#would prefer blue or dark green but didn’t look lol

[miss-floral-thief]

Hm I guess this is alright for a pencil liner

[ellielatinagf]

“Your hairs getting long”

Summary: Let’s pretend Dina, Ellie, and JJ are living happily ever after in Jackson:) Ellie and Dina exchanging conversations and a nice haircut for Ellie

An: believe me I’m working on Lacrosse ellie part 5 and I think part five will be the last chapter I just wanna figure out how I wanna end it LOL. This is a little bit of both Dina and Ellie’s pov. Enjoy:)

Warnings: angst????

*knock knock knock*

Dina slowly opened the door and peeped her head in the small room. Ellie whipped her head around to meet Dina’s gaze. Her expression softened when she saw those brown eyes. The same ones that light up her world, the ones that shine light in the darkness. Dina walked over to her now wife. Yup, wife. After Ellie got back from California of course Dina had to smack some sense into Ellie.

Flashback

“Are you hurt?” Dina squeeked softly. She held JJ in her arms. JJ was was already getting bigger. His hair was longer too. Thankfully Mr. Robinson, the Jackson Barber, had been patient in giving the little boy a haircut. Bless the poor man his eyesight has gotten a bit worse.

Ellie shook her head. She was too ashamed to look up at Dina. Much less look at JJ. She couldn’t bear the sight of seeing him more grown up. It would remind her of how much she had missed. The pain she would feel knowing he probably doesn’t remember her is unbearable.

Dina placed JJ don’t in front of her feet. She didn’t know why. She was so over flooded with emotions. Anger, sadness, relief. They all took stabs at her heart at the same time. JJ looked up at Dina confused but the looked at the sunburnt, green eyed, auburn woman.

Now Ellie was forced to look at the child. Her eyes weld up. His hair was longer. And choppily cut too. It wasn’t Dina who’d cut his hair, Dina does a better job. He resembled Jesse. Her heart ache. Her mind flooded with pictures of her last moment with the child’s father. She took a deep breath. Ellie opened her hand to reveal a small toy elephant. Ollie. She’d won it at the Jackson festival so long ago and had kept it. She remembered how JJ used to sleep with it at night.

JJ looked at what was in this mysterious woman’s hand. He smiled and waddled towards her. The blue dusty color caught his attention and likeness. He touched Ellie’s hand and look at Dina for approval of the toy. Dina hesitated but nodded slightly. JJ let out a happy chuckle and took the blue elephant. Ellie couldn’t help but smile.

Dina slowly walked forward. Maybe this was a dream. The same dream she’d had for the last year. Ellie in front of her. Ellie’s dead. This isn’t real. Her mind is playing tricks on her again. It often does this. When she is putting JJ to sleep she’ll think she caught a glimpse of Ellie’s figure in the shadow. This is the same thing.

*Smack*

Not exactly how she planned to prove the realness of the situation. Ellie winced. She knew she’d deserved it. To be honest she deserved worse. She would have preferred Dina slap her 100 times than to remind her of how much she had screwed up.

Dina looked at the hand print mark on Ellie’s cheek. The damage was worse due to her horrible sunburn. Dina looked around for JJ. Now she wonders if she had made a mistake to smack Ellie in front of Jj. She catches the boys rowdy hair and looks in his area. He was playing with a random street dog. Clutching Ollie in his little chubby fingers. Dina sighed and looked back at Ellie.

Ellie looked at Dina with teary eyes. Dina noticed something different in them thought. They weren’t the same dead eyes she used to have. They weren’t dull. They were bright and glossy. And not just because Ellie was crying a tsunami.

“I know” Ellie whispers “I know nothing will ever make you love me again”. She sniffs her nose so she can make out more words. “I know than no amount of apologies will ever be forgiven from me”.

Dina felt sadness hit her.

“But I love you”

That was it for her. Dina cried. Hard. She threw her arms around Ellie. She finally felt it again. She felt that same bubbly feeling in her heart. She doesn’t want to admit it’s love at the moment. But she feels it. Ellie took the girl in her arms and held her. She held Dina and wouldn’t let go. She secretly promised to never let her go.

After that day Ellie agreed to stay in Joel’s house. She wanted to give Dina and JJ time to create that bond with her. She didn’t want to force herself in their lives. She slowly started seeing Dina more and more. And JJ loved playing with Ellie. Ellie always said ‘I love you’ to Dina. Even if Dina never said it she knew that with time, she would.

JJ loved Ellie of course. And if wasn’t because of the fact that she always brought him something after patrols. One day ellie found something that caught her eye. A shiny diamond. It had already been 2 years since she saw Dina again. Dina always invites ellie over and Dina had been saying ‘I love you’. It’s time.

That night after JJ got his presents Ellie bent down on one knee in front of Dina. Part of her was thinking it’s too soon and was about to fake tie her shoes. But she asked Dina and showed the ring. Dina was over joyed and cried if happiness. She couldn’t have said yes any faster.

Flashback end

“JJ sleep okay?” Ellie asked.

“For a six year old, he was okay” Dina replied. She bent her head down to kiss Ellie’s forehead.

“Are you gonna head to bed?” Ellie asked. She looked at the canvas in front of her. She wanted to do a still life drawing of bowl of fruit. Was it cliché? Maybe, but she wanted to improve her art.

“Once you do” Dina said. She looked at the auburn hair. It was long. Probably an inch or two below Ellie’s mid neck. “Your hairs getting long” Dina thought out loud.

“Wanted to ask if you’d cut it for me” Ellie hummed softly and looked at Dina.

“Not Mr. Robinson?” Dina asked resting her head on Ellie’s shoulder. Ellie groaned quietly and Dina chuckled. Dina got up and grabbed a pair of scissors and a comb. Ellie put down her art supplies. She could finish tomorrow. Dina started to part Ellie’s hair and began cutting.

“Can I take JJ hunting?” Ellie asked.

“Don’t you think he’s a little too young?” Dina answered nervously.

“I only wanted to take him to the chicken field” Ellie asked. She didn’t want to throw the boy in the forest with clickers and wild boars. She probably would be hesitant for him to go out there even if he was 30 years old.

“The one in Jackson right? By Tommy’s house?”

“Mhm” ellie confirmed.

“….okay” Dina approved “but if either of you get so much as a paper cut, we’re getting food from the market for a year”. Ellie chuckled.

“You have my word babe” Ellie smiled.

“Are You scheduled for patrol this weekend?” Dina asked.

“Yeah, you need something?” Ellie asked.

“Do you think you can find some more shoes? His old ones will grow out soon” Dina said.

“That’s what happened when you feed him so much” Ellie chuckled.

“He’s a growing boy” Dina rolled her eyes. “It’s not my fault he liked my cooking”.

“Can’t blame him for that. Unless it’s pasta.” Ellie chuckled. She smiled after she took a jab Dina by mentioning at the time Dina had burnt pasta sauce and let the water boil so much it overflowed. It wasn’t entirely her fault. In a way. Dina just took a nap.

“Don’t piss off the one with the scissors” Dina replied playfully tugging Ellie’s hair. Not enough to hurt her, but enough to prove her point.

“Still ate it” Ellie laughed.

“That’s what she said” Dina replied. Hanging around Ellie so much was severely effecting Dina’s humor.

After Dina finished with Ellie’s haircut they both had taken a shower together. Ellie laid in bed next to Dina and faced her. The two shared a kiss and locked eyes.

“I love you” Ellie said. Dina felt happy. Ellie had never been one to say I love you first. Not in a serious way that is. After she came back however, it’s like her motivation had changed. And Dina was glad that Ellie’s family is her priory.

“I love you too” Dina replied. Ellie sighed. The feelings of immense love was reciprocated. Everything was okay. Finally, she was at peace. She could breath again. Ellie could sit and stay in her mind and not feel herself be destroyed. She could stay like this forever.

Ahhhh thank you so much reading!!! Let me know if you enjoyed it! I loveeeee writing one shots and as much as I love writing Ellie x reader! I just Love writing Ellie x Dina! Uhhh not proofread.Have a great day and remember your all amazing! Free Palestine 🇵🇸

Taglists: @bready101 @vqxen @gato-chino @vampyangel @a-little-bit-of-everybody @abbysbraids @Lillylynne11 @Lively-blues @Yurixxiii

FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

[sweetvoicecafe]

Welcome to the Sweet Voice Cafe, a HLVRAI AU!

The cafe serves ice cream, hot drinks, and a few options of pastries! Their special includes different themed ice creams with sweet voice ingredients that give actual effects. (Calming, kindness, sleepiness, love, etc.) The decorations are loud and bright, driving away most “karens”. Sunkist is the mascot! The science team has a large apartment upstairs where they reside. It’s basically a collection of Outcodes. This is an AU where Black Mesa, aliens, and powers don’t exist. They simply exist in the Half Life video games. The government has taken notice of this establishment, but are so frightened by the unknown powers of these entities, that they don’t take action.

Information about all characters below!

Benrey (Benny)

He/It/They (He preferred) Nonbinary Omnisexual

He messed around and found out, escaping his reality for but a few minutes. The universe didn’t like that and hard reset, replacing them with an identical Benrey. He can visit his old AU, but if he ever tries to interact with someone he gets teleported out of distance. He eventually found the Sweet Voice Cafe. In his free time, he enjoys working there (it supplies sweet voice or works the cash register sometimes), playing video games, or traveling the multiverse, usually the latter.

Outfits include blues, purples, and pinks, plus sort of 80s aesthetics. Comfy clothes like hoodies and sweatshirts. It does have some casual hats, but his helmet is a comfort item.

Powers:

- Sweet Voice

- Multiverse Travel/Portals

- Glitching/Clipping

- Fast Healing/Immortality

- Flying/Floating

- Size Manipulation

Mr. Coomer

He/Him Trans Bisexual

He’s from an AU where he became self-aware way too early on and panicked. The game didn’t like that and expelled him from the universe. He floated in the void for a bit, but luckily not long enough to go crazy, less than a couple of days. He was rescued by Bubby and they ended up traveling together for a while before meeting the others and settling down. He became a co-owner of Sweet Voice Cafe, but enjoys working alongside everyone, usually greeting customers. He’s a very fun and extroverted manager, but takes harassment of his employees very seriously. A look alone can scare off the worst of customers.

Outfits include collared shirts, Hawaiian shirts, and rolled up sleeves. Likes green tones and bootleg brand logos.

Powers:

- Sweet Voice

- Advanced Biotech (extendo arms/legs, rocket launcher arm, artificial colon, etc.)

- Sometimes unable to feel pain and others times feels it to the extreme (not allowed to work with the hot items)

- Glow in the dark eyes/Night vision

- Can eat anything (he’s considered the trash disposal lol)

Bubby

He/Xim Agender Pansexual Demiromantic

Bubby’s world was dismantled very quickly by a virus, only a few minutes into gameplay. Bubby had only met Tommy for a short moment. When the world glitched out of existence, his body went into overdrive to protect him. Xe floated through the void for a long time in a coma. He finally awoke when a faceless NPC let him out. After exploring his powers, Xe traveled the multiverse alone at random for quite a while, a couple years at least. He met Coomer and they settled down in an unknown AU after about a year. He’s a co-owner of SVC, but prefers to work more behind the scenes, ordering people around in the kitchen and making hot drinks (no need to pay for machines yippee!). Although he’s strong enough to pick the AUs he goes to now, he only uses it to visit rage rooms lol. He has a couple pet Snarks named Pyro and Ember.

Fashion-wise, he would wear any type of outfit and SLAY. But his preferences include leather jackets, turtlenecks, and flowy skirts. He prefers cyan, black, red, and neon colors, especially if it has flame motifs. Xe doesn’t wear pastels unless it’s blue.

Powers:

- Ultimate Lifeform

- Pyrokinesis

- Controlled Multiversal Travel

- Turning into a car (and speaking to/controlling them)

- Translation of any language

- Telekinesis

- Pretty much any power you can think of. You have no idea what he will do next and he likes it that way.

Tommy Neapolitan

He/Him Cis Asexual Panromantic

Tommy hails from a world where he chose his last name based on ice cream, and loves smoothies instead of soda. He experienced the entire game before he was taken during his birthday party at Ben and Jerrys. (SVC) Gman, grieving from his loss, saw Tommy and embraced him, taking him with him to the next AU. With the lack of Tommy, his original world was overwritten to fix it, effectively replacing him. Gman and Tommy didn’t get along for the longest time, but now they’re on speaking terms, albeit tense. Tommy manages most of the ice cream department because of his expertise in flavors. He also does the bookkeeping.

Tommy wears mostly soft colors, usually yellow, orange, and pink coded. He prefers loose clothing, but ties it back when working with food.

Powers:

- Time powers

- Glow in the dark eyes/Night vision

- Sweet voice (better at reading than speaking it though)

- Semi-photographic memory

Gordon Martinez

He/Him Trans Bisexual

Because he hails from a “it is a game” AU, you can imagine how shocking it was when supernatural stuff happened in his OWN home, not in the VR set. To this day, he’s still unsure what exactly happened. Aliens? The government? Fairies? He doesn’t know and doesn’t care. When they started getting attacked, his first instinct was of course to protect his son. Soon enough, Bubby rescued them and brought them to SVC. He is divorced, but luckily Gordon has full custody and is just grateful his son is safe. He was more than happy to settle down, despite Joshua’s grumblings. He helps with the miscellaneous baking in the kitchen. His bestseller is his croissants! In his free time, he enjoys streaming or binge watching tv.

He’s drawn to warm colors for his outfits, usually oranges and browns. He likes sweaters or shirts with funny dad jokes. He has a couple of hoodies as well.

Powers

- Does being an absolute nerd count?

Joshua Martinez

He/Him

Joshua is 6 years old. He doesn't understand what happened, but whines to Gordon about missing his friends and why they can’t go back. He’s happy he gets a big room to himself now at least! Gordon eventually enrolled him in a nearby school. He enjoys cowboys, dinosaurs, music, and video games. His least favorite class is math. He very much enjoys the free ice cream he gets from the shop. Benrey had to be scolded for giving him too much one time asdgfhjkl.

Tshirts with logos! Doesn’t have a color preference yet, but does enjoy his cowboy hat and assorted bandanas the team keeps getting him.

Powers:

- Puppy dog eyes you cannot resist (but should learn to)

George Mantle (GMan)

He/It Agender Aroace

George lost his Tommy in a freak accident that also wiped out his entire world. He wandered the multiverse aimlessly, unfortunately not finding any AUs with a Tommy either. It met a Slick once, but noticed how differently they sounded and acted, so he didn’t pry. The first Tommy he saw was Neapolitan. He immediately hugged him, and the universe decided “oh hey, angst” and kicked them both out. It took a very long time for the two to get on good terms. It tries its best in forming a connection though. Gman focuses on keeping the establishment running and secretly watches the government to make sure they don’t do something… unwise to his friends. He wants nothing to do with multiversal travel anymore, no siree.

He wears lots of suits. They’re just the most comfortable to him. They do end up varying in color and pattern. One time Tommy got him a long sleeved shirt with a pattern of a fake suit on it and he nearly cried. (Tommy took it to mean the gift was bad, but Gman was just moved his “son” was trying to make a connection.)

Powers:

- Time manipulation

- Clipping/glitching

- Teleportation

- Invisibility

- Glowing eyes/Night vision

- Could breathe in space/underwater but has no interest in doing so.

Forzen

He/She Bigender Abrosexual

Forzen doesn’t quite remember where he came from. She just woke up here one day, I guess. He doesn’t live with the science team and only shows up every once and a while as a customer. He only orders original Rocky Road ice cream. In reality, the government asked her to keep an eye on SVC. Since this is a world where aliens and supernatural occurrences don’t exist, they’re very unsure how to handle the situation. Forzen is laid back and bored over the whole thing. She’s just happy he gets a free living space and unlimited pizza and textbooks at his disposal. The government asked what he wanted to graduate in, and he never ever elaborated.

He mostly wears baggy t-shirts and jeans, sometimes cargo pants. Dull colors or funny phrases.

Powers:

- Teleportation

- Super Speed

- Indestructibility (this greatly frightens the government, especially after he denied wanting to fight for their military)

Darnold

They/He/She Genderfluid Asexual Demiromantic

Darnold is from an unknown AU. Maybe. They either remember and don’t want to talk about it, or don’t care. She very quickly adapts to the new place and the science team welcomed him into their apartment. He very much enjoys his place in the cafe, able to experiment and mix flavors and sweet voice combinations in his lab. Tommy tried to help gather sweet voice, but he’s not good enough at it himself, and Sunkist wouldn’t listen. So Darnold has to stock up on the sporadic times Benrey returns. They enjoy flying kites and playing TF2 in their spare time.

Their favorite outfit is sweater vests and she enjoys darker warm colors, like maroon and purple. She collects various bow ties.

Powers:

- Fast Healing

- Flying

- Not much else, but can invent stuff easily from scrap metal and spare parts

Sunkist

She/He/It

No one knows where Sunkist came from because, well, she can’t speak. As he is the perfect dog, he doesn’t shed, and is allowed to freely roam the cafe, or wherever else she’d like to wander off to. As the mascot, it is well beloved by the community. It can change his form from a flat (and slightly glowing and transparent) png to a human-sized dog at will. Very quickly bonded with Tommy and became a support when he was struggling with the situation. It cares for everyone on the science team, regardless of whether it listens to their demands or not.

Sometimes wears bandanas, collars, or bows with soda motifs. No one gifted it to her, she just appears with them sometimes and they may change when you blink . . .

Powers:

- Sweet Voice

- Immortal and indestructible

- Clipping and flying

- Teleportation

- Glowing (including in 3D form, but it's by random)

[thevelria]

Blood and Poker - Don't worry, I'll be gentle (NSFW/mafia!Gojo x pokerplayer!fem!reader)

Author's note: this is the 2nd part of this story. I did a collab with my lovely friend @randompurr She drew all the amazing fanarts for this story. Please check her account and give her all the love, because she deserves the world! <3

wordcount:5.9K

DO NOT copy and repost her art without giving credit! Reblogs, comments and likes are much appreciated.

Warnings: MDNI/ 18+ ONLY!/detailed, heavy smut, injuries, blood, violence, murder. Mention of guns and illegal business. It's a mafia AU after all lol

Surprise: uncensored version of the NSFW fanart will be linked under the picture.

I also would like to thank my lovely ladies @ladycheesington and @m-jelly for helping me with ideas and proofreading <3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The doorbell rang at 7 sharp. Just as he said earlier on the phone. You were ready to go. The fact you spent almost your whole day trying to find what to wear was something you kept as a secret. 

Earlier that day:

After Gojo hung up the phone you rolled on your back and faced the ceiling. Slightly you frowned as you kept trying to figure out how he knew your address. You made up your mind that you were going to ask him as soon as he arrived. On the other hand you felt funny. A weird feeling spread in your body. You were excited. The man was so charming and smooth last night. His look was mesmerizing, handsome face, toned body and those beautiful blues. 

You swung your legs across the bed and sat right at the edge before you hopped down. Big yawns and a good stretch helped you feel more awake. Since last night you arrived home really late you slept almost until 3pm. If Satoru didn’t wake you with his call you would have slept even further. It meant you had like four hours to get ready for the date. 

Spending two hours in the bathroom made you feel anxious, because you already knew even if you were clean, your makeup and hair was perfect, you had no idea what to wear. A loud sigh in front of the wardrobe signaled the beginning of the game.

“Meh…” you threw away your green dress.

“Nope, not this one.” the blue lace dress landed on the floor.

This went on and on and on. You sat down at the edge of the bed and clenched your jaw. 

“I hate this, I hate this, I hate this so damn much!” you shook your head, before looking up and noticing THE dress. 

A sweet looking dirty-white spring dress with cute little cherries. You loved the puffy sleeves, the tight waist part and the mid-thigh long skirt. Oh and the cleavage, it was your favorite part. It cupped your boobs perfectly and formed into a big bow. You chose your burgundy heels which perfectly suited your lovely dress. 

***

Gojo was drumming his fingers on the wheel in his car. He parked in front of your home but he arrived almost 20 minutes early. A bouquet of roses rested on the seat next to him. It was getting dark, even the street lighting was turned up . He frowned at the sudden bright light and looked at his way too expensive watch on his wrist. 3 minutes to go.

“Okay…” he took a deep breath. “Let’s get this girl.” he smirked as he got out of his black 1967 Chevy Impala. 

It’s been years since he dated anyone. Mostly he was busy with building his empire and even if people assumed him to be a womanizer he preferred love. Gojo loved being in love. The feeling of having a partner, protecting, caring and spoiling her rotten. That’s what made his heart beat faster and not the women who threw themselves at him for money and some rounds in bed. 

Confident steps he took towards your door. “Fuck, the flowers…” he slapped his palm against his forehead and rushed back to the car. At 7pm he rang the doorbell, fixing his outfit afterwards. He clenched his jaw slightly. The man was nervous, because he wanted to fascinate you way too much. 

“Good evening.” Satoru greeted you with his most charming smile. Your eyes widened and you truly had to try your best not to drool. The snow white hair was slicked back, his deep red button up shirt followed his toned torso. The top two buttons were left open, slightly revealing his collarbone and the rolled up sleeves let you adore his strong forearms. Ebony pants with shiny boots made his look simply perfect.  

“Hey, uhm…hey.” you cleared your throat, trying to hide the fact you were staring. 

“You look absolutely ravishing, darling.” he eyed you up shamelessly. “Shall we go?” he was about to offer his arm when he realized he didn’t give you the flowers. “Fuck, I’m such an idiot.” he thought to himself. “I..I brought this for you.” he lifted up the bouquet and chuckled awkwardly.

“Thank you, Satoru. They look lovely. Give me a sec, I’ll put them into water. Wanna come in until I handle it?” you spun on your heels and just realized a second after you already invited him in. Hearing him politely refusing it made you even more anxious. “Now he thinks I wanna hump him. I’m such an idiot.” you imaginary facepalmed yourself as you picked a vase and let the flowers sink in it. 

The leather seat softly sunk under your weight as you got into the car. “You have a really nice car.” you smiled as you carefully ran your index and middle finger over the glove compartment. 

“Thank you.” his husky voice sent shivers down your spine. He was wealthy and had taste for sure. But still you felt like he was so much more than a simple business man. “I am flattered you actually accepted my invitation. I felt the spark between us last night and I hoped you would say yes.” 

“Spark?” you smirked. “We will see about that spark.” you chuckled, while inside you screamed. Because, girl, you felt it just like he described. 

One of the fanciest restaurants that just opened a few months ago was the place he took you. The staff seemed so professional, precise and kind. The inside of the building left you speechless. Huge chandeliers hung from the ceiling, beige furniture, black tables with matching chairs made the vibe luxurious. 

“This way, please.” a nice looking waiter stepped next to you. You missed the quick glance he gave to Gojo. High stairs guided you up until the top of the building. An even wilder space unfolded with the same style as downstairs but with a beautiful balcony attached. You gasped and snapped your head to your date. He gave you a warm smile as he followed you to the balcony where your waiter escorted the both of you. 

“Your table, bo…, I mean, sir.” he let out an awkward chuckle. “Please call me when you are ready to order. I’ll be right back with some special welcome drink.”

You made an amused expression, you were truly mesmerized by the situation. 

“I assume you like this place.” Gojo smirked as he pulled the chair out for you. 

“It’s wonderful.” you took a deep breath as you admired the sight. “I mean look at this.” you pointed at the city that glowed in front of you with all its glory. Buildings and skyscrapers towered into the high, tiny little cars run on the roads as if they were ants in a hive. 

You zoned out for a few seconds, having flashbacks from your past months and you hummed a laugh spontaneously. 

“Everything’s okay, sweetheart?” Satoru’s raspy voice snapped you back to reality.

“Sure. Yeah, sure. I was just thinking…” you tried to find the right words. “It’s just beautiful and I like it here. It’s perfect.” Your warm, honest smile melted his heart. 

“I’m glad.” he placed his hand on the table. Obviously he was about to reach for your hand but he hesitated just yet. When he was sure the right time appeared he was about to touch the back of your hand. 

“Your drinks.” the lovely waiter interrupted the perfect moment. Gojo flashed a deadly stare at him which made him uneasy in an instant. “I, I hope you’ll like it." He hurriedly placed two glasses and a bucket filled with ice and a bottle of champagne on the table. 

“Thank you, you can leave now.” the snow white haired man waved at the waiter who nodded and spun on his heels right away. “I’ve heard this champagne is one of the best in town.” he reached for the bottle and palmed the cork, gently twisting it left and right until a solid popping sound was heard. “Let me pour you some.” he grabbed your glass, while a delicate fog escaped the cool drink. 

“It tastes like heaven.” you licked your bottom lip after taking a small sip. 

You frowned while checking the menu. So many fancy dishes to choose from and to be honest you have never been to a place like this. You felt a bit anxious and Gojo sensed it. 

“You can pick anything you want, don’t worry about the price.” he winked at you.

“That’s sweet of you but it’s not the source of my struggling to be honest.”

“What’s wrong then?” he frowned.

“Uhm…” you cleared your throat. “I have no idea what these dishes are. Fancy names with fancy descriptions and yet I have no clue what they mean.” you bit your inner cheek, embarrassed. 

“Oh, sweety.” he laughed. “Let me pick for you then, yeah? Do you like fish or would you like to eat some meat?”

“Fish is perfect.” you nodded. “I do like fish.”

“Alright.” he snapped and your waiter rushed to the table in a heartbeat.

Gojo made the order so smoothly you were amused. 

In the meantime as you were waiting for your food he tried his luck once again and this time he succeeded. Gently placing his palm on the back of your hand, gently he smiled at you.

“So, tell me your story.” he cooed as he was running his thumb softly over your skin. 

“What story do you mean exactly?” you let him touch you. 

“You mentioned something like being a professional player.”

“I used to be, yeah.” you pulled a bittersweet smile.

“And what’s the story behind that?” he raised one of his eyebrows.

“Let’s not ruin this lovely moment with a bittersweet story like that. Rather you should tell me how you got to open your own casino at this young age? Is it a family business?” Your pupils became huge the second he shot you a charming smirk.

“We can call it like that, yeah. It’s a family business. This casino was the 5th one I opened across the country.”

“Wait a minute.” your eyes widened. “Are you telling me you have 5 casinos?”

“Actually, 12.” he chuckled. “I opened one every month last year.”

“Shut up!” you slammed your free palm against your mouth. “I’m sorry. I mean, wow. This is amazing!”

After you finished the delicious meal, which you still had no idea what it was, you excused yourself to the restroom.

“I’ll be right back.” you said politely, heading inside. 

The moment you got back a tall, long black haired man was standing at your table, obviously having some serious words with your date. Eavesdropping wasn’t your intention but you involuntarily overheard some words. 

“I’m telling you boss they fucked us up. The guns should have arrived tonight and yet all the containers were empty.”

“What?” Gojo sounded harsh. “What the fuck is going on? It’s the third shipment in a row. You will need to deal with this shit. I’m busy at the…” his words died mid-sentence as he noticed you standing not far from your table. “Leave! We will discuss this later.” he clenched his jaw. 

Your heart was beating fast, pounding against your chest. “Did he seriously say guns?” you panicked. As the mysterious man passed you he gave you an annoyed glance. It terrified you even more. 

“It’s getting late.” you checked your phone immediately. “I truly had an amazing night tonight but I’m afraid I need to go home. Tomorrow I’ll have an important meeting with my editor.” you faked a smile.

“On Sunday?” he clicked his tongue. He knew you were lying, he also was aware you’ve heard something you shouldn’t have. 

“Yeah…lame, I know.” you giggled awkwardly. “I have this deadline coming up next week and…anyway. I don’t want to bore you with the details. I’m gonna catch a taxi.”

“I’ll take you home, sweetheart.” he leaned back in his chair.

“No.” you snapped. “I mean, I don’t wanna be a trouble here. You did so much for me anyway. I’m sure this dinner was way too expensive.” you pushed back your chair, threw your phone into your purse and left in a hurry. 

Gojo pinched the bridge of his nose. “I can’t believe this shit.” he growled. “Everything was so fucking perfect. Damn you, Geto. I’ll kill you, I swear.” he took an irritated, deep breath before standing up and leaving as well. He saw you getting in a taxi and felt really disappointed. “She will avoid me…I feel it.” 

***

A sleepless night. That’s what he gave you. So many unanswered questions were rushing through your mind. Even if you tried to distract yourself it was simply impossible. You had so much fun with him. He was gentle, polite and so damn charming. But guns? He must have been some kind of gangster and the last thing you wanted was to get involved in some nasty business. So as disappointing as it seemed you decided to ditch him. 

“Good morning, darling. I hope you had a decent sleep. Oh and I cheer for you today with your editor.” This lovely message waited for you to read. 

“Fuck.” you hissed after seeing it. You closed the message and left your phone at the nightstand. 

Gojo tapped his feet nervously on the wooden floor in his office. “She saw it and didn’t respond.” he growled, before writing to you again. 

“I was thinking maybe you wanted to meet after your meeting this evening?” Sent. Still no response, only the checkmark next to his message, showing him you read it but once again didn’t bother to write anything back. 

“Damn it, baby. Stop ignoring me!” he bit his inner cheek. 

During the day he got a bit carried away and kept texting you. Even if he was getting mad and desperate he stayed well-behaved. After the 10th or 11th message he took a deep breath and dialed your number. Your eyes widened the second you noticed the caller on the screen of your phone. 

“Pick up the goddamn phone.” he clenched his jaw after the umpteenth missed call. But you didn’t pick up. After a while it seemed the call didn’t go through. “Did you really?” he hummed a bittersweet laugh. “She blocked me!” he threw his hands in the air, shaking his head in disbelief. 

***

In the middle of the night you heard some knocking on the front door. Your eyes were still closed but you tried to focus if you really did hear something or only your mind tricked you. One more knock, this time it was a bit louder. You rubbed your eyes with the back of your hand before crawling out of the bed. Checking the clock “2:32am”.

“Who the fuck is it?” you mumbled under your nose. A third knock echoed through the living room. “I’m coming! There’s no need to break my freaking door.” you sounded harsh and irritated. 

The door shot open and there he was. Gojo stood in front of you covered in blood, injured. Your eyes widened and you froze in your action.

“I’m so sorry, darling.” he panted. “But I had nowhere else to go.” he sounded weak. The second his knees buckled a bit and he almost lost his balance you stepped closer, helped him to come inside. 

“What happened to you? You should go to the hospital.” you were still in shock.

“No, no. I’m fine, I just…I just need to rest.” he breathed unevenly. 

A billion thoughts rushed through your mind as you guided him into the kitchen.

���Careful.” you said as you helped him to sit down. “I’ll be right back.” you rushed to the bathroom to get the first aid kit. 

For a second you stood still in the bathroom, facing the mirror. Everything seemed so surreal. And even if you were scared and confused, you felt the urge to help him. After all he was nothing but polite and sweet with you. The date last night was magical. 

You took a deep breath before grabbing the kit and hurried your steps back to the kitchen. 

“Hey…hey, Satoru. Look at me.” you placed the box on the counter. “I need you to tell me how badly injured you are. Okay? It seems you lost a lot of blood.” you stared at his light blue buttoned up shirt.

“It’s not all mine.” he hummed a bittersweet laugh.

“Oh, God…” you shook your head. “Did you get shot?” you frowned.

“No, just stabbed.” he hissed as he tried to wiggle on the seat. 

“Stabbed?” even you were surprised by your high pitched voice. “Let me see it!”

“Help me please, I can’t really move my left arm.” 

Gently you fidgeted with the buttons, one after another, until his shirt was fully open. His chest was covered with bruises and cuts. But his left shoulder looked worrying. A deep, pretty big wound was revealed in front of you. It was definitely made by a stab. 

“I need to clear your wounds and I definitely have to stitch this one on your shoulder.” you clenched your jaw as you took his shirt completely off. 

“Thank you.” That was all he could say. Gojo was clearly in pain. 

You tried to be as gentle as possible but you knew just as much as him that it wasn’t going to be a piece of cake. 

“Sorry.” you bit your lower lip before you started to clean his injuries. He hissed here and there, cleared his throat but never ever complained. 

Even if you tried to focus only on the main task you couldn’t help but admire his toned torso. This handsome gangster had wide shoulders, broad chest and perfectly built abs. His biceps looked huge without even flexing them. 

“It’s almost done.” you smiled. “Then let me take care of the rest of the cuts on your face and as I see your knuckles are fucked up, too.” 

“It’s nothing.” he hummed a laugh. “Really, it’s okay.”

“Shh…” you hushed him. “You asked me to help you, yeah? Let me do it properly.”

He stayed quiet and pulled an adorable smile. 

After you gently wrapped up his knuckles you didn’t even realize that you kept running your thumb over his hand. A few seconds later you got a bandage and placed it on his cheekbone. Suddenly he put his palm on your waist and pulled you close to him. The way he rested his cheek on your tummy surprised you. You had no idea what to do. Should you have freed yourself or stayed still? An unexpected silence made the situation even more complicated. Finally you hummed and ran your fingers through his hair, softly slicking it back and planting a featherlight kiss on the top of his head. You felt as he smiled and slid his hand down to your hip, grabbing it lightly. 

“Will you tell me what happened to you?” you broke the silence.

“It’s safer for you if you don’t know.”

“Satoru, please. You can’t just appear in front of my house in the middle of the night beaten up, bleeding, asking for my help and expecting me to not ask any questions.” you lifted his head to force him looking you in the eye. 

“It’s so messed up, darling. Everything is just messed up.” he sighed. “And I know you heard something yesterday. I don’t know what exactly but I have a guess. You even blocked my number.”

You gulped hard, because he said the truth. You were about to ghost him.

“Are you scared of me?” he kept looking at you.

“I don’t know.” you took a deep breath. “I mean you are sweet, polite, like a real gentleman. Last night was wonderful, I did have fun with you and everything was perfect. But guns? Fucking guns? And let me tell you that guy looked terrifying. The way he stared at me froze the blood in my veins.”

“So you heard what Geto said.” he growled. “Look…” he hesitated for a second. “I’m not a simple business man. I’m the head of the Gojo clan, one of the biggest mafia families in the country. I know it sounds horrible but you need to believe me when I say that I’m a good person and I would treat you as a queen if you’re willing to give me a chance.” 

“I…” you were about to say you didn’t know what to think but all of a sudden he stood up and caged you at the counter. He was way taller, so he towered above you powerfully. 

“Just one chance.” he leaned dangerously close. “That’s all I’m asking for.” you felt his warm breath on your skin. A fragile nod was all you were able to present but it was more than enough for him. “Can I kiss you? Please. I've been dying to kiss you since the moment I saw you on the screen.”

“On the screen?” you were confused.

“Nevermind.” he chuckled and brushed his lips against yours. It was a delicate kiss, a gentle and soft one. 

The soft kiss turned into a more intense one. A low moan escaped your mouth the second his tongue met yours. He smirked and kept kissing you with more and more passion. You threw your hands around his neck, running your fingers up and down on the back of his head, feeling his undercut brushing your skin. While he grabbed your thighs and lifted you up.

“Satoru, don’t…your shoulder is...”

“It’s okay.” he planted a featherlight kiss into your neck as you clenched your legs around his waist.

“Where’s your bedroom?” he growled. You nodded your head slightly to the right and he headed to the room without hesitation. 

The sound of your uneven breathing echoed through the room as he entered your bedroom, holding you still. Gojo sat down at the edge of the bed. The mattress bent down a bit under the weight of your bodies. You caged him with your knees and you undeniably felt the bulge growing bigger and bigger in his pants. 

A cheeky bite on his lower lip and one or two grinding movements on his lap drove him wild. He grabbed the back of your head as he took a deep, desperate breath. 

“Are you sure about this, princess? Because once we’ve done it there’s no way back. You’re going to be mine. Only mine!” he hissed. 

A naughty smirk appeared on your face. You pulled your PJ shirt above your head, revealing your breasts before you crashed your lips against his. You had no idea what’s gotten into you but you wanted nothing else but to sleep with this man. 

Suddenly his hands wandered lower and cupped your bum, squeezing them while he moaned into the heated kiss. The next you remembered was him flipping you over. You landed on your back on the mattress, even bounced back a little.

“I wonder how strong you are when you are not injured.” you chuckled. 

“You’ll find out, I'll make sure of that. God…” he shook his head. “You’re so beautiful.”

A slight tint of red rushed your face which he found adorable. Once again Satoru towered himself above you, his hands rested aside your head while he kept kissing your cheek, your jaw, your neck and collarbone. Working his way lower and lower. One of his hands cupped one of your tits, massaging it, enjoying the touch. 

You weren’t able to hold back your moans, the heat was getting really hard to handle. When he reached your lower tummy he playfully slid his fingers under the rubber band of your PJ bottom. Your hips automatically bucked up, giving him an easy time to get rid of the unwanted cloth. As you were laying there completely naked he bit his lower lip and wiggled his way back exactly between your thighs. His breathing got faster and faster, you felt the warm air on your skin. Gojo looked you in the eye as he placed a light kiss on your folds, just right before he spread your legs wide open and his tongue slid into your needy part. 

“Fuck…” you moaned and ran your fingers into his crystal white hair. 

Satoru was good at eating, he got the perfect rhythm and the perfect moves. One of his hands rested on your tummy, while he lapped and sucked on your clit. Giving more and more speed to the movements caused you to shiver. Nothing else but his name rolled from your lips. He was really enjoying the moment, enjoying your beautiful pussy. 

“Please…” you panted.

“Hmm? What does my princess want?” he looked up at you from between your legs.

“Toru, if you keep doing this I’m going to cum.” 

“Good.” he smirked. “That was my intention anyway.” He buried his face between your folds once again but this time adding one finger to make the pleasure more intense. Your moans became louder, your hips bucked but his free hand kept you still.

“Don’t wiggle, baby. Let me eat you properly.” he giggled as he gave a quick lick to your already sensitive clit. 

Your gangster slid one more finger in and it drove you completely insane. You were nothing but a moaning mess. 

“I’m gonna…I think I’m gonna…” you tried to form the words without success.

“Come for me, darling.” he quickened his movements. 

You felt the knot in your lower tummy get stronger and stronger. Suddenly the rush of a relieving tension rushed through your body and a loud scream left your mouth. Gojo kept going on and on, while you were riding your high out on his face. 

A few moments later your breathing started to get more even and you cupped his face. 

“Take off your pants. I want you to be inside of me!” 

Satoru never in his life got out of his pants faster but your expression made him chuckle.

“Holy shit!” you gasped. “You are huge.” your eyes widened at the sight of his hard dick.

“Don’t worry baby.” he climbed between your legs, positioning himself to your entrance. “I’ll be gentle.” he carefully slid his throbbing shaft into you.

“Oh my God.” you panted as he kept sliding himself in inch by inch. 

“Look at you, darling. You’re taking me so well.” he leaned in and kissed you. “Tell me when I can move, yeah?” 

His muscled back felt so tempting under your hands as you nodded. “Just a second.” you tried to relax your body. This man was indeed massive. “Okay, you can move now.” you dug your fingers into his back. 

Satoru put up a gentle pace, bucking his hips at a speed that drove you crazy. The way his dick was sliding in and out of your dripping wet pussy tested his own sanity as well.

“You’re so tight.” he buried his face in the crook of your neck. 

Your hands wandered lower and lower on his back until you grabbed his rounded bum. “Faster. I need you to go faster. Please.” you begged and he obeyed right away. He started to pound into you with more and more intensity. Your walls clenched around him every time he hit your special spot.

“Darling.” he growled. “I’m not gonna last long if you suck me in like this.”

“I can’t help it, ‘Toru. It feels so good. You feel so good inside me.” you babbled in delirium. 

Your words pushed him even closer to his limit and the second you screamed his name once again, reaching your high he wasn’t able to hold back anymore. “Baby, I’m gonna cum, I’m gonna…Ngh.” he pulled himself out quickly and shot his cream on your tummy. After he calmed down a bit he laid next to you. 

“That was amazing.” he rested on his back, facing the ceiling. 

“It indeed was.” you smiled and tried to get up. “I’ll be right back.” you headed to the bathroom to clean up yourself. Gojo appeared in the bathroom door, laying against the frame. “Can you help me with the shower?” He walked behind you, placed his hands on your shoulders and kissed your neck. “With all these stitches and bandages I’m not sure I could do it myself.”

“Sure, join me.” you giggled as you pulled the shower curtain aside.

***

After a second round in the shower you were completely exhausted and you assumed Satoru felt the same. 

“We really should sleep and in the morning you will tell me what the heck is going on. Okay?” you climbed in the bed after changing the sheets. 

“Alright, darling.” 

His phone kept ringing which woke both of you up. A desperate growl left your body as you opened your eyes.

“Satoru, pick up your fucking phone, I’m begging you.” you whined. 

He tapped the top of the nightstand next to him, eyes closed, when finally reached his mobile. “What?” he hissed. A few seconds later he almost jumped out of the bed. “WHAT?!” he yelled. “Bullshit!” he clenched his jaw. “No, I will handle it. Get your stuff and head to the mountains. Yes, all of you! Go!” he hung up. 

“Should I ask?” you sat up, covering your bare chest with the sheet. 

“A few weeks ago I turned down a nasty business.” he sighed, climbing behind you, so your back pressed against his chest as he kept talking. “Since then my whole business, my whole family is under attack. I thought after a few days they would stop but instead they are after everything I own in this town. Last night I got attacked while I was on my way home. They destroyed my house and now Geto called me with the news that all my businesses were either burnt to the ground or torn apart.”

“That sounds horrible.” you gasped. “So the casino was not your only interest in the city?”

“No, I had restaurants, shops and clubs as well.” 

“Restaurants…” you hummed. “Like the one you took me to?”

“Yeah.” he nodded.

“Bastards…” you huffed. “It was such a beautiful place. I loved it!”

Gojo let out a bittersweet laugh before kissing your shoulder. “I need to leave, darling. You have to come with me.”

“What?” your eyes widened. 

“You would be in danger here but I can protect you.”

“In danger? How? Why? We are not even a thing, why would I be in danger?” 

“After last night we are definitely a thing. I told you, if you gave in you were going to be mine.” he smirked as he gently bit your earlobe.

“Yeah.” a soft moan left your mouth. “But they don’t know that.”

The handsome gangster got out of the bed and wanted to dress up when he realized his clothes were dirty and torn. He clicked his tongue and frowned.

“I can give you gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt if you want. I think it will fit you.”

“Thank you.”

As he was getting dressed he bit his inner cheek. “I assume these aren’t your clothes.”

“No.” you shrugged. “My ex left them here and I…well I should have gotten rid of them years ago.”

Satoru was about to crack an inappropriate joke about your ex and how he was going to fuck even his memory out of your pretty head when someone knocked on the front door. You snapped your head to the direction of the noise.

“Will your men pick you up?” you smiled as you started to walk towards the door. He took a quick peek through the window and noticed an unfamiliar, dark car in front of your home. 

“Baby, stop!” he yelled and started to run after you, grabbing your wrist just in time and pulling you aside a second before someone emptied a whole clip into your door.

“What the fuck?” you screamed. Gojo covered you with his body until the shots died down.

“Come with me!” he demanded and dragged you into the bathroom. “Here. Take this.” he handed you a loaded gun. I’m going to lock this door, yeah? If anyone tries to break in, kill them. Understood?” he sounded dead serious. 

“What?! NO!” you screamed. “It’s bullshit! I don’t even know how to use this freaking gun.” you started to cry.

“Shh…” he pulled you into his chest and hugged you tight. “It’s going to be okay, yeah? I will take care of this. I told you I was going to protect you, darling.” he placed a kiss on the top of your head.

“Be careful.” you whispered as he left the bathroom. 

In the upcoming minutes you heard gunshots, yelling, screaming and you were sure your home was getting destroyed. After a while there was silence. The doorknob started to move left and right, your blood froze in your veins as you aimed the gun directly at the door. 

“It’s safe now, baby.” Gojo’s weakened voice made you shiver.

“Satoru?” you shot the door open right away. And once again here he was, standing in front of you injured, bleeding. 

“I…I need to patch you up again. I’m sure the wound on your shoulder opened up.” you frowned as you reached for his t-shirt and wanted to take it off.

“No.” he panted, gently grabbing your wrist. “There’s no time for this. We need to leave. It’s not over yet, more of them will come. We can’t stay here.” he pressed his right hand against his side. You were sure under the clothes he was covered in new cuts and bruises. 

“Yuuta.” Gojo sighed. “I will text you the address. You need to come here and pick us up right now. They found me.” he hung up. 

“Can I at least pack some clothes or something?”

“Just be quick, baby. Yuuta will be here in a few minutes.”

With a small luggage in your hand you stepped out of your bedroom and didn’t want to believe your eyes. Blood and at least five dead bodies were lying in the living room. All your furniture was either broken or shot into pieces. 

“Please, don’t look.” Satoru took your luggage with one of his hands and grabbed your hand with the other one. “Come, Yuuta is outside.”

On your way to the safe house you kept silent. Gojo refused to let your hand go, he rubbed his thumb over your skin again and again and again. After an hour or so the car parked in front of a vintage styled wooden house. You helped Satoru to get out of the car and only after standing next to the vehicle did you notice the men waiting in front of the building. 

You recognized the scary looking man who was called Geto. He was on the phone and well…his stare almost made you shit your pants. Not far from him stood a younger boy with funny, spiky hair. It seemed he talked to a ripped guy with a tiny scar across his lips and who looked just like him. There was another man with spiky hair and a weird face paint sitting close to scarface. The last guy with pinkish blonde hair and his hands in his pockets seemed the most normal from them all. 

That was the moment you realized you were going to stay in a house with a yakuza and a part of his gang. 

[frostironfudge]

Keep Your Eyes On Me - Bucky Barnes

Summary: taking part in @the-slumberparty 's warm up of one word drabbles, my word was 'medusa' so this is what I came up with I hope you enjoy.

Pairing: Archeologist!Bucky x Female!Reader (AU)

Warnings: None, black market auctions, mild violence (nothing gruesome), mythology rewriting using creative liberty lol, knives mentioned.

Word Count: 905 (yeah even i don't believe i could stop myself here)

Main Masterlist || AO3

A series of grunts echo around the silent temple. Blue eyes follow the dust bellowing upwards from the stone tomb. Bucky huffs, pushing the stone again. A small gap finally created. 

Sweat pools on his brow, grabbing the flashlight to peer into the tomb. Empty. Yet again. 

“Fuck.” He looks around, there must be something salvageable, something to get him out of the tricky situation. The flashlight gleams over something on the north wall. 

Bucky scrambles towards it, laughter found in the relief of spotting the gem. The light tucked between his teeth, carefully he uses his tools to dislodge the opalescent stone. 

It tips forward into his palm. Raising it up he observes it, this would do, a fabricated story of the lost jewel of a goddess’ crown or necklace. The money of collectors and snobs would come rolling in, he tosses the stone up and down, weighing it in his palm. 

Oh this definitely would work in his favour. 

The winning bid makes Bucky and the man waiting for his money very happy. He gets to keep a handsome portion. Lay off the jobs for a while. 

He goes to the nearest bar to celebrate, tie loosened and a hefty number of digits in his account. 

“Barnes.” Marc Spector greets, clad in a clean cut suit. 

“Spector.” Bucky places his glass of whiskey down on the bar table, “Back from the Middle East?” 

“Oh I’m in and out you know this, there is someone asking for you however. A job if you will.” Marc looks to the side then back at Bucky. 

“I’m not looking for a job.” He lifts the glass to his lips again. 

“Yes but this employer is looking for you.” Marc gestures to the private rooms with a nod of his head. 

Bucky regards Marc’s dark eyes, he had immense respect for the man. They had worked alongside on projects together. There was a certain level of trust the two shared. 

“Alright, I’ll bite.” Drowning the rest of the burning liquid, Bucky licks his lips following Marc to the private rooms. 

The mercenary knocks on the door. Bucky tucks his hands into his pockets though his gloves are on he prefers to keep them tucked away. 

Marc opens the door, “You’re on your own.” He mutters, the archeologist nods, slipping past the threshold. The door closes behind him. 

The dim lights and couches are empty. Bucky’s lips quirk in the slightest. Turning to the left he blocks the hand that encircles the knife. 

Twisting and gaining control of it, he moves back. Defending himself against the hits. 

Landing a few of his own, the bottle green dress twirls around you as you move around him. 

A very deadly goddess. He thinks, he hears your amused laugh. 

When his gaze meets your eyes, he stops moving. Every cell in his body froze into place. 

“Hmm, I do wish we could have played longer, Mr. Barnes.” You tut, hips sashaying as you walk back to the couch, knife twirling between your fingers before you tuck it into the holster on your thigh. 

His eyes are free tracking your movements. 

What have you done to him? 

Was there a drug in his drink?

How is he still upright?

You sigh, sounding bored. 

“I do love the theory you came up with for the stone at tonight’s auction.” You sip a very fruity drink, “Hmm at least the alcohol concoctions have improved over the years.” 

Years?

“Now, a goddess’ favourite gem, hidden away in her temple, away from prying hands. But her utmost devout servant stole it from her, because he thought she didn’t love him back.” You list the made up theory verbatim. 

Slowly Bucky feels his fingers beginning to move, you smile at him. 

“Now, the reason I asked for you is, I want the gemstone. I don’t care how you do it, I don’t care what the costs are, you will return that item to me.” You watch as he swallows, testing his throat control. 

“Why do you want a stolen relic?” He rasps, soon he feels ropes wrap around his limbs, tightening and pulling him down to his knees dragging him across the floor. When he feels the texture on his skin he realises its scales. 

Widened eyes meet yours yet again, you only smile before standing and cupping his jaw. Your nails softly dig into his cheeks. 

You turn his head side to side observing him. 

“It would be a shame to curse you.” You coo at him. Your free hand stroking his cheek. 

“Is there only one way to curse me?” He challenges, your nails dig in a little more. His eyes darken. 

You chuckle, “Your conning skills won’t work on me.” 

He breathes deeply, keeping his gaze locked with your own. 

“You stole from me, Mr. Barnes. When you entered my temple. Tried and then opened my tomb, then decided, ‘Oh, a pretty stone is the way to go’.” You tilt your head as you watch the thoughts in his mind connect, intertwining the loose ends. 

“Medusa.” He whispers, sure of himself. 

“The one and only.” You smile, Bucky’s lips part in the slightest as you lean in closer, “So tell me, are you going to bring my little gemstone back, my little artefact thief?” 

Bucky licks his bottom lip, then his teeth softly dig into the flesh, “It would be foolish to deny a goddess.” 

-x-x-x-

permanent bucky tags: @slutforsexyseabass

[n0bamak1s]

mutual - mai zenin x reader

request: “Could you write mai x non-binary s/o, where mai is realizing that she has a crush on s/o, it'd be funny to see her reaction when the s/o get asked by todo before they spar, abt the kind of woman s/o like, and s/o just shrug and answer 'mai, i guess'.” - @814519

summary: reader seems to take a liking to mai, who refuses to acknowledge her schoolgirl crush on them, and todo somehow manages to be the one to get them to stop dancing around their feelings for each other. (genre: fluff, mutual pining, slice of life-y)

warnings: swearing, mentions of fighting, mostly just fluff

word count: 2.7k

a/n: i’m sorry to take a long ass hiatus again but i have some fics i’m working on rn!! thank you all sm for being so patient with how slow i can be T_T btw this one includes some very mild miwa x reader as well just as a heads up lol!

when you first transferred schools in order to master your cursed technique, your first instinct was to raise an eyebrow at your classmates. the lineup of students in your school consisted of a boy who might as well be a bodybuilder, a blonde girl whose hair seemed to defy gravity, an awkward looking stoic boy clad in traditional clothing, a girl with a gun holster on the side of her baggy pants who wore a bored expression as her gaze met yours, and a normal looking blue haired girl standing next to some rusty looking robot. with all their strange hairstyles and odd clothing choices, combined with how nonchalant they were about their mechanical companion, they might as well be the cast of some forgotten sitcom from the 80s.

after introducing yourself to your stiff new classmates, you were whisked away to be led to your dorm by the blue haired girl (would you call her a “bluenette”?) who you learned was called miwa. as you walked, you asked her questions about her cursed technique, to which she sheepishly smiled and explained how she was the most “useless” of the students.

in response to her shameless self deprecation, you simply scoffed and sent an easy smile her way. “you really shouldn’t beat yourself up like that miwa, if you do it’ll be much easier for your opponents to.” despite the teasing nature of your words, you really did hope you’d managed to encourage her a bit.

miwa turned to you with bright eyes and a sincere smile. “that means a lot, really! it’ll be so nice to have an upperclassman here who isn’t so intimidating. i’m always so nervous to ask mai for help with stuff, so it’s nice to know you believe in me!”

her smile was infectious as you mirrored your junior’s facial expression. “there’s no need to be scared of them you know, believe me, just because they’re older doesn’t mean they have any idea what they’re doing.”

she shrugged in response. “i guess you might be right, this morning mai was practically shaking in her boots about getting to meet you, so maybe it’s all just a tough facade!”

you thought back to the girl who had introduced herself as mai.

what first caught your eye was the way she carried herself. while next to her other classmates as she introduced herself to you, arms crossed over her chest and back straight, as if it was an attempt to look high and mighty. rather than a proper introduction, she simply told you her name, before looking away boredly. the both of you chose to ignore the way todo teased her, before turning to introduce himself with a smug smile. he opened his mouth to seemingly ask you something, but was quickly cut off by mai stomping on his foot, sending him a harsh look. she glanced back at you with a slightly softer expression and a monotone apology for “his idiocy.”

you chuckled quietly at the idea of the girl who presented herself as so blunt and cold getting all nervous at the idea of your arrival.

breaking you out of your reminiscence, miwa waved her hands in front of her nervously as she turned to you. “just please don’t tell her i said that!” her guilty expression rivaled that of a kid who’d been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

before she could continue in her nervous exclamation about how intimidated she was by her senior, you grabbed her hands that had been motioning wildly to match her words. “don’t worry miwa, i’d never sell you out like that.” you let out a small chuckle as you examined the genuine worry on her face, to which she just sheepishly smiled. it was funny to you how scared she seemed of her seniors, but it couldn’t help you from getting an odd urge to want to protect the small girl.

“besides,” your smile turned sly “, if what you say is true, i bet mai would be too shy to even talk to me!” a loud laugh escaped your lips as you continued your way down the dorm halls with long strides. behind you, miwa sped up when remembering she was supposed to be the one escorting you to your dorm.

“come on, that’s not fair to hang it over my head like that!” she whined as she managed to match your pace.

as miwa trailed ever so slightly behind you, you caught sight of a newly familiar head of dark hair (under the fluorescent lighting you couldn’t entirely tell whether it was green or black.)

“mai!” you called out to the girl you’d been newly acquainted with, raising one hand in greeting and slinging the other around your very embarrassed looking juniors shoulders.

the girl you’d shouted to turned to you with heavy lidded eyes that gave her face a bored, almost annoyed, expression. her turning your way was quickly followed by todo, who you guessed had been standing next to her, glancing over the hallway corner to meet your gaze. those two made an odd pair, from what you could tell. in contrast to mai’s impassive greeting, todo had introduced himself with booming confidence, before going on to complain to utahime that he’d have to leave in order to make it back to his dorm to score tickets for a concert featuring takeda. in the moment, you had to stifle a laugh at the memory of such an intimidating looking dude having a huge crush on an idol with absolutely no shame about it.

mai opened her mouth to say something, but was quickly cut off by todos roaring voice. “hey new kid!” his demeanor had been as confident as you remember, despite the fact that you were pretty sure he’d forgotten your name in the short time from when you had left to see your dorm. you gave him a smile and a lopsided wave in response.

“did you snag those tickets you were worried about earlier todo?”

“easily.” he bragged as if you cared about getting a pair of tickets for yourself. “however, earlier i meant to ask you a question, but SHE,” he pointed a thumb annoyedly at his companion, “very rudely interrupted me by stepping on my foot.”

“todo…” mai’s tone seemed warning as her eyes flickered between you and him.

“as much as i would LOVE to hear what your question is todo, i really do have to go unpack” you smiled abashedly, pulling miwa to your side, who nodded with wide eyes at how unphased you were.

“it might be better to ask when we spar later.” he shrugged. “that way i can really hear your impulse answer.” he crossed his arms, clearly to look intimidating.

“works for me! i’ll see you then too, mai.” you winked at her as you tugged miwa along behind you. mai huffed at your embarrassing show of flirtatiousness, but you didn’t miss the slight flush of her cheeks as she turned from you while rounding the corner.

even as you were close to the door of your dorm at the end of the hall, you could still hear mai berating todo for how embarrassing he was.

“i think she likes me.” a cat like grin overtook your face as you stopped in front of your dorm.

“utahime said your uniform would be folded on your bed, once you’re changed you can join us for sparring.” miwa smiled bashful smile. she’d probably chosen to ignore your previous statement in hopes of not being dragged into any drama.

“thanks miwa!” you grinned and gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder, to which she simply looked away timidly.

“it’s no problem, really.” she waved off your appreciation. “but between the two of us, i think you may be right about mai liking you.”

she bowed before running off, probably to get ready for sparring, leaving you grinning like an idiot in response to her revelation.

maybe the feeling was kinda mutual.

you were quick to change into your all black uniform pants and jacket, then breaking into a stride to the yard where sparring took place. that was, until you realized you were wandering rather aimlessly considering, you know, you didn’t really know where the yard was yet. peering around the hallway, your eye caught on an oh so familiar girl adorned in baggy black pants.

“hey mai!” you almost had it in you to feel bad for approaching her yet again.

almost.

“i’m kinda lost, d’you think i could walk with you?”

she nodded a yes in response, motioning with a hand for you to follow her.

after a one too many moments of awkward silence, you decided you’d have to be the one to bite the bullet and break it. “you know that thing todo was saying earlier about having a question he needed to ask me?” she looked up in a way that made her seem as if she’d just been brought out of being lost in her thoughts.

“what of it?”

“do you happen to know what it was? he seemed pretty serious about it.” well, as serious as todo could get.

to your surprise, mai attempted to stifle a chuckle, before a laugh managed to slip past her.

“it’s this totally dumb thing he likes to do.” she tilted her head slightly back so she looked at the ceiling as she talked. “to size people up, he likes to ask them what their type in women is.”

you let out a snort as you laughed, though you couldn’t say you were surprised.

“he seems like such a hopeless romantic, it’s hilarious.”

“yeah.” a soft smile painted her face. “but you’d better get an answer ready, if he thinks you’re too boring he’ll beat your ass.”

“really now?” you raised an eyebrow, to which she nodded in confirmation. “what does he classify as ‘boring’?”

she shrugged. “depends. whenever someone prefers personality he either beats the shit out of them or starts crying.” it was clear in her tone how exasperated her friend made her.

“what did you say? when he asked you?” you turned to face her fully, which made her realize how close together your faces were. for just a beat, she paused to examine your expression. despite your earlier teasing, you seemed sincere in your question. either you were oblivious to the blush spreading across her face, or you chose not to tease her for it.

before an answer could leave her parted open lips, she was interrupted by a voice calling both of your names.

“hey toshinori!” you smiled at the stone faced boy in front of you as you used mai’s shoulder as an armrest.

“it’s noritoshi.” the monotony in his voice made you stifle a laugh. “and you guys are running late for sparring, what were you even doing?”

her eyes glowered in his direction, clearly not in the mood to play hall monitor with him. “i was just being welcoming to our new classmate.”

he ignored her passive aggressive response and turned to you. “todo keeps asking where you are, so you might wanna hurry up.” with a swift turn, he began walking down the hallway with long strides.

once he seemed out of earshot, you burst into laughter, and from your arm you could feel mai’s shoulders shake from repressing a giggle.

“he walks like a goddamn penguin!” you referred to how his arms were wide at his sides and his stiff steps.

“him and mechamaru walk the exact same way, i’m starting to think he might just be a more advanced robot.” her dry tone was combatted by the way the corners of her mouth turned up in a lopsided grin.

“though, we should probably get going, even if i get a pass for being new here, i’m not sure how utahime would react to you being late.”

you didn’t notice how her eyes softened at your concern for her as you beckoned for her to lead the way.

“i don’t think she’d mind, after all utahime loves me for my pep and bubbly spirit.” her voice oozed with sarcasm while you smiled to yourself about how you’d managed to get her to loosen up.

the walk to the sparring field was quick, and it made you wonder how much time you two had taken just talking at the end of the hallway. you were greeted by the sight of your strangely styled classmates (plus the literal robot) beginning to split into pairs. before you could turn to mai with the question of partnering up, you were greeted by a todo with a firm hand on your shoulder.

“we’re partnering up, new kid!” it was more of a declaration than an offer. you smiled awkwardly as his shadow enveloped your figure, seeing mai be whisked away by momo out of the corner of your eye. if you’d looked close enough, you’d have been able to see the annoyed look mai sent at todo and the smug smile momo flashed at mai and her obvious display of jealousy.

you planted your feet on the ground that was caked in dust and prepared yourself into a fighting stance, with fists raised and legs steady. though it seemed you’d gotten prepared to defend from an attack that wasn’t coming. instead, todo marched over to you confidently. mai glanced over from her sparring, knowing exactly what was coming.

he called your name in his usual booming voice, which you were surprised he actually knew.

“what is your type in women?” he towered over you, his expression dead serious despite his absolutely ridiculous question.

feeling mai’s eyes trailing you, you glanced over to her. she mouthed something to you about not saying personality. you failed to hold back a chuckle, which seemed to snap todo out of his intimidating glower.

his gaze followed yours, which was still focused on mai for the briefest of moments.

“ohhhh i get it…you’ve got a thing for mai, huh?” he sounded like a child about to blackmail their sibling.

a furious blush overtook mai’s face practically instantly, while momo covered her mouth with a hand to suppress a laugh. you glanced between a boastful looking todo and a tomato looking mai.

“yeah i guess you could say she’s my type.” you shrugged nonchalantly, to which you could hear mai sputtering something about how you were just trying to embarrass her. miwa had a sheepish look on her face as she walked over to check on mai, though it only seemed to make her more flustered when miwa asked if she wanted to go to the nurse.

while witnessing the admittedly charming trainwreck happening in front of you, there was a moment for you to look back at todo.

“are you CRYING?”

“i have no shame in it. it’s like mai is my daughter and i’m walking her down the aisle at her wedding.”

“it’s absolutely nothing like that, todo.”

he ignored your blatant confusion at his reaction. “young love is so beautiful. you have my full blessing to date mai.” he sniffles and wiped his nose, then held it out for you to shake, to which you scrunched your nose in disgust.

“thanks for the ‘blessing’ and all, but now that we’re done with that, i think i should go spar with lover girl over there.” you threw your thumb over your shoulder to point to mai.

“you guys should join me and takeda for a double date! we can arrange a date once she finally answers my calls.” todo had a large grin, shameless about his tear stained cheeks.

“how about it?” you raised an eyebrow at mai, who had become significantly more composed in the time you hadn’t been looking in her direction.

“absolutely not.” she deadpanned, though her impassive look didn’t last very long as she leaned over to whisper in your ear, cracking a small smile reserved for you. “i’d rather we just hang out without that oaf, you know it’s embarrassing for them to see how you get me acting like a schoolgirl with her first crush.”

the moment paused for a split second for her to glance at todo, who was staring you down like a disapproving father.

“plus lord knows takeda isn’t answering him anytime soon.”

“I HEARD THAT!”

[sassycordy]

so the girls at the jumpingpudpod and i have been making fun of john’s outfit in the episode home for weeks and i couldn’t help but imagine how i would dress john in 2022. sooo i made a vision board aha. disclaimer: i don’t mean to bully whoever styled him for the show. also i’m not a fashion expert by any means !! this is just for fun and no one has to take my ideas to heart😁👍🏽

okay so first up we have the left side aka our day to day outfits. these are for when elizabeth forces him to take a day off or when he’s back on earth running some errands! no BDUs for obvious reasons aha. so my inspiration for him came from his personality/background. he grew up as a rich kid living in the suburbs but it’s pretty clear he rejected that lifestyle & in turn how his family would’ve wanted him to look. he’s a skater boy and tends to make himself cooler than he really is lol so thats vibe i ended up went for! he wants to look like he threw on whatever was on the floor but he secretly cares just a bit aha. so he’s got a leather jacket which he would wear constantly (it’s the epitome of cool) and we also have some sweaters he could layer with (in my mind he likes to wear long sleeves/sweaters bc again comfort but also “effortless”). i chose to stick with a darker palette aka blacks, navy blues, and dark greens (ignore the blue jeans & white peaking out from underneath the green sweater aha)! also as much as i wish he was a skinny jeans type of a guy, i simply cant see it. i believe he would prefer something comfortable, yet stylish, and something he could freely move around in soooooo he gets some joggers! in black of course ahh. i also gave him some vans because i think he would love sneakers but i could also see him owning many pairs of doc martens!

next up and to the right we got his true vacation outfit! now this is reserved for his longer vacations (like hanging out with the athosians on the mainland ahah) and it’s here we get to see a bit more of his dorky personality and less of the “rebel”. i could see him embracing the whole cheesy tourist look so expect lots of hawaiian inspired vacation shirts, and yes, the top few buttons HAVE to be undone! he would go for a lighter toned clothes especially since he’d be hanging around the beach all day so i chose some beige pants and some nice birkenstocks ahah.

and up top we have his formal wear! again his upbringing vs his current mindset would have a struggle in what to wear so i chose a bit of both. he would stick to the classics aka a black suit, with little pizzazz. However i also believe he wouldn’t fully commit so don’t expect a tie and his top buttons would definitely be undone again lol. his love (or maybe my love) for turtlenecks would once again prevail, and i could see him wearing one regularly for events where he doesn’t have to wear his dress blues.

and lastly (whew! i didn’t think it would be this long ahah) we have accessories. now i don’t think john would be into wearing accessories except for a few of his favorites that he would keep on him at all times. of course, we have his black sunglasses. no explanation needed aha. and i also added a chain to the top left. obviously his dog tags would be on this chain but i also added a ring because i like to think he would keep something of his mothers with him at all times. anddd that’s it! i’m actually pretty proud of this ahah so let me know what you think!

[swan-of-sunrise]

Ragnarok (Chapter Two)

Summary: After catching up with Thor and seeing his brother disappear into thin air, (Y/N) drives the Asgardian to what turns out to be a wizard’s lair.

Pairing: Steve Rogers X Reader

Word Count: 4.1k

Warnings/Disclaimers: None

A/N: Lol I love writing Thor, he’s such a sweet goofball! Thank you for reading, I hope you all enjoy! (Don’t forget to check out the A/N at the end of the chapter!)

Chapter Two (Previous Chapter)

“Wait…Thor?”

The last time (Y/N) had seen the Asgardian God of Thunder was nearly three years ago, just after Ultron and the Battle of Sokovia; Thor left the Avengers to investigate the suspicious reappearances of the Infinity Stones and while she wasn’t exactly sure what they were or why they were dangerous, they didn’t sound like good news. No one had heard anything from him in those three years or even knew if he’d return to Earth someday; Steve thought there was a possibility but after all the fallout surrounding the Sokovia Accords, (Y/N) personally believed it would be easier if the Asgardian didn’t get involved in all the politics. Nevertheless, she was happy to see Thor again after so long, even if it was on a busy street corner in the middle of Greenwich Village.

(Y/N) approached Thor as a couple of teenagers snapped a quick selfie with him and he turned to her with a bright smile. “Would you care for a photo as well?”

“Wha-? No, Thor, it’s me! Remember, I helped you and the Avengers fight Ultron in Sokovia?” Thor stared blankly at her and she suppressed an exasperated sigh before taking off her sunglasses and continuing. “You called me-”

“Writer (Y/L/N)!” Beaming in happiness, Thor reached for her hand and clasped it between his. “Yes, of course, how could I forget such a stunningly brave warrior? And I see that you’re expecting a little writer now, congratulations! When I last saw you, you were in the beginnings of a relationship with the captain…so, is the little writer…?”

Before she had a chance to answer, the dark-haired man standing beside him snorted in amusement. “That insufferable captain has a surprising amount of virility for a hundred-year-old Midgardian.”

As her nostrils flared in irritation, (Y/N) tugged her hand free from Thor’s grasp and placed it onto her bump in a protective manner. “Who’s your friend?”

“Oh, this is my brother, Loki!”

Her brow furrowed in confusion. “But I thought that he was killed by a Dark Elf?”

“That’s what I thought as well, but it turns out that it was all a trick to swindle his way into ruling all of Asgard and banishing our father to a Midgardian nursing home, a trick that I just found out about today.” Taken aback by Thor’s matter-of-fact reply, she merely hummed in interest and attempted a smile while inwardly thanking the universe for the very amicable relationship she shared with her own brother. “Loki, this is (Y/N) (Y/L/N), she’s a very successful writer here on Midgard and a good friend of the Avengers.”

Loki tore his eyes away from the construction site beside them and fixed his gaze onto her; for the briefest of moments, there was a strange gleam in his blue-green eyes but it vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared, replaced with bored indifference as he looked her over. “If you’re going to slap me, mortal, then you’d best get on with it; I’d prefer to not spend any more time in this dreadful city than absolutely necessary.”

“…Um, why would I slap you?”

“I’m the god who attempted to conquer this realm and subjugate its people by opening a wormhole through which a blood-thirsty Chitauri army invaded, nearly destroying this city and all its residents, including the suspected father of your unborn child. That would be the most likely reason to expect a slap; it’s why Thor’s former Midgardian lover did it, after all.”

“My doctor told me not to overexert myself during my third trimester, so it looks like you get a reprieve from any vengeful slaps.” Ignoring the Asgardian’s amused chuckle, (Y/N) turned back to Thor with a sympathetic smile. “And, um, I’m sorry for how yours and Doctor Foster’s relationship ended.”

Thor’s attempt at a casual smile appeared as more of a grimace as he replied, “Thank you, Writer (Y/L/N). She didn’t dump me, you know. I dumped her…it was a mutual dumping, actually…” Loki gave him a bolstering pat on the shoulder and opened his mouth to speak, but a sparking orange circle appeared on the sidewalk and swirled around the Asgardian’s designer shoes; (Y/N) took a startled step back and Thor frowned in confusion. “What’s this, what are you doing?”

His brother’s anxious eyes flicked up from the circle to meet Thor’s. “This isn’t me.”

In the blink of an eye, Loki fell through the sparking circle and it instantly vanished, leaving behind a business card on the sidewalk where he’d just been standing. (Y/N) looked up from the spot with widened eyes to meet Thor’s equally shocked gaze. “What the hell just happened? Was that…was that magic?”

Nodding, Thor reached out with his umbrella and tentatively poked the business card, whispering, “Loki?”

Did he seriously think that his brother turned himself into a business card, she thought to herself as he bent down to retrieve it, a part of her exasperated at the former Avenger while the other part began wondering the same thing; the only magic she’d ever been exposed to was Thor’s and Wanda’s, so she was entirely out of her wheelhouse on this one. “177A Bleecker Street. Are you familiar with this address?”

“Yeah, it’s actually on the other side of Greenwich Village; if you want, I can-” She cut herself off when she felt the baby kick and in an instant, she was brought back to reality; she wasn’t the same woman who could risk her life at the drop of a hat to help the Avengers save the world, she was about to be a mother and it was her responsibility to keep her baby safe. But it wouldn’t hurt to just drive him to that address on the way back home, she silently reasoned, giving her belly a reassuring pat before continuing. “I’ll drive you there on my way home.”

The two of them walked down the street to the parking garage, Thor going on about his travels across the universe over the past three years and (Y/N) listening in interest. Unbeknownst to either of them, though, (Y/N)’s decision to help an old friend in need would lead to her biggest and most dangerous adventure yet…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I hate thunderstorms.” A clap of thunder suddenly shook the compound’s walls and (Y/N) burrowed her face into the crook of Steve’s neck, her hands tightly clutching his t-shirt as her body involuntarily shuddered. “Can’t Tony invent something to drown out the sound or something?”

“I’ll be sure to mention it the next time he visits,” Steve promised, pressing a comforting kiss onto her hair and tightening his hold on her; he hadn’t said anything but it was clear that he was just as wary of the thunder and lightning as she was. “Back when the Avengers re-formed to take down Hydra, Thor used to use his powers to dim down the sound of storms.”

“Any chance of our favorite Asgardian returning tonight?”

The super-soldier laughed. “I don’t think so, sunshine, but I’m sure that he’ll be back someday soon.”

“Hey, Booksmart and the Running Man,” They both turned to see Sam and Natasha standing at the entrance of the common room, tired smiles on their faces as they clutched their pillows and blankets. “You got any room for a couple of more thunder-hating Avengers on that couch?”

“So, how’s Captain Rogers? His hands are probably full running the Avengers, of course, but he cannot be that busy or else he wouldn’t have a little writer on the way!”

(Y/N)’s hands tightened on her steering wheel but she forced herself to maintain a neutral expression. “Actually, Steve is…he’s doing very well.” Thor beamed and resumed examining her newly-purchased vinyls from his spot in the passenger-side seat while (Y/N) inwardly sighed; the last thing she wanted to do was lie to Thor, but she truly didn’t know how to tell him that while he’d been gallivanting across the universe, his friends had turned on one another and essentially disbanded the Avengers. “When you find your dad and get your brother back, you’re more than welcome to come over for dinner; we’ll have lots more time to catch up on…well, on everything you’ve missed lately. And it’ll be nice to have some adult company over before the baby’s born.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Thor cast an inquisitive look at her prominent bump. “On Asgard, we have the medical capabilities to determine the sex of a baby before they’re even born; do they have similar techniques here on Midgard?”

“Mm-hmm, it’s called an ultrasound; sound waves project an image onto a monitor that doctors use to observe a baby’s overall health and determine the sex. I asked my doctor not to tell me, though, I want to wait until Steve-” She cut herself off before she could finish her sentence, her heart tightening in her chest as she quickly plastered in a fake smile and continued. “We decided to wait and be surprised.”

Thankfully, the Asgardian seemed to buy her hasty save, returning to his earlier examination of her vinyls with eyes filled with interest. “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars…I never realized that you Midgardians still sing ballads of fallen heroes! This Ziggy Stardust’s battle against the Martian spiders must have been legendary!”

Fifteen minutes and a brief biography of David Bowie later, (Y/N) pulled up to the empty sidewalk in front of 117A; she’d barely switched off the engine when she experienced a mild cramping sensation in her abdomen that made her wince and clutch the steering wheel in pain. “Ow…”

“Are you well? Norns, are you in childbirth?!”

(Y/N) shook her head. “No, it’s just Braxton-Hicks contractions; they’re pretty common during the third trimester of a pregnancy but they always seem to catch me off-guard.” Thor’s blue eyes were still filled with apprehension and she smiled, touched by his concern. “I’m feel fine, Thor, I’ll just walk them off; that usually helps to make them fade away quicker.”

Thor clambered out of her Volkswagen and hurried around to her side to assist her, one hand resting against the small of her back while the other held her elbow to stabilize her. “While I was growing up, my mother would often assist the midwives in the city and failed in convincing me to join her; now that I’m older, I wish I’d taken her up on her offers.” They walked onto the sidewalk and observed the building before them; it seemed innocent enough, with elegant architecture and blossoming trees flanking the doorway, but something seemed off about the inviting sight. “This seems…quaint.”

She nodded in agreement, standing by the stone railing as Thor walked up the short steps to the green-colored door and knocked. “Yep, I think I’ll just wait out here for-”

There was a sudden rush of wind and when it dissipated, they were no longer standing outside but rather in a darkened chamber, surrounded by glass display cases filled with unusual-looking objects. With her equilibrium thrown off, (Y/N) leaned against the Asgardian and took a deep breath as her stomach churned in discomfort; please don’t throw up on Thor in the middle of a creepy villain’s lair, she pleaded to herself, digging through her pocket for the spare stun disc she always carried for self-defense.

“Thor Odinson.” They turned to see the shadowy figure of a man floating in the air across from them, the silhouette of his cloak outlined by the light streaming in from the round window in the foreground. “God of Thunder.” With a brief glance, Thor stepped in front of her and raised his umbrella as the cloaked man drifted to them; he was older than her, with grey streaks at his temples, a neatly trimmed goatee that was reminiscent of Tony Stark and odd-looking robes, and his dark eyes glimmered with amusement while he observed the weapons they were brandishing. “You can put down the umbrella and the stun disc.”

Thor and (Y/N) exchanged looks of apprehension but lowered their weapons, the Asgardian reaching over and setting the umbrella down in a metal rack. There was another rush of wind and suddenly, the three of them stood in a brightly-lit section of the same chamber amongst more artifacts. The second instance of teleportation proved to be too much for (Y/N)’s stomach; she clamped a hand over her mouth and was vaguely aware of the emesis basin being pressed into her other hand before immediately vomiting into it.

“Are you currently experiencing Braxton-Hicks?” All she could do was nod, struggling to catch her breath as she was guided to lean against a wooden desk; the magic-wielding man was looking her over in concern and for some reason, the intense focus on his face reminded her of someone that she couldn’t quite place. “When was the last time you drank any fluids?”

“This…this morning…” Still lightly panting, (Y/N) frowned in confusion when the emesis basin magically disappeared from her grasp and was replaced with a mug of warm liquid. “What’s this?”

“Lemon balm tea with a dollop of honey for flavor; studies show that lemon teas are highly effective in treating symptoms commonly associated with pregnancy, such as nausea and vomiting, and the honey serves as an apology for upsetting your stomach. As far as your Braxton-Hicks contractions go, they were triggered by a very mind case of dehydration but the tea should fix that pretty quick.”

She cautiously took a sip of tea and almost sighed in relief as her nausea began to fade away; now that she wasn’t throwing up, she noticed that Thor’s face was tinged with green and he was avoiding her gaze. “Are you okay, Thor?”

“Yes, yes, it’s just that watching people throw up always makes me want to…” Swallowing thickly, he turned his attention to a display of cylindrical objects and began fiddling with them. “So, Earth has wizards now?”

The man pursed his lips in annoyance as the cylindrical objects clattered onto the desk. “The preferred term is ‘Master of the Mystic Arts’ – you can leave that now.”

“All right, wizard, who are you and why should I care?”

It was then that (Y/N) finally recognized the man, and she didn’t bother suppressing her shocked gasp. “You’re Doctor Stephen Strange, aren’t you? My goddaughter was born with a neurological condition that called for an immediate surgery and you turned it down; I was willing to pay double but your office told me that you weren’t interested in performing such a ‘simple surgery.’” Her jaw clenched in anger as she recalled Greg and Mara’s panic and worry. “And now you’re some sort of wizard or something?”

Doctor Strange winced but nodded. “I…yes, that’s me. I’m sorry for my past behavior, Miss (Y/L/N); I trust that your goddaughter’s doing well now?”

“Yes, she just turned four last – wait, how do you know my name?”

“I’m a Master of the Mystic Arts…also, my friend Wong’s a pretty big fan of your books.” He gestured over to a nearby sitting area. “Now, I’ve got some questions for you two so if you don’t mind…” They followed him over to the chairs and after helping her sit, Thor sat down across from the doctor. “Tea?”

The Asgardian wrinkled his nose as a mug of tea appeared in his hand. “I don’t drink tea.”

“What do you drink?”

“Not…tea.”

The mug of tea transformed into a large stein of beer and (Y/N) bit back an amused smile when Thor’s eyes lit up at the sight. Leaning back in his chair, Doctor Strange waited for Thor to take a drink before speaking, “So, I keep a watch list of individuals and beings from other realms that may be a threat to this world and your adopted brother Loki is one of those beings.”

(Y/N) drank some more tea as Thor shrugged. “A worthy inclusion.”

“Then why bring him here?”

Since Thor was preoccupied with his beer, she decided to answer for him. “They’re looking for their father. Apparently, Loki banished him to a nursing home on the other side of Greenwich Village and he’s been posing as the King of Asgard for almost five years without Thor noticing.”

Doctor Strange’s head tilted to the side as he considered her. “And how exactly did you get roped into all this, Miss (Y/L/N)?”

“Oh, it was just a happy coincidence; I was in the city visiting a record shop when I ran into them, and I offered to drive Thor here after you made Loki disappear.” She set her empty mug down onto the table beside her and folded her hands on the top of her bump. “I suppose I’ve got a gift for being in the right place at the right time for this sort of thing.”

“Or it’s almost like fate…” He murmured to himself but before she could ask what he meant, he turned his attention back to Thor. “So…if I were to tell you where Odin was, all parties concerned would promptly return to Asgard?”

“…Promptly.”

“Great, then I’ll help you!”

Thor’s brow furrowed. “If you knew where he was, why didn’t you call me?”

“I have to tell you, he was adamant that he not be disturbed; your father said he had chosen to remain in exile…and you don’t have a phone.”

The Asgardian scoffed at the doctor’s reasoning. “No, I don’t have a phone but you could’ve sent an electronic letter. It’s called an email.”

“Yeah, do you have a computer?”

“No, what for?” (Y/N) and Doctor Strange exchanged looks of bewilderment as Thor continued. “Anyway, my father is no longer in exile so if you can tell me where he is, I can take him home.”

“Gladly. He’s in Norway.” Standing up, Doctor Strange gave her a brief smile and gestured to the mug beside her. “You can wait here and enjoy some more tea if you’d like while I help your Asgardian friend.”

The two men were gone in an instant and as she listened to the sounds of them teleporting around the vast chamber, she couldn’t help but think that magic was pretty cool when she wasn’t directly experiencing it herself. “I wonder if Wanda can do all that stuff that he can…” Still feeling the lingering soreness of her earlier contractions, she patted a hand on her stomach and carefully got to her feet. “Let’s see if we can’t find those two, lemon drop.”

With her mug of tea in hand, (Y/N) walked through the chamber and examined all the strange objects on display before slowly descending the staircase to the second-floor landing, pausing at the railing to catch her breath and take another drink of tea. She was looking down onto the ground floor and admiring the doctor’s interior decorating skills when he appeared at the foot of the stairs, orange-colored sparks of magic swirling around his gloved hands; Thor appeared a heartbeat later, rolling down the last couple of steps and clambering to his feet. “We could’ve just walked.”

The sparking magic left the doctor’s hands and formed into a circular portal before them. “He’s waiting for you.”

“All right.” For the first time since arriving at Doctor Strange’s home, Thor looked almost nervous at the prospect of stepping through the portal; he glanced up at where (Y/N) stood and his frown softened. “Thank you for your assistance, Writer (Y/L/N); once I return my father to Asgard and ensure that all’s well, I will surely come and visit you and Captain Rogers in Brooklyn!”

Doctor Strange’s brow rose in surprise but he didn’t remark on the Asgardian’s words as he interjected, “Don’t forget your umbrella.”

“Oh, yes!” Thor held out his hand and foyer echoed with the sounds of muffled crashing from above; the three of them all looked up and he winced as the noises grew louder. “…Sorry.” (Y/N)’s hand shot up to protectively splay over her belly as the umbrella zoomed past her and into Thor’s open hand down below. “I suppose I’ll need my brother back.”

The doctor hummed in agreement, opening another sparking portal in the air above him and Thor; with a strangled yell, Loki dropped down onto the floor and shouted, “I have been falling…for thirty minutes!”

Doctor Strange and Thor shared a quiet exchange while Loki struggled to his feet, and (Y/N) felt a surge of sympathy for the dark-haired man; her hatred of heights was second only to her hatred of helicopters, so she couldn’t fathom being forced to fall for nearly half an hour. Loki’s eyes flicked up and met hers, the furious gleam in them wavering for a moment before the other men’s voices drew his attention away.

“Handle me? Who are you?” Daggers appeared in Loki’s hands and Thor sighed in exasperation. “You think you’re some kind of sorcerer? Don’t think for one minute, you second-rate-”

“Okay, bye-bye!” With a wave of his hands, Doctor Strange sent the portal over the brothers and when they disappeared, the sparking portal vanished with them. “Asgardians…”

“I’ve got a feeling that you’ve dealt with worse,” (Y/N) quipped, making her way to the top of the staircase before stopping and biting her lip in apprehension. “Um, Doctor Strange, do you mind…?” The doctor levitated up to the top of the steps and offered her his arm to clutch for stability. “Thank you. Stairs are a little tricky these days, you know, since I can’t exactly see my feet.”

Doctor Strange chuckled. “I can assume that’s an added challenge. And please, call me Stephen.” They slowly made their way down the staircase. “Forgive me for prying, Miss (Y/L/N), but Thor mentioned something about Captain Rogers before he left…?”

“I didn’t know how to tell him about the Sokovia Accords, so I let him believe that everything was normal.” Judging from the look on Stephen’s face, he knew that she was being purposefully vague about Steve Rogers but he thankfully didn’t press her further. “The tea was wonderful, by the way, it worked like…like magic…” A wild idea suddenly came to her mind and she spoke before she could stop herself or worry if she sounded silly. “Stephen, can wizards – sorry, Masters of the Mystic Arts – can you guys see into the future?”

“Not typically, but I’m an exception to the norm. Why do you-?” He stopped himself short when he noticed the way she was running her hand over her bump and his eyes softened. “You want to know if the baby’s father will be there for the birth.” She nodded and once they reached the last step, he pulled away and took a step back. “Well, I’ve learned the hard way that messing with time’s not the best idea but as long as I don’t look into specifics of the future, everything’ll be fine.”

Closing his eyes, Stephen raised his hands and moved them in front of his torso, the action opening the unusual pendant he wore around his neck and revealing a green-colored stone; the stone began to glow and as magic enveloped his hands and arms, Stephen furrowed his brow in concentration. Moments later, the glowing magic faded away and while the pendant closed, the doctor’s eyes opened and met hers. “Did it work? Did you…?” Her smile faltered a little when he didn’t immediately answer. “Did you see him there?”

“You won’t be alone. Everything’s going to be just fine, Miss (Y/L/N).” She breathed a sigh of relief and Stephen held out his hand. “I’m sorry, but I need to go and check that everything’s going well in Norway; it was a pleasure meeting you, even under such unusual circumstances.”

(Y/N) shook his hand and smiled. “It was nice meeting you as well; thanks to you, I feel much better about this last stretch of my pregnancy.”

After exchanging goodbyes and assuring him that she’d see herself out, Stephen disappeared through another portal and she moved to leave; as she turned towards the green doors, though, she lost her footing and her hand shot out to grab the nearest thing to her, which happened to be a strange-looking cauldron sitting atop a pedestal. The moment her hand connected with the artifact, she was swept up into swirls of blinding lights and strong winds but before she knew it, she was staggering forward into the brightly-lit outdoors.

“What the hell was…?” (Y/N)’s words died in her throat as she looked around her surroundings and realized with a sinking feeling that she wasn’t standing on the Greenwich Village sidewalk. She was surrounded by heaping mounds of metal and trash and when she looked up, she saw aircraft flying through the skies and past multi-colored holes; all of the trash seemed to have originated from the holes and as she watched, several large pieces of metal fell out and onto a nearby pile. With no idea where to go or what to do, (Y/N) cradled her bump with her hands and murmured under her breath, “Lemon drop, I have a feeling we’re not in New York anymore…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

A/N: Yep, that’s how (Y/N) and Baby Rogers get to Sakaar! Just like with the last chapter, you might’ve noticed that I didn’t specify the baby’s sex and that’s because I’m letting you guys, the readers, decide! All you have to do is send in your preference (either through the Ask Me Anything! button or through the DM’s) and I’ll tally up all the answers I receive, then the sex will be revealed in Chapter 4. Since I haven’t decided if I’ll be updating this fic weekly or every other week, you guys have quite a lot of time!

Thank you all so much for reading and commenting! I’ve created a Spotify playlist inspired by this series, and I’ll be updating it every time I upload a new chapter. Enjoy!

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37tHWOMeO7AluDyXnddAUB?si=a37f3fdaf1e54409

Chapter Three

Ragnarok Masterlist

Tagging: @mrs-obrien​​​​​​​​ @lahoete​​​​​​​​ @awkward117​ @cminr​​​​​​​​ @natdrunk​​​​​​​​ @momc95​​​​​​​​ @savedbystyle​​​​​​​​ @miraculouscloud​ @awkwardnesshabitat​​​​​​​​ @marinettepotterandplagg​​​​​​​​ @khuang3​​​​​​​​ @supersouthy​​​​​​​​ @benakenalove​​​​​​​​ @brooke0297​​​​​​​​ @hufflepeople​​​​​​​​ @becausewelie​​​​​​​​​ @outoftheregular​​​​​​​ @supreme-tantrum​ @ladydmalfoy​​​​​​​​ @mads-weasley​​​​​​​​ @username23345​​​​​​​​ @crist1216​​​​​​​​ @aesthethickks​ @lilmschild @avngrsinitiative​ @crowleysqueenofhell​ @y-napotat @mary1raven​

[heyyyharry]

Deep End - Chapter 4: Royal Ball

…in which Ezi causes trouble at the Styles' manor.

Word count: 6.1k

AU: famous!harry, siren!mc, adult modern retelling of the little mermaid? lol, fake dating, enemies to lovers.

WARNING: MATURE THEMES, ASSAULT.

All chapters / Synopsis / Moodboard / Playlist

Wattpad link

A/N: Please let me know what you think. I need feedback to feel motivated. Also, what do you expect to happen in the next chapter?

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When Harry came to the guest room this morning and couldn’t find Ezi, he had hoped that something had happened overnight, and she’d magically returned to where she’d come from, and he, at last, could have his old life back. But no. He was immensely disappointed to find her sitting cross-legged on the edge of his pool, just staring blankly at the water like she was in a sad music video. What did he expect? It wasn’t like she could grow some wings to fly all the way home.

“Good morning!”

Ezi flinched at the sound of his voice. She pulled her feet out of the water and frantically stood up as Harry approached.

He held out his hand to ask her to stay. “It’s okay. You can use the pool. I rarely go swimming anyway.”

Ezi’s brows furrowed slightly as she tucked a strand behind her ear and stared anxiously at the blue water. “How can you swim in this pond? It smells funny.”

“It’s not a pond. It’s a swimming pool. There’s chemicals in it; that’s why it smells like that.”

Ezi cocked her head, seemingly confused. “Why you gotta make your own pond and put chemicals in it? Why do humans have to make their own versions of everything that’s already available in nature?”

“It’s cleaner and safer to swim in pools,” Harry pointed out.

Ezi couldn’t look more offended by his remark. “The ocean was clean before you trashed it with your chemicals.”

“I didn’t trash the ocean,” Harry corrected, pointing to his chest. “How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not responsible for environmental pollution?”

Ezi folded her arms and glared at him. “Why are you afraid of the ocean?”

“You’re literally a killing machine.”

“You people make machines that shoot fire and blow up each other’s ships, and yet we’re the killing machines.”

“Well, the ocean is scary anyway. It’s deep and dark.”

“It’s literally water,” argued Ezi. “Water is the driving force of all nature, and you’re afraid of it.”

“Forget it.” Harry exhaled as he tossed his hands in the air. “I can never win an argument with you.”

“Good,” Ezi said with a slight shrug.

“Anyway.” Harry rolled his eyes. “Come inside for breakfast. I have something to discuss with you while you eat.”

“Your maid brought you something this morning,” Ezi said when Harry was about to walk away.

Slowly, he turned back to face her with his eyebrows raised. “Who?”

“Your maid,” she said with a straight face. “The girl with green hair. I think she brought you some clothes and put them in the room next to mine.”

“That’s Amy, my assistant!” cried Harry as he gripped his own hair. “You two didn’t have a conversation, right? Please tell me you didn’t call her a maid to her face!”

Ezi looked rather amused when she saw how distressed Harry was. How could she be smiling? He wouldn’t be the only one who’d be in trouble if her identity was revealed. Fuck that. What if the government found out that he was keeping her here and locked him up, too? Was it a crime to keep a mythical creature in your house? Could he be executed for that?

“No,” Ezi calmly said while Harry could feel the blood draining from his face. “She just brought you some clothes and left. Though I could barely see her face, she didn’t seem very friendly.”

Harry pressed a palm to his chest, feeling his heart thundering as he let out a sigh of half-formed relief. Once he’d regained his composure, he told Ezi, “Amy is friendly to everyone. Maybe it’s just you.”

Ezi didn’t look at all bothered by that. She shrugged. “I’m not here to make friends. I don’t care if Amy likes me.”

Harry found it funny that one moment she could look and talk like a human girl with human feelings, and the next she acted as cold as the ocean she’d come from. But she was right. They weren’t friends, and there was no reason for them to be more than just civilised to one another.

“You sure you didn’t talk to Amy?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Good,” Harry nodded. “Come inside. The food’s getting cold.”

It seemed like Ezi got hungry very quickly. She finished the hard scrambled eggs Harry had made for her and even asked him for more. Harry didn’t mind feeding her. It was better to keep her full. After all, she had shown him her predator side, and he’d prefer to never see it again.

“So what’s something you want to tell me?” she asked with her mouth full while stuffing it more with another big bite.

Chilli was sitting at Ezi’s feet, staring up at her as a way of asking for a taste, but Ezi just ignored the cat and continued to enjoy her breakfast.

Harry knitted his hands on the table and straightened his back as he began, “Well, I actually wanted to ask you for a favour.”

Ezi stopped chewing immediately. She swallowed hard, her face contorted. “I’m not doing you a favour.”

“You don’t even know what it is.”

“But I already know that I don’t want to do it.”

“Of course you want to do it.”

“No, I don’t!”

Harry sucked in a breath and held up a finger to stop her from interrupting him again. “I promise you’ll like this. Just hear me out.”

Ezi folded her arms in front of her chest and pouted like an angry little girl as she sank into her chair.

Harry’s lips curled into a smile. “You like those Disney movies, right?”

Ezi nodded, and Harry watched in content as the line between her brows eased.

“Good. So what if I tell you that you can be a Disney princess for one night.”

“What do you mean?” Ezi frowned again as she sat up straight. “Are you messing with me?”

Harry shook his head. “No, I’m being dead serious. I’ll take you to a ball.”

“A ball?”

“Yeah. I’m invited to a royal ball that’s held in a real ballroom, like the one in Beauty and the Beast.”

He would’ve said Cinderella, but she hadn’t watched it yet. It would’ve been a better reference. Still, Ezi’s eyes lit up when she heard about the ball. “Like...in a castle?”

“Y-Yeah.” Harry worked up a bright smile as he nodded fast. “A castle.” To be fair, his mother’s manor was as huge as a castle. It was twice the size of his house, so that’d be more than enough to convince the naive siren.

“Do I get to wear a pretty dress?”

“Yeah. Who do you think the clothes Amy brought here are for?”

The realisation washed over Ezi’s face, and her mouth fell open in shock as she slammed her hands on the table, rattling the silverware and startling Chilli. “You’re not messing with me?”

“No.”

She bit her lip and arched an eyebrow. “What’s the favour then?”

“That’s the favour -- You going to the ball with me,” Harry said. “It’s tomorrow night.”

“What’s in it for you?”

“Nothing, to be honest,” Harry said with a weak shrug. “Maybe getting back in my mother’s good graces. She’s hosting the ball, and so many people are invited.”

“Is she the Queen?”

“No, but she thinks she is.”

“So she’s like my sister Koa.”

Harry chuckled at how serious Ezi looked when she said that. “Well, maybe not as bad as your sister. My mother loves me.”

Ezi pursed her lips as she focused on fidgeting with the fork in her hand. Harry leaned forward on the table. “So?” he asked. “Can you help me?”

Ezi blew out her cheeks as she locked eyes with him again. “Fine,” she said. “Not because I want to help you, though. I just want to go to a ball.”

“Good enough for me.” Harry smiled.

While Ezi continued eating, Harry gave her a few rules that she would have to follow when they arrived at his family’s event. He could not risk having her interact with anyone without his supervision. He’d nearly had a heart attack when he heard that she’d met his assistant when he wasn’t there. He was sure that Amy had only assumed Ezi was another girl Harry regularly hooked up with. Money didn’t really matter to him, so he usually spoiled his friends and the girls he fucked. However, he couldn’t risk having anyone find out that Ezi was actually living here.

When Ezi finished eating, Harry went upstairs to get the bath ready. He’d have to figure out a way to give Ezi a bath without having to touch her. How would she feel about hot water, though? His cat Chilli always left at least one or two scratches on his legs and his shirt whenever he tried to give her a bath. He could imagine Ezi doing the same.

“Hey.”

Harry whipped his head to the bathroom door and found Ezi standing there in his joggers and Mickey Mouse t-shirt that flowed down to her thighs. He must admit that she looked cute when she wasn’t frowning or roasting him. If only she’d lost her voice like Ariel did in the movie.

“Stop staring at me, human!”

Exactly his point.

Sighing, Harry got up from the edge of the bathtub. “We’ll let the water run,” he told her. “In the meantime, I’ll show you your new clothes.”

Ezi said nothing and followed him down the hall to his walk-in closet. It was actually a room with big windows, a shiny tiled floor, and white-cushioned sofas. Harry took a deep breath of the comforting perfumed air only to see Ezi covering her mouth and nose with her palm.

“It smells weird in here,” she complained.

“Just like living with my mum,” Harry whispered to himself. To her, he said, “Speaking of smells.”

Ezi looked horrified as Harry leaned in and started sniffing her.

“Why don’t you smell?” he asked, stepping back.

Her eyes went wide. “Am I supposed to?”

“Well, yeah.” He nodded. “You literally came from the ocean. No offence but...you’re supposed to smell fishy.”

“Do humans say no offence before they offend you?”

“Yeah, pretty much. Or maybe I’m just blunt because I’m British. Anyway,” Harry sucked in a breath, “it’s weird that you don’t smell. You don’t have a smell at all. When you first came on land, I could still smell a bit of the ocean on you, but now you don’t smell, and you haven’t showered.”

Ezi shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s not like I could ask my mother why her curse didn’t give me a smell.”

“True.” Harry sighed. “Anyway. That’s good. Don’t want no fishy-smelling girl walking around my house.”

“I will scoop out your eyeballs right now.”

“Just kidding.” Harry chuckled. “But please don’t do that.”

“I’ll try.” Ezi put her hands on her hips and swept her eyes around the room. “Why do you have so many clothes?”

“They make me look good. I’m a public figure, so I care about my appearance.”

“Maybe you should focus on fixing what’s inside you and not your appearance.”

“I like you better when you don’t talk,” Harry said, then brushed past her to grab the Chanel shopping bag Amy had left on the white marble counter. He pulled out a sparkling silver slip dress and held it up to show Ezi. “This is for you. It comes with a pair of high heels. I’ll definitely have to teach you to walk in them, but baby steps.”

Ezi took the dress with both hands and was being as careful as possible as if she was afraid she might rip it. Although she didn’t let it show, he could make out the excitement in the way her eyes twinkled. He’d made sure to ask for a dress that looked similar to the one Ariel had worn in The Little Mermaid when she’d come from the ocean.

“Before you try this on,” he said when Ezi lifted her bright blue eyes up to him. “Repeat what I told you earlier.”

Ezi clutched the dress to her chest and glanced up at the ceiling. A line appeared between her brows as she recited Harry’s words, “Do not talk to anyone there unless you ask me to. Never leave your side. If I have questions, ask you in private. Um...what else? Oh! Avoid your mother at all costs.”

Harry nodded. “My mother and Dawson.”

“Who’s Dawson?”

“You’ll know.” With a sigh, Harry thrust his hands into his pockets. “Now, I’ll leave you here to change. I could only guess your measurements, so if it doesn’t fit, we can have it fixed as soon as possible.”

“Measurements?” Ezi looked down at her body, confused.

Harry cleared his throat and waved his hand at her. “Just hurry up and change. Let me know when you’re done.”

“Wait!”

“What?”

With a cute little pout, she asked, “Can you put it on me?”

Harry was shocked for a second when he heard that, but then he remembered that Ezi had never worn a dress before, let alone one with so many...strings.

“Here.” He took the dress from her and tried his best to demonstrate. “So this is the front. This is the back. This string goes over your right shoulder–No, wait, your left. Wait, is it? Hold on. Fuck.”

Ezi breathed out a laugh and covered her mouth with her hands, making Harry glare at her. “Fine,” he huffed. “I’ll help you put it on.”

“Good.”

Before Harry could even say a word, Ezi pulled his oversized t-shirt that she was wearing over her head, and Harry let out the most inhuman scream as he looked away and covered his eyes. She was naked underneath his shirt. Completely naked.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” he chanted into his palm when he heard the sound of the shirt falling to the floor.

“What is it?” Ezi asked.

“Oh, God.” Harry shrugged her hand away as she tried to take his.

“Why are you being weird?” She giggled as if she wasn’t standing fully naked in front of him. “You’ve seen me without clothes, and I’ve seen you,” she said.

“Fuck. I know that.” He exhaled. “But…” Harry stopped and took a deep breath. With one hand over his eyes, he calmly told her, “You need lingerie.”

“Ooooh. I learned this word today from a movie,” Ezi said with confidence. “Laundry means–”

“No, not laundry.” Harry sighed. “Lingerie.”

“Huh?”

“Okay, you know what? Put the shirt back on. I’ll return with more clothes for you.”

“More clothes?” Ezi cried with frustration as Harry turned his back to her. He heard her put the shirt on, and she tapped him on the shoulder when she was done. “I hate being humans,” she complained, looking cross. “Clothes are so uncomfortable.”

“I know, right?” Harry chuckled and patted her on the head. He liked seeing her face scrunch up whenever he did that, because he knew that she couldn’t harm him. “Be a good siren and stay here. I’ll be right back.”

“And help me put on clothes?”

He sighed and turned away. “I will.”

“And launderey?”

The question stopped Harry at the door. He pinched his eyes shut and pressed a fist to his forehead. “Yes.” He let go of a defeated long breath. “That, too.”

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Harry managed to find a brand new pair of underwear in his bedroom drawer. It was an embarrassing story, but he’d bought it as a gift for a girl he used to sleep with, then he found out she’d been lying to him about not having a boyfriend when she’d already been engaged. So now he just happened to have a set of new lingerie lying in his drawer.

“I don’t know if this would fit, but I’ll get you new ones tomorrow.” Harry froze in the doorway when he found his closet empty. “Chili, where’s the crazy girl?” he asked his black cat, who didn’t even bother to reply as she kept licking her little paw. Ugh, lucky for her, she was cute.

“Ezi! Where are you?!” Harry shouted as he padded down the hall.

“I’m here!” Ezi shouted back, her voice echoing from the bathroom.

It was only then that Harry remembered he’d left the water running, but when he got there, he found Ezi sitting in the bubble bath with a bright smile on her face; his joggers and Mickey Mouse t-shirt had been discarded on the floor.

He leaned a shoulder against the doorframe, arms crossed, smiling at her.

“I love this room!” she exclaimed, gathered bubbled in her palms and blew at them.

So, Harry was wrong. She liked warm baths.

“Water was spilling out, so I turned it off and gave myself a bath,” she told him.

“You know how?”

“I saw Ariel take a bath in the movie.”

Her response made him laugh. “Wow, you learn so much from Disney films.”

Ezi folded her arms on the edge of the tub as Harry sat down on it beside her. She glanced up at him, chin on her arm. It would be a lie to say Harry didn’t feel anything watching her covered in soap and naked in his bathtub. The steam made him sweat, dampening his shirt as it stuck to his skin. He wasn’t a sex addict or anything, but he’d been so stressed out lately and hadn’t been able to find a release with his unpaid babysitting job. It wouldn’t be a problem if Ezi’s human form wasn’t so attractive.

“Stop doing that,” Ezi’s voice pulled him back to reality.

He blinked at her. “Doing what?”

“You sometimes stare at me without saying anything.”

He pressed his lips into a smirk. “Aren’t you a clever girl? Just read my mind.”

“Can’t.” She shrugged while unconsciously spreading the bubbles across the edge of the tub. “Even if I could, I wouldn’t want to know what’s going on in that dirty little head of yours?”

The way she’d said it without the intention of making it flirty was so funny to Harry.

“Your head is dirty and little,” he teased.

“No. Yours.”

“Yours.”

“Yours.”

“Your head can literally fit between my palms,” said Harry as he cupped the sides of her heads to demonstrate. For the first time, Ezi burst out laughing and tried to shove him off. He didn’t let go of her, and they kept pushing back and forth until Harry lost his balance and fell headfirst into the tub.

The water splashed all over. When Harry realised what had happened, he found himself kneeling in the water between Ezi’s legs. Frantically, he pushed away, but the tub was so slippery that he landed back down on his butt. Laughter crackled out of Ezi as Harry managed to escape from the sticky situation and grabbed a towel to cover himself with. Most of the water had spilt outside the tub, revealing Ezi’s soapy breasts, which gave Harry an instant boner.

He grabbed another towel and held it up and open as he ordered. “Bathtime’s over. Get out.”

“You’re such an idiot,” Ezi said, still laughing as she stood up and let him wrap the towel around her body.

Harry frowned at her playful grin. “You’re the idiot,” he said, but his face was red. “Rinse yourself. I’ll wait.”

Then he waddled out of the bathroom, quietly cursing himself.

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To not make the same mistake, Harry taught Ezi how to put on underwear by having her put it on over her clothes first, then letting her do it herself when he wasn’t there. She was a fast learner, so it didn’t take long until she’d learned how to put on clothes and tie her shoes. He could now imagine how hard it must be for single parents to raise a kid all by themselves. He was lucky that he didn’t have to work this week and could stay home to take care of Ezi. But starting from next week, he would have to go back to his busy celebrity life, and Ezi living with him would become a bigger problem than he’d expected. He could only hope that her mother would just take her back before the following Monday. It didn’t seem possible, though. He should never have brought her to London.

Anyway, first things first.

He’d have to get through his mother’s event without anyone suspecting a thing, and then he’d try to figure out what he should do next.

This was why he didn’t want kids. At least Ezi had common sense.

“Hey, there will be so many humans tonight at the ball. What if one of them triggers me? I can’t even threaten them?”

Forget what he’d just said.

“No, you’re not allowed to threaten anyone,” he told her from outside her room and blew out his cheeks as he checked his watch. “Hurry up. Our ride is almost here.”

The door was pulled open. Ezi emerged in her sparkling silver dress with her hair in a messy bun and subtle makeup but enough to accentuate her unique features. Harry didn’t know he was gawking until she gave him a playful smack on the cheek to bring him back to Earth. He blinked and caught her big round eyes. The silvery glitter on her eyelids made the blue in her eyes stand out even more. A sudden chill rushed down his spine as he squared his shoulders and fixed his black tie. “Y-You did your hair and makeup?”

Ezi nodded enthusiastically. “The girl in the magic board taught me!”

“You were watching those makeup tutorials?”

Harry swore he had never seen her so happy. She smiled so big that her eyes crinkled at the corners. “Thank you for that board, by the way.”

“It’s an iPad. But you’re welcome.”

Yes, he’d got her an iPad so she could watch YouTube videos and play dumb games and not be all up in his business. He was a single dad now. First to Chilli. Now to Ezi.

“An iPad,” Ezi mumbled to herself. He thought it was cute how her eyebrows would furrow every time she learned a new word and tried to memorise it.

Realising that he was about to simp, Harry shook off those pleasant thoughts about the fish girl and put on a nonchalant expression as he looked down at her white ballerina flats. He’d got her a nice pair of high heels to wear with this dress, but she’d kept falling and broken a vase in the living room, so he’d given up and got her these flats instead. Well, as long as she was comfortable and still looked cute and appropriate.

“Ready?” he asked her.

She took a deep breath; determination lit up her eyes. “Ready.”

“Hold on.” He held her shoulder, took a nice look at her, then let down two strands from her bun, so they nicely framed her face. “Better.” He smiled and pinched her cheek. “You look like someone I would date.”

As expected, Ezi responded to his compliment with a frown and smacked his hand away. “Touch my face again, and I’ll make sure you won’t be able to touch anything again.” Then she shoved past him and hurried down the stairs.

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Ezili felt ashamed.

She had been looking forward to the ball tonight. She’d been so excited that she’d stayed up to watch those...what did Harry call them again? Oh, makeup tutorials. Just to look like those human girls with sparkling eyelids. The mermaids back home would be so impressed, but her mother certainly wouldn’t. She didn’t even want to imagine her mother’s reaction to her look tonight.

Harry had pointed out that human Ezili didn’t have a smell. In an animal kingdom, the signature smell set those animals apart from the other kinds and acted as proof that they were a part of a community, that they belonged. Human Ezili not having a smell was a reminder from her mother that she was not a siren right now, but she was not human either, and so she should finish her mission as soon as possible to return to the sea and be with her kind.

Ezili could not be distracted from her mission anymore. Harry had invited her to the ball, which meant there was no competition for her at this point. She was already making progress being the only female in his radar. Tonight, she hoped the romantic atmosphere of the ball would make him fall in love with her.

With her arm around his, they ascended the red-carpeted stairs of the castle leading to the ballroom. Ezili was amazed by the guests in fancy attires and expensive decorations sparkling silver and gold. The ballroom was impressive, with crystal chandeliers spiralling down from the arching sky-blue ceiling, illuminating the glimmering walls and a floor so polished it looked like a frozen winter lake.

Harry said their names to a servant at the door, and he bowed to Harry and Ezili as if they were royalty. Ezili didn’t show it, but she enjoyed being treated like the princess she knew she was.

“Finally, someone showing respect to me,” she mumbled as they followed the other guests inside.

Harry laughed at her remark. “I respect you.”

“You don’t even respect yourself,” she said, glaring at him.

“Can you just not insult me tonight? You’re pretending to be my date.”

“What’s a date?”

“Like...lovers,” Harry said, flicking his eyes around like the prey trying to spot a predator.

She thought she should calm him down, so she squeezed his forearm and said, “Do you wanna dance?”

Harry shook his head. “No, not the time.”

Confused, Ezili’s eyes followed Harry’s worried gaze to the lady in a seaweed coloured dress that fanned out at her feet. She was beautiful, with features resembling Harry's. That must be Harry’s mother -- the host of the ball.

“Remember what I told you,” Harry said, squeezing Ezili’s cold hands. “Do not say a word to my--Mother!”

“Oh, my darling son, you came!”

Harry let go of Ezili to hug his mother. The woman pulled away and turned to Ezili with the same dimpled smile as her son’s. “Ahh, this must be Ezili,” she said, and Ezili shook her hands like how humans did in movies.

“Yes.” Harry cleared his throat as he laced his fingers with Ezili’s. “This is my date -- Ezili Hans.”

His mother smiled at him. “I was afraid you were gonna bring Niall with a wig.”

“Didn’t work the last time,” Harry said. “Never do it again.”

Harry’s mother laughed before turning back to Ezili. “It’s so nice to meet you. You may call me Mrs Styles, or Annalise. What do you think about this event?”

Ezili flicked her helpless gaze to Harry, who quickly spoke on her behalf, “She thinks it’s great. Very s-shiny.” Seeing Annalise’s smile vanished, Harry added, “Sore throat. The doctor says she has to stay silent for a week. Also, do you mind if I show her around and introduce her to the other guests?”

“Wait, but we haven’t--”

“Love you, Mum.”

Harry pecked his mother on the cheek, grabbed Ezili’s hand and pulled her with him. They finally made it outside to the garden’s fountain, where the guests were chatting in groups and sipping on wine. Harry released Ezili’s hand and exhaled through his mouth. “That was scary.”

“That was awful!” She hit him on the arm. “You almost blew our covers.”

“I know. I’m always anxious around my mum,” he said, looking distressed. “When I was little, she could always tell when I was lying.”

“Maybe you’re not a good liar.”

“Not as good as you,” he chuckled, putting his hands on his hips. “You know what? Changing plans. You’re allowed to talk, but just say simple things like ‘hello’, ‘how are you?’, ‘it’s wonderful’, bla bla.”

Ezili nodded. “Got it.”

Harry opened his mouth to say something else but suddenly froze; his eyes went wide. “Shit, that’s Aunt Beatrice.” Ezili looked over her shoulder to see a chubby late laughing with a group of people and being the loudest. “Super annoying,” Harry said. “Everyone in my family hates her.” He turned to Ezili and patted her on the shoulder. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

“Let me come with you.”

“Not when I’m talking to Satan. I mean, Aunt Beatrice. Just stay here and don’t talk to anyone.”

“But--”

Harry already left.

Ezili muttered curses at him under her breath. She had no choice but to sit by the fountain and wait for him to return. She saw him approaching the woman he hated with just a happy attitude as he’d had when talking to his mother. Fake. Humans were all pretentious and fake. They disgusted her. All these people.

“Hey, may I sit here?”

Ezili’s heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she heard the voice. She looked up and went stiff when she locked eyes with a tall handsome man. The black frame of glasses sat nicely on his high nose. His high cheekbones raised as he offered a polite smile. “Sorry. Am I bothering you?”

Ezili was thinking of what to say to him when she saw what was in his hand.

“An iPad!” she exclaimed. “I got one! Harry gave me one yesterday!”

The man looked at the iPad in his hand and chuckled. “Oh yeah, I brought it with me to read because I don’t really like these events.”

Ezili nodded fast. “I don’t, either. I’m so glad I’m not the only one.”

The man smiled again; his dark eyes twinkled with the fairy lights above their heads. “May I sit with you.”

“Sure!” Ezili hurriedly scooted over for the man to sit. Forget Harry. He’d told her never to leave his side then left her here all on her own, so who cared if she talked to one stranger? At least this one didn’t want to be here, either.

“What do you read on your iPad?” she asked him.

“I’d say books to impress you, but I’m actually reading a manga,” he said and chuckled. “Attack on Titan. Have you heard of it?”

Ezili shook her head. “Do they have something like this for The Little Mermaid?”

“I don’t know. But I’m sure they have a manga for everything these days, so you might find one about mermaids, too,” the man said and put the iPad down on his lap. “What’s your name?”

“Ezili...Hans. Ezili Hans,” said Ezili as she offered her hand.

The man shook it with another warm smile. “I’m Dawson Styles.”

It took Ezili a second to recognise that name. “Harry told me not to talk to you,” she mumbled, frowning.

However, Dawson didn’t look bothered by it. “Oh, right, you came here with Harry,” he said. “He gave you an iPad, right?”

“Yeah. He’s my...date.”

“So why are you here all by yourself?”

Ezili crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “He needed to talk to that loud lady over there. He said she was evil.”

Dawson leaned forward to look past her, and when he spotted Harry with his aunt, his mouth curled slightly. “Yup, that lady is scary. We’re all scared of her.”

“You know her?”

“Yeah, she’s my mum.”

Ezili flinched, her eyes shot open. “Oh...sorry.”

Dawson just laughed. “Well, Harry wasn’t wrong. My mother could be scary sometimes.”

“All mothers are,” muttered Ezili, but she wasn’t sure if Dawson had heard her.

“You’re from the States?” he asked.

She blinked. “What?”

“Your accent.”

“Oh. Y-Yeah.”

“How long have you been in London?”

“Just three days.”

“How do you like it?”

“It’s...grey.”

The answer made Dawson cackle. “Yeah, it is.” He lowered his head and adjusted his glasses. “Bet it’s way more sunnier where you’re from.”

Ezili lifted her shoulders. “I don’t like the sun that much either, so it’s all good.”

Dawson nodded. They sat in silence for two seconds, then he said, “You look beautiful, by the way.”

“Thank you.” She smiled, not knowing what else to respond.

“How did you know Harry?”

Ezili was about to answer when she realised that Harry hadn’t taught her what to answer for this question. He’d probably assumed that they would be together all night, so he wouldn’t have to prepare her to lie about such basic information. Helplessly, she looked back to find Harry, but he wasn’t there anymore. Both he and Dawson’s mother had disappeared.

Ezili jumped to her feet. “Sorry, I have to go. It was nice talking to you, Dawson.” Without paying him a second look, she ran off to look for Harry.

He couldn’t have abandoned her, right? At least not here at his family’s ball. But how could she be so sure? She’d witnessed him being courteous to his enemy. That man could not be trusted.

Why were there so many people?

Where was she?

Ezili was too busy cursing Harry in her head that she hadn’t paid attention to where she was going. Now she found herself standing in an empty hall. She could hear the muffled sound of the ballroom behind her, so she intended to return to it.

“Hey, baby,” said a blond-haired man she ran into at a turn. She tried to sidestep him, but he was in her way. She blocked her nose with a finger and took a step back to keep a distance from him. He smelled funny. Why were his eyes red?

“H-Have you seen Harry?” she asked the man with the buzzcut. “Tall. Curly hair. Walks and talks slowly. Acts like he’s better than you when he’s not.”

“Harry?” The man snorted, his eyelids fluttered as if he might pass out any moment. He put a hand on the wall to keep his balance. “Damn, that motherfucker always lands the hotties.”

Ezili guessed that this man was not in his right mind to tell her where Harry was, so she pushed him aside to go. Suddenly, he caught her by the wrist and yanked her into him. “Hey, where are you going, baby?”

“Let me go!” she screamed and tried to shove him off. It seemed like all of her strength had disappeared with her tail. She felt helpless against this man. He managed to take both her wrists and pinned them above her head and her against the wall.

“Leave Harry,” he whispered into her ear, his breath hot and foul-smelling. She felt like she might throw up. “He’s trash anyway. The rat of the family. Can’t believe he’s getting all this when his mother dies.”

Ezili was trapped between the man’s stinky body and the wall. She knew she’d promised Harry not to attack anyone tonight, but she needed to fight for herself. Without hesitation, her teeth went straight for the man’s neck. He screamed and jumped back, losing his balance and dropping to the floor. Ezili could taste blood on her tongue as she licked her lip and gazed down at the terrified man. The bite mark on his neck was bleeding, staining the white collar of his suit.

“You bitch!”

“Ezi!”

Ezili whipped her head and found Harry, so she ran to him as the evil man clumsily got to his feet.

“What happened?” he asked her, his face pallid with fright.

“This bitch bit me!” the man shouted, pointing the finger at Ezili.

Harry turned back to her with rage in his eyes. “You bit my cousin?! I told you not to hurt anyone! What’s wrong with you?!”

“I didn’t have a choice,” she yelled back, angry that he’d believed the words of this bastard. “He was touching me! I don’t like being touched!”

The realisation flashed across Harry’s face. He put his hands on her shoulders; his eyebrows sloped as he swept his eyes from her head to toes. “Where did he touch you?”

“I didn’t do anything to your whore.”

Before Ezili could even react to those words, Harry went straight to him with his foot in his cousin’s stomach and again when his cousin tried to say something. Ezili had to grab his arm and pulled him away before he murdered someone. She didn’t care if he did, though. She just didn’t want to draw more attention to herself and get exposed in front of all the other guests.

Panting, Harry adjusted his tie and stabbed a finger at the man on the floor. “If I see you put your hands on a woman again, I’ll beat your ass and make sure you’ll never get to set foot back into this family again. You hear me?”

The man couldn’t speak, only whimper.

Ezili opened her mouth to question, but Harry stopped her by taking her hand. “Come with me.”

[capricorn-stark]

Othello Pt 2

pairing: jason todd x reader, reader is a psych major because i think the concept of psych majors in Gotham is funny lmao

warning: i wrote this at 1 am again, kinda long, swearing

a/n: i mention Dana Harlowe and Annie B’s diner, they’re both from RHATO’s final two issues lol. still dedicated to @tadpole-san even though she hate crimed me 

part 1

“I thought you said you wanted to get coffee,” you started when you noticed Jason veering away from where your regular coffee shop should’ve been, choosing to cut through the street and venture to a different path entirely. “Because you just-”

“Yeah, I know, I’m hungry,” he declared, slipping his hands into his pockets and tilting his head towards another row of stores illuminated with neon-lights and flickering street lamps. “This place has better stuff than overpriced coffee, promise.” You let out an exaggerated gasp of shock at that notion and he laughed, nudging your shoulder with his. 

It was always strange to be walking around Gotham during the night, but with Jason by your side, it was far less worrying than it usually was. On your own, you couldn’t even imagine traveling around the dark streets littered with muggers, petty thieves, and the occasional evil clown prince or two - one minute, you’d be speed-walking down the streets, the next minute you could end up as the lucky winner of Scarecrow’s fear-gas testing special.

You actually knew someone who had been in that very situation. They were in Arkham now.

With Jason, it was almost ridiculous how much safer you felt. It didn’t take a whole lot of observational skills to notice how the men who usually leered at you and your friends when you passed shrank and slipped into the shadows when a man over 6 feet in height and built like a tank walked past them. Jason himself was in a good mood tonight, his shoulders relaxed and a slight smile playing at his lips while he told you about the local theatrical-adaptation of Othello that was currently under production near Gotham University. 

You were getting used to seeing him like this - not so moody, smiling, present - but you had also noticed the expressions he had when no one was looking, when he wasn’t thinking about anything in particular, when his gaze had a certain intensity to them that you hadn’t ever quite seen before. He didn’t really like talking about himself or his life, preferring to keep conversations centered around school or you. The few times you had tried asking about his family and work had all led to him clamming up and quickly dropping the subject, his body language rigid and completely closed-off, the crease by his brows deepening as his expression transformed into a scowl. It was the first time you realized that Jason Todd could actually be genuinely scary - and the first time you realized there was a much, much darker side of him that you weren’t sure if you wanted to see.

You knew it wasn’t your place to pry, and you had never brought it up since - but you couldn’t help but wonder just what had happened to make someone like him so angry. 

“...and I figured we could - did you just zone out on me?”

You snapped back into attention at his rather dramatic tone, flinching out of your character analysis to pay actual mind to the man in question himself. 

“No, I just-” 

“Yeah? What did I just say?” Jason challenged, grasping your arm to pull you away from the traffic lane you had nearly walked right into. His disbelieving expression made your face burn red - but much to your relief (and embarrassment), he was laughing. 

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t completely zoned out-” 

“After you literally walked into traffic? Yeah, I can tell,” he deadpanned, tugging you towards him right as the cars slowed to a halt, the pedestrian signal blinking above you. The sudden action and the sudden closeness made your face heat up - something he apparently noticed when his bright green eyes flickered across your features and caused a smirk to tug at his lips. Instead of the teasing you had braced yourself for, you watched as he tilted his head towards the diner across the street, letting go of your arm. “It’s right over there, c’mon.” 

He was already moving towards the crosswalk when you shook yourself out of your stupor, quickly moving to catch up with him and glancing up at the diner. The big glowing red letters on the sign beside it read “Annie B’s”. 

“They got good food,” he explained at your questioning look, leaning forwards to swing the door open for you. “I used to hang around here a lot when I was a kid.” 

“I don’t think I’ve actually seen this place before,” you commented, entering and hearing Jason close the door behind him, taking a quick glance around before you took a seat in one of the cherry-red and white leather booths. “Kinda wish I had.”

The entire diner had a vintage touch to it, from the luminescent pink and blue lights lining the ceilings to the multicolored tile floors, the cherry-red barstools, and even the jukebox in the corner cranking out old-timey tunes. There were only a few other people sitting at the bar and chilling in a booth a few down from your own, all too absorbed in their own worlds to pay much mind to the two of you. You could hear the sizzling of the food being made back in the kitchen, emitting a heavenly aroma that made your stomach growl not-so subtly. Jason laughed as he slid down across from you, sliding one delicate paper menu over as he scanned over the other. 

“Pretty cool, huh? And like I said, they got great food.” He nodded at your stomach and you rolled your eyes, eliciting another laugh from him. “Knock yourself out, ‘cus dinner’s on me.” Before you could open your mouth to object, the kitchen doors flew open and a woman stepped out holding a heaping tray of food. 

“One chicken fried steak with a side of mashed potatoes and rings,” she announced as she set down the trays in front of a man sitting a few booths down, already moving to refill his glass with a pitcher of water. “Enjoy your dinner, Phil.” 

“Thanks, Dana,” the man told her as he picked up his fork and gave her a crooked-toothed grin, already digging into his food. “Always do.” 

“I sure hope so,” the lady agreed, moving to walk back towards the kitchen before catching sight of them. She broke into a grin at the sight of Jason sending her a playful salute, changing course to head towards their booth instead. “Well, look who it is!” she exclaimed, securing her curly black hair out of her face with an orange-and-green bandana as she stopped in front of them. “Jason Todd decided to drop by for a little visit, did he? And he brought a friend.” 

The sight of her beaming at you was too contagious for you to not smile back up at her in return.

“Hi, Dana,” Jason grinned, nodding at you as she looked between the two of you. “This is Y/N. Y/N, Dana Harlowe. Her dad runs this place.” 

“It’s so nice to meet you,” Dana told you with another grin, leaning forwards to shake your hand in greeting. “When I decided to help out at the diner tonight, I wasn’t expecting a miracle. I definitely didn’t think this boy would ever walk in here with a date of all things-”

“Oh as if,” Jason scoffed loudly as the two of you laughed, face reddening beneath the bright colored lights. “Have you seen me? I was born a lady-killer.” He shot you a wink and you sent him another playful eye roll.

“Yeah, you sure killed me alright.” Dana burst out laughing again as Jason immediately let out a protest of betrayal at your words.

“I like you,” she decided when she finally managed to straighten, taking out her notepad and pen with another brilliant smile. “Did y’all decide what you wanted yet, or do you need another minute?” Jason glanced over at you and you nodded back up at her.

“Sure, I’m ready.” 

Dana headed back into the kitchen for your food after you ordered, leaving the two of you to sit in a comfortable, familiar silence, the sound of forks scraping against porcelain plates and vintage beats being the only disruptors. 

“I used to hear these songs on Gotham City Radio all the time,” Jason finally began after taking a sip of his water, fixating his gaze back on you as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the leather seat. “Growing up, I mean. I still do, sometimes.�� 

“Classic jazz?” You grinned, taking a small sip of your own water in turn. “You? I didn’t get that vibe from you.” He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck with a slight shrug.

“At my old place, I had, uh, a butler. He wasn’t really a butler, honestly, he was more like a dad than anything. Or, like, a really cool grandpa. He had a whole rack of guns and shit he kept polished in this big cabinet thing-” You raised a brow, attempting to hide your amusement by taking another sip of water. You were a little surprised that he had actually started talking about his family at all - you weren’t about to ruin it, and boy, did you want to know more about the guy. “And he used to play that station all the time at home, GC Radio Classics. I guess I kinda missed hearing it.” 

“He does sound pretty cool,” you admitted with a smile, setting the glass back down. “Do you still visit him?” Jason hesitated a few moments before attempting a nonchalant shrug. You noticed the tightness in his body language again, the same sort of tightness you saw when he was closing up around you. 

“Not much anymore,” he finally said, letting his shoulders drop a little bit. “It’s been...a while. Just got some shit going on.” You watched him take another drink before you spoke again.

“If you ever want to talk about it with me - or talk about anything, really - you can, Jason.” It wasn’t just the products of your psych major showing through you - you meant your words, and the slight smile playing at his lips seemed to signal that he had understood that as well. 

“Don’t worry about it, seriously. But thanks.” You nodded, looking up again when the kitchen doors flew open once again, Dana heading out towards your table with another two trays heaped with mouth-watering food. 

“And here you go,” she smiled as she set your respective meals down before you, taking your glasses to refill them as well. “Enjoy your food, you two. Call me over if there’s anything else you need, yeah?” You both thanked Dana as she sashayed away again, letting the doors swing shut behind her once again after checking up on the rest of her customers. 

Neither of you wasted any time digging into the food as soon as it appeared, finishing most of it in mere minutes like the starving university students you were, breaking the silence with the occasional offer at trying something the other had gotten. The aroma had been no false-alarm - it tasted even better than you had anticipated, and that was certainly saying something. Savory fries, buttery biscuits, and smoky burgers were better than anything else you had in a while. 

“How did I not find this place sooner?” you sighed as you pressed a napkin to your lips, leaning back against your seat as you tried to process just how full you really felt. At this rate, you would have to roll your way out of the place. “I know you said it was gonna be good, but I didn’t expect it to be this good.”

“I told you,” Jason grinned as he finished up the last of his burger and fries, crumpling up his own napkins and setting them into the tray to throw away. “I know good food places! I grew up around these streets.”

“So did I!” you protested as he laughed and stood up to throw all the trash away, setting the trays back where they were supposed to go and pulling out his wallet just as Dana appeared by the kitchen’s window with two milkshakes. 

“You can count these on the house,” she told him as she slid them over, ignoring his protests and sending you a wink as you stood up from the booth as well. “Enjoy your night - and it was real nice meeting you, Y/N. Todd, I better be seeing you around more often.” 

“Yes ma’am,” he deadpanned, his smile warm as she waved them out anyways. “Thanks, Dana.” 

You called out a thanks to her as well, tightening your jacket around you as you left the warmth of the diner and felt the chill of Gotham’s dreary night hit you once more. Jason handed you your milkshake, bringing his own straw to his lips and taking a sip. 

“You guys seem close,” you noted with a smile as you took a sip yourself, relishing the cold, sweet taste of the shake in delight. Jason chuckled at that, shrugging as you walked along the illuminated sidewalks in no particular direction. 

“She’s like an annoying sister to me. I’ve known her since I was a puny kid.” You watched as the corners of his mouth curled into a slight smile as he took another sip. “Dana, her sister, and her dad were good to me growing up. They’re great people.”

That, you had been able to tell just from meeting the woman herself. 

“I liked meeting her. She was pretty cool.” He chuckled again and spared you another glance. “And thanks, by the way, for dinner tonight. It really was really good. And way better than just coffee.”

“I told you,” he grinned, flickering those brilliant green eyes across your face again. “I know where the good spots around Gotham are. We don’t have a lot of them, but when we do have them, they’re pretty damn good.” That elicited a laugh from you and Jason stopped beneath one of the streetlamps lining the sidewalk. 

“You did better than I expected, Todd.” He made a big show of popping his collar and scoffing at your comment.

“What, you expected me to not impress you? Do you think that low of me?” 

“That theatre minor of yours is really starting to make an entrance, you can put it away now-” 

“Hey!” You burst out laughing and he couldn’t help but join. You felt pretty sure that he looked the happiest right then and there than you had ever really seen him - whatever that might’ve meant. Pretty soon, your laughter was residing and he had taken a slight step forwards, a cheeky grin still plastered on his face. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.” 

You looked back up at him with a nonchalant shrug despite fighting back another smile yourself. 

“Yeah, it was a pretty good night.” His gaze flickered towards your lips before settling back on your face. 

“Yeah?” The sounds of honking cars and the murmurs of people walking past all around you felt like they were being drowned out somehow when you felt him get a little bit closer. The smile tugged at the corner of your mouth again.

“Yeah.” Another moment passed before Jason finally closed the distance between you, meeting your lips in a surprisingly gentle kiss for a man who looked like he could snap a baseball bat with his bare hands. You wrapped your arms around his neck after yet another moment, feeling him draw you even closer to him at the action. 

Literally and figuratively, it was a sweet kiss. The milkshake truly had done wonders. 

You were a little breathless when he finally pulled away, and you hoped the shitty streetlight would keep him from seeing just how red your face had gone. Jason was grinning at your reaction, rubbing the back of his neck.

“C’mon, that was better than pretty good.”

“Shut up,” you told him immediately, swatting his arm and moving to continue your walk again as he laughed and easily moved to catch up to you, slinging an arm around your shoulders.

“It was! You gotta admit it, that was pretty great-”

“Shut up, Jason.” 

Just like that, once again, you had Othello of all things to thank for your night. Maybe, just maybe, it hadn’t been such a terrible book after all. 

[the-broken-truth]

Hi, it's the same anon who requested for the whole reader with the bow thing and I have only ONE thing to say: Perfection 🤩🤩 It was AWESOME and OMG, I can't stop gushing about it. Sorry 😅 But if it's not too much, do you mind making a part 2? You can conclude it if you want in part 2. I'm curious to know how she's going to react to when she finally gets kidnapped. Oh, you can make it like she's deathly scared of injections like me lol, I have a HUGE fear of them. So, like she's fighting some assassins and suddenly Damian pulls a sneaky move and sneaks up on her and pierces a needle into her skin and BOOM! She gets kidnapped. Btw, reader/ Alexa's inspiration to being single comes from the maiden Greek goddess of hunting Artemis. She's my inspiration too and she needs no man to take care of her :) Sorry for my rambling TvT And hope you have a nice day thank you <3

Broken Truth (Tail waves): So, Alexa shall have Trypanophobia - an extreme fear of medical procedures involving injections or hypodermic needles; I think I can make those words dance. I'm glad to know you liked it and Artemis is actually my favorite Greek Goddess.

Athena (Somewhere Else): WHAT DID YOU SAY?!

Broken Truth (Shivering): NOTHING! LET THE WORDS WEAVE TOGETHER BEFORE I'M DONE FOR!!!

[Unknown Location]

[Alexa groaned as the aching in her head began to fade a bit before she opened her eyes - a white fog was all she saw; blinking a few times removed it and made her sight clear again and she took in the unfamiliar environment around her. She was in a brick room & from the light that came from the barred window - it was still daytime. The door that was across from her was black metal and - from the sliding viewer in the door - she could tell she was in a cell of some kind; a prisoner's cell? She wasn't sure. When feeling got back to the rest of her body, she looked around to see she was cuffed to some kind of metal wheel, her wrists & ankles secured over her head and spread apart so that they wouldn't touch each other.]

Broken Truth: For reference - Think of the contraption Heteric had Bruce secured in they captured him & Damian in Batman: Bad Blood.

Alexa (Looks at the contraption that held her - at the computer that as hooked up to it and the wire's connected to the machine, connected to her) (Thinking): 'What is this? How did I get here? Where even is here?'

[The girl knew panicking would get her nowhere so she closed her eyes and focused - trying to remember the last thing before she woke up here.]

[She was... She was in Gotham, she remembered that - making portals around her house. Why was she making portals there? She went deeper into her mind and found the answer - She received a present, no - it wasn't a present, it was a sword. A sword from the League of Assassins. Now, she remembered - It was an invitation from Talia Al Ghul & Ra's Al Ghul: An Invitation to join the League of Assassins, to join their family as the Wife of Damian. When she unsheathed the blade - there was a time & a location; they wanted to meet her. She knew they weren't going to leave her alone until she spoke with them.]

[At Midnight - The top of the Warehouse in the Abandoned Industrial District; the place she killed Talia's men with a single arrow.]

[Alexa's feet splashed in the shallow puddles that the pouring rain made when they reached the room - in her Archer's Gear but with her neck gaiter down, showing the glare on her face as she stood before Talia Al Ghul and her Assassins, her hand clenched around the sheathing of the sword she was given. While the protective clothing was waterproof, her dark brown hair was soaked in the downpour.]

Talia Al Ghul (Smiling at Alexa): I see you've got our invitation. What's your answer?

Alexa (Frowns and throws the sword to Talia's feet): I've told you the same thing for the last 6 months - I want nothing to do with you, your son, your organization, or your father! Nothing! I want you to leave me the hell alone and stop chasing after me as if I owe you something!

Talia Al Ghul (Frowning): I thought you would say that. (Snaps her fingers) Secure her for transport.

[The Assassins that protected Talia charged at Alexa, causing the Archer to summon her bow and begin the battle. Even in close combat, Alexa's skills with her bow her unmatched - one by one, Talia's men fell but she didn't look concerned. When the last one fell, Alexa pointed her bow at the green-eyed woman with a glare of hatred in her eyes.]

Alexa (Lightly Panting): You gonna stop sending men after me now?

Talia Al Ghul (Closes her eyes and nods): Yes.

[Alexa began to lower her bow until she saw the smile on Talia's face.]

Talia Al Ghul (Smirking and opens her eyes): Because we have you now.

[Alexa was about to question her when she felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck - the effect as instant. Alexa became sluggish as her vision blurred, making her drop the bow in her hands making it dispel away. Alexa began to fall forward but she was caught in the arms of another - the harder she fought, the more exhausted she became until her mind slipped into nothingness.]

Alexa (Opened her eyes - a glare upon her face as her brown eyes began bleeding gold): Those bastards... They drugged me and abducted me.

[Just then: The door on the far side of the room & two people walked in - The Familiar Face of Talia Al Ghul & An Older Man - He looked dangerous - he must have been the Head Demon: Ra's Al Ghul.]

Talia Al Ghul (Walks over to the bound girl with a smile): I see that you are awake.

Alexa (Narrows her eyes): What? Expected your little knockout serum to last longer?

Talia Al Ghul (Walks over to the computer and sits in the chair before it, typing away on the keyboard): A Cruel Method but necessary - without it, we couldn't have gotten you here unscathed.

Alexa: Maybe you should have just let me the hell alone like I asked you to do.

Ra's Al Ghul (Shaking his head): Out of the question - My Grandson loves you & you are more than worthy of becoming one with the Al Ghul family; you just need some time to realize that.

Alexa: If I didn't 'realize' that 6 months ago - then it's not gonna happen.

Ra's Al Ghul (Looks at Talia): Anything?

Talia Al Ghul: No, Father - nothing out of the ordinary. No genetic mutations could have caused this use of Elemental Magic. She appears to be completely human.

Alexa: Because I am! Gods, you both are morons, just like that overgrown child who can't accept 'no' for an answer.

Talia Al Ghul (Raises from the computer and stands before the bound Alexa): You just act accept the fact you are destined to be with my son.

Alexa (Scoffs & Chuckles): If I was destined to be with your son - The Oracles would have told me but - just like the Huntress Artemis - I don't need or want a man to take care of me when I can take care of myself.

Talia Al Ghul: It doesn't matter what you say - you shall be one with my son, he is away with his father for the rest of the month but that gives us enough time to groom you into a proper partner for Damian.

Alexa (Chuckles before full-blown laughing): AHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

Ra's Al Ghul (Narrows his eyes): I fail to see what is funny. With your hands apart, you cannot summon your bow or arrows, thus you are trapped here.

Alexa (Takes a calming breath): You really think my power is limited t using my bow and arrows - False, that's just what I prefer in a fight. (Narrows eyes with a wide smirk) Just where do you think the power in my arrows comes from?

[Before either Father or Daughter could answer - Alexa's right hand opened widely as blue electrical sparks danced along her flesh before spreading to the contraption that held her. Talia moved away just in time thinking the thing was going to blow but all it did was open the locks and Alexa was free, her hand still sparking with electric power as she lifted it to her face.]

Alexa (Smirks at Talia and Ra's): I do love the look on a person's face when they realized they bit off more than they could chew. (Holds her hand out in their direction - a blue ball of light begins to form in her palm)

[Ra's and Talia get out of the room just as a blue bullet of hot blue flame shoots past them and crashed into the wall outside the cell. Alexa moved her hand to face the wall that held the window and blasted it out - the smoke giving her cover to open a portal and jump through, it closed just as the smoke cleared and Ra's and Talia ran back into the room.]

Ra's Al Ghul (Clenching his teeth): Damn it, she's escaped us again. We'll never get her at this rate.

Talia Al Ghul: Relax, Father; I had a backup just in case something like this happened. (Walked over to the machine and clicked a few buttons on the keyboard when a small compartment opened and she reached in - pulling out a vial of blood)

[Alexa's Blood...]

[End]

[thevelria]

Blood and Poker - Don't worry, I'll be gentle (NSFW/mafia!Gojo x pokerplayer!fem!reader)

Author's note: this is the 2nd part of this story. I did a collab with my lovely friend @randompurr She drew all the amazing fanarts for this story. Please check her account and give her all the love, because she deserves the world! <3

wordcount:5.9K

DO NOT copy and repost her art without giving credit! Reblogs, comments and likes are much appreciated.

Warnings: MDNI/ 18+ ONLY!/detailed, heavy smut, injuries, blood, violence, murder. Mention of guns and illegal business. It's a mafia AU after all lol

I also would like to thank my lovely ladies @ladycheesington and @m-jelly for helping me with ideas and proofreading <3

The doorbell rang at 7 sharp. Just as he said earlier on the phone. You were ready to go. The fact you spent almost your whole day trying to find what to wear was something you kept as a secret.

Earlier that day:

After Gojo hung up the phone you rolled on your back and faced the ceiling. Slightly you frowned as you kept trying to figure out how he knew your address. You made up your mind that you were going to ask him as soon as he arrived. On the other hand you felt funny. A weird feeling spread in your body. You were excited. The man was so charming and smooth last night. His look was mesmerizing, handsome face, toned body and those beautiful blues.

You swung your legs across the bed and sat right at the edge before you hopped down. Big yawns and a good stretch helped you feel more awake. Since last night you arrived home really late you slept almost until 3pm. If Satoru didn’t wake you with his call you would have slept even further. It meant you had like four hours to get ready for the date. Spending two hours in the bathroom made you feel anxious, because you already knew even if you were clean, your makeup and hair was perfect, you had no idea what to wear. A loud sigh in front of the wardrobe signaled the beginning of the game.

“Meh…” you threw away your green dress.

“Nope, not this one.” the blue lace dress landed on the floor.

This went on and on and on. You sat down at the edge of the bed and clenched your jaw.

“I hate this, I hate this, I hate this so damn much!” you shook your head, before looking up and noticing THE dress.

A sweet looking dirty-white spring dress with cute little cherries. You loved the puffy sleeves, the tight waist part and the mid-thigh long skirt. Oh and the cleavage, it was your favorite part. It cupped your boobs perfectly and formed into a big bow. You chose your burgundy heels which perfectly suited your lovely dress.

***

Gojo was drumming his fingers on the wheel in his car. He parked in front of your home but he arrived almost 20 minutes early. A bouquet of roses rested on the seat next to him. It was getting dark, even the street lighting was turned up . He frowned at the sudden bright light and looked at his way too expensive watch on his wrist. 3 minutes to go.

“Okay…” he took a deep breath. “Let’s get this girl.” he smirked as he got out of his black 1967 Chevy Impala. It’s been years since he dated anyone. Mostly he was busy with building his empire and even if people assumed him to be a womanizer he preferred love. Gojo loved being in love. The feeling of having a partner, protecting, caring and spoiling her rotten. That’s what made his heart beat faster and not the women who threw themselves at him for money and some rounds in bed.

Confident steps he took towards your door. “Fuck, the flowers…” he slapped his palm against his forehead and rushed back to the car. At 7pm he rang the doorbell, fixing his outfit afterwards. He clenched his jaw slightly. The man was nervous, because he wanted to fascinate you way too much.

“Good evening.” Satoru greeted you with his most charming smile. Your eyes widened and you truly had to try your best not to drool. The snow white hair was slicked back, his deep red button up shirt followed his toned torso. The top two buttons were left open, slightly revealing his collarbone and the rolled up sleeves let you adore his strong forearms. Ebony pants with shiny boots made his look simply perfect.

“Hey, uhm…hey.” you cleared your throat, trying to hide the fact you were staring.

“You look absolutely ravishing, darling.” he eyed you up shamelessly. “Shall we go?” he was about to offer his arm when he realized he didn’t give you the flowers. “Fuck, I’m such an idiot.” he thought to himself. “I..I brought this for you.” he lifted up the bouquet and chuckled awkwardly.

“Thank you, Satoru. They look lovely. Give me a sec, I’ll put them into water. Wanna come in until I handle it?” you spun on your heels and just realized a second after you already invited him in. Hearing him politely refusing it made you even more anxious. “Now he thinks I wanna hump him. I’m such an idiot.” you imaginary facepalmed yourself as you picked a vase and let the flowers sink in it.

The leather seat softly sunk under your weight as you got into the car. “You have a really nice car.” you smiled as you carefully ran your index and middle finger over the glove compartment.

“Thank you.” his husky voice sent shivers down your spine. He was wealthy and had taste for sure. But still you felt like he was so much more than a simple business man. “I am flattered you actually accepted my invitation. I felt the spark between us last night and I hoped you would say yes.”

“Spark?” you smirked. “We will see about that spark.” you chuckled, while inside you screamed. Because, girl, you felt it just like he described.

One of the fanciest restaurants that just opened a few months ago was the place he took you. The staff seemed so professional, precise and kind. The inside of the building left you speechless. Huge chandeliers hung from the ceiling, beige furniture, black tables with matching chairs made the vibe luxurious. “This way, please.” a nice looking waiter stepped next to you. You missed the quick glance he gave to Gojo. High stairs guided you up until the top of the building. An even wilder space unfolded with the same style as downstairs but with a beautiful balcony attached. You gasped and snapped your head to your date. He gave you a warm smile as he followed you to the balcony where your waiter escorted the both of you.

“Your table, bo…, I mean, sir.” he let out an awkward chuckle. “Please call me when you are ready to order. I’ll be right back with some special welcome drink.”

You made an amused expression, you were truly mesmerized by the situation.

“I assume you like this place.” Gojo smirked as he pulled the chair out for you.

“It’s wonderful.” you took a deep breath as you admired the sight. “I mean look at this.” you pointed at the city that glowed in front of you with all its glory. Buildings and skyscrapers towered into the high, tiny little cars run on the roads as if they were ants in a hive.

You zoned out for a few seconds, having flashbacks from your past months and you hummed a laugh spontaneously.

“Everything’s okay, sweetheart?” Satoru’s raspy voice snapped you back to reality.

“Sure. Yeah, sure. I was just thinking…” you tried to find the right words. “It’s just beautiful and I like it here. It’s perfect.” Your warm, honest smile melted his heart.

“I’m glad.” he placed his hand on the table.

Obviously he was about to reach for your hand but he hesitated just yet. When he was sure the right time appeared he was about to touch the back of your hand.

“Your drinks.” the lovely waiter interrupted the perfect moment. Gojo flashed a deadly stare at him which made him uneasy in an instant. “I, I hope you’ll like it." He hurriedly placed two glasses and a bucket filled with ice and a bottle of champagne on the table.

“Thank you, you can leave now.” the snow white haired man waved at the waiter who nodded and spun on his heels right away. “I’ve heard this champagne is one of the best in town.” he reached for the bottle and palmed the cork, gently twisting it left and right until a solid popping sound was heard. “Let me pour you some.” he grabbed your glass, while a delicate fog escaped the cool drink.

“It tastes like heaven.” you licked your bottom lip after taking a small sip.

You frowned while checking the menu. So many fancy dishes to choose from and to be honest you have never been to a place like this. You felt a bit anxious and Gojo sensed it.

“You can pick anything you want, don’t worry about the price.” he winked at you.

“That’s sweet of you but it’s not the source of my struggling to be honest.”

“What’s wrong then?” he frowned.“Uhm…” you cleared your throat.

“I have no idea what these dishes are. Fancy names with fancy descriptions and yet I have no clue what they mean.” you bit your inner cheek, embarrassed.

“Oh, sweety.” he laughed. “Let me pick for you then, yeah? Do you like fish or would you like to eat some meat?”

“Fish is perfect.” you nodded. “I do like fish.”

“Alright.” he snapped and your waiter rushed to the table in a heartbeat.Gojo made the order so smoothly you were amused.

In the meantime as you were waiting for your food he tried his luck once again and this time he succeeded. Gently placing his palm on the back of your hand, gently he smiled at you.

“So, tell me your story.” he cooed as he was running his thumb softly over your skin.

“What story do you mean exactly?” you let him touch you.

“You mentioned something like being a professional player.”

“I used to be, yeah.” you pulled a bittersweet smile.

“And what’s the story behind that?” he raised one of his eyebrows.

“Let’s not ruin this lovely moment with a bittersweet story like that. Rather you should tell me how you got to open your own casino at this young age? Is it a family business?” Your pupils became huge the second he shot you a charming smirk.

“We can call it like that, yeah. It’s a family business. This casino was the 5th one I opened across the country.”

“Wait a minute.” your eyes widened. “Are you telling me you have 5 casinos?”

“Actually, 12.” he chuckled. “I opened one every month last year.”

“Shut up!” you slammed your free palm against your mouth. “I’m sorry. I mean, wow. This is amazing!”

After you finished the delicious meal, which you still had no idea what it was, you excused yourself to the restroom.“I’ll be right back.” you said politely, heading inside.

The moment you got back a tall, long black haired man was standing at your table, obviously having some serious words with your date. Eavesdropping wasn’t your intention but you involuntarily overheard some words.

“I’m telling you boss they fucked us up. The guns should have arrived tonight and yet all the containers were empty.”

“What?” Gojo sounded harsh. “What the fuck is going on? It’s the third shipment in a row. You will need to deal with this shit. I’m busy at the…” his words died mid-sentence as he noticed you standing not far from your table. “Leave! We will discuss this later.” he clenched his jaw.

Your heart was beating fast, pounding against your chest. “Did he seriously say guns?” you panicked. As the mysterious man passed you he gave you an annoyed glance. It terrified you even more.

“It’s getting late.” you checked your phone immediately. “I truly had an amazing night tonight but I’m afraid I need to go home. Tomorrow I’ll have an important meeting with my editor.” you faked a smile.

“On Sunday?” he clicked his tongue. He knew you were lying, he also was aware you’ve heard something you shouldn’t have.

“Yeah…lame, I know.” you giggled awkwardly. “I have this deadline coming up next week and…anyway. I don’t want to bore you with the details. I’m gonna catch a taxi.”

“I’ll take you home, sweetheart.” he leaned back in his chair.

“No.” you snapped. “I mean, I don’t wanna be a trouble here. You did so much for me anyway. I’m sure this dinner was way too expensive.” you pushed back your chair, threw your phone into your purse and left in a hurry. Gojo pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I can’t believe this shit.” he growled. “Everything was so fucking perfect. Damn you, Geto. I’ll kill you, I swear.” he took an irritated, deep breath before standing up and leaving as well. He saw you getting in a taxi and felt really disappointed. “She will avoid me…I feel it.”

***

A sleepless night. That’s what he gave you. So many unanswered questions were rushing through your mind. Even if you tried to distract yourself it was simply impossible. You had so much fun with him. He was gentle, polite and so damn charming. But guns? He must have been some kind of gangster and the last thing you wanted was to get involved in some nasty business. So as disappointing as it seemed you decided to ditch him.

“Good morning, darling. I hope you had a decent sleep. Oh and I cheer for you today with your editor.” This lovely message waited for you to read.

“Fuck.” you hissed after seeing it. You closed the message and left your phone at the nightstand. Gojo tapped his feet nervously on the wooden floor in his office.

“She saw it and didn’t respond.” he growled, before writing to you again. “I was thinking maybe you wanted to meet after your meeting this evening?” Sent. Still no response, only the checkmark next to his message, showing him you read it but once again didn’t bother to write anything back. “Damn it, baby. Stop ignoring me!” he bit his inner cheek.

During the day he got a bit carried away and kept texting you. Even if he was getting mad and desperate he stayed well-behaved. After the 10th or 11th message he took a deep breath and dialed your number.

Your eyes widened the second you noticed the caller on the screen of your phone. “Pick up the goddamn phone.” he clenched his jaw after the umpteenth missed call. But you didn’t pick up. After a while it seemed the call didn’t go through. “Did you really?” he hummed a bittersweet laugh. “She blocked me!” he threw his hands in the air, shaking his head in disbelief.

***

In the middle of the night you heard some knocking on the front door. Your eyes were still closed but you tried to focus if you really did hear something or only your mind tricked you. One more knock, this time it was a bit louder. You rubbed your eyes with the back of your hand before crawling out of the bed. Checking the clock “2:32am”.

“Who the fuck is it?” you mumbled under your nose. A third knock echoed through the living room. “I’m coming! There’s no need to break my freaking door.” you sounded harsh and irritated.

The door shot open and there he was. Gojo stood in front of you covered in blood, injured. Your eyes widened and you froze in your action.

“I’m so sorry, darling.” he panted. “But I had nowhere else to go.” he sounded weak. The second his knees buckled a bit and he almost lost his balance you stepped closer, helped him to come inside.

“What happened to you? You should go to the hospital.” you were still in shock.

“No, no. I’m fine, I just…I just need to rest.” he breathed unevenly.

A billion thoughts rushed through your mind as you guided him into the kitchen.

“Careful.” you said as you helped him to sit down. “I’ll be right back.” you rushed to the bathroom to get the first aid kit.

For a second you stood still in the bathroom, facing the mirror. Everything seemed so surreal. And even if you were scared and confused, you felt the urge to help him. After all he was nothing but polite and sweet with you. The date last night was magical.

You took a deep breath before grabbing the kit and hurried your steps back to the kitchen.

“Hey…hey, Satoru. Look at me.” you placed the box on the counter. “I need you to tell me how badly injured you are. Okay? It seems you lost a lot of blood.” you stared at his light blue buttoned up shirt.

“It’s not all mine.” he hummed a bittersweet laugh.

“Oh, God…” you shook your head. “Did you get shot?” you frowned.

“No, just stabbed.” he hissed as he tried to wiggle on the seat.

“Stabbed?” even you were surprised by your high pitched voice. “Let me see it!”

“Help me please, I can’t really move my left arm.”

Gently you fidgeted with the buttons, one after another, until his shirt was fully open. His chest was covered with bruises and cuts. But his left shoulder looked worrying. A deep, pretty big wound was revealed in front of you. It was definitely made by a stab.

“I need to clear your wounds and I definitely have to stitch this one on your shoulder.” you clenched your jaw as you took his shirt completely off.

“Thank you.” That was all he could say. Gojo was clearly in pain.

You tried to be as gentle as possible but you knew just as much as him that it wasn’t going to be a piece of cake.

“Sorry.” you bit your lower lip before you started to clean his injuries. He hissed here and there, cleared his throat but never ever complained.

Even if you tried to focus only on the main task you couldn’t help but admire his toned torso. This handsome gangster had wide shoulders, broad chest and perfectly built abs. His biceps looked huge without even flexing them.

“It’s almost done.” you smiled. “Then let me take care of the rest of the cuts on your face and as I see your knuckles are fucked up, too.” “It’s nothing.” he hummed a laugh.

“Really, it’s okay.”

“Shh…” you hushed him. “You asked me to help you, yeah? Let me do it properly.”

He stayed quiet and pulled an adorable smile. After you gently wrapped up his knuckles you didn’t even realize that you kept running your thumb over his hand.

A few seconds later you got a bandage and placed it on his cheekbone. Suddenly he put his palm on your waist and pulled you close to him. The way he rested his cheek on your tummy surprised you. You had no idea what to do. Should you have freed yourself or stayed still? An unexpected silence made the situation even more complicated. Finally you hummed and ran your fingers through his hair, softly slicking it back and planting a featherlight kiss on the top of his head. You felt as he smiled and slid his hand down to your hip, grabbing it lightly.

“Will you tell me what happened to you?” you broke the silence.

“It’s safer for you if you don’t know.”

“Satoru, please. You can’t just appear in front of my house in the middle of the night beaten up, bleeding, asking for my help and expecting me to not ask any questions.” you lifted his head to force him looking you in the eye.

“It’s so messed up, darling. Everything is just messed up.” he sighed. “And I know you heard something yesterday. I don’t know what exactly but I have a guess. You even blocked my number.”

You gulped hard, because he said the truth. You were about to ghost him.

“Are you scared of me?” he kept looking at you.

“I don’t know.” you took a deep breath. “I mean you are sweet, polite, like a real gentleman. Last night was wonderful, I did have fun with you and everything was perfect. But guns? Fucking guns? And let me tell you that guy looked terrifying. The way he stared at me froze the blood in my veins.”

“So you heard what Geto said.” he growled. “Look…” he hesitated for a second. “I’m not a simple business man. I’m the head of the Gojo clan, one of the biggest mafia families in the country. I know it sounds horrible but you need to believe me when I say that I’m a good person and I would treat you as a queen if you’re willing to give me a chance.”

“I…” you were about to say you didn’t know what to think but all of a sudden he stood up and caged you at the counter. He was way taller, so he towered above you powerfully.

“Just one chance.” he leaned dangerously close. “That’s all I’m asking for.” you felt his warm breath on your skin. A fragile nod was all you were able to present but it was more than enough for him. “Can I kiss you? Please. I've been dying to kiss you since the moment I saw you on the screen.”

“On the screen?” you were confused.

“Nevermind.” he chuckled and brushed his lips against yours. It was a delicate kiss, a gentle and soft one.

The soft kiss turned into a more intense one. A low moan escaped your mouth the second his tongue met yours. He smirked and kept kissing you with more and more passion. You threw your hands around his neck, running your fingers up and down on the back of his head, feeling his undercut brushing your skin. While he grabbed your thighs and lifted you up.

“Satoru, don’t…your shoulder is...”

“It’s okay.” he planted a featherlight kiss into your neck as you clenched your legs around his waist.

“Where’s your bedroom?” he growled.

You nodded your head slightly to the right and he headed to the room without hesitation. The sound of your uneven breathing echoed through the room as he entered your bedroom, holding you still. Gojo sat down at the edge of the bed. The mattress bent down a bit under the weight of your bodies. You caged him with your knees and you undeniably felt the bulge growing bigger and bigger in his pants.

A cheeky bite on his lower lip and one or two grinding movements on his lap drove him wild. He grabbed the back of your head as he took a deep, desperate breath.

“Are you sure about this, princess? Because once we’ve done it there’s no way back. You’re going to be mine. Only mine!” he hissed.

A naughty smirk appeared on your face. You pulled your PJ shirt above your head, revealing your breasts before you crashed your lips against his. You had no idea what’s gotten into you but you wanted nothing else but to sleep with this man.

Suddenly his hands wandered lower and cupped your bum, squeezing them while he moaned into the heated kiss. The next you remembered was him flipping you over. You landed on your back on the mattress, even bounced back a little.

“I wonder how strong you are when you are not injured.” you chuckled.

“You’ll find out, I'll make sure of that. God…” he shook his head. “You’re so beautiful.”

A slight tint of red rushed your face which he found adorable.

Once again Satoru towered himself above you, his hands rested aside your head while he kept kissing your cheek, your jaw, your neck and collarbone. Working his way lower and lower. One of his hands cupped one of your tits, massaging it, enjoying the touch. You weren’t able to hold back your moans, the heat was getting really hard to handle. When he reached your lower tummy he playfully slid his fingers under the rubber band of your PJ bottom.

Your hips automatically bucked up, giving him an easy time to get rid of the unwanted cloth. As you were laying there completely naked he bit his lower lip and wiggled his way back exactly between your thighs. His breathing got faster and faster, you felt the warm air on your skin. Gojo looked you in the eye as he placed a light kiss on your folds, just right before he spread your legs wide open and his tongue slid into your needy part.

“Fuck…” you moaned and ran your fingers into his crystal white hair. Satoru was good at eating, he got the perfect rhythm and the perfect moves. One of his hands rested on your tummy, while he lapped and sucked on your clit. Giving more and more speed to the movements caused you to shiver. Nothing else but his name rolled from your lips. He was really enjoying the moment, enjoying your beautiful pussy.

“Please…” you panted.

“Hmm? What does my princess want?” he looked up at you from between your legs.

“Toru, if you keep doing this I’m going to cum.” “Good.” he smirked. “That was my intention anyway.” He buried his face between your folds once again but this time adding one finger to make the pleasure more intense. Your moans became louder, your hips bucked but his free hand kept you still.

“Don’t wiggle, baby. Let me eat you properly.” he giggled as he gave a quick lick to your already sensitive clit. Your gangster slid one more finger in and it drove you completely insane. You were nothing but a moaning mess.

“I’m gonna…I think I’m gonna…” you tried to form the words without success.

“Come for me, darling.” he quickened his movements. You felt the knot in your lower tummy get stronger and stronger. Suddenly the rush of a relieving tension rushed through your body and a loud scream left your mouth. Gojo kept going on and on, while you were riding your high out on his face.

A few moments later your breathing started to get more even and you cupped his face.

“Take off your pants. I want you to be inside of me!” Satoru never in his life got out of his pants faster but your expression made him chuckle.

“Holy shit!” you gasped. “You are huge.” your eyes widened at the sight of his hard dick.

“Don’t worry baby.” he climbed between your legs, positioning himself to your entrance. “I’ll be gentle.” he carefully slid his throbbing shaft into you.

“Oh my God.” you panted as he kept sliding himself in inch by inch.

“Look at you, darling. You’re taking me so well.” he leaned in and kissed you. “Tell me when I can move, yeah?” His muscled back felt so tempting under your hands as you nodded.

“Just a second.” you tried to relax your body. This man was indeed massive. “Okay, you can move now.” you dug your fingers into his back.

Satoru put up a gentle pace, bucking his hips at a speed that drove you crazy. The way his dick was sliding in and out of your dripping wet pussy tested his own sanity as well.

“You’re so tight.” he buried his face in the crook of your neck. Your hands wandered lower and lower on his back until you grabbed his rounded bum.

“Faster. I need you to go faster. Please.” you begged and he obeyed right away. He started to pound into you with more and more intensity. Your walls clenched around him every time he hit your special spot.

“Darling.” he growled. “I’m not gonna last long if you suck me in like this.”

“I can’t help it, ‘Toru. It feels so good. You feel so good inside me.” you babbled in delirium.

Your words pushed him even closer to his limit and the second you screamed his name once again, reaching your high he wasn’t able to hold back anymore.

“Baby, I’m gonna cum, I’m gonna…Ngh.” he pulled himself out quickly and shot his cream on your tummy. After he calmed down a bit he laid next to you.

“That was amazing.” he rested on his back, facing the ceiling.

“It indeed was.” you smiled and tried to get up. “I’ll be right back.” you headed to the bathroom to clean up yourself.

Gojo appeared in the bathroom door, laying against the frame. “Can you help me with the shower?” He walked behind you, placed his hands on your shoulders and kissed your neck. “With all these stitches and bandages I’m not sure I could do it myself.”

“Sure, join me.” you giggled as you pulled the shower curtain aside.

***

After a second round in the shower you were completely exhausted and you assumed Satoru felt the same.

“We really should sleep and in the morning you will tell me what the heck is going on. Okay?” you climbed in the bed after changing the sheets.

“Alright, darling.”

His phone kept ringing which woke both of you up. A desperate growl left your body as you opened your eyes.

“Satoru, pick up your fucking phone, I’m begging you.” you whined.

He tapped the top of the nightstand next to him, eyes closed, when finally reached his mobile. “What?” he hissed. A few seconds later he almost jumped out of the bed. “WHAT?!” he yelled. “Bullshit!” he clenched his jaw. “No, I will handle it. Get your stuff and head to the mountains. Yes, all of you! Go!” he hung up.

“Should I ask?” you sat up, covering your bare chest with the sheet.

“A few weeks ago I turned down a nasty business.” he sighed, climbing behind you, so your back pressed against his chest as he kept talking. “Since then my whole business, my whole family is under attack. I thought after a few days they would stop but instead they are after everything I own in this town. Last night I got attacked while I was on my way home. They destroyed my house and now Geto called me with the news that all my businesses were either burnt to the ground or torn apart.”

“That sounds horrible.” you gasped. “So the casino was not your only interest in the city?”

“No, I had restaurants, shops and clubs as well.”

“Restaurants…” you hummed. “Like the one you took me to?”

“Yeah.” he nodded.

“Bastards…” you huffed. “It was such a beautiful place. I loved it!”

Gojo let out a bittersweet laugh before kissing your shoulder. “I need to leave, darling. You have to come with me.”

“What?” your eyes widened.

“You would be in danger here but I can protect you.”

“In danger? How? Why? We are not even a thing, why would I be in danger?”

“After last night we are definitely a thing. I told you, if you gave in you were going to be mine.” he smirked as he gently bit your earlobe.

“Yeah.” a soft moan left your mouth. “But they don’t know that.”

The handsome gangster got out of the bed and wanted to dress up when he realized his clothes were dirty and torn. He clicked his tongue and frowned.

“I can give you gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt if you want. I think it will fit you.”

“Thank you.”

As he was getting dressed he bit his inner cheek. “I assume these aren’t your clothes.”

“No.” you shrugged. “My ex left them here and I…well I should have gotten rid of them years ago.”

Satoru was about to crack an inappropriate joke about your ex and how he was going to fuck even his memory out of your pretty head when someone knocked on the front door.

You snapped your head to the direction of the noise.“Will your men pick you up?” you smiled as you started to walk towards the door.

He took a quick peek through the window and noticed an unfamiliar, dark car in front of your home.

“Baby, stop!” he yelled and started to run after you, grabbing your wrist just in time and pulling you aside a second before someone emptied a whole clip into your door.

“What the fuck?” you screamed.

Gojo covered you with his body until the shots died down.

“Come with me!” he demanded and dragged you into the bathroom. “Here. Take this.” he handed you a loaded gun. I’m going to lock this door, yeah? If anyone tries to break in, kill them. Understood?” he sounded dead serious.

“What?! NO!” you screamed. “It’s bullshit! I don’t even know how to use this freaking gun.” you started to cry.

“Shh…” he pulled you into his chest and hugged you tight. “It’s going to be okay, yeah? I will take care of this. I told you I was going to protect you, darling.” he placed a kiss on the top of your head.

“Be careful.” you whispered as he left the bathroom.

In the upcoming minutes you heard gunshots, yelling, screaming and you were sure your home was getting destroyed. After a while there was silence. The doorknob started to move left and right, your blood froze in your veins as you aimed the gun directly at the door.

“It’s safe now, baby.” Gojo’s weakened voice made you shiver.

“Satoru?” you shot the door open right away. And once again here he was, standing in front of you injured, bleeding.

“I…I need to patch you up again. I’m sure the wound on your shoulder opened up.” you frowned as you reached for his t-shirt and wanted to take it off.

“No.” he panted, gently grabbing your wrist. “There’s no time for this. We need to leave. It’s not over yet, more of them will come. We can’t stay here.” he pressed his right hand against his side.

You were sure under the clothes he was covered in new cuts and bruises.

“Yuuta.” Gojo sighed. “I will text you the address. You need to come here and pick us up right now. They found me.” he hung up.

“Can I at least pack some clothes or something?”

“Just be quick, baby. Yuuta will be here in a few minutes.”

With a small luggage in your hand you stepped out of your bedroom and didn’t want to believe your eyes. Blood and at least five dead bodies were lying in the living room. All your furniture was either broken or shot into pieces.

“Please, don’t look.” Satoru took your luggage with one of his hands and grabbed your hand with the other one. “Come, Yuuta is outside.”

On your way to the safe house you kept silent. Gojo refused to let your hand go, he rubbed his thumb over your skin again and again and again. After an hour or so the car parked in front of a vintage styled wooden house. You helped Satoru to get out of the car and only after standing next to the vehicle did you notice the men waiting in front of the building.

You recognized the scary looking man who was called Geto. He was on the phone and well…his stare almost made you shit your pants. Not far from him stood a younger boy with funny, spiky hair. It seemed he talked to a ripped guy with a tiny scar across his lips and who looked just like him. There was another man with spiky hair and a weird face paint sitting close to scarface. The last guy with pinkish blonde hair and his hands in his pockets seemed the most normal from them all.

That was the moment you realized you were going to stay in a house with a yakuza and a part of his gang.

[curlybookwriter0294]

Behind the Dark Sunglasses

Summary: All Wally wants to do is to enjoy his time with his handsome boyfriend Nightwing. However, he can't stand his dark sunglasses and truly wants to know who he truly is because he is dying to know what color his eyes were. Will he finally tell him?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the DC or the YJ universe!!! Just the plot lol.

AN: I am back with another Birdlfash fic!! Gosh, I just fucking love these two togetherrrrrrr and I hope that you guys will enjoy this little beauty. Sadly it is not smutyyyyy but there is somewhat sexual content in here lol. 

Wally West has no idea if heaven is even real but hey, he lives in a world with superheroes and he’s one of them, so anything is possible at this point these days. Right now, at this moment, this feels like he’s in heaven. “Fuck,” he muttered through grounded teeth, throwing his head back and closed his green eyes and used a hand to grab a fist full of dark hair that was between his legs. “Babe. Shit.”

He heard a low chuckle that he knows all too well and had opened one eye to see his raven-haired boyfriend stroking his member with a hand as he smirked up at the older speedster above him. “Enjoying this?” he asked him, using another hand to push up his dark sunglasses that he would always wear whenever he’s not in his Nightwing uniform.

Wally bit his lower lip so he could focus the warm touch that was on him, frowning when he had looked down at the younger hero’s face or what he could see because of his stupid sunglasses. He sighed. “I would be enjoying it a lot more if I could see your eyes, Nightwing,” he said with a sigh.

 He watched Nightwing move away from his legs and knew that the moment between them had ended because of what he had said. The two heroes were silent as he had put himself back into his boxers and jeans that he was wearing, watching Nightwing walking over to sit in his desk chair with a deep frown on his face. “Wing…” he started, running a hand through his short red hair.

 “You know why I can’t tell you.”

 Wally rolled his forest orbs with a snort and leaned back on his bed until his back touched the headboard. “Yea. I know. It’s because of Batman and his stupid rules. I just thought… that since…never mind. Forget it.”

 Neither of them said anything after a while and Wally watched the younger hero fiddling over his computer that was attached to his watch and Wally sighed. “I’m sorry for ruining things.”

 Nightwing turned Wally’s desk chair around to stare at his older boyfriend as he folded his arms over his chest. “You didn’t. You have no idea how much I want to tell you about me,” he said with a quiet sigh, threading his fingers through his short black hair.

 “Can’t you just simply ask him if it is okay? I mean, I told you since the first day The Team was formed,” Wally reminded him in a matter-of-fact tone, shaking his head as he leaned off the headboard and crawled over to the edge of the bed. “I just…” he blushed before continuing. “I just want to see what’s behind those dark sunglasses, especially if things were to get heated again.”

 The younger man that was across from the speedster cleared his throat and shifted in his seat nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. “I know Wally. It’s just…” Nightwing paused as he tried to think of a way to explain the situation. “It’s complicated with him. Even if I do try and talk to him it’s still going to be a no.”

 Wally studied him for a moment, trying to decide if he truly believes in what he was saying to him. Wally truly understands that the Dark Knight has strict rules when it’s about revealing their secret identity. Heck, he remembers asking his uncle if he knew who Batman truly was and even he didn’t know. He could understand the hesitation of revealing it to him. It makes him slightly wonder if there’s more to it than just the rule that Batman had created.

 “There isn’t something else is there? Perhaps another reason as to why I haven’t seen your eyes yet?” The speedster asked slowly, watching his boyfriend’s shoulders tensed up at the question. “There is… isn’t there?”

 “If people find out who we are… our enemies can use that against the people that we tell.” Nightwing told him, knowing that it was half the truth in his words. He truly wishes that Wally would drop it and they could go back to what they were doing before. However, he knows how persistent his boyfriend can be at times and he also know that he won’t drop it unless he gets a real answer.

 Wally leaned forward on the bed and stared at the younger hero, wishing that he could see what kind of facial expression he was making. He honestly wonders if his eyes were blue, or green or heck hazel. “I understand that babe,” he told him. “But I believe that there’s more to it than that. Am I right?” he asked, hiking a brow at him.

 Nightwing didn’t answer him right away and Wally knew that he was right after all. Wally nibbled at his lower lip, trying to think of a way to break the awkward silence that had followed between them. “At least tell me that you’re not a serial killer,” he says in a joking manner and his upper lip curled up when his boyfriend scoffed at him. “That’s not really an answer. I gotta know what I’m dealing with here.”

 “No, Wally. I am definitely not a serial killer,” Nightwing told him with a shake of his head. “It’s just…” There was a pause. “I don’t want you to think differently about me if you were to discover my identity,” he said to him honestly as he took a deep breath.

 Wally stared at him with wide eyes and got up from his bed to kneel in front of Nightwing. He used his thumb to lift his chin and even though he was wearing sunglasses, he knew that he was staring directly into his green eyes. “Even if you are a serial killer. It wouldn’t change the way that I feel about you, Nightwing. You can trust me. I know that I am an annoying speedster who likes to eat a lot and don’t know when to shut my mouth at times, but I do know on how to shut the fuck up when I need to. Just tell Batman that okay? Maybe then he can finally let you tell me because I am so dying to know what color your eyes are,” he leaned in to give Nightwing a chaste kiss on his lips. “I love you. So damn much.”

 Wally knows that it was rare for Nightwing to cry and when he saw a train of tears flowing from his sunglasses, he gently wipes them off with his fingers. “I love you too, Wally and…” Wally froze when he watched Nightwing reached up with shaky fingers to slowly take off his sunglasses. “And I want—”

 Wally reached up with his hands to stop Nightwing from removing them. “Babe, I don’t want you to get into trouble. If he finds out…”

 “Didn’t you just tell me a moment ago that you know when to shut the fuck up when you need to?”

 Wally pressed his lips together in a thin line and rolled his eyes at him. “Yes. But we both know how Batman is. He’s gonna know that you—”

 A pair of lips made Wally stop talking and he had moaned when Nightwing’s teeth had bit his lower lip to open it so his tongue to slip inside his mouth. Wally placed a hand onto his chest to gently push him away and licked his lips. “Are you absolutely sure you want to go against Batman’s orders?” he asked breathlessly, gulping when he saw Nightwing’s hands reached up to touch the handles of his sunglasses. “Wing.”

 Neither of them said anything to each other as Nightwing slowly took off his dark sunglasses and Wally squinted his eyes as he tried to figure out why his eyes were close and why the heck he had looked so familiar even though he has not seen his eyes yet. “You can back out anytime. I won’t be mad,” he promised him in a reassuringly way.

 “No. I want to do this. Just…don’t freak out, okay?”

 Wally cocked his head to the side in confusion by his comment and was about ask him what he had meant by that, but his question was caught in throat when Nightwing had finally open his eyes and Wally’s whole body froze when he did.

 Blue. His eyes were blue.

 It was so blue, Wally thought he was staring into an ocean and the more he stared into them deeply he was finding himself lost in them and honestly, he wouldn’t mind being lost in them and the more he had studied his boyfriend’s face the more he realized as to why he had looked so familiar to him. He had to blink several times in order to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him and even rubbed them just in case.

 “R-Richard Grayson? You’re—You’re—"

 “Actually… I prefer to be called Dick Grayson,” Dick corrected, clearing his throat as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He sat still in the desk chair when Wally continued to stare at him in shock. “Wally—” he started, trying to come up a way to make this whole Secret Identity Reveal less awkward.

 “It makes sense,” Wally interrupted him, eyeing him up and down. “As to why the Dark Knight was so harsh on the whole ID thing…which means,” his mouth fell open as the pieces fell into place the more he had thought he had thought about it. “No way…”

 Dick Grayson knew what his older boyfriend was smart and that he had figured out the reason by himself but waited until he had said the words before saying anything else. He sucked in a deep breath when wide green eyes met his blue ones and knew what was coming next when he had opened his mouth again.

 “Bruce Wayne is Batman.”

 Wally watched Dick nod at him slightly and Wally’s mouth made a O shape in shock and Dick sucked in another deep breath as he waits for him to speak again. “You really have pretty eyes, Dick.”

 Dick blinked several times as he processed as to what the redheaded speedster just said. He was confused about his statement. Shouldn’t he be more concerned about more important matter at hand? “Is that the only thing that matters right now?” he asked, hiking up a brow at him.

 Wally scratched the top of his head as he shrugged his shoulders. “I mean did you want me to freak out over the fact that the billionaire is freaking Batman and that you’re Nightwing?” he asked him, cocking his head to the side when Dick’s shoulders stiffen. The speedster shook his head. “Because I don’t care about that kind of stuff. You know me better than that.” Wally walked closer to where Dick was at his desk and leaned in closer to him when he had brought his face closer to his. “You could be a stripper and I would still love you.”

 Dick rolled his sapphire eyes at him. “You’re such a—"

 “Sap?” Wally suggested, wiggling his eyebrows when the raven-haired hero snorted at him. He cleared his throat and leaned in to brush his nose against his boyfriend. “I’m being for real though. I would still love you. No matter what, babe.”

 “I know,” Dick said with a huge blush on his face. “And I also love you too. Thank you for accepting me.”

 “I will always accept you. Don’t forget that. Ever.”

[wixibaby]

There’s something else I’ve been curious about your AU since I found out that Elizabeth was adopted into the Afton family, why did you decide to make her an adopted child instead of a child born into the Afton family? Don’t get me wrong, adoption isn’t great but it’s a route I haven’t seen taken before and I wanna know why you decided to go that route with her?

And also, why did William adopt Elizabeth? It’s fairly obvious that he favors Bennet most so I wouldn’t think that he would bother having any more kids if he’s already got his little angel in his life and I highly doubt he decided to adopt just to have another child to neglect like Micheal or was it Delphine’s choice to adopt Elizabeth before the marriage fell apart?

Ok I just want to reassure you that I know what a Punnett Square is and I know what recessive genes are I learned about them in like 7th grade gshakalfhshk lmao

So the reason why Elizabeth is adopted is actually a myriad of personal choices when designing the characters and fleshing them out.

The first thing was when Sister Location came out. I absolutely hated the lore it added to the canon (and I still don't really like it) and I just removed SL from my interpretation of the lore period, including Elizabeth. Eventually this turned into a little more leniency like "ok mayyyybe Elizabeth can exist" and then I made her Bennett's twin and then I really sat down and thought about it.

I draw the Afton's enough for people to have a general understanding of what they look like, but just to reiterate:

William has brown hair and gray eyes

Delphine has dark brown (essentially black) hair with blue eyes

Michael has black hair and blue eyes

Bennett has brown hair and gray eyes

And Elizabeth has blond hair and green eyes.

Initially that didn't sit right with me and I just went "fuck it probably recessive genes" but eventually that didn't sit right with me either.

Delphine was the one who wanted a daughter too after Bennett because, to be fair, two unhinged boys would be a bit... much. William was hesitant. Mostly because he didn't want a third kid. It was endless nagging from Delphine and numerous fights. Elizabeth was a last ditch effort to save their marriage.

William did end up appreciating Elizabeth more than he thought he would. Sure, he turned into a psychotic, manipulative sociopath with a thirst for blood, but that was only after Ben died. Before then, he was actually super average and a pretty okay parent (Delphine knew there was something deep inside that was wrong though). As much as Ben preferred to keep to himself, he was still a 10 year old boy while he was alive, and his brother was a teenager, so there's only so much of that one person can handle before they lose their shit. Elizabeth was a nice change of pace. A lot of the time she would ask William to braid her hair or play with her.

Elizabeth being adopted was a blend between fleshing out the characters she's associated with and the late cousin of the beta version of my AU where Elizabeth didn't even exist.

Anyways here's a doodle of Chloe that looks like a bigfoot sighting because it's 2 am and I used the flash on my camera to fucking see it lol

[cafe-de-lune]

hello!! :) i just recently found your blog! may i order a cappuccino please? :D

right now i am a minor (but soon i’ll be 18). and i’d prefer a male matchup from tokyo revengers! i am a scorpio, isfp-t, and phlegmatic-sanguine. i don’t know if i’m an introvert or an extrovert, since it depends on the kind of people i’m around. but usually i am on the quieter side, especially if i don’t know someone very well. i like my alone time, but i don’t like feeling lonely (if that makes sense). my sense of humour consists of sarcasm and stupid jokes lol. it takes a while to earn my trust, and if someone breaks that trust they can never get it back (or at least to a full extent). i have a strong appreciation for beautiful things. i also love the outdoors and being in nature. plants <3 i have a soft spot for adorable animals, cats in particular (but i love dogs too!!). i don’t like arrogant people and those who are close-minded. i hate creepy bugs, especially ones with a lot of legs. my greatest fear is probably loneliness/my loved ones dying. i play violin and a little piano. i also like reading, but as long as the subject interests me. i enjoy arts and crafts, or anything that involves creativity. one of my habits that i do probably excessively is play with my hair. especially when i’m bored. and i loveee it when others play with my hair! it’s so relaxing :) anyways, i think i’m an average height (5’4), and have black hair that goes a little past my shoulders. i always braid my hair or have it in a bun, so usually it’s pretty wavy. but if I don’t it’s stick straight. i have dimples that are quite prominent when i smile :) i’m not very curvy, unfortunately... i have multiple piercings on my ears and i like wearing dangly earrings! my outfits usually consists of darker tones of blues, greens, reds and ofc black. i have glasses but i only wear them when i need them because i don’t like how i look in them (contacts are too scary). i don’t really have any one aesthetic, but my favourites are dark academia and cottagecore aesthetics. but then again it changes every week :p i value loyalty and commitment in a relationship. i also prefer if my partner is extroverted, since idk i just really like extroverts lol. i like being spontaneous in a relationship. like oh you wanna go watch the sunrise? ok let’s go at 4 a.m. to ensure we get a good spot. i love people who are truly kind and who have integrity. someone who gives great hugs and cuddles would be amazing :,) i would love someone who i can enjoy life to the fullest with! ah i hope this was enough! thank you so much! <33

꒰ ☕️ ꒱ؘ Order: Cappuccino ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

I match you up with . . . . ♡

———๑•̀ᴗ•̀) ̫ ❏ baji keisuke .ೃ࿐

. . ⇢ [ falling in love . ] ˎˊ˗ ꒰ ☕️ ꒱

Feeding the same cat

Everyday, on your way home, you would always see the same cat wandering around. When you got closer, you can’t help but to feel sorry for it because it looked really skinny. So out of the kindness of your own heart, you decided to buy some food and feed it

Little did you know you were the not the only one feeding that rascal

Day by day, the cats seemed to get chonkier and you didn’t know why. (It’s not like you were feeding it lasagna like with Garfield) Was it that this cat gains weight easily or was it getting food from other sources?

But the answer to your problem would soon be answered when you one day saw another person, with rather long hair, kneeling and petting the cat as it ate from a can

When you approached, he would look at you and you would look at him and be like “is that your cat”

He would shake his head and reply that it was a stray.

And you would say “so you have been feeding it? No wonder, I thought it was gaining weight rather fast.”

And you would kneel down and let the cat, to which the cat would affectionately rub its hand against yours. (It knows you are another food source)

From then on, that cat has two parents. You and the person who introduced himself to be baji

You two would always stop by at the same time, taking turns buying food for your cat child and bidding it farewell when things for voting for it. Little by little you two would talk

Of course, being the extrovert he is, he was leading the conversation at the beginning. But when you start to warm up to him, you would start to make jokes and speak in sarcasm

And as friends, he would take you on spontaneous night bike rides to see the sunset or something. And it wasn’t long before you two become the best of friends

It would take some time but like in most cases, the more he gets to know you and all of your sides, the more he likes you.

But what was the deciding factor that told him he liked you was Chifuyu. He told him he won’t be available on a certain day and Chifuyu would be like “oh are you going on a date with you s/o?”

And Baji is gonna be like “s-she’s not my s/o what are you talking about!”

“Really? I really thought she was your s/o because you always hang around with her and when you do you are always so playful! And I heard you refer to yourselves as parents to that stray cat! And you’re telling me she isn’t your gf???? And why are your cheeks red?”

Yeah, he’s very much a open book when flustered. God help him

. . ⇢ [ confessing . ] ˎˊ˗ ꒰ ☕️ ꒱

He and Chifuyu are like dumb and dumber. Istg, when they were brainstorming on ways of confessing, it would come from mainly Chifuyu’s manga knowledge.

Though there was one suggestion that was very baji-like and that consists of taking you out and being partners-in-crime and burning a car together. And once the car is on fire, he would take your hands and be like would you like to be my gf? But that idea got scratched out real quick by chifuyu

He would also end up talking to his mom on how he should confess to you. His mother probably knows about you and has a feeling that his son likes you based on how he talked to her about you. Elaborate on that later. And that is probably the way he went to confessing

He would ask you out to a park or something and when you got there, he was nervously pacing around while hiding something behind his back. And that is when the show starts

He would stutter and say that he likes you veeeerrrry quietly. So softly in fact that you didn’t hear it. And when you said “pardon? I didn’t hear you.” He just shouts it out while revealing the small bouquet of flowers on his hands to you pls he’s so cute

And when you say yes? He has the biggest grin on his face and he pulls you into a tight hug. I swear he is like a puppy. You could practically see his tail wagging. But he’s just so happy!

. . ⇢ [ dating . ] ˎˊ˗ ꒰ ☕️ ꒱

nothing much would change really. Nothing except the level of physical touches and cuddles. Once you agreed to being Baji’s gf, you agreed to be with his clingy ass

This includes, cuddle sessions in his room and him just being so soft and cheesy around you.

Remember the bike rides during your friendship? Yeah that still exists. Whether it be riding to somewhere to watch the sun rise or the sun set, or just spontaneous bike rides at night, baji has you covered

He loves feeling you wrap his arms around his torso and sometimes, he purposely speeds up to feel you tighten your hold around his waist more. But if you scared of high speed bike rides, then he won’t do it as much

And when you go to your destination, he’s gonna take a blanket out and you two would sit on the ground, watching the sun all while he is hugging you from behind. He is like a heater so if you’re cold, just snuggle up with him

He is a loyal dumbass. Girls flirting with him? He scowls and brushes them off. His loyalty lies with you and he would be damned if he destroys your trust. Once he falls, he falls hard

It’s the same with him too I feel like he also wants someone who is very loyal. And in both aspects, you two are perfect!

When you tell him you like people playing with your hair, be prepared for baji to make it a habit of his whenever you two are cuddling. He would twirl your hair around and just be playing with it in general.

And if you teach him how to braid, you bet he’s gonna make some random braids here and there. But he’s still clumsy at it so it’s gonna be small messy braids!

He also likes it when you play with his hair! It’s soothing for him too and he absolutely melts under your touch and if you ever braid or style it, he’s probably gonna leave it in his hair—completely forgetting that you out stuff in his hair

Like I can see him coming into toman meetings with small braids or clips and bobbypins just in his hair. And the toman members are like “???”

Whenever you do arts or crafts around him, he might join from time to time and it always ends up in a mess. (So be sure to wear clothes that you can get dirty in) like paint would be on both of your faces and and somehow there are fingerprints on the table lol

baji isn’t really good at art but he does his best!

Now, I feel like Baji’s mom will adore you. She views you as a good influence on baji. Not only does he seem more happier when he started dating you, but he also spends less time burning cars and more time with you!

His mom is definitely going to be the type to show you his baby photos and tell you embarrassing stories about baji.

“When he was a baby, he threw one of his toys towards the wall and it somehow bounced off of the wall and hit his forehead—knocking him flat onto the ground. Ever since then, whenever he sees that you, he would scowl.” - Baji’s mom

He would 10000% understand if you want alone time. But you have to tell him. He’s a bit dense in those aspects. He will get a little sad as he likes being with you and after you are finished your alone time, he’s going to shower you with kisses and hugs because he misses you so much

“Kei, we were only apart for a day.”

“A day too many.”

Before Toman meetings Baji is usually seen on his phone, looking at silly photos he took of you and just grinning from ear to ear. The toman members would tease him for sure

“Baji’s gone soooooooooofffttttttt~”

“Look at his dumb smile.”

And Mikey being mikey would be like “s/o could do better than to pick baji. She’s waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out of his league.”

“Shut up! Ur just jealous of my s/o!” - baji

Omg when you get scared because a spider or a creepy crawly comes, he’s gonna laugh at you. And ur like 😰 “go kill it or I’m not cuddling with you!”

You bet his ass went to get rid of it. He doesn’t kill it though. He puts it under a paper and flings it outside. And when he turns around, he has his arms spread open expecting a hug for his service

When you smile…. I CAN JUST IMAGINE HIM POKING AT YOUR DIMPLES AND JUST SMILING DUMBLY TOO ITS SO CUTE FOR SOME REASON WHHSHDJJDJ he can’t help it ur just too cute when you smile especially with those dimples.

“Those dimples are ASKING to be poked.” - baji probably

Be prepared to be a cat mom to all the strays that wander into his room. It’s unavoidable and inevitable but since you like cats I hope you don’t mind having so many cat children LOL

Omg I can just imagine you guys making a piece of art where it’s his hand and yours and you guys have all the cat children paw prints on there. Like it’s just a canvas of both of your hands surrounded my paw prints. (You guys use animal friendly, non-toxic paint of course! And you guys wash the paws after!) and when or if you guys have children, their handprints are gonna be on there it’s so adorable pLS this isn’t good for my heart

Pls he’s so precious. He just wants to make you and his mom happy :”))))

. . ⇢ [ couple pics . ] ˎˊ˗ ꒰ ☕️ ꒱

. . ⇢ [ other compatibles . ] ˎˊ˗ ꒰ ☕️ ꒱

.˚🌙 ༘┊͙ atsushi sendo ;

He is a really sweet person. He just wants to make you happy. Like he would go on hikes with you or go to famous gardens around the area with you as dates because he knows you like nature. And he is gonna take pretty photos of you

He loves listening you play the piano or violin. At one point he would ask you to teach him the piano and play a piece with you. It’s gonna be so sweet and adorable.

He will fight for you till the end and it doesn’t matter if he is on the losing end. He loves you to death and would be damned if anything happens to you. He would put your safety first instead of his. He is also another person whose loyalty has no bounds

. . . . . ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ,, thank you for requesting! Come again!!!! ⌲˘͈ᵕ˘͈

[softpine]

- recoloring tutorial -

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

how to recolor with solid colors, patterns, and graphics

how to find patterns & import them into photoshop

how to recolor an item that doesn’t have a white or solid swatch

WHAT YOU NEED:

sims 4 studio

any photo editing software (i’ll be using photoshop cs6)

dds plug-in

difficulty level: beginner

1. open the clothing you want to recolor in sims 4 studio (s4s) and find the white swatch.

if there’s no solid swatch at all, skip to the very end of this tutorial where i’ll show you how to fix this! (look for the pink line)

if there are solid swatches but no white swatch, find the lightest color you can. even though there’s a white swatch in my example top, i’ll use a colorful one to show you how to fix it.

[for this tutorial, i’ll be using simiracle’s judd shirt.]

2. click the green “export” button. save it as “white swatch”.

3. open it in photoshop.

optional; if your swatch is already white, skip this step: to get rid of the color, simply decrease the saturation & vibrance all the way down. if it still looks too grey or dark, increase the brightness & contrast. finally, merge your layers. here are my settings and what i ended up with:

4. create a new layer and check “use previous layer to create clipping mask”. color everything in completely with a pure white brush.

5. on the layer tab towards the right side of your screen, change “normal” to “multiply”.

now your texture should look exactly like it did back in step 3! (i promise you didn’t just waste your time lol)

optional: if you have recoloring actions ready, now would be the time to apply them. if not, carry on!

6. right click on your new layer and click “blending options” at the top. here, you can either click “color overlay” or “pattern overlay”.

either way, you’ll want to change the blending mode to “multiply”.

here’s an example of what you can do with color overlay:

and here’s an example of pattern overlay:

but wait! you might be thinking “where do i get cute patterns like that?” and my answer is... everywhere. try searching for things like “seamless patterns”, “tileable patterns”, “fabric swatches”, etc. it’s even easier if they come in a .pat file (here’s a quick guide to using .pat files!)

here are some good patterns or places to find them:

my patterns pinterest board

mothz patterns

free pattern site

deviantart patterns

free .pat files

more .pat files

even more .pat files

yeah... more .pat files

okay, now that you’re all loaded up with patterns, let’s get back to the tutorial!

7. adjust to your liking. i prefer my recolors to be more faded and worn-looking, so i turn down the opacity a bit and i tend to use patterns that already have a vintage look to them. but do whatever you prefer! you can even mix color overlay & pattern overlay together to create an entirely new design.

8. save as a PSD!! trust me, you’ll be really sorry if photoshop crashes and you have to do all of this over again.

9. merge your layers and save as dds.

optional: now i’m going to show you how to add graphics. if you’re not interested in this, skip ahead to the next green line.

1. find your graphic. preferably, it’ll be flat, on a plain colored background, with minimal wrinkles.

2. i like to use the website 6 dollar shirts because they have a nice worn look already!

here’s the image i’ll be using for now:

3. make it transparent. there’s many ways to do this! if your image is really simple, you can outline it with the lasso tool and delete everything outside of it. but my image is a bit more complicated than that, and i don’t have all day... so let’s use the color range tool. (select → color range)

click on the color you’re trying to get rid of (in this case, the light tan color) and crank up the fuzziness to the max. press OK.

now all of your background color should be selected. press ctrl + X to delete it.

4. make it look nicer, depending on the image. if it’s blurry, try sharpening it. if it’s crunchy, try using topaz clean. if there are still some spots of color, use the color range tool again as many times as you want. make it black and white. decrease the brightness & increase the contrast to the max. it all varies, just try new things and see how it looks!

5. when you’re done adjusting, copy your image and paste it onto your shirt. you can do this on a solid color shirt or, if you really want to go crazy (lol), paste it onto a patterned shirt. adjust the opacity settings so it looks like it’s blending into the shirt nicely, not just sitting on top of it.

ta-da! you now have a cheesy graphic tee :-)

BONUS TIP: if your graphic doesn’t look worn, but you want it to, you can use these free overlays to roughen up the design! there’s even a little tutorial on the page.

10. if you haven’t already, add the file you’re recoloring to your sims 4 studio mods folder. here’s what it looks like:

11. reload s4s. under “cas” click “create cas standalone”.

12. sort by custom content, click the first swatch of whatever item you’re recoloring, and click next. name your file.

13. now click the blue “import” button and import your first texture. then click “add swatch” and import again for all your other swatches.

BONUS TIP: for the swatch thumbnails, you can right click one of the empty boxes and it will pull up a dropper tool that you can use to match the color of your cc.

14. save!

you’re done!!

if the item you’re recoloring doesn’t have a solid swatch...

1. find the simplest swatch you can. some swatches won’t work no matter how hard you try, but it’s always worth a shot!

i’ll use the yellow moon-patterned recolor i just made as an example.

2. turn the saturation & vibrance all the way down. increase your brightness & contrast. increase curves (if necessary). here are my settings and what i ended up with:

now comes the tedious part...

3. use the patch tool to remove the pattern, piece by piece.

here’s a demonstration:

here’s my progress so far:

you may notice that the patch tool doesn’t work well on the outer edges of your clothing. for that part, i use the clone tool.

i can’t screenshot this part, but basically all you do is hold alt and select a blank spot directly next to the pattern you’re covering up. then hover over the pattern and click down. make sure you move your cursor in a completely straight line, otherwise the seam will look wiggly.

we’re finally done! here’s what my final image looks like:

now that you have a white swatch, jump back to step 4 to continue the tutorial ♡