparazzi to hell. Invading his privacy was one thing, he had lawyers for things like that. But invading yours and the baby's fueled him with unbridled rage.

Maybe it was a sense of protection he was growing over the child you were carrying, but he didn't want your face out there and now it was. Chris blamed himself, he was just so caught up in you and the baby he had been so relaxed and hadn't noticed the camera.

"Fuck, she's probably seen it." He groaned throwing his phone onto his sofa.

"I bet she has." Olivia spat, leading Chris to roll his eyes. "Oh, this one's rich!' She laughed sitting next to Chris. "Captain America star Chris Evans was seen cozied up with homegrown Boston beauty last Friday. The pair were spotted leaving together, Chris holding open the door for his suspected new woman. And is that a baby bump? So, could this mean America's most eligible bachelor is off the market?”

"Fucking E-news!" Chris yelled. "Calling her a Boston beauty, and the bump, fuck!" he tugged at his brown fluffy strands of hair.

"I'm sure she called herself a homegrown Boston beauty.' Olivia mimicked your accent. "Sounds too narssacitic to be press."

Chris practically blew smoke out his nose. “Olivia would you just fucking quit it!” He slammed his hand on the coffee table, pushing himself off the sofa. “She didn’t leak shit! We got caught, that simple!”

“Why are you defending her, huh?’ Olivia turned Chris around by his shoulder. “You don’t even know her!”

“I’m getting to know her!’ Chris shouted. “And I—I like her so far. Yes, she’s a tough cookie to crack. But I like her, and she seems like a good fucking person.” Chris said, bringing his temper down.

Olivia shook her head pointing at Chris. “This isn’t over, I’m calling the press and the news and telling them to take every damn story down, today.” She stormed off, her heels clicking against the marble floor. Chris shook his head as his hands rested on his hips. He really hoped you weren’t hurting somewhere.

—

You sat with tears in your eyes that were ready to break like the Hoover damn. You never imagined yourself to be so pregnant, and so alone. You held your mom's hand tighter moving all the metal wiring and tubing out of your way. Trying your best to ignore the heart monitor's persistent beeps.

“Mom,’ you sniffled, caressing her motionless hand. “You’re finally going to have a grandbaby, see?’ You leaned back, exposing your growing belly.

But she didn’t move, she never did. Your mother stayed still, her eyes remained closed as a tube roped through her neck doing all the breathing for her.

“Fuck.” You whimpered, pulling at the hospital sheets as you cried into them.

Why was life so unfair and cruel? Especially to the people who did it no harm. Your mom had been in a coma for just over two years at this point. And each day she was left on life support was another day it felt harder to be here. Harder to not be were she was. Or worst.

You remember that night. That night you, your mother, and your younger sister had almost lost your lives to the heinous man you once called your father. He had beaten you along with your sister to a pulp and nearly killed your mother by strangulation. Resulting in her slipping into a coma.

The doctors said if he had strangled her for just another minute, she wouldn't have made it. And from that treacherous night on, you had done nothing but pray she would wake up. Pray she would recover and you all could heal finally, as a family. And he could rot in hell.

A soft knock on the door pulled your attention from your mother, you slowly looked over to the sound and saw your mother's nurse just making her rounds.

“Hi.’ She smiled, clicking a pen alive and scribbling what your were positive was nurse terminology down onto a clipboard.

You noticed in between everything she wrote she would glance at you with a precarious look bestowed on her face. It wouldn’t take long before she finally spoke up.

“Not to be rude.’ She coughed, putting the pen on the collar of her colorful nursing scrubs. “But aren’t you the girl who's dating Chris Evans?”

Your eyes went wide and your heart silent. Your breathing was unusually shallow as you swallowed what ever spit was left in your parched throat. “What?” Being the only word you could muster.

“I’m sorry.’ She laughed, sweeping a red flyaway behind her ear. “It’s just your trending all over social media. They say you’re dating him.’

You didn’t say a word, instead you tore through your bag, pulling out your phone and jamming your thumb on the power button waiting for it to illuminate in your face.

‘Cmon, cmon.” You groaned, pushing into the button harder.

Finally, your phone lit up and you unlocked it heading straight to Twitter's trending page. There you discovered Chris was trending number one. You gasped as your eyes scrolled down the timeline along with your fingertips. Suddenly your phone began to show all of the miss calls and text messages from random numbers and Chris along with your best friend Vada.

You stood up from your chair, leaning down and giving your mother a kiss on her cheek. “I love you, mom.” You smiled somberly into the kiss, pulling away with a sigh.

“And no.’ You looked at the nurse. “I’m not dating him.”

Fuck, should you have said that? You scurried out of the hospital, jumping into the back of your Uber dialing your Vadas number as the sweat continued to pile underneath your arms.

“Bitch, you better explain yourself, and now!” She yelled over the phone.

“Vads, I’m not dating him! I don’t even know how those pictures got out there! Did he really use me as a publicity stunt?” You groaned, looking out the window.

“So you’re not fucking him?” She asked.

“Fuck no! He just wanted to talk and I agreed, then he begged to take me home." You fanned your overheating body. "Fuck, do you think he set me up?”

“It doesn’t seem like it from the pictures.’ Vada typed away on her desktop. “Have you talked to him?”

“No, but I’m going to his house now.” You sighed, biting at your nails. “I know he's probably thinking about me what I’m thinking about him.”

“You think he’ll think it was you?”

“Yup.” You shook your head.

Your Uber came to a halt in front of the penthouse. You said thank you and stepped out closing the door behind yourself.

“I’ll call you back Vads.” You said hanging up.

You looked at your call log and you finger lingered over Chris’s name which was bright red with missed calls. You let the pad of your finger hit it and brung the phone up to your ear.

“Hello, Y/n?”

“Chris, what’s happening?” You asked, walking inside his building.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I wish I knew.”

You took in a deep breath closing your eyes. “Can you let me up?” You ran a hand through your knotless braids.

“Your here?” Chris jumped up.

“Yes, is that okay?”

“More than okay.’ He said, walking toward his home phone that connected to the front desk. “One second.” He sat his cellphone down.

“Hey phill, can you let her up please?”

“Sure thing Mr. Evans, but which one?”

Chris paused, almost wanting to laugh. “What.” The laugh stifled out anyways.

“Well, there’s a pretty brunette here for you and a stunning lady with braids.’ He stood looking at both women. “So which one?”

Chris bit his lip and threw his head back. The last thing he need was to hear Emma's mouth about this. They weren’t even a thing, but she seemed not to take the hint. Or rather hints.

“Send 'em’ both.” He groaned hanging up the phone.

Phil shook his head, hanging his own phone up. “Um ladies,’ he coughed. “You can go through here.” A private elevator opened.

Your eyes scrunched together as you heard a pair of heels clicking behind you. Turning around you saw a fierce brunette walking towards you with fire in her eyes. She looked like something out of a magazine. Her brown hair flowed and bounced as she stomped toward the elevator. You scurried toward the elevator doors behind her, immediately feeling small next to the tall and slender woman. The doors shut in front of you and you began rocking on your heels hoping to elevate some of the tension that contaminated the air.

“So you’re sleeping with my boyfriend and he knocked you up?” Emma asked snarkily.

“What?’ You looked up at her. “No, it was a medical mistake.”

“Not what the news says.’ She crossed her arm, bursting out of the elevator at the ding.

You rolled your eyes, sheepishly following after her. You both reached the front door of Chris’s place. Emma knocked on the door ferociously so that it certainly could be heard from the other side. And it was, Chris opened up the door looking exhausted.

“Really?” She shouted, pushing past him.

You stood there biting the inside of your lip watching him shake his head low.

“Hi.” You said, still standing outside his door frame.

“Hi.” He exhaled, opening space for you to walk through.

"Trouble in paradise?" You chuckled, pointing towards Emma.

"There is no paradise,' he whispered, shutting the door.

"Hm," you said, tugging at your purse strap.

"There's the little minx." Olivia's nose flared as she strutted towards you with Emma behind her.

"That's not even the word for her." Emma ground her teeth together.

Your breath hitched in your throat as you stepped back, not noticing you had cowarded behind Chris who held your arm gently in support.

"I didn't leak that!" You croaked out.

Olivia folded her arms. "So who did?" She smiled, her eyes blinking rapidly.

"I don't know! Maybe the paparazzi!" You shouted unsurely.

"Chris!' Emma shouted, "Why are you touching her?"

"Because you're both acting insane and shouting at her! She's pregnant and I'm done allowing you both, especially you Liv , to torment her!" Chris belted, veins popping out of his neck.

He grabbed the small of your back, leading you to his couch and sitting you down. "Do you want something to drink, I have ginger ale."

You nodded, looking down at your shoes. "Yes."

Emma scoffed, plopping down on the opposite side of the couch, Oliva by her side, staring you down. "Can I have a drink as well, Chris baby?" she said, her eyes never leaving you.

Chris sighed. "Sure Emma, what would you like?" He twisted your ginger ale bottle open, pouring it into a glass.

"You know how I like it, something hot." She smirked at you.

You sat uncomfortably, not sure what her angle was with you.

"So you really didn't leak it?" Olivia asked.

"No, why would I?" You said, growing angry.

Olivia laughed. "Who would pass up an opportunity to be linked to Chris, lots of people just like you want him."

"I get you're protecting him, but the only thing I want to do is be able to eat my favorite foods without puking." You said, thanking Chris as he handed you your drink. "So no, I didn't leak it. Besides, how could I snap a picture from myself across the parking lot?"

Olivia's eyes softened, sitting back against the sofa. "We'll look into, it," She said snarkily.

Chris shook his head, slowly sipping on his expensive aged bourbon. It burning as it went down. “So where do we go from here?”

“We take her out of the public eye, not like she’s memorable. They’ll forget about her soon enough.” Olivia waved it off. “In the meantime, I’m going to set up a nice little PR date night for you and Em so the public will be off your trail.” She explained to Chris.

Chris rolled his eyes. “So what? We write it off like she’s a friend I was helping?” He asked, his arms resting on the top cushion of his sofa.

“Yup.” Olivia said popping ‘p’

“And maybe you and Emma should kiss, really make it seem legit.” She added.

“I’m all for that,” Emma smirked.

Chris leaned forward, rubbing his face with his palm. The last thing he wanted was for the public to believe he was a manwhore, with two women in less than a month it was bound to be a story, he could see it now. But it was for you and the baby. And at this point he would do about anything for the two of you.

“Okay.” He agreed, setting his drink on his coffee table. “Only for y/n.” He said, standing up.

Your head shot up, for most of the conversation you had been silent hoping no one would point a finger at you if you stood still. But now Chris had just bring that attention back on you, and in the most unexpected way.

“What?” You laughed in confusion.

“I’m only doing this ridiculous stunt for you.’ Chris clarified. “You didn’t ask for this.”

He looked into your eyes. “I’m doing this for you and our baby.” He said.

You weren't sure why, but your heart had just skipped a beat. He was so Captain America-like. Running to your defense like you had watched him do before on the big screen.

You brushed a braid, behind your ear. “Thank you.” Your cheeks heated up, and you almost wanted to slap yourself for allowing it.

“Yeah, anytime,” Chris said with a small smile.

Emma scoffed, grabbing her purse and leaving the room. "I can't stand to watch this!" She shouted, slamming the penthouse door.

"That girl is a nutcase." You sipped on your ginger ale, rubbing your belly.

"Tell me about it." Chris groaned.

Anxious was an understatement, this was the first ultrasound he would attend. The first time he'd officially meet his baby. Although he had no part in the conception, he never felt more connected to anything in his life. Chris pulled open the doors to the clinic, smiling at the front desk woman as he approached.

Instantly her eyes glimmered over. "Oh my goodness, are you, Chris Evans?" She questioned, frantically pulling out her phone.

He put his finger over his lips shushing her, pulling his baseball cap low. “Yes.” He chuckled.

“Oh my God, I love your work. Could I have a photo?” She giggled, making sure to whisper per his request.

“Sure.” He looked over his shoulder before leaning in. The woman snapped a photo thanking him once more and blowing a kiss.

You just laughed, closing your assignments as you clapped your hands. What a show that was, you couldn’t fathom being famous and getting recognized everywhere you went. You couldn’t even handle being recognized as a teacher in the grocery store. But Chris seemed to handle it well, it was one of the things you were beginning to admire about him. How calm he always seemed to be, it made you less nervous.

“Hey superstar.” You waved at him, putting your students assignments into your bag.

Chris laughed, walking over to you. “Wow.” He gasped as you stood up. “You’re getting so big.” He chucked in disbelief.

You frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

Chris’s eyes widened then softened. “No baby—I mean, Y/n. I meant your belly. The baby.” He pointed at your stomach.

“Well I hope so,” you grumbled. “Sit, our appointment isn’t for another fifteen minutes.”

“Right.” He sighed, sitting beside you. “What we’re you reading?” He asks, sparking conversation.

“Oh, my students informative essays.’ You chuckled. “Would you believe Aria actually wrote about immaculate conception after hearing our story.”

“That girl is something else.” He rubbed his temple.

“You must admit, she’s brilliant. And she will be getting an A.” You said. “And not because I unofficially slept with her uncle.” You brushed your shoulder against his.

Chris brushed yours back, laughing along with you. Not only was Aria something else, so were you, and in the best possible way. But there was something he couldn’t deny himself of knowing anymore. After your coffee date and you mentioning a high insurance rate, Chris looked into the real reason you needed two jobs. He couldn’t find much, but what he could find disturbed him. He just wanted to know the real truth, maybe he could help.

“Can I ask you something, Y/n?” He sighed, rubbing his palms over his knees.

“Shoot.” You smiled at him.

“I found something and I wanted to ask you about it.”

You frowned not sure where this was going, but before Chris could explain the doctor had called your last name. Waving for you to come back.

“Let’s table the conversation for after, okay?” You grabbed your bag.

“Just promise you’ll be honest.” Chris took your bag from you.

You laughed awkwardly. “Depends on what it is.”

—

“Okay, this is going to be cold, Ms. Y/L/N.” The doctor said, as she began to spread the ultrasound gel along your belly.

“Wow, that really is cold.” You jolted, laughing as she and Chris stared at the screen.

“Yes.” She giggled. “So tell me, Y/n, I see this is your first pregnancy. How has it been so far?”

“Well, I’ve been able to eat more and not get sick so that’s a plus. Also I have this app, it told me my baby should be as big as an avocado by now.” You explained, heading Chris laugh.

“An avocado, that’s so small.” He chuckled.

“Well babies are small, and a handful. Which is why it takes a village to raise them.’ The doctor said, still searching the monitor. “And I assume this is dad?”

“Yeah.” Chris spoke, his heart fluttering at the title.

“Ah, there they are. Beautiful heartbeat.” The doctor pointed at the screen.

You and Chris both leaned in, listening to the heartbeat as it sounded like music to your ears. Your eyes began to swell with tears. You had never had any intentions on having children, but after this, you felt completely different. You would protect this baby with your life. A lone tear rolled down your cheek as you felt your hand inch closer to Chris’s, almost acting on it own accord. Your fingers intertwined as he smiled down at you with misty eyes. That lonely feeling you felt subsided, you realized that as long as you two were in this together, Chris would never make you feel alone.

“When will we know if it’s a boy or girl?” Chris asked, wiping his eyes.

“I’d say give it another month or two.” The doctor smiled, wiping your belly clean. “Congratulations. Whoever they are or choose to be, they’re happy and healthy.” She smiled, leaving the room.

Chris sniffled, wanting to hug you so badly. He couldn’t help that he was a hugger. But you broke through the silence, blowing your nose.

“What did you want to ask me?” You groaned, swinging your legs off the exam table.

Shit, Chris had almost forgotten he wanted to ask you about a harrowing experience in your life.

“Right.’ He watched as your eyes searched his. “Y/n, what really happened to your mother?”

Your stomach dropped, your eyes were glossy again and not from hearing the heartbeat of your baby.

“What?” You croaked.

“I looked into it, the reason you work two jobs because I didn’t want you stressed out.’ He sighed, leaning against the exam table, your watering eyes tearing him apart. “I read an local paper about your stepfather and your mother.”

“It didn’t say much, but it said enough.” Chris said. “Is your mother okay?”

Your body trembled, why would he think it was ok to ask you such questions. Especially after arguable the best moment of your life.

“Why do you care?’ You questioned. “And—and why the fuck are you looking into my past? I thought you were over that?”

“I just wanted to help you anyway I could, and you weren’t talking to me.”

“Talking to you, I barely know you! At least not enough to give you my full fucking life story!” You shout. “Why is it that you know more about me than I do you? And I’m not the ones whose plastered all over social media!” You brush past him, holding onto you belly.

“Y/n!” He shouted after you.

But you ignored him. If Chris didn’t trust you to carry his baby, to hell with him. We all have our past, our demons and you were no exception. But neither was he, and you were about to find out what those demons exactly were.

—

A/N: sorry for not posting this for a while. I know people have been looking forward to it. So here is part four. Nosy Chris.

Taglist:

@goldenlouvr @rookiemartin @stokeleybabymama @peachy-bunnns @pbeckn26 @saturnalya @a-moment-captured

@fairlygothparents @eylsqnn @blahblahblah-boo @jackiekae

@shhhchriss @eclecticfashionbookszipper

@sleutherclaw @namesey1987 @namesey1987

[bigmack2go]

Since i made tjis tag i thought i might as well add onto it already so uh yeah… again: feel free to use this to explain the internet to ur parents

Emoji guide!!

💀: is like a way to laugh. Specially like a „bruh“ or „no she/he/they/you did not“, „i cant believe he/she/they/you did this“ or „there is no way they/you/she/he did this!“. Do not use this if someone died please!

😭: also a laugh. Dont ask. People use it differently but many people use it specifically when they are jokingly complaining or whining about something. Also when something is unbelievable and/or like a wheezing „what?!“ or „seriously?!“

🥺: we usually mock ppl w this saying they’re pick me (fishing for compliments)

🤠: i hate my life right now

😃😀: those are like a frozen smile and show that u highly dislike smt

🙂: im about to strangle someone and beat the shit out of them. When you need to take a deeo breath to keep cool

🙃: either mocking pedoph!les lt trying to creep someone out or saying that someone is creepy

😆: hAHa YoUrE So FuNnY (hint: youre not funny)

😁: ironically saying „look what I’ve accomplished“

🥹: is the version of „🥺“ that we actually use

🥲: can be „beautiful“ *wipes tear from eye* or like the office glance at the camera.

😇: i do not in fact have very good intentions

☺️: im gonna kill u. Kind of a „you did what now?!“ when u try to keep calm

😊: im so not okay right now and i hate my life or being proud in a bragging way

😉: make fun of pedoph!les

😌: uh-huh thats right. Im great (and u suck). OR „good girl“ yk?? Or being proud

😗: also a frozen smile kinda thing

😋: hehe mischievous

😝: mocking old ppl

🤪: ironic way of mocking pick me girls (aka girls that are fishing for compliments)

🤨: „thats what she said…“

🧐: „do you realise what youre saying??“

🤓: making a mocking voice

😎: mikedrop

🥸: are you aware that u sound like an idiot rn

🤩: IM GONNA BE A DOCTOR OR LAWYER OR SMT (i didn’t fail my maths exam for once)

😣😖: u gonna cry?/ go cry about it

😫: our generation is weird and has to make everything moaning. Sry but this is moaning.

😩: „OH COME ON!“

🤯: are you telling me you didn’t know this yet?

🥵: moking hot situations or saying „that was close“

🥶: „YOU GOT ROASTED“

😶‍🌫️: wasn me

😱: are you telling me u didn’t know this?

🤗: im so happy for u (i hate you and i don’t think u deserve shit and it’s not fair that i have smt i want. Fuck u)

🤭: you think im frightened of u?

🤔: ironic way to say „i wonder why“

🤫: i did smt haha

🤥: i did smt not-so-haha

🫠: „that was so embarrassing“ discompfot or blush or a way of showing a crush. Some people use it as that thing where j get rly angry and try to cover it up and then your eye starts twitching

🤥: haha wasn me (it totally was me and we all know it)

🫥: no ones laughing

😐😑: i cant w u

🫨: more ironic version of „🥶“

🤤: i want that

🙄😴: waiting

😮‍💨: why r u such an idiot? And why did god choose me to handle it?

😵- oh— (swallowing a laugh)

🥴: w h a t

🤢: exxeragating way to make fun of ppl

🤑: gimme gimme

🤡: u/i sound like an idiot. Also way to mock creeps

👹👺: when u make your voice all bellowish and/or come of creepy and weord

👽: he/she/they sounds like an idiot. Are they dumb? Or „girl—?“

👾: stop talking. Ur annoying and also no ones buying ur shit

✌️: often used ironically

🤌🏼: *cheffkiss*

🫰🏼🤏🏻: teeny weeny

🫴🏻: y tho

☝🏼: mhm (pretending to be an authority figure, usually in a lightly mocking way)

🖐️: oft used in combo w „😭“ to say „can i live??“

👁️👄👁️: heh

✍️: noted OR im writing u in my death note

🦶: stfu or what ur saying makes no sense

🫦: mockingly sexual

👣: ur onto smt

👀: „woOHP“ *swallows a laugh*, he said what?, offensive sideeye, looking forward to smt OR i may or me not be plning smt (im absolutely planning smt) aka what i says has double meaning

🗣️: no one wants to hear your bullshit

👼: opposite as 😇

💆: this isnt a massage. This is me desperatly holding my demples and taking deep breaths so i dont kill anyone

💅: fab. Its also kind of slang/ hidden way to say „gay“ and do the handflick thingy. At least it used to be idk

🧑‍🦯: ur not making any sense

🧍‍♀️: someone spunds like an idiot or idk what to do w myself/ this sotuation

🕴️: you are about to break into dancing

🕺💃: vibing w music

🎩/🎓: used to be like „ha look how smart i am because of tjis one thing i got right“ in a nonserious way but no one rly uses it anymore

💍: marry me (obv) but like in an easy way. You had a good idea and im flashed by it so im exerragating your genious so much i want to marry u. Thats just an example obv

👑: u dropped this

🦄: delulu

✨: to make a word fancy like precenting a banner u put one of these at the beginning and end of the word/phrase/sentence. This can br sarcastic or serious. In quarantine many people used this as general quote unquote marks

🌚🌝: hehe

🔥: pften used by bro-pal-guy-jocks to push a post by comenting

[bite-sized-devil]

MC: "Why doesn't anyone talk about the fact that orange juice smells like farts? Like don't get me wrong it tastes great but like the bottle just stinks."

Beel: "I've talked about it."

Mammon: "I've thought about it."

Belphie: "Does that mean you've all drunk from the bottle and not used a cup?"

MC: "...."

Beel: "...."

Mammon: "...."

Belphie: "Wow, so now we don't want to talk about it huh?"

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you liked it ☺️ Likes, comments, and reblogs are so appreciated! 🌻 Please don't repost, that shit won't fly here. I'll annoy the absolute shit out of you. If you would like to join the tag list please fill in my dumb little form.

Tagging: @delphi-dreamin @blackwings-with-angeleyes @ladyofthemorningstar @sassykattery @alexxavicry @not-a-cat-lawyer @aprilwallflower @your-next-daydream @rosanism @marvelous-maniac @i-hardly-know @kyungjoon-do

[igotanidea]

Hello Devil : Matt Murdock x reader

request/ summary: what do you think about Matt/f!reader where they grew up together and were really close, but then Matt went to law school, but reader decided to study to become a journalist (or smt like that) in another city, so they kinda lost each other. Maybe reader wrote some articles about Daredevil and they met again in orphanage (like in the begging of the last season)

I changed the part about studying in another city but tried my best to stick with the rest I'm still taking tags.

masterlist

Warnings: angst, fluff, inuendo to smut, heartbreak, tears, indulging in the traumatic past, you name it.

„For God’s sake! Did you really think you could hide from everyone and pretend to be dead?”

“Sort of. Yes.”

“Unbelievable. Did you believe I wouldn’t track you down?”

“Honestly I was hoping you would give up.”

“You Murdock may be a hell of lawyer but on the other side of the room you are an idiot.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop it. Just … stop.” I shot him a glance and even though he could not see it I knew he knew what was my face expression.

We were currently sitting in the St. Agnes’ convent hospital, my dumbass of a friend being beaten up to shit, bleeding on the bed, plastered from his toes almost the head and I was just observing.

“Why, Matt? Why would you do that to… to Foggy, to Karen, to me? I mean, come on! Do you even realize how sick and worried we were?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying that! I know you do not intend to make it better so your words mean nothing!”

He just groaned in pain and closed his eyes.  Honestly I didn’t give a damn on how much suffering he’s been though. He put this on himself the very second he choose that vigilante suit over everything else that mattered in his life.

I knew Matt since I could remember. Even before this fateful accident that left him blind. He was always a protector. In primary school he was willing to stand up to the bullies and tormentors, even if at the end he ended up with broken bones and bruises all over his body. Must have something to do with his father being a boxer. Speaking of parents, since my were always busy with work and life stuff I was practically raised in the Murdock household which lacked woman’s hand. Or rather girl’s hand back at the time. I was a quick learner and soon enough was taking care of both Matt and Jack, helping them clean their messes when needed and patch them up. Me and Matt were inseparable, even after he lost his eyesight. Since then life was not easy on him. Jack Murdock was murdered in cold blood and father Lantom took him under his wings. Raised him as catholic. That was probably the first difference between us, since I was never into religion. However, I was also not an ignorant or troublemaker. Lantom was really smart man and I thoroughly enjoyed talking to him about, well, everything. Religion, life, economy, language. I suppose he had as much impact on me as on matt since thanks to him I got interested in literature and writing and when it came to choosing college and career path I decided to become a journalist. On the other hand, Matt wanted to be a lawyer. Given his big mouth and way to talk and twist words I wasn’t surprised.

“a lawyer, huh? That is ambitious.” I muttered. We were sitting on the park bench discussing how we imagine our future

“It just feels right you know, the way to protect the people.”

“Sounds like you Murdock. “

“And what about you? Journalism? I think you were always good at discovering the truth and hidden meanings.”

“Does that surprise you?” I grinned “we were raised together and you are not exactly a definition of open book.”

“Guess we both learned a lot from each other, right.”

“I can’t imagine you learning anything from me.”

“Don’t be modest. You showed me how to trust my guts. And how to control emotions. And how to think before acting..

“ Definitely failed at the last one” I took a sip of coffee and Matt smirked “maybe the law school will chasten that hot-headedness. Though I hope not. It’s who you are after all.”

“Thank you” he grabbed my hand and gave it a light squeeze “but now, that we are talking I need you to promise me something.”

“Shoot.”

“Promise me you won’t forget about me. That you will call and contact me and …. You know. I don’t want to lose you. You are my best friends.”

“I promise. You won’t get rid of me to easily.” I smiled laying my head on his shoulder

“ That was cliché, Ms. Reporter. If you want to succeed I suggest you start working on your stock of words.”

“Idiot!” I shoved him playfully.

5 years later we were both done with college. And about that promise….. I hoped it would work better but was counting for the worst, breaking contact included, so generally speaking it worked half-way. I called and occasionally came to visit, but it wasn’t as often as I wished. The last year was the hardest since I was a witness to some unexpected event. I scored an internship in New York Bulletin and took my job extremely seriously, trying my best to come up with the story that will make my career skyrocket. And then, almost like from-heaven-sent some vigilantes started coming to life. First, it was the Avengers. Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow. Personally my favorite of them was Hawkeye – the guy was just doing his job, staying quiet, not showing off. But that was also exactly the reason why the chances of writing a story on him were like zero. Stark was much more available and I made it my personal mission to reach for him. It took a lot of effort but in the end was definitely worth it. My boss , the chief editor was pleasantly surprised of my uptake on the story and at the age of 23 I was confided with my own column in the newspaper. That was also the moment when my phone started to ring. A lot of magazines wanted to recruit me but I refused all of them. My current job was my home and I had too much of a good relationship with my boss to ever leave him.

“Fuck!” I muttered as I hear the phone ring again “Not interested!” I throw to whoever was on the other side, believing him or her to be another HR caller.

“That’s unfortunate. Did the soda water rush into your head already?”

“Hello counsellor. I may not be good at law but don’t those words constitute a defamation? How do you call it ….” I searched for the right expression “slander?”

“Someone’s been studying the vocabulary.”

“Took your advice, Murdock.” I smiled through the phone

“Seemingly it payed off.”

“And you are calling me to brag? “

“I’m calling to congratulate you. This is big, you know it. And I’m proud of you.” Some incoherent words came from the distance “Foggy is too.”

“Well, thank you both.”

“My friend!” Foggy grabbed the phone from Matt “this calls for a celebration, don’t you think. My treat. Josie’s?”

“Where else? Beer and dirty, sticky floor is a perfect sing I did not become too conceited.”

“Great! Meet us there at 9. Works for you?”

“Sure thing, see you there guys.”  

***

“To your success, redactor. Next step will be the chief editor if you keep the pace” Foggy raised a glass and me and Matt joined him.

“You know what they say, counsellor, dream big.” I grinned and toasted “to our success. Now, if I ever get in trouble while investigating for an article I suppose my two best friends would get me out, right?”

“Anytime. And since you work on the superhero stuff it might be more then less often.”

“So, anything in particular on your agenda now?”

“I;m thinking about focusing locally, hell’s kitchen . After all we have our own hero/vigilante. The devil of hell’s kitchen?”

Matt nearly choked on his beer but I did not took notice of his unusual behavior and neither did Foggy. At least at first, since after a second it was necessary to pat him on the back to avoid a casualty.

“What is wrong with you?” Nelson asked his partner in confusion

“Down the wrong pipe, I guess. You know what, I’m suddenly very tired, I think I’m gonna head home, but you two stay and have fun.”

“Oh, come on Matt!” I whined “Don’t be a party breaker”

“Sorry, sweetheart. You have to forgive a blind man.”

“Do I? Do we? What do you think Foggy? Should we let him get away with this one?”

“Not a chance. We’re gonna get back at him the moment he least expects it.”

“You like to keep me hanging, don’t you?” he smirked and started to walk towards the exit

“Hey, Matt, do you need a walk home?”

“Thanks searcher, but I’ll be fine. Don’t want to more of a celebration spoiler.”

“What did he just call you?” Foggy was confused by the nickname Matt used

“Honestly I have no idea “ I took a sip of a beer “but knowing Matt, it’s gonna stuck for good, so I better get used to it. Searcher. It has a nice ring to it after all.”

“Maybe. But Matt’s sudden leaving was strange.. .”

“No, Nelson. I refuse to spend the rest of the night talking about his shitty behavior. I want to get drunk, do some karaoke and then get more drunk.”

“We have a reputation now, my friend. Should be wise about what we are doing.”

“Please, Foggy. Just this once?” I made puppy eyes on him and after a while of hesitation he let go.

“shit, you make me break so easily. Must be the pretty girl charm.”

“I’d prefer term smart girl charm.”

“Well then, you are certainly both.”

***Have to H

I’m not sure how we ended up a bit wasted on the streets of New York, heading towards my apartment, laughing like no one could see us and like there were no tomorrow when we will have to go to work and act like adults. Nelson was a gentleman after all and made sure I got home safe, even if it was a bit of challenge for him. That was highly appreciated. As soon as I came through the door I feel on the couch and instantly fell asleep.

Barely couple hours later the alarm in the phone went off making me jump off the bed. I groaned feeling tense and numb, realizing it was not Saturday but simple, boring Wednesday. “Time to sober up” I thought to myself shaking off the blanket…. Wait. The blanket? I was absolutely sure I did not cover myself last night. Or maybe I just couldn’t remember? Perchance it was just my mind playing tricks on me? Was I going crazy? Was that the influence on my superhero column? Before I started spinning, thankfully the phone started ringing and I was more than happy to see it was Matt.

“Hey there, Murdock.”

“Morning sunshine. How was your night? Did you got home safe? Did you sleep well?”

“Where does this concern of yours come from?”

“It’s not concern. More like … sense of duty….”

“Oh, I;m your duty now? That is funny. I clearly remember it being the other way round” I smirked and somehow knew he could sense that even through the phone “But seriously, the night was good, the sleep however a bit short.”

“Did you use your magic blanket?”

“Yes. I mean it’s actually a bit strange…”

“How so?”

“I can’t remember putting it out yet this morning I found it on me…”

“you know, the alcohol kills brain cells, maybe it’s already affecting you.

“Haha. Very funny . Have a nice day counsellor, meet you later?”

“Not tonight. I … I will be busy with some stuff.”

“Ok, then how about I bring you some Thai or Chinese?”

“Not tonight.” His voice was stern and cold and that left me a bit suspicious. Was he hiding something?

“Look Matt, if you are having any lady friend over it’s fine. You can just tell me. Now or later, when you ready.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow” he hung up on me.

Fine. If that’s how it’s going to be, no pressure on him. Give him the distance.

*** “I’m putting you on Daredevil story” Ellison entered my office unannounced. Guess that’s what you get being chief editor

“That’s not new” I frowned “you already gave me that topic before, so….”

“There are some rumors around town”

“What rumors?”

“Some people might or might not have notices strange movement on the pier.”

“Like … like outlaws? But if we got that he is surely gonna be there”

“You are a smart one, aren’t you? Go there, check it out. BUT. Figure it out during the daytime, you hear me? Can’t risk you getting hurt or kidnapped kid”

“Please do not call me that” I rolled my eyes at him “And I get more chances if ….”

“No. Daytime. That is an official order. Repeat after me. Day hours.”

“Ok, fine, fine! Day hours.”

“Good. Now you may go. It’s your work after all so bring me something good.”

Oh, I will bring you something better than just good.

I really liked Ellison, cross my heart. As much as I hated going against him, I was not the one to back up on a good story. Daytime was fine. But I never promised to stay away at night, right? So, like a good girl I checked the pier and since nothing interesting good came up I prepared for some more research. 5 years of a karate class and a self-defence course could finally be used to something good. When the dusk settled in I put on a hoodie, some comfy pants and light shoes that made almost zero sound and prepared for my mission. The rumors were true. As I was hiding behind the lorry I noticed some men dressed like ninjas (what else?) trafficking something. Or rather someone – some poor girls, my age or maybe even younger. Shit! How sick was that? “Should I take action” I started thinking but before I could act on that thought some silhouette came from the shadows and took those men down one by one, getting the girls to safety. Here he was. The Daredevil. It would be unwise to just come out now since anyone could be watching so I tried my best to follow him as he fled the scene. If what I heard about him was true his supersensing would not leave me unnoticed.

“What the hell are you doing here?”  how he managed to be behind me despite the fact that a second ago I saw him in front was a mystery “Do not… turn around. Eyes front. Answer my question.”

“ok, fine, Jeez. I’m no threat. Just a journalist. I’m writing about you. “

“and why would you do that?”

“I don’t know. To show people you are not bat-shit crazy vigilante? That you protect people and not hurt them? Living proof I just saw.” I shifted a bit but he was quick to grab my hand behind me and force my gaze up.

“Do not turn around, girl. This is dangerous for you. Let it go now. No more following me. No more tracing my steps, you hear me?” Why was there something oddly familiar about his scent and the way he was holding me? It was not a tough, firm grip but rather a gentle and comforting hold. Like he really was concerned about my safety. “This is your last and first warning. Now. Get out of here.”

Do you think I stopped after that? Well, you are right, I did not. I wrote that first article and then another and another. At some point they started to become boring and I knew I had to put on my suit once again and take action into the field.

As the night came I was standing on the street wondering who, where and why might be in trouble. The most dangerous place at the moment was the alleged lair of a drug dealer who was also doing in sex-trafficking. If Daredevil shall appear anywhere that would be it. Being a committed reporter I walked right there, not without a bit of a trembling but trying my best to be invincible. It almost worked. Almost being the key word here. I was just about to sneak a peek thought the window when a sudden pain grew at the back of my skull, my vision became blurry and I lost consciousness.

When I woke up I was in a small room with a couple more girls hunched in the corner. The terror and fright on their faces make me feel helpless and stupid for falling into such primitive trap. My hands were tied on the back and I could feel my right eye swelling and my lip bleeding. Not really much chances of doing anything, even given my karate knowledge.

“Oh, she’s awake.  This little one is pretty” one of the man grabbed my chin forcing me to look at his masked face “we will get a lot of money for her.”

“get your hands off me, you….” a slap on the face made me go quiet. Just play it smart

“You think I’m pretty?’ I tried to talk at him while also working on untying my hands

“I think you talk too much, vajze”

“Wait, you are Albanian?” another slap on the cheek and I knew I would end up with bruises tomorrow. On the good news my shaking made the ropes loosen a bit so now it was an easier way to free myself.

“You are also smart one, aren’t you? So tell me, goxha, how did you end up here?”

“You step away from the girl, now.”

“Took you long enough devil!’ I yelled as he started to fight. It did not took him long with all those flips, turns, jumping and throwing punches along with tripping up to knock all the opponents down.

“Are you insane?” he turned towards me, untying my hands, which at this point were absolutely numb “why do you never listen? I explicitly told you…..”

“Watch out!” I yelled as another opponent came right at him from behind. Without thinking I took a swing, turned and kicked him right into the chest causing the man to fall down with a groan. Daredevil just stood there with no face expression. At least on this part of face I could actually see.

“I explicitly told you to stop your actions.”

“Wow, that felt great” I exhaled deeply grinning like crazy “All this adrenaline rush! I love it! I need to do it more often!”

“What did you just say?”

“I;m gonna write one hell of a story on this one, trust me, it’s gonna be great!”

“Searcher!”

“What did you just say to me?” I turned to face him my eyes opening wide “No. no, no, no, no. “ I took a step back realizing what was happening. The devil of hell’s kitchen did not seem to bother my disbelief as making sure no one was around he slowly took of his mask.

“Are you kidding me?! Is this some sort of twisted joke?! What the hell, Matt?!”

“I’m sorry” he grabbed my hand gently and put it on his cheek “you wanted the truth about Daredevil. Well, here it is.”

“And what am I supposed to do with it now?!” I spit “Wait. Does Foggy know? Or Karen?” I already get the chance to meet their charming assistant.

“No. And it has to stay this way. Knowing who I am, who daredevil  is makes them a target.”

“And what about me? Doesn’t that make me a target as well.”

“No. You perfectly work on that on yourself”

“Matt!”

“shh. Keep your voice down. It’s not safe here. I’ll get you home and we’ll talk, ok?”

I wanted to refuse. I wanted to tell him to piss off and  leave me alone. I wanted to call him a liar, a hypocrite and a martyr, but I just couldn’t. The way he was looking at me with those sad eyes and puppy face, damn him! The way he put a hand on my shoulder and the small of my back as we entered his apartment. The aftershock was slowly starting to kick it and I fell into some sort of numbness.

“Tell me” I demanded the second he made me sit on the sofa and handed a cup of chamomile tea. I hate chamomile but at this point I didn’t even care .

And so he explained everything. How it all started at college. How he believed it was his calling to help people in need. To support them. To protect hell’s kitchen from bad guys. 

“You are insane, Matt. Wasn’t it enough for you watching your father beaten up every night and now you do the same?”

“Do not speak about my father like that!” he hissed

“I hold nothing more but respect for Jack Murdock. He practically raised me. Yes, some of his choices were stupid, but he was a good man.”

“And you think I’m not. “

“You have learnt nothing from his mistake that is all I’m saying. You are waging a one-man war against the world. How does that feel?”

“Like I’m doing something and not just pretend to.”

“What are you suggesting, Murdock?! That my job is worth shit?”

“Well you said that.”

“look who’s talking. What happened to I want to be a lawyer to help people? Does law do not feel enough anymore”

“It doesn’t! You knew that if you were more concerned about real-life events and not just your hero part!”

“Well apparently heroes are a real-life events since one of them is in fact sitting in front of me!” I panted and at his moment I realized we were both standing up panting heavily with all the anger. “You are bleeding” I shot a quick glance at his chest, completely bared since he got rid of the costume.

“So are you” he pointed towards my collarbone and took a step closer “let me patch it up” he whispered calming down a little.

“Don’t; you dare” I tried to push him away but he was faster and grabbed both of my wrist holding them tight against his chest. We looked straight at each other and it was impossible to say who made the first move, but suddenly there was no space between us as his lips closed on mine. Matt let go of my wrist, his hands closing around my back pulling me close, despair, pain, fear and relief eminent in every move of his mouth against mine. I was not the one to keep him away as I arched my back and tilted head to feel him with every inch of my body and deepen the kiss. Letting go of all the anger and feeling of betrayal. Being with him, here, knowing what and who he was it felt right. We started to move against each other, his palms going down to my waist and thighs, holding them from behind, lifting me up and locking my legs around his waist. At this point I was caged between the bathroom wall and his bare, broad, bruised chest and it was so hot. I never knew how much I wanted him and clearly he did wanted me too. I shifted a little bit just to tease him and that little hardness I felt against his pants and that made him groan. But not a good groan, rather pained one.

“Murdock?” I took all of my strength to pull away, whining internally at the loss of contact “ You good?”

“Yes. More than good, honestly’ he leaned to keep kissing me but I stopped him with a hand on his chest.

“As much as I would love to keep doing this” I muttered throwing my head back on the wall and the pulse on my exposed neck made him groan “You are lying again I won’t make out with a twister. You are hurt Murdock so let me patch you up, ok?” I yanked myself free leading him towards the coach. “Sit.”

“I like that demanding tone of yours.” He gasped

“ Do you now?” I smirked reaching towards the first aid kit and pushing him down. “good to know” I straddled his hips while sterilizing and dressing his wounds, also teasing him a little with trailing the smallest of kissed along his temple

“You are going to be the death of me sweetheart.”

“that is another lie I hear from you tonight” I frowned tentatively “and do you know what liars deserve?”

“Why don’t you show me?” he flipped both of us over so now he was on top, caressing my sides but this sudden move, instead of bringing the heat back made him wince again

“I’m gonna show you. I’m gonna tuck you to bed and made you get at least 8 hours of proper sleep”  I pulled him up and lead toward the bedroom tucking this idiot I feel for.

“Can you stay with me?” He asked, his eyes half closed “I need you close .I need to feel you.”

“Just this once.” I muttered sneaking under the cover next to him.

“Liar” he muttered as his hand sneaked around my waist pulling me close, another cradling my head and resting in on his chest so I could hear his steady heartbeat “you feel so warm….” It did not take long for us to fall asleep.

***

 After everything that happened I was not sure what we were. Friends? Enemies? Lovers? Frenemies? Maybe I should not put a label to it. After all we were both in a different state of mind, full of adrenaline when we kissed so maybe…

“What is on your mind?” Matt asked leaning down.

“What? Nothing. Everything. Work I guess”

“And you call me a liar. I can tell from your heartbeat you are holding something back. Hey” he gently grabbed my chin while caressing the cheek “tell me.”

“What are we Matt? I mean we kissed and if it was not for your injuries maybe it would be more but was that  what you wanted or was it just the blood rush? Are you playing around with me?”

“Is that what you think?”

“the problem is I don’t know what to think. I mean I know you as a man with quite a collection of a girls hearts and ….”

“It’s not like that anymore. Not with you. Took me quite a while to understand but I do now. I want you. I… I feel something more for you. You are my home. I want to be with you but only if you want the same….”

“Idiot” I pushed him playfully like back in the times when there was no daredevil and no adult trouble “I know you can tell it from my heartbeat.”

“But I want… no, I need you to say it. With words.”

“I do want you, Matt Murdock. More than anything. And I can deal with the other one if that’s what it takes.”

“good. Because I don’t know what I would do if you turned me down” he kissed me gently.

*** It was 3 years of us being together. The happiest and most turbulent time of my life. Some days were just perfect and some other were a perfect mess. Some nights were … hot and intimate but most were filled with loneliness, fear of Matt’s being gone and tending to all his wounds. I never complained. Honestly at some point I even asked him to train me a bit so I could join him in his night shift and he did. Or at least he tried since our workout ended up quite differently with me writhing under him and begging for more. Just not really more exercising. And he gave me all I wanted, more than once since after training you need a shower and then a rest in the bed. So I never really got a chance to truly join him in his actions. I loved him. It was hard to say this and truly none of us ever used this particular words but it’s something you feel and show rather than talk. At least that was what I was telling myself since it was strange that after so much time together we did not have enough guts. I was soon about to regret skipping that.

On one particular daredevil shift Matt was buried under a collapsed building. There was no chance he could have survived this and that was what everyone seemed to believe in. More than that, they tried to convince me that was what happened and it was better for me to let go, keep the memories but also stop leaving in the past and feeding on hope that in some magical way he might return. The brain was the rational part, judging and focusing on facts and possibilities and rational approach. He was gone. The heart was stupid and hoped and felt and ached and wished. Something inside me was telling me that something was off in this story, in his disappearing. So I took on my own little investigation. I traced every step, every single detail of that fateful night with Karen and Foggy getting really concerned about my health. I never cared. Finally I was able to reach father Lantom. I knew he could not lie if confronted with direct question.

“My child. It’s wonderful to see you. It’s been a while.”

“Is he here father?”

“And who may you be talking about?”

“Murdock.”

“My dear, the Murdock I knew was buried in the cementery….”

“Please, father…” I begged him “ give my anything, I need to see him”

Father Lantom looked at me closely, sighting deeply upon seeing my pale face, pinched figure and sad face. His good heart made him surrender.

“come with me. Silently. He will not be happy about it.”

“Oh father, if you think I care about this dumbass being happy after everything he did….”

“You do, my child. Matthew has not been himself lately, this accident may have left him a bit more vulnerable so you might want to have that in mind while talking to him. Right this way” he pointed toward the hospital room when one of the nuns were silently moving around

“Sister Maggie.” I nodded my head to greet her

“Well, well, if it isn’t little miss self-reliant herself. You grew up.”

“I guess that what happens to kids at times” I smiled “but I’m still self-reliant, just not so little”

“You came to see him. How did you find out?”

“Like I said – self-reliant, sister. May I?”

“Please” she moved and let me pass inside. What I saw utterly broke my heart. Matt was laying on the bed, dressed in a hoodie and sweatpants, covered in bandages that couldn’t fully hide his bruises and fractures. From what Lantom mentioned something happened to his hearing and smell so he probably didn’t sense me coming inside.

“Searcher?” he asked faintly, his gazeless eyes moving around frantically.

“You idiot” I sat down on the side of his bed “I would beat you to a pulp if it wasn’t for your condition. What the hell were you thinking?! Why….?  I could not help the tears falling from  my eyes and down my cheeks. Despite having his sensed impaired he clearly knew something was happening as his hand started to move blindly, trying to find my hands and reach for my cheek to wipe them away. He tried but failed and I did not help him.

„For God’s sake! Did you really think you could hide from everyone and pretend to be dead?”

“Sort of. Yes.”

“Unbelievable. Did you believe I wouldn’t track you down?”

“Honestly I was hoping you would give up.”

“You Murdock may be a hell of lawyer but on the other side of the room you are an idiot.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop it. Just … stop.” I shot him a glance and even though he could not see it I knew he knew what was my face expression.  “Why, Matt? Why would you do that to… to Foggy, to Karen, to me? I mean, come on! Do you even realize how sick and worried we were?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying that! I know you do not intend to make it better so your words mean nothing!”

“But I am. I thought it would be best for all of you to just stay away from me. The only thing I came up with was to distance myself.”

“I still don’t understand why you believed faking your own death was the best way for that. Do you even realize what I’ve been through?!”

“I actually do!”

“Stop lying to me! You have no idea how ….”

“I love you!” he yelled and that took me by surprise.

“What… what did you just say?” I felt like the whole power I had just left me and plumped further into the bed for balance. Matt took this opportunity to find my hand and slowly put it on his cheek.

“I love you.” He repeated. “like a crazy man. So yes, I know what you might have been through. Being away from you was the hardest decision I’ve ever made but I had to. I really, really had to” now the tears appeared inside his eyes and I fight the urge to kiss them away.

“You didn’t have to Mattie” I sighed, my voice breaking “you know I love you too, we would have figured it all out.”

“I can’t keep you safe.”

“And I don’t need that from you. I never did. I needed and still need you. Only and just that. Not Daredevil, no vigilante, no hero. You, you idiot.”

“I love you “ he whispered again “And I’m sorry for everything. Please don’t leave me….”

“Against my better judgement …. “ I slowly laid down on the bed next to him and he carefully moved to make place for me “I’m gonna stay” he put a hand on my waist pulling me in, mindful of all the injuries “but it doesn’t mean you are forgiven. I will make you work for that”

“I’ll take whatever you decide to put me through. Just stay” he whispered with face inches from mine.

“Well, I’m still here am I not.”

“I love you” he said once again almost like after finally saying it once he could not stop himself anymore.

***

“This poor girl don’t know  what she got herself into.” Sister Maggie said to a man next to her as she watched two young people reunite

“She does. She always knew. And she is good for him” father Lantom retorted

“Perhaps. But is he good for her?”

“In some ways we might not understand. But they belong together. Always did, even as kids.”

@somest1 @pinksirensong @moxkindagirl @stilldreaming666

[deancasswitchbang]

Variance

Author: Tiamatv Artist: Sketcheun (@sketcheun​) No Major Archive Warnings Tags: Alternate Universe - Creatures and Monsters; Monsters Are Known, Lawyer Castiel, Werecat Dean, Baker Dean, Misunderstandings, Contracts, Self-Worth Issues, Alternate Werecreature Lore, Sweet Dean Winchester

Summary: Castiel might work with kitsune, demons, fae and incubi, but he’s content to be just what he is: reliable, responsible, and wholly human (well, with a few paltry drops of angel blood, or so his workplace pre-screening informed him).  Some might say he’s boring.

(Everyone says he’s boring.)

Saying “Yes” when the cute bakery owner asks him out on a date—for no apparent reason other than that Castiel is there—isn’t reliable or responsible. It’s impulsive.

Letting the cute bakery owner seduce Castiel in the back seat of his ’67Chevy Impala is definitely impulsive.

Preview: The next morning, Castiel’s still so dazed that he almost misses Amy’s cheerful greeting of “Hi, Mr. Novak!” from the firm’s lobby reception desk. In fact, he almost forgets to greet her, and only the awareness that he should, that there’s something that he’s missed in his routine, jars his attention from the memory of Dean’s warmth, the way he guided Castiel back to his car with a hand on the small of Castiel’s back.

“Gathering nixies?” Amy asks when he pauses in his stride across the lobby, and he realizes from the bemusement in her expression that she must have called his name more than once.

“Don’t even joke about that,” Castiel warns. “You know that—”

“I know, I know,” she giggles. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it! The fact that one of your clients cursed his wife with nixies and then tried to claim that the cost of paying the summoner should be included as part of their settlement…”

Yes, there’s a reason why Castiel so rarely handles divorce cases anymore. “Don’t remind me,” he sighs. “How's Jacob?"

One of Amy’s three tails swishes proudly behind her, her smile back at him wide and showing only a hint of canine, even with as broad as her grin is. Amy’s very good at keeping the sharpness of her teeth softened behind her lips. "He's good! Hardly ever gets stuck in his little fox form anymore. Not like that day in court when you were representing us, huh?" she laughs.

The resilience of parents never fails to amaze him. Because frankly, on that day, Castiel was so stressed that he almost wished he had the ability to escape into another form while under stress.

Well, no, that’s not true at all. If Castiel had been born hengeyoukai, like Amy and Jacob Pond, he wouldn’t be himself, and if he’d been infected by lycovirus, he couldn’t be a lawyer.

(When he does occasionally misplace his tongue, he certainly has no excuse as cute as ‘I can’t talk because I just involuntarily turned into a small, nonverbal fox.’ He can just imagine what Judge Monroe would have to say about that.)

POSTING BETWEEN APRIL 23rd AND MAY 6th, 2023!  

[loveroftoomanyfandoms]

Salvation Chapter 7: Reader

Pairing: Matt Murdock x F!Reader

Story Summary: Reader is walking home one evening and gets attacked in an alleyway... until the Devil of Hell's Kitchen himself comes to her rescue. After passing out during the ordeal, she wakes up in the apartment of one Matthew Murdock, a kind and handsome lawyer who treats her injuries. As she and Matt get to know each other and grow closer, will someone from Reader's past tear their happiness apart?

Warnings/Tags: Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempted Sexual Assault, Past Domestic Violence, Stalking, Kidnapping (Y'all, seriously, please mind the tags)

Word Count: ~31k total

A/N: None.

"Foggy, Foggy, Foggy, Foggy…"

What the hell is that? Y/N thought as she was pulled out of the best sleep she had gotten in years. 

"Foggy, Foggy, Foggy, Foggy…"

She realized that the noise was coming from Matt's nightstand. "Matt, baby, your phone is ringing," she mumbled. "Please make it stop."

"Mmm," Matt sleepily replied, his chest rumbling underneath Y/N's head. "'Kay."

"Foggy, Foggy."

Y/N nuzzled Matt's chest, sighing happily as blessed silence filled the room.

"Foggy, Foggy, Foggy, Foggy…" Matt's phone started up again.

"Shit," Matt muttered.

Y/N raised her head and cracked a bleary eye open as Matt reached towards his nightstand. "It'd better be murder or else I might be committing one," she joked.

Matt chuckled then answered the call. "Yeah, Foggy. No, I'm awake. What's up? Uh huh. Uh huh. Okay. Okay, I'll be there as soon as possible. Yeah. Yeah, I'll tell you about it later. Okay, bye."

He huffed out a laugh as he hung up. "You were right. Emergency client, wrongfully accused of murder. Meeting at the office in an hour."

Y/N stretched luxuriously, pleasantly sore in all the right places. "Mmkay. Gimmie just a minute and I'll get up and get going."

Matt looked torn. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. This isn't how I planned the morning after our first night together to go. I wanted to treat you right -- wake you up properly, make you breakfast in bed, maybe give you a massage since you like my hands so much…"

Y/N's face heated at both Matt's insinuation and the memory of what exactly he did with those hands the previous night. "It's okay. You can make it up to me later… As long as I get a repeat of last night too."

Matt grinned and gave her a kiss. "Mmm. Deal."

Y/N ogled him shamelessly as he got out of bed. "Shower together? It'll save both time and water. No funny business, I promise."

Matt grinned. "Oh, I think we have time for a little bit of funny business."

Y/N laughed. " Fine , but don't blame me if you're late."

They took a quick shower, (mostly) keeping their hands to themselves, then moved to the sink to brush their teeth before heading back to Matt's bedroom to dress.

Y/N pulled on the outfit she had intended to change into the evening before while Matt put on one of his suits.

Matt came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Mmm, I can smell myself on you," he said, nuzzling her neck. "I kind of like it -- the perfect blend of the two of us."

"Careful, Matt, your caveman is showing," Y/N replied with a laugh, tilting her head to give him better access.

Matt nosed at her pulse point, his stubble scratching deliciously along her skin. "It's intoxicating."

Y/N shivered. If someone's life hadn't literally been on the line... "Matt, honey, you're definitely going to be late if you keep this up because I'm about two seconds away from dragging you back to bed."

"Yeah, okay, good point." Matt gave her a quick kiss on her neck and let go. “We probably should get going.”

They exited Matt's bedroom and headed back into the main area of the apartment. 

Y/N grabbed her purse then walked over to the door, where Matt was waiting for her, cane in hand.

"What time is it?" Matt asked.

Y/N checked her phone for the time. "Mmm, 7:33, why?"

"Because I should have time to at least walk you home on my way to the office." Matt held out a hand. "Shall we?"

Y/N took it with a smile. "We shall."

They walked together to Y/N's house, making it quickly down the mostly-empty streets.

Soon they stopped in front of Y/N's door. 

Matt smiled. "I'll call you after I get done with this client. Maybe we can grab brunch? Or possibly a late lunch or early dinner, depending on how long this takes."

Y/N smoothed down Matt's tie and gave him a kiss. "Sounds great."

She bit her lip. "By the way, I had a really great time last night."

Matt grinned. "So did I. Looking forward to our re-do."

"Me too." Y/N gave Matt one last kiss. "Okay, Counselor, go help your client."

She unlocked her door and let herself in. As much as she would've loved to just stay in bed with Matt all day, she knew the people of Hell's Kitchen needed him.

She set her purse down then moved to the kitchen to grab a drink before heading upstairs to her office.

She plugged her phone in to charge and powered on her laptop, scrolling through her emails and flagging the ones from repeat clients with new jobs to reply to later before checking her freelancing account for new client requests. She rolled her eyes at the numerous term paper and college admissions essay requests and marked the few remaining as potentials.

She was considering starting on the latest web journal article one of her regulars had requested when her phone rang.

She smiled. "Hi honey, done already?"

"Hey, sweetheart," Matt replied. "No, Foggy and I are on our way to the police station to interview our client, but I just wanted to give you a heads-up that it'll definitely be closer to dinner by the time we hang it up for today."

Y/N could hear Foggy saying something in the background. 

Matt chuckled. "Foggy said he'll definitely need a drink or twelve tonight, so we could do dinner at the office and maybe Josie's after?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. Tell Foggy I'm in."

"Will do. So granted nothing else goes sideways… dinner around 7?" 

Y/N laughed lightly. "Sure. Want me to pick something up?"

"Yeah, that'd be perfect.  I gotta run for now, but I'll call you back later? We're here."

"Ok, honey. Good luck!"

"Thanks, sweetheart. Bye."

"Bye."

Y/N hung up and stretched. Well, since my day is now free I might as well use it to get a jump on work.

She popped in her earbuds and put some music on, then got busy, managing to knock out most of the projects she had already lined up for the week before she needed to get ready to go. 

She chuckled to herself as she marked her final task of the day off of her to-do list, pleased with her accomplishments. Who knew that being happy and in love would do wonders for my productivity?

She, Matt, Foggy, and Karen had wound up settling on Mimi's when Matt had called her earlier to work out dinner details, so Y/N showered and changed then headed out to pick up their food.

"Hi, Y/N. Mr. Murdock working today?" Abby asked when Y/N walked up to the podium.

Y/N nodded. "Yep, the law never sleeps, or however the saying goes."

Abby nodded then retrieved several to-go bags from the counter behind her. "Here's your order. Nonna also included dessert -- she's thinking about expanding the menu and is trying a few new recipes. I think she made panna cotta today."

"Oh, cool. Tell her thanks."

"Oh, and she also said to tell Mr. Murdock thank you for recommending us for that catering gig. That really helped business pick up."

"Will do. Thanks, Abby."

Y/N also stopped by the liquor store to pick up a couple of six packs of beer and bottles of wine before heading to Nelson & Murdock. "Knock knock!" she said as she let herself into the empty reception area. 

"We're in here!" Matt called out from the conference room.

Y/N headed down the hall. "I come bearing food."

"And you even brought wine and beer," Foggy said as Y/N entered their conference room and set the bags down.  "Bless you. See Matt, I told you she was a keeper."

Y/N laughed. "Aww gee, thanks, Foggy. That's nice to hear."

Y/N wrapped her arms around Matt, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Hi, honey. Hey Kare."

"Hey, Y/N," Karen replied.

"Hi, sweetheart," Matt said, turning his head to give Y/N a proper kiss on the lips. "Thanks for picking up dinner."

"Yeah, thanks," Foggy added. "We really appreciate it. Today's been a day ."

Y/N shrugged as Karen began to unload the bags. "It's the least I could do for the hardest working legal team in New York. By the way, Mrs. Morelli sends her thanks for the catering recommendation as well as some panna cotta . Abby said she's testing out new desserts to potentially add to the menu."

"I will happily be Mrs. Morelli's culinary guinea pig," Foggy declared. "Everything she makes is excellent."

"100% agreed," Karen added, handing Y/N her food. "Here's yours, Y/N."

Y/N took her to-go container from Karen. "Thanks, Kare. Matt, honey, you want beer or wine?"

"Mmm, I'll take a beer," Matt replied. "Thanks, sweetheart."

Y/N sat next to Matt after pouring herself a glass of wine and handing him a beer. "So, how's the case going?" she asked as they all dug into their dinner.

"Well right now it's not looking too good," Foggy replied. "But we just started going over the files that the previous defense attorney had gathered. Turns out our client's former attorney was arrested on Friday for taking bribes, so let's just say that his files weren't exactly the most detailed or organized."

Y/N grimaced. "Yikes."

"We're basically starting from scratch," Karen added. "There's witnesses to be re-interviewed and discovery to try to track down, not to mention a major backlog of old cases that still need to be input into the new computer software. Plus I wanted to try to get started on updating our filing system tomorrow, but that's definitely not going to happen now."

Y/N took a sip of her wine. "Want some help?"

"Seriously?” Karen replied. “That would be great."

Y/N nodded. "Yeah, I had a really productive day today and don't have any major projects or pressing deadlines at the moment, so I can at least help get started on the data entry and filing stuff while you all focus on this case and whatever else that happens to come up in the meantime."

She grinned. "I mean, as long as Matt and Foggy don't mind the free labor."

"You're hired," Foggy said immediately. 

Y/N laughed. "Well okay then."

Foggy shook his head with a grin. "No but really, Matt and I have desperately been needing to hire another office assistant to help Karen, so you wouldn't be interested in actually coming to work for us, would you? I mean we couldn't pay you a lot but I'm sure we can work something out."

Matt nodded. "You know, I was thinking the same thing. Of course I'd never ask you to give up any of your clients, sweetheart, so feel free to say no if you're not interested, but we really could use the extra help."

Y/N bit her lip as she thought for a moment. "You know, business has been steady enough to where I was thinking about taking on fewer one-off clients and just focusing on clients with more regular assignments anyway, so how about I do full-time to start since my schedule's open then drop down to part-time once everything gets organized and you guys get this case under control?"

"That sounds fine to me. Foggy? Karen?"

"Yeah, that sounds great," Foggy added.

"That's super helpful," Karen chimed in.  

"Okay, then it's settled. When do you want me to start?"

Matt grinned. "Is tomorrow morning too soon?"

"No, tomorrow's fine."

"Okay, great," Foggy said. "We'll finalize your schedule and everything when you get here."

"Sounds good." 

Foggy tapped his hand on the table. "This calls for a toast. I think it's time to open the Jameson."

"I agree," Matt added. "I'll go grab it, be right back."

"Foggy, hon, why don't you go help him?" Karen chimed in as Matt left the room.

"Oh, I'm sure he's got it," Foggy replied.

Y/N bit her lip to keep from laughing as Karen shot Foggy a look. "I think Matt needs some help," Karen said pointedly.

"Oh… Oh, right! Right, I should go help Matt with that." Foggy stood. "Yeah, I'll be right back too."

Karen turned to Y/N as soon as Matt and Foggy were both out of the room. "Ok, so spill."

"Spill what?" Y/N replied innocently.

Karen rolled her eyes playfully. "You know what, missy! You're absolutely glowing and Matt looked more relaxed when he walked into the office this morning than I've seen him in years despite having been called in before 8 am on a Sunday, so something happened."

She gasped and dropped her voice to a whisper. "You two finally slept together, didn't you?"

Y/N grinned even as her face heated. "Now Kare, you know a lady never kisses and tells."

"You did! No wonder you're both in such good moods today."

Y/N huffed out a laugh. "Ok, ok, you got me. I stayed over at Matt's place last night."

"How was it?"

Y/N grinned slyly. "Which time?"

"Which time -- How many were there?"

"Well, there was the first time, which was perfect -- it was soft, and slow, and just… Well, 'earth-shattering' is really the only way I can describe it . There was a second time -- in the shower, I might add -- which was also amazing, then later on there was a third time, which… well, honestly probably ties with the first round as the best sex of my life." Y/N's face heated at the memory. After dinner Matt had made her fall apart twice on his fingers and tongue before making love to her again. "I tell you, Kare, the things that man can do with his hands and mouth… Not just good for arguing cases. Mmph." 

Matt was by far the most generous and caring lover Y/N had ever had. Sex with Colin had mostly consisted of making sure that Colin's needs were met and had almost always left Y/N unsatisfied; on the other hand, sex with Matt, however limited it was so far in Y/N's experience, had been very satisfying. Not only did Matt make sure Y/N's needs were fulfilled (and multiple times at that) before his own, but he also seemed to instinctively know exactly what Y/N needed without any guidance. 

Karen winced. "Oh, shit, so Foggy's call this morning then…"

Y/N shook her head. "We were still sleeping and even if we hadn't been someone's life is literally on the line, so it's totally okay."

She grinned. "Besides, Matt promised me a re-do."

Karen laughed. "You go, girl."

Y/N took a sip of her wine. "So since we're talking about really great sex, what about Foggy? I bet he's no slouch between the sheets either."

Karen grinned. "Not at all. Let me just say that his mouth also isn't only good for arguing cases."

Y/N raised her glass of wine. "To Nelson and Murdock, aces in both the courtroom and in the bedroom."

Karen laughed and clinked her beer bottle against it. "Cheers to that."

"Hey, ladies, what are we toasting to?" Foggy asked as he and Matt returned with a bottle of whiskey and 4 glasses.

"Oh, just to another job well done," Karen said. 

Y/N snorted out a laugh before turning towards Matt.

She frowned. "Matt, honey, are you feeling okay? Your face is really red."

Matt shook his head. "What? Oh, uh, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

Matt nodded as he set the bottle of whiskey he was carrying down on the table and sat. "Yep. Just a bit warm in here, that's all. I'll be fine in a minute."

"Okay, if you're sure."

"Mmhmm."

Y/N gave Matt another quizzical look before turning back to Karen. I hope he's not coming down with something. "Yeah, Kare, wow, very interesting story about that case. Impressive. Good job, all of you."

"Anyway, time to celebrate," Matt jumped in, opening the bottle of scotch and pouring them each a glass. "To the newest official employee of Nelson and Murdock -- welcome to the team, Y/N. Glad to have you join us."

"Thank you, thank you," Y/N said as they all clinked their glasses together. "Happy to be here."

The four of them finished dinner and moved on to dessert, all agreeing that Mrs. Morelli's panna cotta was the best thing they had ever eaten.

"Alright, I think I'm gonna call it a night," Y/N said after they had finished all of the beer and wine and half of the bottle of Jameson. "I can't do Josie's on top of all this, especially if I have to function in the morning."

Matt nodded. "I'll walk you home, sweetheart. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow, so I'm gonna call it too."

Karen stood and began to clean up. "Yeah, same. I'm exhausted." 

"Me too," Foggy agreed. "Thanks again for picking up dinner and drinks, Y/N."

Y/N gave a shrug. "No problem. Glad to help in any way I can."

They quickly cleaned up and headed out, Karen locking the door behind them. "See you two tomorrow," she said. 

"See you tomorrow," Y/N agreed.

"Good night," Foggy added.

"'Night," Matt added.

Y/N took Matt's hand as they made the familiar trek to her house, Matt not even bothering with his cane since he had Y/N to guide him.

"You're sure it's okay if I come to work for you?" Y/N asked as they walked. "I really don't mind just helping out temporarily until everything gets organized or you guys hire someone else."

Matt nodded. "Honestly, sweetheart, I'm thrilled that you'll be an official member of the Nelson and Murdock team. Not only do I really appreciate the extra help but it'll be great to be able to see you more often, even if we'll both be working." 

He paused. "Unless you've changed your mind?"

Y/N shook her head. "No, of course not, I'm just thinking… How are we going to handle our personal relationship while at the office? I know Karen works for you guys and she and Foggy are dating, but they got together way after you hired her. You literally just gave your girlfriend a job."

"Technically, Foggy gave my girlfriend a job. I just agreed to it."

Y/N playfully tapped him on the arm with her free hand. "You know what I mean."

Matt chuckled. "Yeah, I do. We're a private firm, so there's no rule against nepotism, and either way, it's not like we hired you solely because you're my girlfriend. You're more than qualified for the position. Besides, now that you're an official employee of the firm I can discuss cases openly with you, including our latest. You might have some insight that the rest of us haven't thought of."

He bit his lip. "By the way, thank you again for being so understanding about this morning."

Y/N shook her head. "Seriously, it's not a big deal. What you do is important and I can handle having the morning after date night interrupted on occasion if it means possibly saving a client's life." 

Matt gave her hand a squeeze. "I still want to make it up to you as soon as I can."

They paused outside Y/N's front door.

Y/N grinned. "You know, I'd invite you in but I'm starting a new job tomorrow and I really want to impress my bosses -- well, one of them, anyway. You see, he's this badass lawyer who really cares about helping people in need, and he's smart, and caring, and kind, and very handsome, and he looks great in a business suit…" Y/N trailed a finger down the lapel of Matt's suit. "Looks just as good out of it too, or so I hear. Hell of a good kisser and fantastic in bed, knows exactly how to please a woman."

Matt smirked even as his cheeks turned pink. "Oh really now?"

"Mmhmm." Y/N then reached up and traced the sides of Matt's glasses. "Oh, and he wears these red tinted glasses, which actually kinda give him this sexy air of mystery in addition to just being really cool."

Matt huffed out a laugh and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Sexy, huh?"

Y/N nodded. "Oh yeah. Very sexy."

"Kinda sounds like you're into him. Should I be jealous?"

Y/N pretended to think. "Nah, he already has a girlfriend and seems to be pretty devoted to her. Besides, who needs him when I have a smart, caring, kind, and incredibly hot and sexy boyfriend of my own to whom I'm 100% devoted?"

Matt laughed. "You know, maybe I should walk you to work anyway. Show this new boss of yours that you're spoken for, just in case."

God, Y/N loved him. "Yeah, okay, if you insist . But didn't you tell me that you just hired a new office assistant? Maybe it's me who should be jealous."

Matt pretended to think. "Hmm… well, my new office assistant is very patient, and understanding, and kind, and caring, and she's also beautiful both inside and out… but I'm pretty sure she has a boyfriend."

"Aww, gee, well that's too bad."

Matt shook his head. "Wouldn't matter anyway since I have a patient and understanding and kind and caring and very beautiful girlfriend of my own to whom I'm 100% devoted."

Y/N grinned. "Lucky girl."

Matt shook his head. "I'm definitely the lucky one."

Y/N's face heated. "Matt…"

Matt gave her a kiss on her forehead. "I'll be by around 8:30 tomorrow morning?"

"Sounds great." Y/N tilted her face up and gave Matt a slow and tender kiss. "Good night, honey."

She bit her tongue to keep from adding I love you . As much as she felt it, this wasn't the right moment to say it for the first time.

Matt nuzzled her nose with his before giving her one last peck. "Night, sweetheart. See you in the morning."

Y/N headed in and closed and locked the door behind her. Life can't get much better than this.

[youreallyshouldtalkmore]

My Little Hybrid Family_Part 18

A.N: We are almost to the end of this story!! We have FINALLY arrived to what is probably my favorite part of this entire series!(And 9/10th of why I wrote this story...) Gonna have to split this chapter which is the ‘show’ into two pieces. 

Tags: @ sweeneyblue1

Twisted Wonderland Masterlist  

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

How interesting! 

So Lawyer Crewel was your driver for today? 

You tried to ask him about what was happening, but he only tapped his baton in his hand twice, gazing down at you before spinning on his heel and climbing into the driver’s seat. 

So both he and Leona were being mum on the issue? 

“Are we there yet?” 

Your lips twitched as you asked for the fourth time in less than three minutes. You could see Lawyer Crewel’s eyebrow twitch. You couldn’t help the silent snicker. Both you and Leona were relegated to the backseat, where Leona had his head resting on your shoulder, staring out the window. 

A minute passed….

“Are we….” 

“Young pup!!” the Lawyer growled. 

You heard the crack of the baton in your head, on your own, and looked out your own window. 

You didn’t ask again. 

Leona smirked at this. It seemed you were displaying a smidge of energy.

Good.

—  —  —

You looked around curiously as you stepped out of the car and onto a dirt road.

 You were surprised when the city disappeared and gave way to nature. You were even more surprised when Lawyer Crewel turned into a seemingly random direction, driving into the grass. But then the grass eventually gave way to a dirt road. 

“Keep up, young pups!” the lawyer called, walked confidently into the cluster of trees. You snickered silently. Even out here, Divius Crewel refused to wear anything other than his suit and fur coat. 

You admired the man’s dedication. 

Eventually, you began to detect what sounded like faint music. 

You frowned. 

Your frown deepened when you came into view of a warehouse, literally in the middle of nowhere. You cocked your head. Divus Crewel didn’t even pause as he opened the door and walked into the warehouse. 

You made to follow him, but Leona had pulled at your arm, making you look back at him. 

“Close your eyes.” 

“Huh?” 

“Close ‘em!” 

You shut your eyes and gave a little yelp as you felt Leona pick you up. Once he checked your eyes were close, he continued walking. You heard the door open and close behind you, but it was a few seconds before he put you down. Now the soft music seemed a bit louder. 

“Open.” 

When you did, you let out a gasp at a stage that seem to sit in the middle of…. 

Trees? 

Hold on, didn’t we just enter a warehouse? Were there trees in a warehouse?   

A pretty cloth was strung between two trees, obviously hiding something. You could also see a tall contraption in the background.  

What was that for? 

“Miss. L/N!!” 

You looked up to see Ruggie jumping out from a tree. 

“Ruggie!!!” returned shocked, “What is all this?” 

“Shihihihi….patience is a virtue, so I hear. First, let’s get you settled!” 

Ruggie ushered to the pretty mattress, which had a lot of throw pillows and looked strangely out of place. You blinked at Leona helping you out of your coat and tossing it onto the mattress. You wonder why it was there, but that was answered for you when after you sat down folding your legs, Leona crawled behind you and plopped down on his side, propping his head into his hands after grabbing a pillow. 

Then Ruggie pulled the small table in front of you filled with snacks and tea. 

“I know Jade usually serves you tea, but today I will have to suffice!” 

You looked on as Ruggie made your tea. It was obvious that Jade had instructed him on what you like in it. After he was done, he set it in front of you. You took a sip appreciatively as you looked around.

“We are in a warehouse, aren’t we? Or did I enter Wonderland?” 

Ruggie grinned, “Perhaps you did enter Wonderland!”  

You eyed him, not sure if that answered your question or not. 

He hopped back to his feet and stood in front of you, giving a grand bow, “Now, my Lady, since you are here, and you are settled…the show will begin!” 

You giggled once at him before looking on curiously. You glanced at Leona who looked like he was dozing off. 

Ruggie hopped up to the stage and cleared his throat announcing, “Ladies….ah, well, there is no one else but you, Shihihi.” 

You rolled your eyes. 

Leona didn’t even open his. 

“My Lady, we like to present to you a token of our esteem affection! We are here to amaze and delight you! We bid you welcome to Wonderland….” 

Lights began to dance on the curtains as a voice began to sing. You gasped when Lilia came out singing and twirling around in a kind of dance: 

You were enraptured as Lilia gave a wink and sung the last notes as he waltzed off the opposite end of the stage. 

Then the curtain pulled back and you gasped. 

There was a whole aquarium tank! How did they even?! But that paled in comparison to the music that started playing, and then you realize that Azul, Jade and Floyd began to swim around doing tricks:

You felt yourself relaxing as they swam around, watching their acrobatic tricks. Azul was behind a rock, with only his tentacles visible as he held up a bunch of rings, while the twins swam through them. Other tentacles tossed out objects that they played with.

At one point, Floyd swam up to the glass and waved.

You giggled and waved back.

That made him grin and do a backflip in the water.

Then the twins glance at each other before grinning at you. You could feel something was up. It was as, Jade and Floyd swam over and tried to pull Azul up. You could see them failing and bit back a giggle. Floyd rolled his eyes while Jade gave a light shrug. Then they all seemed to disappear behind the rock and just like the first time you had met, Azul was suddenly launched towards you. He rolled in a ball before stopping.

Upon seeing you, you could see his face colored as he coughed slightly. He fidgeted a bit and glared at Floyd who poked him. Then he slowly began to swim around. Floyd grabbed one of his tentacles and allowed it to pull him along. Jade laughed politely. Azul glared at Floyd who laughed but then Azul flicked him hard making him rolled around in the water.

As the music began to swell down, Azul floated down onto the rock to sit, while the twins floated down to the ground onto their stomach and prop up their chin in their hands.

You couldn’t help the grin.

What were they up to now?

You were answered, when suddenly, two people came flying out from behind the tank. 

Your eyes budged.

Well, that explained the tall contraption in the back. Jamil and Kalim were dressed in the clothing they had when they first arrived at your home. This was the first time that you were seeing their infamous acrobatics. Now you could see why your parents wanted them so badly and why their former master were quick to hold on tightly to them. 

How did they even learn all of that?

Where did they even learn all of that? 

At the end, they landed in front of you. Kalim had a huge smile while Jamil smirked. You couldn’t help the hardy clap, eyes wide with wonder. Then the two gave a bow and ran behind the aquarium tank. 

Then the curtain closed.

Ruggie came back out, “So my Lady, how is it so far?”

You gaped at him, unable to find words.

“I know right? Shihihi….Now….” he clapped his hands, “I’m sure you didn’t come empty-handed.”

You blinked at him, “What do you mean?”

“Donuts…”

Leona grumbled, “Aren’t you being shameless right now?”

“There is no harm in the question.”

You gave an apologetic smile, “Sorry. I didn’t know I’d be seeing you, today.”

“That’s a bummer. But if you didn’t bring me anything, what’s in your pocket?”

You furrowed your eyebrow, “There is nothing in my…” All the while, you stuck your hands in your pocket, only to pull out a small plastic donut. 

You let out an amused huff. 

This sneaky little… when did he even do that?

“Ahh, so you did bring me something!!” Ruggie exclaimed, “Toss it?”

You threw it at him, and he caught it easily, “That’s good, because I never do anything for free. I’d have to charge you if you didn’t have this. This is acceptable. Shihihi.”

“Still stuck on making a buck, are we?” Leona groused.

“Ah, Leona. Money makes the world go round. It opens doors and makes connections.” said Ruggie, “And right now, this is the key to the second part!”

“Second part?”

Part 19 

[hopelesshawks]

A Deal with God

Itto x gn!Reader

I came up with this idea back during the Perilous Trails event on Genshin and turned it into a collab event with @hutaoscoffinn. This is at least a month after we said we’d post stuff but alas 🥴 anyway here it is and I hope y’all enjoy

The blog posting this is 18+ only. Any minors who try to follow will be blocked

Tags and Warnings: very character centric, slight side ship content, temporary major character death, heavy angst, hallucinations

Link to change y/n to your actual name (not mobile compatible)

General Masterlist Kofi

“Can you do me a favor?”

“Is now the time for this?”

“Tell him I’m sorry…”

“What do you— Traveler, what do you mean?”

“You know how he is so just… tell him I’m sorry and that I love him. Take care of him for me.”

“Wait, don't—!”

~ ~ ~

Itto stretches as the sun feels warm on his face, his joints popping after his nap as he wakes his body back up. 

“Ah I slept like a rock, good times…” he yawns, only to notice the grim look on Shinobu’s face as Floating Lavender Melon clings onto her. Lavender Melon’s eyes are red like she’s been crying and when he turns his gaze towards his lawyer savior her expression matches Shinobu’s in its solemnity. 

“Huh? What’re you doing? What’s going on? Why’s everyone looking at me like that?” he asks. 

He gets silence back. It’s his savior that speaks up first but even she seems a little choked up. 

“Well, uhm, first thing’s first. How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?” she asks cautiously and Itto can’t understand why everyone’s so fucking grim all of a sudden. 

“The fuck are you talking about? I’m fine! I had an epic power nap and now I feel like a million mora! I feel like I’m forgetting something though…”

He stops to think for a moment, missing the way everyone winces.

“Oh yea! Wait… Weren’t we underground? How did we get back up here? And where’s (y/n) run off to?”

He looks around the other three trying to catch a sight of you but no dice. Lavender Melon starts crying and he’s not sure what he said to offend her. 

“Hey don’t cry! What’s wrong?? Whatever it is I totally didn’t mean it! I’m just tryna figure out what’s going on!” he tries to assure her, worried he may have hurt your little friend’s feelings. You’re always telling him to play nice with Paimon. 

“It’s a long story but… Itto you should know. Traveler didn’t make it,” Yanfei explains but Itto just cocks his head to the side in confusion.

“What do you mean they didn’t make it? They were just with us when I took my nap.”

It’s Shinobu who speaks up next and the fact she doesn’t sound exasperated or teasing or any of the usual tones he hears her speak with is starting to freak him out a bit. 

“While we were trying to escape we were attacked by these red spirits. Yelan and Xiao needed to focus on powering our way out, I was carrying you, Yanfei isn’t really a fighter so… Traveler sacrificed themselves to make sure the rest of us could get out. They’re gone Boss.”

Grief seems to hang heavy in the air but Itto doesn’t understand. You know how he feels about self-sacrifice. You’d never… and anyway there’s no way some stupid little spirits would get you. You’re The Traveler! Slayer of Dragons! Ender of the Sakoku Decree! Proud co-boss of the Arataki Gang! Well… he technically never talked to you about being co-boss but he figures you just know that the title comes with the territory of dating him. Regardless!! There is absolutely no way in hell you’re gone. Everyone else must be insane if they really think that. 

“So what you’re saying is they’re still inside right?” he asks.

Everyone nods.

“Ok, then I’ll wait here.” 

“Boss…” Shinobu starts.

“What?”

“They’re not coming back.”

“They are. Just you wait, aaaany minute they’re gonna spring right up and you’ll feel SO stupid for doubting the Great Arataki Itto and his equally fantastic partner.”

“Seriously it’s… It’s not happening. We should go.”

“Oh Shinobu. Silly, silly Shinobu. This is why I’m the boss. Trust me. My baby is gonna pop up right there and you’re all gonna wish you listened to Itto and stuck around to see it because it’s going to be fucking fantastic.”

“You didn’t… you didn’t see it, Boss. I’m sorry but we should go I—”

“Nope. Staying right here.”

“They had to have fallen hundreds if not thousands of meters! Even if they survived the fall they’re stuck! Forever! Don’t you get that? They’re dead!”

“Kuki…” Yanfei cuts her off, putting a hand on her shoulder to help ground her. It’s only then Shinobu realizes she’d started trembling and Paimon has grown even more distraught. 

“Shit… sorry I… I shouldn’t have gotten so worked up,” she apologizes with a wince before turning back to Itto, “but you’re being stubborn. We can’t stay here, we need to get back to the others in Inazuma.”

“No. I’m staying here. You just don’t know (y/n) like I do,” Itto insists before stomping over to a spot on the grass some distance from the group and dropping down to sit there cross-legged, done with the conversation. 

What did they know? Shinobu only just met you and even if you knew Yanfei before, she can’t possibly know you as well as your amazing, awesome, totally attentive and caring boyfriend does. You’re going to make it out. You have to. And no way is he going to let you surface and find yourself completely alone. So he doesn’t move; even when Yanfei squeezes his shoulder as well and then walks away; even when Shinobu shakes her head and leaves with Floating Lavender Melon in tow. 

Itto stays when the sun goes down.

He stays when it comes back up again.

And the same the next day.

And the next.

And the next. 

~ ~ ~

Kuki figures Itto lasted a day before he finally realized you weren’t coming. Maybe his stubbornness kept him there for a few days. Absolute max a week. Regardless, when she touches down in Inazuma she’s fairly confident Itto is already on a boat back or at least hunting one down. In the meantime, as usual, she’ll have to keep the gang together and break the news to them. She’s not actually sure if taking Paimon with her is the best idea considering she’d only just met her, but the Arataki gang has always been about taking in strays and as frustrating as the gang’s naive optimism and overconfidence can be, that may be precisely the energy Paimon needs right now. 

It takes everything in Kuki not to wince when the gang comes rushing up to her, clearly looking for their (stupidly) fearless leader. They’re surrounding her asking questions in a moment, too quickly for her to process any of them. Paimon shrinks against her chest, a habit she’s taken too quite a bit since the chasm. 

“Ok, ok stand down guys, one at a time,” Kuki sighs. 

“Where’re boss and co-boss??” Genta asks nervously.

The boys always get this way whenever Itto leaves: antsy and anxious. Usually their concerns are unfounded so it’s easy enough to brush off, but this time well… Kuki still isn’t quite sure how to break it to them. 

“Boss is still in Liyue,” she starts cautiously, “he has business to attend to there still and Traveler… Traveler won’t be coming back.”

“What do you mean they won’t be coming back?” Akira presses.

Kuki doesn’t respond verbally. She just gives the boys a significant look and she knows they understand from the immediate aura of grief that seems to settle heavy on all their shoulders. She hates it. She hates she had to be the one to break it to them on her own; hates that Itto isn’t here with the perfectly wrong words to bring the mood back up. She doesn’t blame him for his absence but as frequently as Itto shows himself an incapable boss, it’s moments like these that remind her why he still carries the title. 

“Anyway, Paimon will be joining us for now so you idiots better behave alright? We all have to take good care of her as a member of the Arataki gang,” Kuki declares and she’s grateful that the boys all respond enthusiastically. It’ll be good for them to have something else to focus on and Kuki could use the distraction herself. She barely knew you, but she still feels your loss quite deeply. It somehow both surprises her and doesn’t. It’s odd to consider someone so important after such a short time together, but she gets the feeling that’s just the effect you had on people. After all, how else could you have befriended such varied people from all across Teyvat? Even the adeptus had looked heartbroken by your passing. 

And when it came to Itto, well… Kuki didn’t think he had any interest whatsoever in romance before you came along. It was all childish games, beetle fights, and getting into trouble until you showed up in his life. When he fell for you he fell hard. Kuki thought it was puppy love. She thought you were another hyperfixation Itto would latch onto, cause trouble for, and then move on from. But Itto’s love for you held firm and finally getting to see the two of you interact together in the chasm had shown her how wrong she was. Itto is careless by nature but she could see the way he tried so hard not to be careless with you. Perhaps you were a little too accommodating of even his dumbest ideas, sharing sympathy even when she and the others teased him for his recklessness, but Kuki didn’t miss the way he’d melt into you whenever you praised or reassured him. You didn’t let him off the hook, but you were soft with him in a way Kuki can never bring herself to be. She thinks it made for a good balance. She remembers commenting on it, how protective you seem of him sometimes, during one of those weird rest periods down in the chasm. You’d chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of your neck.

“Yeaaa… it’s a bit much isn’t it?”

“I never said that!” Kuki refuted but you shook your head to show her it was ok.

“You could say it though. I know you’re right. I know stuff rolls off his back pretty quickly. Heck I probably get more upset over stuff than he does half the time. But… he’s had a lot of people judge him, write him off, and chase him out his entire life. He hasn’t had nearly as many protecting him. So even when he doesn’t care, even when it’s not that deep, I want to be by his side. Just so he knows y’know? So he knows there’s someone there when he can’t be The Great Arataki Itto.”

Kuki isn’t entirely sure there’s ever a time when he isn’t The Great Arataki Itto but your point touched her all the same. It was reassuring knowing her boss had someone with a better head on their shoulders by his side when she couldn’t be. Archon knows no one in the rest of the gang can be that person. As it is she’ll have her hands full keeping them in control without their charismatic leader to at least direct their chaotic energy somewhere. 

Over the next few days Kuki’s time is spent corralling the gang and helping cheer up Paimon. Both tasks are all consuming and soon days turn to weeks without her even realizing it. The gang settles into a rhythm, hyperfixated on helping Paimon, who through their misguided efforts does start to smile a little more again. In fact, they settle into so much of a rhythm that Kuki doesn’t even notice that Itto should long since have returned to Inazuma from Liyue. When she does finally realize, it’s because Itto has made his triumphant return in the most Itto fashion possible:

By getting arrested.

An exasperated Kujou Sara alerts her that immediately upon arriving home, Itto attempted to break into Tenshukaku to gain audience with the Raiden Shogun herself and as a result Kuki now needs to go bail him out of jail. Again…

It’s at least reassuring he’s gone right back to his old tricks.

Except when she arrives at the prison, expecting a wide, sheepish grin and unrepentant enthusiasm, she’s instead met with a cold, eerie silence and an empty shell of her boss.

~ ~ ~  

Itto failed you. 

Asking the archon for help was his last shot and he failed you.

Tears brim in his eyes. He’s always been a cry baby hasn’t he? Shinobu teases him about it sometimes. He probably doesn’t deserve to cry over this. Not when he was knocked out when he should have been helping you fight off the spirits Shinobu spoke of. Not when he’s the only reason Shinobu couldn’t help you herself. Not when he’d just fucked up the only possible way he had to maybe get you back. He faces the wall as the tears descend, ashamed of them. He doesn’t deserve them. Doesn’t deserve to cry for you.

How many times has he been warned about being reckless? How many times has Shinobu told him his actions could lead to this very thing happening?

You were the best thing that ever happened to him and now you’re gone and there’s absolutely nothing he can do about it.

“Boss?”

Shinobu’s voice cuts through his thoughts. She must be so disappointed in him. She tried to tell him you weren’t coming and he didn’t listen and now she’s been out here running the gang alone for… he’s not sure how long. He lost track of the days after the first few. 

“I, uh, bailed you out. We’re free to go.”

Itto rises from the ground finally turning around to face her only to realize he can’t meet her eyes. Guilt and bile climb up his throat. His ancestors must be so ashamed of him. So much for oni pride. 

Shinobu hesitates as if expecting Something but Itto isn’t sure what. Another beat passes and finally she turns and starts to lead him out, occasionally checking over her shoulder as if she still can’t quite believe what she’s seeing. They step out into the hustle and bustle of Inazuma City but it feels wrong. You’re usually here waiting for him whenever Shinobu comes to bail him out. Instead there’s nothing. Shinobu just keeps walking as if there isn’t a gaping you-sized hole in the air and he follows because there’s nothing else he can do. 

He wants to cry again.

He doesn’t. 

When they reach Byakko Plain where the gang is waiting, they surround him and he thinks he hears Shinobu warn them not to crowd but it’s hard to process much of anything. As he finally lifts his gaze up, he finds he still can’t meet their eyes, especially when he notices Little Floating Lavender Melon amongst the group. Everyone talks at him at once except for Shinobu, who is trying to quiet the others, and Lavender Melon who stays silent. It all sounds like white noise to him but he can tell from their faces that they’re concerned about him. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, shores up the scattered remains of The Great Arataki Itto and sets them ablaze to give one last announcement to his gang.

“I have to go! Granny needs me! Shinobu’s in charge until I get back!”

The moment he’s made the declaration he shoves past them all to head back towards Hanamizaka, leaving the ashes of himself behind. If he’d really been thinking he would have just stopped there immediately and slinked into his granny’s house on he and Shinobu’s way out of the city, before he could be confronted with the gang. But he hadn’t been. Everything feels like a blur. He’s not even 100% sure how he’s putting one foot in front of the other. He blinks and suddenly his granny is opening the door for him at her house and for the first time in forever he feels like that lost little kid with nothing and no one that she first found all those years ago. 

Except he doesn’t have no one. He has an entire gang in fact. A gang he’s just left dumbfounded and abandoned on Byakko Plain. Yet somehow it doesn’t provide him any comfort knowing they’re there. He doesn’t know how to be who they expect him to be in a world without you in it. So instead he lets himself be a lost and lonely child, reliant on the kindness of a sweet old woman as she tucks him into the bed of his old room. 

~ ~ ~

“Thank you for the walk,” Kuki sighs appreciatively as she follows Kujou Sara around on her patrol through the city. 

“You looked like you could use it. I’m guessing you’ve been busy keeping the gang in check considering it’s been so quiet around here lately,” Sara comments as she watches her friend just as closely as she watches the streets around her. 

It’s precisely that vigilance that allows her to notice the minute tensing of Kuki’s shoulders and how her steps stutter for just a moment as they walk.

“What is it? What have they done now?” Sara insists, suddenly protective. The gang has always run Shinobu ragged and Sara hasn’t been shy about expressing her concern. She’s tried to convince the other woman to leave the gang. After all, Sara would gladly get Kuki a job working amongst the Tenryou Commission’s forces. But Kuki shakes her head with a wry smile. 

“No it’s not anything they’ve done. I almost wish it was. I at least know how to deal with that. It’s the boss. He’s been practically catatonic since I bailed him out last month. He was quiet the whole walk back and when I finally got him to the gang he made a flimsy excuse to leave and has been holed up in his grandmother’s ever since,” she explains.

There are few things that genuinely surprise Sara but hearing that the resident neighborhood nuisance has locked himself away from his merry band of misfits is certainly enough to do the job. 

“He seemed fine when I arrested him. Perhaps a bit rowdier than normal but back to his usual tricks demanding to see the Shogun. What changed?” 

“I have a theory about that…” Kuki starts and her saddened tone draws all of Sara’s focus, “you remember what I told you happened to Traveler right?”

Sara nods, her mouth pressing into a grim line. How could she forget? 

“Boss didn’t give up on them resurfacing at first. That’s why he came back after I did. He refused to leave the entrance to the chasm, kept insisting it was only a matter of time until Traveler would pop out too. I think he finally figured out there was no way they could do it on their own so if Traveler couldn’t pull it off, and an adeptus couldn’t pull it off…”

“Maybe an archon could,” Sara says, completing Kuki’s sentence for her as the other woman nods. 

“Yea… Once he failed to get help from the Shogun I think he just didn’t know what else to do. He’s not used to being completely shut down like that and I don’t think he knows what to do without Traveler.”

Sara may not be Itto’s biggest fan but she cares about Kuki. A lot. And if helping the infamous oni would lift a weight off Kuki’s shoulders then so be it. She takes a moment to gather her thoughts on the matter before finally sharing them with her friend. 

“Well maybe he had a good idea for once. I can see if I can get a message to the Shogun through official channels. After all, Traveler has done much for Inazuma. We’d be remiss to stand idly by when we could potentially save them.”

Kuki’s eyes widen as she takes a gentle hold of Sara’s arm, stopping them both on the path through town. Sara feels her heart pick up speed in her chest, blood rushing to her face at Kuki’s grateful gaze. 

“You’d seriously do that? I don’t want to cause you too much trouble, especially over the gang,” Kuki insists, although it’s impossible for her to keep the cautious optimism from her voice. 

Sara clears her throat awkwardly, unable to maintain the eye contact as she finds herself suddenly feeling sheepish. 

“O-Obviously. As I said, Traveler has done much for Inazuma and if bringing them back also makes things a bit easier on you then so be it.”

She feels Kuki squeeze her arm before it slips away and the other woman steps up next to her.

“Thank you Sara. I mean it.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I can’t guarantee it will work.”

“I know but… somehow I already feel a lot better. So thank you.” 

Sara isn’t quite sure she deserves the level of faith Kuki seems to have in this plan. After all there’s no way of knowing if the Shogun will be able to help even if she chooses to, which in and of itself is not guaranteed. Still, she won’t question it too much. Not when Kuki seems lighter than she has the entire time they’ve been walking together. 

~ ~ ~

Itto doesn’t know that he’s ever felt such guilt in his entire life.

He feels guilty for failing you.

He feels guilty for failing the gang.

He feels guilty for burdening his granny and he feels guilty for dishonoring the proud name of the Oni. 

It weighs on his chest, pinning him to the bed, and on the rare occasions he can force himself up, the weight simply shifts to his shoulders to make each step more painful than the last. He can barely move on the best of days, is completely immobilized on the worst. Every day he tries to get out of his room. Every day he fails. 

In his defense he’s made progress. The first week he didn’t even bother trying. He laid motionless in bed staring up at the ceiling, ignoring every meal his granny left at his side. Things started getting fractionally better about halfway through the second week. 

That’s when you started showing up.

Or rather… Not You. 

Not You looks like you. They sound like you. They have all the right mannerisms and quirks and features. They’re almost identical to you in every way. So much so that when they first leaned over his bed to look down at him with their eyebrows furrowed in concern, his eyes had widened, vision going blurry with unshed tears as he thought for a moment that you had returned to him; but when he reached up to caress what he thought were your cheeks, his hand passed right through Not You, dissipating the image like smoke and leaving him alone with the guilt and the grief once more.

He’s learned his lesson since then. Don’t touch. Just look and listen and Not You will stick around to encourage him to do better. He considered the idea that Not You was the work of a tanuki or perhaps the archon herself, but he eliminated that possibility when he realized he’s the only one who can see them. No, Not You wasn’t gifted to him. They are a product of his own brain: his memories and imagination combining forces to give him the only potential cure to his current state that his brain could think of.  

This time Itto makes it halfway across the room before the weight becomes too much and he has to sit down. He drops to the ground none too gracefully, chest heaving as if he’s run for kilometers on end instead of walking a meter or two at most. It’s the furthest he’s gotten so far but it’s still not nearly enough and the remainder of his room looms large ahead of him. He presses the heels of his palms to his eyes and sighs, body hunching over. 

“You did so well Big Guy,” Not You assures him from where they’re stood at his side. 

“It’s not good enough,” he fires back.

“For now it is.”

“But–”

“Itto?”

His head snaps up. The door of his room is open and Not You stands in the entryway with one hand still on the handle. His brows furrow in confusion as he snaps his head back to where he’d just heard Not You’s voice coming from only moments ago but they’re indeed gone so he returns his gaze to their new location. It’s odd. Not You doesn’t normally teleport between locations in his room anymore since it destroys the illusion and upsets him. And while Not You frequently looks at him with concern, they rarely look confused anymore. He thinks he catches sight of Shinobu and Kujou Tengu just past the doorway in the main area of Granny’s house but Not You closes the door behind themself before he can be sure. That too is odd. Not You usually can’t actually move things in his room. Maybe his… visions (calling Not You a vision sounds better than calling them a hallucination) are getting worse if he thinks Not You is actually moving things in the room now. 

Not You approaches slowly and hesitantly, sinking down towards him once they’re close. They reach out as if to touch him and he flinches back and away. A flash of hurt crosses their face the way it always does when he reacts like this, but he’s found it takes longer for the vision to return when they dissipate from his touch so he’s extra careful now. 

“You know I can’t touch you,” he rasps, his voice hoarse from how rarely he uses it nowadays. He tries to limit how much he verbally responds to Not You since Granny once caught him doing it and looked even more concerned than usual afterwards.

“Why not?” Not You asks and it draws a pained whine from his lips that reverberates through his chest, his broken heart struggling to beat. 

“You know why.”

“Explain it to me again.”

He sighs heavily and his vision blurs with the tears he refuses to let fall once more.

“Because you’re not really here… You’re not really them and the minute I touch you you’ll vanish and it takes so long for you to come back,” he admits, his voice wet as he draws his knees up so he can hide his face in them.  

But then suddenly there’s a warm hand on his back and someone takes hold of his chin oh so gently to force him to look up again. The eyes his gaze is forced to meet shine in a way Not You’s could never quite capture and when silent tears start to fall and Itto raises a cautious hand up to brush them away, the pads of his fingers meet warm skin instead of air. 

All at once it hits him. This isn’t Not You, it’s you. He doesn’t know how but it’s seriously, actually you. For real. Flesh and blood and there and he doesn’t feel like wasting time to ask questions so he doesn’t. He simply launches himself into you, his large arms wrapping around you as he sends you both crashing into the floor, pinning you beneath his weight. For the first time since he left the chasm he fully sobs. It’s not a pretty sight with tears and snot running down his face but he doesn’t care because he finally has you firmly in his grip again and all of the things that Not You could never give him are back. Your unique smell, the gentle pressure of your chest rising and falling beneath his, and the reassuring thrum of your heartbeat in his ears. 

“It’s ok Baby. I’m here. I’m right here,” you assure him and it just makes him sob harder.

But it’s good. It’s so incredibly good.

Because you’re right. It will be ok. It’ll take time for him to really believe it; for him to be able to close his eyes at night and truly believe that you won’t be gone when they open again; for him to seek out your touch and warmth without worrying you’ll vanish the moment he should make contact. 

But here you are. And he suspects he owes his second in command and the tengu warrior to thank for that considering they’re both just on the other side of the door. He’ll find a way to pay them back later (whether they want him to or not). 

For now he’ll just let himself sob against you, luxuriating in the feeling of the sweet comfort he thought he’d lost forever.